“I do not believe the Ancients would ever do such a thing,” Shanks stated. “They would most certainly provide a way out. We must simply find it.”
“Any ideas on how we do that?” asked Jack.
Shanks sighed. “For now… pick a door.”
The group chose to enter the left door. From that room, they chose the door to the right. Then from that room, the left door again. Each time, Heckubus would scan each room before they entered, and each room was always identical to the last. Before long, a sense of frustration was palpable among the group as room after room appeared to lead nowhere but to a copy of itself. “It’s like we’re not getting anywhere,” complained Jack after they all entered yet another identical chamber. “It’s just the same thing, over and over and over again! I feel like I’m going insane!”
“Yes, the etchings on this column don’t appear to be of any help,” Green said, looking at the stone column in the center of the room. “I fear we’re no better off than when we first started.”
“Oy, there’s gotta be something that tells us how ta get out o’ here,” said Scallywag as he pulled one of the torches from its sconce. “Like… what the squick are these for? Why have unlit torches around when ya got a bloody bonfire in tha center o’ the room?”
“Hmmmmm…” said Heckubus as he gazed at the flame raging on top of the pillar. “Now this is interesting…”
“What?” asked Jack hopefully. “Did you figure something out?”
“Not explicitly,” Heckubus replied, “but I feel I can now say with certainty that there is one difference with all the rooms we’ve explored thus far.”
“What?” asked Green.
“This,” said Heckubus, pointing at the fire. “I dismissed it before because I didn’t consider it to be relevant. But after our resident ninnywat pointed out the unlit torches, I reconsidered my assessment. As I’ve scanned each room I’ve noticed something. Every time we enter a new one, this flame grows smaller.”
“Smaller?”
“Not by much,” Heckubus clarified. “But little by little, it dwindles. This flame, as it is now, is significantly smaller than the one in the room in which we started. If this pattern keeps up, it will continue to be reduced as we go to the next room, and the one after that.”
“What do ya think that means?” asked Scallywag.
“Hard to say,” the robot replied. “All I can tell you for certain is that eventually, we will come to a room where this flame will go out.”
“Oh, dear,” said Green. “What do you suppose occurs when that happens?”
“Certain death, most like,” replied Scallywag, fatalistically.
“Indeed, I’m inclined to agree,” Heckubus said. “This chamber we’re in may have infinite rooms, but we, it seems, do not have infinite attempts to find our way through this maze. If we cannot reach an exit by the time this flame dies… we may just die along with it.”
Jack frowned. “So it’s a countdown timer,” he said. “But how are we supposed to find a way out? There aren’t any clues! There’s no map! Every room is exactly the same!”
“Yes...” Professor Green said, looking as though he were pondering a puzzle. “They are exactly the same, are they not? Heckubus, you’ve been scanning each room we’ve entered. Other than the flame, have you noticed a difference between any of them? Any difference at all?”
“No,” Heckubus responded. “Their dimensions are all consistent. Their material is all the same. There are the same number of doors and the same number of torches. Conceptually, they are all identical.”
“Hmmmm…” pondered Green. “Grohm, my friend, would you be so kind as to put a dent in something?” Grohm raised his brow curiously at the Professor’s request. “Nothing too big,” Green continued. “Just enough to make a mark.” Grohm shrugged. He punched the floor, his fist leaving the stone beneath cracked and chipped. “Excellent,” Green said, looking over the mark the Rognok’s fist made. “That will do nicely.”
“Professor, what are you doing?” asked Jack.
“Testing a theory,” Green said. “But in order to see if it’s right, we need to move to another room.” Green moved to the door closest to him. The group followed and Green made his way into the new room and over to the area of the floor Grohm had marked in the previous room. “Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “I was right!”
The group moved to join Green and saw the dent in the floor – the same one Grohm had made in the previous chamber. “How… how is that possible?” Jack asked.
“Because…” Green said, looking around. “It’s the same room.”
