"I don't know, but -- " he pulled on the groove and half the cube, which was hinged, flew open. "It seems to be opening!" There was a row of six small levers and beneath those was one large dusty one. Lloyd tried to move it but it didn't budge. He sighed then dropped his pack to his feet and drew from it a small axe, gave the lever a good slam them tried it and he pushed it right around until it stopped. There was a sudden rush of air followed by a screaming whirling sound, and the entire place became lit with dim yellowish light. They turned to face the direction of the light and were totally flabbergasted by what they saw. In the utmost of awe, both stood with their mouths agape and were silent as their eyes combed the entirety of the huge pit that extended far below them, with the road on which they stood, spiralling in a terraced fashion down to the very bottom. Throughout the immense hole, there were huge machines; dormant and silent. Only God knew for how many years this place had been abandoned. Lloyd saw that which had reflected his light earlier. It was a huge yellow hauling machine, several dozen meters away from them and covered with faded writing. It had many large, black wheels and a gigantic load bin, still filled to the limit with whole rocks, many of them larger than either of the two men. "This is a mine!" Lloyd began to explain to this companion. "It's odd, though, that this place would be mined like this?" "Why do you say that?" Boyce was puzzled. "This style is called an open-pit mine, yet it's in this small mountain. That is why I think it's odd. Shafts are usually dug for mining in mountains or for something that is found very deep!" Lloyd pointed to the floor of the pit, maybe a kilometre below them. "I would like to go down there, but we don't have the time. Let's get back." Boyce suggested. The shrieking whirl suddenly stopped and there was no more drafty air flowing about them and the lights went out. "I suppose that we'll have to go back now?" Lloyd chaffed, picking up his pack. They lay back on the flat, even floor of the cave, using their water sacks as pillows. Bluish starlight filtered into the cave and it was barely enough to let them see one another. They stared up into the dark of the ceiling and thought about what they had just found. "What a strange and fantastic place!" said Boyce. "Have you noticed that this entire road, that runs to the floor of this mine, has been carved right out of the rock?" Lloyd was formulating a theory about the odd method of building such a place. Boyce remained quiet, knowing Lloyd well-enough by now, to let him continue with his thoughts. "They must've used lasers, like ours!" he continued. "How else could they make it's surface so flat and even all the way down?" "I was thinking, Lloyd ... wouldn't this great hole make an interesting city -- like the Alugean library?"