One figure walked slowly to the far end of the room, carrying a small light. He passed through a doorway, traversed a short corridor, and entered an enormous chamber. He paced along a catwalk. The power in this room was operative. Far above him was an indigo sky with silver stars. A pale blue dawn was showing at the horizon. To his left was an extensive mirror-smooth lake in which the sky and stars were reflected in unutterable beauty. In the lake, trees grew in profusion. It appeared to be an orchard in flood time, but it was apparent that the trees grew best in a watery environment. Heavy, thick, almost circular leaves covered the trees. Fragrant white blossoms promised fruit in the next season. On the shore were numerous small boats for skimming and a few large ones for working in the orchard.
The catwalk led for about a mile across one end of the lake and had several side passages, all on the right. At the fourth side passage, the walker turned and passed through an airlock. After he had come through the second door, he entered a lightless room that gave an impression of immense spaciousness. Revealed in the shadow of his light were many horizontal gold and clear quartz capsules about eight feet long and two feet in diameter, stacked in rows. Each capsule was connected to cables that led into a large box. Boxes were spaced about twenty feet apart and each was connected to about forty capsules.
The walker opened the top of the box and peered inside. He raised a small communicator to his lips and spoke into it. After receiving a reply, he reached into the box with a long tool. A moment later, dim lights went on in the room and a very low hum started up. The walker smiled broadly and closed the box. Then he retraced his steps.
Captain Mary Marks-Owens woke Jesus Madera out of a deep sleep.
“Mr. Madera,” she said, approaching him gently where he had fallen asleep in his chair. He had returned to his office and workshop aboard the Tempest to study some diagrams he had made in the power plant. “The Star Ranger has arrived. The Starmen are waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Captain,” said Madera, lifting his head and rubbing his brown eyes. He ran his hand through his hair quickly, left his room, put on his helmet, and descended the outside ladder to the floor of the launching pad. He turned toward the control center and saw the Starmen on the other side of the wall. They all waved at him. Madera was one of the Starmen’s favorite acquaintances from Starlight Enterprise. He strode across the tarmac and passed through the airlock and hailed the young men.
After he had removed his helmet and exchanged hasty preliminary greetings, he led them across the quad in front of the manufacturing center and through the great doors.
“What have you discovered?” asked Mark.
“I think I can power up the computer system, but it will take a lot of energy to do so. I used submicroscopic robotic probes to provide detailed maps of the computer in the power plant, and some of the wiring, machines, and selected other equipment inside this amazing facility. I’ve detailed men to take portable power packs down to the power plant and arrange them in sequence to give us enough power to jump-start the computer. When we do that, we ought to be able to get into the files you found earlier, Mark. Getting the power packs down there is not easy, but with dozens of men working, I estimated that we could get it hooked up in a couple of hours. That was the time I was taking to study some diagrams I’d made, but instead took an involuntary catnap.”
“Why didn’t you enter the power plant through the hangar from which we escaped?” asked Zip.