Ann was in the antechamber trying to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she had nightmarish visions of Penny's punishment, Don's death in a fight with Yaotl, her own public denouncement as a false god, with Ollin cutting out her heart, and Dr. Smith driven insane meandering in the garden babbling inanities to himself. With her eyes open, there wasn't much of an improvement. Both Dr. Smith and Don had impressed upon her the importance of her role as Nenetl, but the tension of playing the part was bringing her close to the breaking-point. She needed to do something, not just be something, to help them out of their plight. She sat up on the couch, put her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZ90gPddby
"Come on, Ann MacGregor," she said out loud, "you must not crack." She stood up and clutched her arms across her chest. Then she heard Dr. Smith arguing with the temple guard outside.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgGo1haQzR
"But I must speak to Nenetl," Dr. Smith snapped.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrrDujBTV0
"It is forbidden." The guard was adamant.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRAwWHVX14
"Rot and rubbish on being forbidden!" Dr. Smith exploded. "Get out of my way, you nefarious Neanderthal!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRA23y26Hw
Quickly, Ann opened the door. "Let my aged servant pass," she commanded.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpL6nR9AfQJ
In obedience the guard stood to one side, but said that Dr. Smith's presence would be reported.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu3D1I4nk8
"So be it!" Ann slammed the door in the guard's face. Then she looked at Dr. Smith. 341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEttJvYWqlz
His face was ashen.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzfTVYcylI
"Dr. Smith, those stairs..." she began.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUPTPqnIAN
Dr. Smith shook his head. "It's young West," he said.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vH61M0l54
"What about Don?" Ann asked in alarm.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlOr9UVYSC
"I think he's dead," Dr. Smith replied in remorse, "drowned by Yaotl. And it was all my fault. Oh, the pain!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ330545NpYM
For a moment Ann was stunned, incapable of grasping the enormity of Dr. Smith's statement. Then, as it sunk in, one word came through to the forefront of his mind. 341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlekZRSv0vq
"You said "think," Dr. Smith. Does that mean you don't know, that you're not sure?" she asked, clutching at a mental straw.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQpv2rgDaE
Dr. Smith told her everything that had happened in the garden.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRitxhSRfZ
"Then there's still hope," Ann said, taking Dr. Smith's hand, "but this isn't the place to be," she added and led him up to the temple.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTgpBifkiO
Inside the TARDIS Don looked for some cord, string, even a length of flex would do, but no, there were only printed circuits. Enough of sophisticated electronics that keep going wrong, he thought. Wherever we land next, let's get back to Boy Scout basics: a length of string and a knife with a thing for taking stones out of horses hooves. He went out into the tomb and shone the torch around. Under Nenetl's skeleton was a cotton sheet with a narrow silk border sewn into it. Don found the join, unpicked it and then carefully ripped the silk away from the cotton which had rotted over the decades. He carried the strip of silk over to the fresco and looked for someplace to attach it. The eagle's neck stood proud from the wall, like the eye of a needle, so Don stood threaded one end of the silk through it and tied a nice knot. He tugged the silk several times to make sure that it would hold. Then he pushed outwards on the wall and stepped into the temple.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegAT0LqzGs
"West, my dear chap, you're alive!" Dr. Smith exclaimed and embraced him. "I was afraid you were drowned.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMELXcptFu6
"And I nearly was," Don replied and began to recount his adventure in the tunnel.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCbnI0UWaj
Suddenly, Ann interrupted him. "The wall's closing," she cried in alarm.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqPr94ed0b
Don held up the strip of silk.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UuTdSg07U
"It doesn't matter," he said, "the other end is attached to the fresco on the inside and, as the wall is counterbalanced, all we have to do is tug on this end and we're home and away."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHeIZaXKz6
Dr. Smith thought this was an over-simplification but he said nothing as he still felt guilty about the tunnel.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVNu5LdrXi
"Why don't you go through to the TARDIS while I go to the seminary and fetch Penny?" Don suggested.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWuQKtqode
"No." Dr. Smith was adamant. "When we go to the other side of that wall we all go together. Splitting up is bad, bad idea."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZi2Ef4nzv
Ann agreed and added that fetching Penny might not be as easy a task as Don imagined.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8f3VsRfbzT
"Why not?" Don asked.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2VSrQhr0D
