The eastern walls, between the vast images of death and the archangel, were set with wardrobes of crystal holding the silks and costumes and suits of armor of many ages, stuffed heads of animals, pelts and skulls and other trophies.

The western wall, between the images of death and his bride and his father, was lined with crystal cases holding hunting and dueling pistols of several ages, and swords and spears and battleaxes, all polished and gleaming as if newly made. Both walls were lined with alternating pillars of white and red marble.

Above these twin rows of pillars ran two parallel balconies. Menelaus saw a shower stall, a kitchenette, a recycler, several oxy-nitrogen tanks, and other basic necessities hidden behind half-closed wooden screens along the recessed balconies. There were four staircases curving upward to the balconies, one behind each of the massive statues in the corners.

Midmost was a silver-basined fountain, sitting foursquare. A plume of water hung in the middle, burbling merrily, blocking the view of the north end of the chamber. From the plashing of the water, it seemed a very deep basin, a well or a cistern.

Level with this fountain were two alcoves or lesser wings interrupting the eastern and western walls. To the eastern side squatted a private supply of biosuspension material; to the western, an atomic pile plated in gold and designed to last forever.

Looking back toward the doors from the fountain, as large as the doors and occupying all the wall behind and above, was hung a larger-than-life portrait of a blond young woman. She had a sharp look to her eyes and a winning smile, and the artist had perfectly captured a sense of softness and hidden strength. She wore a crown and a sash of royal office, but incongruously; beneath that she wore a close-fitting suit of dark satin with a ring-collar. This was the officer’s uniform of the star vessel, the captain’s uniform. Behind her, like a half wheel, part of the Milky Way galaxy held up its curving arms. Above her head was a small puff of stars lost in intergalactic darkness, a globular cluster orbiting the Milky Way. A slender silver line connected the globular cluster with one point near the edge of the Milky Way.

Eternal clocks and calendars were built into the walls to either side of the portrait, and a small jewel was held on the frame in a position only a very little of the way up the silver line toward the globular cluster above the crown of the princess.

Menelaus stood staring, with such a look of loss and longing on his features, that he seemed a different man, and younger.

5. The Azure Coffin

Before the fountain, not abutting, but close enough to be wetted by its spray, was a coffin of lapis lazuli, blue as the sky, and of very ancient design.

The coffin was placed on the floor in a spot of no particular significance, and reminded Menelaus oddly of a photo he had seen in his youth of the last automobile left in the last parking lot after the Age of Oil had passed away.

Menelaus slowed and stopped, staring at the coffin. The dog things with him stopped also, perhaps unsure as to which part of the chamber to take him to.

Larz spoke up, “So this is the coffin of the Judge of Ages! Do not touch it. This whole chamber is probably full of hidden weapons!”

Menelaus stirred himself. Larz was regarding the blue coffin. “See?” Montrose said. “Reading cheaplies is educational. This place damn well better be full of hidden weapons.” Montrose stepped over and looked at the readout.

“I said to don’t touch it! It will probably explode, and then drop you into a pit full of acid-spitting cybercobras.”

“I’ll risk it,” he grunted, and put his fingers on the coffin surface. The coffin lid turned transparent. The interior was blue-white, and the coffin was layered with some sort of gel or ice, on both its sides and bottom. Inside it was a young woman, naked. She was thin-faced, no older than seventeen, and her hair was treated with a purple hue that glowed in the dark, her closed eyelids darkened with mascara or kohl. In the center of her forehead, a purple gem was planted, a teardrop seemingly fused to her skin.

“A naked woman!” exclaimed Larz. “What year is she from? I bet she’s a cavegirl!”

“No staring at the nipples!” Montrose said dourly.

“You’re looking!”

“I am a doctor.” But Menelaus shaded his own eyes with his hand, partly blocking the view. From beneath his fingers, he could still see the readout. “She’s perfectly healthy. This is a voluntary hibernation: the code indicates she’s waiting for someone, linked to another coffin calendar. The name line says ‘Changed Frequently.’ So unless her family name is Frequently and her Christian name is Changed, my guess is that she changed her name too often for the records system. She was interred A.D. 2537, she is too short to be a Giant, so she is a Sylph.”

Larz looked down with particular interest. “A Sylph! I have never seen one before. I bet she needs to be rescued!”

“Maybe we all do.”

“What pert breasts she has!”

Menelaus slapped the coffin lid again, and it turned opaque. “Down, boy. I think she is underage.”

“How so? She is at least a zillion years old!”

Coming suddenly around the edge of the fountain came Mentor Ull and Preceptors Illiance and Yndech. The sounds of the falling water hid the sounds of their light footfalls.

Ull said crossly in Iatric, “What is this tardiness, Beta Anubis? Why do you pause to consider this coffin? It is of no consequence. You are needed to facilitate conversation.”

Menelaus said, “Your pardon, Mentor. I thought perhaps this coffin, being alone in the midst of the floor, was significant.”

Illiance said, “An understandable misapprehension, for we were also puzzled by this coffin. But it holds no particular concern for us at this time. The Judge of Ages awaits us at the end of the chamber. He is not in this coffin. He is risen.”

And at that moment came a loud chime of noise from the blue coffin, like the reverberation of a crystal gong.

Larz screamed an astoundingly loud, high-pitched scream, and threw himself to the golden floor, covering his head with both arms.

The dog things nearby, startled, barked and raised their muskets, some aiming at Larz, some at the coffin, some at Menelaus, who raised his empty hands, saying, “Good boy. Good doggy.”

Ull stepped forward, his half-lidded eyes brimming with even more contempt and weariness than was his wont. “Eschew these antics. Events converge! Depart to the dais fronting this chamber, Relict Beta Sterling Anubis.”

Illiance raised a slender hand. “Your indulgence is craved but a moment, Mentor, for my curiosity is piqued. What do these things mean, Corporal Anubis?”

Menelaus said, “Something you said was picked up by the coffin brain, and it triggered the thaw cycle. Should be a matter of minutes, rather than days, because she is unwounded and prepped for a quick thaw, like a Hospitalier.”

“Interesting. And why did Relict Kine Larz of the Gutter impel himself prone, and utter an energetic vocal commotion? Please ask him.”

Menelaus translated the question. Larz, looking up with panic-wide eyes at the gun muzzles of the snarling dogs, raised his trembling hands. “Tell the blue Alphas I meant no harm by it! Besides, I don’t have any kin in this age to be torn up before my eyes, so there is no use giving me punishment detail!”

Menelaus said, “The Blues aren’t as barbaric as, well, us.” He put his hand down and helped Larz to his feet.

Larz muttered. “Why do you say ‘us’? I know you are no Beta.”

“Don’t make me civilized, neither. I’m from Texas.”

Larz suddenly was full of vim and pluck again, and so he waved his hands in the air, crowing loudly, “Well, tell them this ain’t no way to plunder a dungeon! Don’t they know anything? First, you check for traps! Always send in the native guide before you, because he is usually secretly a-working for the cult that worships the Mummy, so it won’t matter if he trips the tripwire. Second, always leave the gold on the ground, because the Judge of Ages circuits it into the electrocution system. And third, the beautiful captive always knows something important, so talk to her right away, and if she is gagged, take out the gag before you untie her feet, because that way she can warn you if the Beast of the Crypt is sneaking up from behind.