“Sort of,” Rebo replied cautiously, and told the sensitive what had transpired.
“So when will the path open up?” Norr wondered out loud. “And how will we know where to go?”
“I don’t know when it will open up,” the runner replied,
“although my guess would be soon. As for the second question, well, that’s easy. The moment something happens, Kufu’s people will be off and running. All we need to do is follow them.”
The sensitive smiled crookedly. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Yeah,” Rebo responded, “but it never is.”
“No,” Norr agreed. “It never is.”
Absolute secrecy. That was the key to opening a successful pathway into the underground city of Kahoun. Because even though One-Two wanted to release technology to the outer world, Ogotho and Pyra were equally dedicated to blocking such events, which ran counter to their mutual goal of preserving the 450-square-mile tomb. So, conscious of the fact that radio signals can be tracked, Sogol was careful to keep moving as she sent the fi?nal signal to her army of spindly-legged utility bots. The plan was to open a pathway during daylight when everyone could see. Then, once three hours had elapsed, the portal would close. Anyone greedy enough, or foolish enough, to remain in the city would be sealed inside, a convention that the tomb raiders had long since become accustomed to.
As luck would have it, three of King Quar’s wings were riding a thermal two hundred feet above the pathway that had once been known as Surface Ramp-47, when a pair of Sogol’s utility bots brought a jumper circuit online, thereby diverting power away from one of Pyra’s main lines, which they used to open the ancient storm door. That consumed half a gigawatt of electricity, but only for a short period of time, which was just as well because it wasn’t long before Pyra cut power to that part of the city’s grid in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the subsequent invasion. But, as part of a chess match that had been played out many times before, Sogol wanted the other computer to cut off the electricity, thereby leaving Surface Ramp-47 open to the outside. Realizing that, Pyra hurried to reenergize the door in an attempt to close it but soon discovered that critical cables had been severed. Lum bugs were dispatched to make the necessary repairs, but that would take hours even as a horde of tomb raiders poured down into the city. It was a maddening game, but one that Pyra had thus far been powerless to stop since One-Two had been able to outsmart her. Until now that is, because having accumulated a considerable amount of data regarding such incursions, Pyra could predict what Sogol would do next. And, based on that ability, Pyra planned to fi?nd the little worm and kill it. Meanwhile, the orange-clad wings circling two hundred feet above Surface Ramp-47 were privileged to witness a rare sight as a rectangular section of the desert fl?oor seemed to collapse in on itself. Tons of sand poured down into carefully prepared cavities below, a column of dust rose to point fingerlike at the newly opened pathway, and hundreds of avaricious eyes were quick to take notice. Telescopes swiveled in that direction, airborne scouts vectored in, and no more than fi?ve minutes had elapsed when the race began. Thanks to a warning from Norr, and eager to recoup his recent losses, Kufu was the fi?rst artifact king to respond. A fl?ight of twenty wings were dispatched, even as fi?ve threeman chariots raced pell-mell toward the new opening, each creating its own column of dust as it cut across the desert fl?oor. Rebo stood to the left of the red-clad charioteer, and Norr stood to the right, both straining to hold on as the specially bred angens hauled the two-wheeled conveyance over all manner of bumps, ridges, and other irregularities. It was a hard ride, but an exhilarating one, and the runner couldn’t help but enjoy the way the wind pressed against his face, the thrill as the chariot went momentarily airborne as it hit a bump, and the solid thump as it hit the ground again. Not all of the charioteers were so fortunate however. As their vehicle topped a slight rise, Norr saw a black chariot break free of its team, and tumble end over end as what looked like little stick fi?gures fl?ew through the air. What happened next was obscured by a cloud of dust, the driver’s wildly fl?apping headscarf, and a competing two-wheeler. Then they were there, at the center of a maelstrom of multicolored chariots, each fi?ghting for space as drivers cracked their whips, and angens turned to nip at one another. Kufu’s chariot shook, and loose gear clattered, as competing chariots closed in from both sides. “Watch out!” Norr shouted, and pointed across the driver’s chest.
Rebo turned to his left, saw that a green-clad passenger was in the process of bringing a double-barreled shotgun to bear, and readied one of two pistols requisitioned from Kufu’s armory. They weren’t identical, as the previous pair had been, but each weapon had certain advantages. The 9mm Tombo barked twice, the shotgunner collapsed against the driver, and the entire rig veered away.
Nor were the off-worlders the only ones forced to defend themselves as more than fi?fty chariots converged on the entry point and became part of a confused mass of wildly thrashing angens, screaming drivers, and murderous tomb raiders. In the meantime fi?rearms boomed, banged, and popped even as a hot-air balloon drifted in over the crowd and three green-clad norms began to rappel toward the ground. They were only halfway down when a group of multicolored wings took offense and opened fi?re on the orangestriped envelope. Hot air escaped through dozens of holes, and the pilot fi?red wildly as the quickly defl?ating airship collapsed onto the tightly packed mob below. “Come on!” Rebo yelled over the surrounding din. “Let’s proceed on foot!”
Norr nodded, reached back to draw her sword, and followed the runner as he jumped to the ground. It felt strange to enter the melee without Hoggles at her back, but the sensitive thought she could feel the heavy’s protective presence and felt better as a result. The majority of the tomb raiders had abandoned their chariots by then and were busy fi?ghting their way forward. Most were focused on entering the newly revealed passageway rather than battling their competitors but there were exceptions, and Rebo heard the occasional bang as someone fi?red a weapon at point-blank range. Those who were lucky fell dead—whereas the wounded were often trampled to death as the mob pressed forward. The runner tried to avoid stepping on the bodies, but that was increasingly diffi?cult to do, and there was more than one occasion when Rebo felt fl?esh give under his boots.
Then, like some subterranean monster, the steeply sloping ramp opened its dark maw to swallow the tomb raiders whole. Rebo and Norr were jostled back and forth as oil-fed lanterns were lit, cell-powered glow lights came on, and handheld fl?ares were hoisted high. The off-worlders still had their trusty squeeze lights, but felt no need to use them so long as the rest of the tomb raiders were willing to illuminate the ramp for them. A trio of metal men, their eyes aglow, brushed past.
In marked contrast to the pyramid’s richly decorated interior, the walls to either side of the ramp bore little more than badly faded admonitions to activate headlights, watch for oncoming traffi?c, and obey the posted speed limit. There was some graffi?ti, however, including one entry that might have been spray-painted onto the wall during the fi?nal days of the plague, when Surface Ramp-47 had been packed with infected people all trying to fi?nd a way out of the doomed city. It read, why, god? why us?
But Norr saw no answers as the ramp leveled out and gave way to what might have been some sort of checkpoint, before splitting into half a dozen competing two-lane pathways. Orders were shouted, and blobs of light wobbled over ancient walls as teams of loot-hungry tomb raiders plunged into the branching corridors. All according to protocols established by their patrons. But the truth was that every pathway would lead them to artifacts! Because Sogol wanted the thieves to succeed and had gone to considerable lengths to make sure that they would.
Unlike the rest, however, Rebo and Norr were after one particular artifact. That’s why they stood off to one side and let the others rush by. The light level began to drop as Norr removed the ring from her belt pouch, and most of the mob surged past. The fi?rst thing Rebo noticed as he began to squeeze the glow light’s curved handle
