Invasion

by Jerry Shepard

  A short time later, the team resumed their trek to the anomaly's location. As they grew nearer to the dot on the screen, the team noticed more bits of spaceship, some as large as small buildings, in various stages of damage and foliation. The lead carriers carrying Liana and Noah turned around a particularly large section of spaceship and were confronted with what looked to be a medium sized town that had been walled up.

  "This is the location where the Archon recorded the anomaly. From the readings, it appears to be in the center of this city."

  Liana dismounted from her carrier and ran over to the one behind hers. She banged on the door. "Okay, let's get moving!"

  The teams dismounted from the carriers. Johnston and Gunnery Sergeant Poole barked orders to the Marine detail to provide a perimeter around the carriers as the science team unloaded. The platoon of Marines fanned out and signaled that no immediate threats were detected on their scanners.

  Johnston approached Liana and Noah. "Okay, once your team is ready to go, we will enter first. I know that the scans indicated no life forms in this area, but I want to be sure that no booby traps lie in wait for us."

  "Is there much chance of that lieutenant?" Liana asked. She was genuinely curious as she had some experience dealing with booby traps when exploring archaeological digs on Earth and other planets in the past.

  "I'd say there's a good chance there might be some gifts that the previous occupants left behind."

  "Good to know," Liana said. She turned and walked to her team.

  "Okay, everyone," Liana said. "It looks like we're going to have to prepare for traps inside the city. The lieutenant thinks we might be facing some and I want to make sure that we treat this like we usually do."

  "So, just like Erentia V, then?" asked one of the team.

  "Exactly. That was a shit show. I don't want any of us to get medevac'ed out like Samuels did on that rock," Liana said. "So go slow. Use your scanners. Record as much information as we can. Remember, we are here to investigate the anomaly. But given that this is most likely a Xen site that has been here for ages, we can also learn a lot from what we find in the city."

  Liana stopped to look around at the platoon of Marines protecting her and the team. She was grateful for their presence. They surely would have come in handy on Erentia V. It was just her team and two mercs whose idea of "protection" was wearing the gear, but when it came time to do their jobs, they froze. And Samuels had paid for it with his leg.

  "How is that bionic leg, anyway Samuels?" one of the team asked.

  "Just great. I can now kick your ass from one hundred meters away," Samuels joked back.

  The rocks crunched under Noah's boots as he approached. Liana turned her attention to the present.

  "Everything ready to go doctor?"

  "A few more minutes, captain, and we'll be ready."

  "Okay, I'll let the lieutenant know that we will be moving out in fifteen minutes."

  BREAKING IN

  The Marines breached the massive gate in the southeast wall in 15 minutes. Noah watched as they set up the charges and shaped them to prevent further destruction to the walls and structures inside. Dr. Sarduun wanted to preserve as much of the history of the place as possible and was worried that any explosions that caused too much damage would inadvertently destroy something of archaeological value.

  Noah spat at the thought. He didn't care one bit about some pottery that might be damaged by the blast. And he certainly didn't care if some statue to some dead god was damaged either. He just wanted to get in, investigate the anomaly and get out. He knew that any efforts to shape a charge were more dangerous because they caused the Marines to handle the explosives in a way that could result in its premature detonation. But, he knew that the Marines and Lieutenant Johnston would not complain. And he had made a promise to Dr. Sarduun on the Titan, so he backed off and let Dr. Sarduun run the show. This was her responsibility. Unless she fucked up.

  Noah and Liana went through the doors behind Lieutenant Johnston and six other Marines. The Marines set up defensive positions to cover for the rest of the team coming through the hole. For an area of the planet that had no life forms in it, Johnston was surely not taking any chances. Noah could understand that thinking. Over confidence kills more people than stupidity. That mantra had been drilled into him by his old mentor.

  "Scanners? What are we seeing, folks?" Liana asked.

  "Sweep is clean, ma'am. Nothing alive or moving in the next five hundred meters," replied a Marine.

  All eyes were on Liana as she moved to the front of the pack and strode ahead of the Marines.

  "Let's move out."

  The team moved slowly through the streets. Two Marines walked thirty meters ahead of the team and used their helmet scanners to focus on triggers and IED's to prevent any explosions as the team passed by. Every so often, the entire team would stop and the Marines would use their long range scanner to scan the entire area. As with the previous scans, nothing was moving.

  But to Noah, the movement was too slow. Dr. Sarduun and her team would stop for the most trivial things to look at and catalogue. Like when they stopped to examine a chair sitting in a room of a house. They engaged in an excited debate on the type of materials and tools that were used, and how the more primitive nature of the city would not lend itself to producing such a piece of furniture. Just a waste of time, if anyone asked him.

  Gradually the team made progress to the first intersection of avenues. Noah and Liana checked the maps that the Archon had provided and determined that the center of the city, and the anomaly, were roughly a quarter kilometer South of their position. So the natural choice was to take the avenue to the right which was headed that direction.

  A few minutes later Lur'vot yelled out. "Come here! Look at this!"

