Artifact

by Vaughn Heppner

  “I just realized something,” Samson said.

  Selene remained mute.

  “What’s that?” Jack asked.

  “The golden robot…” Samson said. “It brings to mind a story from ancient Crete. Legend holds that a giant man made of bronze patrolled the shoreline three times a day. Its name was Talos. Some stories say the bronze man hurled rocks at passing ships to scare them away.”

  “You’re suggesting the robot used to do that?” Jack asked.

  “Many myths and legends contain hints of truth,” Samson said. “Maybe the legend of Talos is an old memory of golden robots.”

  Selene shook her head. It felt as if her world tilted toward madness. The man couldn’t be serious, could he?

  “We must hurry,” Samson said. “Mother will not rest until she’s stopped us.”

  The big man marched them through Station Eight. With the hummer, as he called it, he opened hatches that had resisted his best efforts previously. They moved along a gleaming steel corridor, the diffuse glow in the ceiling lighting their way.

  Jack kept touching his right wrist. It had already purpled from the robot’s treatment. The D17 agent looked more worn than ever. He never complained, though. The man had a will of iron, refusing to succumb. What had made him like that? He’d shouted at them to run away at the end. Selene hadn’t expected such gallantry from him. Jack Elliot seemed too grim for such gestures.

  Samson opened yet another hatch. It felt as if they’d been tramping underground for hours already. How deep had they gone?

  Selene looked around at this new, large chamber. It was vast with colored lights pulsating slowly along the walls. The ceiling brightened with the diffuse glow.

  Samson turned in a circle. Finally, he pointed at a large screen. “That’s it, I believe.”

  “What is it?” Selene asked.

  “You’ve heard of a ship’s log?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I think that’s the station’s log, done with video, or what passed as video back then.”

  “You’re talking about the original builders?” Selene asked.

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” the big man said.

  Jack moved to a chair, slumping into it. He set his purpled wrist on his lap. Then he massaged his eyes. When Jack saw her watching him, he nodded as if to encourage her.

  “If you’ll give me a few minutes,” Samson said, “I should be able to get this operational.”

  Selene went to another chair, sitting down. The strung-out feeling grew. She remembered the toughest year in college, studying for finals. Hour after hour, day after day, cramming data into her brain had left her feeling thinned out. Danny Ferguson had suggested she ingest speed to keep her awake for the last final.

  She’d followed his advice. In those days, she had done whatever he suggested. After the week of study and then in the test hall, trembling from the speed—that’s how she felt now. She was exhausted, but she was wired and excited. The mystery of all this had built to an incredible degree. She yearned to know the reason for the stations.

  It was frustrating watching Samson at the controls. He tapped screens, pressed buttons and adjusted dials. The dials more than anything else told her this wasn’t present-day control systems.

  “Hmm,” Samson said. He tapped an area. The lights in the room began to flicker.

  Selene looked up, terrified he was going to destroy the place or wipe data banks of their records.

  Samson continued to turn dials, press buttons—the flickering quit. Now, colored lights began to blink along the walls in new sequences. A soft hum told Selene he’d done something to the machines.

  “Ah,” the big man said. “I’m beginning to understand.”

  Samson didn’t elaborate. He kept experimenting. Selene wondered what he’d done before Mother had banished him to this place. When had he learned to operate this kind of machinery?

  Selene thought about getting up and comparing notes with Jack to see what he thought about all this. She simply didn’t have the energy.

  Time passed. Selene wondered if she dozed with her eyes open. Jack slouched in his seat with his eyes closed, snoring from time to time. Maybe the D17 agent knew how to catnap when he had the chance.

  “I’ve found it,” Samson said, “the beginning process, at least.”

  Selene sat up, the excitement bubbling within her. Words in a foreign language spoke solemnly from wall speakers. Selene found herself walking toward Samson. The big man sat hunched at his controls, absorbed with the video on the screen at his panel.

  Selene saw a woman, tall, statuesque with flowing dark hair almost to her rear. She wore a gown that hid her feet. Could that be Mother? Others worked in the background. It looked like this exact chamber.

  The woman spoke, her gesture taking in the chamber and the people in it. Most of them looked Asian.

  “What’s she saying?” Selene whispered.

  Samson didn’t acknowledge the question, but he said, “After all these years, we are about to begin the process.”

  “You understand her?”

  Selene turned, seeing Jack standing on the other side of Samson. Elliot had asked the question.

  “I do,” the big man said.

  The woman on the screen spoke again. Samson interpreted her words: “This is a trial run to see how much energy the capacitors still have. Their technology is amazing. After a millennium, the stations still function. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to find them. The wasted centuries…it is mind-numbing.”

  Selene and Jack traded glances.

  “Can Mother be the only woman to have taken the longevity treatments?” Selene whispered.

  “It’s impossible to tell,” Samson said. “We need more data.”

  “If—” Jack said.

  “Shhh,” Samson said. “This looks important.”

  Selene edged closer to get a better view of the screen. It must have jumped time. The statuesque woman wore a Victorian gown. She faced the camera or faced whatever recorded the event. A shimmering field blocked her features from view.

  “Is that some kind of mask?” Selene asked.

