The crossing felt like diving into a pool with a vertical surface, and then they found themselves in an entirely different place. A spacious hemispherical room, perhaps twenty meters in diameter, surrounded now the group. Thousands of dots were shining over the dark surface of the dome above, generated by a spherical projector placed on a tall pole. It was an elaborate model of the night sky, reflecting the current position of the stars. Even Sen was in the right spot, freshly risen from the sea. The floor and the side-wall had a pleasant, soothing light-blue color. Oval lamps mounted at regular intervals along the cylindrical wall under the dome bathed the chamber in a discreet blue light.
The whole place looked clean and well-maintained. In the center, a white circular console was visible, surrounded by six blue rotating chairs. Two blue doors, perhaps made of metal, were visible on the western and the eastern sides of the wall.
The supreme master was still holding the artifact in his hands, but no more light radiated from it. The air was warmer than outside and also seemed somewhat denser. They could all feel its higher pressure in their ears.
“Where are we?” Kolin asked, breaking the uneasy silence.
“Inside the Iron Rock,” Anh replied. “Where else could we be?”
“That means we’re safe,” Rongo said. “We only need to stay here overnight. By tomorrow, the thugs will have to give up. Their presence would become way too conspicuous for any police patrol passing by.” Then, turning to Anh, he added:
“I suppose we can get out of here in the same way we came.”
“The artifact is in good shape. I can certainly use it to bring us back,” the supreme master confirmed.
“The thugs could still keep this place under observation tomorrow,” Solis said.
“Yes, but they can’t stop us from taking the artifact to a safer place,” Anh concluded.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Lila asked. “I don’t expect them to have food or phones in here, but I could certainly use a toilet.”
“Well, let’s take a look around,” the supreme master said, a smile blooming on his face.
The group stepped closer to the center of the dome. Dozens of luminous panels covered the console, with three screens displaying images from outside.
“Where does the electric power come from?” Kolin asked.
“Probably a nuclear reactor,” Rongo replied.
“The outside view doesn’t seem to be from Iron Rock,” Anh said.
They examined the displays. The apparent live feeds showed a deserted rocky shore similar to Iron Rock, but without the regular shape of the little island. The location didn’t seem far away, as the stars and Sen were in the same places in the sky.
“I have no idea where the feed comes from,” Rongo admitted, shrugging. “Let’s see the rest of this place. ”
“Everything’s unusually clean for something abandoned centuries or even millennia ago,” Solis remarked as the moved on.
“There must be some automatic machines that take care of it,” Anh decided.
The supreme master set the artifact on one of the chairs, then they all turned around and went towards the blue door from the east. Lila rotated the handle and opened it. A dimly lit corridor, flanked by doors on both sides, extended in front of her. Each door had something written on it in foreign characters, most of them with strangely rounded shapes.
“Oh, it's the Old Script!” Anh said. “Of course, it was quite popular during those days.”
“Does any of the doors have ‘toilet’ written on it?” the girl asked in a pleading voice.
“The third on the left,” the Aquatika master said. “Let’s check first if it still works”.
Anh opened the door. The lamp from the ceiling switched on as soon as he stepped in, flooding the room with white light. It had a toilet seat near the left wall and a sink for hand washing on the right. An elegant oval mirror with a golden frame covered the wall above the sink. The walls, floor, and ceiling were white, with the sink and seat colored in light-green. Everything looked clean and appeared to be functional. The supreme master checked the water flushing and the faucet. They were working fine.
“Well, I suppose we’ll be all right until tomorrow,” he said and went outside. With hurried steps, Lila entered the room and closed the door behind her.
“What else do they have here?” Rongo asked.
Anh replied, reading the inscriptions:
“Let’s see… We have nine doors. The first four, two on each side, are bedrooms. Third on the left is the toilet, as we have just seen. Then, on the same side, comes a medical cabinet. The two doors on the right are storage spaces. The one in front, at the end of the hallway, is supposed to lead outside.”
They checked the bedrooms. The chambers were clean, their floors covered by dark-blue carpets and walls painted in light-blue. Each had three beds made of lacquered Esperian wood, with dark-blue blankets and red pillows on top. A table and two chairs, also made of wood, were standing close to the back wall.
The walls of the medical cabinet were painted in light-red and had first-aid kits, boxes with pills, and instruments for health checks. One of the storage rooms was filled with diving equipment, the other contained tools for maintenance: from wrenches and screwdrivers to soldering irons and multimeters. Everywhere they entered, the rooms looked clean, and the lights would turn on and off automatically unless they switched them to manual by rotating a wall knob next to the door.
