“That’s going to be a problem. She’ll get into the air again, yes. But not with a full load. Stripped down she may be able to carry two-flying with a list.”
Santee grinned at his fellow castaways. “All fight. Two of us’ll hike and pack some stuff. The other two’ll ride.”
Kimber frowned as he agreed reluctantly: “I suppose well have to do that. Those in the sled can make a camp a half day’s march ahead and wait for the others to catch up. We mustn’t lose contact. Do you think you can raise Rogan in the valley?”
Cully brought out the small vedio. And Kimber, using his left hand awkwardly, made the proper adjustment. But there was no answering spark. The engineer raised the box and shook it gently. They all heard that faint answering rattle which put an end to their hopes of a message to those they had left by the sea.
Camp was made that night just where the fortunes of that long ago war had marooned them. Santee and Dard undertook another visit to the hidden emplacement. Two of the strange guns were tilted at a crazy angle, their loading mechanism ripped wide open, behind them a pit, newly hollowed and still cloudy with fumes.
Keeping away from that the two Terrans prowled about the installation. If man or any other intelligent life had been there before them, it had been many years in the past.
But Dard, knowing very little of mechanics, believed that it had been robot controlled. Perhaps lack of man-power had made the last war a purely push-button affair.
“Now here’s somethin’!”
Santee’s shout brought him to an opening in the ground. The cover had been wrenched loose by the explosion and its clever camouflage no longer hid the steps leading down into the dark. Santee flashed a beam ahead and started to descend. The steps were very narrow and shallow as if those who had used them had had feet not quite the same shape or size of a Terran’s. But once down, the explorers found themselves in a square box of a metal-walled chamber. Along one entire wall was a control panel and facing it a small table and a single backless bench. Otherwise the room was empty.
“Musta jus’ set them robots goin’ and left. This metal ain’t rusted none. But it was left a long time ago…