by Gray Lanter
“Could your calculations be off by about a hundred fifty-five degrees?”
“No. It looks like an ice age has hit here. The Earth has experienced ice ages, but there was always a scientific reason for it and there was scientific reason why the ice melted and faded away. I see no scientific reason for what is happening on this planet. Or not happening. Something is stopping the sunlight from hitting this planet, or deflecting it, or something. The temperature is 70 below when it should be 85 above.”
I thought for a moment. “That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I sighed. “That is… disturbing.”
“Darn right.”
“But I fail to see how it affects our mission. Of course, I admit that I’m still not sure what our mission is.”
“If the Federation is behind this — and I’m guessing it is — the team to send to this planet would be a shipload of scientists. This is a scientific puzzle of the highest magnitude. So why didn’t they? Send scientists, that is.”
I shrugged, although I thought I knew the answer.
“Shall I answer my own question?”
“Sure, Cajun. Go ahead.”
She turned and looked directly at me. “They didn’t send scientists because it would have been too dangerous for them. So they sent us.”
Yes. Guess so.
Chapter 3
We stood silently and looked out into the blue ice surface. Flakes of snow flew by and smacked our Arctic jackets and our faces. With my gloved hands I wiped my Arctic mask.
“There’s one more thing,” Cajun said.
“Oh, shucks! There’s always one more thing, isn’t there?”
“Sometimes it seems that way. When I arrived and started investigating, I assumed the cataclysmic event that caused the ice age happened hundreds of years ago. Now I’m changing my mind. Logan, I don’t think that event occurred hundreds of years ago. Or even a year ago. Whatever did this, it was done relatively recently. Two months. Maybe a month ago.”
I frowned. I looked around, but there was nothing to see.
“Cajun, my respected colleague. Even with my limited knowledge of advanced science, I know that’s impossible. If this planet was like Earth in terms of climate and weather, it could not have turned into frozen barrenness in just a few months.”
“What if it did?”
“I know you’re in contact with scientists on the Intrepid and they’ve been running calculations. So what could possibly explain such a thing?”
“I don’t know and neither do they. But I think it’s logical to believe that what occurred here was not a natural phenomenon. As I said, this is contrary to all physical laws.”
I groaned again. “I think I know your destination, but I don’t like where you’re going. Care to take a detour?”
“This is a wild guess, but I think we will find the inhabitants of this planet and their civilization below the ten miles of ice.”
“Tell me they destroyed themselves. Tell me they were trying some incredible experiment with the weather and it backfired and annihilated the planet. Please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to say.”
“No, the inhabitants here did not destroy themselves. This was an attack. An attack that somehow wiped out the planet's surface and caused an ice age to envelop this world. An attack that stopped the very rays of the sun from hitting the crust. An attack that we can hardly imagine, much less understand.”
“You’re full of good news today.” I crossed my arms and leaned back against the entrance door. “So some aliens attacked Sandeling and wiped out the population and the planet for that matter. The questions is: where are they now? Our sensors didn’t pick up any life here. Not just human life. No birds, no fish, no insects. No nothing. So the aliens can’t be here. Why did they attack? What’s the benefit in freezing an entire world? Why would they do that?”
“I have no idea, but it was done. And if the inhabitants of this planet had enemies, the chances are the Federation has new enemies.”
The entrance door opened and Blackjack Curry stuck his head out. “Major, you better come look at this.”
“An afternoon matinee?” I said.
“Not quite.”
We rode the elevator in silence. Cajun’s theory of a recent attack at least accounted for all the functioning machinery and the lack of dust in the underground corridors. The temperature underground was pleasant, and the lighting and ventilation systems still perfectly working. It looked like somebody had left home in a hurry, forgetting to turn off the lights. I followed Blackjack as he walked through the winding tunnels. He stopped when he stood at the front of a vast cavern. It must have stretched for three miles. The rock walls were pulsating and flashing with colors. An odd hum came from the walls. For a second the room seemed to jolt, as if hit by an earthquake.
“What’s happening?” I said.
“Have no idea,” Cajun said.
“Blackjack, get me Dr. Fincus. He’s over in the science section.”
“Yes, sir.”
The bright red color faded and the walls flashed burgundy instead. The humming waxed and waned. I blinked. For a minute the walls seemed to be fluid, as if they were made of elastic. They expanded and then constricted. The colors changed into a dark blue.
“Oddest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Can this be a natural occurrence?” I said.
“I’d put the odds on that at about ninety-nine percent against.”
I clicked on my mic. “Headquarters, this is Ryvenbark.”
“Yes, sir. This is Ryan.”
“Mr. Ryan, is there anything showing on our scanners? Is there anything showing on anything?”
His reply was immediate. “No. Everything looks calm here. I’m in contact with the ship too. Their scanners are registering nothing.”
The noise had transformed to a low hum accompanied by purple flashes from the wall. The voice came from behind me.
“You wanted to see me, major?”
I looked around and spied Fincus, head of our science section. His nickname was Panther because he enjoyed wide, open spaces. I don’t know where he picked up the name, but it had stuck. He was six-three with a thin build and a face akin to dark mahogany.
