“I think you’re right, husband. Whatever we’re going to do, we have to do when the machine reaches us.”

  -31-

  The vast machine, according to Carn Dar known as the scooper, loomed ahead. It was like a small city moving toward them. It had projections and possibly chimneys, along with glass towers. The hum and roar of its engines and the scoops thundered. The ground began to shake and tremble.

  As the machine drew closer, its black and blue components became clearer. There didn’t seem to be any operators, just this huge robotic, city-sized machine scooping up the rubies for unknown reasons.

  Maddox and Meta did not hurry across the plain but walked slowly and determinedly. There were no rakers in sight. There were no other machines they could detect. It was just the vast scooper, a roar of grinding and sucking up rubies—billions, perhaps trillions of dollars’ worth in Earth currency.

  As the great machine neared, the ground trembled even more, surely from the engines and reverberations that originated within the machine. The outer plates were reminiscent of armor on a starship. Flexible tubes, like a nest of snakes or a Medusa’s head in reverse, extended from the bottom.

  The tubes weren’t large enough for them to fit through. Could they climb up the tubes? They were flexible and jointed, making it look improbable. Were there any parts of the machine they could access?

  “Look, Meta!” Maddox shouted, grasping her upper arm, drawing her near. “Do you see that region in the back? It drags on the ground. If we could reach there—”

  “Oh, Maddox,” she interrupted. “That area might be touching the ground or fifteen to twenty feet up once we get there. What then? Then all our effort is useless.”

  Maddox shook her gently. “None of that. We’re not going to give up. As long as we have a possibility—you can hurl me as I jump, or I hurl you. We’ll get onto this machine.”

  “And then what?” Meta sighed. “I’m so tired, so confused. Why are we here? I should’ve stayed home in Carson City. I may never see Jewel again.”

  Maddox shook Meta again, more firmly this time. “Have courage, my darling. I’ve been in these sorts of situations before.”

  “In a different dimension?” she asked.

  “This may not be a different dimension, just a different place. Perhaps we went through a portal. Something brought us here for a reason. We’ll find the reason and force answers out of them.”

  “How can you always be so certain?” Meta asked.

  “I know no other way. It’s drive forward and attack, or give up. I might as well be dead if I were to surrender.”

  “Don’t even say that. It’s a horrible thing to say.”

  Maddox nodded. “No more defeatist talk, not even in the slightest degree. Come.”

  Maddox grabbed Meta’s hand, and they began to run across the plain. Was this foolish? Maddox had no idea. Maybe the great machine would lift off into the sky or change its course before they reached it. Maybe there was a grand depot somewhere. All they knew was that the machine was close. It was here. Now was the moment to act.

  They ran. Maddox didn’t sprint at his maximum speed, but he moved quickly. Meta soon began panting, yet he pulled her on.

  The tubes dangled, snaked, and sucked up piles of rubies, one after the other. A part of the back of the machine grinded against volcanic rock, creating sparks.

  Hope flared in Maddox’s chest. He had no idea that climbing aboard the machine meant victory. He did know that remaining on the plain—with its endless zombies raking and withering away—wasn’t an option. This was their moment, their opportunity.

  They ran toward the looming machine, its cacophony of grinding, vibrating, and humming now deafening. Maddox felt as if the machine’s vibration passed through him, shaking his bones. Meta cried out. She spoke, but he couldn’t discern her words amidst the noise. He gripped her hand with fierce strength, pulling her under the vast, terrible machine. As they moved, tubes snaked down, ruby piles vanished, and the machine continued its forward trajectory. The machine, clearly harvesting the planet’s rubies, was both monstrous and bewildering. As they raced, the bright star on the horizon began to dim, casting long shadows.

  Under the machine’s tremendous vibration and clanging, they neared the sparking rear area. Maddox felt they might be able to climb it. He was shouting for Meta to hurry but doubted she heard him over the noise. He tugged her. When she stumbled, Maddox scooped her into his arms and sprinted, dodging the undulating tubes. Meta clung tightly to him, possibly weeping before she wriggled free and ran beside him once more.

