The room was large and made of stone. Two torches lit the room with
flickering golden light. But what really grabbed my attention was the
large statue of a golden armored centurion standing on a large pedestal.
I walked up to it, and noticed the empty receptacle set into its base. I ran my fingers over it, and fell the rough stone beneath my fingertips. It looked like some sort of coin or medallion fit into it, but so far, I had found nothing that would fit.
I frowned, and double-checked the room. It was empty, except for the statue. I walked out, and looked for another passage. When I looked right, I saw the faint flickering of another torch. I ran towards it, and skidded to a stop just in front of a stone wall. I grimaced, and looked up. Hmm . . .
I vaulted up onto the ledge above and found myself standing above another stone room lit by flickering torches. Light hit my eye, as the torchlight reflected off something metal. I jumped down into the room, and walked up to the wall.
Embedded into the wall, was a large golden coin with a roman-style head engraved upon it. I pulled my crowbar out of my backpack and pried it off the wall. It would just fit into the receptacle on the base of the statue.
But just as I did, rats swarmed out of corner of the room. What was it with all the rats? I turned and ran to the opening set high in the wall, from which I entered. I vaulted up onto it, and watched in amazement as the rats climbed up the wall.
I sped back to the room with the statue and ran around in circles until the rats dispersed. Then I put the golden coin in the base of the statue. There was another grinding noise, but nothing within the room moved. Outside, then.
I ran back into the large open room with the stone arches. Ahead of me was another doorway, now open, which I ran through and emerged out onto the cobbled street. There was a white building on my left and the gate on the far end was now open.
I turned and ran up to and through it, ending up in a small courtyard with a narrow alley leading off it. I followed the alley, and found a small pool with a screen of water falling down into it. I made a mental note of it, and continued down the alley, only to find a dead end.
I returned to the pool and dived in. The water was freezing, and I shivered. I swam under water along the rough bottom and came up on the other side of the falling water. The pool wasn't actually that small. Ahead of me, was a dark platform, but I ducked under the water to check around for hidden secrets before I climbed out.
On my left was an underwater passage that led to a small gate. Just beyond I caught a glimpse of gold, and edged forward. Gleaming enticingly beyond the gate was another gatehouse stone. I searched for switches or levers all around the gate, until my burning lungs forced me to surface for air.
I gasped as I broke the surface, before swimming to the platform and pulling myself up. Nothing was easy today. I followed a passage from the platform, and soon came to a large room. A metal walkway ran around the walls of the room, with stairs leading down to the floor on my right.
In the center of the room, was a large metal object that looked rather like a closed flower - except the 'petals' were large metal claws. As I watched, it slowly opened to reveal the floating metal head of a centurion with glowing green eyes.
It slowly rotated around to me, and seemed to weight a beat. What . . ? Then two glowing green beams shot out from its eyes, and I somersaulted to the side, stifling a scream. The beams hit the wall just where I had been standing, sending chips of stone flying.
Once I was safely behind the wall, I slumped down and took a deep breath. My legs feel like jelly, and I could my stomach churned. Bloody Hell! That was close!
After a minute, I stood up again, and carefully edged to the doorway, before peering inside. The head was rotating around the room trying to spot me, and randomly shooting out beams from its eyes.
I drew my guns, and taking another deep breath, I stepped into plain sight and started plugging away at it, before somersaulting out of the way, as glowing green beams shot in my direction. I frowned. My bullets just seemed to bounce off the thing.
I holstered my guns and ran my hands over my face. What was I going to do? This time, when I edged to the doorway, I just turned and looked into the room, tense and ready to react if the head saw me. But it didn't seem to be able to.
I watched it carefully, looking for weak spots. Its eyes continued to shoot beams randomly at the walls. Then I smiled, and drew the automatic with the laser sight. I aimed at it, and let off a shot. One of the green eyes exploded, and the head whirled around. But it still couldn't see me. My smile widened into a grin.
