The Long Earth

when I say that we should make an initial survey of this phenomenon. Am I right?’
    Again Joshua and Sally glanced at each other.
    Sally asked, ‘What kind of weapons are we carrying?’
    ‘Weapons?’
    ‘Better safe than sorry.’
    Lobsang said, ‘If you mean portable weapons we have various knives, lightweight but nevertheless very useful handguns, crossbows that fire a variety of darts tailored to the metabolism types we might expect to encounter, ranging in power from “ever so sleepy” to “instantly dead”, colour-coded, with Braille and pictogram options – I am rather proud of that piece of kit. Aboard the airship there are a number of projectile weapons under my command. If necessary, I can fabricate a small but very sneaky tank.’
    Sally snorted. ‘We’re not going to need a tank. We’re dealing with an extinct civilization down there. Although extinct civilizations can leave behind nasty surprises.’
    Lobsang was silent for a moment. ‘Of course. You are right. One must prepare appropriately. Please hold.’
    He stood and went behind his blue door. Joshua and Sally exchanged another glance.
    Then, after a couple of minutes, the door opened and the ambulant unit walked back on to the deck, wearing a fedora hat and carrying a holstered revolver and, of course, a bull whip.
    Sally stared. ‘Well, Lobsang, you have now passed my personal Turing test!’
    ‘Thank you, Sally, I shall cherish that.’
    Joshua was astonished. ‘You fabricated a bull whip in minutes? Braiding leather takes time. How did you do it?’
    ‘Much as I would like to give you the impression that I am omnipotent, I have to say that there was already a whip in the manifest. A simple and versatile device, requiring little maintenance. Well – shall we go exploring?’
    They climbed down into a near desert. Joshua found himself in a broad valley, with a few ragged trees struggling for life on the floor, cliffs on either side honeycombed with caves. There was no sign of animal life, he observed, not so much as a desert mouse. He spotted the remnants of that broken bridge, and the rectangular scrapings on the ground.
    But he instantly forgot about all that, because down the valley was a building: one sodding great
big
rectangle, not much from the air maybe, but from down here it looked like the headquarters of some international conglomerate with an aversion for windows.
    They set off towards it, led by Lobsang in his hat.
    ‘Generally speaking,’ Lobsang pronounced, ‘reality having little sense of narrative, ancient sites are
not
heavy with swinging blades that decapitate, or rock panels that fold back to fire darts. It’s rather a shame, isn’t it? However, I have detected a textbook collection of enigmatic symbols. The valley cliffs appear to be of pale grey limestone, and have been extensively worked by creatures unknown. The symbology seems to have no relation to any known human script. Meanwhile the large building ahead is constructed of black blocks, basalt perhaps, not well dressed as masonry goes. No obvious entrances as seen from this side, but I believe that while we were still airborne I saw on the far side of the building something like a sloping face, a shadow – perhaps a way in.’ He added, deadpan, ‘Isn’t this fun? Any comments?’
    Sally said, ‘Only that we are almost a mile from the thing and don’t have your eyesight, Lobsang. Pity us poor mortals, will you? Why did you land us so far away?’
    ‘I beg your pardon, both of you. I thought it might be sensible to approach cautiously.’
    ‘It is his standard routine, Sally,’ Joshua said.
    They walked on, with the ship drifting behind them. There were slopes of scree at the base of the canyon walls, and here and there between the sparse trees patches of lichen, moss and scrubby grass had managed to find a footing. But still no animal life; there wasn’t even anything like a buzzard in the sky. This was an inhospitable place, a place where nothing had happened for a very long time, and went on not happening now. And it was hot; the sunlight, breaking through the clouds, reflected from the walls, and the arid canyon already felt like a solar furnace. This didn’t faze Lobsang, who was striding along as if training for the Olympics. Joshua, though, was hot, dusty, increasingly ill at ease.
    They reached the looming building. Sally said, ‘Good grief, will you look at that thing? You don’t realize how big it is until you get