THE COSMIC COMPUTER

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objects; some had never been disturbed, but here and there they found
evidence of recent investigation.

Beyond was another passage, almost as wide as the Mall in Litchfield;
even the /Lester Dawes/ could have negotiated it. According to the
plans, it ran straight out to the ship docks and the open crater beyond.
Anse turned the jeep into a side passage, and Conn recalled the snooper
and sent it ahead. On the plan, it led to another natural cavern, half
its width shown as level with the entrance. The other half was a pit,
marked as sixty feet deep; above this and just under the ceiling,
several passages branched out in different directions.

The snooper reported visible light ahead; fluoroelectric light from one
of the upper passages, and firelight from the pit. The air-analyzer
reported woodsmoke and a faint odor of burning oil. He sent the snooper
ahead, tilting it to look down into the pit.