“They do not know.” Igor was listening intently to the arguments of the would-be invaders. “We came through without any difficulty.”

“Via a different transmitter,” Fewick pointed out as he stroked his armful of sulking sodden fur. “Remember, neither had been used in hundreds of years.”

When a door on the next transport was breached it too proved to be occupied by assorted finned and gelatinous sea creatures instead of eager Contisuyun troops. The apoplectic Pucahuaman raised his eyes skyward.

“Where are my soldiers!” he demanded to know. When the heavens declined to respond, Pucahuaman had no choice but to lead his much reduced and extremely damp invasion force back toward the upper chamber. Comical as the sight of the raging, waterlogged general was, Carter was careful not to laugh.

Behind them, the cavern was already beginning to stink.

“What happened to your people?” Carter asked Apu Tupa.

The old man fished an errant minnow from a pocket of his no-longer-elegant uniform and discarded it with obvious distaste. “The technicians have no idea. All they know is that during the process of transmission our forces switched places with a large volume of salt water and its inhabitants. This happened to one transport after another. We doubtless only escaped a similar fate because we traveled via a different transmitter.”

A middle-aged Contisuyun joined them, fumbling with his unfamiliar translator. Apu Tupa identified him as the expedition’s chief technician.

“Can any of you shed any light on this great tragedy?”

“‘Fraid not,” Ashwood told him. “Looks like y’all won’t be takin’ over Europe after all.”

The technician’s brows drew together. “Do not be so sure. We still have access to resources you cannot imagine. The nucleus of my staff traveled with me and remains intact, if temporarily dispirited. We may need to downgrade our approach but it is far too soon to admit defeat.”

“Well, y’all got balls, anyway.” They emerged into the much smaller upper chamber. “I didn’t think you were gonna conquer Europe with a few thousand soldiers. I sure as hell don’t see y’all doin’ it with half a hundred.”

Pucahuaman was still loudly lamenting his missing troops. “All those lives lost.”

“We do not know that for a fact, my General,” the chief technician told him.

Pucahuaman eyed him uncertainly. “Explain yourself.”

“We know only that their place was taken aboard the transports by salt water and sea creatures. They may still be alive somewhere on this world, or on Contisuyu.”

“That is so. We do not know for certain that they have perished.” The general drew strength from the notion. “In any event, we have the memory of their eagerness and dedication to inspire us and lead us onward.”

“Have you ever run into anything like this before?” Carter asked curiously.

The chief technician looked embarrassed. “Actually this is not the first time a machine made by Those-Who-Came-Before has malfunctioned. They were tremendously advanced, having achieved a level of technology quite beyond belief. As our ancestors learned to their dismay, however, some of the devices which Those-Who-Came-Before left behind were something less than miracles of perfection. In fact, when activated for the first time several of them fell apart, executed functions seemingly unrelated to their design, or blew up. As a result, those of my distinguished predecessors who survived acquired a degree of caution as well as knowledge.

“The life of an operating technician tends to be a short one.”

“Perhaps this incident explains why Those-Who-Came-Before have never returned to your world, or to ours,” Fewick suggested.

The chief technician nodded thoughtfully. “While their inventive abilities were unsurpassed, some of their construction appears to us now to have been downright sloppy. I am reminded of the learning machine which we thought was designed to instruct its users in advanced materials techniques but instead convinced those first four who made use of it that they were small, flightless birds.”

“How terrible,” Ashwood said. “Were you able to cure them?”

“No, but tragedy was averted. They formed a whistling musical quartet whose recordings are still quite popular among our people. Sadly they were unable to perform in public because of a distressing tendency to peck members of the audience while begging for food.

“Another device was clearly designed to process raw logs into sophisticated wood products. Three technicians were splintered to death before their colleagues finally managed to turn it off. So you see that the development of our Contisuyun civilization has not been without its difficulties.”

“Why don’t you give up on this?” Carter urged him. “Go home. Forget about what happened to your ancestors five hundred years ago.”

The chief technician stiffened slightly. “No, never! We will press on until none of us are left to uphold the honor of the Inca. We shall devise a new plan of attack. Somehow we will finish what we have begun here. It is our destiny.”

“Among other men that word is sometimes a synonym for madness,” Igor said quietly.

“Dedication also,” the chief technician argued. He turned at Apu Tupa’s approach. Judging by the look on his face some of the master’s confidence had returned.

“It has been decided that several technicians will use the small transmitter to return to Contisuyu tomorrow. It may be that they will learn what has happened to our people. In addition, they will present the problem to our scientific establishment. I am confident it will be solved, whereupon a fresh invasion force will be trained and transported.

“The rest of us will remain here to work on the command post.”

The chief technician concurred with the plan of action. “You see? You underestimate our resources as well as our resolve.” He left to rejoin his colleagues.

Technicians continued to uncrate and activate equipment all the rest of that day. Under Manco Fernández’s guidance, Pucahuaman and several others hiked to the cavern’s entrance for a view of the world of their ancestors. They returned more determined than ever to take their revenge against the descendants of those who had driven them from Earth.

The prisoners were allowed to sleep unbound. With all but one light extinguished to conserve power, and that operated by two guards, it was unlikely that anyone would or could make a silent dash for the exit before being discovered.

Carter considered trying to sneak past the guards anyway by feeling his way along the walls in the darkness. Unfortunately the large number of side tunnels rendered the idea impractical. He’d experienced total darkness in a couple of commercially developed caverns in Texas and knew too well how utterly disorienting it could be. Furthermore, they had been assigned sleeping spaces between the rear of the upper chamber and the invaders. Even if he could somehow find his way, it was unlikely he’d get very far before stepping on a sleeping soldier or technician.

Gradually prisoners and captives alike fell asleep, lulled by exhaustion and silence.

There was just barely enough illumination from the single distant light to make out the figure bending over him. Carter rolled over but was unable to identify any features in the near blackness.

“Keep quiet.” He recognized Igor’s voice. “I thought I heard something.”

“So what?” Carter mumbled sleepily.

“I thought you would be interested.” Instead of explaining further, he tugged on the actor’s arm, indicating he should follow.

Four steps later Carter stumbled over something yielding. “Christ, if you gotta pee, go toward the light. Ain’t that what they set it up for?”

“Igor heard something,” Carter told Ashwood.

“Big whoopee. Anybody’s lived in the jungle as long as he has probably hears stuff all the time.”

“That was kind of my reaction, but he’s being real insistent.”

“Hell,” she muttered. “Now you got me awake anyway.” She threw back the thin blanket she’d been allotted and followed.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” Carter mumbled under his breath. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Igor whispered back at him. “Careful here. Use your hands to feel your way around the stone.”

Carter did so, sensed Ashwood doing likewise. “What stone?” he asked.

“The intihuatana. Watch your footing. Remember to take one step up into the transmitter enclosure.”

The actor frowned in the darkness. “What are we doing here?”