Entering the Weave
The Chamber of the Unholy Beasts

Josh woke early the next day, long before the sun hadrisen, but he was still not the first up. Crawling out of his tent he saw SirTrevor silhouetted against the dawn sky, gazing across the valley at themountain of Wayna Picchu, hands clasped behind his back and bouncing himself upon his toes. A fleeting wisp of memory tugged at Josh’s mind, but as soon as heregistered the thought it was gone.

Josh sat at the entrance to his tent and watched thecamp bustle into life. The porters and guides had done this many times beforeand they knew their jobs, but the scientists and security guards fromTech-Tonic still managed to get in the way and slow things down.

Even with the help of Josh’s dad and the otherscientists the camp was dismantled fairly quickly and before long Josh foundhimself trying to attach a rucksack to his father, while everyone else troopedinto the ruins.

“Come on, Josh.” Sir Trevor’s voice called from thefront of the expedition. “We don’t want to waste the morning, do we?”

Eventually, after Josh’s dad had decided to carry therucksack like a briefcase, they set off after everybody else. Even though theywere someway behind and eager to see what was going to happen today, theydidn’t want to rush. Josh had never seen such an amazing place in his life.

The village was built high on a ridge overlooking narrowvalleys on either side. Larger mountains crowded around in all directions. Theruins themselves were well preserved and had been carefully looked afterrecently, with well tended lawns between the buildings. They would have lookedspectacular anywhere else in the world, but with the enormous fang of WaynaPicchu looming above them, the scene was truly breathtaking. The mountain wasdwarfed by some of its surrounding neighbours, but its sheer jaggedness anddizzying proximity gave it an imposing eminence.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Josh’s dad repeated. “I mean,really amazing.”

Josh nodded again. He felt uplifted by the scenery. Hewanted to explore every nook of the ancient city and then roam around the area,but he remembered Geigerzalion and they walked a little faster so they wouldn’tbe left too far behind.

They caught up with the rest of the party on the farside of the city where a narrow path led along the ridge and up the seeminglyimpassable sides of Wayna Picchu.

Professor Ackermann and the other scientists weresetting up an array of what looked like satellite dishes which were allpointing up the path. The professor made some final adjustments and then, afterreceiving a nod from Sir Trevor, he flicked a switch and the machinery whirredinto life.

A deep hum reverberated about the clearing as thedishes slowly turned like flowers following the sun. Josh didn’t know what wasgoing on, but he could feel the tension beginning to fill the air as tangiblyas the sound of the machines.

Sir Trevor stood with his arms crossed again anddrummed his elbows impatiently with his fingers. “Is this working, Ackermann?”

“We will have to be waiting for a while, but I amthinking that, yes, it is working.”

The sound disappeared with a sudden whine, and ashower of sparks erupted from one of the machines. The professor scurried overto the smoking dish and wafted a clipboard at it. Sir Trevor looked skywardsmuttering.

“How long will it take to repair it, Ackermann?” Therewas a savage tone in Sir Trevor’s voice.

“Not long. Not long. I can see the problem. Twohours.”

“Make it one hour.” He turned to the rest of the groupsmiling. There was no trace of anger now and Josh wondered if he had imaginedit. “Well guys, I guess you’ve got an opportunity to take a look at the ruins.Any of you the professor doesn’t need, that is. But can you all make sure tocome back here in an hour?”

There was a mumble of consent. Most people unslungtheir rucksacks and sat on them, but Josh was thrilled. A hour to explore!

He looked up the mountain and spotted an outcrop ofrock not far up the path that should give him a splendid view of the layout ofthe buildings. He dropped his bag and started up the path.

“Josh?” Kat had appeared by his side. “Where are yougoing?”

He pointed at the ledge. “We’ll get a great view fromup there.”

The path was wider than it had looked from the ruinsand the climb was not difficult. After a few minutes Josh and Kat were sittingside by side overlooking the ancient city.

“We should have bought a guide book.” Josh said. “Idon’t know what any of the buildings are.”

