The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

moved up to the three Humans and strapped collars around their necks. The bands were about an inch wide, and each collar carried a small box that pressed against the back of their necks. These were probably explosive devices, Adam figured, such as Riyad had used on his ankle – damn, that was like three years ago, Adam thought. A lot has happened since then.
    The group was led into the building by a Guard wearing a yellow cape. Anawar followed behind him with the Humans sandwiched between the other guards.
    As they entered the great bronze pyramid, Adam’s breath was taken away. They had entered a vast open area with a ceiling soaring easily twenty stories high. Along the outer walls of this lower level were various offices, but what really took his breath away was the structure sitting at the very center of this vast gallery.
    It was obviously a monument of some kind, with a circle of informational podiums set on top of pedestals and all surrounding something that looked like the Lunar Landing Module from the Apollo moon landings days. It was a bulky object with two distinct segments and resting on six legs, and rising above the odd-looking object was a large spire. One side of the spire was straight, attached to the LEM-like object at its top center and climbing nearly as high as the twenty-story ceiling. The other side of the spire bulged out in a free-form curve, thin at the bottom, thick in the center and then tapering to sharp point high above. There were a number of colored spotlights illuminating the entire display, all designed to highlight and impress.
    Dozens of Juireans and other aliens moved around the monument, with only a few actually paying any attention to it – although Adam couldn’t help but notice the expression on Anawar’s face as they neared the display. The old Juireans stared up at the towering spire with unblinking eyes, his smallish mouth open slightly. His breathing appeared to come in shallow bursts and he slowed his pace as he came closer.
    The procession stopped briefly as the lead Guard noticed Anawar’s reaction. “Have you not seen the Contact Monument before, my Lord?” the Guard asked.
    “Only once, during my orientation tour,” Anawar replied, not taking his eyes from the display. “That was a very long time ago.”
    “You have not been to Juir since?” The Guard’s tone was incredulous.
    “We all do not have the pleasure of serving here, commander.”
    The Guard simply grunted softly before turning to lead them to an elevator door set in the far wall of the gallery. There were two more Guards flanking the elevator; they nodded slightly to the lead Guard and opened the door for him.
    The elevator was spacious and Adam could feel it move upwards, then sideways, before resuming the climb to what Adam guessed would be the very top of the pyramid. This is where the Council Elder would hold court.
    To his disappointment, the elevator dropped them off at a very pedestrian-looking room filled with scurrying bureaucrats and an ample supply of Guards. The procession moved down a long corridor until it met up with another doorway with a stairway leading upwards.
    Without a word, the lead Guard began to climb the stairs, followed tentatively by Anawar and the Humans. The other Guards did not follow.
    The stairway led them to an opening in the ceiling and they stepped out into a large conference room with radically sloping walls that met at a point about thirty meters above. At the very top the bronze glass walls gave way to a clear, almost crystalline cap – the very peak of the great pyramid building.
    The outer walls of the vast room were lined with counters with various monitors sitting atop them, some active, some dark; Juirean Guards stood at the four corners of the room, each wearing full body armor and cradling flash rifles in their grips.
    A massive, freeform conference table made of polished stone took up a good third of the room on the other side of the opening in the floor