“Well,” Parquit said grimly, “you may be right, there. If not, your scheme of tolerance will be forced to revise itself to include a variable.” He turned to stare at the monitors which relayed images from the vault.

“If it is still alive, it shows no sign of it. All visible motion has halted.”

“I beg to question, Commander, but there is no ‘if’ involved,” interrupted Amostom from his seat. The elderly nye made a sweeping motion with hands and tail. “The readings are plain for those who have the openness to read them. The thing lives. Weakened, granted, but it lives.”

“How ‘weakened’?” asked Parquit.

Amostom performed the AAnn shrug-equivalent. “By any reasonable standards, I should guess near to death. Indeed, it may, as the good Arris observes, never recover. But then, little of it observes normal or reasonable standards. By its own—who knows?”

The Commander grunted and turned back to the largest tridee monitor. It remained focused on the quiescent black mass.

“Well, we shall have to find out. A good external stimulus ought to be the best way. And we have one that has proven itself effective.” He gestured to Carmot and Arris to follow.

“Your pardon, Commander,” said the Observer-First, “but where are we going?”

Parquit looked back over a mailed shoulder. “Inside the vault, of course. What kind of stimuli did you think I had in mind?”

Carmot had not moved. “I hardly think that is wise, Commander.”

“Perhaps. But useful, certainly.” Parquit looked the small scientist over carefully. “Is it possible the nye have a coward in their midst?”

Carmot flushed. “A heightened instinct for preservation in the face of death is not cowardice.”

“Very facile. I will not force you.”

“Then of course I must come,” said Carmot.

The clumsy armored suits held their speed to a crawl. Designed for use in the weightless vacuum of space, they were terribly awkward on land. In ordering the use of the bulky suits, Parquit privately doubted that they would afford much in the way of protection should the creature decide to go on another rampage. If it was capable of further rampaging, he reminded himself. Amostom’s analysis left an uncomfortably large amount of room for disarming speculation.

Psychologically, however, the armor was valuable for such as the Observer-First. For a race of reptiles equipped with their own body armor by nature, armor of all types exerted an almost religious appeal.

Within the vault, the restored lighting (cut out when the emergency power was cut on) was sharp. Colors, shadows, even the walls showed grayish in the even lighting. The jagged debris of the creature’s interspace ellipsoid lay strewn about the room, twisted and torn like so much parchment.

The enigma in vivo rested in the center of the room. A huge, silent mountain of ebony opalescence and awesome power. It represented a universe of unanswered questions.

Together with a heavily armed escort, which was present primarily for psychological effect, a small group of volunteer scientists accompanied the three.