Ancestor's World Read Free

stone bier on which rests the sarcophagus." The Simiu backed out of the way.
    Squeezing his eyes shut against the fall of mortar dust, Mitchell poked his head through the hole in the wall, squirmed to bring the hand torch inside, and swept its yellow beam downward. The better angle revealed something he hadn't seen when first he'd peered into the chamber. Something else besides gold gleamed inside, but it shone vibrant purple.
    Shining like dark amethysts were an incised, jewel- studded sphere; a narrow, fluted drinking vessel; and a small, boxlike shrine. All three items lay on the floor at the foot of King A-Um Rakt's sarcophagus. They shone so brightly because they were made of purple metal, and because they did not belong here.
    Dear God, they're Mizari artifacts!
    Specifically, a Constellation Globe, a Sacred Shrizzs and a Star-Shrine lay at the foot of the alien being who, six thousand years ago, had begun the march of civilization for the Na-Dina people. But these objects had been made by reptilian, limbless Mizari, the founders of the Cooperative 7
    League of Systems. The CLS was the alien-run league that humanity had received full membership in nearly three years ago.
    The Lost Colony! How else could these things have been here for six thousand years?
    Long ago, a group of ancient Mizari had left their home- world, turned their starships toward the starry depths, and departed for worlds unknown to their current descendants. A year or so ago, the archaeological world had experienced a brief flurry when the eminent Heeyoon archaeologist Greyshine had reported a Star Shrine discovered at the Lamont Cliffs, near StarBridge Academy.
    But that "find" had turned out to be a hoax, though it had, in its turn, led to a landmark discovery when the Ancient Dais was uncovered in an adjoining tunnel deep within the body of the little asteroid. Studies of what culture had created that artifact were still ongoing.
    But this Star Shrine could not possibly have been planted. This tomb had lain undiscovered since it had been sealed millennia ago. Mitchell felt his head swim from more than the ancient air.
    "They're Mizari, correct? Could they possibly be authentic?" growled Khuharkk' in awed tones.
    "Hang on a second," Gordon muttered, scanning the remainder of the round-walled chamber. Pottery bowls, bronze vessels, sheaf-scrolls and daily life objects also lay on the floor. Finally, he forced himself to pull back and relinquish the sight.
    When he faced Khuharkk', the Simiu's violet eyes shone as brightly as the artifacts. Gordon nodded. "Yes, Khuharkk'. From what I can tell without testing them, they're genuine Mizari relics. Must be from the Lost Colony. No other Mizari of that time traveled so far away from the Known Worlds. You know what this means, don't you?"
    Khuharkk' fingered the pockets of his vest-jacket, hung about with small implements of their trade. "This means that the Mizari will support us in getting increased funding, right?"
    Gordon nodded. "This is the find of the century, lad.
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    The Mizari Archaeological Society is going to shit bricks over this."
    Khuharkk's brow furrowed. "Shit... bricks?" he repeated slowly. "An idiom, sir?"
    "Sorry, son." Mitchell found himself grinning wildly. "I meant that they're going to be very, very, VERY excited and really eager to help us out!"
    He leaned back against the tunnel's cool stone wall, feeling like Heinrich Schliemann had when he unearthed the golden treasures of Mycenae. "Now we can get some large- scale help."
    "We certainly need it," Khuharkk' said somberly, staring at the hole in the wall.
    "Damn right," Gordon said bitterly, recalling again their impossible task. This Royal Tomb, other side canyon tombs, the nearby City of White Stone, and thousands of other Na-Dina ruins would be flooded when the Nordlund Combine engineers finished building their dam. Bigger than Earth's Aswan High Dam, the giant rampart would block the River of Life, create a lake three hundred