en disappeared without any logical explanation,
needed thinking on. Murdock pulled the prisoner, who was now reviving,
to the far end of the room and then went back to the plate with the
persistence of a man who refused to treat with ghosts and wanted
something concrete to explain the unexplainable. Though he rubbed his
hands across the smooth surface of the plate, it did not light up
again.

His captive having writhed himself half out of the corner of the room,
Ross debated the wisdom of another silencing--say a tap on the skull
with the heavy hilt of his dagger. Deciding against it because he might
need a guide, he freed the victim's ankle bonds and pulled him to his
feet, holding the dagger ready where the man could see it. Were there
any more surprises to be encountered in this place, Assha's double would
test them first.

The door did not lead to the same corridor, or even the same kind of
corridor Ross had passed through moments earlier. Instead they entered a
short passage with walls of some smooth stuff which had almost the sheen
of polished metal and were sleek and cold to the touch. In fact, the
whole place was chill, chill as river water in the spring.

Still herding the prisoner before him, Ross came to the nearest door and
looked within, to be faced by incomprehensible frames of metal rods and
boxes. Rossa of the traders marveled and stared, but again, he realized
that what he saw was not altogether strange. Part of one wall was a
board on which small lights flashed and died, to flash again in winks of
bright color. A mysterious object made of wire and disks hung across the
back of a chair standing near-by.

The bound man lurched for the chair and fell, rolling toward the wall.
Ross pushed him on until he was hidden behind one of the metal boxes.
Then he made the rounds of the room, touching nothing, but studying what
he could not understand. Puffs of warm air came in through grills near
the floor, but the room had the same general chill as the hall outside.

Meanwhile the lights on the board had become more active, flashing on
and off in complex patterns. Ross now heard a buzzing, as if a swarm of
angry insects were gathered for an attack. Crouching beside his captive,
Ross watched the lights, trying to discover the source of the sound.

The buzz grew shriller, almost demanding. Ross heard the tramp of heavy
footgear in the corridor, and a man entered the room, crossing
purposefully to the chair. He