“Does it matter?”

“I suppose not. I didn’t know anything like thisexisted. It’s amazing to think that all those years ago people lived theirlives here. They probably never left these valleys. Do you think they thoughtthe whole world was as beautiful as this?”

Josh didn’t hear the answer to his question. Ablinding pain exploded behind his eyes. He brought his hands to his foreheadtrying anything to change the feeling, pressing, pushing, trying to squeeze theagony away, but nothing made it better.

“Josh? Are you okay?”

He tried to speak, but couldn’t concentrate onanything but the pain. Bile rose in his throat and his stomach started to acheas his muscles protested from the constant tensing. He made a noise through hisnose, and slumped over on his side.

The pain vanished.

He lay still breathing hard, barely daring to breathein case the pain returned. Kat was kneeling by his side stroking his head.“What’s wrong Josh?”

“I’m okay.” He said, gingerly lifting his head fromthe coolness of the rock. “It was a headache. It’s gone.“

“You went as white as a sheet. I thought…”

“It hurt.” Josh said and he heard a little bit toomuch childishness in his voice. He flushed. “I’m alright now.”

“Good. Don’t scare me like that. Josh?”

Josh was staring up at the mountain with wide eyes.

“Josh?” Kat shook his shoulder.

“I know where we have to go. It’s like I’ve been herebefore. Come on, I’ve got to tell Sir Trevor.”

Josh ran hell for leather down the path, oblivious ofthe sheer cliffs to either side of him. His feet knew where every loose stonewas as if he had hurtled down the mountain a thousand times before.

He was breathless when he came to the semicircle ofmachines. The professor had his head actually inside one of them, and hisassistants were running around frantically.

“Where’s…Sir…Trevor?” He gasped. “I…”

“Here I am Josh. Calm down.” A firm hand settled onJosh’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? I don’t think the professor’s going to get thiscontraption working for a while yet.”

“I know where we have to go. I’ve been here before.”

Sir Trevor looked surprised. “You truly are aremarkable young man Josh. Can you lead the way?”

Kat stamped into the clearing. “Well, thank you verymuch Josh. Leaving me on the side of a mountain like that.”

“Please, Katrina.” Sir Trevor snapped and she glaredat him.

“Yes, I think so. There’s a tunnel around the side ofthe mountain that leads inside the mountain. We…I mean the people who used tolive here called it the Chamber of Unholy Beasts.”

“How far?”

“A couple of miles, I guess.”

“Well done Josh.” Sir Trevor clapped him on the back.“Professor, pack up what we need. We’ll move out in five minutes.” He smiled atJosh again and strode off purposely.

Josh looked about for Kat, but she had gone. His dadappeared next to him and pulled him away from everyone else.

“You’ve never been here before Josh. How do you knowabout all this?”

“I don’t know. I was just sitting up there andmemories just appeared in my head. I know they’re right. They’re real.” Hestarted to feel a little bit silly. He knew he had never been here before, sohow could he know? “Look I know what I’m talking about, right.”

His father withdrew his hands that had been resting onhis shoulders. “Josh?”

“Yeah?” The irritation was anger now. “Why don’t youbelieve me?”

“I do. I believe you.” His father said softly.

Josh sighed heavily.

“Just remember Josh, that there are forces at workhere that none of us understand.”

Josh nodded. He wasn’t angry anymore, but he couldn’tbring himself to apologise.

“Are we ready here, Josh? Thomas?” Sir Trevor had comeback.

“Yes, sir. Ready for the off.” Josh’s dad repliedquickly and they didn’t get chance to say much more to each other.

Sir Trevor ordered everyone to hurry up and generallymade a nuisance of himself until they had finally set off again around the sideof the mountain.

Most of the porters were local to the mountains andhad shepherded hundreds of tourists over the whole area of Machu Picchu. Noneof them had heard of the Chamber of the Unholy Beasts, which was causing somemuttering from the scientific members of the party. Sir Trevor, however, wavedtheir concerns aside and ordered the expedition to follow Josh wherever he ledthem.