“How can it be the same bloody room?” objected Scallywag. “That don’t make a lick o’ sense.”
“No, but it does,” said Green with a smile, looking around like he’d just figured something out. “Oh, how could I have missed it? It all makes sense now!”
“Professor,” Jack asked, “what are you talking about?”
“Don’t you see?” Green said. “This isn’t a maze. It’s a puzzle! And finding a solution to the puzzle will show us the way out.”
“An interesting theory,” Heckubus commented, the motors in his head whirring audibly as he calculated possible solutions. “One room, three doors, none of which leads to the way out. I theorize there must be some pattern by which we have to walk through the doors to reach an exit. But without any clues to support my hypothesis, I have no way of being certain that is the case.”
“Yes, it does seem rather unfair that the Ancients would create a puzzle without some hint as to how to solve it,” Green replied.
“Perhaps they did,” Shanks said as he walked around the column in the center of the room where the flame burned. “This room is a square, as is this column. There are three doors to the room, but look here…” The group looked on as Shanks pointed to an etching on the side of the column facing the blank wall. “Each side of this column has a carving of a door, even the side facing the wall without one.”
Jack bent down and took a closer look at the carving. “This one is different from the other three,” he noticed. “The others have an eye drawn on them. This door here is just blank.”
Both Heckubus and Green turned to the empty wall behind them at the same time. “A hidden door!” they both exclaimed.
“But I have not detected anything on this wall that would suggest there is any type of concealed opening,” Heckubus said. “I’ve scanned it dozens of times by now. There are no cracks or crevices that would suggest a door of any kind.”
“Maybe it ain’t hidden, maybe it’s sealed shut?” Scallywag offered. “Let’s have Grohm here give it a few punches and see if there’s anything on the other side.”
Grohm punched his fist into his hand. “Grohm smash wall to bits,” he rumbled.
“No,” said Shanks. “This chamber is meant to protect the Great Seal. The Ancients wouldn’t allow it to be by-passed in such a way, which means that is not the solution. This puzzle is a test to see if we are worthy to proceed. I believe the key to solving it may lie in figuring out what the Ancient’s intention was behind its creation.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jack.
“I am saying we must discover what the Ancients felt made one worthy,” Shanks replied. “What trait or quality did they require one to possess to be deemed fit to access their greatest creations?”
Green pondered the monk’s words. “So you believe there may be some symbolism here,” the Professor said. “Something which will communicate to us the purpose of this chamber and who would be able to solve its puzzle?”
“If there is one thing that has been consistent among all discoveries related to the Ancients,” Shanks said, “it is that there is always a deeper meaning behind them… for those who are willing to look for it.”
Green nodded. “You are correct, Brother Shanks,” he said. “If that is the case, then let us look at what we know to be true. The room has three doors, which all lead back into it, and a hidden door that leads
to the way out. There is no light other than the flame in its center. Could the light represent knowledge? And could the lesson of the chamber be to discover what is unknown?”
“That would make sense,” Shanks replied. “To see what is obvious leads one nowhere new. But discovery would free one from being trapped in the old ways of thinking. Knowledge is the flame which brings light to the darkness. Without it, we are lost, but with it, we can find what we previously did not know existed.”
“So, to be considered worthy to make it to the seal… we gotta prove we’re smart enough to discover the way out?” asked Jack.
“That,” replied the Professor, “or we must prove we are capable of uncovering some type of hidden knowledge of which we were previously unaware.”
“Okay, so… how do we do that?” asked Jack.
No one answered.
“Perhaps we should meditate upon it?” Shanks suggested.
“Meditation? Wonderful suggestion,” Heckubus snarked. “Maybe we could all perform a rain dance while we’re at it? That would be about as useful as any of your other mystical mumbo-jumbo. Our time would be better spent studying the wall. There must be some clue on it as to where the exit is.”
“Maybe we should divvy up the tasks?” offered Green. “Shanks could meditate, Heckubus could study the wall, I could study the column here, and we could compare notes and see what we come up with?”