  They approached the sparking area where debris, including shards of black volcanic obsidian, flew. After dodging a piece, Maddox noticed a shard gash Meta. Determined, he grabbed her hand and reached for a rail, hauling himself onto the colossal machine and pulling Meta with him. Despite the intense vibrations making it difficult, Maddox refused to let go of his wife. Together, they traversed a narrow rail, eventually spotting a hatch.

  The small oval door was reminiscent of a fictional hobbit’s entrance. Maddox pulled at it, but the hatch refused to open. Beckoning Meta to hold him steady, he unsheathed his monofilament blade. With the tool that could sever anything, he cut out a section of the hatch, crawling through with Meta following.

  Inside, they found themselves in a small metallic corridor vibrating intensely. Yet they had made it—they were now on the machine, away from the planet’s bizarre surface.

  Maddox sheathed his blade, bringing his lips close to Meta’s ear to shout, “We keep going!”

  When he looked at her for confirmation, Meta nodded. Together, they began their journey, crawling through what might have been a corridor or perhaps a duct of the vast city-sized scooper.

  -32-

  Maddox and Meta crawled until their knees felt like they should have been skinned raw. The metallic garments helped against that. Finally, they came to a spot where they could stand, and they strode along the corridors. There were diagrams scattered here and there on the walls, written in some kind of alien script. Neither Maddox nor Meta could decipher the meanings.

  They reached what could only be described as a cafeteria. To their astonishment, there were common provisions: bottles of what appeared to be water, bread, and some sort of plant tissue. Maddox cautiously sampled the food and drank the water. A ravenous thirst overcame him, and he guzzled the water and devoured much of the food.

  “Is that wise?” Meta asked.

  “Maybe not,” Maddox replied, “but if I’m going to die of food poisoning, I’m at least going to die full.”

  “Good idea.” Meta said, and she too ate.

  After eating, with no side effects besides a hint of heartburn, they felt revitalized and carried on.

  They navigated walkways, more corridors, and stumbled upon engine areas and repair rooms.

  “Let’s go in here,” Maddox said.

  The hatch seemed designed for a creature larger than a man. Inside the chamber, they found what appeared to be welding equipment. Maddox discovered a rifle-like apparatus with a huge pod connected by a cord. He slung the pod onto his back using makeshift straps. When he tried to fire the rifle-like device, a beam of hot energy surged out the nozzle.

  “It’s a weapon of some kind,” Maddox said. “Do you want one?”

  “Of course,” Meta said.

  Armed with alien weaponry, they continued through the broadening corridors. The tremors from the vast machine seemed to diminish. Somehow, the machine’s vibrations less affected the inner workings. As they progressed, they passed a large window, watching as cascades of rubies flowed from above into a portal. As the rubies poured into the portal, they disappeared, one flow after another.

  “We have an answer, to some extent,” Maddox said. “That’s a portal, and it’s definitely transporting the rubies somewhere else.”

  Meta agreed, “This is fascinating. It gives me hope.”

  They carried on until Meta paused. “Maybe we should go through that portal.”

  “We might do that later,” Maddox said. “If we use the portal, we could get buried under a cascade of endless rubies coming after us.”

  “I wonder where those rubies are going.”

  “It’d be good to know,” Maddox said, “but without more evidence, it could be anywhere—somewhere we like or somewhere worse. My rule of thumb in situations like this is to keep moving forward.”

  As they explored chambers and vaults, a pulsating purple light caught their attention.

  “What do you suppose that signifies?” Meta asked.

  “A warning light perhaps,” Maddox said.

  “Is it warning us or against us?”

  “Probably against us,” Maddox said.

  Meta nodded.

  Maddox scanned the area, looking for surveillance devices, but found none.