The path was rocky and dangerous and Josh pressed onahead determinedly. He had seen and done things over the past few days that hadaltered his perception of reality, and he tried to convince himself that thisnew memory was just another aspect of what was happening.

Kat, who had been walking with his father, caught himup and smacked him in the back of the head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“You know what that was for Josh. You’re an idiot.”She sniffed primly, which was something he had never seen her do before. Herealised then that she had removed all her makeup and looked even morebeautiful.

“Well…I’m sorry.” He said rubbing his head and tryingfuriously not to look embarrassed. “You weren’t going to get lost or anything.”

“That’s not the point and you know it.” She lookedaway. “I was really worried about you.”

“I know. I am sorry Kat. I didn’t know what was goingon really, but I felt…” He stopped walking abruptly.

Sir Trevor was stooping by his side before he couldanswer. “You can still remember where you’re going, can’t you Josh?”

“Yes. The tunnel’s just up here.”

After a few minutes though, he came to a sudden haltand looked up. He didn’t recognise this place. There should have been ashoulder of rock with the path following it upwards, but the path now zigzaggeddown. He felt his insides squirming as he wondered how to tell Sir Trevor thathe was lost.

“Everything alright Josh?”

“Er… we should go up here.”

“Oh.” Sir Trevor eyed the sheer cliffs. “We have toclimb?”

Josh nodded doubtfully and looked at the rocks. Theylooked impossible to climb and he winced with embarrassment.

“Righto!” Sir Trevor was undeterred. “Lex!” He calledone of his burly henchmen forward. Like all the bodyguards he had swapped hisblack suit for jungle fatigues now and wore a belt that appeared to hold everyuseful device ever invented.

“Sir?”

“Can you clamber up there and replace our tunnel?”

“Yes, sir.” He whistled loudly and another brawny manpushed up the line and the two of them began to climb up the cliff. About fiftyfeet up Lex stopped and disappeared from view. A moment later his headreappeared.

“There’s a small cave here. It goes quite a way in.”

“Thank you, Lex. Can you rustle up something to helpus less able bodies get up there.”

“Yes sir.”

Josh watched the two men construct a winch and pulleysystem and marvelled at their no nonsense skill. He thought his imagination wasa very small thing when compared with this practical intelligence as beforelong scaffolding and platforms and ladders had been erected giving even theleast coordinated scientist access to the tunnel Lex had found.

“Is this it, Josh?” For the first time Sir Trevorsounded dubious.

“Yes. But I think perhaps just a few of us should goin to explore.”

“Sir. This cave cannot be more than a few metres deep.The rock formations indicate…” Dr Soames, a geologist dressed in a tweedjacket, began to protest, but seemed to rather run out of steam when confrontedby Sir Trevor’s withering glare.

“I’ve followed you so far Josh, and you haven’t leadus wrong. Lead on.” Sir Trevor passed him an enormous torch.

Josh clambered inside, followed by Kat and MrOakhampton. Josh heard other people scraping knees and banging elbows as theyentered but he wasn’t sure who was following. He hoped Coel and his father werethere.

The tunnel began to slope downwards more sharply andJosh stumbled. Only Kat’s reflexes prevented him from careering into theblackness ahead. He pointed the torch down at his feet and the light gleamedoff a metallic protrusion.

He knelt down to examine it more closely and wasquickly joined by Sir Trevor who was more or less crawling now.

“Well, there you are Josh. Never doubted you for asecond.” He said peering at the shiny mushroom that seemed to be growing out ofthe solid rock.

“What is it?” Kat asked.

“I couldn’t tell you my dear, but it certainly isn’tthe type of thing you’d usually replace in a cave. The professor will know.Professor!”

With much contortion and writhing the professormanaged to get a look at what had caused such a fuss. He was rather offhand tobegin with, as if whatever he was going to look at was a waste of his time. Hehad not been pleased when Sir Trevor had abandoned the machines and followedJosh’s whimsy up the mountain, but when he saw the object his attitude towardsJosh and the cave changed completely.

