"By all means. Unless we are stopped." The priest looked thoughtful.
"They may be coming out of hibernation or something like it. Can you
tell how old this plateau is?"
"Not without taking samples to a geological laboratory. Perhaps not
even then, with accuracy. But I would say, some thousands of years."
Rabar was not happy at re-entering the tunnel, but set his jaw and
came. Craig stood aside to let the lieutenant go ahead of him. Rabar
hesitated, then stepped by. Dientes, crossing himself and muttering,
evidently preferred coming along to being left alone outside. He
followed Craig.
Brulieres swept his flashlight along the tunnel walls, revealing a turn
ahead. They rounded it. After a little way it seemed to Craig that the
flashlight dimmed. Then he realized that there was other light in the
tunnel; the arched ceiling was aglow. It got brighter and Brulieres
turned off his flashlight.
"Evidently," he said, "we are expected. Have you noticed the air?"
Craig had not, but he did now; it was warm and the pressure was higher
than outside. "One moment," he said, puzzled. He went back to the mouth
of the tunnel. As he stepped outside, he felt a gentle resistance as if
some force were pushing him into the tunnel. He re-entered, and felt
warmth radiating from the ceiling. He rejoined the others.
* * * * *
The floor of the tunnel sloped up gently for a while, then leveled,
then turned downward. The walls were vertical and perfect, with a
smooth glazed look. The ceiling curved from wall to wall in a perfect
arc. There was room for two men to walk side by side by crowding. Craig
walked a little behind Dientes.
Soon he took off his oxygen mask and breathed normally. He would have
liked to remove his jacket, but there were too many things in the
pockets to spill out.
He had counted one hundred seven paces when the tunnel turned again. It
was just beyond the turn that they found Noriega's body.
The tunnel branched here; or at least, a narrower tunnel angled up and
off from each side. These tunnels were dark, and, Craig found, cold and
with low air pressure. The same mild resistance guarded their mouths.
The General lay sprawled loosely just inside the right-hand branch, his
head and torso in shadow. He looked simply and peacefully dead.
"Will you lend me a hand, Lieutenant?" Brulieres said. The two of them
dragged Noriega into the light.
Craig could see no burns nor any other kind of wound except an abrasion
on one cheek which might have resulted from a fall. He started to ask
Rabar exactly what had happened, but checked himself. Better not appear
suspicious.
He wondered what had happened to the general's pistol, and began to
look around for it. But again Brulieres was ahead of him. The priest
was eighteen or twenty yards farther into the tunnel, picking up
something. It was the pistol. It went into the cloak as the heat-weapon
had.
Craig was watching Rabar and he thought the man looked disconcerted.
Craig thought, How's this for a theory: Rabar killed Noriega, took his
pistol and started up the tunnel. Maybe he just wanted to learn for
himself what was in the mountain, or maybe he planned to murder the
rest of the party and make it look like an accident. He met the glowing
creature, panicked, put two bullets into it, then dropped the gun and
ran.
Craig wondered if the priest shared his doubts about Rabar; but if he
did, he didn't show it. The priest was already starting on.
Craig lost count of his steps, but judged they'd gone over a quarter of
a mile when the tunnel took a final right-angle turn and opened into a
great high-domed chamber.