»Are you assuming that they’re hostile?« Day’s voice sounded worried.
Morgenstern had expected the question.
»Commander, until we know otherwise we have to consider the worst case. The lander could have inadvertently triggered an automatic alert.«
»But why would a simple warning have such a long transmission sequence?« Jörgmundson interrupted. »There were enough trigital data sets to have transferred the whole Encyclopedia of Humanity!«
Morgenstern looked Jörgmundson directly into the eyes.
»Exactly. I could be dead wrong, but I think we crossed a fine line, predetermined by the strangers, when Mars Mining landed a probe on Quaoar.«
The commander straightened.
»I’m declaring Alert Phase Charley! Alert the entire Space Fleet. You’ll find me in the command central shortly, gentlemen. Lieutenant!?«
The young officer rose to attention.
»Sir!«
Donald Day produced an enigmatic smile.
»You and Jörgmundson stay here for a moment. I have a task for you.«
Corporate warfare
They found many prospector-drones in the planetoid’s dust, all of them destroyed by unknown means.
They had obviously launched from the instrument platform and begun doing their job as programmed, only to be destroyed immediately. The drones had not even had a chance to start drilling into the rocky ground.
Davis analyzed one of the drones, a shapeless lump of metal.
»Let’s get this straight. You send a lander to this planetoid to search for resources. After landing and launching the drones, the platform breaks radio contact. Now we learn that it was entirely destroyed by someone or something unknown.«
Karokan nodded, depressed. He still couldn’t believe it.
»It’s clear to me that this planetoid didn’t come from our solar system – everything points to that. Quaoar may have orbited a different sun for a long time before being captured by our system’s gravity.«
»There’s no other explanation,« whispered Caroline, »I’ve run and re-run the analysis. The results are consistent: nothing matches known samples from our solar system.«
»OK, then!« Davis replied. »We still have to explain our loss of signal once under the … shield.«
»Uh … You mean that you can actually explain all the rest?« Karokan asked with a rising, bitter voice.
»The planetoid could have been a rogue that escaped from another system millions or billions of years ago and was captured by our sun. That’s not unreasonable, and that still makes it a priceless scientific discovery.«
Karokan looked at both Caroline and Davis, skeptically.
»And what about the lander?«
Davis pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at the zone of debris.
»That’s easy. Another company destroyed the lander. You had an intelligence leak and somebody sent a killer satellite to take care of your toy. It was probably someone who knew you had invested your last dime in this project. Competition and profit are the common motives for corporate warfare, aren’t they?«
Karokan sat down on a rock and hung his head.
»That’s possible. Very possible.«
Caroline touched Davis’ arm so softly he barely felt it through the thick spacesuit.
»But Bill, you know there’s more to all this than just that, right, and that’s what is really gnawing at you, isn’t it? What about the signal loss, the shield?«
»You’ve got me there.«
Karokan’s head jerked up upon hearing Bill’s statement.
»What do you mean? You’re blowing holes in your own theory?«
»No, but I can’t explain this interference. Our signals aren’t being distorted or superimposed; they’re actually being absorbed somehow. Radio communication is obviously possible within the shield or we wouldn’t be able to use our radios. I don’t know any technology that could do that! We can’t establish a permeable shield that absorbs or inhibits outbound radio waves. Nobody can, not Space Fleet and not your competitors! The unknown technology sure puts this entire incident into a different perspective.«
The way Davis analyzed the problem, as well as his conclusions, frightened Caroline.
»Bill, you’re scaring me!«
Davis drew his weapon and removed its safety.
»Karokan, show me where your drone measured the highest radioactivity. Then we’ll return to the ship and get out of here. Just hope that we can leave as quickly as we came!«
»Who could prevent us?« Karokan asked, glancing around nervously.
»The same people who destroyed your lander,« Davis answered, mysteriously.
Caroline dropped most of her equipment to the ground, except for the rock and soil samples. The astrophysicist checked her weapon and told Karokan to do the same. With trembling hands, Karokan pointed at a nearby group of hills, about a kilometer away.
»Over there … should be a very big crater. The drone was supposed to analyze the crater floor.«
Silently, the group moved in that direction.
A strange crater
They had finally reached their destination after an hour of walking at a steady pace. Stunned, they stood before what Karokan had called a very big crater. Crater? Bill’s legs were shaking so hard from what he saw, he sank to his knees. Mesmerized, he stared at the crater. There was no floor. The crater evidently led from the massive depression like a funnel into the planetoid itself, becoming narrower until ending in a deep black hole, fifty meters in diameter at the bottom.
Caroline’s radiation counter flashed wildly, indicating extremely high radiation from inside the crater.
Karokan seemed to lose touch with reality. He sat down on the rocky ground, laughing like a madman.
»There’s your source of radiation, Davis!«
This is the most significant discovery we’ve made so far, Davis thought.
Panic-stricken, Caroline pulled on Davis’ arm.