He produced what looked like a silver pencil fromalongside his neat row of biros in his breast pocket and gently touched themetallic mushroom with its end. The results he obtained must have been goodbecause he got even more excited.

“It is exactly the same compound the other spacecraftis being made from. Forgive my doubting, Joshua.” He stood up sharply to extenda hand of apology to Josh and cracked his head against the rock above him. Hiseyes rolled back and he slumped back down to the floor.

“Professor!” Sir Trevor shouted into the prostrateman’s face. “Wake up you loon.” But he didn’t wake up and a rivulet of bloodemerged from his hairline and trickled down his forehead.

“Oh well. He’ll be alright here I think. We’d betterpress on.”

“We can’t leave him here. He’s really hurt.” Kat wasappalled.

“Really? Oh I suppose you’re right.” Sir Trevor sigheda long suffering sigh. “Let’s carry him outside then.”

“We can’t do that either We shouldn’t move him.”

“Oh forgoodness sakes.” Sir Trevor’s voice conveyed considerable annoyance now. “It’sjust a bash on the head. He’ll be fine. Lex, Yakob take him outside.”

The two burly body guards, who seemed to fill theentire width of the tunnel, dragged the unconscious man back, before Kat couldprotest any more.

“We have proper doctors outside, Katrina. He’ll befine.” He patted Kat on her shoulder. “Come on, Josh.”

It was dim in the cave but Josh could plainly see theshock on Kat’s face. The professor’s breathing had been shallow and Joshsuspected the crack on his old head had done more damage than it would havedone to a younger man.

“Sir Trevor, can we just wait a minute and see if theprofessor’s all right?”

The tall man turned on Josh and stared wide eyed atthe boy. Josh had never seen such hateful anger directed at him and he stumbledbackwards, and this time Kat was not there to save him and he found himselftumbling down the passageway.

“Josh!”

Kat’s scream echoed after him, as he felt the damphardness of the tunnel biting into his shoulders and neck. He dropped the torchand it wheeled away as he slid down, flashing end over end ahead of him. Panicgripped him as he reached out on both sides, trying to gain purchase on theslippery rock. He cried out as every part of him seemed to crack against theunforgiving rock.

Time slowed down for him as he realised that he couldbe hurtling towards a chasm and he renewed his frantic efforts, not caringabout the damage he was doing to his hands, just scrabbling to stop himself byany means.

Something caught his ankle and he crumpled to a stopand the dimness of the tunnel was replaced by the blazing light of a torchshining directly into his eyes.

“Josh areyou alright? Are you hurt?” Sir Trevor’s face was only millimetres from hisown. “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to startle you. Please wake up.”

Josh felt as though the entire weight of the mountainwas crushing his bones. He tried to lift his head up and groaned with theeffort. He could not mistake the genuine look of relief in Sir Trevor’s eyes.Josh smiled weakly.

“I’m okay I think.” He managed to push himself up ontohis elbows, but a sharp splinter of pain in his leg made him slump onto hisback again with a whimper. “My leg…”

“Oh Josh!” Kat was peering at him from beyond his feetand he could see her cheeks glistening in the torchlight. “The doctor’scoming.”

He tried to smile back at her, but all he could managewas a pathetic grimace.

“Doctor, hurry up.” Sir Trevor bellowed back up thetunnel. Josh felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his dadkneeling beside him.

“How are you feeling Josh?” He smiled down at him andJosh felt the panic in his stomach settling. He smiled back more bravely now.

“Not that great, dad. I think I’ve broken my leg.”

“You’ll be fine. Look, the doctor’s here.”

The faces around him withdrew into the shadows to givethe doctor room to examine him. Josh closed his eyes as the firm hands proddedand pressed; he nodded responses to the few questions the doctor asked.

“Your ankle is sprained.” The doctor said eventually,“But it’ll heal. It’ll heal well. I’ll dress it here and then you need to restfor a while. Later we’ll attempt to get you back up there.” The doctor pointedup the tunnel and Josh, for the first time he realised he had come to rest in alarge cavern.

