Tawn chuckled. "A man who knows how to handle a complex situation. Sit by me, Doc. You can enlighten me with your theories while we chow down."
"Hmm. Only if you promise to eat slowly. We aren't in a rush and I have no interest in receiving any of your usual spatter."
Harris grinned. "She does spatter. I may be sloppy and get sauce all over my face, but she's a slinger. She needs a two meter safe-zone around her. Sit inside that and you're likely to be a victim."
The others joined in the feast as jokes about the eating habits of Biomarines abounded.
Harris turned to face Trish. "How are you two getting along with the processor stations?"
Trish smiled. "Good. He's a good learner."
"Garvis? Any comment?"
"She can be a bit of a taskmaster at times."
"What?"
"You can be impatient with someone who's unfamiliar with what needs to be done."
Gandy nodded. "That's her. You do it right the first time or you get a beating."
Trish frowned. "I'm not that bad. You just mess up a lot."
Harris chuckled. "Tawn, this is why I view you as my sister. We fight like siblings but still get along and get the job done."
"How about cousins instead? Cousins can be a constant irritant, but they're family, so you have to tolerate them."
"Fine. Cuz."
"Anyway," Trish added, "the stations should be producing processors later today. And we have a thousand twenty-three stations, so we'll have a big lump of processors tomorrow. We'll also be out of stock for producing more."
"We're in the same situation with bot bodies. It’ll take us two weeks to build them out, and I believe we'll have just over eight hundred."
Gandy said, "That's a decent force at least. So how do we get more raw materials?"
"New Earth. Once Bax leaves, we send in the Hailstorm and a team of bots for salvage. We left with sites identified for picking. Should be as easy as starting at those and scanning for more from there."
"Sharvie slowly raised a hand. "What do we do in the meantime? How do we deal with the Burrell?"
"Don't think there's much we can do. We don't have enough info."
"Maybe it's time we go exploring here on the island? We have the cave door, and then the underwater door."
Harris nodded as he stood. "I think it's time we did just that. Gandy, go grab a cutter. We're gonna see what's behind that door."
Gandy jumped up and hurried out of the room.
Tawn returned an uneasy look. "You sure you want to do that?"
"We have Bax who's obviously having visions of grandeur, and we have the Burrell who we know almost nothing about. If there was a time to break in there, that time is now. The Burrell built this place. We have to assume they have the ability to come directly here. Midelon won't be keeping them out."
"I hadn't considered that. Let's go open a door."
A fifteen minute walk had the group standing at the cave entrance.
Harris said, "How about the rest of you wait out here until he has the door open. If we need to turn and run for some reason, I don't want us all bunched up trying to get out of there."
Leaving the others behind, Gandy and Harris proceeded into the mouth of the cave. Seconds later, Gandy was kneeling on the floor as he setup the plasma cutter for the job in front of him. The metal door sparked and glowed as the high energy from the cutter melted steel. The section of door around the handle fell to the cave floor with a clang.
Gandy stood. "That's it."
Harris reached out with his gloved hand, tugging on the hot metal around the cutout. The door creaked as it slowly pulled open. Harris stepped through. The room beyond was two meters square. A stairwell led downward to the left.
"Go bring in the others."
Gandy hurried out, returning seconds later with followers. He whispered, "We going in?"
Harris chuckled. "Yeah, but you don't have to whisper. Not like there's anyone waiting for us."
The group started down the steps, Harris leading the way.
Tawn said, "Ceiling's not very high in here."
"The Burrell are short."
"That bunker out there has normal ceilings."
"Is there a point to this conversation?"
"I guess not. How far do these steps go?"
"As far as I can see."
"You think you could maybe perform a scan for us? Give us an idea?"
"I guess that wouldn't hurt. Let's see... wow. We have almost a kilometer to go."
"That far? So we're going below the waterline out there."
"Yeah. And if you noticed our direction, we're heading away from the bunker. I don't think these two are tied together."
The trek down took another fifteen minutes. The bottom of the steps opened into a room a scan showed to be more than a kilometer square. High ceilings were supported by immense columns every fifty meters. The entire area appeared to have been carved from solid rock.
Every twenty meters a rounded rectangular box, flashing with lights, stood three meters tall, coming up from the floor.
Tawn said, "Scan shows twenty-four thousand of those. Doc? Any idea of what we might be looking at?"
"Haven't a clue."
Harris opened a comm. "Idiot, I'm sending an image of the room we're standing in. It's a kilometer below you and maybe four kilometers south. Can you give us an analysis of what we're looking at?"
"One moment... I've retrieved an image that matches one of those units. It is marked as a spatial mapping generator. One moment... It appears as though we've come upon another of the mysteries of Midelon. That generator creates a series of codes that are part of the boson broadcast coming from this facility. I cannot be certain of its full use or purpose, only that it is part of the broadcast."
Alex walked up to the closest unit, looking over the hundreds of flashing symbols that covered one of its sides. "Idiot, can you interpret these symbols for us?"
"Statuses and measurements. I don't have enough information to determine their full function."
