The ancient Garden of the Templomuseum stood silent and deserted, for it was now well past midnight and there were no more visitors. Only the two Security Guardians were left, and they paced about solemnly to and fro, their footsteps echoing among the tall colonnades.
Although, as was mentioned earlier, Dr. Grabengon and Eagle never went to museums, this was a special occasion, and both of them were dressed from head to foot in black and wore masks that covered most of their faces, so that only their eyes showed: Dr. Grabengon's, red and dull, and Eagle's, sharp and yellow, with their vertical pupils clearly visible, even though it was now quite dark.
Eagle scratched his head with his talons: the two guards were no big deal. But what worried him most was the security gate around the object of their night time journey. No, it would not do to set off an alarm here: it would cause a swarm of guards and bring on a wave of the Willies, their well armed mechanical counterparts. Right now, some of the Willies were sleeping quietly in the upper row of the colonnade: small, dark things that seemed to be breathing, but that was only their cooling fans spinning slowly.
Eagle left Dr. Grabengon to wait at the entrance and took off, flying silently above the Garden, where he quietly dispatched of the guards by dropping moderately sized rocks on their heads. When the two guards were sound asleep in the Garden, Eagle signaled to Dr. Grabengon with his green beam. Together they approached the vault, which contained the Stella Mars. It was a small glass covered dome, under which grew an ordinary looking flower. It was simple and reddish in color, and its stem was tinged with blue and green. Its petals were closed and it seemed to bow slightly, as if it were asleep.
The lock turned out to be surprisingly uncomplicated: Dr. Grabengon opened it in a few minutes with the help of a paperclip and a hacking device. Both he and Eagle looked about warily, but there was no one in sight. Eagle had a little cylindrical container with him in which to carry the Stella Mars. As soon as the lock sprang open, he quickly shoved the flower into it, with all its earth and pink and reddish roots.
Just then, a whistle sounded high above them, and a bright beam of light illuminated first Eagle, then Dr. Grabengon. They both looked up: a late Willy that was probably on its way to roost for the night had seen them, and raised an alarm.
"I told you it was a bad idea!" Dr. Grabengon said angrily, as Eagle flew up into the sky to fight it. Dr. Grabengon could see them wrestling like large birds do, Eagle's bright yellow talons clasping and scratching away at the smooth metallic Willy. He had his hands around its miniature turret, but the Willy twisted away from him. It flew up even higher and shot at Eagle, and he fell to the ground. He was badly hurt.
"Hurry, Doctor," Eagle whispered, handing him the flower in its cylindrical case. Dr. Grabengon tried to pull him up, but he was very heavy, and his yellow eyes were now strangely glazed. A thin blue stream ran down his forehead and trickled over his beak. Another shot rang out, and the rest of the Willies finally woke up and broke loose. Dr. Grabengon took off as quickly as he could and was soon climbing over the Garden's fence. Fortunately, the Willies were limited to the grounds of the Templomuseum's Garden and did not pursue him any further. Otherwise, he would have likely shared Eagle's fate.
Dr. Grabengon climbed over the fence in a big hurry, clutching his inner coat pocket with the Stella Mars. On the crest of the fence, he slipped and fell over to the other side. "Maybe the Peddler lied to us," he thought, rubbing his injured ankle, and hobbled back home as fast as he could.
As he turned into the nearest dark alley, he saw that he was not alone: just ahead, a group of Braqonieris blocked the exit. He turned to run back, but a few more Braqonieris now blocked the entrance to the alley as well. They grinned at him silently, their milky eyes glistening in the dark like the eyes of dead fish. One of them walked up to Dr. Grabengon. He wore a black mask that covered most of his face, and in his hand he held an open switchblade.
"I'm finished," thought Dr. Grabengon, clasping his coat pocket tighter. But just as the masked Braqonieri approached him, a long whistle-like scream echoed through the alley. It suddenly got cold, so cold that it was almost impossible to move. A tall figure entered the alley from its western side. At the sight of this figure, the Braqonieris scattered very quickly. Soon not a trace of them remained, except for one dropped switchblade that was glistening at the far end of the alley.
The tall stranger approached Dr. Grabengon slowly. Dr. Grabengon was unable to move, and his hands were trembling. He regretted having taken the Stella Mars a thousand times by now. All he wanted was to be safely back home, journeying from town to town with Eagle. But Eagle was gone, and he was in an unknown alley in a bad part of town, with an unknown man standing before him. Dr. Grabengon looked closer and suddenly recognized the tourist at the Templomuseum from a few days before.
"Thank you," said the tourist, and reached into Dr. Grabengon's coat pocket. His hand was freezing cold as it took out the flower.
It was cold all around him, and his eyes were empty and black. An even colder chill wrapped around Dr. Grabengon's heart, and he collapsed to the ground.