There were questions:
“You can see the whole village?” One man asked.
“Except for the trees and buildings that get in the way—yes.”
A man the village knew as Simon appeared concerned, “Does that mean you will be spying on the village…on our comings and goings?”
The captain had not anticipated this question. “Why? Do you think it necessary that we do so?”
“No—no. It just seems to be the perfect opportunity for the senior staff to spy on the citizens of Camelot.”
The captain raised his hand to his chin and stroked it as if he had a beard, thinking for a moment. Shortly, he came to a decision, “I am not opposed to posting volunteers from the community to man the lookout station. The only thing necessary at this point is an early warning of danger. Almost anyone can watch for fires, floods, or attack by outside forces, and report if necessary.”
This idea seemed to pacify most in the crowd, and the tension drained from the room. Simon nodded his head and sat down.
“When will the rest of us get to see it?” another asked.
“For the first week or so, security will man the lookout post on what we are calling Overlook Mountain. Volunteers can register with the security office, and we will begin the rotation when we have enough volunteers. Of course, there will be some restrictions but I think most of you will qualify.”
“This facility…was it built by aliens?”
“Yes Virginia, it was built by aliens.”
The meeting went on, and the captain skillfully avoided answers that would expose the big picture. With the welfare of the colonists in mind, the captain said little about the treasure waiting for them inside the mountain. The meeting eventually ended, and Al joined him as he walked out of the community center. “That was close Tobias…well done.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Clark. I guess maybe I am more than just a shuttle jockey.”
“Tobias, you can add politician to your long distinguished resume.”
The captain laughed as they stepped outside, “If I have a choice, I’ll leave that out.”
****
Work progressed well for the next week at the outpost. The original team that first explored the facility rearranged their work schedules to be allowed more time to study and explore. Chris was assisting Edward in downloading all the specifications needed to manufacture the new power supplies required for the shuttles and various other energy-dependent machines. They were also hard at work on Al’s new power pack; checking every detail three times.
Elizabeth and Tammy were busy investigating every inch of the outpost, making notes and getting help from Tiro when they came across things they did not understand.
Al and the captain first checked the security of the outpost, then began going through the recordings left by the alien researchers. After viewing some of the files recorded onto the little data cubes, the name they gave the prior occupants of Visto was easy to come by and happened almost without discussion—The Caretakers.
Doctor Cody was still on the ship and was becoming increasingly unsure as to his ability to identify the mysterious flu-like problem and come up with a cure. On the morning of the third day of their explorations, Al, and the captain dropped off the other explorers at the outpost and then made a special trip to see Cody in the medical center on-board the Excalibur. There were now twenty people occupying the beds in the recovery center. One more colonist having lost his fight to the illness.
“Antibiotics do not seem to help, intravenous fluids, serums, potions…I have tried everything!” exclaimed Cody.
“The captain and I have an idea. Why not ask Tiro if they have seen anything like this before? Maybe he can help.”
“Tiro? Do you mean the hologram? How can he possibly know about human anatomy?”
Al glanced at the captain with a knowing grin, and answered, “I think you might be surprised what the little gray alien knows. Can you get away for a couple hours?”
His look was one of exhaustion, and the resignation in his voice said volumes as he relented. “I need to explore all possibilities, and I have staff here that can tend to the patients for a little while. I do not know what else to do…I will go with you.”
****
On their way to the mountain, they were flying three hundred feet off the ground, and it was just a glimpse, but in a clearing as they approached the mountain Al saw a lone adult Riktor. The large beast was standing up and watching the shuttle as it flew past. He told the captain what he saw, but when the captain looked, the hollow in the trees was already gone.
Al couldn’t ask his men stationed at the mountaintop lookout until they were inside the facility, so he decided to call back to the village, and told Sid to keep his eyes open. He would ask his officers once inside. The creature was a good distance away from the colony, and not an immediate cause for concern.
This trip would be the first opportunity for Cody to see what his friends had been so excited about for the last week and Al was anxious to show him the wonders of the outpost. He showed the doctor how they used his badge to gain access to the hangar bay, and the door outline materialized as they flew closer. Cody was not impressed, and still skeptical about the benefits, “You are going to fly this machine into the side of the mountain?”
Al and the captain shook their heads in the affirmative and laughed as the doctor’s mouth fell open. Cody grabbed for the safety handles as they slid through the holographic camouflage.
His accent was more pronounced than usual when Cody said, “That was most disconcerting. I suppose it must take some getting used to.”
The captain grinned. “Try being the pilot.”
The three men left the shuttle and made their way to the transport cube at the back of the bay.
“Are you telling me I will be taken apart, moved through solid rock, and put back together in another chamber?”
“That is what we are telling you Doc, Al replied. “It’s easy, and you won’t feel a thing.”
“No, I suppose you are right—I will be dead, and on my way to the afterlife!”
