Gretchen unjacked the fusion pack, and the illumination stayed the same, and the bothersome music continued.
“No controls in this junction box, so I cannot stop that music.” Victor shut the box. “Tarpay went down that ramp easily enough. This floor was once a pseudovermicular substrate material which could grow plants. We use it in the Pampas to grow starter seeds during winter. I have never seen it in such vast quantities. This has been ruined and is now too dried and shredded to ever be used. So I ask myself, why would there be plants growing in a place like this? The Pampas is so nearby, why have a garden in here?”
“To feed the animals that were in the cages?” Gretchen answered.
“Perhaps, but some of those were meat eaters, so it does not make sense,” Victor stated.
“Tiffany, do you have any helpful ideas?” Paul asked.
“I do not. I have tried to make sense of the label for this place, ‘In-vivo Cryptoresearch’ however, I cannot provide a reasonable definition,” Tiffany replied.
Victor walked over and around the open area and looked down to the level below. He could see past the rungs of the ramp, but could not make out what was below. There was a weak glow from down there, but it was diffuse and did not really illuminate much.
“Tarpay?” he called.
There were three quick barks, but it was difficult to hear over the strange music. Victor looked satisfied and not alarmed and he walked down the rungs of the ramp. He was agile and careful as he walked. Paul and Gretchen followed, but they took more time as the bars were set at a distance which was not too far apart, but was just enough to make the steps awkward. Step by step they descended down past the deck level and into the area below.
The thickness of the deck was surprisingly small. It was only about a half meter thick, yet it had lights, mechanical devices, and the spongy layer that Victor had said would allow plants to grow in it. Paul wondered about that. He knew from Dome 17 that the food biologicals were grown in special containers. He had seen so many strange things on the Vanguard so he did not immediately dismiss the idea plants could grow in the dried out stuff on the floor, nor did he ask Tiffany for confirmation.
“Gretchen, are we right to be following some stupid animal down into darkness,” Paul said as best he could to Gretchen.
“Yes, but I am watching for anything,” she replied.
“Paul, the animal Tarpay appears to be a well trained work animals and its talents and abilities should….”
“I do not care about that animal. Tiffany if you would engage and get us the information we need, I would feel much more content,” Paul yelled back.
“I am assisting as I am able, without risking excessive damage,” Tiffany said as the automacube rolled down the ramp. The six drive wheels adjusted so maneuvering along the odd ramp was easy.
“You are putting me at risk instead,” Paul responded.
“Paul, listen to me. Tiffany has a right to self defense. We shall not force that issue,” Gretchen stated. “I trust Tiffany, even if I do not understand why things are happening as they are.”
“Force it? I have seriously considered how to do that, but I can think of no way to force Tiffany to cooperate. If Brink was here, I would lodge a complaint,” Paul muttered. “He is probably off somewhere safe and secure while I am trying to find a way to escape.”
Upon reaching the next level down, Paul saw that it was very similar to the one above, in layout, but the floor was growing some kind of short plants. The plants were a pale yellowish color, and had long thin blades coming off a central stem.
“Victor, you were right. The floor can grow plants,” Gretchen yelled, but again Victor was too far ahead and the music was too loud for him to hear her.
The ceiling lights on that level were no brighter than above, so it was hard to see clearly what was all across the floor. Gretchen squatted down and felt the plants with her fingers.
“They might be toxic,” Paul cautioned.
Gretchen pulled her hand away quickly.
“The plants are not known to my database, although they do resemble maize and rubus idaeus, although that is only a conjecture from observed characteristics,” Tiffany stated. “It might be a species which has been lost to the records, or a newly created species, if that is what this location’s purpose was.”
“So is it toxic or not?” Paul asked.
“That is unknown,” Tiffany replied.
“My hand feels fine, for now,” Gretchen said.
Paul played the beam of light from the fusion pack around, and saw where the next ramp descended. It was opposite the one he had just stepped off. Near that ramp were another set of cages, but these were shattered and smashed in with the wires broken and twisted out of place. The bars on the cages were also bent outward. There were no bones visible.
Next to the wrecked cages there was a small countertop and a set of controls.
“Maybe these will help us,” Gretchen said as she walked over to the controls.
“Tarpay!” Victor called as stood at the edge of the next ramp down.
Gretchen connected in the fusion pack and the control board lit up slowly. One section at a time became empowered. The controls would light up, then flash several times in rhythm, then shut off, and turn back on with steady illumination.
“This might work,” Gretchen said as she slid a lever to the side and twisted it while watching a gauge. A small screen lit up with lines of green, but many more lines of red.
The music changed and then faded out.
“Thank you,” Paul said. He looked around and Victor had already descended down the next ramp. “What else can you learn from there?”
“Not too much. I shut down the item marked ‘Acoustic Floral Stimulation’ and that terminated that ugly music. I am not sure what else it might have shut down. There are only two other items on this system that even look remotely operational. They are lit in green. The other two which might work are, ‘Fire Control’ and ‘Automatic Response’ but all the others are red outlined and flashing. I assume that means they are not functional or operational, at least that is what Brinley has said the red outline means.”