He twisted around as much as he could to get a betterlook, but he didn’t need to because he could see it in his memory. A hecticmaze of thick stalagmites and stalactites seemed to support the roof to eitherside, like the columns of a church.

Josh tried to sit up again, but the doctor reprimandedhim for fidgeting.

“It’s through there.” Josh pointed through the stonecolumned jungle. “The Chamber of the Unholy Beasts.”

“That doesn’t matter just yet, Josh.” His dad saidquietly. “Just concentrate on getting better.”

“Is the professor alright?” Josh asked suddenly.

Kat answered while directing an evil stare at SirTrevor. “He’s okay, Josh.”

“He’s got a hard skull to protect his enormous brain.”Sir Trevor grinned, totally oblivious to the ocular daggers being thrown athim. “He’ll be down to see you in a few minutes.”

The doctor injected something into his leg and Joshfelt light headed, and then slightly wonderful. The pain disappeared like asuddenly banished dream and he felt a surge of strength returning to his body.

“Wow! What was that?”

“Just a pain killer.” The doctor said quickly. “Do youfeel better?”

“I feel fine. Is my leg better?”

“No,” the doctor chuckled, “but once the field splintis attached you should be able to walk with the help some crutches.”

Josh was sitting upright now. All his pain was goneand after the doctor had tightened the plastic straps of the splint around hisleg he tried to stand up and, to his and Kat’s and his father’s obvioussurprise, he managed it.

“You’re the best doctor in the world.” Josh laughed,although he wasn’t quite sure why.

Toby enjoyed his tour around the city but he couldn’t completely stop worryingabout the Library’s assertion that the Doge was still alive and in league withGeigerzalion somehow.

Rose took him to meet a few of her friends. Most ofthem had been programmers of some distinction and Toby felt quite awed by suchlofty company. They were all fascinated by him though, and kept questioning himabout how he traversed from the real world to the city. He told them all hecould, and they discussed what he said excitedly.

The sun was setting as they walked back to his bedroomin the tower. They meandered down one of the wide boulevards that crisscrossedthe city and dark clouds were lining the reddening sky. Toby had begun to thinkof the place as beautiful.

“Are they happy here, Rose? The real people I mean.”

“Most of us are now. I think I’d prefer to at least beable to visit my body once in a while, but now the Doge has gone, I think wecan build a new life here. We did construct it with the idea of losingourselves in a fantasy world.” She laughed lightly. “We didn’t think we’d bequite so successful.”

“Really?” Toby shook his head and then realised thathe was being tactless. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine Toby. We’ve had a long time to come toterms with it and since the Doge has gone this city seems like it might not besuch a bad place to live.”

“Do you think he’ll come back?”

“If he does, we’ll be prepared for him this time.”Rose said firmly. “We’re not powerless in our own Vrealm, you know. We createdthis place and as time goes on we are regaining our powers.”

One of the puppet people lurched around the cornerjust ahead of them, with its arms and legs flailing around with even lesscoordination than usual. It still wore a mask, and Toby felt a thrill of fearas he recognised it as the Panjandrum of the Doge.

It stopped its jerky dance when it saw them and a drywhisper floated from behind the mask.

“It’s your fault. You.” It pointed a wooden finger atToby. “You drove him away. But I can join him. The end is nigh.” The puppet’svoice rose to a shriek and it let out a high pitched mirthless laugh. “Can’tyou feel it?”

Rose shook her head sadly. “It’s been lurching aroundever since the Doge went, crying about how his master was the rightful ruler ofthe city and how he would wreak a terrible vengeance on those who revelledwhile he was away. Poor thing.”

Toby had been backing away from the mad creature, butRose’s sympathy made him stop. He looked at the puppet gesticulating at him andat Rose and at the city around him and felt a curious feeling of belonging. Hehad spent a long time trying to replace a place like this, filled with people likeRose and her friends.

