Hal and Greyla slipped down the maze of corridors and made their way to the vault rooms. The large chamber lay deep in the center of the Moz Lidule and was equipped with a reality interface which allowed their plasma projections to interact with physical components of the ship.

"I want to show you what Etaine and I found the other day. There are several rooms like this. These things number in the hundreds," Hal said walking between long aisles of spherical structures, each about two feet across.

"So this is where they keep all of their magitons," Greyla said "I had no idea there were so many of them on board."

"Yeah, I can't tell if each of these spheres contains a separate personality or several. Here's some sort of an identifier code."

"Can we unplug them?"

"No. Internal power supply. I can't penetrate the shell. They've done their homework," Hal said. "These are a lot more complex than the units Widhbo made for us on the Sora."

"If I find Bethon's, I'll smash it." Greyla said.

Hal shook his head. "It's not that easy. I don't know which is which and these spheres are essentially indestructible."

"We could throw it overboard instead."

"Fine with me."

They spent a few minutes wandering up and down the rows of magiton bodies looking for anything to help them gain leverage over their hosts.

"What's that by the wall over there?" Greyla asked. She headed for a panel full of little glowing marbles.

"Don't know. I'm going to look in the next room." Hal said. He found it much the same with more rows of the magiton bodies.

"Check this out, Hal!" Greyla called out. "I think these small ones may be hologram files. I can’t read the the writing but they match the symbols on this star chart. It looks like they're grouped by star systems."

Hal joined her at the wall. It twinkled with life compared to the dull, grey magiton bodies "Well, that's not good."

"Why do you say that?" Greyla asked.

"There would be no reason to group them that way unless they were associated with a location. It appears they are identifying them as originating from a particular star system."

"So you think the holograms aren't just constructed programs?"

"That would be my best guess," Hal replied. "I suspect they were alive once and now just used for menial tasks, appliances as Lotee said."

Greyla stood in the middle of the room hoping to get an empathic read, but felt nothing. "Widhbo said they might keep us as pets, remember? I don't want to end up stuck here on this wall with the rest of their pets, Hal."

"That's not going to happen," Hal assured her. "We didn't come this far to give up now. I plan to build you a nice house with a back yard and a dog someday."

"How do you know I want a dog?"

"Don't you? That's all you talked about when you were a kid."

Greyla chuckled. "You have a good memory. That was a lifetime ago."

"I'd like to make some more memories with you someday, so let's figure this out."

"Look. I wonder where that leads," Greyla said indicating another corridor on the opposite side of the room ending in a heavy door which was covered with more of the curious inscriptions.

"May as well find out," Hal said and headed toward the door. He jumped in alarm on hearing voice behind them.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Greyla whirled about, "Widhbo! What are you doing here?"

"More importantly, why aren't you with Tajlon?" Hal asked

"I gave him back to Bethon," Widhbo stated without explanation.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Hal demanded.

"Not to worry. Bethon has been rehabilitated," Widhbo said.

"Like we believe that!" Grelya said.

"Bethon's been punished, scrubbed and reprimanded," Widhbo siad. "And Tajlon's been given protected status."

"By whom?" Greyla asked.

"The ancients no less," Widhbo replied.

"I recall Lotee mentioning them. Who are the ancients exactly?" Hal asked.

"Ancient, as in older than the elders."

"More... " Hal held out his hands in exasperation. "Why is it so hard to get a straight answer from anyone around here?"

"The ancients rule over all the dimensions, Hal. I recognize the writing on that door. It looks like one of their communication hubs must be through there. You really don't want to speak with the ancients uninvited, Greyla."

"How does one get an invitation?" Greyla asked.

"By being very old, very bad, or very interesting. They ordered Bethon to hand Tajlon over to another elder, Lord Anakron. They also made Tajlon a protective device to keep him safe."

“And who the hell is Lord Anakron?” Hal asked.

Widhbo stretched out his wings and shooed them from the vault rrom. "We should get out of here before they kill us all."

"They don't know we're here."

"Of course, they do. They're giving you the proverbial rope with enough slack to get into a lot of trouble. Think of it as a little game and they always win," Widhbo said.

"Why couldn't the ancients help us with the demon?" Hal asked.

"They could. It's their policy to avoid direct interference, but they do occasionally make exceptions such as giving Tajlon their protection. I do hope they decide to level the playing field." Widhbo said. "I happen to know they've done it before in my dimension."

Widhbo looked about the walls and ceiling for monitors and spoke for the benefit of invisible listeners. "The devourer has gotten totally out of hand. We’re all doomed without divine intervention. Even the elders are out of their league here.”

"Where were the ancients while that was going on?" Greyla asked as they exited the vault.

"They typically leave your dimension to the elders. It's too primitive for their taste, like playing with mud pies, Greyla." Widhbo said closing the door securely behind them.

They no sooner left the vaults when they were met in the hallway by Colonel Munaci.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked, blocking their way.

"Stretching our legs after being shut up for so long," Widhbo answered. "We were just about to have a fun romp if you care to join us."

"I don't romp. I've been looking for you, bird," Munaci said. "You have been summoned to attend an emergency meeting with the elders."

"Long overdue if you ask me. A little late regarding the emergency part. Are my companions invited?" Widhbo asked.

"Heavens no! We’re expecting an ancient to attend. These vermin aren’t allowed."

"Get along children. I'll play with you later," Widhbo teased as he left with Munaci.

Hal and Greyla waited until Munaci and Widhbo were out of site, then headed back to the vaults.

"Ancients or not, I want to see what's behind that door," Hal said.