Tawn asked, "Anyone else notice how eerily quiet it is in here?"
Trish nodded. "It's creepy. I can hear myself breath. It's also cold."
Harris gestured. "Let's spread out. See if anyone can find a console or interface. And don't touch anything if you find one, just call us all over."
A half hour of search turned up nothing.
Tawn stood by the stairs going up as Alex was the last to return. "I'm confident we can break into the underwater space without shutting the place down. Should we head up?"
Harris moved for the steps as Gandy held up a hand. "Wait. Should we check the walls?"
"The walls? For what?"
"For a false wall like what we found at the top of the stairs. Maybe there's a hidden room in here."
Harris sighed. "I guess it’s worth the effort. Tawn, you start there and go that way. I'll start over here. I’ll meet you in the center of the back wall. Everyone else might as well have a sit. We'll be back in ten minutes."
Tawn chuckled. "You go ahead and run. I'm doing a scan."
Harris stopped. "Hmm. Might be a better option."
Tawn typed away on her glove and waited for the results. "Walls are solid except for right here, just up the steps. Interesting."
The Biomarine moved six steps up the stairs before pressing hard against the wall. "I can feel a bit of give here."
A heavy boot was lifted and thrust into the rock face of the stairwell. The rock crumbled, revealing another set of stairs going down.
Trish glanced over her shoulder. "More stairs? Didn't these people know about elevators?"
"Scan shows another half kilometer going down."
Harris said, "Odd place to hide a stairwell. And why hide it at all? This make sense to anyone?"
Alex stepped up, looking over his arm pad. "I detect gamma radiation coming up from below. The level is low, but it's there. And I'm picking up some very high energy readings."
Faceshields were closed. Gamma levels were tested as the group made their way down. At the bottom of the steps the room again opened up, this time to an area only a hundred meters square. A single, large square unit inhabited most of the floor space.
Alex performed a deep scan. "Power unit. I think we just found what powers this island."
Harris asked, "Everything here from that one unit?"
"Could be. And it appears to be a simple hydrogen fusion unit. With the abundance of water on this planet, this could run for a billion years. No moving parts, nothing to wear out."
Gandy shook his head. "Would normal carbon decay take its toll?"
Alex typed away on his arm pad. "Scan says the reactor walls are only a few hundred years old. It would appear that they regenerate."
"How's that possible?"
"How's any of this possible?"
Trish pointed. "We have a console over here."
Harris walked over. "And another blue button."
Tawn stepped up. "Don't you dare push that until we've had time to assess what it's for."
Harris opened a comm. "Idiot, can you interpret the symbols on this console?"
"I can."
"What's it say just above the blue button?"
"Assistant."
Harris turned with a smirk. "Same as on Gondol."
Reaching out, he pressed the button. Seconds later, an image of a Burrell was floating in the air.
Harris said, "Tell us about this facility."
The Burrell began to speak in what sounded like gibberish.
Tawn chuckled. "Assistant, change your primary communication to be in Earth Standard English."
"Hello."
Tawn nodded. "Hello. What can you tell us about this facility?"
"Before us is the power system for this planet. The hydrogen fusion unit draws fuel from the ocean in the form of purified water. The hydrogen is split off during a hydrolysis process before being fed to the reactor. The resulting fusion reaction powers all of Midelon."
Tawn crossed her arms. "What can you tell us about the other room just up the stairs?"
"Only that power for it is provided from here. I am the power unit assistant and only have knowledge of the power system and how to monitor its performance."
"Are you tied to the archive up on the surface?"
"I have no knowledge of an archive."
Harris asked, "Idiot, can you comm this unit?"
"I'm sorry, Harris. There doesn't appear to be an interface. This is highly unusual."
Alex said, "Perhaps this was intentional. Power is crucial to this facility. No comm interface... no way to hack in remotely."
Gandy held up his arm pad. "I show another false wall over here."
"This place is just a maze of hidden spaces."
Gandy raised a boot, kicking into the wall, falling backward to the floor."
Tawn chuckled as she walked over for a kick. "Let me show you how a slug does it."
Alex raised a hand. "I wouldn't repeat his effort."
"I'm not. I'm busting through."
A hard kick yielded a similar result.
Tawn scowled. "Didn't feel any give at all."
Alex nodded. "That would be because it's a solid wall. Gandy was looking at a scan reflection from that corner. It appears this room is solid all the way around."
Harris chuckled as he reached down to help Gandy and Tawn from the floor. "So that's how a slug does it. Glad you cleared that up."
The group climbed the half kilometer of steps back to the broadcast room, and then again the kilometer up to the cave. Repeated scans were taken along the way in an effort to find any remaining hidden spaces. None were revealed. A fifteen minute walk had them back at the compound and taking seats again in the supply hut.
Harris said, "That underwater facility will take more effort. We need to build a docking adapter we can fasten to that door down there. We can then connect and enter through the Bangor before cutting our way through."
Gandy asked, "Why can't we just connect with the docking tube?"
"If we have to leave in a hurry, I don't want the place to flood. The adapter will allow us to seal it back up if that happens."
