"Legion, we'll have to see what's down there," Foster said.
"We could come back later, with ropes and big insurance policies," I said.
"But we won't," said Foster. "We've found what we were looking for——"
"Sure," I said, "and it serves us right. Are you sure you feel good enough to make like Alice and the White Rabbit?"
"I'm sure. Let's go."
Foster thrust his legs into the opening, slid over the edge and disappeared. I followed him. I eased down a few feet, glanced back for a last look at the night sky, then lost my grip and slid. I hit bottom hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I got to my hands and knees on a level, gravel-strewn floor.
"What is this place?" I dug the flashlight out of the rubble, flashed it around. We were in a low-ceilinged room ten yards square. I saw smooth walls, the dark bulks of massive shapes that made me think of sarcophagi in Egyptian burial vaults—except that these threw back highlights from dials and levers.
"For a couple of guys who get shy in the company of cops," I said, "we've a talent for doing the wrong thing. This is some kind of Top Secret military installation."
"Impossible," Foster replied. "This couldn't be a modern structure, at the bottom of a rubble-filled shaft——"
"Let's get out of here fast," I said. "We've probably set off an alarm already."