The puppet suddenly let out a wail unlike any it hadmade before and crumpled to the ground. Toby reached it first and saw that themask had slipped from the puppet’s face in the fall. Its expressionless eyesstared up at him.

“My wait is over and my punishment complete. I shallrejoin my master and when we are victorious in our struggle I shall return andkill you.” The statement was so lucid that Toby couldn’t help himself fromtaking a step back. As Rose appeared at his side, the puppet disappeared fromwithin its voluminous robes.

Toby blew out a sigh of relief. “Well I guess that’sover then?”

Rose stared at the empty clothes in disbelief. “I’mnot so sure about that Toby. It shouldn’t have disappeared. Deep magic is atwork here, or at least someone’s powerful Kung Foo. What did he say to you?”

“He said he was going to rejoin his master. And thathe was going to come back and kill me!”

“This is interesting Toby. If this puppet can leavethis Vrealm then perhaps we all can. Where do you think he will have gone?”

“I don’t know! He said he was going to come back andkill me.”

“Yes, yes I know. I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“Well pardon me. I sort of can’t really help it, youknow. I don’t get death threats every day.”

“Toby.” Rose said reasonably. “You can leave this cityany time you want to. If he comes back, just open your eyes back home andyou’ll disappear. His disappearance means it may be possible for any denizen ofthis place to escape. We just need to replace out how.”

“Escape to where?”

“Well, maybe we could transfer between here and thatancient virtual reality the Library was talking about.”

They were walking past some wide steps leading up to avast columned building.

“This is where we first appeared, isn’t it? Me andJosh?”

“Yes. You’ll have popped up through one of the pools.”Rose nodded and then froze.

“If we can get in…” But Toby didn’t finish becauseRose was gliding away up the steps. “Rose! Wait for me.”

He bounded after her and into the forest of columns.Just as when he had been chased by the puppet people seemingly a lifetime ago,Toby could not see any distinguishing features on the columns but Rose found apool almost immediately.

“Is it this one?”

Toby shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks like it.”

Rose floated out over the pool and then slipped intothe water, her ethereal figure leaving no trace on the surface. A few secondslater she appeared again shaking her head.

“Nope. This one’s dead.”

They tried five or six more before they found onewhere Rose stayed underwater for much longer. Toby lay down on his front withhis head hanging over the side and tried to see what she could be doing downthere, but it was too dim and he couldn’t see anything except his ownreflection. It was strange seeing himself in this other world, because althoughhe recognised himself he didn’t look quite the same as he did in the realworld.

Rose’s head emerged from beneath his reflection.

“There is an anomaly down here. Like some of thecode’s been rewritten.” She levitated completely out of the water and came tosit next to him, pondering. “Where did you come from? I mean what Vrealmconnects through there?”

Toby told her about the Alpine factory and how theyhad freed ZX82, before escaping through the lift shaft.

“ZX82? Was he the shining entity? One of these Delphixiansyou were talking about?”

“Yes.”

“I think he has done us a great service. I should beable to manipulate the code down there so we can go through. Follow me.” Andshe slipped back into the water once more.

Toby took a deep breath and jumped into the pool. He had expected it to becold and at least wet, but he found himself floating down through air towards arough stone floor. He looked up and saw the torch light of the huge hallrippling through the surface. Below him he saw a jagged crack stretching alongthe flagstones beneath him. Rose was standing next to it waving her arms aroundand as he settled beside her, rays of brilliant orange light erupted from thedarkness. Rose’s translucent forehead was furrowed with concentration.

“Nearly there.” She gasped. “Nearly.”

There was a wrenching shudder and Rose slumped to herknees. “I wrote this code. It should be easy for me to rewrite it.” She shookher head, but she was smiling triumphantly. “Maybe I’m getting too old forthis.”

Toby felt a breeze brushing through his hair and aforce was urging him forwards. He instinctively leant back, resisting the pull.

“It’s okay Toby. We need to go through, before thisconnecting Vrealm is sucked into the cyberspace void.”

