“I understand, Jack. I’m just concerned about the significance of what we have here being lost. Too many times in history we’ve lost things of great value because of war.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Jack said. “I’ll have my people help carry back some equipment and samples if they can. How’s that?”
Caroline extended her hand for Jack to shake.
“Deal,” she said.
“Boss, you need to look at this,” said Bandura. She flicked one of the drone’s camera feed to Jack’s AHUD. The image being transmitted had the familiar green glow of night vision filters, supported by the low light given off by the embedded globs of light in the huge caverns walls.
The drone was nowhere near the floor and it had already encountered the ruins. Large spikes thrust out of the darkness towards the ceiling, each of the spikes different sizes but made of the same glassy green-black material as the rest of the cave. Stretching down from the tip of the spikes toward the ground ran even more of the neon lighting patterns. As the drone descended, spiraling around the spikes, Jack got a sense of the size of the place. Those spikes were at least a kilometer high, and there were dozens of them, all interconnected in reverse. The spikes were geometrically shaped, some with three distinct sides, or four, or even more.
“It’s like a damn tree,” said Jack.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”, said Caroline. “But it’s actually more like coral than a tree. A tree has deep roots that spread far and wide and a trunk that grows up and outward. Coral is hundreds or thousands of individual creatures all growing together and becoming one mass.”
“Isn’t coral animal?” asked Anderson, from the front.
“Yes, it is. Hundreds and thousands of small animals all living together and working towards a common purpose.”
Jack looked at Anderson, who shrugged back. “I’ve always been interested in oceans and seas and what lived in them,” he said.
“Anderson,” said Bandura. “You’re like a deep sea. You have hidden depths.”
“I also enjoy poetry and long walks on the beach.”
“Beach is that way,” said Bandura, pointing back the way they had came.
“Too bad we’re going this way,” said Jack, pointing down into the darkness. That elicited a chuckle from both Anderson and Bandura.
The small group made their way down towards the ruins, the drones continually updating video of the giant spires as they descended. One drone hovered over a large clearing now, which had was easily hidden by the mass of spikes. In the clearing center there was a makeshift camp illuminated by a work lamps. The lamps threw out light that interfered with the night drone’s night vision camera but Jack could make out two humanoid figures moving around.
Just as Caroline had said it would, the spiraling ledge widened as they descended. Jack continued to look at the neon patterns along the walls and floor, noticing that there were very definite repeating elements within in.
“Doc, the Shiveen don’t communicate verbally as far as we know, but do they have some written language?”
“It’s possible,” she eventually said. “It’s usually the other way around, at least in panhuman culture. Speech is something innate to us, while writing is a cultural construct, originally used for record keeping but becoming a cultural driver.”
Jack pointed to several of the repeating patterns on the walls.
“What if that is their written language — these patterns of light? I’m seeing repeating sections or sections that are similar. And in every Shiveen vidcast I’ve seen, or simulation I’ve been in, the Shiveen constantly have patterns of light shifting across their carapaces. What if that’s partly how they communicate?”
Caroline stopped walking, causing Bandura to almost crash into her.
“Shit!” said Caroline. “Why didn’t I see that for myself? That makes perfect sense.”
She began looking at the patterns on the wall immediately next to her.
“Wouldn’t someone in MilCom already have worked this out too?” asked Bandura. “They’ve got plenty of contact with the Shiveen on record, and language experts.”
“Language requires a key to unlocking it,” said Caroline. “You need a basis for comparison, some way to understand the elements of it.”
“Like a Rosetta Stone,” said Bandura. “What? Anderson’s not the only one who knows stuff.”
“Exactly, Private,” said Caroline. “The original hieroglyphs of Egypt were incomprehensible until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, which provided translations of key phrases into two other languages: Greek and Demotic. With that they could unlock the language of the ancient Egyptians.”
“But we don’t have that,” said Jack. “There’s just these patterns. We’re in the same boat as those people before they found the Rosetta Stone.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Caroline said. “I have a very good friend who is a linguistics specialist. I think this is something that he’d be able to help with. He’s always been good at thinking outside the box. Jack, can you make sure we capture footage of this entire cavern so we can reconstruct it in simulation later?”
“Sure,” said Jack. “Bandura, task one drone to start again from the top and record footage of the walls and ceilings. Make sure it fills any holes in existing footage.”
“You got it, Boss,” she replied.
“Jack, you may just have stumbled upon something of great significance. Just as significant as what I found in my samples.”
“Just a farm boy looking to do his best,” replied Jack. He looked at his alek, reading the timer he’d set when they’d entered the cave system.
“We should hustle. We’re running behind.”
Anderson was the first to step down onto the floor of the cave, tentatively testing it before putting his full weight on it. The base of the spires that stretched far above the party were thick here, some of the largest hundreds of meters in diameter, others smaller. Up close they resembled the same type of material as the three masses in the upper antechamber, more than the walls of the cave. They stretched up high into the air.