“Who knows how long that could take,” said Jack. “We need to get to Anna!”
Green frowned. “I’m sorry, my boy,” he said. “I fear I know of no other solution. To discover something that’s hidden… well, it takes time.”
“Oy, eggheads,” said Scallywag grabbing everyone’s attention. “Yer all overthinkin’ this.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?” snooted Heckubus. “Why don’t you go sit in the corner with the precious few functioning brain cells you have left and let those of us who are capable of advanced cognitive reasoning do our thing, yes?”
Scallywag smirked at Heckubus. “I may not be a spiritual guru or the type that can do long division in his head, but even I can see the answer ta this little puzzle.”
“You… you can?” asked Green.
“Pah!” Heckubus scoffed. “Pay him no mind. Whatever answer the squeaky hamster wheel he calls a brain has churned up is undoubtedly wrong. The solution the Ancients would have devised would undoubtedly be beyond his ability to grasp!”
Scallywag rolled his eyes. “Ya ever wonder why the Ancients built all their fancy rooms and temples and whatnot out o’ stone and the like?” Scallywag asked. “They built a bleedin’ shell around a bloody star, they knew how ta build things with advanced materials.”
“What’s your point, nitwit?” Heckubus asked.
“Me point is, when it came ta the important stuff, they liked ta keep things simple,” said Scallywag.
“Very well,” said Heckubus haughtily. “By all means! Share with us this glaringly obvious answer you’ve been able to deduce which none of the smartest beings in this room have been able to uncover, oh, wise fool.”
Scallywag took the unlit torch he was holding and stuck it into the room’s flame, igniting it. “If ya wanna see somethin’ hidden in the dark,” said Scallywag as he approached the wall, sweeping the lit torch over it, “all ya gotta do is shine some light on it.”
Then, the flame from the torch came upon a part of the wall that responded to it. A long, vertical crevice appeared which glowed like molten metal under the light of the torch. The group all looked at the discovery in awe as Scallywag followed the glowing outline with his torch, revealing the shape of a door.
“Well, I’ll be,” Green said. “Light banishes the darkness. Knowledge reveals the unknown. It would appear as though the simplest solution is most certainly the correct one!”
“I’d have thought of that eventually,” muttered Heckubus.
“Everyone grab a torch,” Scallywag said. “Let’s light this exit up.”
The group took the remaining unlit torches from their sconces and thrust them into the flame. They held the torches to the wall until the entire outline of the door was visible. As soon as its frame was completely formed, an etching of an eye appeared upon the drawing of the door on the stone column. It shined a bright light on the hidden door and transformed the area within its frame into a ghostly portal, shimmering with pale white energy.
“Fascinating!” said Green with awe as he gazed at the portal.
Scallywag tossed his torch aside. “Right,” he said. “Now let’s get tha squick out o’ here. I do believe I’ve had me fill of infinity fer one day.”
Chapter 61
The group continued following the hallway. The Professor looked around in wide-eyed wonder at the metallic walls and the long windows on the left hand side affording a clear view of the star in the middle of the structure . The windows were somehow polarized so that it was possible to stare directly at the star’s beautifully chaotic surface.
“Incredible,” the Professor mumbled. “One could spend a lifetime in a structure such as this and not even begin to scratch the surface of how it functions. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a chance to be here when we’re not rushing to save the universe! The portgate and the Great Seal are only a tiny fraction of this structure’s interior. Imagine what other wonders could be housed here? The potential for exploration and discovery is almost limitless!”
“Oy, egghead,” said Scallywag. “If what we’ve seen so far is any indication of what the rest o’ this place could be like, it’s better left unexplored if ya ask me.”
“Yes, it’s a shame only Legacy Prime is immune to the dangers of this place,” Green responded. “Even with their full cooperation, it would take millennia to fully explore, if that would even be possible.”
