Chapter 607:

We decided that in an emergency, the three of us should take on the task. The ship is in charge of the operating room staff, Adjutant Cove Skoll, and a capable, calm-headed man. We gave him the final instructions when we left the ship early the next morning:
"Score, we put you on unusual responsibilities. The emergency makes it necessary, or at least desirable, for Mr. Corey, Mr. Kincaid, and myself to leave the ship. Mr. Hendricks has left; therefore, it will be You are responsible.
"Stayed here for five days; if we didn't come back then, please go to the base and report the situation there. The log will show you full authority to take action."
"Very good, sir!" He saluted him as we passed through the airlock, which protected from the unpleasant atmosphere, armed only with atomic pistols, and carried concentrated rations and fuel on our belts.
We went straight to the biggest mine, and the locals looked at us with sneaky and unfriendly eyes. A large group of people wandered around the entrance of the mine, and when we approached, they tightened their ranks, as if they were preventing us from passing.
"We will bluff," I whispered. "They know the uniforms there. There is no leader."
"I want to swing at one of them," Corey growled. "I don't like their looks, not at all. But as you said, sir."
Our bluff worked. We marched toward the crowd as if we hadn't noticed them at all, and they slowly and reluctantly opened a way for us, closing behind us at a rather uncomfortable speed. To my regret, we did not take the landers from El Tak.
However, we won through landmines without violence, but here, a huge Laconian man who seemed very capable raised his hand and blocked our way.
"Sir, let me deal with him," Corey said from the corner of his mouth. "I know a little of their language."
"Yes." I nodded. "Become stronger!"
Walking forward, his head stretched out, his thumb hooked over his belt, and his right hand hinted at the automatic pistol. He tapped something in an unpleasant gesture, and the tall Laconian answered angrily.
"He said it was an order," Corey commented on his shoulder. "Now I tell him who places the order near here!"
He approached the Laconian and spoke very briefly. The Laconian took a step back, hesitated, and began to reply. Stopped him without saying a word, and motioned us to follow him. The guard looked at us suspiciously and angrily, but he let us pass.
"He told me," Corey explained, "she has given the order. She didn't give her a name, but we can guess it, yes. I told him that if she wants to say something to us, she can do it herself We are not afraid of her, he or all the Laconians who have ever drunk green soup and call it air. He is a simple soul, easy to make a deep impression. So we passed."
"Very good," I praised him. "In any case, this is an auspicious beginning."
The head of the mine is awesome, isn’t it the usual vertical axis; as told us, this is a big ramp of less than forty-five degrees, leading to the ground, green from the metal bracket fixed on the wall The flame jet illuminates and feeds the gas station with uninterrupted natural interaction. The height and width of the aisles vary, but the floor-to-ceiling height is at least three times my height and wide enough in the narrowest place that ten people may easily get together.
From the ground, the floor was flattened obviously through human effort, but from other evidence, the corridor is completely natural, because there are no traces of tools on the shiny black rock walls.
Every once in a while, the other passages diverged from the main passage we followed at a larger or smaller angle, but these passages were much narrower and had apparently been cut into the hard rock. Like the central passage, they were completely abandoned.
"We will be out on the other side soon," Corey commented after a continuous decline for about 20 minutes. "This tunnel must always go through. I-what's that?"
We stopped and listened. A soft whisper came from behind us, and we could not determine its nature.
Kincaid said solemnly: "The sound sounds like a multi-foot shaking, far behind."
I suggest: "Or, more likely, the air swept through the corners of those smaller passages." "This is a vent. Or it could just be a combination of all these flame nozzles."
"Maybe you are right, sir." Corey nodded. "In any case, we don't have to worry, unless we have to. Do I think we will move on?"
"This seems to be all that needs to be done; soon we should enter one of the large underground rooms mentioned by Fetters."
A factual problem, it was only a minute or two later, we turned the curve in the corridor and found ourselves looking for a huge open space, supporting the roof through huge pillars of black stone, the floor and rock fragments scattered and workers Throw away mining tools.
Kincaid said, "I think this is where they mined from the porphyry mine." He picked up a loose rock. He pointed to a soft, fragile gray metal stain, greasy in appearance, showing the surface of the specimen he picked up. "That's it, sir, this brings us all the trouble: it's almost pure metal ethidium." He dropped the fragments and looked at it curiously. "But," he added, "where are the miners?"
"I tend to believe that we will find the answer before going back," said harshly. "Everything is going very well; the trouble just piles up somewhere."
I commented: "It remains to be seen." "Let's move on and see what goes beyond. That looks like a similar door at the other end. Maybe it will lead us to something more interesting."
"I hope so." Corey growled. "This underground business makes me nervous!"
The door I saw was a huge light yellow-green metal plate. I stopped and put my hand on the simple latch.
"Stand aside," I said softly. "Let's see what happened."
I lifted the latch and the heavy door opened inward. Cautiously, I stared at the portal. There is darkness and silence inside. Somewhere in the distance, I can see two or three tiny pinhole green lights.
I said: "In any case, we will look around." "Follow me carefully and prepare to take action. It looks good, but somehow I don't like the appearance of things."
In a single file, we passed the huge door, the light from the large room outside flowed in front of us, and our shadows were long and grotesque, moving on the rocky floor in front of us.
Then, all of a sudden, I realized that the light path ahead was shrinking. I quickly turned around. The door must be closed!
When I turned around, the surrounding lights roared, and the strong light shot into our eyes with almost tangible power. A strong cry echoed on the vaulted ceiling. Before we could move or cry, there were dozens of small gears on both sides.
"Curse!" Roaring Corey. "If I only use my fists, wait a minute!"
^ The group is in a great cave, the largest I have ever seen. Huge bubbles were blown into the lava by the powerful gas from the boiling world.
The roof is invisible above us, and the floor slopes slowly towards the central steps in all directions, so that its details are lost to us. From the center of the prairie, a huge green flame pillar hangs high in the air, twenty times higher than human beings. Raconis sat on the sloping floor of the cave.
There are hundreds, thousands, and thousands, and they are silent and motionless like death. They ignore us. They knelt down, everyone in his place, staring at the green flame.
If you like the best trick or treat system, please collect it: (EbookFREE.me) The best trick or treat system has the fastest literary update.