There was a very definite path from the lower part of the thick ramp through the massive spikes, about thirty meters wide that headed directly towards the center of the ruins and the base camp. Embedded in the path were even more of the light patterns, tracing in the direction to the center.
Jack wondered how similar the other paths looked.
“Let me and Nowak go in front,” said Caroline. “Jeffs gets a little excitable. Reminds me of a dog called a terrier that humans used to keep as pets centuries ago. I’d rather he be upset at me than at someone holding a gun in their hands.”
“You know your people best, Doc,” said Jack. He knew of terriers and other dog breeds, having always had an interest in uplift history, which was rekindled when he and Nathine became friends. “Just say nothing about the Dauntless yet. Anderson, watch our rear. The Doc is taking us into the camp.”
Jack wondered if he was doing the right thing in letting Caroline take them in. When they’d finally met up with her after speaking to her, there had been time for her and Nowak to process the news about the science station. Not a lot of time, but enough that the initial shock had been borne quickly, although Nowak looked to stillbe in shock. Caroline seemed to be made of stronger stuff. Perhaps, as a scientist, she was just better at being objective and compartmentalizing things. Jack wished he was. On the way down the ramp to the base camp in his quiet moments, all he could think about was Stone’s body laying in the body bag in the rover and Stone’s last words to him.
Keep them safe, Stone had said.
How the hell was Jack supposed to do that? They were underground in the middle of an ancient Shiveen cave on a planet most likely covered in hundreds if not thousands of enemy troops, and their main way off the planet, the Dauntless, had retreated.
“Boss, you okay?” asked Bandura.
“Sure. I’m fine,” replied Jack.
Bandura’s voi
ce lowered.
“You’re doing fine,” she said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. You’ll get us home.”
Receiving words of comfort from someone under his command felt weird to Jack. Especially as they seemed to be a response to his own internal thoughts. But they were comforting at least.
“Bandura, can I ask something personal?”
“Nothing you can ask that Anderson already hasn’t a hundred times.”
“Why the hell are you here? You’re smart and obviously gifted when it comes to tech. Why aren’t you off working in some tech corporation somewhere?”
“You’d think that, right? Only problem was that I never ever got seen by any of those guys. The place I grew up didn’t have many opportunities, so you made your own. Sometimes run afoul of the local peacekeeping forces. And so I’m here. At least my record will be expunged when I complete my first service term. Only another year to go on that.”
“What about Anderson? Why’s he here?”
“Family tradition I suppose. His older brother joined up a few years back. He didn’t make it out of the skirmish at Hannath Plateau. Garth took that hard, so he joined up to take his place. Been shooting Shiveen in the face ever since. Turns out he’s even better at that than his brother was.”
Hearing about Anderson and his family made Jack think about Nathine. He hadn’t thought about her since the dropship fell planetside. He didn’t know where she was or if she was still alive. Her fireteam could have been ambushed just as Jack’s had been. It was only sheer luck and Stone’s sacrifice that had kept Jack and the others alive. He hoped his friend was okay.
Jack was pulled from his thoughts by Caroline calling out.
“Shirazi! Jeffs! It’s Caroline,” she said, her voice echoing throughout the entire cave chamber.
Jack saw the two scientists sitting at a makeshift holodesk, made from some collapsible storage containers and a collapsible holo unit, in the center of the camp. Around them were other storage containers, all of different sizes, presumably containing samples. Several flat folded containers lay nearby those. Off to one side were two travel sleeping bags, complete with lower protection padding, each of them with a large backpack near the head. A small generator sat off to the side, humming gently, providing wireless power to the three light units and other devices connected to it, including the holodesk Shirazi and Jeffs sat at.
Jeffs, a small wiry man with little hair and intense eyes almost glowered in Caroline’s direction as she approached. Shirazi got up from her chair, a smile on her face. She was about to step towards Caroline when she noticed Jack and others following her.
“Caroline,” she said. “What is this?”
“What the hell are the military doing here?” asked Jeffs, his voice angry.
“I have bad news,” said Caroline. “The science station is gone. The Shiveen had taken over the planet.”
“What the hell do you mean?” said Jeffs, pushing his chair back and standing. Jack could see why Caroline had referred to him as a terrier. He was bold and excitable.
“What do you think she means?” snapped Shirazi.
“I’d rather her tell us than infer it from what she say,” retorted the small man. It was obvious to Jack that these two may have spent too long alone together, and not in a good way.
Jack touched Caroline on the arm.
“I can do this,” he said.
“No, I need to,” she replied. Slowly, Caroline stepped forward towards the other members of her team. “While we were out here doing our research, the Shiveen came to the planet. They arrived a few days ago. We knew nothing about it because of the ion storms blocking our communications with the science station. When I got through to the station, Private Conway and his team were there and had just fought off a Shiveen infantry unit.”
The color drained from Shirazi’s and Jeff’s faces.
“Did anyone survive?” asked Shirazi. “Anyone at all?”
