The Travelator

"If we should be unlucky and come to a dead end, then we shall have to go back and find out," Astra replied. "But for now, let's keep going forward. The presence of so sophisticated a door suggests to me that we may be approaching the part of the caverns where the Dragon lives, so I want to push on as fast as possible in the hope of finding a way out before we are discovered."

But they had not gone much further when they were brought to a halt by what they saw in front of them. Just ahead, the rock floor of the passage came to an abrupt end, replaced by a series of slats made of some shiny metal and laid crosswise. Each slat was about a foot from front to back and stretched the full width of the tunnel, and was joined to the two adjacent slats with only the slightest crack in between. The series of slats stretched as far down the passageway as they could see. Most marvellous of all, the whole series of slats was moving smoothly along the tunnel at a brisk walking pace.

"Magic!" Astra said, impressed despite herself.

"Or science," Stacy said, who had seen such things before. "It's what we in my world call a 'travelator'."

1. The travelator was moving in the direction that they wished to go. But did they dare step onto it? Since it filled the whole width of the passage, they could not avoid it if they determined to carry on.
2. Unfortunately the travelator was moving towards them. They would have to run along it faster than its own motion if they wanted to make any progress.

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