I aimed again, and shot out the other eye. The head spun for a minute, and then exploded in a shower of metal shards, taking the claw-like base with it. I ducked back into the passage, to avoid the debris, until it had all settled. When I looked back into the room, I saw a golden glitter lying on the floor.
I cautiously entered, before running down the stairs towards the object. The Mars Stone! I picked it up, and found myself looking at another doorway. Through it, I could see a large red machine.
I walked to the doorway, and peeked inside. The air was hot around the machine and I tried not to get too close. But I did notice it was missing a valve wheel. Since there was nothing else in the room, I turned and left.
I carefully explored the large room where the head was, and soon found a trapdoor on the far side of the room. I crouched down and pulled it open, before peering down into the darkness. I lit a flare and dropped it in.
From the light of the flare, I could see a ladder so I climbed down and found myself in a large room with a T-shaped pool. My damp clothes still stuck to me from my earlier swim, so I shrugged my shoulders and dived in. The water was cold against my warm skin.
Where the three 'arms' of the pool met was a deep chute ending in a large fan. I noticed the small entrance just above the fan at the bottom. Because the fan was forcing water upwards, I couldn't quite reach the entrance. I groaned inwardly and swam back to the surface.
As I caught my breath, I looked around the pool. Another small opening caught my eye. It was set in the opposite wall of the chute to the other opening, and this one was also higher in the wall. I took a deep breath and swam into it.
I followed the twisting passage until I could surface. I climbed out into a room with a pipe along the wall and a lit torch on the wall. I stared at the torch in surprise. How did it get here? I shook my head and turned my attention to the large pipe in front of me. I grinned when I saw thew valve wheel on it. Just what I need!
I pried the wheel off with my crowbar and carefully put it in my pack. I then made my way back through the underwater passage and back up into the room with the large red machine. I placed the valve wheel in place, and turned it once.
Nothing happened, and I frowned. I resisted the urge to cross my arms over my chest. All this back tracking was starting to drive me nuts! I made my way back to the trapdoor and the T-shaped pool. It seemed as if that other small entrance was my next destination.
I walked up to it, and noticed the empty receptacle set into its base. I ran my fingers over it, and fell the rough stone beneath my fingertips. It looked like some sort of coin or medallion fit into it, but so far, I had found nothing that would fit.
I frowned, and double-checked the room. It was empty, except for the statue. I walked out, and looked for another passage. When I looked right, I saw the faint flickering of another torch. I ran towards it, and skidded to a stop just in front of a stone wall. I grimaced, and looked up. Hmm . . .
I vaulted up onto the ledge above and found myself standing above another stone room lit by flickering torches. Light hit my eye, as the torchlight reflected off something metal. I jumped down into the room, and walked up to the wall.
Embedded into the wall, was a large golden coin with a roman-style head engraved upon it. I pulled my crowbar out of my backpack and pried it off the wall. It would just fit into the receptacle on the base of the statue.
But just as I did, rats swarmed out of corner of the room. What was it with all the rats? I turned and ran to the opening set high in the wall, from which I entered. I vaulted up onto it, and watched in amazement as the rats climbed up the wall.
I sped back to the room with the statue and ran around in circles until the rats dispersed. Then I put the golden coin in the base of the statue. There was another grinding noise, but nothing within the room moved. Outside, then.
I ran back into the large open room with the stone arches. Ahead of me was another doorway, now open, which I ran through and emerged out onto the cobbled street. There was a white building on my left and the gate on the far end was now open.
I turned and ran up to and through it, ending up in a small courtyard with a narrow alley leading off it. I followed the alley, and found a small pool with a screen of water falling down into it. I made a mental note of it, and continued down the alley, only to find a dead end.
I returned to the pool and dived in. The water was freezing, and I shivered. I swam under water along the rough bottom and came up on the other side of the falling water. The pool wasn't actually that small. Ahead of me, was a dark platform, but I ducked under the water to check around for hidden secrets before I climbed out.