Al grinned and told him, “That is not the first time I have heard something like that. Come on Doc, we have all done it, and the Caretakers used them for centuries. It’s the quickest way and completely harmless.”
“Why are the aliens all gone?”
“Trust me, it wasn’t the transporters.”
Cody glanced at the captain, who was nodding his head.
“All right. It appears I must.”
As Al promised, in the blink of an eye they found themselves inside the transport cube located in the sleeping quarters. They exited the transporter with Cody patting his arms and legs, physically checking to make sure he was all there and the captain summoned the lift to the shop.
In the shop, Chris and Edward saw them arrive and waved them over. Held proudly in the older man’s hand was a shiny new power supply.
“We have our first replacement power pack!” proclaimed Edward. The gathering of the materials and refinement took a little longer than we thought, but Tiro says the process will speed up as we do more.”
“What is this for?” asked the captain.
Chris spoke before Edward could reply, they were both very excited.
“This is one of five different kinds of packs we will need to make. With this, we can power most of the smaller devices; low-level lighting, food processors, even the charging stations for the laser handguns. We’ll have to test it, but it looks exactly like the depleted sample we used for comparison.”
“That is great news. How long before you can get to Al’s replacement pack?” the captain asked.”
The smile faded from Edward’s face. “It’s going to be a couple of weeks before the Caretakers tech can mine enough material to produce the parts we need for just the priority items. We are going to need shuttle and fence power very soon, and those are at the top of the list.”
Al was a little disappointed but saw no rea
son to let his friends know. He had waited this long, and another few weeks more of being human-like did not sound that bad. For the time being, he had more immediate problems. “Where is Tiro? We need to ask him about the sickness that is going around.”
Chris started to answer, “He was here a little while ago—and there was Tiro. Like magic; standing next to Al.
“How can I be of assistance?” the alien asked.
His question was Doctor Cody’s cue, and he stared at the little gray hologram for only a moment before he walked to a nearby table, opened his datapad, and started explaining his problem. Edward was curious about Tiro, but right now, he had no time for irrelevant questions.
Al asked, “Where are the girls?”
“They are down in the library looking around,” answered Chris.
Al turned to the captain and said, “I think Cody is going to be a while. I’m going up to talk to the men in the lookout, do you want to go down and tell Liz and Tammy what we’ve learned so far from the recordings?”
The captain agreed, but added a word of advice. Make sure your men are recording everything. Any sighting of a Riktor makes me very nervous,”
“I could not agree more Captain. I won’t be long…and I’ll meet you in the library.”
The trip to the top did not take long nor did it get old. Step into a clear cube, press a button and presto, you found yourself in an identical cube in a different room. The thought still amazed Al. Still new to the experience, he made a quick check to assure himself nothing was missing.
The view from the lookout was incredible, and he took a moment to marvel at the technology that allowed them to see for miles in all directions. Al then asked his officers, sitting at two of the viewing stations, “Did you guys see the Riktor at the base of the mountain a little while ago?”
“We did. As a matter of fact, we saw two Riktors and a huge bird.”
Kyle, one of the two officers, told him all three were seen in the vicinity of the clearing at the bottom of the southeast face.
“There was one watching as you entered the hangar bay. I already went out and called the village to post a warning—just in case.”
“Well done. Did you get it all recorded?”
“Yes sir, we’ve been recording all along…at least, we think so. All this is new to us.”
Al smiled and checked the recording as Tiro had shown him. He saw two large beasts lurking in the shadows of the trees circling the open area. Some type of large bird with leathery wings landed, and there appeared to be an interaction of some sort. The bird with a ten-foot wingspan stayed only a few minutes and then flew away. A little later, the shuttle appeared overhead, and the largest Riktor walked out into the clearing to watch the shuttle disappear into the mountain.
The clearing and the surrounding trees were empty now, the predators fading into the trees. Standing behind Al, Kyle asked, “Kind of weird…huh?”
“Yes, that was certainly strange. You know how to zoom in and use the night vision when it gets dark…right”?
“Yes sir, the captain went over it all with us, answered Kyle. His partner nodded agreement.
“All right. Keep up the good work. Your being relieved at 0900 aren’t you?”
“Yes sir, only because we have to.”
“You like it up here?”
“Absolutely sir, it’s better than television!”
Al could not disagree, and entered the transporter to meet up with Liz, Tammy, and the captain. His men stopped and watched him enter the transparent cube and—disappear.
Kyle said, “I still can’t believe I just saw that.”
****
In the library, his wife, daughter-in-law, and the captain could be seen standing on the other side of the transport cubical in a deep discussion about something as Al walked around.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
The two women jumped, so involved in their discussion they had not heard him enter.
“What did I tell you about sneaking up on people?” a startled Elizabeth asked.