  “What do you mean?” Samson asked.

  “Is Mother human or some kind of energy being masquerading as human?”

  “Notice her hands,” Jack said. “She’s wearing gloves.”

  “The gloves must be an affectation,” Samson said. “I can see her throat. It’s skin of a brownish hue. She’s human all right.”

  Selene leaned closer, examining the woman in the screen. Dr. Khan nodded after a moment, exhaling with relief. She could believe Mother was human wearing some kind of energy mask. She was relieved they weren’t dealing with aliens. That would be too freaky.

  The woman on the screen spoke rapidly now.

  “She’s giving commands,” Samson explained. “The others look busy. Can you hear the background noise?”

  “I do,” Selene said. “It sounds like giant generators.”

  The next moment, the scene altered dramatically. Everything shook in the old recording. Sparks flew from the walls. Smoke billowed and several Asians screamed, tottering around the room as they turned into electric torches. Their hair stood on end as a blue glow engulfed them. One by one, the harmed personnel melted, their charred corpses thudding onto the steel floor.

  The survivors ran from the chamber. Only Mother remained. A blue nimbus shone around her, possibly some sort of personal force-screen.

  After a time, the nimbus snapped off. The woman Selene believed was Mother slowly approached a panel. Her gloved hands turned dials and pressed controls.

  Samson leaned forward. So did Selene and Jack.

  “What is that?” Selene whispered. The screen no longer showed the underground chamber but a flattened forest with every tree lying on the ground in the same direction.

  “I’m not sure,” Samson said. “It looks vaguely familiar, though.”

  “Those are pine trees,” Jack noted
.

  “Yes,” Samson said. “I remember where I’ve seen such a sight. It looks like the Tunguska Event.”

  “What’s that mean in English?” Jack asked.

  Selene shuddered as she stared at the devastation on the screen. The entire forest as far as she could see had been flattened against the ground. Had some kind of bomb done that?

  “The Tunguska River is in Siberia,” Samson said.

  Mother spoke on the screen again. She spoke slowly, quietly. Samson strained to hear what she said.

  “Well?” Selene asked.

  “She’s overwhelmed,” Samson said. “Station Eight…is destroyed. It had an overload. The capacitors are empty. The other stations—emergency procedures saved them. She’s wondering how many years—centuries maybe—it will take to repair the damage from the single botched test.”

  “Does she say anything about Tunguska?” Selene whispered. “Are we sure that’s what we saw?”

  Samson continued to listen to Mother. He nodded shortly. “Yes indeed,” the big man said. “Gravitational forces slipped from the proper magnetic controls. Before the override systems saved the other stations, a magnetic energy pod flattened the pine trees with an explosive air burst.”

  Samson turned around, staring at Selene. “There’s one mystery solved. We know now why no one ever found any meteor remains at Tunguska. Mother destroyed the Siberian Forest, not debris from space.”

  “What’s the Tunguska Event?” Jack asked. “How about someone explain it to me? Why haven’t I ever heard of it before?”

  Samson faced Elliot. “Maybe because it happened in 1908,” the big man said.

  -69-

  STATION EIGHT

  IRAN

  “1908?” Jack asked. “I don’t understand. I’ve been listening to what you have been saying. It sounds to me like…Mother just discovered the station. She ran a test, correct?”

  Samson nodded.

  “That means she found the station or stations around 1908, maybe a little earlier,” Jack said.

  “Yes. I’d agree with that.”

  “Yet, she or her clones or whoever those women were have been around since…the dawn of time? Is that right?”

  “No,” Samson said. “The dawn of time, who can say when that happened for humanity? The Book suggests one date. Modern science gives another.”

  “Oh, please,” Selene said. “Let’s not get into that.”

  Jack glanced at Selene, surprised at her sudden anger.

  “I believe that Mother or those like her have been around since the oracle of Ammon,” Samson said. “I find it suggestive we found a robot of Anubis and hieroglyphics on the stone object. The legend of Talos belongs to Minoan Crete, which was around during the time of the pharaohs.”

  “Why is any of that important?” Jack asked. “Are you saying the ancient Egyptians built all this?”

  “Not at all,” Samson said. “If you study the ancient Egyptians, however, you find they claim to have gained their knowledge elsewhere. The god Thoth was supposed to have taught them their advanced sciences and medicines, and he was supposed to have lived for ten thousand years.”

  “You actually believe that?” Selene asked angrily.

  “I’ve studied the ancient myths and religions,” Samson said. “As I suggested earlier, I believe they contain particles of truth. Clearly, someone built the stations. Just as clearly, the ancient Egyptians did not possess these marvels. Still, they built the pyramids and practiced advanced medicine far in advance of the other ancient peoples around them.”

  “So what’s your conclusion?” Selene asked.

  Samson studied his thick hands. “I’m not sure yet. I desire more data.”

  “No!” Selene said. “You believe more than you’re saying. I’d like to hear your theories.”

  “First, tell me this,” Jack said. Why was Dr. Khan so angry? What was Samson saying that had upset her?

  “Tell you what?” the Assyrian asked.