»Let’s go, Bill! Let’s get back to the ship before it’s too late!«
Davis couldn’t move. He stared at the strange structure. His rational mind tried to make sense of it, telling him it was just an illusion.
Something like this couldn’t exist … not here!
There could be no doubt that the crater, covered by fine dust, was artificial. No meteoroid impact could possibly have been responsible for such a structure – only a thinking, logical and planning intelligence could have built this!
»This looks like …,« Davis struggled to find the right words, »… like a massive shaft, leading to the inside of the planetoid!«
Davis’ mind rebelled at the unearthly implications.
Caroline seemed to have her panic under control, but she still sounded edgy.
»Amdul, come on! We have to get away from here! Get up!« Davis yelled.
However, Karokan didn’t seem able to overcome his shock. He just kept giggling.
»We could wait here and make contact with them! Sure, why not? Perhaps they’ll add us to their collection of exotic creatures!«
A mad laugh followed. Davis began to move toward the hole.
»Caroline, do you realize what we’ve discovered here? What you’ve discovered? Not only is Quaoar from outside our system, somebody or something has built this big structure! This funnel probably isn’t the only artifact on Quaoar.«
A look into her fearful eyes was enough to tell him that she grasped all the ramifications of her discovery.
»We need to inform Donald Day! Humanity needs to know what we’ve found!«
Tears of excitement and terror ran over Caroline’s cheeks.
»I didn’t think something like this would shock me so much,« the astrophysicist admitted in a trembling voice. »We’ve been searching for aliens for centuries, and here they are, right on our doorstep!«
»Think about it, Honey!« Davis appealed to his girlfriend. »Why haven’t they contacted us? Why this secrecy? They have to be up to some
thing! This installation is not abandoned; I’d stake my life on it. What about the loss of communication or the radiation!«
Caroline’s eyes flickered worriedly.
»You mean one of them is here right now?«
»Yes, Darling! The shield is their work!«
Davis pointed at the strange funnel in the ground.
»This was never built by Humans.«
»Oh darling, oh darling … I didn’t know you two were a pair.« Mad giggling came over their radios. »Maybe our visitors can use that … a Human couple for their galactic zoo!«
Karokan had completely lost his reason under the pressure.
»One more word, Karokan, and I’ll …« Major Davis caught himself in the middle of the sentence and just waved his hand. It was useless. Karokan wasn’t listening.
This is ridiculous, he thought and looked closer at the base of the crater.
The giant funnel was nearly three hundred meters in diameter and just as deep. Its wall, covered with an unknown black material, showed a spiral-like structure, which continued downward like a snail’s shell unwinding. This structure seemed to have a large opening at the bottom of the funnel, but that lay in utter darkness.
Davis toyed with the idea of climbing down the winding opening, but he reconsidered.
»What is this?« Karokan asked in a suddenly resonant voice.
»You’re with us again? Great!« Major Davis replied. »What do you think this is? So far, I haven’t got a clue.«
»It could be a shaft for a giant weapon. Or some sort of planetary gun? Maybe a radio telescope to listen to our radio transmissions? It could even have some entirely unknown purpose.«
Caroline pointed the radiation monitor at the funnel again.
»Anything is possible. Radiation levels suggest some kind of nuclear activity occurred here recently. It presumably discharged radioactive materials or plasma. Like a ventilation system for a reactor or a large underground installation?«
»Interesting thought,« Davis commented.
»Let’s document it and then return to the scout ship,« Caroline suggested again. »If the ones who built this destroyed the lander, I hope they haven’t noticed our presence yet.«
Her fear was painfully evident in her eyes.
»You think they’ll let us take off again, just like that? I have my doubts. I think they already know we’re here.« Davis didn’t want to scare Caroline. However, they had to deal with facts. »They may expect us to run to our ship and take off in terror if that fits the psychological profile they have of us. I won’t tell anybody what to do, but if you think you’ll be safer inside the Hawk, then go. I’m going to take a look around and check out the surroundings. There might be further clues to our unknown builders.«
»I’ll stay with you!« Caroline said anxiously.
Davis gripped Karokan’s arm and helped him up from the ground.
»What about you, Karokan?«
»Some choice! Either I return to the ship alone and run into those strangers or follow you to the same fate.«
»Exactly, Amdul,« grinned Davis.
Davis had managed to sublimate his own fear of the aliens. Inwardly he looked forward to the expedition.
»C’mon then,« Davis commanded. »Let’s look for clues.«
Davis brooked no more discussion. Humans weren’t alone in the solar system anymore; they evidently never had been really alone.
Mobilization in progress
In the Ryan’s command central Donald Day received first-hand reports.
»The space cruiser Shenzhou left moon-spaceport Copernicus for Neptune an hour ago and is presently en route at full speed. ETA at Triton in 170 hours.«
Day looked over to his chief communications officer.