On my left was an underwater passage that led to a small gate. Just beyond I caught a glimpse of gold, and edged forward. Gleaming enticingly beyond the gate was another gatehouse stone. I searched for switches or levers all around the gate, until my burning lungs forced me to surface for air.
I gasped as I broke the surface, before swimming to the platform and pulling myself up. Nothing was easy today. I followed a passage from the platform, and soon came to a large room. A metal walkway ran around the walls of the room, with stairs leading down to the floor on my right.
In the center of the room, was a large metal object that looked rather like a closed flower - except the 'petals' were large metal claws. As I watched, it slowly opened to reveal the floating metal head of a centurion with glowing green eyes.
It slowly rotated around to me, and seemed to weight a beat. What . . ? Then two glowing green beams shot out from its eyes, and I somersaulted to the side, stifling a scream. The beams hit the wall just where I had been standing, sending chips of stone flying.
Once I was safely behind the wall, I slumped down and took a deep breath. My legs feel like jelly, and I could my stomach churned. Bloody Hell! That was close!
After a minute, I stood up again, and carefully edged to the doorway, before peering inside. The head was rotating around the room trying to spot me, and randomly shooting out beams from its eyes.
I drew my guns, and taking another deep breath, I stepped into plain sight and started plugging away at it, before somersaulting out of the way, as glowing green beams shot in my direction. I frowned. My bullets just seemed to bounce off the thing.
I holstered my guns and ran my hands over my face. What was I going to do? This time, when I edged to the doorway, I just turned and looked into the room, tense and ready to react if the head saw me. But it didn't seem to be able to.
I watched it carefully, looking for weak spots. Its eyes continued to shoot beams randomly at the walls. Then I smiled, and drew the automatic with the laser sight. I aimed at it, and let off a shot. One of the green eyes exploded, and the head whirled around. But it still couldn't see me. My smile widened into a grin.
I aimed again, and shot out the other eye. The head spun for a minute, and then exploded in a shower of metal shards, taking the claw-like base with it. I ducked back into the passage, to avoid the debris, until it had all settled. When I looked back into the room, I saw a golden glitter lying on the floor.
I cautiously entered, before running down the stairs towards the object. The Mars Stone! I picked it up, and found myself looking at another doorway. Through it, I could see a large red machine.
I walked to the doorway, and peeked inside. The air was hot around the machine and I tried not to get too close. But I did notice it was missing a valve wheel. Since there was nothing else in the room, I turned and left.
I carefully explored the large room where the head was, and soon found a trapdoor on the far side of the room. I crouched down and pulled it open, before peering down into the darkness. I lit a flare and dropped it in.
From the light of the flare, I could see a ladder so I climbed down and found myself in a large room with a T-shaped pool. My damp clothes still stuck to me from my earlier swim, so I shrugged my shoulders and dived in. The water was cold against my warm skin.
Where the three 'arms' of the pool met was a deep chute ending in a large fan. I noticed the small entrance just above the fan at the bottom. Because the fan was forcing water upwards, I couldn't quite reach the entrance. I groaned inwardly and swam back to the surface.
As I caught my breath, I looked around the pool. Another small opening caught my eye. It was set in the opposite wall of the chute to the other opening, and this one was also higher in the wall. I took a deep breath and swam into it.
I followed the twisting passage until I could surface. I climbed out into a room with a pipe along the wall and a lit torch on the wall. I stared at the torch in surprise. How did it get here? I shook my head and turned my attention to the large pipe in front of me. I grinned when I saw thew valve wheel on it. Just what I need!
I pried the wheel off with my crowbar and carefully put it in my pack. I then made my way back through the underwater passage and back up into the room with the large red machine. I placed the valve wheel in place, and turned it once.
Nothing happened, and I frowned. I resisted the urge to cross my arms over my chest. All this back tracking was starting to drive me nuts! I made my way back to the trapdoor and the T-shaped pool. It seemed as if that other small entrance was my next destination.