Uncertainly, he followed her through the crack intothe biting cold of winter and he fell heavily onto his back, losing his breathas the wind was forced out of his lungs. He looked up into a starry sky thatwas much crisper than the night of Vienopolis. He struggled to his feet holdinghis aching sides and recognised the place instantly.

The factory had been razed to the ground; its massivesteel cubes reduced to black scars in the snow. Toby wondered at the power thatcould have devastated those solid buildings so completely.

“What happened here? The code has been torn apart.” AsRose spoke the surrounding mountains flickered like a badly tuned television.“We must leave quickly. I don’t know what will happen to us if this Vrealmcollapses. Where is the exit?”

“I don’t know.”

“You must remember Toby. You came here before…”

Toby shook his head. “Geigerzalion brought us herefrom Shiver. He had a room in the walls of Castle Wolfenbach. He did somethingto the pictures he had there and we ended up here. I don’t know how he did it.”

Rose frowned and Toby watched her face as sheconcentrated on the code beneath the visuals.

“It’s useless.” She said eventually. “There’s nothingleading here and no way out as far as I can see. I’m sorry Toby.”

“Sorry? Why?”

“We can’t get back. We’re trapped.”

“I can though can’t I? I mean if I wake up in mybedroom. I’ll leave this all behind? Won’t I?” He felt frightened again. He hadcome to terms with his odd double existence because he had felt safe and incontrol. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and tried to wake his body back inthe real world but he felt a loose emptiness, like a fisherman who’s line hasbeen cut.

“What can we do?”

“We can just wait and see what happens when the Vrealmcollapses. We might be okay.” Toby heard the lie in her voice.

The cavern deep within Wayna Picchu was now noisy withgenerators and other equipment and all the scientists and technicians weregabbling about like geese. Sir Trevor had sent a team of porters to investigatewhat was behind the columns of stalagmites and stalactites. They had returnedwith the news of a metal tunnel flanked by two spheres, both of which containeda perfectly preserved dinosaur.

“The Chamber of Unholy Beasts indeed. Just as you saidJosh. You can imagine how the aboriginals would have thought they were demons.”The professor, who was sporting a preposterous bandage which made his head looktwice its normal size, was buzzing around the cavern delighting himself withevery new reading he got from all the equipment.

Josh was sitting examining the splint on his leg withKat and his father. Kat was furious that the whole expedition had not beencalled off, but Josh kept insisting that he was fine and eventually evenmanaged to mention that he was ready to explore further.

“You will not.” Kat retorted angrily. “You’ve brokenyour leg Josh. What’s more important? This Geigerzalion can wait for a day orso. You need to rest.”

“I’m afraid that might not be possible.” Sir Trevorsaid quietly. None of them had seen him approach.

“Oh really? You think it’s okay to risk Josh’s leg, doyou?” Kat turned on the him.

“We’ve got no choice. We’ll have to make theconnection in the next few hours otherwise the professor says we won’t be ableto try again for a couple of weeks. Alignment problems or something.”

“How inconvenient for you.” She folded her arms.

“Young lady, you don’t seem to realise how importantthis discovery is. We could change the world forever with what we replace today.”

“I don’t care. The world can wait. Josh needs torest.”

“It’s okay Kat. I…” Josh faltered when Kat turned toglare at him, but he avoided her eyes and pressed on. “Geigerzalion needs me.I’ve seen his suffering and it’s greater than mine. I know you mean well, Kat,but I need to do this.”

Kat looked into his eyes and smiled. “You’re just toonice Josh. But if you hurt yourself even more, I’ll kill you.”

Josh smiled, leant forward and hugged her. “Thankyou.” He whispered. “I’m glad you care.”

She pushed him away gently and kissed him on hischeek. “Be careful.”

Sir Trevor slapped him on the back. “That’s my boy!”

The dinosaurs inside the spheres at the entrance to the tunnel were indeedfearsome, fifteen feet tall monsters of muscles, teeth and claws. Josh feltuneasy as his recently acquired memories reached through time and reminded himof the fear and awe these beasts had invoked when they had been discovered bythe original inhabitants of Machu Picchu. The spheres were full of the paleembalming fluid and cables twisted out from the dinosaurs’ heads.

