The group moved to the base of the metal ziggurat. It was mostly gray, shading to a bleached-bone white in places. Tiny pits were visible over most of the surface, scars from micrometeorites and null-flies.

“Another point, Hammurabi.” The trader was examining a particularly large pitting. “Analysis of a scraping from this thing—and you’ve no idea what we had to go through to get it—places it between five and six hundred thousand years of age. Now me, I’m fond of antiques, but this gives me the shivers.”

“And it’s been floating around in your backyard for that long?”

“No one knows for certain. According to what the smart boys tell me, that’s not likely. It would have been noticed before now. Still, Repler hasn’t been inhabited that long and large-scale commerce is pretty recent. More likely, though, it was floating free and happened to be captured by the planet’s gravity. There’s certainly nothing to indicate it was built around here. It doesn’t correspond to anything built by other known space-going races.”

“It might have been built on Repler,” Mal persisted. “Lots of things could disappear in that span of time.”

Kingsley shook his head. “Doesn’t add. If the builders of this and the battleship-size sphere that accompanied it could make things last this long, we’d find similar constructs on the ground. In an advanced state of decay, sure, but at least a foundation here and there. While it’s true much of Repler is still unexplored, enough survey has been carried out to indicate that not even a primitive sapient race once lived here. This is what the brain-boys tell me, anyway. You ought to see that mother object, by the way. Haven’t even scratched that, yet. Looks like one of Mother Nature’s more grandiose invertebrates, blown up to gigasize.”

“Mister Kingsley!” The shout came from behind the massive relic. The merchant looked up.

An engineer peered around the edge and down from his precarious perch atop the makeshift scaffolding.

“There’s some paneling back here, sir.” The man expressed confusion and puzzlement. “I could swear I’ve been over this spot a hundred times already. Anyhow, it just slid back under my hand.”

“How big an opening?” yelled Martinez. Then, lowering his voice, “Anything visible?”

“Damn right there is! There’s a light underneath that’s flickering like it can’t make up its mind whether to stay on or off. It doesn’t appear to be blinking in any kind of recognizable series. Now it’s staying lit. I can’t make out a bulb or filament of any kind.”

“You can come down now, engineer,” said Kingsley quietly. He started to back away. “In fact, I suggest everyone move back.”

“A commendable suggestion,” Kitten added.

“Martinez,” the trader whispered. The room had grown suddenly silent. The engineer tore his eyes away from the relic.

“Go back through the main access and send all six guards in. Then contact stores and get Cady. Tell him I want a small cannon and crew down here. As of two minutes ago.”