“I wish Brinley had come with us now,” Paul said. “She was always helpful, but when we get the teleporter built we will summon her and she can leave with us.”
Gretchen paused for a moment. “Tiffany? Can you still make connection to Brinley?”
Flashing on the display in a way that was too fast for human eyes to catch were the words, ‘Enigma, I am waiting for you.’ The optics on the automacube relayed that message to the artificial intelligence system Tiffany.
“I am aware of that,” Tiffany stated.
“You are aware of the communication with Brinley?” Paul asked. “Or what?”
Tiffany replied, “Yes. The communication links are still operational. Brinley has asked three times about our progress and I have given reports to her,” Tiffany responded.
“Without tell us?” Paul remarked.
“I am sorry if that offends you,” Tiffany replied. “I was not under the impression that conversing with Brinley was forbidden.” Tiffany ran computation to conjecture what would be the potential responses of Paul and Gretchen to the message from Phoenix Dominie. Tiffany rejected telling them as there were no positive end results.
“Tiffany, you can always converse with Brinley,” Gretchen said as she glared at Paul. “Always. She is our friend and we owe her our lives.”
Victor’s voice floated up from the next level down. “Did you shut off that noise? Well done! Are you coming down here?”
Paul called back to him, “Yes. We got that noise shut off.”
“Again I say, well done! Tarpay is scouting and I am waiting.”
Paul and Gretchen, followed by the automacube, traversed through the plants to where the ramp with the rungs was located. They descended downward.
The lights were somewhat brighter as they descended, but the vegetation was much more overgrown. Th
e plants were now waist high and as they stepped off the ramp, the floor felt very spongy, almost bouncy as they walked. It was an odd sensation.
The waist high plants all had oblong shaped pods on them which were a darker yellow than the rest of the plant. Each pod was about a hand span long. The stems were thicker as well, being about the diameter of Gretchen’s thumb.
Victor was waiting and standing in the middle of the growth.
“What are these plants?” Paul asked. “Are they dangerous?”
“I have not seen plants like these. Tarpay has eaten one of the pods, and he seems unaffected, so I assume they are not dangerous. Tarpay would not eat poison,” Victor replied.
“That predator eats plants?” Paul asked in surprise.
“Yes, on occasion. He prefers meat, but he eats what he likes,” Victor replied. “Also, we must be aware of the bees which are also in here.” He pointed to a lumpy brown thing that was hanging on the ceiling in the corner. It had lobes and sections, but was irregularly shaped and about two meters across.
“Insects?” Gretchen asked.
“Bees, in a general sense can be called insects. Bees are important to pollination of plants,” Tiffany reported. “According to my data base, they can swarm and attack, so I suggest you not approach that mass where they are congregating.”
“Insects who will attack us?” Paul said. “Another threat in this horrible place.”
Victor laughed. “Just leave them alone, and you will be fine. Perhaps the bees are the reason the ramp has rungs rather than being solid? The bees can fly up to the other levels and visit those plants as well?”
“So does this room have another or different way out?” Gretchen asked. “I see another ramp, but no other doors or exits.”
“I too only see the downward ramp,” Victor replied. “Tarpay has already progressed down there to scout ahead.”
As they walked through the waist high plants, the gray and black striped cat nimbly leapt from the ramp and hurried off and away.
Paul peered down the ramp as Victor descended. The light was stronger below. He could see the plants at the bottom, but they looked bigger and darker yellow than the ones around him. Paul looked up and could see the ascending ramp at the other side of the large room. When the place had been built, the ramps were designed to be alternating from one side to the other. You could never see directly up more than just the one level above or look down more than one level below.
Gretchen proceeded down; as she passed Paul she squeezed his shoulder. “Come on, this has to lead somewhere.”
“It keeps getting more wild and overgrown the deeper we go. I wonder what is at the bottom, or if there even is a bottom.” Paul stepped carefully down the rungs of the ramp. The automacube rolled along last.
Looking below, neither Paul nor Gretchen could see Victor. He was missing.
There was a light at the end of the room which was projecting warmth as well as illumination. Paul could feel the warmth on his face and hands. The light put out more warmth than it did visible light.
The ramp led down into the plants which were far taller than on the level above. The plants were at least two meters high and were taller than Gretchen. They were a dark yellow, almost golden color, with tasseled tops. The pods were as wide around as Paul’s wrist and about a forearm long. The leaves around the pods had peeled back somewhat on a few of them and inside there were dark bluish kernels of some kind. The plants with their strange pods and leaves were so densely packed it was difficult to see through them.
Looking around, Gretchen saw a trail that had been trampled down which led through the tall field of plants, a path of sorts. The growth medium on the floor was hard packed and smooth.
“Victor?” Gretchen called.
There came a furious barking. That was followed by a deep-throated growling from somewhere in the field of tall plants.
“Tarpay! Kill! Kill it!” Victor’s voice screamed. It carried a woundedness in its pitch. “Tarpay! Protect Gretchen! Protect Paul!”
