The Rock

THE COMPLEX

Fran, Debra, and Pencak wandered along the corridor, poking their heads in as the doors swished open, revealing the rooms beyond. Most contained machinery, on a smaller scale than that above, the purpose of which was unknown-although a few reminded Fran of repair facilities, perhaps for the skimmers. Some rooms were totally empty; others contained rows of waist-high platforms that might have been beds. One appeared to be a dining area.

The total absence of any life was very disturbing. The entire facility appeared to have been built with the idea of supporting a large number of personnel-personnel that from the artifacts they could see, were approximately human sized-yet they met nothing and no one.

Pencak stepped up to another door and it slid open. She looked inside and then back over her shoulder, her one eye gleaming. "This looks interesting."

Fran peered in. It was a large room, the true extent of which she could not see, due to dividers coming up from the floor. Directly in front of them was a bank of what appeared to be computer terminals with benches in front. Levy pushed past and ran up to one of the machines and sat down before it.

"Do you think it works?" Fran asked as she walked up.

The screen was totally gray and it was hard to tell if the computer was on or off. There was no keyboard, simply ten holes about an inch in diameter, evenly spaced, directly below the screen-a smaller version of the wrist holes in the Speaker's room.

Levy simply sat and stared, not replying. Fran looked about. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at a corridor off to the left where a red light glowed.

Pencak shrugged. "I don't know."

As Fran moved toward the light, Levy extended both hands and slipped her fingers into the slots. The screen cleared of gray and symbols appeared. Levy's normally expressionless face softened as a large smile crossed it and her pupils narrowed into tiny balls intent upon the small screen.

Fran stepped into the corridor and paused for a second, letting her eyes adjust to the red light. She moved down and the light coming out of recesses in the ceiling started shifting in the color spectrum, going from red to blue. The farther she went, the lighter it grew until suddenly she realized she was bathed in light just as she would have been on a bright summer day back on Earth. The corridor turned right and she went around the comer. A glass-enclosed hexagonal platform stood there, the door wide open.

Fran started as a hand dropped heavily on her shoulder. She swung her head around and saw Pencak looking at her.

"What do you think that is?" Fran asked.

"Let's see," Pencak replied. She led the way over and stepped in the door. A small control console was in one comer. There were three buttons: one with an arrow pointing up, one down, and one with a horizontal line on it. Pencak and Fran looked up. Through the glass ceiling they could see a red-lit tunnel beckoning straight up.

Pencak hovered her good hand over the button with the up arrow. "Shall we?"

"Do you think we should?" Fran asked.

"We'll never know unless we try." Pencak pressed down on the button and the elevator smoothly lifted and accelerated. Fran's knees briefly buckled, then the speed settled out. Red panels flashed by, marking stops, but Pencak kept her hand pressed on the up button.

After thirty seconds the elevator gradually began to slow. The red panels flashed by more slowly, then suddenly the machine halted. On the outside of the glass there was now slate-gray metal on all sides, including the top.

"What do you think?" Fran asked Pencak.

The old woman was standing stock-still, peering ahead as if she could see through the metal. Her hand lifted off the up button and touched the horizontal one. With a hiss of hydraulics, the roof flipped over, revealing a dark and sullen gray sky above with several odd-looking streaks of dull red in it.

The metal panels on the side began unfolding with heavy thuds, indicating their protective thickness. As the world around began to appear, Fran gasped and staggered back, holding on to the console for support. She turned to Pencak, speechless.

The older woman's face crinkled in a weary smile. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Fran looked back out, her gaze riveted on the object blocking out the entire horizon to the one side. "You knew?"

Pencak's voice was barely audible. "I knew. And it was time for you to know."

Fran looked up at the scarred and shattered object that faced her. It had been battered and smashed by some powerful force, but it still maintained enough of the original form to leave no doubt in her mind that she was staring at Ayers Rock-or what remained of it.

Hundreds of feet below, Debra Levy sat staring at the computer screen, tears pouring unnoticed down her face. "No," she murmured to herself. "No, it can't be." She pulled her fingers out of the holes and pressed them to the side of her head as uncontrollable sobs racked her body.