Garth put his mouth close to the diaphragm. His words, amplified, rolled out through the cavern in the Ancient Tongue.
"Yes—the gods return! Summon the Zarno! Let none fail to obey the summons!"
Shouts went up. The Zarno whirled and raced away. For the moment, Garth was alone.
He concentrated on the transmitter again, commanding the robot to move forward to the edge of the dais, till he could see its back.
"Raise your arm. Step back. Forward again. Back."
It worked. The robot obeyed his mental commands, awkwardly, but—it obeyed.
"Back. Sit on the throne."
A jarring crash deafened Garth momentarily. He had forgotten how huge the robot was. No doubt the creature should lever itself down gradually into its seat, instead of dropping a ton of metal solidly on the black block.
Footsteps again. The Zarno were beginning to pour into the cavern. Huge as it was, they almost filled it. They flung themselves flat, crawling toward the dais, nodding their misshapen heads in awkward rhythm. Their voices were raised in a deep-throated chant.