ulted with
Angel, and at a word from the Filipino, Balaban the Igorot climbed the
wall to the terrace above their heads where he sprawled among the rice
with rifle ready.

Angel moved to the left about fifty feet, while Scotty moved the same
distance to the right. Dog Meat ran down the meadow to the road, crossed
the terrace, and took up a watch on the village.

"Work fast," Tony said. "They must know we're here. If they didn't see
us, they at least heard the motors."

Rick was already at work. He plugged in the probe, checked the controls,
then turned them over to Tony. The scientist set the controls and turned
on the activation switch.

Rick moved the probe in a long sweep, starting in front of the dragon,
while Tony and Chahda watched the scope.

"Standard pattern," Tony reported. "Keep it moving ... no change ... no
change...."

Rick stepped sideways and moved the probe through a slightly different
arc. "No change...."

Again Rick took a step and swung the probe. He kept moving until the
probe had nearly covered the ground in front of the dragon, then he took
a position next to the bronze statue and covered the ground directly
under its nose.

"Wait!" There was excitement in Tony's voice. "You're on something!"

"Metal?" Rick asked quickly.

"No. It's not a metal response. Some kind of stone, but not the usual
type found around here."

Tony had a pad out and was making a sketch of the recess, marking the
position of the dragon. Then, while Rick moved the probe through a new
arc, his pencil shaded in the area where the odd response showed on the
scope.

Rick repeated the scanning process to one side of the dragon, and again
the response was normal until he got close. He changed sides, and the
result was the same. Then he went to the rear of the dragon, expecting a
changed response there. But the results were identical. At last he gave
up, feeling a bit let down, and joined Tony and Chahda. They were
examining Tony's sketch.

"Plenty clear to me," Chahda said. "Right under old man dragon is round
hole. See?"

Chahda was right. The changed responses, when charted on Tony's sketch,
showed a circle about six feet in diameter with its center directly
under the dragon.

"But no metal," Tony said. "That's odd."

Rick frowned. "It can't be an underground base for the dragon," he said.
"A base would be close to the surface. This response seems to start
about two feet under."

He stared out across the