where pipes led off to the north."
28 "This is perfect water, absolutely pure. Let's start getting it up
to the ships. We'll take one bus and investigate what's to the north."
29 "Warlock North!" somebody started screaming, "Warlock North! Come
here, quickly! Come see this!"
30 The party quickly ran in between the blocks of ice until they found
the Officer who had been calling. The man said nothing, but pointed to
the center block. There was writing on it, letters formed by a hot beam
obviously operated by someone standing on the ground. The message read,
"Greetings, North! Good to see you again! Couldn't use the water.
Thought you might need it. Good luck!"
31 North first stood staring, then shook his head. I'm not even going
to try to figure it out," he stammered. "I don't care who left the
water, as long as they did! There's three times what we need!"
32 As the smallest ships began to lift the ice cubes toward their
mother ships, the scouting party went north. Landing on the field they
ventured toward the cliff face. There was an opening about eighty feet
wide and sixty feet high. Bore marks along its edge showed that once
air tight doors had been fitted here. Just under the doors were two
huge shafts going straight down out of sight.
33 "Good sized lift shafts," remarked North, "probably used simple
anti-gravity. Plenty of space. I think I see another entrance maybe
forty feet down. I'm going to fly down and take a look."
34 "Wait a minute, sir," cried another man, "there's stairs over here.
It looks like they've been made out of the living rock spiraling down
who-knows-how-far."
35 North tried his wings in the thin air. "You men that can't fly take
the stairs. Examine the next two levels down. I'm going down THIS shaft
and count the levels."