After a week of unceasing labour, the water was removed from the vault, and the pumps could rest. The local workers moved on to removing the rock and soil from the newly revealed antechamber.

Though the Roluans were just as fond of rumours as any other people I knew, my scuffle with the magnatess Sitolytta had barely registered in the local gossip. Apparently, women dropping out of windows wasn't all that interesting, at least if the women in question were foreign.

Sitolytta had made no more open attacks against us. I did suspect that the the idle talk, which involved my husband Bemariq's supposedly loose morals, might have been helped along by her. Such tales were easy to believe of my Bemariq, so I did my best not to mind.

At my insisting, Bemariq agreed to sent a word about the Jaan involvement to his patrons at home in the Conglomerate. Still, he refused to explicitly ask for help. According to him, the Conglomerate would use his cry for assistance as an excuse to escalate the whole affair into an international incident.

"What I hope is that they sent a stern word to the Jaan Directory", Bemariq said. "And leave it at that."

As we prepared to seal the vault for the night, I had to voice my lingering concerns to Bemariq.

"Sitolytta didn't try to stop us. Only to slow us down." My mouth quivered. "Otherwise she'd have hurt you more. Now her plans seem to be at rest, but I doubt they are dormant."

"I don't like it either." Bemariq wiped sweat off his muddy brow. "Even if her plan is for nothing more malicious than political leverage, so she can acquire choice objects for the Jaan."

I placed my dirty palms on my husband's chest. "A few troops of Conglomish myrmidons would keep her in check."

"And us also under the boot heel." Bemariq gave me a weary smirk. "Conglomerate military is not something I'd want to impose on the Roluans. Especially after Rolu's generosity of letting us continue our work with minimal supervision."

I took his hand and kneaded it with my thumb. The skin was getting rough; he could have used some lotion for the calluses.

My husband pushed shut the leathery gate, which we had installed to the vault. We hadn't yet figured out, how to open the ancient stone-like doors from the inside.

Bemariq pulled me to him and turned me around to hug me from behind. While one hand held my waist, another roamed to grope my left breast.

I stifled my gasp, and whispered: "We aren't alone!"

Most of the workers had already left, but shuffling sounds could be heard in the gloom of the late evening.

Bemariq kissed my neck. "Surely they know out, what a man does to his wife, and thus can avoid the shock from catching a glimpse of it."

Though I was taken aback by his behaviour, I squirmed in place from the rising warmth in me. I closed my eyes and leaned back. A hard rod poked against my posterior.

"Oh... We need to go home", I said.

"Yes--"

Words akin to 'there you are!' in Roluish startled me, but Bemariq didn't let go of me. He merely moved his hands to less scandalous places on my body.

The Lauded Researcher ni Salng walked to us and bid us good evening. He spoke to Bemariq, who answered in the local tongue.

"Ah, I see. It is impertinent of me to use my own speech in this assemblage", ni Salng said in Conglang significantly more fluent than my Roluish. "Please, pardon my clumsiness in this vernacular."

"Of course", Bemariq said. "Not that we have any right to demand this concession. It is your country, after all."

Ni Salng furrowed his brows. "That connects to the eventuality at hand. My... confidants have forwarded me unwelcome information. About the Jaan. A few of their combat vessels have been seen not far off the coast. It is possible they will make an unannounced diplomatic visit."

Bemariq took my hand. His grip was forceful.

"My frie--" Ni Salng snorted. "Let nothing be hidden. Our Ministry of Combat knows this has everything to do with the incidents between you and the Jaan ambassadoress. I am no cretin: I have informed our government about the pretext for conquest this underground depository provides the Jaan."

"I understand." Bemariq moved me to his side. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"We don't know. Rolu has not the naval power to oppose the Jaan. As long as they don't directly attack Roluan citizens, we will do little but prepare." Ni Salng sighed. "Like you, I wish we could content ourselves with the mere research. Nevertheless, that is not how affairs are in this world." He tipped his hat. "Guard against danger, and good night."

After the Lauded Researcher was gone, Bemariq muttered an expletive under his breath.

In two days, the Jaan convoy arrived to the Heva bay. Seven ships with gleaming chitin and translucent sails, with enough gas-pneumatic cannons to turn a small mountain into rubble.

To their credit, the Roluans managed to carry on calmly as usual. A small welcoming celebration was held, during which a few Roluan warships arrived to contest the control of the bay, though officially they were there 'to greet the vessels of their friend nation'.

With their coastal artillery, in an open confrontation the Roluans would have crushed the Jaan convoy. But the few ships were only a tiny portions of Great Jaan Armada, while Roluans had brought everything they could detach from their normal assignments.

"Live already! You piece of--" Bemariq let of a groan of frustration. He had barely left the vault since the Jaan arrived to the coast. The access system in the revealed antechamber worked on a strange combination of nerves and lightning ––unbelievably sophisticated electrical machinery––, but Bemariq and ni Salng seemed to have an idea of what they were doing.

