The Gifts of Asti | Page 5

was just at the
moment of entrance."
"But if this is seven months old--"
"It may be seven years old," corrected Lur. "How can you tell when
that branch first dipped into the lake? Yet the flowers do not fade even
when withdrawn from the water. This is indeed a mystery!"
"Of which I would know more!" Varta dropped the turbi and started on
around the edge of the lake.
Twice more they found similar evidence of preservation in flower or
leaf, wherever it was covered by the opaline water.
The lake itself was a long and narrow slash with one end cutting into
the desert of glass while the other wet the foot of the mountain. And it
was there, on the slope of the mountain that they found the greatest
wonder of all, Lur scenting it before they sighted the remains among
the stones.
"Man made," he cautioned, "but very, very old."
And truly the wreckage they came upon must have been old, perhaps
even older than Memphir. For the part which rested above the water
was almost gone, rusty red stains on the rocks outlining where it had
lain. But under water was a smooth silver hull, shining and untouched
by the years. Varta laid her hand upon a ruddy scrap between two rocks
and it became a drift of powdery dust. And yet--there a few feet below
was strong metal!
Lur padded along the scrap of shore surveying the thing.
"It was a machine in which men traveled," his thoughts arose to her.
"But they were not as the men of Memphir. Perhaps not even as the
sons of Erb--"
"Not as the sons of Erb!" her astonishment broke into open speech.

Lur's neck twisted as he looked up at her. "Did the men of Erb, even in
the old chronicles fight with weapons such as would make a desert of
glass? There are other worlds than Erb, mayhap this strange thing was a
sky ship from such a world. All things are possible by the Will of Asti."
Varta nodded. "All things are possible by the Will of Asti," she
repeated. "But, Lur," her eyes were round with wonder, "perhaps it is
Asti's Will which brought us here to find this marvel! Perhaps He has
some use for us and it!"
"At least we may discover what lies within it," Lur had his own share
of curiosity.
"How? The two of us can not draw that out of the water!"
"No, but we can enter into it!"
Varta fingered the folds of the hood on her shoulders. She knew what
Lur meant, the suit which had protected her in the underworld was
impervious to everything outside its surface--or to every substance its
makers knew--just as Lur's own hide made his flesh impenetrable. But
the fashioners of her suit had probably never known of the living lake
and what if she had no defense against the strange properties of the
water?
She leaned back against a rock. Overhead the worlds and sun of Asti
still traveled their appointed paths. The worlds of Asti! If it was His
Will which had brought them here, then Asti's power would wrap her
round with safety. By His Will she had come out of Memphir over
ways no human of Erb had ever trod before. Could she doubt that His
Protection was with her now?
It took only a moment to make secure the webbed shoes, to pull on and
fasten the hood, to tighten the buckles of her gloves. Then she crept
forward, shuddering as the water rose about her ankles. But Lur pushed
on before her, his head disappearing fearlessly under the surface as he
crawled through the jagged opening in the ship below.

Smashed engines which had no meaning in her eyes occupied most of
the broken section of the wreck. None of the metal showed any
deterioration beyond that which had occurred at the time of the crash.
Under her exploring hands it was firm and whole.
Lur was pulling at a small door half hidden by a mass of twisted wires
and plates and, just as Varta crawled around this obstacle to join him,
the barrier gave way allowing them to squeeze through into what had
once been the living quarters of the ship.
Varta recognized seats, a table, and other bits of strictly utilitarian
furniture. But of those who had once been at home there, there
remained no trace. Lur, having given one glance to the furnishings, was
prowling about the far end of the cabin uncertainly, and now he voiced
his uneasiness.
"There is something beyond, something which once had life--"
Varta crowded up to him. To her eyes the wall seemed without line of
an opening, and yet Lur was running his broad front