Ann explained about Penny's refusal to marry the Perfect Victim and described her punishment for denying his wish. "Knowing Ollin, she's bound to be guarded," Ann concluded.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqwr6dl0Y7
"And knowing Yaotl, she won't be in the seminary," Don added. "He'll keep her a prisoner in his quarters. So, wait for us in the antechamber, it's more comfortable up here." He winked at them and started towards the brocade curtain.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPCaIyYS5d
"Beware of Yaotl, West," Dr. Smith felt obliged to warn him. "He's a sly, wily devil."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn2zT9EXqw
Don stopped and grinned.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5OWFHYiio
"But I'll have the psychological advantage, Dr. Smith. He thinks I'm dead," he replied and hurried away.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMPx9Cuc3q
Ann and Dr. Smith hid the silk strip behind the curtain in praise of Tlaloc, the God of Water, which still covered the entrance to the tomb.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTVu66bg7Q
Ann and Don were right on all counts. Ollin had two guards accompany him and Penny from the seminary to the barracks and Yaotl's quarters, where he told the warriors to stay outside with Penny until he commanded them to enter. He went inside and Yaotl, after paying his respects, told the High Priest of the events in the garden. Ollin congratulated him on his success and added that, with Don dead, the others were at their mercy.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX81v0NeG9q
"The rewards I promised you shall be yours," Ollin said. "And when the Perfect Victim is sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli and the sun's light shines again on our land, then I shall proclaim you commander of our armies."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdFnSvKYr8
"I shall serve the High Priest well," Yaotl assured him.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGabNbAV1A
"Let your service begin now," Ollin said and ordered the warriors to bring in Penny. "I leave her in your charge, Yaotl," he continued. "Do not let her escape nor release her to Tetzal, whose faith in Huitzilopochtli falters."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKq7BevX4R
Penny demanded to know why she had been taken from the seminary, but Ollin was evasive and would only say that it was for her protection.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lGwm8Bldg
"Does Nenetl know that I am here?" Penny insisted.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVUoAroj4V
"A true god is all-knowing, and all-seeing," he sneered.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsC7TMGbpHC
"As the Great Spirit's handmaiden, I demand to be escorted to the temple and shown into her presence," she persisted.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZXPgc0xQ7
"And so you shall, at the appointed time."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZJEBtatkk
Penny shivered involuntarily at the cold menace in his voice.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDZLsSCIPI
He turned back to Yaotl. "Guard her," he ordered, and limped out of the quartes with the two warriors.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGDffZJEUa
Yaotl pointed to the bedroom. "You may rest in there."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVgmyUAu1A
"I'm not tired," Penny said and sat on a cushion.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhAhfn6c8h
Yaotl shrugged. "Nor am I, nor shall I be, while I'm charged with you," he warned, facing her with his back to the entrance.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCuMbgOw7p
Don had just enough time to tuck into the shadows of the main barracks when he saw Ollin and the warriors coming through the passageway from the courtyard. He waited until they had gone past before he slipped into it and stealthily made his way, back pressed against the wall, towards Yaotl's quarters.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuZp32JAQa
"Do you know where Don is?" the Chosen Warrior was asking Penny.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXvp3yN8ub
"You'd be surprised," Don thought, but he didn't catch Penny's reply.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5q2Gyy2h8A
"Then I shall tell you. He's dead," Yaotl announced.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdwVFV1ohN
"I don't believe you!" Don heard Penny shout.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7e6xRrARQE
"The old man was there when he died," Yaotl continued. "He knows it to be so. Now have seven warriors, one whom was the servant of a god, challenged my right to command," his voice rang with pride, "yet I alone survive."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnjHQInBJw
"Not true," Don said as he stepped up behind Yaotl and hit him with a cross-handed, double-razor chop on either side of his neck which made the Chosen Warrior's eyes almost pop out of his head before he collapsed unconscious on the floor. "Good commanders never jump to conclusions," Don added, grinning.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TgCp8knj0
"Don!" Penny gasped. "I knew he was lying. He tried to make me believe you were dead."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWFi6yD4OS
Don put his arm around her. "He was a couple of seconds short of being right," Don replied and then asked if she had her everyday clothes with her. Penny pointed to a bundle on the floor.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4jRb4HOak
"They made me bring everything from the seminary."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX87NN1SvcU
