Chapter 18

For the next three days, Pel, Ket and I explored the depot, while Vall sat in her room and fumed. Melvin the Machine had informed her in no uncertain terms that she was to stay in bed for three days, so that her body could repair itself. She snapped at anyone who came close, so I took the coward’s way out and accompanied the halflings on their explorations.

The depot was the size of a town, all apparently hewn from solid rock. There was the healers’ place, where we were staying, several rooms with large tables and many chairs in them, a kitchen, and another area with forty rooms, each with walls lined with beds.

“There must have been hundreds of people here,” Pel said.

On the third morning, we walked through a set of tall double doors, and we halted in awe as the lights came up. We were in a huge chamber, obviously hewn from the heart of the mountain. A network of beams stretched to, and then across, the ceiling far over our heads. We could not see the other side, for the chamber was full of machines. Two huge ones sat toward the back, and dozens of smaller ones of all shapes and sizes were ranged in neat rows before us.

“What are they?” Pel asked in hushed tones, as if they might awaken at the sound of her voice.

“I have no idea,” I replied. “Whatever they are, they appear to be asleep.”

Ket looked at me. “If all of this is here, then where are the people?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Maybe there is more of this place on the other side.”

We walked between the ranked machines, marveling at the metal monsters in the cavern’s surreal lights. Up close, I could smell oil on some of them, and I could see how intricately made they were. Many had wheels, but they were made of a black substance, not wood or metal. Most had writing on them, some larger and some smaller. What their purpose was remained a mystery.

Finally, we reached the other side of the cavern. There were several doors in the wall, and there was a section of windows and doors located high above the floor. Stairs led up from the cavern floor to a platform in front of the windows.

“Come on,” I urged. “We should be able to see much better from there.”

We walked under one of the largest machines, which stood on three thin legs with a dozen pairs of wheels attached in all. The bottom of the thing was higher than I could reach with my bow stave held straight up. Reaching the stairs, I climbed up to the platform, and looked out over the cavern. The vastness of the place was apparent as we leaned on the platform’s metal railing and took it all in.

The large machine was now slightly below us, and I could see chairs inside it through its oddly shaped windows. “Look, the thing is full of chairs.”

“Some of the other machines had chairs, too. People must ride in them, then,” Ket observed.

“Where would these large machines go,” I questioned. “Their wheels are small for their size, and I can’t see them rolling over the valley.”

The talisman I wore on my wrist buzzed like a bee, and I jerked my hand up in automatic reflex. “Ah!” The halflings turned to me, and I looked at the thing. Then, it spoke. “Ornthalas, can you hear me?”

“Vall?” I lifted the talisman to my ear to hear her better. “Vall?”

“I can hear you.” Her voice came through the talisman, and then I remembered being told that the things could be used to talk though. “Where are you?”

“We are not too far away. There is a huge cavern here, full of machines. Some of them are huge.”

“I am tired of just lying in bed,” Vall said sharply. “Can you at least see after me for a while?”

“Go to her,” Ket said. “We will keep looking around.”

“Here,” Pel held out her grandfather’s book. “Let her read more of this, and you can write it down.”

I took the book, and retraced my steps back toward the healer’s place. When I found it again, there were four more machines moving about in the hallway. One left a trail of water behind it that smelled a little like a tannery. I reached Vall’s room and stood aside as Melvin rolled out. I went in after him, to find Vall sitting up with the small table extended over her lap, so her tray rested on it.

“So, that’s how the table works,” I observed. I leaned over to kiss her lightly, and then I sat down in the chair beside her bed.

“I do love being served,” Vall said with a rueful smile, “but being tied to a bed isn’t fun.”

I shook my head, remembering the last time I’d seen her really tied up. “No, I suppose it’s not. Pel lent you her book.” I laid it beside her on the bed. “Maybe we can translate more of it while you’re here.”

“Can you bring me my pack?” Vall pointed to the long table.

I picked it up and brought it to her. She released two buckles, and flipped open the flap to reach the main compartment. She reached in, and brought out the notebooks we’d written our notes in back at the underground house.

I set her pack aside, and moved the small table in front of her, while she commanded her bed to sit her almost straight up. I sat beside her, and we began to read. I had written my notes in the elven tongue, while Pel and Ket had used the human tongue and the Trade tongue.

Vall and I worked for two hours, reading and discussing the first part of the book. We had studied only a fifth of the book’s pages, and we talked of the need to read and rewrite more of it. Finally, I sat back with a sigh.

“Are you two hungry?” Ket called from the door as he and Pel walked into the room.

“I could eat,” Vall replied, “but Melvin hasn’t been by, yet.”

“What did you find?” I asked Ket.

“We found many more rooms on the far side of that cavern. Ornthalas, some of them are machine driven tools! Some of them were working, and I watched them fashion things from metal, and even from some other substance. I saw a scrap of it in a tub, and I picked it up.” He handed me what I would have called a chip if it were wood, but this was lighter than wood, and gray in color.

“What is this,” I turned it in my hands; it was slightly oily, and it bent and returned to its shape as I tried to break it.

“I don’t know, but I saw large objects made of this material. There was much more, in all different colors. Some of it is clear, too.”

“There were machines to work metal, too?”

“Yes, I saw drills on several of them, and other tools I can’t name. There was one tool I saw that was growing an object by shining a very bright light on it. I couldn’t get close to see more of how it worked, though.” He scratched his head. “In all of that, though, most of that workshop was idle. I’d say one in twenty of the machines were running.”

“I saw other machines working when I came back to Vall; I think they were cleaning the floors. These other machines are either building or repairing more machines, and we know that at least some of them will accept our commands.”

Pel spoke up. “All of this is good, and this place, this depot, is astonishing. But, what do we do now?”

“The book first spoke of how this place came to be,” Vall explained. “Ornthalas and I have been reading again the notes we wrote out. I think we need to study them and try to understand what they mean before we can know what to do.”

“I agree,” Pel said, and Ket nodded. “First, though, food!” She grinned.

“We know where something like their kitchen is,” Ket said as he stood up. “Vall, can you walk fifty paces and then sit in a chair?”

“I can try.” She stood up, and the object on her chest beeped in protest. We heard Melvin in the hall, and it appeared in the door. “How may I help you, Vall?”

“I want to walk down the hall,” Vall explained.

“Allow me to secure your monitor. You may walk, but only with support. Will your mate help you?”

“Yes, I will,” I answered.

Melvin attached the device on Vall’s chest to a thin cord, which it draped around her neck. “Do not move too quickly, and let your mate help you.” With that, it rolled out of the room.

I stood and walked to the side of Vall’s bed. “Are you ready?”

She took my hands, and stood up. “I think I can do this, I’ve been walking to the bathroom.”

I stepped up beside her. “The healers said you needed to let me help you.”

Vall smiled. “I’m not sure if that is the correct message, but I will allow it.”

I walked with her down the hall, and to a larger room. There were four long tables here, with rows of chairs on both sides of each table. I helped Vall sit in one of the chairs, which was surprisingly light. I tapped the chair back, and determined it was made of something like the chip Ket had shown me.