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 Is it working correctly? asked Aapurian. All he really wanted to do was sit down. But all the available chairs and couches had been incorporated
into the apparatus, so all he could do was stand in the doorway, leaning on Eeneeri for support.
The Doctor was reaching into various parts of the apparatus.
Metallic clicks issued from it, followed by a strange high-pitched squeak.
 Well, the first information burst went out all right, said the Doctor.
Aapurian frowned.  What has burst? he asked.  Is everything all right?
There was another squeak from the machine. The Doctor turned and smiled at Aapurian.  That s it, he said.  We have control over the systems.
What do you want to do with the sun?
139
Aapurian struggled to get his thoughts in order. What was the most important thing to do?  Evict Epreto  no, wait. Seal the sun off. Don t let
anything get in or out.
 And stop it from moving, added Eeneeri.
 Might be a good idea to disable the weapons systems as well,
muttered the Doctor. He was already fiddling with something that looked as if it might once have been part of a clock mechanism Mechanical
chimes issued from the machine, followed by a third squeak, much longer than the first two. Blue sparks trailed from the copper surfaces.
The Doctor examined the machine once more, then nodded.
 That seems to have worked all right. He said, smiling.
 Gentlemen, I believe we have won.
But Aapurian felt that sense of foreboding again. It had been too easy. Far too easy.  Are you sure, Doctor? he asked.
 Quite sure, said the Doctor.  The signal has been sent, and acknowledged by the starship  by the sun, I mean. Nothing can possibly go wrong
now.
Everything happened in less than five seconds.
The alarms started sounding, and the booming voice that the sun used in what it deemed to be emergencies started to speak about some kind of
intrusion. For a moment, Epreto thought that the naieen were actually trying to attack the sun. Then he realized that it wasn t possible. The sun was
at full brightness. They wouldn t be able to get within ten miles of it.
By the time Epreto had thought about that, and started no ask the systems what was really happening, all the lights had gone out. He finished the
question anyway, but there was no response.
He rushed to the controls, which were still illuminated, and punched out a message on the emergency keyboard. He d used this on the last but one
fallen sun he d found, and, though it had taken some time to work out how to use the thing, in the end he d got a lot of useful information.
But this time all the sun said was,  Attempted software intrusion.
Countermeasures in force. Please wait.
Epreto asked again, got the same response. He bunched his fists in frustration. What was wrong with the thing? What was a
 software intrusion?
 What is happening? he bawled.
Then the lights came back on.
 System restored.
Epreto took a deep breath.  Source of intrusion?
A map appeared, with the source marked in red. Epreto didn t 140
need to wait for the accompanying surveillance picture to come through to know where the source was
 The Temple, he muttered.  Of course.
He told the system to power up its weapons, then watched the target spots form on the old test sites around the Rim mountains.
 New targets, he told the system.  Coordinates of source of system intrusion, and all similar structures: He waited for the target spots to come up,
made sure that they were the Seven Temples and not cities or other structures lived in by men.
He realized as he waited for the weapons to power up that he should have done this as soon as he d got inside the sun.
 Full power, reported the system.
Epreto nodded.  Open fire, he said softly.  Continue until targets are destroyed.
 Now that s odd, said the Doctor. The copper machinery in front of him was chiming again, but this time the sound was discordant, confused.
Aapurian s sense of foreboding returned, with a renewed intensity.
There were more chimes.
 The starship systems seem to have  oh, I see. The Doctor looked up at Aapurian.  This isn t going to work as well as I d hoped, he said.  We re
going to have to, get closer to the sun. In fact  
 Confessor-Senior, said Eeneeri suddenly, his voice high with alarm.  The window  the sunlight  
He didn t need to say any more, because Aapurian could see for himself. The window was blazing like a tiny image of the sun itself. The light, which
had been seeping through on to the wall, had, become burning bright.
The Doctor had noticed too. He d begun to move, was on his knees by the window, pulling it upwards.
 Quickly! he snapped.  Out through here!
 But that s going in to the sunlight! said Eeneeri.  We ll be burnt alive! [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]