"The magnatess is currently negotiating a permission for the Jaan to land a 'scientific expedition'", inspector Ansis said.

"My people do their best to stall the talks, but our excuses are few." Ni Salng banged the makeshift tool he had cobbled up on the wall. "Roluans don't capitulate easily, but eventually we will have to. Now we must consider sealing this vault."

"No." Bemariq poked his heavily gloved hand between the crackling strands inside the access panel. "I won't be cowed."

I sighed from relief, when Bemariq pulled his arm out without having been fried. I said: "Besides, the Jaan would just blow the doors open."

"That is foreseeable", ni Salng conceded. "Or coerce you to reopen it."

"Try it now", Bemariq said to the Lauded Researcher. Ni Salng nodded and activated another machine he had made from scrap.

The nerves sputtered, and the dull window next to the door lit alive. Our cheers were cut out by a strained voice from no obvious source. It blared gibberish.

"That sounds familiar." I looked at Bemariq. "I think..."

He nodded. "The rest of you should leave the dig site. Me and my wife will stay, and do our best to mitigate the havoc of the Jaan. If nothing else, I can make a proper account on what the complex was like before it was robbed clean."

"While I loathe to leave you without protection..." Ansis's expression was grim. "I do have explicit orders to remove myself and my men from this area. Nobody wants to give the Jaan an excuse to escalate this into an international crisis."

"I have been told to remain", ni Salng said. "As the host and advisor to this... 'expedition'."

Bemariq smirked. "While making a list of everything the Jaan take?"

Ni Salng returned the smile.

Ansis bid us good luck. Soon all the Roluans save the Lauded Researcher were gone.

"Presumably..." Ni Salng nodded at me. "Your lady remains to operate this pre-Collapse environmental body outfit, no?"

"So, you know about that", Bemariq said. "But yes. I think the suit can interface with this system and translate all this to a less dead language."

"Oh." Ni Salng's head bobbed approvingly. "I'm beginning to see the hint of a stratagem."

"More like a gambit. I do hope it works", Bemariq said.

The carapace suit fit me like a thoroughly worn glove.

"Proximity to main facilities detected", the suit declared.

Bemariq rubbed the stubble on his chin. "I wonder, how it does that. Ubiquitous nerveless telegraphy perhaps?"

I frowned. "Could all that invisible radiation going through me be dangerous?"

"No. I doubt the energy output is noticeable compared to background natural phenomena." His smile disappeared. "Sirin. We can't predict, how the suit reacts inside the vault." He pressed the suit's override. "I do hope this does more than douse the voice."

His gaze was filled with worry. I leaned forward, and Bemariq took me into a hug.

A bang on our front door. Ni Salng shouted: "The visitors are approaching!"

The Jaan ship was too big to be fully amphibious, but it could crawl up the shallow river, even if it shuddered and heaved from the exertion.

Bemariq kept me against him, as we watched down into the river valley. My carapace suit was hidden under work gown, even though the magnatess would know to expect its presence.

The exhausted ship beached itself on the river bank, and Jaan mariners poured to the shore. Sitolytta's personal carriage was easy to spot. It jumped out of the ship and came towards the dig site with a small escort of armoured infantry.

I nodded at the inspector's men, who observed us in the distance. "Do you think those watchmen will stop Sitolytta from liquidating us once she's done here?"

"That is my hope." Bemariq rubbed my shoulder. "I might not be considered essential to the Conglomerate, but they won't tolerate the insult of openly executing their associates. The magnatess would have to be insane to allow an archaeologic dispute to escalate into a war spanning two oceans."

Footmen jumped off the carriage and helped the magnatess out. Her red gown managed to be magnificent despite the practical unsupported style of its skirt and the obvious armour padding in the bodice.

Ni Salng greeted Sitolytta in fluent --if heavily accented-- Jaanish. She dismissed the Roluan with an imperious wave of her hand.

"Associate Bemariq and lady Usinilim." The smile on the magnatess face was warm and wide. "I'm glad you decided to stay."

"We didn't want to leave you without knowledgeable assistance", Bemariq said. "It seems to have been wise, as you have brought no Jaan experts."

The magnatess gestured at me and spoke to one of her soldiers: "Check them for weapons and if she's wearing a combat carapace."

"Well it's--" I stepped forward with my palms open. "Yes actually, I am wearing one."

The Jaan soldiers lifted their guns at me. The suit shifted around me, as if preparing to take control. It must have made assumptions based on my rising heart rate.

Bemariq stepped between the soldiers and me. He said: "That environmental protection suit is our only interface to the vault's systems. Considering the inner doors are still locked, you will need her suit to get inside."

The pretty mouth of the magnatess turned into a straight line. "Have her take it off then."

