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plain thought. She was not about to try any of them until she understood their nature.
    So she walked on, and came to a woman putting together mechanical men from a pile of metal rods, wires, and silly putty. Was she here for a reason?
    The woman spied her. “Why, hello, basilisk,” she said cheerily. “Have you lost your way?”
    Astrid shook her head no, but then changed her mind. Maybe she was lost.
    â€œWell, maybe I can help,” the woman said. “I am Ann Droid. I assemble and control assorted robots. This one will be RX, a doctor machine. Another will be RNA, a geneticist. Every robot is R-something or other. They can be very useful in specialized situations.”
    Astrid did not know what a doctor or geneticist was, so stood mute.
    â€œOh, I forgot!” Ann said. “You’re an animal you can’t speak. Let me fix that for the moment.” She rummaged in her pile and came up with a small panel. “Hold this and think your words, and it will speak them for you.”
    Astrid accepted the panel, holding it awkwardly in her mouth. “Like this?” it asked. She was so surprised that she dropped it on the ground.
    â€œYes, like that, of course,” Ann said. “It’s a translator. I’m sure you could speak on your own if you had the mouth for it. This merely facilitates communication.”
    Astrid picked up the device again. “So it seems,” it said. “I am Astrid.”
    Ann eyed her thoroughly. “I must say, you are a remarkably fetching example of your species, Astrid. The cockatrices must be constantly after you.”
    â€œThey’re a nuisance,” Astrid agreed via the machine. “I have had to glare several of them off.”
    Ann laughed. “Human women do much the same thing, though our glares are more figurative than literal. The typical man wants only one thing, whereas we prefer an acquaintance that endures for more than one minute.”
    Astrid was coming to like this friendly woman. “We do,” she agreed.
    â€œSo what can I do for you, Astrid?”
    This might be awkward. “Are you a Challenge?”
    Ann laughed. “By no means! I am merely part of the setting, as it were.”
    â€œI am having trouble figuring out what the Challenge is. All I see are mysteriously labeled gates.”
    Ann shrugged. “Doubtless it will come to you in due course.”
    So she was not going to help. Possibly she was merely a distraction. “Thank you,” Astrid said, and set down the translator.
    â€œYou’re welcome, Astrid. I hope you figure it out soon.”
    There were no more gates beyond this section, just the blank wall. Astrid walked back by them, rereading each label. There had to be some clue to their meaning. An array of ten gates with odd names. What was the clue?
    She came to the first gate in the row, labeled INVESTI. Investi-gate.
    A bright bulb flashed above her head. Investigate! It made a word after all.
    She walked back, adding the gate’s name to each one. Conjugate, Abrogate, Arrogate, Congregate, Derogate, Frigate, Fumigate, Mitigate, Segregate. They all made sense on their own terms.
    Good enough. Now which was the proper one to take? Probably Investigate, as that was what she was doing. She walked to that one and started through.
    And it slammed closed, just missing her snoot. No access here. So she must have guess wrong.
    She tried the next, Congregate. It slammed shut also.
    She tried the others. Each shut her unkindly out.
    It seemed she had not, after all, solved the Challenge, merely one part of it.
    She returned to Ann, who remained busy with her robots. The translator remained where she could take it. She picked it up in her mouth. “I figured out the gates. Each of their names is a prelude to Gate. But they still won’t let me pass.”
    â€œPerhaps the naming scheme is only part of the Challenge.”
    â€œYes. But I have yet to figure out the