Slowly, Hawkins peered out over the edge of the banister, looking down into the shaft.
The light seemed to be coming from underneath one of the landings below him. All he could make out was the edge of what looked like a large glowing sphere of pure white--
It went out.
It didn't fade. It didn't flicker. It just disappeared to black. Just as it had done before.
Hawkins suddenly found himself standing in the empty stairwell again, the hollow shaft in the centre now no more than a silent, gaping hole of blackness.
He looked back over his shoulder toward the atrium. Beyond the bookcases, he could see Parker's feet resting lazily on the counter of the Information Desk. He thought about calling to her, but decided against it.
He turned back to face the darkened stairwell.
He swallowed, and suddenly forgot all about the fluorescent light that had been turned on upstairs.
Hawkins pulled his heavy police-issue flashlight from his belt and switched it on.
Then he began his descent into the darkness.
Selexin was still holding the grey wristband. It was heavy in his hand, mainly because of the thick metal straps used to clasp it to its wearer's wrist.
He glanced at the face. It was rectangular -- like an elongated digital watch -- broad in width, short in height. At the top of the face, the little green pilot light burned brightly. Next to it was another light, slightly larger than the green one, dull red in colour. At the moment it was lifeless.
Beneath the two lights there was a narrow oblong display that read:
INCOMPLETE--1
Selexin looked up from the watchface. He saw Swain and Holly standing at a window, gazing out, both careful to stay a safe distance from the electrified window panes.
Selexin grunted, shook his head sadly, and looked back down at the wristband. The display flickered:
INCOMPLETE--1
The words disappeared for an instant. When they returned, they had changed. The display now read:
INCOMPLETE--2
And it was stable again.
Selexin walked over to Swain at the window and stopped beside him.
'Now do you understand?'
Swain continued to stare out the window.
After he had seen the electrified door at the top of the stairwell, he had immediately come down the first flight of stairs and opened the nearest door. It was a large fireproof door marked with a red '3'.
It had opened onto an extremely broad, low-ceilinged room, perhaps fifty yards wide. Swain had gone straight across it -- winding his way through a forest of odd-looking steel-framed desks -- heading directly for the nearest window.
The room was completely filled with the peculiarly shaped desks. Each had a vertical partition attached to the rear edge, so that it formed an L-shape with the horizontal writing surface. Hundreds of these desks, bunched together in tight clusters of four, covered the vast floorspace of the room.
Now, as he looked out the window and saw the familiar inner city park, surrounded by the darkened streets of New York City, Swain began to understand.
'Where are we, Daddy?'
Swain's eyes took in the multitude of partitioned desks in the room around them. In the near corner of the room was a heavy-looking maintenance door, next to which was a sign:
QUIET PLEASE.
THIS ROOM IS FOR PRIVATE STUDY ONLY.
NO CARRY BAGS PERMITTED.
A study hall.
Swain turned to face Selexin. 'We're in the library, honey. The State Library.'
Selexin nodded. Correct.
'This,' he said, 'is the labyrinth.'
'This, is a
'That it may well be,' Selexin shrugged, 'but that is of little concern for you now.'
Swain said, 'I think it's of a lot of concern for me now. What are you doing here and what do you want with us?'
'Well, first of all,' the smaller man began, 'we do not exactly want both of you.' He looked at Swain. 'We actually only want
'So why did you bring my daughter too?'
'It was unintentional, I can assure you. Contestants are strictly forbidden to have assistance of any kind. She must have entered the field just before you were teleported.'
'Teleported?'
'Yes, Contestant,' Selexin sighed sadly. 'Teleported. And you can count yourself extremely fortunate that she was fully inside the field at the time. If she had been only partially inside the field, she might have been--'
There was a loud rumble of thunder outside the window. Swain looked out through the glass and saw dark storm clouds rolling across the face of the moon. It was well and truly dark outside now. Streaks of rain began to appear on the window.
He turned back. 'The white light.'
'Yes,' Selexin said, 'the field. Everything inside the field at the time the systems are initialised is teleported.'
'Like the phone,' Swain said.
'Yes.'
'But only half the phone came with us.'
'Because only half the phone was inside the field.'
Selexin said. 'In its simplest form, the field is merely a spherical hole in the air. Anything inside that sphere is, at the time of teleportation, lifted up and placed elsewhere, whether it is attached to something else or not.'
'And you determine where we go. Is that right?' Swain said.
'Yes. Now, Contestant--'
Swain held up his hand. 'Wait a minute. Why do you keep calling me that?'
'Calling you what?'
''Contestant'. Why do you keep calling me 'Contestant'?'
'Because that is what you are, that is why you have been brought here,' Selexin said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'To compete. To compete in the Seventh Presidian.'
'Presidian?'
Now it was Selexin who frowned.
'Yes,' his voice tightened. 'Hmmm, I suspected this might happen.' He gave a long sigh and looked impatiently at the metal wristband in his hand. Its green light was still burning and its display still read:
INCOMPLETE--2
Selexin looked up and spoke to no-one in particular: 'Well, since there is still time, I will tell you.'
Holly stepped forward, pointed to the grey wrist-watch. 'What is that?'
Selexin gave her a sharp look.
Holly backed away immediately, reaching for Swain's hand.
Selexin was taking short, quick breaths, showing his irritation. As Swain watched him, it seemed increasingly obvious that the little man in white simply did not want to be here.
