At first, it just looked like another of these odd-shaped behemoth rocks. This thing was 500 meters in diameter and 3,700 meters long. It was shaped like a cylinder that tapered down at both ends without coming to a point. The surface of the thing was etched with deep grooves that formed patterns all over it, and it was covered in blue, black, and purple moss.
○O○
Kathy was quick to recognize it, because she had seen it before.
"The artifact!" Kathy shouted.
"Artifact, what artifact?" Zolna asked.
"You mean that thing they found on the Moon's far side?" Dave asked.
The instant her eyes distinguished it from among the many boulders, Kathy knew what it was.
"Yes, exactly," she replied to Dave, and then she addressed everyone. "Back on the Moon, the Eagle Squadrons stationed at JILL were performing HI/HD scans of the lunar surface. Squadron five discovered what was first referred to as 'the anomaly'. The Ava computer provided us the results of her cross-referencing other data, including classified data.
"Our discovery was not as big a surprise back on Earth as it was to us on the Moon. On 16 August, 1976, NASA launched a classified manned flight to the moon, Apollo 20. The two astronauts and one cosmonaut took photos and film footage of what was later determined to be a spacecraft of alien origin on the Moon. We stopped calling it an anomaly and referred to it as the artifact.
"The images revealed a huge cylinder identical to this one. The hull of the ship on the Moon was pock-marked with holes and craters from countless centuries of being struck by small meteors."
"And now this artifact is here?" Zolna asked.
"No, this is a different ship. Despite its obvious weather-beaten appearance, there's not a single meteorite impact on this one. The one on the Moon was hammered."
"You think this one's from the same place?" Dave asked.
"How could it not? I did some of the exterior surveys of the artifact, and this one is identical. It appears to be the same size, made of the same material, etched the same way…identical."
"Did you know Mea Este Kall'Ah?" Le'ha asked. "The men from the fish?"
"No, we never saw one. Never saw any of their remains, but apparently, a mummified female was brought back by Apollo 20. Rumor has it the mummy is at Area Fifty-One."
“I never saw a mummy there.” Dave mumbled.
"They were Ukse, like you," Le'ha went on. "They were small, and of one color. But they never tried to speak with us. We never learned their language."
"Le'ha, how long ago was it they came?"
"Many rains. Five hands and two. I was a child, but I remember."
"Wow," Zolna was amazed. "This forest sure messed up your city back there in only twenty-two years."
"Little Zolna, the forest is a living thing and will take back what is hers if you leave it to her." Le'ha responded.
"And Zolna," Dave added, "five hands and two would be fifty-two. The word hands is plural, ten fingers."
Zolna looked shocked as he looked back at Le'ha. "Just how old are you?" he asked.
"I am seven and one hands," she replied.
Zolna looked at Dave. "Is that seventy-five?"
Dave nodded. "Yes, it is."
"Damn!"
"And how old are you Zolna?" Le'ha asked.
"Twenty-four, ah…two hands and four fingers."
Le'ha's eyes popped open and she looked over at Dave and Kathy. "You bring your infants with you to make war?" She was horrified.
"Le'ha, to us, you don't look three hands old," Kathy observed.
"And to me, you look five or six hands," Le'ha responded.
Kathy smirked. "I'm not sure, but I think I've just been insulted."
"Le'ha, did Doctor Milnor and the others come here?" Dave asked.
Le'ha smiled and waved him on. "Ula lavat," she said, jumping off the rock and proceeding on toward the stern of the great ship.
Kathy walked up beside Dave. "Who is Doctor Milnor?"
"Best I can figure, he was one of the first colonists. Something happened to the original colony that she seemed saddened and reluctant to talk about. She and some of her people led Doctor Milnor and others to this thing, which they call the fish. It sort of looks like a fish, I guess.
"It was this Milnor that taught them to speak all the Earth languages they know."
"He's inside this thing?"
"No, he's dead. But there are others. I guess they are alive, she didn't say really."
"Did they kill Milnor?"
"Ah…no."
"Well, how did he die?"