"How terribly obliging of them." Don picked up the bundle and led her across the courtyard to his quarters, where he gathered up his ordinary clothes.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIUOmem5PP
"Where are we going?" Penny asked.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUUTTWbpe0
"To the TARDIS. Where do you think?" he answered.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9vxgIZfMS
As they left Don enquired how Penny had found her school. She made a raunchy face. "Not much better than yours in 1960s England."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqKtuCQbUx
Dawn streaked the sky as Ann waited anxiously in the antechamber with Dr. Smith, who was scribbling mathematical formulae on a pocket notepad.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS4V6aQsDp
"I hope they're all right," Ann said.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3w26eaKBq
"I've come to the conclusion that young West is a remarkably resourceful chap," Dr. Smith remarked, grimacing as he rechecked his calculations.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkjDikF8Xy
"I just want us to get away as quickly as possible," Ann confessed.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyyWVRC0TR
Dr. Smith looked up a them. "And history?" he asked.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6cwWgcFy3
"Can remain unchanged," she replied.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7m3xeF3zMQ
"No rewriting?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdNaWMcIB6
"No rewriting."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12yWQxj9hb
Dr. Smith nodded and tapped the notepad with his pencil.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIFt0FMNyj
"It won't be easy, my dear. It won't."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qCerguOSJ
Ann looked puzzled. "What won't?" she asked.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XK5tZ9tvA
"Opening up the wall. I've been doing some calculations and I don't believe we have the strength," he replied.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcV8e71dPS
"Dr. Smith, I barely touched the wall and it began to swing open."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLowOje8Vo
"From the inside, Ann," Dr. Smith reminded her, and explained that the pressure of her hand upon the inside of the wall was both a force outwards and upwards because of the counterbalance but now with the strip of silk attached to the fresco, the first force was downwards to the foot of the wall and the second one was outwards.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡak1jYSD2pr
"But where is the upwards thrust?" he asked her.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsL2TbfYGZr
"The counterbalance swinging down will supply it," Ann replied.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBfxVtKtgm
Dr. Smith shook his head. "No, my dear, things don't tend to move unless..."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXMgOP87t5
"....you start the ball rolling," Ann finished for him.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0teMeDaVt
"Well put, Ann," Dr. Smith said. "And downwards and outwards is not the same thing as outwards and upwards. What's more," he added, "that bit of silk is almost one hundred years old and it won't take too much strain."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEaEnEVscW
"What can we do?" Ann asked.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uKdX9VJim
"Try," Dr. Smith replied, as he slipped the notepad back into his pocket.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuNHJe4izF
At that moment Penny and Don came breathlessly into the antechamber. "Anyone for the Skylark?" Don gasped.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNq8BI2Qqu
Ann and Dr. Smith exchanged a quick apprehensive glance and the four of them went up to the temple. Ann took the silk from behind the curtain as Dr.Smith looked at Don.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nM7r33jAE
"I'm sorry, my dear fellow, but this may not work," Dr. Smith said apologetically. "And we can't put too much load on the silk because it will break."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UNyCoZfRO
They began tugging on the silk, but nothing happened.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjKLgrxc69
"What if I push in at the top of the wall while you pull out at the bottom?" Don suggested.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZRcK6Euro
"It's from the inside out, West, not from the outside in," Dr. Smith said. "You're up against the law of..."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WaYWTMEcT
"Inertia!" Don exploded. "Of all the stupid things to overlook. I only had to put it around the doorknob of the TARDIS or something and it would have pulled the counterbalance in."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86osjl3FI8
None of the others said a word.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxOC7IiAuL
"All right." Don looked at each of them in turn. "I'll do the tunnel and the climb again and open the wall from the inside."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUdiTptsmY
"The stone has handgrips on the back. Fit it in the wall again, just in case," Dr. Smith cautioned and gave him the pencil-torch. "And, West, a final warning----Yaotl."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrP0pXsgBP
Don grinned and looked at Penny. "When last seen the Chosen Warrior had deserted Huitzilopochtli for a Greek God whose name is Morpheus. Right, Penny?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwswRI68jh
