“You want a cup of coffee?”
Logan opened his eyes and saw Beth standing before him, her eyes half open, blonde hair tangled from sleep.
“I’d love one,” he said with a smile.
Chapter 19
There are more things under the heavens than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- William Shakespeare. Hamlet.
Shiro Komatsu stepped through the final secure door and entered the cave, smiling politely to the two soldiers from General Vessey’s First Army as he passed by. Despite its considerable thickness, the door swung gently shut behind him. He listened as the large round pins slid into their slots in the door frame with a gentle whirring sound.
The scientist approached a large orb of energy five meters in diameter. The glowing ball of plasma energy bathed his face in soft hues of orange and yellow as he stood before it. Even after years of studying the alien engineering wonder, Komatsu was awestruck by how the plasma was suspended within its elegant lotus-like structure of evenly spaced curved metal arms. They rose up from a base in the cave floor and arched toward a point about ten meters above his head near the cave ceiling where they came within a half-meter of touching each other. Komatsu reflected on the scientific knowledge and engineering skill required to have created the fusion reactor. It was so far beyond human technology that it might just as well be considered magic.
Komatsu walked around the glowing sphere, its outer edge just an arm’s length away. Though it contained the equivalent energy of a miniature sun, it emitted no heat or radiation. But as he passed by the little alcove on the far side of the cave when something made him stop. He turned and stood at its threshold then peered inside, taking in the many strange glyphs and geometric designs that covered its walls. He drew in a deep breath then released it. Closing his eyes, he stepped inside, bracing himself for the unknown. After several heartbeats, he opened his eyes. Nothing had happened, at least nothing like what Logan Brandt had described when he entered the chamber three years prior. According to Brandt, when he stepped into the alcove he was drawn into a communion, that mysterious connection with a Kaiytáva that empowered a Navigator to shift space and instantaneously slip through the folds of space and time to reappear at some distant place of his choosing. The event had been short and turbulent, but Brandt was certain it had been a communion. This suggested to Komatsu that, as remarkable as it was, there was more to this cave than the plasma reactor. Since then, he had dedicated himself to two things: unlocking the secrets of the reactor’s design and searching for the cause of Logan’s communion. He’d made progress on the first objective, but had nothing to show for his efforts on the second.
The sound of heavy machinery grinding away at something solid filtered into the cave. Komatsu took a final look into the alcove then at the fusion reactor before walking toward a metal door in the opposite wall. He grabbed the door handle and pulled hard, sliding it to the right to reveal the opening to a tunnel. The physicist entered the rough-hewn passage and followed it until he reached a second tunnel, this one having smooth curved walls. At the end of this branch was a group of six men wearing overalls, hardhats, and ear protection. They were standing behind a machine with a large disc-shaped apparatus attached to the front. When Komatsu entered the tunnel, one of the men approached him, a hardhat and ear mufflers in his hands.
“Thanks for comin’ down here, Doc,” said the man.
“Thank you for alerting me, Mr. Vessey,” replied Komatsu as he accepted the hardhat and ear protection. “Is the new Subsurface Interface Radar performing well?”
“Doc, like I said a hundred times, I’m not like my brother, the general. Call me Vince,” the man said as they walked down the smooth-bored passage. “But yeah, the SIR is workin’ great. It’s saved us a ton of time; we’d been digging in the wrong direction. Since using it we’ve made great progress. In fact, I think we’re less than a meter away from something big.”
“Excellent,” said Komatsu as he placed the hardhat on his head. “How big? Is it another cave?”
Vince looked at Komatsu and grinned. “It’s a cave all right. But it’s a hell of a lot bigger than the other one.”
“How much bigger?” asked the scientist, his excitement growing.
“Hard to say,” said Vince, smiling. “That’s why I called you down here. Let’s pop this thing open and find out.”
“Perhaps we should contact General Vessey,” said Komatsu. “He might want to see this too.”
Vince chuckled. “That’s the last thing he wants, Doc. Believe me, I know. He’s my brother. The support he’s providing you and your research is under the radar. The less attention the better.”
“Very well,” said Komatsu. “Then let’s proceed.”
Vince Vessey placed his ear protection over the top of his hardhat and covered his ears. Then he picked up two air filters from the stone floor and handed one to Komatsu. He nodded toward the men standing behind the drilling machine. They turned around and one of them hit a large green button. The disc began to spin faster and faster. Another man took hold of one of several levers in front of him and gently nudged it upward. The machine moved forward and began grinding the stone directly in front of it. The resulting dust and broken rock were pulled by powerful vacuums into a chute in the machine which deposited the debris into a trough that fed into a long but narrow container on wheels. When the container was full, one of the men pressed some buttons on a remote control device. The container rolled out from under the tunneling machine and trundled down the hall, to be immediately replaced by another container. The second container was filled, as was a third, by which time the first had returned, having deposited its contents in a side tunnel dug by coal miners over a century before.
Komatsu and the others slowly advanced behind the drilling machine as it ripped through solid rock, reducing dolomite, limestone, coal, and shale to pebbles and dust. Suddenly, the machine kicked back. The amount of dust and rock being passed through the chutes rapidly diminished then stopped altogether.
