“Who’s the man?” he asked Al.
“You are the man,” Al acknowledged.
Robot Nine bowed and added, “It was an adequate shot if you consider your target was only thirty feet away.”
They all laughed.
Edward had witnessed their competitive spirit before and was used to their playful form of competition. Chris and Al had been competing since the days back on the ship playing racquetball in the zero gravity of the rotating central hub while waiting to go planet side. Edward was not surprised by their antics and did not dwell on them, he had other things going through his mind as he slipped his face mask over his head; stuffing his long white hair inside to prepare for the climb.
Robot Nine had it the easiest and was lowered down to stand next to the door and monitor the anchor spike. He did not exactly like the special treatment, but he understood he wasn’t much of a climber.
Al and Chris let the line fall out of the open door as the captain slowly lowered the shuttle to the ledge and parked the craft. The snow was steadily coming down, but the wind was light. It made Al think of a giant snow globe that someone had shaken and then set down, to watch the crystals fall slowly to the ground. Only the snow kept coming in their world.
The snow was getting deep as they stepped outside the shuttle and began their assent to the door in the mountain, but with the help of the guideline, and healthy living, they were standing in front of the hatch by ten o’clock in the morning.
“Well? Are we ready for this?” said the captain with a tilt to his head. He had the badge in his hand and had just put away the little box created to keep it safe. He was ready to see what was inside.
The others, including Robot Nine, said, “Yes.”
The captain repeated the actions of Chris from the day before and stuck the badge to his chest. He took a breath and looked around at his friends, and said, “Beam me up,” and tapped the alien key.
Chris chuckled, as the hidden six-foot hatch unsealed itself and swung to the side, opening the way to the only slightly smaller square tunnel. A passageway that went straight into the mountain as far as the outside light allowed. It was without seams as Chris had said and also silent, dark, and warm, with a faint odor of dust.
Robot Nine was drafted to go in first. His rolling ball foot was equipped with fine hairs to imitate the sticky feet of the gecko on Earth. Because of this, the robot preferred smooth surfaces. They lifted the three-foot robot into the tunnel and watched as he proceeded down the passageway. When the outside light failed, he turned on his light and continued rolling into the darkness.
Chris had to bend over, but Al’s head was just under the ceiling, and it occurred to him that running could be hazardous to his head if he weren’t careful. The captain and Edward were shorter and had no problem moving down the corridor.
They had the light from the open door for the first hundred feet or so, and as soon as they passed that illuminated area, they were left with only their hand torches. Behind them, the hatch door swung shut with a loud bang followed by the sound of a lock engaging. Committed to going forward, they never considered going back.
****
Robot Nine could be seen almost 200 feet in front of them traveling in the dark, and his rolling light provided an eerie silhouette to the ones behind. “Another hatch is coming up,” the robot advised over the radio.
Al pulled the security pad from his pocket and replied, “Hold up there Robot Nine, let us catch up before you approach the access door.”
The group gathered before the door to evaluate their options.
“We can cut a few samples from the walls and ceiling and come back later,” the roboticist said hopefully.
“There is no way I’m not going in there,” declared Chris. “Don’t you want to know what’s beyond that door?”
“Oh I do, but only if it’s harmless.”
Chris was fast with his reply, “Most of what we do is risky Doc.”
Edward gave in, “All right, I see your point.”
Al agreed but was also anxious to see what was behind the door. “Go ahead Tobias, let’s see where this takes us.”
The captain tapped the badge and said it again, “Beam me up.”
Chris started to say, “I don’t think that’s necessary—,” when the hatch before them hissed and swung open. They stepped into the next compartment and ceiling panels came on, lighting up a large square room forty feet across from wall to wall and ceiling to floor.
In the very center of this large square chamber stood a glowing ten-foot transparent square box and a small flashing icon on the wall facing them that beckoned. Inside the clear cube, they could see a row of softly glowing blue buttons arranged on a pedestal in the middle of a six-foot circle centered on the floor. Dark, silent equipment lined the walls outside the cube for purposes unknown.
There were no lights on at any of the machines, or anywhere else except the overhead panels and the insistent blinking icon on the wall of the glass cube. The room was clean, apparently powered down, and undecipherable.
“Stand back for a second,” Al asked the captain. He walked up to the flashing light on the transparent cube and pressed it. Nothing happened.
“Okay Tobias, come on over here, I think maybe the key works here too.”
The captain walked closer to stand by Al, and he tried the button again. As Al suspected, this time a square opening morphed into existence next to the button—big enough to walk through. “Something to remember…we do not get far without the badge.”
The four humans and one robot crowded inside the small cube and discussed what to do next.
“This reminds me of a cage or a display case.” Could be either, but the buttons have me stumped,” said Chris.
On a slim pedestal, there was five virtual buttons arranged top to bottom. Next to each was a line of alien characters. The lowest button was gently flashing a brighter blue and begged to be touched.