"According to Le'ha he died of raakip uwa." Then he pointed to his upper left chest.
"A heart attack?"
"No, he died of a…a broken heart. He and a woman of Le'ha's tribe fell in love. They could not be together, and it killed him."
"A broken heart, really?" Kathy asked.
"That's Le'ha’s story," Dave replied in a subdued voice. "Don't you think a man can die of a broken heart?"
Kathy did not respond. She slowly averted her eyes and walked on.
Soon, they were walking along the side of the huge craft. It looked far older than fifty years. They had walked a great distance when Kathy noticed a native war club leaning against the hull of the ship.
Here, they stopped. Le'ha directed everyone to stand about three meters away from and facing the hull of the ship. She then picked up the club, and three times, in measured swings, struck the side of the thing. It made a sound like striking a solid rock. She then put the club back where she found it, and waited.
Several minutes passed. Zolna was fidgeting and losing patience. Kathy could see he was about ready to say something when there came a humming from the massive bulkhead, and then, to the utter surprise of everyone except Le'ha, a large section of the hull became transparent, like an immense piece of glass. Standing on the other side, were two women and a man. They were humans. When their eyes fell on Kathy and her companions, they began to speak with considerable animation among themselves. The man and a woman ran off, leaving the other woman alone. She reached forward and activated a communications device.
"Oh, my God, who are you, and how are you breathing out there?" she was speaking very fast. "Are you from the colony? How are you breathing?"
Now, the other man and woman returned and with them was an older man, perhaps fifty-five years old. He held up his hand and the stammering of the others fell silent.
He walked up to the window. "Hello, Le'ha, how are you?" he greeted her in a low, calm voice.
"I am, and I am not, Professor," Le'ha responded.
"I understand. Whom have you brought with you here?"
"E'meset Mik ah kneenan sealta."
"Now, now, Le'ha," the man remarked, "we know it's rude to speak in languages not everyone understands. I'm sorry," he now addressed everyone. "She tells me you are metal people from New Roanoke. This explains why you are without respirators. You're all SUBs, are you not?"
"Yes," Kathy replied, "you come as a surprise to most of us." She glanced at Dave. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Selina, this is my XO, Major Dave Mitchel, and this is Private Talme Zolna. We're with the CDF. You and Le'ha seem to be old friends."
"Indeed, we are. Colonel Selina, you and your XO seem to be an excessive amount of leadership for one poor Private," the man observed.
"I'll say," Zolna agreed.
"It's a long story, sir," Kathy replied. "My I ask, with whom I have the pleasure of speaking?"
"Oh…I do apologize. I am Sir Reginald Gawain formerly of the Royal Astronomical Society, do please call me Reggie. There is an entrance on top of this thing over this window, about 500 meters up the side. There are some stout vines to your left if you'd like to climb up and come inside. I do hope you will, we've not had company in a very long time. Besides, as you are SUBs a climb of 500 meters is really no exertion at all, is it?"
"Okay. We're on our way."
"Lovely. I'll see you shortly, then," Reggie
then activated some unseen device that caused the window to become opaque again.
Zolna looked up and down the height and length of the alien ship. "We're going in there?"
"You can stay out here if you wish, Zolna," Kathy remarked.
Zolna looked about, then replied, "I see the vines over here, ma'am."
Chapter 16
First Blood
For Dave and the other SUBs, the climb was no obstacle at all. Le'ha was the only one among them with muscles and sinew, yet she kept right up with the SUBs and showed no sign of fatigue.
Once on top of the ancient spacecraft, they headed to their right, knowing they had moved about a hundred meters to the left of the window. Dave had walked about fifty-five meters when, in front of him, a large, hexagonal door opened in the hull.
Looking inside, they could see a handmade wooden ladder that allowed them to descend into what was, no doubt, an airlock.
Everyone was soon inside, except La'ha. "I stay here. The Ukse breathe poison," she remarked with a matter-of-fact tone.
