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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRcRNHt53L
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRI7GQYMtu
"But I must speak to Nenetl," Dr. Smith snapped.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePez7eSOW7
"It is forbidden." The guard was adamant.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLkKhRbU4U
"Rot and rubbish on being forbidden!" Dr. Smith exploded. "Get out of my way, you nefarious Neanderthal!"385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQByZw4i5Qp
Quickly, Ann opened the door. "Let my aged servant pass," she commanded.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegkNStYq4k
In obedience the guard stood to one side, but said that Dr. Smith's presence would be reported.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnppy6FYTV4
"So be it!" Ann slammed the door in the guard's face. Then she looked at Dr. Smith. 385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwtjpqRhTC
His face was ashen.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEseGLjusSf
"Dr. Smith, those stairs..." she began.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdIcK5rnWd
Dr. Smith shook his head. "It's young West," he said.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLxOq5TP5X
"What about Don?" Ann asked in alarm.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLA4reXfXK
"I think he's dead," Dr. Smith replied in remorse, "drowned by Yaotl. And it was all my fault. Oh, the pain!"385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpkn3oQxEZ
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. 385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAPZC0vFJh
"You said "think," Dr. Smith. Does that mean you don't know, that you're not sure?" she asked, clutching at a mental straw.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmMLH21lVw
Dr. Smith told her everything that had happened in the garden.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcuowNuNri
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyolBRm8xgb
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqlM9TRUKV
"West, my dear chap, you're alive!" Dr. Smith exclaimed and embraced him. "I was afraid you were drowned.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5zDlQwfsl
"And I nearly was," Don replied and began to recount his adventure in the tunnel.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdBU6aHBwm
Suddenly, Ann interrupted him. "The wall's closing," she cried in alarm.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzajwQ9EiQ
Don held up the strip of silk.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdN7xL0eiJ
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuH36xKDEl3
Dr. Smith thought this was an over-simplification but he said nothing as he still felt guilty about the tunnel.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYw6CXBoNx
"Why don't you go through to the TARDIS while I go to the seminary and fetch Penny?" Don suggested.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyL0OSWvns
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28GppmeBco
Ann agreed and added that fetching Penny might not be as easy a task as Don imagined.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRDHTg93HI
"Why not?" Don asked.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonWkYpoXyk
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpRXwmNGWW
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZDuNMMvti
"Beware of Yaotl, West," Dr. Smith felt obliged to warn him. "He's a sly, wily devil."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r3bs7PCup
Don stopped and grinned.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQcdBCJcQ4
"But I'll have the psychological advantage, Dr. Smith. He thinks I'm dead," he replied and hurried away.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKVTzuWWMs
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcwYJPrKWA
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwR06GzmHx
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuMYyAlxtF
"I shall serve the High Priest well," Yaotl assured him.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRmdcNnAW6
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNLneFuiF9
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGL6qz0cfcJ
"Does Nenetl know that I am here?" Penny insisted.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHF9pGPlxlp
"A true god is all-knowing, and all-seeing," he sneered.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nxoZH4dIN
"As the Great Spirit's handmaiden, I demand to be escorted to the temple and shown into her presence," she persisted.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWufQ82jQ3W
"And so you shall, at the appointed time."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucWdYusjw1
Penny shivered involuntarily at the cold menace in his voice.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfFaiuvKlc
He turned back to Yaotl. "Guard her," he ordered, and limped out of the quartes with the two warriors.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVLY1NxGle
Yaotl pointed to the bedroom. "You may rest in there."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlCKTmnbrK
"I'm not tired," Penny said and sat on a cushion.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡge9E1EsreZ
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7zlIReNyZ
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSCHAHXzY1
"Do you know where Don is?" the Chosen Warrior was asking Penny.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyl8IapyOn
"You'd be surprised," Don thought, but he didn't catch Penny's reply.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFjUWE4l2U
"Then I shall tell you. He's dead," Yaotl announced.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacPDQbITAU
"I don't believe you!" Don heard Penny shout.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IMuqzUn3x
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHzaZlHJuR
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyu7zvyLuIc
"Don!" Penny gasped. "I knew he was lying. He tried to make me believe you were dead."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6d1AHBrcY
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZwUDhItDp
"They made me bring everything from the seminary."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnACZf3MLu
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsSnrm8u2N
"Where are we going?" Penny asked.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7ofo4ZaFF
"To the TARDIS. Where do you think?" he answered.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFG0V7xRZ2
As they left Don enquired how Penny had found her school. She made a raunchy face. "Not much better than yours in 1960s England."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkZ2M0iOiB
Dawn streaked the sky as Ann waited anxiously in the antechamber with Dr. Smith, who was scribbling mathematical formulae on a pocket notepad.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTXmUGhVGo
"I hope they're all right," Ann said.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BdSuN4IsU
"I've come to the conclusion that young West is a remarkably resourceful chap," Dr. Smith remarked, grimacing as he rechecked his calculations.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoTm51LFkZ
"I just want us to get away as quickly as possible," Ann confessed.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJgzwlZ1Ci
Dr. Smith looked up a them. "And history?" he asked.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuvUoudtFx
"Can remain unchanged," she replied.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuJjAjItoM
"No rewriting?"385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1wOyQOIGk
"No rewriting."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHh9ZU6OXqE
Dr. Smith nodded and tapped the notepad with his pencil.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuXRCe6geT
"It won't be easy, my dear. It won't."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEr6CbeeCG
Ann looked puzzled. "What won't?" she asked.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIgs3d0sDH
"Opening up the wall. I've been doing some calculations and I don't believe we have the strength," he replied.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwsCnfx5xS
"Dr. Smith, I barely touched the wall and it began to swing open."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxQoYLvbxE
"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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbw8GlU6s6f
"But where is the upwards thrust?" he asked her.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuROCtqD3gm
"The counterbalance swinging down will supply it," Ann replied.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbWQGtUFwg
Dr. Smith shook his head. "No, my dear, things don't tend to move unless..."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwfk8PCdYN
"....you start the ball rolling," Ann finished for him.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EhzjJFt55
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVq3EUy1Lc
"What can we do?" Ann asked.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7AFQeG9eI
"Try," Dr. Smith replied, as he slipped the notepad back into his pocket.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84WOOr8zrU
At that moment Penny and Don came breathlessly into the antechamber. "Anyone for the Skylark?" Don gasped.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwi2j7ArOL
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrxKBasOuh
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JbFODAIIo
They began tugging on the silk, but nothing happened.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMjThGRzag
"What if I push in at the top of the wall while you pull out at the bottom?" Don suggested.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlkkIppx0z
"It's from the inside out, West, not from the outside in," Dr. Smith said. "You're up against the law of..."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCRB0fXP42
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6I6xlnBtY
None of the others said a word.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpLkucUEWU
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwyj4bkj07
"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."385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwaC5l6XAh
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?"385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm80tdO9Dn
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