"That's a rea/pigrim. Bird about the size of your finger. Not dangerous." He laughed again and touched Paul's shoulder. "Better get moving." When they were all together at the wall, Karyn spoke in a low voice to Dorland.
"Once you're over, go directly across the courtyard and through the archway. Then you'll be inside the temple."
Dorland nodded.
"The sentries will be back in a few minutes," Karyn said, her eyes on Dorland. Paul was suddenly struck by the realization that she wasn't happy with this plan either. "You can still change your mind. Nobody would blame you."
Dorland didn't say anything. Karyn's eyes remained on him a moment longer; then she signaled to the others, crossed the roadway at a crouching run and melted into the shadows. Paul hesitated as Selmer and Jacque followed her. He peered over the wall at the temple. Then he heard nearby voices, and his heart began to hammer inside his chest. The voices were those of young men, but Paul knew they couldn't be the sentries back this early. From their direction, it was clear that the boys were coming down the other side of the wall toward the corner. When they reached the cover, the boys would surely see him and Dorland
crouched there against the wall.
For a frozen moment they hesitated; then
Dorland grasped the wall and pulled himself over. Paul turned for a quick, panicky glance toward the black shadows across the roadway "where he knew r
98 William Greenleaf
Karyn and the others waited. Then the voices came closer and he knew he didn't have a choice. He followed Dorland over the wall, landed off balance on a hard surface and nearly fell. Dorland's hands were on his arm, steadying him. They waited, panting, staring at each other.
A voice came from just on the other side of the walclass="underline" "We can't go in through the gate. They'll know we didn't get here in time. We were supposed to be here a half hour before the ceremony. Let's go over here."
Chapter Nine
PAUL AND DORLAND MADE THEIR WAY CAREFULLY
across the courtyard, hugging the shadows, balancing the need to get away from the boys who would be climbing over the wall behind them against the need to avoid falling over a bench or potted plant. Paul followed Dorland up the shallow steps and through the lighted archway, expecting at any moment to feel the sting of a dart between his shoulder blades.
The poison takes about thirty seconds, Selmer had told him. But I saw a man die from it and I can tell you that it's a long thirty seconds.
Inside the building, they moved quickly away from the entrance and stood still, listening. Silence. We were supposed to be here a half hour before the ceremony.
Paul hadn't stopped to think about the significance of the boy's statement, but now it was chillingly clear. A ceremony of some kind would be starting here before long. Which meant that he and Dorland would have to figure out a way to get out of here fast!
99
100
CLARION 101
William Greenleaf
He looked around, taking stock of the room. The inner walls and the floor were covered with dark, highly polished wood. Only the ceiling and outer wall appeared to be of the pink-veined stone of which the domes were made. Paul looked closer at the wall. It was featureless. He'd expected to see the lines of stone blocks, but there was no hint of how the building was constructed.
The layout fitted Karyn's description. To the left was a low, wide archway that led into another room. The light came from there. On the right side of the entry was a heavy wooden door that stood open. Through it Paul could see a short passageway that led to a gentle curve of stairs.
Paul touched Dorland's shoulder and turned
toward that door. He had no way of knowing
exactly what kind of ceremony would take place, but, based on what Selmer and Karyn had told him, chances were good it would be held inside the sacred chamber. That was a solid enough reason to avoid going in there.
Then he stopped when he realized that Dorland hadn't moved. He stood stiffly with his arms down at his sides, staring into the lighted room.
"Let's go!" Paul hissed. Then he heard the boy's voice again just outside the arched entrance:
"—sure I saw someone come across here—" Paul pushed down the surge of panic and realized that he and Dorland had only two choices; they could follow the planned escape route by turning right and going up the stairs, or they could turn left into the sacred chamber. Taking the stairs would make them visible for several seconds to anyone who glanced through the entrance—and a perfect target.
Too risky. He urged Dorland through the archway into the sacred chamber. It was a large room, and he wasn't surprised to see that it was circular. Like the outer chamber, the walls and floors were of varying shades of gleaming wood. Globes on the far wall provided feeble light. Set against the wall under the globes were several large wooden cabinets. The two men stood listening to the unnatural sound of their own breathing.
Cleve described strange pedestals before he died, Sabastian had said. And the chauka. Paul took it all in—the pedestals scattered around the room, the large dish of the chauka dominating the center.
"The sacred chamber," Dorland said softly.
"Where live the Tal Tahir."
Despite his anxiety, Paul felt something close to awe. He told himself: This was constructed by alien beings. Then: For what purpose7 He pulled his jacket more tightly across his chest. But the chill he felt didn't have anything to do with the temperature of the room. He had never visited the two planets where the remnants of other intelligents had been found, yet he was sure that nothing was as well preserved as this.
"Elder Jamis taught us that the Tal Tahir come to provide insight," Dorland said softly. "It is through them that all things come to pass on our world. It is through them that all things will eventually come to pass everywhere." His head moved slowly, his eyes dark and unreadable as he looked around the chamber. "I have never come to this place, but I have seen the pedestals."
"Yeah, well." Now that he'd had a chance to survey the room, Paul was becoming aware again that the immediate danger lay not in the strange pedestals or the device called the chauka, but in the young boys outside the building and in the deacons and elders who would be coming before long for the ceremony.
The only door to the chamber was the one they 102
William Greenleaf CLARION 103
had come through. Paul moved closer to it and heard the murmur of voices in the courtyard. He turned back to Dorland. "We have to get out of here."
Dorland gave him a distracted look. "Yes. The ceremony."
Cleve Quintan saw something that made him lose his mind. . . .
But there wasn't a way out. The boys were just outside the door. If Sabastian was right, they weren't allowed to come inside the temple. Young boys don't always do as they're told, Paul thought. If the boys thought they'd seen somebody come in here, they were probably watching through the door. Which meant Paul and Dorland couldn't risk making a run for the stairway.
Cleve Quinton saw something . . .
Paul shook his head. His eyes went to the cabinets that lined the back wall. There were six of them, and each looked as if it had been made from thick planks of green-tinged wood. Fine carvings—
symbols and figures that made no sense to Paul—
had been cut in vertical strips that ran the length of the double doors on three of the cabinets. The other three had strips of glass or something similar set into the doors. The cabinets were huge—there should be more than enough room inside for Paul and Dorland.
Paul shook away the dark feeling of dread that had settled over him and crossed the room to the cabinet in the comer, farthest from the chauka. Round metal knobs served as handles. The doors swung open with a faint rasping sound. Inside, Paul found deep wooden shelves that were covered with tiny figurines.