Michael shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I get lost in museums even in the daytime.”

“Try to remember something about the gallery,” Perry said.

“I remember it was long and narrow,” Michael said.

“What was it near? Can you remember anything like that?”

“Wait a second,” Michael said. “Now I remember. It was behind a door that said we were supposed to get permission from the Council of Elders to enter.”

“I haven’t seen many doors,” Perry said as his eyes scanned the immediate area. “And there are none here so obviously we’re not in the right place.”

“I also remember we’d stopped in a gallery filled with Persian carpets,” Michael said. “It’s coming back to me now. The carpets were beyond the room with all the Renaissance stuff.”

“That’s a start,” Perry said. “I know where that gallery is. Come on! Follow me for a change!”

A few minutes later the two men were standing outside the door with the restricted entry admonition. It was located near the window they’d climbed in.

“Is this it?” Perry asked. “If it is, we’ve come full circle.”

“I think so.” He reached around Perry, pushed the door open, and glanced inside. “Pay dirt!” he exclaimed.

“It’s about time,” Perry grumbled as he entered. “The others are going to start thinking we got lost, so we’d better make this snappy.”

“What should we take?” Michael asked.

The two men stopped just inside the door while Perry looked up and down the dimly lit room. He was impressed with the room’s length and the subsequent square footage the shelving afforded. “This is more than I expected!” he commented. “We’ve got quite a selection in here.”

“The older stuff is to the right, newer to the left,” Michael said.

“I guess it doesn’t matter what we take as long as it functions,” Perry said, “and as long as I find the Luger.”

“I know one thing I want,” Michael said. He reached over and picked up the crossbow and its quiver. As he did so he nicked his finger. “Jeez, these arrow points are razor sharp.”

“Those are quarrels, or bolts, not arrows,” Perry said.

“Whatever,” Michael said. “They’re damn sharp.”

“Do you remember which way the Luger was?”

“To the left, Bozo,” Michael said.

“Don’t call me Bozo,” Perry warned.

“Well, I just got finished telling you the modern stuff was to the left.”

Perry set out without responding to Michael’s last comment. It irritated him that he had to put up with the divers. He had never been forced to spend time with two more juvenile idiots in his life.

Michael turned and went the other way. As long as everything was water-damaged and barnacle-encrusted, he thought the ancient armaments would be better since, in their simplicity, there were fewer working parts for the salt water to foul up. Soon he was in an area with a superb collection of ancient Greek weapons. He gathered an armful of short swords, daggers, and shields along with several helmets, greaves, and a brace of breastplates. What impressed him was the worked gold and the encrusted jewels he could see despite the darkness. Thus encumbered he clanked his way back to the door they’d entered.

“Any luck yet?” Michael called out to Perry.

“Not yet,” Perry called back. “Just a bunch of rusted rifles.”

“I’m going to take this stuff I got back to the window.”

“All right, I’ll be there as soon as I find the pistol.”

Michael added the crossbow to his burden and then struggled with the door. No sooner had he taken a step into the hall than he collided with Richard.

Michael whimpered and dropped everything he was carrying. The heavy gold and bronze implements made a tremendous clatter against the marble floor.

“Shut up, you ass!” Richard hissed. The racket exploding in the silence of the dark, deserted museum had scared him as much as the unexpected encounter had scared Michael.

“What do you mean sneaking in here and scaring me shitless?” Michael spat.

“What the hell’s been taking you so long?” Richard demanded.

“We couldn’t find the room, okay?”

Perry appeared in the doorway. “Good God, what on earth are you guys doing? Trying to wake up the entire city?”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Michael said as he bent down to retrieve his booty.

“Did you guys find the Luger?” Richard asked.

“Not yet,” Perry said. “Where’s Donald?”

“He’s already on his way back to the visitors’ palace,” Richard said. “There’s been a change in plans. The old fart Harvey Goldfarb was hiding in the submersible, and he’s come up with a new and better escape plan for us.”

“Really?” Perry questioned. “What is it?”

“We’re going to take hostages,” Richard said. “He says the Interterrans are so afraid of violent death that they’d do anything, including letting us out into the ocean with the submersible, if we got a couple of their people and threaten to do them in.”

“I like it,” Perry said. “But why did Donald go back before us?”

“He’s worried about Suzanne, especially now that things look so promising. But he told me to tell you to get a move on it; as soon as you’re ready I’ll call an air taxi to get us back.”

“All right,” Perry said. “Both of you come on in here. With all of us looking for the damn pistol we should be able to find it a lot faster.”

The air taxi came to a halt and opened. It was hovering directly in front of the visitors’ palace dining room. Richard and Michael disembarked with some difficulty, both weighed down with an array of ancient armament. All Perry was carrying was the Luger, which he’d finally found.

The three made their way up the ramp to the door. Both divers had donned the breastplates, helmets, and greaves rather than carry them in their arms. It was enough to be holding the shields, swords, daggers, and crossbow. Perry had tried to talk them out of taking the armor, but they were determined, and he gave up trying to reason with them. Michael and Richard were convinced in their words that the stuff was going to be worth a fortune topside.

To their surprise the dining room was empty.

“That’s odd,” Richard said. “He told me to meet him here.”

“You don’t suppose he’s planning on bugging out of here without us, do you?” Michael questioned.

“I don’t know,” Richard responded. “The idea never occurred to me.”

“He’s not going without us,” Perry assured the two divers. “We just saw the Oceanus still parked where it’s always been, and he’s not going anyplace without that.”

“How about Suzanne’s room?” Michael suggested.

“I’d say that’s a good possibility,” Perry said.

The long walk across the lawn was significantly noisy thanks to the continual clatter of the ancient armor.

“You guys sound ridiculous,” Perry commented.

“We didn’t ask for your opinion,” Richard said.

As they rounded the open end of Suzanne’s cottage they saw Donald, Suzanne, and Harvey sitting in contour chairs near the pool’s edge. It was obvious the atmosphere was tense.

“What’s wrong?” Perry questioned.

“We’ve got a problem,” Donald said. “Suzanne’s not sure we’re doing the right thing.”

“Why not, Suzanne?” Perry asked.

“Because murder is wrong,” Suzanne said. “If we take hostages to the surface world without adaptation, they will die, plain and simple. We brought violence and death here and now we want to escape by it. I say it’s ethically despicable.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t ask to come here,” Perry said hotly. “I don’t like to sound like a broken record, but we’re being held against our will. I think that justifies violence.”

“But that’s confusing ends with means,” Suzanne said. “That’s exactly what we’re supposed to be against.”

“All I know is that I have a family that I miss,” Perry said. “I’m going to see them again come hell or high water!”

“I empathize with you,” Suzanne said. “Truly! And I feel responsible about the whole situation. And it is true we were abducted. But I don’t want to see any more deaths, nor do I want to see Interterra unwittingly destroyed. We’re ethically obligated to negotiate. These people are so peaceful.”