Of all the artifacts, only the lapetus figure could be interpreted as a self-portrait. The wings were half-folded. The creature'S taloned hands, each with six digits, reached toward Saturn. Clearly female, it looked past Richard, arms open, legs braced, weight slightly forward. It was almost erotic. Its blind eyes stared across the plain. It was set on a block of ice about a third its own height. Three lines of sharp, white symbols were stenciled within the ice. To Hutchins' mind, the script possessed an Arabic delicacy and elegance. It was characterized by loops and crescents and curves. And, as the sun moved across the sky, the symbols embraced the light, and came alive. No one knew what the inscription meant. The base was half again as wide as Hutchins with arms out-spread. The creature itself was three and a half meters high, That it was a self-portrait was known because the Steinitz expedition had found on the plain prints that matched the creatures's feet.

The ramp was designed to allow visitors to get close enough to touch the artifact without disturbing anything. Richard stood thoughtfully before it. He pressed Jus fingertips against the base, nodded, and unhooked a lamp from his belt He switched it on and played it across the inscription. The symbols brightened, lengthened, shifted.

"Nice effect," Hutchins said.

Each of the Monuments had an inscription. But no two seemed to be derived from the same writing system. Theory held that the objects were indeed monuments, but that they had been constructed during different epochs.

Hutchins stared into its blind eyes. "Kilroy was here," she said.