  Soon, down a broad corridor, four levitating platforms with many metallic tentacles floated toward them. Lights flashed on the platforms, and it soon appeared the tentacles drew chopping weapons.

  Maddox turned to Meta. “Does that seem hostile to you?”

  “It does.”

  They waited until the machines were close before raising their weapons and firing. Hot blasts, possibly of plasma, destroyed all four platforms. The act set off even more flashing purple lights from all around on the walls.

  “Come on,” Maddox said, “let’s go this way.”

  They raced down another corridor. Turning a corner, they saw eight more of the platforms gliding toward them.

  Maddox and Meta waited like before. Then they opened fire with hot plasma until the heat became unbearable.

  They retreated. They’d destroyed twelve of the platforms. Perhaps in a fit of pique, Maddox burned each of the flashing lights he passed.

  “Do you think the platforms were robots responding to a computer?” Meta asked.

  “I do think they were robots,” Maddox said. “Whether they responded to a computer or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that this seems to be the indicator light.” He showed Meta on his rifle device and then pointed out the same on hers. “We have barely a quarter charge left with each. Let’s use them sparingly from now on.”

  “No more shooting out purple lights,” Meta said.

  “Correct.”

  They continued down the widening metallic corridors, now perhaps three times the width of those on Victory.

  Abruptly, a mote of light appeared before them. Both raised their weapons. The mote sparkled, and words seemed to pour forth—not audibly to their ears, but directly into Maddox’s mind.

  “What are you two intruders doing upon my scooper?” the mote asked.

  “Who are you?” Maddox demanded.

  “The Inquisitor,” the mote said, its light pulsating.

  “Well, Inquisitor, can you help us find a way off the scooper?”

  “Of course. I can even supply you with rakes.”

  “No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying,” Maddox said, realizing he wasn’t moving his lips but possibly using his intuitive sense to communicate his thoughts. He wasn’t certain Meta could do the same, but that wasn’t the immediate issue. The main concern was leaving. “Are we in some strange dimension? How did we get here?”

  “I am the Inquisitor. I am the one who questions you, not you questioning me.”

  Maddox raised his weapon. “I have this. It gives me a certain privilege to ask a few questions of my own.”

  The mote sparkled brighter. “There is logic in your statement. You are also troublesome. You have destroyed much, and I fear you might destroy more. It is even conceivable, with your violent capabilities, that you could halt the scooper. The cost would be unfathomable, and profits would suffer. I cannot allow that.”

  “Inquisitor,” Maddox said, “I suspect you’re about to threaten us with death.”

  “You are perceptive and correct.”

  “How about we simplify things? Why not return us to where we started?”

  “But you said you did not want to rake,” the Inquisitor said.

  “I mean return us to where we were before we found ourselves on the plain.”

  The mote’s sparkling intensified, shifting in hue and complexity. “That is beyond my scope.”

  “Inquisitor, we don’t want to make this hard on you, and we have no desire to destroy your impressive scooper. I just want to go home. Isn’t that conceivable to an entity like you?”

  “I note your request. You are the first to come so far, speak plainly, and address me as a civilized being should. You say you wish to return to Omegan.”

  “That’s the name for the giant cube?” Maddox wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did.

  “Yes. It is also the place where you first entered this realm.”

  “Do you mean dimension?” Maddox asked.

  “You keep using that word incorrectly. This is not a new dimension.”

  “Right,” Maddox said. “Let’s not complicate matters. How did we arrive here?”

  “You entered a node and were deemed usable. I suspect that if you return to where you began, Omegan will simply send you elsewhere. Is that your wish?”

  “After a fashion,” Maddox said.

  “Very well,” the mote said. “Follow me.”

  And so, Maddox and Meta began to trail the mote of light that represented the Inquisitor.

  -33-

  Maddox and Meta followed the mote of light to a large chamber with a dais in it.

  “Step onto the dais,” the Inquisitor said, “and you will return whence you came.”

