Old Mars

He moved forward another foot and repeated the procedure, and this time the floor opened just as it had for the snake’s head.

Merlin leaped across the pit with ease.

It’s no more than four feet wide, he signaled back. Deep as hell, and the walls are absolutely smooth, so don’t trip.

Scorpio turned to Quedipai. “Can you jump?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” answered the Martian uneasily.

“How can you not know?” demanded Scorpio. “Either you can jump or you can’t.”

“I can jump. But I am very old. I don’t know if I can jump that far.”

“All right,” said Scorpio. “We’ll do it the hard way.”

“The hard way?” repeated Quedipai.

Scorpio scooped the Martian up in his arms, ran down the corridor, and measured his leap to begin a few inches before the pit began. It didn’t sense him and remained shut until he landed on the far edge. The floor dropped away from him, but his momentum carried him forward. As he released his grip on Quedipai, both of them rolled down the corridor behind the pit.

“That was terrifying!” moaned the Martian.

“These guys knew their stuff,” commented Scorpio. “It’s amazing that it still works after all these thousands of years.”

They walked cautiously, looking for more traps, for another hundred yards. Then the corridor curved to the left and terminated at a massive golden door that had a series of hieroglyphs carved into it.

Quedipai walked up to the first set of hieroglyphs and studied them intently. Finally, he stood back.

“Well?” asked Scorpio.

“This is the Tomb of the Lesser Kings,” he said.

“Lesser Kings?” repeated Scorpio.

“The Krang had seven kings. Six of them are interred in this vault.”

“I assume the important one—the seventh king—is down the other corridor?”

“That seems likely.”

“But it doesn’t expressly say so on the door?”

“No.”

“Well, we’ll worry about it after we examine this tomb,” said Scorpio.

Quedipai was about to push the door open when Scorpio grabbed his hand.

“Don’t!” said the Earthman.

“What’s the matter?” asked Quedipai.

“Let’s assume the guys who designed this place meant business,” replied Scorpio. He pulled his knife out of his boot and tossed it against the door, which immediately began sparking and crackling.

“Electrified?” asked the Martian.

Scorpio nodded. “Yeah. I’m surprised it still has power after all this time.”

“What shall we do?”

“It’s deadly,” replied Scorpio, “but it’s not unique. Merlin and I run into this kind of thing a lot.” He pulled a small, complex device out of one of his many pockets and held it up. “A Nullifier. This little gizmo can negate any charge that’s not strong enough to melt the door.”

He pressed a switch, the device began humming, and he pressed it against the door. There was no repetition of the sound or sparks.

“Okay, let’s see what’s inside,” he said, pushing at the portal, which slowly swung inward, creaking under its own weight.

The chamber was spacious. More, it was luxurious. The walls were gold, and reached some twenty feet high to an arched ceiling. There were a number of ornate cabinets, and spread evenly about the chamber were six exquisitely carved and freestanding mausoleums, each looking like a miniature temple.

Scorpio entered the first mausoleum and saw nothing but a pile of ashes.

All I’m finding are ashes, signaled Merlin.

Me, too, replied Scorpio.

He walked back out and saw Quedipai emerging from another mausoleum.

“What the hell happened here, I wonder?” said the Earthman.

Merlin opened a cabinet with his pointed tail. Empty, he observed.

Quedipai walked to a series of hieroglyphs that had been carved into the wall. “Do you see this?” he said, pointing to an inscription at the very bottom of the hieroglyphs.

“Yes?”

“It was added to the original approximately five thousand years ago, if I have identified my dynasties correctly. It was written by a grave robber who actually reached the tomb, only to find that it had been robbed millennia earlier. He stole what few artifacts remained and left this message for any who followed him.”

“What does the message say?”

“That he looked for the Book of Blaxorak but couldn’t find it. Either it is in the other tomb, or it never existed.”

“As long as he got this far, why didn’t he just go to the other tomb and see for himself?” asked Scorpio.

“He had three companions. Cohorts, I think one could call them. They all died trying to enter the Tomb of Xabo, and he decided to leave while he still lived.”

“Xabo?” repeated Scorpio.

“He was the greatest of the Krang kings,” answered the Martian. “It was said that he was capable of feats that seemed very little removed from magic.” He looked around the tomb. “I am almost glad the thief’s associates were killed. I hope Xabo’s tomb is intact.”

“Let’s find out,” said Scorpio.