The Draw of Cambyses

In this 1977 science fiction short story, a soldier in the army of Cambyses II is wandering an endless desert, lost from his company. Just as he is about to accept death, he sees a glimmer of light in the distance — and when he follows it, he finds himself in a large building full of strange machines he has never seen before, and occupied by one young girl. They cannot communicate; her words are as gibberish to him as his are to her. The girl nurses him back to health, treating his wounds and feeding him. But when Sark attempts to leave, bringing provisions with him, the girl turns on him violently…