_CHAPTER THIRTEEN_
As if awaiting the completion of the final step in his long journey to
destiny, Jandro watched the stars swing past the field of his vision as
the _Lavoisier_ turned sharply to get into the shadow of the planet to
prevent observation by the fleet.
Underwood watched the alien individual, trying to fathom the mystery of
Jandro and his people. What was the truth about their myth of a fall
from Heaven World, which Jandro admitted he did not believe? How had
the strange mass of flesh originated, from which they perpetuated the
unknown organs within their own bodies? Underwood wondered if Illia
were right, if it were the harnessing of some cancerous mutation that
had occurred long ago in some forgotten individual and perfected for
the whole race.
Most important of all, could Jandro and his people have any bearing
on the problem that had brought the scientists across the vastness of
space?
To Underwood it seemed unlikely. They had come in search of a strange
and deadly weapon, hinted at only in scant records half a million
years old. Jandro's people knew nothing of the vast techniques of
producing metallic instruments and equipment. They were wizards in
glass technology, and in surgery, but it was doubtful if they even knew
of the existence of electricity.
The journey was only a matter of hours from the moon to the planet, but
it seemed the longest part of the trip to the scientists who crowded
about the scanning plates turned up to their highest sensitivity.
* * * * *
From a quarter of a million miles away, the faint details of the
ancient cities began to be recognizable on the large screens. The
sharpness with which they were revealed was awe-inspiring, for the
airless world permitted perfect clarity of vision, and there had been
none of the ceaseless winds that were quick to hide the works of man
on other planets beneath dunes of sand. Here it looked as if the
inhabitants had made a quick, orderly exodus only yesterday, leaving
the vast cities for whoever might want them.
Phyfe was ecstatic at the sight. "The archeologists' dream," he said.
"The perfect preservation of an ancient civilization."
"I can't see how the atmosphere was destroyed without considerable
effect all over the planet," said Underwood. "It doesn't seem possible.
Wait--there it is!"
On the horizon of the world appeared a vast scar that looked as if
it encompassed at least an eighth of the planet's surface. It looked
relatively shallow, though they knew it must be miles deep at the
center, as if a searing torch had been touched at that one spot in a
great blaze that consumed all the gases in the planet's atmosphere. For
hundreds of miles around, the cities and plains showed evidence now of
the destruction. It was only on the opposite side of the planet that
the works of the ancient inhabitants had escaped.
"That's what did it," said Underwood. "I've got an idea that we'll find
actually few cities without considerable damage, but this is more than
I hoped for. If there is evidence of the weapon here, we may be able to
find it yet."
They circled the planet out of sight of the departing fleet, taking
scores of pictures of the remains below for future study. At a point
farthest removed from the center of destruction lay one of the largest
of the undamaged cities. It was nearly five hundred square miles in
area, and almost in the center of it was an area that looked as if it
had been a landing for ships. There, Underwood ordered the _Lavoisier_
brought down upon the surface of the Dragboran world.
Under their predetermined plan, Phyfe was now given charge of their
archeological activities. He had already outlined the method of
procedure. They would move outward in small groups, mapping the city as
they went. Their initial goals would be libraries and laboratories, for
their first task was to obtain command of the Dragboran language.
As Jandro looked out upon the barren planet, his face displayed its
first sign of emotion. He stared at the deserted ruins and his lips
moved.
"Heaven World!" he murmured.
Dreyer came up behind him. "It was just a world where men lived," he
said. "Something happened a long time ago that made it unfit for your
people to live here. Some few of them apparently escaped to the moon
and carried on your civilization. That is what is behind your legends
of Heaven World."
Jandro nodded slowly. "And it means that we can never possess our world
again. I had thought that I would lead my people back here, be the
first to reclaim my heritage--and there is nothing to reclaim. Forever,
we shall remain in our barren moon of glass while only the ghosts of
the gods possess our metal Heaven World!"
"You don't believe in the gods, and less in their ghosts," Dreyer
reminded him bluntly.
* * * * *
Jandro remained facing the port without speaking.
Dreyer continued, "Your people would never have followed you here even
if the planet had been all that you dreamed. You know that, don't you?"
Jandro whirled, startled, as if Dreyer had been reading his mind.
Dreyer pretended not to notice.
"In every civilization there are those who dream of better things for
themselves and their world. Would it help if I told you that of all the
worlds and peoples that men have found in their wanderings in the void,
there are none as highly civilized as yours?"
"A world of bits of glass?"
"A world where the perfection of the individual is the most urgent
community enterprise. But you know all of that. Let's go out and see
what your Heaven World was like when your people lived here."
Clad in spacesuits, the Earthmen began to pour out of the ship. Phyfe
and Underwood directed the dispersal of the small exploring groups
who were to move radially in all directions. Though few were trained
in the methods of archeology, they understood their objectives well
enough to assist in the preliminary identification of specialized
centers and in gathering information.
One by one, the groups left the scooters soaring into the sky like
bees swarming from a hive. Underwood chose to remain near the landing
area with Phyfe and Terry and Dreyer. Illia and Jandro also were part
of this group, which were to explore the buildings in the immediate
vicinity of the landing area.
Underwood was curious about the thoughts passing through the mind of
the stranger as he viewed for the first time the long-dead remains of
Heaven World. Here, where there should have been sunlight and gardens
and life, there was only the mad contrast of blindingly bright planes
and shadows of terrifying darkness, out of which the ghosts of the
half-million-year-old dead might suddenly rise.
But since stepping out of the ship in the hastily modified suit that
hardly accommodated his bulk, Jandro's face had taken on a look of
inquiry and expression of expectancy, as if waiting for the Earthmen to
do something, yet not quite understanding their delay.
Underwood was impressed by this curious expectancy, but there were too
many other things to be concerned with at the moment. He drew the
attention of the others toward an edifice that reared at least two
thousand feet into the sky a mile beyond the landing area, but which
was connected with it by a long road or ramp.
"Let's have a look at that," he suggested.
* * * * *
Jandro opened his lips hesitantly as if to speak, then suddenly closed
them tightly and a new and dreadful expression came upon his face.
Underwood was mystified, but dismissed the puzzle from his mind.
His eyes were upon the great structure that loomed just ahead. He
soared up around it. Nowhere were there windows or other openings in
the heights of the vast, featureless walls.
He dropped back to ground level and found his companions at the edge of
the enormous ramp leading down into the depths beneath the building.