A comm was opened. "Idiot, we need a design for a docking collar we can attach to the water-covered door on the north end of the island. I'd like it to house all seven of us, and Farker too. We'll be connecting to it using the docking tube on the Bangor."
"I've analyzed the data from your prior visits to the target. I have a design ready. The materials required for the build are available from our stocks."
"How long will it take us to put it together? Assuming we use Boomer as an assistant?"
"Forty-two hours using Human labor. Thirty-one with Boomer assisting. Shall I pass the design to Boomer?"
"Sure. Have it start collecting the materials for us. We'll be joining it shortly."
Tawn frowned. "I've noticed you refer to Boomer as an 'it,' but you reference Idiot as a 'he.' What's up with that?"
Harris chuckled. "So you finally noticed. I've been pushing that for some time just to be an irritant. Didn't think it was going to pay off, but it has."
"You didn't need to do that to be an irritant."
— Chapter 5 —
* * *
Thirty one hours passed before the docking adapter was ready for a test. The Bangor lifted, carrying the housing beneath it. After dropping into the waters off the north end of the island, the ship came to a stop beside the great underwater door. The adapter was maneuvered close, where a magnetic field pulled it tight, allowing it to seal.
The Bangor dropped to beside the adapter; the docking tube was extended and connected. As water was pumped from the structure, breathable air filled the void.
Harris stood in front of the airlock door. "Here we go. Again, the rest of you stay here until Gandy is through. And please, only come through the lock once this inner hatch has sealed. We don't need any mishaps dooming us all."
Trish crossed her arms. "He sure has gotten bossy."
Tawn smirked. "Yeah, but he's right on this one. No need to rush through and risk everything. That facility will still be there if we have to wait another ten seconds to do this the right way."
The thick outer wall of the underwater facility sparked and glowed as the plasma cutter was put to work. Fifteen minutes later, a meter-diameter plate nearly a half-meter thick was pushed through to the inside.
Gandy shook his head. "Was wondering if we were ever gonna get through. That is some extremely dense material."
Harris doused the hot metal with a spray of liquid nitrogen before stepping through. "Tell the others they can come through if they want."
"What's in there?"
"You'll see when you come in. Looks like we cut into a storage room. Nothing but stacked containers."
Gandy stepped through after waving to the others. "What's in them?"
Harris shrugged as he walked to the nearest box. "Don't know, but we're about to find out."
Several latches were flipped and a top raised.
"Hmm. I'd say those are weapons. Pistols of some sort. Wraps around your wrist and fits in your palm. At least it should in yours. My hand is too fat."
Gandy slid the device over his wrist as he picked it up. Several lights flashed as the weapon came to life.
Harris placed his hand on Gandy's shoulder. "Let's please remove that slowly and put it back in the case. If that goes off in here, there's no telling what will happen. I don't recognize its function or purpose, other than obviously looking like a weapon."
Tawn came through behind them. "What'd we find?"
"I think it’s a pistol of some sort. Too small for you or me, but it fit him. And it lit up when he put it on, so I think we don't do that again until we're topside."
"What's beyond the door?"
"Haven't been there. You're welcome to open it though."
"Ladies first?"
Harris chuckled. "Now that you mentio
n it..."
The door opened into a long hallway with doors on either side. At the hall's end, nearly two hundred meters away, a window looking out into a much larger space was visible.
"We go all the way down or start with door to door?"
Harris closed and latched the container before stepping into the hall. "We're here, so we might as well start here."
The first door was opened, revealing a windowless office. Two desks sat facing each other in the center of the room.
Tawn scowled. "Can you imagine having to sit across from a team member for your entire shift? How would you not be staring at each other all day?"
Harris replied with a half smile. "Hmm. Don't think that would work for us."
"Not if you wanted to live. You see anything of value in here?"
"Sharvie?" Tawn yelled. "I have a console for you to tap into. See what you can find."
Harris said, "The rest of us should keep moving."
Gandy stepped forward. "I'll stay here and keep watch."
Trish pointed to an image hanging on one wall. You think that scene is from their home planet?"
Harris took a closer look. "Could be. I don't recognize either of those animals. Could be just about any world though."
Sharvie sat at a console that was atop the first desk. "This is almost the same as up above." A comm was opened. "Idiot, can you give me a translation map of the symbols I'm looking at?"
"One moment..."
"Thanks."
Harris walked into the hall, taking several steps before grabbing the next door handle. "Another office. Not much different from the first one."
Tawn moved across the hall. "This one's bigger, but the same."
Gandy stuck his head out the door. "She's in."
"Keep us informed if anything important pops up."
Four more offices were discovered before a second storeroom was opened. Standard supplies were stacked in boxes and stored on shelves for easy access.
Halfway down the hall, a door was opened to a conference room that was lined with glass windows.
"Whoa," Harris said. "That look like a ship bay to you?"
Tawn walked to the windows, looking to her right. "And a ship."
"What?"
"Four bays. And that one has a ship in it."
"Oh, we have to go check that out. This is huge."
ARMS Helm's End: (Book 7) Page 4
