He almost laughed aloud.
Slowly, hesitantly the thing's mental barrier was fading away. Jim stepped to the door and opened it widely. Nothing beat him back now. He motioned to Kaarji, who followed him almost frightenedly out into the corridor. There the mental power of the Dim-Ing was a little more in evidence, but not enough to stop them. It was as though it were watching....
"This way," Kaarji breathed at last. He led Jim in the opposite direction from the Dim-Ing, then into a cross-corridor that extended interminably. At last they reached a door that opened onto stone steps leading downward.
"Careful," Kaarji warned as he led the way slowly.
He didn't need to warn Jim. The latter was wary as never before, and he kept a hand always near his electro-pistol. Something was vaguely wrong about all this but he didn't know what. For one thing it seemed too easy.
At the bottom of the steps was another sliding door. Kaarji paused before it and whispered, "This is the room!"
Jim stood still, listening. There was no sound from beyond that door. The silence was a vast womb about them, menacing. Jim slid the door noiselessly open; they stepped inside and stared around.
They saw huge circling tiers of peculiarly constructed dynamos. They were in operation, Jim knew that, for he could feel a certain surge of power even though there was no sound. A bewildering network of cables led from the dynamos to a central, predominating machine that towered fan-like above them all. It was this electronic tower, he knew, that created the swirling pillars of strength that surged upward and outward to support the vast cavern roof overhead.
Then they saw Bhruulo. He was in a little glassite room at the foot of the electronic tower. Tiny wheels and dials were banked around him, and he was busy making delicate adjustments. So busy that he didn't see them standing just inside the door.