“Why do you think that button is blinking?” asked Chris.
Edward grimly replied, “There is no way to know.”
“Only one way to find out,” proclaimed Al. He took a quick read of his group and all appeared resolute. “Is everybody ready?” One by one they nodded and Al reached to press the button. Before he even touched it, the room got bright and poof. They disappeared.
Everything turned black, and then just as quickly they found themselves standing in a different room; on an identical circle, inside another softly glowing clear box. The unlit room outside appeared expansive, and a distinct loud and insistent ticking echoed around the room as if they were inside a giant mechanical clock.
“It’s a teleporter elevator?” Asked Chris of no one in particular.
“If that is so, we are at the bottom of the facility with no way out but this machine. I sure hope that this thing doesn’t stop working…,” said Edward.
No one spoke as they exited the transport cube. As in the other room, some of the ceiling panels lit up as soon as the first person stepped outside the cube, and they were able to take stock of their surroundings. There were no lights apparent anywhere, other than the occasional illuminated ceiling panel.
“You know what we forgot?” asked the captain. “Pictures—we have not taken a single photo.”
Every one of them reached to get their version of a datapad, but Robot Nine reported, “I have been recording since we opened the outside access hatch. It is standard procedure for exploration of new territory.”
Al said, “You are the best robot ever.”
To which Robot Nine replied, “I am just following my programming, sir.”
Al grinned and said, “And doing it very well, I would say.”
Properly chastised, and reminded of the import of their venture, the humans prepared to become more professional. Starting with the transport cubical, they began taking pictures and videos and documenting their progress.
Chris asked, “Does it feel like someone is leading us…somewhere?”
There were four workstations inside the chamber, each workplace having a place to sit. All three-quarter sized as if for smaller people, and without power except for one.
At the corner station to their right was another flashing light. Calling them.
“I guess we are supposed to follow the flashing lights,” said Al.
In the chair before the station with the slowly blinking red light, was the remains of a small person. A person that had died some time ago. Now, all that remained were child-sized white bones; the skin, muscles, and organs long since rotted away. In its bony hand was a one-inch crystal cube and on the station before this unfortunate individual was a softly glowing receptacle that appeared to fit the frosted block. Al carefully reached down and pried it from the cold fingers and turned it over. As he watched, lines of characters appeared on the smooth surface. It was a strange, undecipherable writing that was designed to inform but did not help at all. “Did you see that? It has more of that writing on it.”
“I think we are supposed to take the cube from him and put it into the illuminated slot in that machine,” the captain suggested.
Edward looked skeptical. “We have no way of knowing what might happen. I would suggest we do some looking around before we do as you suggest, Captain.”
Al said, “Someone wants us to follow this trail and use that cube. We have come too far to turn back now, but I agree with Edward. We should look around first.”
The rest of the room was clean and organized, but there was no indication of power to any of the other stations. They found the one-inch cubes stored in cabinets at all the stations, and they guessed that the room had hundreds of the simple square blocks.
“What do you think it is?” asked Chris, once they were all standing back at the energized station that appeared to be the only workstation with power.
“I honestly don’t know,” replied Al.
The roboticist was shaking his head, “Could be a data cube of some kind,” he ventured. “Or a key for something? Once again, we won’t know until we try it.”
The ticking sound coming from the station with the unfortunate skeleton was loud, mysterious, and irritating. It left them feeling like time was quickly slipping by and instilled a sense of urgency.
“I say we try it. Chris, what say you?” Al asked with a mischievous grin, knowing that his son-in-law would be all in.
Chris responded, “Oh come on—let’s just do this. You are driving me crazy.”
“Edward…Tobias, what do you think?”
Edward appeared to favor caution, “Maybe we should think this through a little more. We have a lot of unknowns coming together quickly, with no idea what the consequences might be if we put that cube in that device. We might be better off to get our samples and come back tomorrow—after we have had time to discuss this properly.”
“You’re outvoted doctor. I think we are ready now,” said the captain.
“If I am allowed a vote, I wish to learn more about this facility. I believe we should proceed,” Robot Nine added.
Edward could see the futility in his argument. “Okay, but we must be careful and take some precautions. One of us must insert the cube while the rest of us stand on the other side of the transporter. Is that reasonable?”
They decided that Al would have the honor of inserting the cube. He was the most likely to survive if things started blowing up. Al knew that his hand was not shaking, but it felt like it was as he reached around the skeleton and inserted the cube.
The ticking stopped, and silence took over. Then the sound of machines and power, winding up and coming to speed. The lighting increased, indicators and gauges on the consoles came to life, and giant viewing screens came online before each of the four stations. Al took two steps back and stared at the planet they lived on; as seen from the top of the mountain. Beautiful and alive, the view was breathtaking and carried around to the other stations and their screens, allowing for a three hundred and sixty-degree panorama of the planet.