Komatsu pulled his air filter down and shouted, “What’s happening?”
Though his voice was swallowed by the sound of the machine and his ear protection, Vince understood what he had asked. He did not respond, but instead walked to the machine and pushed one of the levers as high as it would go. The disc began to spin much faster and the tunneling machine crept forward once more. Then it came into contact with something that made it shudder and screech.
Komatsu took a step back, frightened that the heavy machine would break or bounce backward. He looked at Vince, who had leaped onto its back and was peering through the small gaps in the spinning disc in order to see what the matter was.
Now the machine, which Komatsu knew must weigh at least a thousand kilos, began to shake violently. With a storm of expletives roaring from his mouth, Vince hopped off. He flipped open a hard plastic cover and pressed the button inside. Two thick metal pins descended at angles from the lower part of the machine. When their sharp ends touched the rocky floor, they dug in and pushed forward using powerful hydraulics. The machine stopped shuddering and ever so slowly moved forward. It was another ten minutes of millimeter-by-millimeter progress before the machine suddenly lurched forward. It had broken through to an open space beyond.
Vince hit a red button to stop the disc from turning.
Removing his ear protection and air filter, he said with a look of satisfaction, “Well Doc, it would seem we’ve had a breakthrough.”
He grabbed a controller hanging from a chord and pressed a button that caused machine to move backward. Because the disc filled the entire tunnel, he had to back it all the way out to allow anyone to pass. When the way was clear, the entire group started walking down the tunnel to see what they had discovered.
Vince looked at the men in his crew and said, “Only the Doc goes. We stay here.”
“Ah, Vince,” said one of them. “We’ve been down here diggin’ holes for over a month. We wanna see what’
s down there.”
“Believe me, Tommy,” said Vince as he pointed is index finger at the other man’s chest. “You already know enough to have the Conguards stick you in prison for the rest of your life. You’re being paid hard currency to do this job then never speak about to anyone ever again.” He looked at the other men’s faces and continued, “Not your wife, your girlfriend, your kids, your bartender, dog, cat, or goldfish. Nobody knows what we were did down here and that’s the way it’s gonna stay. Understood?”
“Understood,” said the men, disappointed.
Vince glared a final warning at the others then handed a flashlight to Komatsu. “Go ahead, Doc. We’ll wait here for ya.”
Komatsu nodded his head, then wiped away the perspiration that had gathered on his upper lip. He turned and slowly walked down the tunnel, illuminated by his flashlight and the floodlight of the tunneling machine behind him. As he advanced, his long shadow stretched out before him, its top already reaching the gaping hole they had just created into whatever lay beyond.
When he was just a few meters from the opening, Komatsu slowed his pace, taking the final few steps as though he were walking on ice of unknown thickness. He reached out with his hand and touched the tunnel wall, still warm from the tunneling machine’s spinning blade. Now he stood at the opening’s lip and directed his flashlight downward. Almost perfectly level with the tunnel’s end was a curved platform.
He stepped onto the platform then raised the flashlight to look around. It was an artificially created cave, but much, much larger than the one containing the reactor. In fact, it was so large, the beam of his flashlight could not reach the far wall. He took a few careful steps forward until he reached the edge of the platform. He directed the light beam downward and saw many dark shapes below, but he could not quite make out what they were. He crouched down and lowered the flashlight below the lip of the platform. What he saw puzzled him for a few moments before a thought popped into his mind that caused him to gasp with surprise.
He scrambled to his feet and pressed his back against the smooth wall behind him. He was panting now, gulping in air to fuel his racing heart.
“Lights!” he shouted toward the men gathered at the far end of the tunnel. “I need as many lights as you can find. Right away!”
Chapter 20
Despite the complexity of its applications, the underlying principles upon which the laws of the universe rest are profoundly simple. They are far more useful, beautiful, and inspiring than any tool, plant, or poem. Yet, as simple as they are, there is a fundamental law which still eludes us. The search for this Grand Rule, as it is called, is the subject of every Myr experiment and mathematical theorem. Leave politics, poetry, war, nature worship, tunneling, and tinkering to the other Lycian species. The desire which burns in the heart of every Myr is to unveil the Grand Rule because by piercing this mystery of all mysteries we will achieve that which all Lycians seek but cannot hope to comprehend, perfect enlightenment.
- Conversations with Cila Gannado, Myr Ambassador to the Dewar.
Joseph Harken awoke with a start and found that he was lying naked and shivering on a cold metal slab. Though momentarily confused, he soon recognized the place. He’d been here many times before. He tried to move but, not surprisingly, his wrists and ankles were firmly secured, as were his arms, legs, and head. Looking up, he saw a variety of apparatuses affixed to the ceiling above him. He struggled to turn his head to the side in order to get a better view of his surroundings, but the metal band across his brow limited his view to that of the ceiling and the strange instruments affixed to it. Yet, though his field of vision was limited, his ears were attuned to the sound of activity taking place somewhere to his left.
