As he stood up against the wall of the chamber, he realized he was trapped. iHe looked around the stone walls of the room with interest. They had presented him with a challenge. But surely, they must have known that no one could hold Gyhn the Stalker for long. Fools! What do they take me for, thought Gyhn as he began to feel the rough surface of the cave's walls. Those Arcturian pirates had never been able to deal with petty nuisances, let alone powerful opposition. Now they try to hold me, Gyhn of Balfos, against my will. What are they trying to do?

A room is lit with phosphorescence that comes from layers of plant growth on the ceiling. There are people in this room, people who are watching and waiting. The people know what is going to happen, but still they watch. They are certainly not Arcturians....

Gyhn pushed and shoved hard against the ceiling. It was solid. He would not be able to get out of this one as easily as he had thought. His elastic Balfosian limbs would do him no good for there was no visible catch or release anywhere in the room. The rock would not budge, and he had noted no differences between the rock in one place and the rock anywhere else; it was a uniform surface. Although it appeared so, he was not underground, in fact, his sensory calipers told him that he was about 50,000 meters above the planetary surface. He was going to have to try a different approach.

A voice sounded in the room where plants grew. It was not like any normal language in the galaxy. It was music, and it resonated in the air and left an impression in space when it was spoken. The voice was a pure tone and as it sounded, it seemed to wash over the room and cleanse it. The speaker was expecting the arrival of a guest....

My father spoke once of the unbeatable trap, thought Gyhn as he slumped to the hard ground of the chamber. A cage from which not even the most skilled Balfosian could break free. I remember, thought Gyhn. I remember what it was.

The music ends as the voice becomes silent. The people in the room look to the speaker of the voice. They look to the speaker of the voice for guidance, because the speaker of the voice is the leader. Now they must all prepare themselves, prepare themselves to initiate the one who is coming.

It was a box, Gyhn recalled. A perfectly square box, with a perfectly smooth face. There was only one way to get out. You had to do it with your mind. Yes! That's right! thought Gyhn excitedly. You had to do it with your mind? To break free you had to imagine the box changing, melting away into a different form. Then, you could escape from the box, escape from the box by breaking its cage with your mind!

The plants on the ceiling of the room were growing and they shed light on the people in the room. The people had gathered in a circle because the new arrival was on its way. The voice sounded again. A flowing melody came from the speaker, and his song rose high above the people. His song was deep and powerful and seemed to speak to the people who had gathered in the circle. It told of new beginnings, a transfer of energy and rebirth. It was a beautiful song.

Closing his eyes, Gyhn tried to let his thoughts flow freely. I must be able to use my mind to imagine, thought Gyhn. I must set my thoughts free.

Slowly Gyhn began to imagine. In his mind he saw blackness, emptiness, as he released all his thoughts from his head. Then it began to happen. The blackness disappeared suddenly and then he saw the walls of the chamber he was in. But his eyes were closed, and what he saw was in his mind. The walls of the chamber were there for an instant and then the box appeared. It was the box his father had described to him and he was inside it. He imagined that the box could not contain him, and he saw the box becoming a rectangle, then an oval, then a circle. The box stayed as a circle for a bit and it burned brightly in his mind. Then, all of a sudden, there was darkness. Total darkness. Gyhn felt himself moving, moving at great speed. He was changing, he could feel himself changing as he moved faster and faster. Gyhn was no longer Gyhn but was changing from his old self into a new entity.

He opened his eyes.

The people of the circle rejoiced, for there was a new one among them. In the center of the circle a person had appeared to them. He was a new arrival from the other world and they were going to welcome him into their circle because he had lost his place in the other world.

The Gyhn-being saw light when he looked up. Great burning masses of light were all around him. The brightest light began to speak to him, softly and clearly. Words came to the mind of the Gyhn-being from the music of the voice that flowed over him.

"YOU WERE NOT TAKEN BY THE PIRATES. YOUR SHIP EXPLODED AND YOU DIED. WE NOTICED YOUR DEATH AND PLACED YOUR BEING IN THE ENTRY ROOM. YOU MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE ENTRY ROOM AND COME TO US, AS WE KNEW YOU WOULD. NOW YOU WILL BE A PART OF OUR CIRCLE AND WILL ENJOY THE NEW EXISTENCE LAID OUT BEFORE YOU. WELCOME."

The Gyhn-being joined the circle and he knew it was good. The plants that grew above had blossomed and their light shone down upon the circle. Soon the people of the circle would be preparing for a new arrival. n