  “If this is a trick…?” Maddox said.

  “I am the Inquisitor,” the mote said, sparkling with light. “I do not trick or deceive. I act and I execute. You have struck me as a resourceful candidate, and thus you may leave. May I note, Captain Maddox, that you are the first to have done so in,” and the mote named a time— a length of time, perhaps, which had no meaning to Maddox and none to Meta. She couldn’t hear what it said, lacking the intuitive sense that allowed such communications.

  “You will have to set down your welders before you leave,” the mote said.

  “We’re going to keep them as insurance,” Maddox said.

  “Then you will force me to execute you, and that would be a shame.”

  “How do I know you’re not simply trying to disarm us so that you can do with us as you will once I set my welder down?” Maddox asked.

  “Use your intuitive sense, Captain. Surely it will let you know whether I speak the truth or not.”

  Maddox did exactly that, applying his intuitive sense, and he said, “Oh.” He discarded the weaponry, then helped Meta do the same with hers.

  Together, hand in hand, they walked upon the dais.

  The mote of light shined with approval. Did that trigger the device?

  Golden motes of light appeared before Maddox and Meta. They vanished and reappeared in a room. On couches lay empty vacc suits, their own. In front of them was a screen displaying a gigantic pulsating cube, by the name of Omegan apparently.

  “Well, well, well, Captain,” Omegan said verbally in English, “you returned. That is startling. I did not think there was any creature in existence left that could achieve such a thing. You also brought your lovely other half with you. I congratulate you both.”

  “What are you, Omegan?” Maddox asked.

  “Who told you my name?”

  “An Inquisitor on the scooper,” Maddox said.

  “It should not have done that.”

  “Omegan is your name or the kind of cube you are?”

  “Omegan will suffice,” Omegan said.

  “What are you?”

  “That is a question to which I will give no response as of yet.”

  “Where’s the rest of my crew?”

  “Most are aboard the starship, attempting to analyze and figure out what we have done down here.”

  “How did we get down here?” Maddox asked.

  “You don’t remember walking to the Tarrypin and flying down?”

  “Who flew us?” Maddox asked.

  “Questions, questions, Captain. Professor Ludendorff flew you.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “So many questions and so little time,” Omegan said. “You possibly are a candidate. The others, they flail and struggle, proving so simple, like all who come to me. You, Maddox, you’re different. I admit it. But are you different enough? That is the question, don’t you agree?”

  “Different in what respect?” asked Maddox.

  “What do you seek, Captain? Do you seek the Seekers only to destroy them? Ah, to destroy such ancient and valuable weaponry, are you a barbarian, then? A mere destroyer?”

  “No. I don’t want the Seekers destroying the Commonwealth of Planets.”

  “I see. So you consider yourself a noble personage, do you?”

  “I suppose, if you put it that way,” Maddox said. “I do.” He glanced at Meta.

  She stood very still, her mouth open, her eyes vacant, as if she did not comprehend what was taking place.

  “Why can I understand you, but my wife cannot?” Maddox asked.

  “That is an interesting question,” Omegan said on the screen. “I will not answer that yet. Do you want your wife with you or not during the next phase?”

  “Of course I want her with me.”

  “Remember that you said that. I am most impressed by what you did on the Ruby Planet.”

  “Where is that? Is it in a different dimension?”

  “Of course not, Captain. Don’t be absurd.”

  “But the Ruby Planet is not in the Aquila Rift, is it?” Maddox asked.

  “That is an interesting and a keen observation. I don’t believe I’m going to answer that just now.”

  “What are you? Are you a Precursor?”

  “What a quaint and humdrum term you use. I am what I am, Captain Maddox, and I have been here for more millennia than I care to contemplate. But in any case, that is not the issue. The issue is that you have a certain cleverness. You have a certain intensity of purpose. I will agree to those things. But do you have good sense? I’m not convinced that secrets should be given so freely to one such as you, who represents such a young and arrogant race.”