(to be continued...)The whole place looked clean and well-maintained. In the center, a white circular console was visible, surrounded by six blue rotating chairs. Two blue doors, perhaps made of metal, were visible on the western and the eastern sides of the wall.
The supreme master was still holding the artifact in his hands, but no more light radiated from it. The air was warmer than outside and also seemed somewhat denser. They could all feel its higher pressure in their ears.
“Where are we?” Kolin asked, breaking the uneasy silence.
“Inside the Iron Rock,” Anh replied. “Where else could we be?”
“That means we’re safe,” Rongo said. “We only need to stay here overnight. By tomorrow, the thugs will have to give up. Their presence would become way too conspicuous for any police patrol passing by.” Then, turning to Anh, he added:
“I suppose we can get out of here in the same way we came.”
“The artifact is in good shape. I can certainly use it to bring us back,” the supreme master confirmed.
“The thugs could still keep this place under observation tomorrow,” Solis said.
“Yes, but they can’t stop us from taking the artifact to a safer place,” Anh concluded.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Lila asked. “I don’t expect them to have food or phones in here, but I could certainly use a toilet.”
“Well, let’s take a look around,” the supreme master said, a smile blooming on his face.
The group stepped closer to the center of the dome. Dozens of luminous panels covered the console, with three screens displaying images from outside.
“Where does the electric power come from?” Kolin asked.
“Probably a nuclear reactor,” Rongo replied.
“The outside view doesn’t seem to be from Iron Rock,” Anh said.
They examined the displays. The apparent live feeds showed a deserted rocky shore similar to Iron Rock, but without the regular shape of the little island. The location didn’t seem far away, as the stars and Sen were in the same places in the sky.
“I have no idea where the feed comes from,” Rongo admitted, shrugging. “Let’s see the rest of this place. ”
“Everything’s unusually clean for something abandoned centuries or even millennia ago,” Solis remarked as the moved on.
“There must be some automatic machines that take care of it,” Anh decided.
The supreme master set the artifact on one of the chairs, then they all turned around and went towards the blue door from the east. Lila rotated the handle and opened it. A dimly lit corridor, flanked by doors on both sides, extended in front of her. Each door had something written on it in foreign characters, most of them with strangely rounded shapes.
“Oh, it's the Old Script!” Anh said. “Of course, it was quite popular during those days.”
“Does any of the doors have ‘toilet’ written on it?” the girl asked in a pleading voice.
“The third on the left,” the Aquatika master said. “Let’s check first if it still works”.
Anh opened the door. The lamp from the ceiling switched on as soon as he stepped in, flooding the room with white light. It had a toilet seat near the left wall and a sink for hand washing on the right. An elegant oval mirror with a golden frame covered the wall above the sink. The walls, floor, and ceiling were white, with the sink and seat colored in light-green. Everything looked clean and appeared to be functional. The supreme master checked the water flushing and the faucet. They were working fine.
“Well, I suppose we’ll be all right until tomorrow,” he said and went outside. With hurried steps, Lila entered the room and closed the door behind her.
“What else do they have here?” Rongo asked.
Anh replied, reading the inscriptions:
“Let’s see… We have nine doors. The first four, two on each side, are bedrooms. Third on the left is the toilet, as we have just seen. Then, on the same side, comes a medical cabinet. The two doors on the right are storage spaces. The one in front, at the end of the hallway, is supposed to lead outside.”
They checked the bedrooms. The chambers were clean, their floors covered by dark-blue carpets and walls painted in light-blue. Each had three beds made of lacquered Esperian wood, with dark-blue blankets and red pillows on top. A table and two chairs, also made of wood, were standing close to the back wall.
The walls of the medical cabinet were painted in light-red and had first-aid kits, boxes with pills, and instruments for health checks. One of the storage rooms was filled with diving equipment, the other contained tools for maintenance: from wrenches and screwdrivers to soldering irons and multimeters. Everywhere they entered, the rooms looked clean, and the lights would turn on and off automatically unless they switched them to manual by rotating a wall knob next to the door.
Books by Marian C. Ghilea:
BUTTERFLY'S DREAM: https://bit.ly/2PM63uU
TIDES OF AMBER: https://bit.ly/2HfcHVB
Image source: Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/photos/blur-1853957/
BUTTERFLY'S DREAM: https://bit.ly/2PM63uU
TIDES OF AMBER: https://bit.ly/2HfcHVB
Image source: Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/photos/blur-1853957/
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