The tunnel itself was almost identical to the tunnelsof the spacecraft back in England, although it did have a flat walkwayunderfoot, while the same busy mosaic of knobs and dials covered the walls andceiling.

Sir Trevor had chosen only a few people to come withthem on this final stage of the expedition. Lex and Yakob carefully led theway, with Sir Trevor following eagerly at their shoulders. Josh, Coel and Kat,who had absolutely insisted that she was coming, came next and then Josh’sfather and the professor. Two more burly bodyguards brought up the rear.

“I think this is one of the lower corridors. If thelayout of this installation is the same as ours, then we should soon replace thecentral chamber.” The professor was studying a handheld computer as they madetheir way along the passageway.

A few seconds later the tunnel did open out but thedarkness swallowed their torch beams, which meant that only the echoing soundsof their footsteps gave them any indication of the true size of the artificialcavern they had entered. The walls, covered with the same patterns of controlsas the tunnel disappeared above them.

“We need to replace a control room, which if I’m not verymuch mistaken should be over here.” The professor keyed in a couple of commandson his computer. “Ah, yes. Here we are.” He scurried away from the group andsoon they could only see his torch as a speck of light floating in thedarkness.

“I can’t sense anything at all.” Coel whispered. Joshhad felt him take a gentle, but tense, hold of his elbow in the tunnel. “I’venever felt truly blind before. I’m not going to be much use to you here.”

A scream echoed out from the direction of theprofessor’s torch. The four bodyguards leapt into action. Two of them coveringSir Trevor, while Lex and Yakob almost squashed Josh between them.

“It’s alright. I’m sorry to have been alarminganyone.” The professor called out and everyone breathed a collective sigh ofrelief. “I’ve found another dinosaur.” The professor scuttled back into view,red faced, but beaming happily. “And I’ve found the control room. Come on.”

A smile of satisfaction played across Sir Trevor’sface and Josh felt a thrill of excitement too. It was pleasing to followsomething through to the end. He had been so confused for much of the lastcouple of weeks, but finally he felt the finishing post was near. He would beable to free Geigerzalion and do some good for the world.

The control room was situated behind a heavy metaldoor. The professor had already connected his small computer into an aperturenext to it. As the group approached something clicked and the door swung openon silent hinges.

“Like so.” The professor bowed theatrically.

Sir Trevor stepped inside the control roomreverentially, brushing his hands lightly over the metallic surfaces as if tocheck that it was real. The professor followed him inside rather moreexcitedly.

The control room itself was not much different toanywhere else Josh had seen in the spacecraft. The walls were still covered inthe hectic, arcane controls, but in the centre of the floor there was a green,dimly glowing hemisphere.

“It is perfect. Just as the simulations predicted. So,I just need to reinstate the Xulf capacitor and reroute the…” The professorgabbled to himself in a language that became more and more incomprehensible, buthe seemed to know what he was doing and before long the hemisphere was pulsingrapidly.

Suddenly it was light. The room was flooded withsterile brightness and Josh had to close his eyes. The light shone red throughhis eyelids, and it was a while before he dared open his eyes again.

When he did the room had changed almost beyondrecognition. Supple silvery tentacles writhed from various points on the walls,and holographic images floated all around.

“It’s alive.” The professor exclaimed.

“Are you ready to free him, Josh?”

He nodded and sat on the floor beneath one of theholograms. Sir Trevor sat next to him.

“You don’t mind if I come with you?”

Josh didn’t mind at all. He smiled thankfully at thetall man as the writhing tendrils suckered themselves onto his forehead.

The room melted away and he found himself standingatop a high cliff overlooking a thousand islands in a twinkling sea. He feltthe hard shaft of N’rinde’s spear in his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Joshua.” A familiarvoice said from behind him. He span around, almost stumbling as the fear caughthold of his muscles.

The Doge was grinning at him.