“Sorry…but as I keep telling you, I was not sneaking. I just don’t make a lot of noise.”
She retorted, “You should try to make more noise.”
Al winked at his daughter-in-law and replied, “Yes dear.”
“Don’t get smart with me Mister Clark.”
“Just kidding. What has you girls so wrapped up you didn’t hear me.”
“We are trying to figure out why this is here.” She pointed to a ten-foot circular outline etched into the floor.
“Maybe it’s the outline of something that used to be there,” suggested Al.
Liz explained, “We just thought it strange. Everything here seems to serve a purpose.”
The captain volunteered, “It could be an access panel to something.”
Liz thought for a second, and said, “Well if it is, there doesn’t seem to be any way to open it.”
“Is it hollow?” asked Al.
“That’s how we noticed it,” Tammy said. She backed up and then walked over the outline. The rest of the floor sounded different; if only a little. “We were in a bit of a hurry when we walked over it the first time. The difference in sound is more noticeable with two people moving quickly.”
While they stood there thinking, Doctor Cody called and said he needed to get back to the Excalibur. Tiro had given him a solution to what was sickening his colonists.
“Okay folks,” declared the captain. “Pack it up—time to go. We’ll have to ask Tiro about this later.”
They left the two officers at the top of Overlook Mountain to their surveillance, Edward and Chris to their fabrications, and hurried back to the medical center of Excalibur.
Chapter Eight
Deep in the forest, midway between the place the invaders flew their shiny birds to, and where they lived, slept Terror. The trees blocked the sunlight and darkened the woods, allowing him to rest until the darkness returned. He was not young, and he was not old, and he ruled his pack with his demanding will. The others of his group did as he demanded, or they were exiled or killed. Very few received the gift of exile.
He grew up in this valley, and could remember a time when the entire area was his family’s hunting ground. Now the invaders had placed their den in the middle of it, and it made him angry.
Recently, he had seen some of his pack not return from the hunt; brutally slaughtered by these interlopers and buried as if they never existed. He had heard stories from other packs of similar wrongs perpetrated by these ruthless invaders.
His mate was next to him, ripping chunks of flesh from a foul smelling rodent for his dinner. He hated having to eat these vile creatures and wondered how the invaders would taste. There was one like him that survived after tasting one of these intruders and claimed to enjoy the kill very much. It made Terror even angrier.
Terror had increased is pack to six of his kind when he began to realize there is strength in numbers. The addition of the four-legged scavengers, four in all, made the pack even stronger.
But the size of the group gave them many mouths to feed. He believed the abundant prey of his earlier years had left the valley because of the hated creatures intrusion. The pack was always hungry, and it made the group and its leader ill-tempered. He was ready for any opportunity to exact revenge on these impudent creatures.
Yesterday, he was visited by one of the few remaining large birds in the area. Most of the dark winged predators with long sharp beaks and curved claws were driven away by the invaders that came from the sky. Under different circumstances, the bird would have made an excellent snack, but this one acted differently; he was scared but determined. Through a crude form of communication, the bird expressed a wish to be rid of the spoilers of their land, and an offer to assist the larger Riktors to that end. Terror roared in agreement.
Riktor and bird came to an unspoken alliance, and the grateful bird was sent back to recruit more of his brethren. A plan began to form in the predator
s head. He knew one thing instinctively; he must attack when the strongest invaders were away. In particular, the one that had killed so many of his brothers and sisters needed to be elsewhere. It was a simple plan that grew tastier and tastier as he chewed it over in his mind.
****
Kira greeted Cody, Al, and the captain as they stepped down from the small ship in the shuttle bay of the Excalibur, and was her usual bubbly self. She was sitting in a motorized wheelchair and met them with a smile. Doctor Cody had called up to the Excalibur as soon as they passed through the hangar bay hologram to have his staff begin preparations for the treatment of his patients. Kira had been helping in the medical center and overheard the communication.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“You can go back to your room, get out of that chair, and rest,” said her doctor.
“But I am fine. I feel much better when I am moving.”
“I am truly sorry Miss Kira, but I must insist. From what I understand, you could be part of our problem.”
Kira’s face sank with disbelief. “I cannot be a problem. I am helping!”
“No…No, I don’t mean you, in particular, I mean your people.”
Now he had everyone’s attention. They turned to him and waited for an explanation.
“Tiro’s tests show the virus originated with the indigenous people and was being transmitted to us through contact with them. Your people Kira, are immune. It seems we are not.”
Disappointed, she said, “Does that mean we can no longer see each other?”
“Do not worry young lady, someone has provided us with not only something to help our sick but a vaccine to keep others from catching the virus. If these solutions work…all will be right with the world. But we must get moving. I promise you won’t have to stay in your room long, and I will arrange for you to go home. I think you are almost ready.”
AL CLARK - Avalon -: (Book Two) Page 10
