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“If you think some of us worship Altaeth tech, imagine how they feel about a living Altaeth?” Thammah pointed out. “The Pilot is giving us a lot more leeway than we normally would have. Surely you noticed how everyone went stiff and weird when you told them where we were going?”

When they had told Typhon and Amana about it, the two siblings had gone absolutely still. Amana had been the first to recover with a slight smile.

“The Pilot requires you to go below?” she’d asked.

Davies had inclined his head. “We need to retrieve another of his AIs. She’s been located in the labyrinth below your compound.”

“Your sole intent is to retrieve her?” Typhon had asked, stepping up closer to his sister’s side. “Not touch any of the equipment you may find below?”

Thammah had guessed they were wondering if another database might be there. Of course, the Moturins would want that for themselves.

“We have no interest in anything other than Gehenna,” Davies had responded.

Thammah hadn’t wanted to tell the siblings at all about their plans to rescue Gehenna. Jace could have overridden the security protocols that kept the door to the labyrinth closed, plus shielded their locations without anyone being the wiser. But Jace wanted them to act with respect. So they had. The Moturins had allowed the access, of course, but there was a lot of whispering afterwards that Thammah had not been fond of.

Davies gave a short nod. “I did, which is why I thought the creatures were real. Maybe we will just find dusty hallways and empty rooms.”

He then turned towards the sealed door. He extended a hand towards it and a red shield sizzled under his fingers indicating that the door was locked and out of limits. The shield turned green and faded away. There was a series of thunks as large bolts disengaged and a grinding sound as the door opened.

Thammah leaned forward while also coming up onto her tiptoes to see what was beyond. The labyrinth had always fascinated and repelled her. Going down into it was forbidden. Of course, it was.

But there were valid reasons for that. Comms sometimes failed to work and it was thought many explorers had failed to return, because they’d gotten lost in the dark. There had been a half-sized door into the labyrinth through her own family’s home. She’d thought often enough of tying the end of a ball of string on something in her home and unspooling it as she walked wherever the labyrinth took her. She’d be able to retrace her steps and get home by following the string.

Yet there were other reasons to stay out. The creatures that Davies had mentioned. No one had any images or vids of them despite other hysterical explorers coming out of the labyrinth, wild-eyed and blubbering, claiming they’d seen them slinking away around a corner. Things with long jaws lined with razor sharp teeth and milky white eyes.

So Thammah had stayed out, finding other things topside to keep her interested. But now she had a chance to see the labyrinth and walk it. She thought about mentioning the ball and string to Davies, but she had no idea where they’d get some. Instead, she closed her hand around a marker in her pack. She’d mark their passage so they could get back even if their comms failed.

As the door fully ground open, Davies had a hand on his sidearm, but he kept it in the holster. Matzen was loose but ready. She was betting he was excellent with blades. Before them was a stairwell that appeared to end in blackness, but light crystals started to glow at the bottom like far stars. They grew in intensity once the three of them started down the stairs. A trickle with excitement mixed with unease ran through her as she made her first mark outside this door.

“No dust,” Davies remarked as he gestured towards their feet on the steps.

There was no dust there to be disturbed by their footprints.

“Maybe there’s a draft,” Thammah offered.

“Altaeth structures are often found to be without dust or signs of decay. At least, not as much decay as there should be,” Matzen remarked.

He kept his voice low, which Thammah found interesting. The sepulchral silence of the labyrinth was affecting him too. Yet her head whipped around, looking up towards the top of the stairs where they had just been.

“What’s wrong, Pyrrhus?” Davies asked.

“I don’t know. I thought I might have heard something,” she admitted, but no one was there. “It could be the locking mechanism on the door. Settling.”

“I am surprised that the Moturins did not request to send someone down with us,” Matzen said.

“Yes, interesting that. Fall in.” Davies made a gesture over his shoulder for them to follow him. He had taken out his side arm.

Thammah kept her hands free. She wanted to be able to react to whatever it was in front of her with the appropriate weapon. Matzen silently padded down the steps, also weaponless, but he had reached back towards the hilt of his rahir that was strapped on his back.

“We’re not here to sightsee so let’s keep to the path,” Davies said as the staircase opened up into a spacious, arched corridor that they could easily walk three abreast.

The air was surprisingly fresh. Cool currents whispered across Thammah’s cheeks and stirred the short hairs at the base of her neck. There was no scent of age either. Though this hallway had never been used by the Moturins, at least in living memory, it seemed as bright and usable as the floors above.

Doors studded this broad hallway whose arched ceiling flew over their heads in shades of ochre and bronze. Like most of Altaeth architecture the walls were smooth and unadorned. It was as if the task of making something perfect straight or the perfect arch was what transfixed them rather than sculptures or carvings. But it was all part of the Altaeth paradox.

“Do you know that we find Altaeth tech, but never any furniture?” Thammah asked Davies.

He frowned slightly and asked, “Did it rot away?”