“No,” said Caroline, fighting to get the words out without tearing up. “No-one. I’m sorry.”
Nowak moved forward without a word to the sample containers. Everyone followed him but said nothing. Nowak and Erica’s relationship hadn’t been secret. Wordlessly, he began looking through the containers, taking inventory of what his team members had collected.
“So what now?” asked Jeffs. “We abandon all of our research here?”
“We can take some of it with us, but not all of it,” said Jack. “My team can help transport it, but we need to get out of here ASAP. There are two rovers up top. As soon as we’re able to, we’ll signal for evac and get you all out of here, including your. So, gather up what you can.”
“Caroline, you really need to see the ritual chamber below,” said Jeffs.
“We don’t have time…” began Jack.
“Jack, it may be of monumental importance to the rest of the structure here,” said Caroline. “And if we’re abandoning this camp, I’d like to record as much about this place as possible. Perhaps using one of your drones?”
Jack sighed. He should have guessed that it would have been too much to ask for the rest of this evacuation to go smoothly. If they wouldn’t be leaving immediately and would explore this chamber, that meant splitting resources. There was no way he would allow four scientists — three really, as Nowak worked through his grief — to head out to some unsecured room deeper into the damn cave system without some support.
“Anderson, you’re staying here with Nowak,” said Jack.
The big marine nodded and started running through the diagnostics on his heavy rifle. Nowak didn’t indicate that he heard Jack, and kept sifting through the sample cases.
“The rest of us, we’ll go to check out this room and get a recording of it. But we do that double time, and then we get back here and hightail it out of this cave. Every minute spent down here is an additional minute we're in danger from the Shiveen.”
The entrance to the ritual chamber was a large ramp almost twenty meters wide tucked between two of the large spire bases towards the outside of the ruins. It would have been easy to miss except for the various patterns of embedded lights placed at an angle in the flooring following the ramp down. There was no way the ramp would have been seen from above.
“Down here,” said Jeffs excitedly. “This really is incredible.”
“Behind me,” said Jack, holding out his arm to stop the scientist from rushing past him.
“It’s perfectly safe down there. There’s no boogeyman waiting to attack us down in the room.”
“You may be right, but I still go first.”
The thin scientist harrumphed and went to the middle of the group.
Jack knew there was probably no real danger in letting the scientist go first. He was more concerned with establishing his authority and having the civilians follow his directives. So far Caroline and Nowak had accepted Jack being in charge, even if it was nominal for Caroline. These two other scientists were a different matter, though. The last thing that Jack needed in the thick of Shiveen trouble was for anyone not to do as he said. During command training, he’d received some simple instruction on how to get civilians to do what the military needed during times of stress. Luckily, most would follow the directions they were given without resisting, but there were always those that bucked and railed against military order, even when it was trying to save their lives. As one of his instructors, an older officer with an expensive prosthetic arm with a built-in alek, had said: for those miscreants, waving a gun in their general direction usually got their attention and compliance.
Jack didn’t want to do that with anyone, but if it was what got the scientists back to the Dauntless safely, he’d do it.
The thin scientist’s voice echoed as he chattered excitedly while moving down the ramp behind Jack. Caroline had moved up to walk next to Jack as he moved forward ahead of the group. He didn’t bother telling her to move behind him as he had an idea that it wouldn’t have done any good.
“
He’s annoying, isn’t he?” he whispered to Caroline.
“Most geniuses are,. He’s smart and knows it.”
“Also seems that he’s not afraid to share that with anyone either.”
Caroline laughed softly.
“Oh, he’s not, especially with a little Dutch courage in him. I could go or some of that right now. To be honest, Jack, I’m a little frightened. I’ve read the reports of Shiveen attacks over the years, and they’re pretty brutal from everything I’ve read and seen.”
“They are, Doc. But they can be taken down. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Do you believe in a God, Jack?”
“Not really. My folks weren’t religious. My sister is these days, but that’s because she married into a neighboring family who are Original Catholic. What about you?”
“Oh, I’ve never been married,” joked Caroline. “No, I don’t believe in God per se, but I think I want to believe in something. Something larger than us. Science provides us lots of answers, but we have to ask the right questions as we go. Seeing these ruins makes me want to ask a lot of questions.”
“Like?” asked Jack.
“What kind of culture do the Shiveen have beyond what we’ve seen? Do they have a unifying religion or multiple religions? What’s been their evolutionary path? What’s their place in the universe?”
“Do they shoot up everyone they meet on a first date?”
Caroline sighed.
“That’s the problem with the military. They center everything on trying to beat the crap out of someone else and seeing who comes out on top.”
“Not strictly true,” said Jack. “A lot of things we take for granted now that enhance panhuman society were developed through military and corporate partnerships over the centuries. Things like our aleks, advanced power systems, atmosphere regeneration. Almost everyone has an alek these days.”
“And you think that’s a good thing?” asked Caroline. “That we all wear a device that not only tracks where we are but also records our biometric information and everything we encounter daily?”
Emancipation Page 12