He gasped in surprise when the face of a hairless, bulging-eyed Myr suddenly appeared before him. The squat alien wrapped its small but strong fingers around the Humani’s arm and squeezed several times. Then it chirped something to its colleagues.
Harken thought of the Myr as “it” because the physical distinction between the genders, if any, eluded him despite the many times he had been subjected to their prodding and probing.
Another Myr brought its face very close to his and examined the small metal device which they had inserted into Harken’s skull above his temple several days prior. Or perhaps it had been weeks since that horrifying procedure. Harken no longer knew. His prolonged confinement to a small windowless chamber had robbed him of all sense of time’s rhythms. Certainly, months had passed since his arrival in this wretched place. No, it had been longer, much longer.
The Myr grunted, spewing its putrid breath over Harken’s face as it leaned across his chest, its mouth agape as it examined the device implanted above his other temple. This afforded Harken an unpleasantly close view of the snub-nosed creature’s small, blunt, square teeth; its splotchy complexion; and narrow, worm-like tongue. The Myr pulled itself away and placed an instrument next to Harken’s left temple. Using its index finger, it selected a few symbols on the instrument and read the results.
Apparently satisfied with its examination, the Myr stepped down from the elevated platform on which it stood and chittered to its colleagues standing by a cluster of machines. At the same time, the metal table on which Harken lay tilted his body to a forty-five degree angle, thus allowing the bound man a wider, but still restricted, view of the chamber.
Harken strained his eyes to the left and watched the Myr as they entered data into the machines before them. They continued to communicate with one another in their strange language that, at least to Harken’s ears, sounded like a combination of sparrow chirps and bat squeaks.
Several machines started humming. One of the Myr, perhaps the same one that had just examined Harken but perhaps not, returned to the examination table. In its hands was a semi-circular device. It placed the device over Harken’s chest. The Myr locked the ends of the device into the table with a heavy clanking sound that echoed around the shadow-filled chamber. Next, the Myr placed a helmet-shaped instrument over Harken’s head which attached it to the implants in his skull. Harken shivered violently upon feeling the cold metal against his bare skin, but the Myr took no notice whatsoever of the Humani’s discomfort. They continued their work, excitedly chirping and squeaking to each other.
The thud of a closing door caused the Myr to cease their conversation and look toward the entrance. They exchanged nervous glances with each other then hastened away to stand in a line, hands at their sides. They emitted a repetitious chittering sound and repeatedly bobbed their heads like parakeets perched before a mirror. Harken tried to turn his eyes to see who had entered the chamber, but the head restraint prevented him. Then he heard the sound of familiar footsteps approaching. They were slower and heavier than any Myr’s. They were confident, authoritative. The deposed Grand Guardian smiled when the steps came to a halt just behind him.
“So you’ve finally come to see me, my old friend,” said Harken while doing his utmost to keep his naked body from shivering in the cold, damp air.
“I see how you quake, old man,” said a familiar voice. Kurak appeared on the right side of Harken’s field of vision. “Are you frightened?”
“Of course not!” said Harken in a voice that was more bravado than courage. “I shiver in response to the cold. Your detestable creatures have stripped me of my clothing and locked me onto a metal slab. What am I expected to do?”
Kurak grunted with disgust as he looked at Harken’s pale, spotty, aged body. “Humani are truly ugly creatures. Your soft, exposed flesh is repulsive. How it hangs from your bones. The thin strands of hair protruding from random pores in clumps here and there speak of your contemptible Alamani lineage.” He breathed in deeply and scowled at the old man. “Oh how your bulging veins beg to be opened so they may pour your corrupt, stinking blood onto the stone floor.”
“My, my, how grim you’ve become,” replied Harken lightly. “I admit I am not looking my best, but in my defense my body has suffered from months of ma
lnutrition and confinement.”
Kurak leaned down to Harken’s ear and whispered, “You jest to mask your fears, Humani. I know you too well. You cannot fool me. But it is good that you keep your spirits up. The road before you is a hard one.”
“And what road is that?”
Kurak raised himself to his full height and walked slowly around the examination table while casting his eyes about the laboratory. When he reached a point behind Harken’s head, he said, “You will become an instrument of the Sahiradin. You have undergone a few treatments. You must undergo more before you can be of any use to us. But when we are finished and you have performed your functions, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you played your part and served the great Khadiem.”
“Served my part in what?”
“In achieving final victory over the Lycian separatists and restoring the Law to its rightful place in the galaxy.”
A new, even more violent wave of shivering ran through Harken’s body.
“I don’t object t’…to assist’…ting the Sahiradin,” he said as he vainly sought to still his chattering teeth. “I have demonstrated m…m…my good will on numerous occasions. No one can doubt that. Tell me, what advantages will I receive for mm…mm…my cooperation?”
“Advantages,” scoffed Kurak. “You overestimate your value, Harken. You will receive only what I choose to give you. Be thankful that I am allowing you to live and serve Khadiem. That is sufficient compensation. Our Myr scientists from the Reclaimed Worlds are curious about you; they’ve never encountered a Humani before. You should be thankful that I have denied their repeated requests to open you up and study your organs.”
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