  Liana and her team rushed toward the wall where Lur'vot was standing. He was examining some writing on the wall and had a wide grin on his face. "You see, doctor? This is a very important place for our people." Lur'vot gave Rig'nak a triumphant look as he backed away and allowed them to look at the wall.

  Liana studied the writing. It took up about fifteen meters of the wall horizontally. And went from the bottom of the wall to the top, which she estimated to be about ten meters high. At first, she couldn't make out all the symbols on the wall as they appeared to be the Xen language, but an older form. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "It's the..."

  "Story of my people and their flight from their homeworld," interrupted Rig'nak as he slowly approached the wall and touched the symbols. "My apologies doctor for speaking over you. I'm just filled with joy that this is actually written down somewhere. This story has been passed down between generations of Xen by our ancestors. However, I have never seen it written down before!"

  Liana poured over the symbols on the wall. She kept noticing a particular symbol during the explanation of the flight from their homeworld. "Rig'nak. I keep seeing what looks like the word them come up repeatedly in this text. At least I think it is them. Your people only refer to yourselves as us. But this has the modifier of an opposite to the symbol for your people. Do you have any idea what it refers to?"

  Rig'nak walked over to look at the section of the wall that Liana was pointing to. He studied the wall for a minute and then backed away. "It refers to a children's bedtime story. You have your bogeymen that you frighten your children with in order to enforce compliance with social norms and ensure that they do the right things, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "This is the same concept. The word them is used to ensure that we keep moving and that we remain ever vigilant to, what you would call, demons inside of us." Rig'nak looked at Lur'vot as he relayed the information to Liana. Lur'vot remained silent and gave a slight smile.

  "Hmmm, well I think we should record this and catalogue the wall for further study. We don't have time now to go over the entire history of your people right now."

  As Dr. Sarduun's team rushed in to take samples of the wall as well as record th
e text on video, Noah turned to Lieutenant Johnston. "How many more hours do you think we have before sundown?"

  "I'd say we have a good five hours before the sun goes down, captain. So I would suggest we get moving. I realize the doctor needs to capture as much information as she can, but if our goal is to reach the anomaly today, we can't stop too many more times."

  "Doctor, I realize you want to examine every inch of this place, but we may just need to get as much of it catalogued and then mark this planet for you to come back," Noah said.

  "I understand the time limitations on our mission, Captain Jameson. But, per your agreement, I'm in charge on this planet. We will move at the pace that I deem is necessary to gather as much information about the former inhabitants as possible, while still reaching the anomaly in a timely fashion. We have a few days set aside to do this work, correct?"

  "You are correct, Doctor Sarduun."

  "Then I suggest, that if you want us to complete this mission as quickly as possible, that we stop having discussions like these and let me and my team focus on our jobs."

  "Noted, Doctor Sarduun. But remember, I retain the right to assume control if the safety of the men and the success of the mission are in danger."

  "Do you always like to have the last word, captain?"

  "No," he smiled.

  CITY CENTER

  Rig'nak was conflicted over lying to Dr. Sarduun. He knew what the word them referred to. It was something that neither the humans, nor his people, wanted to encounter. He wasn't lying when he said that them was used as a bogeyman to scare little children. But it was a very real bogeyman. And one that his people had managed to escape over hundreds of years of their pursuit. In fact, it wasn't until his people jumped into the human controlled space that they seemed to have escaped them. Hopefully, for good.

  Rig'nak walked with the team as they slowly moved through the city to the position where the anomaly's energy signature was detected. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that the humans now had the history of his people and their flight from their homeworld. Even worse, they could now figure out the true reason why the Xen war with the humans had occurred. He remembered that the official story that the Xen had supplied to the humans was that they had fled their dying homeworld. The real reason, was that they were fleeing them.

  The Varak.

  Even now, the name brought shivers to his skin. But what worried him more was that the humans now could learn the true reason for the arrival of his people. And since the peace with the humans was based partly on a lie, it could lead to a new war. Or a the very least, exile from human controlled space. This mission, could quite literally change billions of lives if the information ever got out.

  "Are you okay?" asked Liana who was now walking beside him. "You seem to be a little distant."

  "Why would you say that doctor?"

  "Because I've been trying to talk to you for the past few minutes."

  "My apologies doctor. You were correct. I was lost in thought. I was thinking about how wondrous this place is and the secrets that it may yet reveal."

  "Me as well, Rig'nak. I'm eager to get to the anomaly. However that wall with the history of your people and their flight from their homeworld has me particularly intrigued. Especially the children's fairytale that you spoke of. It sounds fascinating."

  Rig'nak didn't look at Liana, instead choosing to keep his head down while walking beside her in order to keep his facial expression from alarming her. "One day, I shall tell you that tale, doctor. It is a particularly frightening one."

  The team moved forward and at each stop, Rig'nak's apprehension grew. The city was a treasure trove of artifacts and history for his people. And while he grew eager for the next discovery, he regarded each as one more chance to expose the big lie his people had told to humans. He knew he had to prevent any bloodshed from coming to his people. It was forbidden to harm, or be the cause of harm, to one of his people. And that oath remained fulfilled by him.

