"It's as though they sealed the door shut with no intention of ever opening it again," Madeline mused.
"'And so,'" A.J. said in a sepulchral voice, "'they placed a seal upon the Tomb and all manner of enchantments, that that which lay within would never again—'"
"Shut up, A.J.!" came a chorus of voices.
"You know . . ." Rich said after a moment. "A.J. might be onto something this time."
"Huh?"
Rich laughed. "I don't mean that some nameless eldritch horror lies beyond the door. I mean that it might literally be a tomb. Like a pyramid, you know. What if whoever they were had a sort of religious structure to their civilization, and one of their leaders died here?"
"But wouldn't that be awfully wasteful?" Joe objected. "Would that make sense for a civilization this advanced?"
"At the time," Rich countered, "Egypt was probably the most advanced civilization in the world. And you're trying to make sense of things based on our point of view. Sure, so far, it does look as if the Bemmies were rather like us, in many ways. But we don't know for sure that the Bemmies built this base, although the ergonomics of what's left does look rather appropriate for their species. And even if it was built by them, we don't know what their culture was like. If they were having a war—which all those crater targets damn well seem to indicate—it might have been religious in nature. Anyway, it's just a thought."
Madeline looked at one of the images of the enigmatic sealed entrance which were lying on the table. "Well, there's only one way to find out."
Joe smiled. "That's my delicate lady love. Her favorite word. Boom."
Despite A.J.'s occasional references to Things Man Was Not Meant To Know—Joe's witticisms were even worse—Madeline and
A.J. spent the next few days trying to figure out the best way to get through the doorway. In the end, sure enough, the only workable method they could think of involved one form or another of demolitions.
That was something they approached reluctantly — especially Madeline, despite Joe's wisecrack. The concepts of high explosives and underground exploration did not generally combine well, and Madeline knew a lot more about both subjects than anyone else on Mars did.
However, there was little doubt that they were in fact going to give it a try, since they couldn't figure out any other way to accomplish the task. The Vault represented a huge unexplored area of the base and potentially the most valuable one. If it were a tomb of the sort Rich had speculated about, one of the most common features of such tombs on Earth was that they were filled with all manner of valuables and items meant to accompany the owner to their afterlife.
Joe did suggest that it might be their dump, especially for radioactive waste, but even that might provide valuable clues to their technology and society. In any event, after sixty-five million years all the high-level radioactives would have decayed away. Their suits would provide more than adequate protection if that turned out to be the case.
"Charges set. I'm coming down." Madeline's voice was calm and businesslike, showing none of the tension Joe knew she must be feeling. If something went wrong, she could collapse enough of the base to make the Vault unreachable for years, if ever.
Having finally been able to come along again after more than a month convalescing, Joe watched the opening at the top of Melted Way for her small suited figure to appear. For safety, they would trigger the detonation from outside the Ice Cavern, making sure that even if the worst-case scenario happened, none of them would be caught in it.
A few minutes later, he saw Madeline making her way down the path, and went to meet her at the bottom. His leg ached slightly and was still in a cast below the knee, but at least it was now functioning.
"How many did you set?"
"Five. I see no point in trying this halfway. Those alloys, composites, whatever they are, they're just tough as hell. Either I can blow that door, or I can't. If I did it right, it shouldn't make much difference in the risk as to whether I used one charge or all five."
"Still," A.J. said, "five? We just want to blow the door off, not vaporize it."
Madeline peered into the distance and spotted him waiting at the other side of the cavern. "Actually, I just want the door gone. If it's in one piece or a thousand isn't critical, as long as I don't damage too much behind it."
"I just hope you got your designs right."
"I checked them several times," Madeline said. "And the more I looked at that door, the more sure I was that I was going to need all of them."