Noises drew his attention to the stairwell. ‘Eddie?’ Nina asked, clambering into view. Vorster’s voice echoed behind her as he shouted a situation update to Naider outside.

‘Yeah, I’m here. Haven’t seen any more bodies. Pretty impressive room, though.’

She brought up her own light. ‘Oh wow! I see what you mean.’ Her beam found the giant throne. ‘And that’s a hell of a big chair.’

He lowered his voice. ‘So it’s definitely the Veteres?’

‘I can’t think of anything else. The size matches, certainly. The bodies we found in Eden were at least seven feet tall.’

‘That armour was getting on for ten feet, though.’

‘Humans are different heights, so maybe the Veteres were too. Although yeah, three feet is kind of a big variance.’

‘Maybe this lot played basketball.’

She smiled, then saw what he was examining. ‘I recognise that shape.’

‘Yeah,’ he said as she came to stand beside him. ‘The key’s actually the ignition for the spaceship. Put it in, turn it on, and whoosh! Warp factor nine.’

A sardonic grin. ‘It’d make getting back home to Macy a lot easier. But it’s obviously where it’s supposed to go. Stapper and his friend put it in there. Then . . .’

‘Then all hell broke loose,’ Eddie rumbled. ‘Maybe literally.’

Nina surveyed the rest of the room. Another flight of stairs descended at the front of the oval chamber. Before she could investigate further, Cheng entered, Imka and Vorster behind him. ‘Is there anyone else here?’ Imka asked.

‘Not that we’ve seen,’ said Eddie, edging down the sloping floor towards the new set of stairs. ‘Although we haven’t checked the back of the room yet.’

Nina brought her light back to the huge throne, then the elongated golden sphere behind it. ‘It looks a lot like the vault from Turkey,’ she said, her flashlight beam sliding over a seemingly unbroken orichalcum surface. She started towards it. ‘Maybe there’s a door on the far side. Cheng, what do you make of it?’

She had assumed he was following her. But when she glanced around, he was standing at the altar with his back to her, his open backpack beside him. ‘Cheng? What are you doing?’

‘The key,’ he replied. ‘It fits here.’

‘I know, it’s—’ His tone set off mental alarms at deafening volume. ‘You’ve put it in? No, take it out!’

Cheng turned, revealing that he had indeed placed the golden artefact into the recess. ‘I was just checking—’

‘Take it out! Now!’ She hurried back to him.

He didn’t move, giving her a bewildered look. She reached past him and snatched up the relic – flinching at a sudden electric snap as she touched it. ‘Ow! Dammit!’

‘What?’ Eddie asked urgently. ‘You okay?’

‘It gave me a frickin’ shock!’ She froze, listening intently . . . but the chamber remained silent.

‘Nothing happened,’ said Cheng, sounding almost disappointed.