Evil Star

- Evil Star that. You came to Peru looking for a gate. We still don't know where it is. But if it's closed, there must be something that keeps it closed."
    “You mean ... a sort of lock," Matt said.
    "That's right. And if so, why can't it be a combina-tion lock?"
    "I don't understand."
    "It's simple. Think of the Nazca Lines as a fantastic time lock. They sit there, keeping the gate closed. That's why they were built. Only when the stars form the right pat-terns, only then will the gate open and the Old Ones will be free. That's how it works."
    "But the whole purpose of the gate was that it should never open,"
    Richard said.
    "That's right," Chambers continued. "Which is why the gatekeepers made sure that the stars would never align. But two nights from now, they'll come close. In fact, it's as close as they'll ever get. Just one star is going to be missing. . .."
    "And Salamanda is going to replace it!" Matt inter-rupted. "When I was in his house, I heard him talking." It was all coming back to him. "He said something about a silver swan. There were coordinates. He had to move it exactly into position."
    He stopped. Suddenly the answer was obvious.
    "A satellite," he said.
    "Exactly," Professor Chambers agreed. "Salamanda launched a new satellite just a week ago. It's been in the newspapers. Everyone knows. And what he's going to do is, he's going to position it exactly where Cygnus ought to be. An artificial star instead of the real one.
    The satellite will complete the pattern of light. The time lock will be acti-vated. And . . ."

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star
    "And the gate will open," Matt said, fear in his voice.
    "We can stop him!" Richard said.
    Chambers shook her head. "I don't see how. The satel-lite's already in space. Salamanda will be controlling it by radio. If we knew the frequency, perhaps we might be able to jam the signal, but we'd have to get our hands on the right equipment and I wouldn't even know where to begin. Anyway, the transmitter will be at the SNI compound at Paracas and we could never get in."
    "Where is Paracas?" Matt asked.
    "Not too far-from here. That makes it perfect for Salamanda. It's on the coast, about three hundred miles north. Not too far from the Nazca Lines ..."
    "Can we see it?"
    "We can drive there. But I've gone past it a couple of times, Matt —
    and I'm telling you, you'd need a small army to break in."

    ************************************
    Salamanda's Research and Telecommunications Center at Paracas was a few miles inland, a hi-tech compound sur-rounded by desert.
    Not one but two fences surrounded it. The first was ten meters high, with razor wire stretched end-lessly around the top. The second carried bright yellow signs that warned would-be trespassers in three languages. The outer fence was electrified. The space in between was pat-rolled, day and night, by guards with dogs. Two watchtowers looked over the desert, one at each corner. The only way in was through a gate that slid open electronically to allow vehicles to pass. But there was a control room and a barrier that only rose once every driver had been checked.

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star The compound itself consisted of a cluster of low, ugly buildings made of red bricks, with panels of mirrored glass. The scientists and staff might be able to look out, but nobody could look in. A radio mast loomed over them, standing on metal legs with satellite dishes turned up toward the sky. The building closest to it was also the most modern, a glass dome at the center of the roof but no win-dows at all. This had to be the control center.
    Three lines of identical, whitewashed houses stood at the perimeter.
    They were also made of brick but looked more primitive. Matt suspected this was where the staff had to live. They had been constructed around a rough, con-crete square which seemed to double as an eating area and a soccer field. There was even a television on a metal stand, surrounded by wooden benches. At night, the workers could watch TV in the open air.
    There seemed to be at least two hundred people work-ing there. Matt had seen some of them, dressed in gray overalls with the letters SNI
    in red print on their sleeves. He had also seen laboratory technicians and scientists. Salamanda had a fleet of electric cars, little more than golf carts, to ferry them between buildings. There was also a launchpad with a small black helicopter parked in the mid-dle.
    Armed