“Camelot is gone!” exclaimed Chris.
The others followed his gaze. Where Camelot was supposed to be was a wild landscape untouched by civilization.
“The shuttle is not where we left it,” said the captain.
What is going on here?
A bird was flying by to the west. A large bird with leather wings and a long pointed beak that screamed as it stopped flapping and dove to catch something in the undergrowth.
Chris could be seen switching his gaze from screen to screen, “It’s almost like we are out there, standing at the top of the mountain. I can almost smell the snow. The thing is, it’s not the planet we know.”
“It must be a recording or something. Maybe this is what it looked like years ago. Now that you mention it, I can smell the snow,’ said the captain.
“Fascinating,” added Edward.
From nowhere and everywhere, a disembodied voice said, “Smell the snow.”
They all looked around frantically, but they were alone in the room.
“Who said that?” asked Al.
“Who said that? The voice repeated. Then it said, “Fascinating.”
The voice sounded as if it were mocking them. Participating in a game not played by anyone present since childhood.
“Who is speaking?” Al asked.
“Keep…speaking,” said the voice.
The monitor before Al changed, and became lines of scrolling characters and letters; moving quickly down the screen. At the bottom was a box with a semi-straight line floating horizontally in the middle.
While watching the screen, Al said, “What do you want me to say?”
The straight line waved with the sound of his voice, and the scrolling characters increased in speed.
Al turned to talk to his friends, “Any ideas gentlemen?”
“I think it’s learning our language. If you look closely, the symbols are changing to letters. At this rate, it should not take long.” Edward pointed to the screen, and sure enough, words were appearing as the movement quickly became too fast to follow. Then the screen turned white, and bold black lettering announced, “PLEASE STAND BY.”
Chapter Five
They waited before the virtual screen stretched across the corner of the room. The message was ominous in its silence. A minute later, the giant screen disappeared, revealing a triangular platform ten feet wide and four feet deep behind it. On the platform stood a being no more than four foot tall. He was a subtle shade of gray and skinny to the point of looking unhealthy.
The startled group stepped back from the platform with wide eyes and open mouths. Speechless. The roboticist, however, had a slowly growing smile.
The alien wore a white robe, with silver striping, and an unreadable expression on his face as he addressed the humans, “If you see me now, you have made it past our defensive systems and entered the library without incident. That would indicate that you are intelligent and to this point, non-destructive. My name is Tiro, and I am here to assist you. Welcome.”
Edward could not be contained, “He is not real—he’s a hologram! An intelligent program!”
Tiro looked extraordinarily real. So realistic in fact that Chris reached up to touch him.
“It is not recommended to come in contact with the projection. The energy streams can be harmful with extended exposure.”
Chris jumped back and turned to Edward, “He can see me! How is that possible?”
“I guess it’s an interactive hologram. I have never seen anything this advanced. Let’s hear what he has to say,” requested Edward.
“The artificial intelligence of this complex has deciphered your language, evaluated your physical characteristics and traced your origins to MW-4162-3, the planet you call Earth. What is your business here, and how did you manage to gain entrance?”
Caught by surprise, it took a few moments for them to gather a response. When they recovered, Al acted as speaker. Robot Nine stood silent, watching and recording. They were maki
ng history, and he was there to bear witness.
“We came in through a camouflaged metal door halfway up the mountain. We don’t have any particular business here,” answered Al, a little uncomfortable. “We were searching for ore deposits when we found your door. Please forgive us but we were curious and thought this place was abandoned…can you tell us where we are?”
The hologram replied, “Your current location is what you would call a…library. The facility you now occupy is a sentinel observation outpost called Visto. We created this outpost to monitor life on this planet, and inside is all the data we have accumulated. You came in through what we call the…sampling chamber, as I had hoped.”
“What happened here? Where are the rest of your people?”
“This planet has been deemed unfit for colonization. There is a large predator population, and we were forced to terminate the observation. The other researchers left, and I stayed to continue my work and prepare this holographic avatar for anyone that found their way into this facility.”
Al thought he detected a note of sadness in the alien face, accompanied by a slight tremor in his voice; barely perceptible.
“Why didn’t you leave? I mean, you could have prepared the program and then left…right?”
“I had few choices. My home planet was destroyed before I could finish here and return…and I had no place to go. I was too old to start over again, and besides, I…loved?—this planet. It is a world of remarkable beauty and wide diversity. I stayed to continue my work and learn as much as possible before my death.”
The captain interrupted their conversation to remind Al it was getting late. “We still have to climb down to the shuttle. I don’t think we want to try that in the dark.”
“If you have a vehicle capable of flight, there is a small aircraft hangar available. You need only to have the access badge you must have used to enter the sampling room. It is I that left the device outside the door; for anyone intelligent enough to discover it’s purpose.”
AL CLARK - Avalon -: (Book Two) Page 6