"It's permanently imprinted on her", Bemariq said. "As an insurance."

Sitolytta's upper lip curled to show a hint of snow-white sharp teeth. "You are bluffing."

"Can you take that chance?" I said.

"I could scoop your corpse out of carapace and have it tested by 'volunteers'." The smile returned to Sitolytta's face. "But that would take too much time. Have it your way, associate Bemariq. There's little reason, why we can't work together." She turned to a soldier. "Keep your needler to her head. If she does anything funny, shoot."

The soldier walked to me. He was boyishly young, but carried his bulky chitin armour well on his tall frame. I gave him my best innocent smile, which he answered with a pleased smirk and by shifting his eyes away from me. I let out a small relieved breath. This was clearly a youth susceptible to positive female attention.

All soldiers, except the groups watching us, spread around the camp to secure the area.

"One more thing", Bemariq said, once we had stepped over the main threshold to the vault. "This is the key to these doors."

The magnatess groaned. "Yes--"

Ni Salng activated the door controls. The huge slabs of stone shuddered and moved to close.

"What pointless trickery this?" the magnatess demanded. "Are you this eager to die?"

"These doors cannot be opened from inside." Bemariq smiled. "At least not without proper knowledge and equipment. You will need all three of us to guarantee that you'll ever leave this place."

"Ah. You suspect I would kill you out of the view of those Roluan watchers?" Sitolytta chuckled. "Your suspicions wound my pride. Very well. We'll play this your way."

The pipes on the floor were crushed between the shutting doors. I kept consternations about my husband's ploy to myself.

"Mariner Naratti", the magnatess said to a soldier. "Establish communications to the outside."

"How exactly, magnatess?"

"I don't know. Use your head; it should be dense enough."

The long stairs took us deep into the earth, to the part of antechamber, which had been accessible, when we first entered the vault. The general disrepair and notably poor state of the artefacts had indicated inhabitation during or soon after the Collapse times. Our hope was that the inner complex, previously hidden under rubble and water, would provide more pristine finds.

The hem of Sitolytta's pretty gown swept the murky water. She gestured to the ceiling. "Have you figured out, what powers these ghastly lights?"

The magnatess was correct to wonder. The primordial lamps were bright enough to hurt the eye. Their longevity was marvellous, but it was explained by their tendency to shut down, when no humans were around.

"No", ni Salng said. "They get their power from the lightning coursing through nerves hidden inside the walls, but where all that electricity comes, we can't know."

"Peculiar", Sitolytta said. "Perhaps that force could be utilised to power machinery?"

"Unlikely", Bemariq said. "The 'lightning' is only strong enough give a sturdy shock to a human."

"That is underwhelming", the magnatess said. "Oh well, you can investigate it later at your leisure."

Next to the closed antechamber door, the false window was still lit. Odd symbols danced around the glass in vertical lines.

"Oh, wonderful", Sitolytta said. "I've always wanted to see a working one of these." She tapped the window. The letters changed, and Sitolytta let out a pleased giggle. "What does it read?"

"We didn't have time to decipher it", ni Salng stated. "The writing system doesn't seem to be a relative to any extant variety."

"I see. Move aside." Sitolytta stepped in front of the door and spread her arms wide. Her voice dropped low, as the spoke in an old dialect of Jaanish: "Hear my words, our masters! Sons and a daughter of Jaan have arrived to this land, which was promised to our revered ancestors!"

One of the soldiers made a hand gesture of veneration, while the rest looked on without visible emotion.

After a moment, the magnatess dropped her hands. "I had to try that." She gestured to the door. "Feel free to open it."

"Touch the window", Bemariq said to me. "Your suit should connect by itself."

I swallowed and stepped to the window. After a glance at Bemariq, I placed a hand on the shifting text.

"A new linguistic formation acquired", the strained voice of the walls stated. "No written component available. Commencing with verbal."

"Oh, by the cursed heavens", the magnatess whined. "The electric spirit speaks in Congue. Well, that does solve the question of sanctity. This place has none."

"What do I do now?" I asked Bemariq.

He shrugged. "Tell it to open."

I turned back to the window. "Would you open, door?"

"Scanning. One complete and one unfinished imprinted breeding pair detected", the spirit declared. "User error. Three excess males in vicinity."

"Is this another trick of yours, associate?" the magnatess asked.

Bemariq shook his head. "No. But the suit did talk about these... 'breeding pairs' earlier."

"Ah. Some sort of population control." The magnatess rubbed her nose. "Alright. Me and lady Usinilim will take two soldiers with us."

"That won't work", I said. "The suit already determined me and Bemariq as a pair."

"Besides, you will surely need my expertise inside." Bemariq smirked. "Ni Salng's too. He'll be your pair, magnatess."