“Yes. I want you to tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t know. This is not the only section that’s lighting up and humming. We have another one on the fifth level. Same thing. Walls are flexing and singing,” he said. “It’s strange.”
Cajun’s hand grabbed my arm when a dark figure appeared. It was only a shadow, but looked human. Two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. But like a shadow, it blinked away. It popped up a second time and then faded. About ten yards beyond the original figure, a second shadow appeared, but only for about three seconds. Then disappeared. A third shadow appeared about ten yards to the right of the second, but it too dissipated.
The hum gradually lowered into nothingness. All the shadows vanished. The colors stopped flashing.
“Guess the show is over,” I said.
I turned to Cajun and the Panther. “I want some answers. So why don’t you two get busy and find me some? I want to know what has just happened.”
Three minutes later I was at our small command headquarters and told Mr. Ryan to patch me into our communications system. For all our advanced technology, the system sputtered and coughed before Ryan gave me the thumbs up to speak.
“This is Major Ryvenbark. We are now on full alert. You will consider this a battlezone. I want every soldier armed while on duty. We are seeing some strange things occur and I want to make sure those strange things do not become deadly things. Report anything suspicious to Sgt. Rabelais. That is all.” I turned to Ryan. “Can we get in touch with the Federation from here?”
He shook his head. “Not with this primitive communication system.”
“Then patch me into the ship.”
Two seconds later Captain Ian Liddle popped up on a screen. He saluted. Which I thought was a nice gest
ure, but unnecessary.
“Captain, dispatch a shuttle ship if you would. While I’m on the way up, get in touch with the Federation. I want to talk to them.”
The screen went blank. Sgt. Rabelais wore his ragtag grin when he walked up.
Ian Rabelais Stone was a veteran of too many campaigns to mention. And a very good friend. I had never met a tougher, or more intelligent soldier. On more than a dozen planets, many enemies of mankind died because Rab had shot or knifed them. He had a closetful of medals and deserved every one of them.
“I heard about the singing walls,” he said.
“Humming walls is more like it. Keep things in order until I get back. This shouldn’t take long.”
“Think the Federation knows something it isn’t telling?”
“I don’t know. It wouldn’t be the first time. When you’re a bureaucrat and sit behind a desk, there are two great errors you can make. One is you’re sloppy and incompetent and let secrets slip. The other is you guard them too closely and don’t reveal what you should. Few deskmen can walk down the middle of that road. Of course there is another possibility. Perhaps our friends in the Federation just don’t know anything. It wouldn’t be the first time for that either.”
Chapter 4
An hour later I was sitting in an officer’s chair with Captain Liddle beside me and stared into a screen which held wriggly white and black lines. But at least it didn’t hum. Finally, it cleared up and I was surprised at the face on the screen. Danton A. Anson, vice president of the Federation, was looking back at me. A distinguished man, he had short white hair and a white goatee. Astonishing clarity in the blue eyes. He had a reputation for honesty and, for once, the reputation was correct. Anson did not play fast and loose with the truth.
“Major Ryvenbark. I’ve heard of you. It’s good to meet you, so to speak.”
“Good to meet you, Mr. Vice President. I assume you know where I am and what our mission is.”
“Your mission is to scout the planet Sandeling and gather information about the planet and what may have happened to it.”
“Yes, we had a couple of odd events occur on the planet. Well, not really on the planet; about three miles below the planet’s surface to be exact. We proceeded on this mission with very little information and I was wondering if the Federation knew a little more than it let on. I want to know what I’m dealing with.”
“So do we, major, and that’s why you’re there. The solar system you’re in is out of the way but it’s not exactly remote. We have satellites, listening devices and telescopes in that area of space. We haven’t had a chance to explore it yet, but there are indications there was a civilization on Sandeling. Obviously, the planet had a livable atmosphere. We could even say it was a pleasant location. Then one day…” He snapped his fingers. “Nothing. Civilization disappeared. And the planet became one vast ice cube. Naturally, we were curious.”
“Naturally.”
“The Federation doesn’t have a great deal of information about Sandeling. There didn’t seem to be many building on the surface. Most of the inhabitants may have lived underground for some reason. There were no sign of large cities. But we believe there was a civilization there. That’s the extent of our knowledge, or the extent of our guesswork.”
“But you sent us, or rather you asked Belen to send us, not a science team.”
He nodded. “Yes, we did, major. We are on friendly terms with Ms. Morganthal. She has often helped us and we have occasionally done her a favor. We thought the incredible anomalies on Sandeling might be an alien attack. If so, then a scientific team couldn’t deal with it.” He smiled. “That’s why we sent our best men: Logan Ryvenbark and his Raiders.”
I don’t think I smiled back. Lips may have twitched thought.
“At my age, Mr. Vice President, I am immune to flattery, but I will tell my Raiders that you think highly of them.”
