by Neely Dobbs
CHAPTER 7: Coalition
Briin had been tossing restlessly for a over an hour, unable to discipline and redirect his thoughts. Since he couldn’t sleep and his mutinous thoughts refused to return to his official affairs, he decided that a shower definitely was in order.
The exceedingly cold shower (hot was available, but he was convinced that his need demanded something just short of icicles) refreshed him. He finally managed to re-focus his thoughts in a different direction— toward a review of the facts pertinent to the upcoming MAC meeting about Eidolon.
Four good men had been lost during the mission investigating the cadets’ report. A four man exploratory team from an orbiting command ship had landed on Eidolon’s surface, near the beacon the cadets had originally tracked. Two of the four men then left the lander, found the tracking beacon, and approached the nearby opening. Prior to entering it, they reported finding one set of footprints leading out of the interior. Curiously, they were imprinted in the dust on a vertical wall of the shaft connected to the opening. Entering, they found that gravity— or what passed for gravity in that enigmatic orb— was shifted in the direction of the surface containing the footprints. Shortly thereafter, communications with the exploring party were interrupted. This had been anticipated; all previous signals intended to penetrate Eidolon had been reflected back from its surface.
When the first party’s projected life-support time was down to thirty minutes, the other two men in the lander— fearing for their companions’ safety— refused to wait any longer. Their last communication with the orbiting command ship reported that they were entering the object to attempt a rescue, carrying four extra life-support packs.
When the rescue party’s return was overdue, another team was dispatched from the orbiting ship. This scouting party approached the opening and looked into it. They reported seeing a lighted shaft or corridor, perpendicular to the surface, whose depths receded to the vanishing point. On one wall of the opening, micrometer sized dust had collected. The dust on its vertical surface contained footprints.
They waited by the opening for thirty hours— a full Coalition Day. That was half again more than the combined life-support systems would have supported one man. None of the original four men ever returned.
Before retreating back to the lander, one of the men in the scout party retrieved a small metallic object found just inside the opening. Its track in the dust indicated it had been disturbed, possibly by a member of the exploratory team.
Briin turned the account over again in his mind, to no avail. Only one thing was clear. Four men lost, and for no apparent reason.
He shook his head sadly and climbed beneath the cool bed covers. Gradually his restless consciousness surrendered to sleep.