  The team turned a corner and where they expected the anomaly to be, they were greeted by the remains of the spaceship that had crash landed. The wreckage was part of the central hub of the city.

  Liana started walking toward the wreckage with her scanner set to continuous scan. A Marine took point three meters in front of her. Noah, Lt. Johnson, Rig'nak, and the rest of the team followed behind with the other Marines forming a protective circle around them as the team moved forward. They moved slowly so-as to record all of the wreckage in the central building. In ten minutes the team found its way at what they called the 'entrance', which was less a formal entrance than it was a huge gaping hole in the side of the ship.

  Half of the Marines stayed outside the entrance and the other half lead the way into the ship. They powered on the lights and cameras that were affixed to their helmets and began to sweep through the wreckage with the rest of the team not far behind. As they cleared out rooms of any threats, they relayed the message back to the rest of the team.

  "All clear!"

  "Ok let's take a look, gentlemen. Shall we?", Liana said. The team walked into the cleared area of the wreckage and started to examine what was left of the ship. Liana could see that this first section contained some of the living quarters when the ship had been space-borne. Liana noticed something peculiar about the way the quarters looked.

  "The survivors of the crash must've used these quarters as the original shelter," Liana said.

  "How can you be sure?" Rig'nak asked.

  "See the crude canopies and roofs over part of what is left of the individual rooms? The outside hull of the ship is so full of holes that it would easily leak some water when it rained. These secondary roofs kept the survivors dry and warm." Liana poked part of the fabric that served as a makeshift roof and heard a creak.

  Debris exploded around her as she was knocked to the ground by something big and metal. It moved so fast that the Marines could not target it correctly. They fired off rounds, but none came close to connecting with it. In a few seconds it had escaped the way they came in.

  "What the fuck was that?" yelled Johnston.

  "Unknown, sir. It was..."

  "Most likely a leftover mechanical unit, the kind that you humans would call a mech, that was owned by the people who crashed here," Rig'nak interrupted.

  "Well, how the fuck did we miss that in our scans?"

  "Sir, our scans are set to examine anything moving or giving off a heat signature. Since it was most likely dormant and it isn't living, our scans missed it," explained Poole.

  "Well, how about we tighten it up. I don't want any more surprises, understood?" yelled back Johnston.

  "Understood, lieutenant!"

  THE BRIDGE

  Rig'nak exited one of the makeshift shelters carrying a small, curved sword. He looked at Liana and showed it to her.

  "Doctor, you might want to look at this. This is a ceremonial blade that was used at one time at the celebrations for the males of our people who survived the blood trials. We don't use these blades anymore as they gradually disappeared during our trek across the stars."

  Lur'vot took the blade from Rig'nak and examined it. "I concur with Rig'nak, this is a Hahk. It was used for the ritualistic slaughter of an animal to mark the ascension of one of our males to adulthood." He noticed Liana approaching him and offered the blade to her.

  "Fascinating!" Liana said taking the blade and examining it. "Did you notice the inscription on the blade? I looks like an older form of the Xen language."

  "I did," said Rig'nak. "It is merely a dedication to the child who would ascend to adulthood during the ceremony in which it was used". He looked sideways at Lur'vot, who also maintained a poker face.

  Liana handed the blade to one of the humans on her team. "Okay, tag this artifact and let's keep looking. We need to acquire all of the artifacts we can, but our main focus is that anomaly. The Archon detected an energy signature here and I want to know what it is."

  The team spent the next six hours
searching the wreckage for any signs of the source of the energy signature, but came up with nothing except more artifacts.

  Each artifact they encountered, Rig'nak and Lur'vot were there to provide guidance on what the object might be. Rig'nak surmised that the reason they could not put a location on the energy signature was that it must be close. And at that range, the scanners would go haywire when trying to decide which direction the target would lay.

  The team made its way to the bridge of the ship. The Xen layout of the bridge was slightly different from the Human ships she had been on. The captain sat in an elevated position on a small pedestal. The rest of the team sat in banks of screens that allowed the captain to observe and communicate with each one.

  Noah and Rig'nak approached the pedestal.

  "Look at this seat," Noah said. "Not enough padding and not ergonomic enough. This must have been uncomfortable as hell! I'm amazed that any captain would sit in that chair for any length of time."

  Rig'nak ignored Noah's fascination with the seat. Instead, his attention was elsewhere. If this was truly a Xen vessel, then it stood to reason that the internal architecture didn't change much over the centuries. He was looking for something and was pretty sure he knew where to find it. He got down on his knees and peered at a section of the instrument panel right in front of the chair. He took a tool from his pack and pried open part of it. As he used the point of the tool to press on a button, a disc popped out. He grabbed it and returned to where Liana and Noah were conversing.

  "Dr. Sarduun, I think this may be of some use to you." Rig'nak said, handing over the disc. "This may be the log for the captain of this ship. I believe you have the ability to interface with this media, do you not?"

  "Yes, we do. I'll get to work on this. Please help the others search the remaining parts of the wreckage. The anomaly might be anywhere and could be any size," Liana replied.