“Assuming there is a Legacy Prime left after all this,” chimed in Heckubus. “One tends not to be too optimistic about their chances when their last member has been enslaved to a race that wants nothing more than to wipe out all of existence.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Jack said. “We’re going to save her.”
“Can she be saved?” asked Heckubus. “You said before when you pulled the worm out of one of your attackers he died immediately. Do we even know if they can be safely removed once they’ve taken root?”
“We’ll figure it out,” said Jack. “But that’s a problem for later. Right now, that doesn’t even matter if we can’t get to her in time.” Jack and the others continued walking. As the hallway curved, another silver door loomed in the distance, an access orb kiosk before it. “Head’s up,” said Jack. “Looks like we’re at the second chamber.”
“Oh, joy,” grumbled Scallywag. “What new and exciting ways ta kill us did the bloody Ancients think of this time? Anyone wanna venture a guess as ta what this room is called? The Chamber o’ Agony? The Chamber o’ Doom?” The Chamber o’ Agonizing Doom?”
Jack stopped before the door and looked at the writing on it. “The Chamber of Bliss,” he said.
Scallywag blinked. “Really?” he said in disbelief.
“That’s what it says,” replied Jack.
“Well, now, that doesn’t sound so bad!” said Green cheerily.
Jack touched the access orb, causing it to disappear and the stone kiosk to descend into the floor. The door rumbled open, revealing a long sandstone corridor lit with flickering torches, numerous skeletons lying upon its wide aisle. The group looked at the macabre scene before them with unease.
“Oh, dear,” said Green softly. “It’s bad.”
“Ya know, my idea o’ bliss typically has ta do with a beach, lots o’ booze, and a bevy of scantily clad females,” Scallywag muttered. “I’m beginnin’ ta think these Ancient blokes weren’t quite right in tha head.”
Jack frowned and looked at Shanks. “What do you think?” he asked. “Trap?”
“Oh, it most certainly is a trap,” Shanks said softly, studying the corridor with his third eye. “The rea
l question is, what kind?”
Jack sighed, his belly a bundle full of nerves. “Well… I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Jack took a step into the corridor. The group all looked at him as he stood still, waiting for something to happen. He glanced around, searching for any sign of something dangerous. He took another step. When nothing happened, he took another. Shanks followed, and before long, the entire group was slowly walking down the corridor.
Jack eyed the skeletons against the walls. There were a lot of them, some pure bones, others still had clothes on that were rotting away. Their open jaws and empty eye sockets looked haunting in the flickering light of the torches. “What do you think killed all these people?” Jack asked.
“From what I can see, they were not crushed, burned, impaled, or in some way shot,” Heckubus replied, his ocular orbs focusing on the various corpses as he scanned them. “It’s hard to say just from looking at a bunch of bones. At the moment, I’m leaning toward some type of poison.”
“Wonderful,” muttered Scallywag.
“If it’s any comfort, I highly doubt we’ll be poisoned,” said Green. “The Ancients created these chambers to protect the Great Seal from being accessed by those who were not worthy of it. Poison is too lethal. They’d have come up with a way to make sure the people worthy of their creations had a way to survive.”
“Well, if it’s not poison, and it’s not any of that other stuff, then what could it be?” asked Jack. “It’s not like all these guys just laid down and died—” Suddenly, Jack’s head started to swim. The corridor before him began tilting at odd angles. He felt himself stumble dizzily against a wall. “What the…” he muttered, shaking his head.
Jack heard the sound of Shanks’ staff clattering to the ground as the monk stumbled in the opposite direction. Scallywag cursed as he tripped and fell onto some of the skeletons. The Professor also appeared disoriented and collapsed. Heckubus and Grohm stood in the center of the corridor, looking at their companions in alarm. “What’s happening?” Heckubus demanded. “What’s going on?”
Scallywag tried to get back to his feet, but stumbled forward and collapsed again. “I… I feel bloody drunk…” he mumbled.
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 72
