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entrance to see that no one except Space Command and Marine personnel are permitted entry unless I amend this order. Clear?"
    "Yes, ma'am."
    "Good. The tunnel entrance is about fifty meters off this ship's starboard bow. Your two fire teams will take responsibility for the tunnel immediately and guard it around the clock. Dismissed."
    "Aye, Ma'am.
    Sergeant Flegetti braced to attention , then turned on his heel and left the small ship. A couple of minutes later, Christa saw the APC depart in the direction of the tunnel entrance.
     
     
    After completing the research she had been engaged in when the marines arrived, Christa left the shuttle and walked to the tunnel entrance. The two Marines on duty there braced to attention until she had passed them.
    The tunnel was as quiet as a tomb. Christa thought briefly about all the Mummy movies she had seen while growing up, then shook herself mentally to clear her head and think about the job at hand.
    The blacker-than-black door and wall looked forbidding and ominous as they came into view on the lowest level. Impregnability was a given since they had firsthand experience with the construction material used, but there shouldn't be anything ominous about the facility. It was just a workplace that happened to be underground. Innumerous military facilities were located underground, mainly for protection from attack, and that factor had been of immense value when the Tsgardi tried to take the cloning equipment. Having the entrance underground meant they couldn't bring large equipment to bear that might have given them a better chance of breaking in. Perhaps the sensation she was experiencing now was simply the result of knowing how old the facility was, as well as the pale-yellow light given off by the Chembrite panels.
    Christa walked to within a meter of the door, took another look around to make sure she was alone, and said, "Dwuthathsei." She had expected the door to open as soon as she used the Nordakian word for open, but nothing happened. So she said it again, more clearly. Still nothing happened. Because it had worked at the other facility, she and Jenetta had expected it to work here as well. Finally, she began saying the word in slightly different ways. Ancient Dakistian was marginally different than modern Nordakian, although the computer at the other facility had been able to understand and bridge the subtleties. It appeared this computer was a little more dense. Or perhaps the computer was malfunctioning. If that was the case, getting inside was going to be a real chore.
    After trying every variation of 'dwuthathsei' she could think of, Christa gave up. She had to find a new approach to the problem. Moving right up to the door, she placed her hand against it to see if she could feel any vibration that might indicate something was happening inside or that the door was trying to open. She felt no vibration, but she did feel something unexpected. There were scratches on a door that should have none. The tools used against the door shouldn't have been able to mar the surface at all.
    Christa retrieved a Chembrite panel from against the rear wall and brought it over to the door. When it was placed off to the side, the scratches became barely visible, but it turned out they weren't really scratches at all. They were carefully etched patterns and markings in the door. Although almost invisible, it was obvious they weren't accidental.
    Christa used the camera in her viewpad to photograph the marks from several different angles and with the Chembrite panel casting light from several different directions. When she felt she had a good representation of images, she had the computer assemble a single image and increase the contrast so the marks were easy to identify. What she saw was six circles, each approximately twelve centimeters in diameter, arranged horizontally across the center of the door. Perpendicular to the circumference line of each circle were small lines, sort of like the