“Victor!” Paul yelled. Then he and Gretchen raced into the field along the path. The tall plants made a nearly solid wall to each side of them. The path was not straight, and had some turns and bends and forks in it. Paul wanted to push through the vegetation and head right for the noise, but the plants were too densely packed and he could make little passage pushing through. He ran on the path instead.
Tarpay’s barking became fiercer and included rapid growls followed by the deep vibrating roars.
“That is not Tarpay!” Gretchen said. “Those other animal sounds, I mean.”
“Victor! Where are you?” Paul yelled. “Victor we are coming!”
They raced down the path which bent around. That led back to where they had been before. They took another path and that led to a three way crossroads.
The growls and roars continued rising in volume until it was hard to tell which animal was which. A great roar was suddenly cut off by Tarpay’s growl and a tearing and biting sound.
“We are coming Victor!” Gretchen cried out. She had drawn her pistol but there was nothing to see. To either side were just walls of plants. The tall vegetation around them felt endless and the path ahead which twisted from side to side felt impossibly long as they heard Tarpay fighting with something.
At a junction, Paul took one path and Gretchen another. “Keep fighting Victor! We are coming!” Gretchen yelled.
Paul could no longer see Gretchen as she ran on the other path. He yelled to her. “I cannot tell where the animals are, and I have not heard Victor again. I am coming Victor! Gretchen, keep heading toward the heat of that light, that way we are making for one direction.”
“I was already doing that!” Gretchen said as she veered to the right where the pathway diverged. “But the paths sometimes just end. I hear no weapons fire either.”
“This is a labyrinth! These paths do not lead where we must go!” Paul complained. “I can hear the fighting, but there are too many paths which just curve back on themselves! Victor, I am trying to get to you!”
Paul ran as hard as he could run, stumbling over some of the vegetation, and pushing his way past more. He trampled down several stalks and forced his way through a tight opening.
Seemingly instantly the path emerged from the vegetation and there was a clearing. Paul lurched into it. He stopped as he saw Victor’s body. Growling, barking, and roaring was heard from somewhere nearby behind the walls of vegetation.
Gretchen raced in from another path a moment later. The clearing was up against the wall of the room, and there was a broken doorway in the permalloy wall. Victor was lying face down on the floor. The growth medium under him was soaked and dark red.
“Oh no!” Gretchen cried and raced to Victor’s side. Paul looked at Victor and his heart sank, but the fighting noises continued from somewhere. Paul looked around the clearing, but could see nothing else. He was about to turn back to Victor when the growling and barking and roaring just stopped. An eerie silence was now in the chamber. Paul had his pistol drawn out, and was twisting from side to side, his eyes searching for any sign of the battle that had taken place.
“Was it a Roe?” Paul asked. “What happened?”
Gretchen rolled Victor over, and saw that there were three huge slash marks across his face and neck. One of his eyes was ruined, and his ear was dangling by just a few limp pieces of flesh. She knew from the twisted direction of his neck that something terrible was wrong. She pulled off her backpack and dug out the medical kit.
“Is he alive?” Paul asked as he glanced from Victor’s body to the field of tall vegetation.
“I am not sure. There is so much blood,” Gretchen answered as she connected the medical kit to Victor’s body.
“Look at his abdomen!” Paul said.
There was an additional injury there which had ripped Victor’s belt apart, shredded his uniform, and slashed deeply into his stomach. It was filling with a dark pool of blood.
“
Full emergency diagnostic and treatment!” Gretchen ordered firmly as she connected the last wire from the medical kit to Victor. “Hurry!”
The tall vegetation bust apart as a large brownish animal crashed through and into the clearing. Plants flew in all directions, and the beast was revealed.
Tarpay leapt from the field right onto the side of the big brown animal. Tarpay had a look of vengeance in his eyes. His teeth were bared and bloody. His muzzle was caked in blood. The creamy tan and brownish nose with darker gray fur around his tan ears were all splattered in blood. His ears were laid nearly flat as he attacked. Tarpay’s muscular body showed several gashes on his sides which were deep red, but he pressed his attack.
The brown beastly animal turned to face the volkosoby and stood on its back legs, which were shorter than its front ones. It was tall, thick, and very furry. Its roundish head, rounded ears, great thick paws, and wide chest moved in muscular ways. It oozed blood from numerous bite wounds. It was at least as tall as Gretchen, yet much heavier than any person. It swatted a huge and wickedly clawed paw at Tarpay as the wolf-dog attacked. Biting into the loose and furry skin of the beast, Tarpay clamped his jaws, and kicked and raked with his back legs. He was all the way around off the floor, as the beast swiveled, shook, and turned trying to get away. Tarpay’s bite was relentless, but the beast’s movement pushed Tarpay away as the skin tore and a chunk of beast flesh was ripped out. Blood gushed from the fresh wound. Tarpay fell to the ground in the clearing, spat out the chunk of the beast, regained his feet, turned, and ferociously attacked again.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 134