“Yes, we do. Our information was tentative, so we decided it might be best to simply tell you and your squad to keep alert and aware. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. Could be important. Could be nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. What could change the planet’s atmosphere that drastically and that quickly? And why isn’t the sun melting the ice?”
“Very good questions, major. I hope you will help us answer them.”
“So you would not know anything about flexible walls and the humming colors?”
He gave me a blank look. “I have no idea of what you’re talking about.”
I sighed. I don’t like dealing with bureaucrats, even if they are honest. Yes, technically, Vice President Anson wasn’t a bureaucrat but…
“OK, Mr. Vice President. Knowing the odds now I will not pull my squad out but I want a couple of Federation ships here, just in case. I don’t know what I’m dealing with and I want some firepower behind me.”
“I understand. The ships will be sent.”
“I don’t want any conflicts or bureaucratic turf battles either. I want command.”
He took a bit longer to reply, but finally he nodded his head. “I will agree to that, with the usual exceptions. Safety of the ship and crew, things like that. The captain will have authority to refuse your orders if he thinks the command is reckless or dangerous."
I nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll be looking for the ships. Is the Valiant available?”
“I believe so.”
“I know the captain, Ramsey MacDonald. He’s a good man and a man I trust.”
“If the Valiant is available it will be one of the ships we send.”
“Thank you. Have a good day, Mr. Vice President.”
Chapter 5
When the shuttle settled down on the ice just ten yards from the entrance, it was still cold on Sandeling. Nothing had changed on the landscape. The ice structures looked like daggers stabbing the cold heart of the planet. The howl of the wind had changed into a more subdued sound, almost like a song, but a song you might hear at a funeral. I put on my goggles and thanked the shuttle pilot.
“Any time, major,” he said. “I won’t take off until you’re safely inside.”
Lt. Alvarez met me when the door slid open.
“Status is unchanged, major. We’ve had one more wall wailing since you left. Nothing more.”
“Get the multi-color treatment too?”
“Yes. But nothing ominous,” she said.
“Good. I hope that continues. I really like that phrase. But nothing ominous.”
I joined Cajun and the Panther as they stood in a doorway to a cavern. The walls stood solid and didn’t move. A hum resonated in the chamber, but it diminished until you could hardly hear it. The color of the hour was a light purple, but it faded as I watched it.
“Figure out what this is?” I said.
“Not conclusively, major,” Panther said. “I can give you a guess, but only a guess.”
“Better than nothing.”
He walked into the chamber and tapped the rocky wall. “This is not rock as we know it. It’s a material but, as you noticed, it’s flexible. It’s meant to be a camouflage, disguising this chamber. Hidden behind these walls there are, I suspect, extremely sophisticated Artificial Intelligence machines that are doing their job.”
“And what exactly is the job of the AIs?”
“I’m not sure. The sounds, the movements you see is the machine trying to accomplish something, but I’m not sure what. The AIs certainly know.”
“If they are AIs, could we communicate with them?”
“We might be able to. I’m working on that. I have a tentative theory about this planet.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“The inhabitants here were very advanced, possibly even more advanced in science than we are and they knew they were facing a great danger. They had at least some time to react. And this…” He swept his hand around to indicate the caverns and tunnels. “…is part of their defense. Maybe somehow their escape route.”
“If it’s an
escape route, where did they go? Another ten miles into the planet?”
“Possibly.”
“If they were as advanced as we are, did they have space ships? Or transport ships that could take them to other planets?”
“Perhaps. But I don’t think that’s the answer. I think the answer lies here, with these machines.”
“When you figure it out, let me be the first to know.”
“We have one bit of information for you, major,” Cajun said. “These tunnels and caverns are underneath the entire planet, from pole to pole. Apparently they’ve been here for some time.”
I took a last look at the cavern. “I suppose we just have to wait and see what the AIs are up to. Keep working on that communication thing.”
“I will,” Panther said.
Chapter 6
One of the drawbacks of being a commanding officer, even in an elite military unit, is there is a great deal of paperwork, or computer work. I had asked the few scientific personnel we had to send me e-mail reports of any information gained about the planet. Rarely have I given an order that was so rapidly obeyed. We had set up our computer communications quickly so there were still a few bugs in our system. I had to read fuzzy white letters on a puke green screen. At times the screen faded into an even uglier puke green and covered the letters. I had to wait about a minute for the screen to refocus.
The most interesting fact covered in the report was that the air in Sandeling had a toxin in it — a most peculiar toxin. Scientists could not readily identify it. At one time it might have been deadly to humans, but somehow it had been modified. ‘Although it remained dangerous, at least to other life forms, it wasn’t toxic to humans,’ Panther wrote. He couldn’t explain how it had been modified. But he said the substance wasn’t natural. Either the inhabitants of Sandeling had created it – although that was doubtful since it would have killed them upon being released – or aliens created it.
I looked up when I heard the loud humming. I ran down the corridor. Blue lights flashed from a doorway. Cajun and the Panther were standing just inside. The walls flexed and the lights became an even more intense blue. A shadow appeared, then blinked away. I frowned. It looked like the same old show.
