He hesitated. He could either turn back now, or gamble his life on the accuracy of the tentative belief. The girl was calling to him again.
“Come to the end of the corridor!” he replied.
She came hurriedly, to his surprise.
“No!” he bellowed. “Stay back of the entrance! Not on the tile! No!”
Slowly she withdrew the foot that hung poised over a trigger-tile.
“You can’t come in unless you know how,” he gasped.
She blinked at him and glanced nervously back over her shoulder. “But I hear them. They’re coming down the stairs.”
Asir cursed softly. Now he had to go ahead.
“Wait just a minute,” he said. “Then I’ll show you how to come through.”
He advanced to the last tile that he had tested and stopped. The next two numbers were two—for straight ahead. And they would take him within easy reach of the long taloned arms of the murderous sentinel. He glanced around in fright at the crushed bones scattered across the floor. Some were human. Others were animal-sacrifices tossed in by the priests.
He had tested only one two—back near the door. If he made a mistake, he would never escape; no need bothering with the pike.
He stepped to the next tile and closed his eyes.
“If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill.”
He opened his eyes again and heaved a breath of relief.
“Asir! They’re getting closer! I can hear them!”
He listened for a moment. A faint murmur of angry voices in the distance. “All right,” he said calmly. “Step only on the tiles I tell you. See the gray one at the left of the door?”
She pointed. “This one?”
“Yes, step on it.”
The girl moved up and stared fearfully at the monstrous sentinel. He guided her up toward him. “Diagonally left—one ahead—diagonally right. Now don’t be frightened when he speaks—”
The girl came on until she stood one square behind him. Her quick frightened breathing blended with the growing sounds of shouting from the stairway. He glanced up at Big Joe, noticing for the first time that the steel jaws were stained with a red-brown crust. He shuddered.
The grim chess-game continued a cautious step at a time, with the girl following one square behind him. What if she fainted again? And fell across a triggered tile? They passed within a foot of Big Joe’s arm.
Looking up, he saw the monster’s eyes move—following them, scrutinizing them as they passed. He froze.
“We want no plunder,” he said to the machine.
The gaze was steady and unwinking.
“The air is leaking away from the world.”
The monster remained silent.
“Hurry!” whimpered the girl. Their pursuers were gaining rapidly and they had crossed only half the distance to the opposing doorway. Progress was slower now, for Asir needed occasionally to repeat through the whole series of numbers, looking back to count squares and make certain that the next step was not a fatal one.
“They won’t dare to come in after us,” he said hopefully.
“And if they do?”
“If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill,” announced the machine as Asir took another step.
“Eight squares to go!” he muttered, and stopped to count again.
“Asir! They’re in the corridor!”
Hearing the rumble of voices, he looked back to see blue-robed men spilling out of the stairway and milling down the corridor toward the room. But halfway down the hall, the priests paused—seeing the unbelievable: two intruders walking safely past their devil-god. They growled excitedly among themselves. Asir took another step. Again the machine voiced the monotonous warning.
“If the intruder makes an error. …”
Hearing their deity speak, the priests of Big Joe babbled wildly and withdrew a little. But one, more impulsive than the rest, began shrieking.
“Kill the intruders! Cut them down with your spears!”
Asir glanced back to see two of them racing toward the room, lances cocked for the throw. If a spear struck a trigger-tile—
“Stop!” he bellowed, facing around.
The two priests paused. Wondering if it would result in his sudden death, he rested a hand lightly against the huge steel arm of the robot, then leaned against it. The huge eyes were staring down at him, but Big Joe did not move.
The spearmen stood frozen, gaping at the thief’s familiarity with the horrendous hulk. Then, slowly they backed away.
Continuing his bluff, he looked up at Big Joe and spoke in a loud voice. “If they throw their spears or try to enter, kill them.”
He turned his back on the throng in the hall and continued the cautious advance. Five to go, four, three, two—
He paused to stare into the room beyond. Gleaming machinery—all silent—and great panels, covered with a multitude of white circles and dials. His heart sank. If here lay the magic that controlled the Blaze of the Great Wind, he could never hope to rekindle it.
He stepped through the doorway, and the girl followed. Immediately the robot spoke like low thunder.
“The identity of the two technologists is recognized. Hereafter they may pass with impunity. Big Joe is charged to ask the following: why do the technologists come, when it is not yet time?”
Staring back, Asir saw that the robot’s head had turned so that he was looking directly back at the thief and the girl. Asir also saw that someone had approached the door again. Not priests, but townspeople.
He stared, recognizing the Chief Commoner, and the girl’s father Welkir, three other Senior Kinsmen, and—Slubil, the executioner who had nailed him to the post.
“Father! Stay back.”
Welkir remained silent, glaring at them. He turned and whispered to the Chief Commoner. The Chief Commoner whispered to Slubil. The executioner nodded grimly and took a short-axe from his belt thong. He stepped through the entrance, his left foot striking the zero-tile. He peered at Big Joe