The hatch closed and lights came on. The floor they stood on began to descend deeper into the ship, and the atmosphere was swapped out, not that it affected the SUBs. After about six meters, it stopped and a door slid opened. Two humans were there to greet them, a woman and a man with a beard. Both these people appeared to be in their mid- to late thirties, a fact that did not escape Kathy's attention.
"Welcome," the woman greeted them. "I am Bess, and this is Jerry, Jerry Goldman. He's a physicist and I'm a biologist. Please follow us and we’ll take you to see Reggie, um…Sir Gawain."
As they started walking, Dave asked, "What can you tell us about this thing?"
Kathy jumped in. "And what can you tell us about those of you living here?"
"Please," Bess replied, "Reggie will answer all your questions. But if you don't mind, how many from Earth are here now?"
"There are over ten thousand, and of those, two hundred fifty are SUBs, ma'am, but we've had some recent losses. How many of you are there here?"
"I am pleased to hear there are so many now, and sorry to hear of the losses. We started out with 137. But…over the years, we've suffered some losses, too. There are eighty-nine of us now."
"Why do you stay here?" Zolna asked. "Why aren't you in New Roanoke?"
"There is so much to learn about this incredible spacecraft," Jerry responded enthusiastically.
"And the people who constructed, flew, and lived in it," Bess added.
As they traveled through the ship, they noted that the floors were no different in appearance than the walls and ceiling. The odd thing was that in every corridor, they saw more hexagonal shaped doors all around them; on the floor, walls, and ceiling.
To access the rooms on the floors and ceilings these people had made ladders and stairs from wood. Dave nodded down at a large set of wooden stairs they were descending and asked Kathy, "You know what this means?"
"Yes," Kathy responded. "This ship was intended to remain permanently in a zero-gravity environment."
After what seemed several hundred meters and two separate elevator descents they arrived in a large room with a number of odd pieces of furniture which seem to have been fabricated on-site by hand. In addition to the many homey human touches, several E'meset works of art adorned the room. Kathy noticed native baskets, pottery, paintings and sculptures. There was also art that was undoubtedly made by the Earth people with materials brought in from outside by the E'meset.
Also seen were a large number of items that had been designed for the use of the colony: cutlery, dinner plates, and cups, all bearing the logo of the IIEA. There were also portable IIEA lamps, still burning after all these years. Not that they were needed here. So far, every place they'd been was cool, dry, and well-illuminated.
Reggie approached them from a bar where he'd poured himself a drink of a local beverage that looked like purple milk. "Welcome, welcome indeed! I'd invite you to sit, but I realize as SUBs you are just as comfortable standing as sitting; however, I would prefer to sit, and I'll be more at ease if you'd join me, so please, let us all sit."
"Reggie," Kathy replied as she sat on a small sofa across from her host, "we're happy to sit down, thank you. An explanation is not necessary."
"I apologize. I have always been far too verbose. A failing of mine, do forgive me. Now, I'm sure you've a thousand questions, do please proceed."
Dave began. "You are all members of the original settlement, aren't you?"
"Yes, we were among the original founders of New Roanoke."
"Begging your pardon, sir," Kathy said, "but that was half a century ago. You are all too young to have been survivors of the original colony."
"Nevertheless, Colonel. Check your database against our names and pictures."
"I can't do that, sir. We are out of contact with New Roanoke."
"What? Did the satellites not get into orbit?"
"Yes, sir, they're up there."
"Ah…then you are being blocked from the source, or from an orbiting ship."
"That's what we figure."
"Then the IIEA know."
"Know? Know what?" Dave asked.
"About what's in the water."
"Sir, we don't know what they know," Kathy responded.
"Are they not mining the mountains?"
"Not that we are aware of."
Reggie shot Bess and Jerry a glance. "I was sure they would torture the E'meset for the information."
"Haven't the E'meset told you what the Ukse are doing to them?" Kathy asked.
"No, they tell us nothing."
"Are you prisoners here?"
"Oh, no. They saved our lives. They tell us nothing because Doctor Milnor, who was going mad near the end of his life, asked the E’meset never to bring news of the doings of the Ukse. Since his death, we have asked them for news, but out of respect for Doctor Milnor, whom they greatly loved, they will tell us nothing. This is why I am sure you were brought here, to give us the news they cannot divulge out of love and loyalty."