Sitolytta gave the Roluan a long look. "Tempting, but I'd be outnumbered in such a company." She turned to her soldiers. "Marksman Hyssi", she said to the soldier guarding me. "You shall act as my 'pair'. Come here."

Hyssi walked to her like a dog to its mistress. The magnatess placed her hand on the chest of the soldier, gave him a smirk and pushed the man away.

"Mariner Turra, give me your weapon", she commanded.

"Yes, magnatess." The soldier handed Sitolytta his compact needler. The woman's dainty gloved hands held the stubby weapon with practised ease.

"Now, the rest of you, step further away", the magnatess commanded. "Perhaps now the door will deign to allow us four inside."

I nodded and said to the window: "Open, please."

The door folded open to reveal a tiny room, into which the floor water streamed.

"You two, go in." Sitolytta pointed her gun to the room. "Keep to the walls." She turned to the soldiers and told them to wait a few hours before signalling to the outside about breaching in.

Ni Salng spoke to Bemariq in Roluish, to which my husband gave a nod and a curt answer.

"Guard against danger", the Roluan said in Conglang. "And retain amiable fortune."

After we walked in, the doors gave a grating whine and clunked shut.

The floor trembled, and a jolt went through the whole room.

"An elevator?" Sitolytta relaxed the grip on her needler. "No..."

The room was moving sideways.

I said: "We are going towards the hills." A shiver of thrill coursed up my spine. The complex had to be significantly larger than we had estimated.

Sitolytta turned to Hyssi. She said: "Perhaps the spirit is monitoring us." She drew the man closer with a gesture of her finger. "Let's prove we make a great pair."

The magnatess wrapped her arms around the soldier and pulled him into a long kiss too strong to be merely passionate. I winced from the sight and pushed against Bemariq's side. He clasped my hand and squeezed tight.

Sitolytta pushed the young soldier away and wiped her pursed lips in a sleeve. The machinery under the floor whined and screeched, as the room picked up the pace.

"Why are you doing this?" Bemariq asked. "At first you slowed us down with you sabotage, and now you hurry forward without heed. You could have waited to blast the doors, to gather a large group and do things safe and methodologically."

Sitolytta smiled full of self-assurance. "The situation has changed. My superiors need all the information I can gather, before the ebbs of oceanic diplomacy catch us and possibly force a retreat. You do understand that we couldn't tolerate that the Conglomish access any ancient but functional weapons facilities."

Bemariq stretched his mouth into a straight line. "That is... surprisingly reasonable."

She chuckled. "And I wouldn't give up this chance to delve into the untouched past. If your hypothesis is correct, associate Bemariq, this cenotaph connects to the origins of my people."

"In all likelihood, not directly", Bemariq said.

"I too suspect so." Sitolytta gave a theatrical sigh. "We don't have to be enemies. If we ascertain that we Jaan have nothing for us here, the Directory can leave you to your mud-shifting without losing face."

She let the hand holding her needler drop and walked to me and Bemariq. "Could we call a truce? No more silly tricks? Our aims intersect."

Anger flared inside me, strong enough to churn my stomach. This woman was sweet perfidy itself. Yet, her stated goals rang true. Besides, she was the one with the guns and the big soldier.

"You are correct", I said and hugged Bemariq's arm. "We gain nothing from not cooperating."

"Wha--" Bemariq glanced at my smile and cleared his throat. "Yes. I agree with my wife."

"Good." Sitolytta strode back to her soldier, who was standing in a corner with a dull smirk on his face.

The clanking of the tram had mostly turned into a steady whine.

Bemariq stretched his back. "As we are still moving, this tram tunnel seems to be intact."

"Perhaps the antechamber corridors hadn't collapsed from seismic activity alone?" I ventured.

"Do you mean it might have been deliberately blown up?" Bemariq scratched his jaw. "That rises the question of why."

"Oh, more mystery." The magnatess giggled. "Anyhow, do tell me, if you know what is place is. The preoccupation with population does suggest a shelter from eschatologic weaponry."

Bemariq nodded. "That's my guess. The rocky hills would worked as a good shield."

"I'll ask the spirit", I said. "It might remember."

"Do that", the magnatess said.

I walked to the shining window and placed my hand on it. "I have a question. What is the purpose of this facility?"

"No authorisation recognised", the electric spirit stated. "Redirecting query... Error. Connection to the Nexal Censor not found. The central databanks are unavailable without authorisation."

"How do I get authorisation?" I asked.

"Contact the Nexal Censor or any human superior officer."

I tapped the screen. "Who is the Nexal Censor?"

"The Nexal Censor is--" The spirit spewed gibberish at me.

"Apparently something that doesn't have direct translation to Conglang", Bemariq said. "If I had to guess, it must be the main fabricated mind. This one did imply the Censor wasn't human."

Sitolytta scoffed. "If was it human, it wouldn't still be alive."