  “What is the Tunguska Event? What happened when Mother turned on the station? Maybe if we know more about the event, it can help us understand what she’s trying to do now.”

  “That’s an excellent point,” Samson said. “The event has puzzled scientists for some time. Theorists have suggested that an air burst from a small asteroid or comet exploded with ten to fifteen megatons of force. That would make it one thousand times greater than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The blast knocked down an estimated eighty million trees in an 830 square mile area. The shock wave would have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.”

  “And Mother caused this with her test?” Jack asked.

  “Exactly,” Samson said. “She did it with an explosive magnetic pod and gravity waves, apparently.”

  Jack shook his head. “What could she have possibly been trying to do?”

  “Yes…” Samson said. “That is the question. Do you have any ideas, Doctor?”

  Selene uncrossed her arms. “Yes. I have an idea. Magnetics…I find that interesting. Some birds can sense magnetic fields. It’s said to help them during long flights so they know which direction to travel. Could a bizarre magnetic field have upset the birds at Angkor Wat?”

  “What does the ancient Cambodian temple have to do with any of this?” Samson asked.

  Selene told him the story about the suicidal birds.

  “As you say,” Samson murmured, “interesting. Could magnetics have anything to do with the hotter temperatures across the planet?”

  “I don’t see how,” Selene said.

  “The scale of what we’re seeing is…” Jack shook his head. “I find it hard to wrap my mind around it. If all these stations had to coordinate, what does that imply? Why build the stations and why leave them on autopilot for most of human history? Where did the builders go? Did aliens make the stations or was there a technologically advanced society before…before recorded history? ”

  “It’s too bad you’re never going to find out,” a deep-voiced man said from behind.

  Jack whirled around, drawing the semiautomatic from his waistband as he did. He saw the big man from the D’erlon Plant stride into the chamber. He’d never forget the soldier. Two others flanked him, each of them with a drawn weapon.

  Jack fired without thinking, putting two bullets into the leftward man. As that person pitched to the floor, he recognized David Carter.

  The massive soldier aimed a device at Samson. Jack’s shots didn’t seem to upset or worry him. The Assyrian’s chest burst open with a spray of blood and gore. Samson toppled backward with a groan, striking a panel and crashing onto the floor with blood gushing from his mouth.

  Jack pumped three shots out as fast as he could pull the trigger, having targeted the huge soldier. A blue nimbus glowed around the soldier, startling Jack. Each bullet slowed down and then stopped altogether as it struck the field. It was as if time slowed down in the energy field. The bullets began to tumble downward in slow motion. Each one struck the floor, rolling away from the soldier. Once they left the energy field, they rolled at regular speed.

  The soldier laughed. “Oh, you’re good, faster than a striking cobra. I would even say you’re exceptional for a regular man. It’s too bad you’re so badly outclassed. Good-bye Agent Elliot.”

  The soldier aimed the flat black device at him. Jack fired again. He didn’t know what else to do.

  Heat bloomed against his chest. Then, Jack cried out as something intensely hot burned through him. The last thing Jack knew was falling…falling…falling…

  -70-

  HIDDEN RUNWAY

  IRAN

  Selene woke up to the Frenchman shaking her.

  “It is time, mademoiselle. You must use your own two feet. I for one am tired of carrying you. As pretty as you are, you weigh too much.”

  She stared at the face in front of her, trying to comprehend what was going on. The last thing she remembered—

  Selene groaned, flinching from the Frenchman. They’d killed Jack Elliot and
Samson. The soldier had done it so effortlessly, so easily. It was the same giant man she’d shot in the throat under the Temple of Ammon. How could he be up and around like this? His throat was smooth without any scar or wound. Right there at the end in the control chamber, it seemed as if the soldier had used a personal force field, just as Mother had used in the video. Jack had never had a chance against the soldier.

  “Dr. Khan,” Ney said. “Can you hear me?” He snapped his fingers near her face.

  Selene blinked. The soldier had approached her after murdering Jack. She’d wondered if he’d wanted revenge for the throat-shot. He’d put a cloth over her mouth. That was the last thing she remembered.

  They kidnapped me. Why would they do that? What am I to them?

  “She is resistant,” Ney complained.

  “Help her,” the deep-voiced but unseen soldier said. “We don’t have time for games. This blasted heat—”

  Selene didn’t hear anymore. She felt the heat, though. It was like a wall slamming her in the face. She found it difficult to breathe. What was happening to the world?

  The Frenchman put his hands behind her back, forcing her to sit up. He pushed harder. Selene bumped her head against the SUV’s back seat.

  “Careful,” the deep-voiced soldier said. “If you injure her, I’ll take it out on you.”

  “Oui, monsieur, I understand.”

  Ney pinched her hard in the side. Selene moaned, and she woke up a little more.

  “Move your pretty tush,” Ney hissed into her ear. “If he takes it out on me, I will take it out on you.”

  Selene found herself walking across a blistering hot tarmac. Stars glittered overhead. A plane, a business plane by the looks of it, loomed before her. Where were they taking her?

  Then the reality of the situation slammed home. The shadowy people had caught her again. She tried to move her lips in order to ask questions. Her mouth was numb. Why didn’t her mind work right?