“I want everybody to take one of the cards that Gil is holding,” Ambrose said. “I know they’re a bit of a long shot, but we’re playing so many long shots that one more won’t make any difference.” He took one of the placards and held it up. The design, heavily drawn in black, consisted of three elements—a close-pitched sine wave, and an arrow which pointed from it to another sine wave of much wider pitch.
“This banner with the strange device symbolises the conversion of light to sound.” He looked at Quig and Culver. “I think its meaning is quite clear, don’t you?”
Quig nodded doubtfully. “Provided the Avernians have eyes and provided they know something about acoustics and provided they have developed a wave theory of light and provided they use electronics and provided…”
“Don’t go on, Des—I’ve already admitted that the chances aren’t good. But there’s so much at stake that I’m prepared to try anything.”
“Okay. I don’t mind carrying a card/ Quig said, “but I’m mainly interested in getting photographs. I think that’s the most we can hope for.” He tapped the camera which was slung round his neck.
“That’s all right—I appreciate any help I can get at this stage.” Ambrose glanced at his watch. “There’s only about a quarter of an hour to go—the Avernians must akeady be in the lower levels of the mine—so let’s take up our stations. Sound carries well in these tunnels, but the acoustics aren’t good, so don’t go more than about a hundred metres from the central shaft. Keep wearing your Amplites, turn off all flashlights ten minutes from now, and don’t forget to holler at the top of your voice if you find what we’re looking for.”
There was another general laugh which filled Snook with a perverse malice—he wondered how many of the group would still be amused when, and if, the Avernians kept their appointment. He started for the south pipe, then noticed that Prudence was walking beside him on her way to an adjoining branch. She was carrying a card and a flashlight, but her slim figure and salon clothing were incongruous against the backdrop of rock surfaces and mine machinery. Snook felt an unwanted pang of concern.
“Are you going in there alone?” he said.
“Don’t you think I should?” Her face was inscrutable behind the blue lenses of her Amplites.
“Frankly, no.”
The curvature of her lips altered. “I didn’t see you showing much concern for my safety when your friends were having their bit of fun at the gate.”
“My friends!” Snook was so taken aback by the unfairness of the remark that he was unable to frame a sentence before Prudence was flitting away along the tunnel. He stared after her, lips moving silently, then went on his separate way, swearing inwardly at his own foolishness for having spoken.
The deposits of diamond-bearing clay had been wide and deep here, and its removal had left the semblance of a natural underground cavern. Parasonic projectors turned rock and clay into dust, without affecting the harder material of diamonds, and they had another advantage in that they did not split or strain the rock structures, which meant that little shoring was required. Snook followed the curvature of the spacious tunnel until he estimated he had gone a hundred metres, then he stopped and lit a cigarette. A very small amount of illumination reached this far from the fluorescent tubes in the main shaft, but his Amplites transformed it into a visible wall of light which he felt might be strong enough to screen out any ghosts which appeared. Accordingly, he turned his back to the light and stood facing the darkest part of the tunnel. Even then, the glow of his cigarette was almost unbearably bright when seen through the magniluct glasses. Snook ground the cigarette out under his foot and stood perfectly still, waiting.
A few minutes went by, like so many hours, then—without warning—a large glowing bird emerged at speed from the wall beside his head, flashed silently across his field of view, and disappeared into the sculpted rock at the far side of the tunnel. Its image had been faint, but he had the impression that he had still been able to see it for a second after it entered the wall, as though the stone itself was becoming lacy and insubstantial.
Snatching for breath, he turned and looked back towards the main shaft. The wall of bluish light was there as before, but now it had several darker rectangles in it. Snook frowned, wondering why he had not noticed the angular patches before, then came the realisation that he was looking at the outline of windows.
“This way!” he shouted, sick with apprehension, yet unable to prevent himself running forward. “South tunnel! There’s something in the south tunnel!”
He headed straight for one of the dim rectangles, hesitated briefly, and plunged through the vertical barrier of radiance. An Avernian was standing before him, cradling an indistinct object in its arms, the complex folds of its robes fluttering slightly in a breeze which did not exist on Earth. Its eyes rotated slowly near the top of the tufted head, and the wide mouth was partially open.
“Hurry up,” Snook bellowed. “I’m in a room with one of them!”
“Hold on, Gil,” came a reassuring, echoing reply from the distance.
The voice contact with another human being eased the churning in Snook’s mind. He made a conscious effort to be observant, and saw that the Avernian seemed taller than the others. He glanced down at its feet and discovered that the horizontal plane of milky blue radiance which was the Avernian’s floor was on a level with his own knees. As he watched, the level crept slowly up his thighs. At the rate of movement the ghostly floor would soon be above Snook’s head. He looked around the room and picked out shapes that were recognisably furniture, a table and chairs of curious proportions. The Avernian swayed slightly, in a nameless dance, unaware that its privacy was being violated by a watcher from another universe.
“Hurry up, for Christ’s sake,” Snook shouted. “Where are you, Boyce?”
“Right here.” The voice came from close at hand, and Snook saw human figures moving. “The machine was heavier than I thought. Stand still—I’m going to try to light you up for him. There! Now hold the card above your head and move it around.”
Snook had forgotten about his placard. The pool of faint luminance had reached his chest, but its rate of climb had decreased. He raised the card above his head, then moved to the side so that he was facing the alien figure.
His eyes looked into the Avernian’s. The Avernian’s eyes looked into his. And nothing happened.
I’m not real, Snook thought. I don’t exist.
“This isn’t working,” he called out to Ambrose. “There’s no reaction.”
“Don’t give up—I’m increasing the field intensity.”
“Okay.” There was a clicking of cameras in the background.
Snook noticed that the floor level of the other room was beginning to sink down his body again, then it dawned on him that the Avernian had not moved for several seconds, that its eyes were still fixed on him. The wide slash of its mouth writhed.
“I think something might be happening,” Snook said.
“Could be.” Ambrose had moved until he was standing beside Snook in the extra-dimensional room.
The alien turned abruptly, the first rapid action Snook had seen any of its kind perform, and strode across the floor. It appeared to sit at the table and there were movements of the oddly jointed arms. The translucent floor level continued to fall until it had merged with the rock floor of the tunnel, then the Avernian’s webbed feet began to sink into it.
“There isn’t much time left,” Ambrose said. “I think we were wrong to expect a reaction.”