Cretaceous Sea

Con immediately became suspicious of the plaster wall before her. It covered up the symbols, what else does it hide! She began tapping the plaster with her fist. It sounded solid until she tapped behind the dresser. There, the wall sounded hollow. Con thought she could probably smash a hole in the plaster with a large rock, but that would make too much noise. Cutting her way in quietly would allow her to keep any discovery secret. She de-cided a thin, pointed rock could serve as a tool and set out to find one. She soon discovered that it was easier to envision the perfect rock than to locate one. All the stones along the shore were worn smooth. It wasn't until she reached the slope Rick and she had climbed earlier, that she found something suitable. Stone tool in hand, she returned to camp. Con briefly considered enlisting Rick's help before deciding it would be less obtrusive if she worked alone. Also, she liked the idea of surprising him with her dis- covery—if there was any discovery to be made. Drawing the curtains across the colonnade of her room, Con pulled the dresser from the plaster wall and set to work. She planned to make an opening near the floor, something big enough to crawl through, yet small enough to hide behind the dresser. The plaster was relatively soft, but when she scored it, she encountered wood beneath. The plaster was attached to a framework of lath made from tree branches. The work reminded her of the litter Joe constructed. It took a considerable amount of scrap-ing to expose enough of a branch to get a firm grip on it. Bracing her feet against the wall, Con tugged. The branch broke with a loud snap. Plaster went flying, and a large slab fell off the wooden framework. Con froze and lis-tened for the sound of someone's approach. After a min-ute or two, she concluded that no one had noticed the noise.

Con peered into the hole she had made, but could not see anything. Only one thing was certain—there was an empty cavity behind the plaster. Now that the lath was exposed, Con was able to enlarge the hole without mak-ing too much noise. As soon as the opening was large enough, Con crawled through it. She found she was able to stand. It occurred to her that, since this space was connected to her room, there might be lights that worked by voice command. 'Lights on,' she said. The ceiling immediately glowed to reveal a long corridor cut out of the stone. Behind her was the makeshift framework that supported the plaster that hid the doorway. There was a thick, continuous metallic band running around the walls, floor, and ceiling about a foot from the opening. Other than that, and the overhead light panels, the corridor was featureless.

The passageway curved, so Con could not see its end. She walked a short way down it and soon came to a junc- tion between corridors that led from the three guest rooms and a single passageway that led deeper into the cliff. She followed the latter for about fifty feet before she encountered a series of openings on either side. These led to rooms that appeared abandoned. Most contained a few bits of trash and perhaps a few simple chairs and tables, but were otherwise empty. One was filled with machinery from which a soft humming sound emanated. Con examined the unfamiliar machinery and, though she could not determine its precise function, she assumed it provided utilities for the complex. The corridor ended at a large chamber that sprang to life the moment Con entered it. Con's eye was immedi-ately drawn to the dozens of glowing viewscreens that had turned on to display a bewildering and fascinating collection of images. Many appeared to be complex graphs and charts. The writing on the charts was com-pletely alien, although Con recognized the numerals from the symbols on her wall. Many of the charts were geo-logical maps, and there were three charts of the solar system in differing degrees of detail. All appeared ho-lographic, although their realism and detail exceeded any hologram Con had ever seen. There were several screens displaying images of a rocky landscape. It took a moment for Con to realize that they were views of the mesa top. Oh no't she thought. We could have been watched!

Con hastily walked back to the junction of the corri-dors. Only when she examined each sealed doorway to the outer rooms did her panic subside. She made her way back to the chamber with the viewscreens to continue her exploration. Her attention focused on the several screens that displayed views of Earth as seen from the vantage point of satellites. These were particularly interesting be-cause the shapes and positions of the continents were dif-ferent from what Con was used to. She studied them for quite a while. Rick will love this! she thought excitedly. There was also a puzzling screen that showed a gray rock slowly tumbling against a background of stars. Finally, there was a screen that displayed the same cryptic ar-rangement of numbers Con had found on her wall:

Distracted by the viewscreens, it was a while before Con remembered that she was looking for a means to reach the mesa top. This room, like all the others, had no stairway or elevator. 'I want to go up!' she said aloud in frustration. Immediately, an opening appeared in the wall where none had been before. It revealed a small room with metallic walls. An elevator! Con entered it and the opening closed behind her.

Half a minute later, she was standing next to the crystal time machine. The light of sunset gave it the appearance of a jewel. Con walked to the edge of the mesa to watch the sun disappear behind the mountains. They appeared completely black against the glowing sky. Long shadows trailed from them, caressing the coastal plains like loving fingers. When the sun winked out behind the peaks, Con's eyes adjusted, and the mountains were no longer black. Instead, they were delicate shades of blue-gray. They reminded her of the mountains of Chinese land-scapes painted on rice paper so every stroke blurs into softness. Never had she seen a vision so peaceful or beau-tiful. She only wished that Rick were there to see it too. Tomorrow, she thought, we'll watch it together.

Con lingered on the mesa top, watching the colors of the land and sea change as the sky darkened. She was torn between her desire to savor the moment and her urge to share the discovery with Rick. When the land was ob- scured by shadow, and the dark blues of sea and the sky merged, the latter urge took over. Con entered the ele- vator compartment, which projected out of the sloping side of the landing site like a small shack. 'Take me down,' she commanded. The opening closed, and she de-scended. Con exited from the hole in the plaster a few minutes later. She shoved the dresser back in place and hastily pushed the chunks of plaster and lath beneath. She planned to do a neater job later, but, at the moment, she was anxious to find Rick. She was hurrying toward the staff tent when her father called from the dark dining pavilion. 'Constance! Come here, honey.'

'What is it Daddy?'

'I want your advice.'

Con walked over to the pavilion. John Greighton was seated with Peter Green. They were drinking champagne. Judging from her father's voice, he had consumed quite a bit.

'She studies all that artsy stuff,' he said to Green. 'She'll know.' He turned toward Con. 'Honey, what should I do with my big shell? Pete thinks I should stick it in a vault.'

'I'm just saying . . .' injected Green.