The Caverns of Kronos

Kronosia - Part 6

     It took another two days for the Konnen General to get a pair of uniforms adapted to fit them, and then they were ready to go. They used the airlocks in Hewlak sector, guarded by Hewlak soldiers, but since House Hewlak had long been an ally of House Konnen Sejanus’s authority was respected there just as much as in his own sector and they were allowed through without question.

     “This is a secret mission,” the General warned the guards on duty, “So you will say nothing of this to anyone, not even your commanding officers. I hope you understand.” The soldiers trembled under his gaze and assured him that they did.

     A few minutes later they were through the airlock and in the dead park cavern beyond. Not the same park cavern they’d passed through on their first arrival in the moon city but the one next to it, turned at right angles to it so that the four park caverns formed an almost continuous ring separating the outer residential ring of the city from the inner ‘town hall’ area.

     Shaun had forgotten how eerie it was to walk through vacuum, in total silence except for those sounds generated inside his own body and surrounded by the tortured, mutilated corpses of those unfortunates who’d been in the cavern at the time of the great disaster, so he was relieved when they arrived at the row of airlocks on the other side and passed through into breathable air again. Shaun went straight to the room in which they’d first found the necklaces but, as they’d expected, the cabinet was empty.

     “He came and took the rest,” said Matthew in disappointment. “Oh well, we had to try.”

     They then went to the huge ore storage room, climbed the long staircase and entered the old observatory on the surface of the tiny moon.

     “Hard to believe that this was the very first occupied structure on Kronos,” mused Shaun to himself. “It was here before the city, before the moon trogs, even before the mines. This place must be well over a thousand years old.”

     “Do you think it’s safe?” asked Matthew nervously. “It’s not going to suddenly develop an air leak or something, is it?”

     “It’s been here this long,” replied Shaun. “I expect it’s got a few good years left in it yet. Come on.”

     He led the way over to the teleportation chamber. He tugged the door, just in case the locking spells had faded again during the interval, but the door was still solidly shut. He shrugged and took out the key. “Now then, what did Tom say? Dammit, this should be him here, doing this. What do I know about magical artefacts?”

     “The wizard is far too puny and skinny to pass as a soldier,” replied the General. “If we'd gotten our hands on him while still a child we would have exercised him, drilled him. Put some muscle on his bones. Now though…”

     “Yeah,” said the woodsman. “So, what did he say? Touch it to the very centre of the door and press.”

     He did so, but nothing happened. He tried again with the same result and his heart began to sink; a sick, nauseating sensation. He tapped it against the door again and again with steadily greater force, each time accomplishing nothing more than a dull thud, then stopped to stare at Matthew, his eyes wide with fear. He'd done something wrong! Maybe he’d ruined it, trapped them all up there forever! It should have been Thomas…

     “Try it the other way around,” suggested Sejanus.

     Shaun stared at him with new hope and chagrin at his own stupidity, but also with new anxiety. If he tried it the other way round and it still didn't work…

     The key sank effortlessly into the metal surface of the door until only the jewel encrusted end was still visible. “It works!” he cried in joy. “It is the key!” He turned it ninety degrees clockwise and the jewels were briefly lit by an inner glow, the magical equivalent, they assumed, to the click of tumblers moving in an ordinary lock. Shaun then removed the key, leaving a firm, unblemished surface on the door where it had been, and pulled at the handle with a trembling hand. The door opened easily.