Light fell through the shrubbery across her white tunic and Snake's bare back as they crouched over the contraption of coils and metal. She twisted two pieces of wire together in a final connection as Snake placed the jewel on an improvised thermocouple. Then they bent over it and both concentrated their thoughts on the bead. The thermocouple glowed red, and electricity jumped in the copper veins, turning the metal bone into a magnet. The armature tugged once around its pivot, and then tugged around once more. Finally it was whipping around steadily, the brushes on its shaft reversing the magnetic poles with each half circle of the arc. It gained speed until it whirred into an invisible copper haze between them. "Hey," she breathed, "look at it go, will you! Just look at it go." And the young thieves crouched over the humming motor, oblivious to the eyes of the elder gods that smiled at them from the edge of the green shift of shadow and sunlight, by the side of the marble urn.
CHAPTER XI
Under the trees, she raised up on tiptoe and kissed the balding forehead of a tall, dark-robed priest. "Dunderhead," she said, "I think you're cute." Then she blinked very rapidly and knuckled beneath her eye. "Oh," she added, remembering, "I was making yogurt in the biology laboratory yesterday. There's two gallons of it fermenting under the tarantula cage. Remember to take it out. And take care of the hamsters. Please don't forget the hamsters."
Finally, they started once more around the slope of the volcano, and the temple and grove fell black and green away behind them.
"Two days to get to the ship," said Geo, squinting at the pale sky.
"Perhaps we had better put the jewels together," said Urson. "Keep them out of harm's way, since we know their power."
"What do you mean?" Iimmi asked.
Urson took Geo's leather purse from his belt. Then he took the jewel from Geo's neck and dropped it in the purse. Then he held the purse out for Iimmi to do the same.
"I guess it can't hurt," Iimmi said, dropping his chain into the pouch.