"Reggie, if you'll tell us what happened, we'll give you what news we have."
"Well, when we first landed here, we saw no sign that anything more advanced than T'Pu Iya resided on this planet. Then we began to find the abandoned cities.
"We, of course, did not know about the first invasion these poor people had suffered at the hands of humanoids very similar to us."
"Yes, Le'ha told us some of that story," Dave added.
"Then you'll understand that when they saw us, descending from the sky, they concluded the same aliens were attacking them again.
"Once we had set up our base camp and it appeared we were secure, the ship returned to Earth where it would pick up more people and more supplies, then head back to rejoin us.
"Shortly after the ship's departure, the E'lawvat E'meset attacked our settlement. Of the six hundred plus settlers, only a hundred and thirty-seven survived. We were inside an underground chamber where our labs were located, and stayed there until the attack was over.
"It was Doctor Milnor who first put on a respirator, went above ground, and made contact with the E'lawvat E'meset. They did not kill him out of hand because he attempted communication. Seems the previous invaders never tried to talk, they just killed.
"Over the next few weeks as our food, water, and air supply dwindled, he set us all the task of deciphering their language that we might communicate better with them.
"One of the first things we discovered was the innate proclivity the indigenous peoples have toward language. Very soon, they spoke enough Finnish that we could understand each other. Doctor Milnor was Finnish, you see. After learning their story, he explained that we were not the same people who had invaded them—that we wanted peace, and we wanted to live here with them.
"With this information, the E'lawvat E'meset became emotionally shattered. They were sorry beyond their ability to express it for having killed so many of us. We saw them weeping and pul
ling their hair. They brought us gifts and apologized profusely. In fact, they still do, to this day.
"We explained to them that we were running out of everything we need to live. That's when they brought us here. This strange craft still has a pressurized hull, it still generates power, and as a matter of fact, this ship is capable of producing more power than we can comprehend. As you can tell, it is still producing breathable air, we don't yet know how."
"Le'ah and her generous people bring us food and water. We drink the water unfiltered; your biological brethren at the colony should really try it that way, old man. It's quite good." Reggie again stole a glance at Bess and Jerry.
"In the years we have been exploring this leviathan, we have managed to get power restored to several systems. Oh, don't misunderstand me, this thing will never again take to space, but, there is a vast amount to be learned. We have spent these years discovering something of the war-like people who built this ship and the technology entombed here. Should we learn to retro-engineer these systems, and with Antyllus as a base, we humans could spread our seed across the galaxy far more quickly than we had ever conceived. I'm sure you don't care to hear the details, nor is there time to discuss them.
"Now, Lieutenant Colonel Selina, what news have you for us?"
Kathy and Dave exchanged glances. Kathy leaned forward. "Reggie, have none of the E'meset clued you in on what they think is going on out there?"
"Not a word."
"Le'ha's people believe we, the Ukse, are drinking their blood."
"Drinking their…there's got to be some misunderstanding."
"The IIEA is being very secretive and very defensive about their doings here and they have established—" Kathy explained all she knew to Reggie and, in the name of honesty, let him know that there existed the possibility that everything the IIEA had said could very well be true, and that all the members of the CDF could end up in jail. But, as Dave explained, they believed Le'ha. Something was very wrong. The attack by the IIEA thugs on the recon mission proved it.
"A clinic," Reggie was incredulous, "to treat a disease we gave them? That, my friend, is a lie on its face. You see…these people could not possibly be diseased or even ill. It is a unique quality of these people…they never grow ill, they do not suffer from exposure to any of the known viruses or bacteria on this world—and believe me, there are many—nor do any of the Earth illnesses we unintentionally brought with us affect them. They do not know the common cold, tooth decay, or even bad breath. Nor do they suffer from any autoimmune disease, such as diabetes, lupus, MS, or arthritis. Genetic abnormalities, such as cancer, are entirely unknown to them.
The Vampires of Antyllus Page 22
