n's
grass. Now and then he paused beside Kaydessa and spoke, his uneasiness
plain to Travis although he could not understand the words.

Travis had settled down in the shade, half dozing, yet alert to every
movement of the three Tatars. He tried not to think of what might be
happening in the rancheria by switching his mind to that misty valley of
the towers. Did any of those three alien structures contain such a grab
bag of the past as he, Ashe, and Murdock had found on that other world
where the winged people had gathered together for them the artifacts of
an older civilization? At that time he had created for their hosts a new
weapon of defense, turning metal tubes into blow-guns. It had been
there, too, where he had chanced upon the library of tapes, one of which
had eventually landed Travis and his people here on Topaz.

Even if he did find racks of such tapes in one of those towers, there
would be no way of using them--with the ship wrecked on the mountain
side. Only--Travis' fingers itched where they lay quiet on his
knees--there might be other things waiting. If he were only free to
explore!

He reached out to touch Menlik's shoulder. The shaman half turned,
opening his eyes with the languid effort of a sleepy cat. But the spark
of intelligence awoke in them quickly.

"What is it?"

For a moment Travis hesitated, already regretting his impulse. He did
not know how much Menlik remembered of the present. Remember of the
present--one part of the Apache's mind was wryly amused at that snarled
estimate of their situation. Men who had been dropped into their racial
and ancestral pasts until the present time was less real than the
dreams conditioning them had a difficult job evaluating any situation.
But since Menlik had clung to his knowledge of English, he must be less
far down that stairway.

"When we met you, Kaydessa and I, it was outside that valley." Travis
was still of two minds about this questioning, but the Tatar camp had
been close to the towers and there was a good chance the Mongols had
explored them. "And inside were buildings ... very old...."

Menlik was fully alert now. He took his wand, played with it as he
spoke:

"That is, or was, a place of much power, Fox. Oh, I know that you
question my kinship with the spirits and the powers they give. But one
learns not to dispute what one feels here--and here--" His long,
somewhat grimy fingers went to his forehead and then to the bare brown
chest w