The silence afterwards was punctuated with a faint hum from the coffins. The silence was broken by Areex. "This place must be a Pillar ship. Maybe it's for invasion?"
That was when Ank started studying the console. "Touchscreen, so this isn't an ancient Pillar ship. There's a file on here."
Ank tapped on the file. It showed a document written in Pillarian. "...Conquest of the Desmaal Spiral. On key worlds throughout the Spiral, ships will be placed. These ships will take the appearance of temples, monasteries, and other buildings. After several thousand years, a cloaked Prime Fleet ship will enter into the Spiral and send out an activation signal. This signal will activate the ships and release their crews from stasis. They will then fan out and... Kill anyone they see. Signed, Overseer Purpiarr"
Ank walked back from the console in shock. "This entire palace was meant as a prelude to an invasion. Mass murder, even"
"It's what the Pillars know best" replied Areex. "We've got to stop this"
Ank turned back to the console, studying it intently. "...I've got something! There's a direct control for the temperature. I should be able to fry the Pillars using this." Ank then cranked the temperature to the maximum it could go.
Inside of the pods, the Pillars awoke. They began to stretch out - the orders that they had been given still fresh in their minds. They then went to rip open the lids of the coffins.
That was when they felt the temperature rising. Extremely quickly. Several seconds later, the Pillars began to feel their bodies melting.
As the coffins began to glow, the Pillars died - their bodies evaporating shortly afterwards.
After this was done, Ank sat back down at the console. "Now that the Pillars are gone, it's time to stop the heating". She pressed the stop button. Nothing happened. She tapped it again. Still nothing
After several seconds of furious tapping she then realised something. "Oh this isn't good. The temperature controls are stuck. And there's a self-destruct that will enable once they reach the highest temperature. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll die along with all of the artefacts in here in the biggest fireball this planet has ever known."
YOU ARE READING
The Palace of Death
Science Fiction"I'd prefer if I had my own body while being shot at!" The Palace: A huge building sitting on a desolate and uninhabited island. Its interior has never been broken by the outside world. Until now. Joining in on an archaeological expedition to the Pa...