»Are the stations on Uranus and Saturn informed and have you received confirmations?«
»Uranus has declared Alert Phase Charley and confirmed, Commander. The confirmation from Saturn has not been received.«
»Display the disposition of the fleet.«
A tactical system hologram materialized.
»Commander, we weren’t prepared for such a situation and our few spaceborne ships are in unfavorable positions. Most of our space cruisers are in the docks with their crews on shore leave. We’ve begun complete mobilization; all units are recalling the crews and placing ships on standby as fast as possible. Most of our ships, however, are designed for exploration or transport. There’re only a few units that have any armament worth mentioning. Our fleet is basically toothless. We wouldn’t be able to respond appropriately to a military threat or invasion.«
Donald Day closed his eyes for a moment and pondered. True, the Solar Union space fleet possessed some larger units such as the Ryan, but these ships hadn’t been used for military missions for decades – not to mention that more than a few of them had seen better days.
»Well, then give me the status of everything we have in space.«
Several different symbols were superimposed on the display.
»As previously mentioned, the Shenzhou is on the way, carrying a hurriedly assembled company of space infantry. Like its sister ships, the Shenzhou is unarmed but was able to leave Copernicus Spaceport immediately. There is a small, five-unit scout squadron on Uranus’ moon Titania. Two space cruisers from the Saturn system, the Enigma, and the Dust Devil, reported being operational ready half an hour ago.«
»And where are the transport ships? The larger units?«
The officer lowered his eyes.
»All are in their home ports on Earth, the Moon, and Mars. None of the ships will be ready to depart their bases in less than several days.«
The communication center called, »Saturn System has just declared and confirmed Alert Phase Charley, Commander.«
Day acknowledged without a flinch.
»I don’t intend to get involved in any fights. We can’t afford it anyway. We need time to adjust. We have to be prepared for all possibilities, of course, but the first contact with alien beings, should it really occur, has to be established peacefully! I depend on the Ryan’s potential and most importantly on our scientific staff and their technology. We have to decipher the signals and if possible, answer in their language. Those are our most important objectives.«
The scientists in the command central looked at each other in silence.
»How is the situation on Earth?« asked the commander.
The com center’s officer-in-charge turned away from his console to look directly at Day.
»We don’t have much information, Commander. The government knows it has to prepare the people for the news, but they don’t want to precipitate a panic. The media’s bound to pick up on the military mobilization though and, well, you know what happens then.«
»Yes,« Donald Day said grimly. »All Hell breaks loose.«
Chlorine gas
They took cover behind a small rock. Davis was aware that this was nonsense. There was no real safety on the surface of this barren planetoid, no place to hide and no protection. The cover of this small rock was a facade. Davis only had to remember the destroyed lander to gauge their chances in a fight.
»If you’re looking for a door, there it is, Bill!« Karokan lifted his head and pointed at the dark oval of the tunnel where it led diagonally into the ground, a hundred meters away from them.
The three had explored the terrain surrounding the object, which they referred to as ‘the funnel’ for lack of a better name. Then Caroline had noticed a smaller opening.
Davis was sure that the strangers were aware of the three Humans. Why didn’t they show themselves? Didn’t the crew’s presence even matter to them?
»I don’t see a door, just a dark hole in the ground,« the astrophysicist commented. »Is this the entrance? Looks like it leads into the interior of the planetoid.«
»Black walls, apparently the same material as the funnel. Do you recognize these structures on the walls? Use the magnification option on your optics. Looks like a coil carved in
to the tunnel walls. What does that mean?« asked Davis stymied.
»Really strange,« Karokan mumbled.
»No doubt. We should get closer and explore the tunnel,« Davis suggested.
»Do you want to go inside?« Karokan protested.
»Let’s take some photographs and then let’s get the hell out of here!« Caroline urged.
»Let me make this clear. I’m going down there and explore the funnel.«
The astrophysicist followed Davis’ example and got up. She stood beside him as if to make her point.
»Alright, Davis!« Karokan gave up. »Obviously, we have all lost our minds.«
»Look who’s talking! I remember you sitting on the ground, giggling and mumbling, just a couple of minutes ago. Here we have a chance of a lifetime and I won’t let this pass!«
»Alright! Let’s go! I want to know what the ETs look like and what they want from us.«
They moved slowly, approaching the dark tunnel.
Karokan studied the surroundings alertly while Davis made sure they were secure on all sides. They approached the opening unmolested and illuminated it with their small lamps.
»It slopes downward by about ten degrees for at least a hundred meters,« Davis estimated.
Caroline held on firmly to Davis’ arm. He didn’t object to his girlfriend’s strong grip, sharing her anxiety.
In fact, the major thought, her closeness makes me feel somehow safer. I’ll have to watch Karokan. He’s still fighting panic. He seems calmer than before, but he’s a loose cannon.
Davis felt an underlying threat. Nevertheless, he made the first step into the tunnel. Barely inside, he quickly stepped back.
»What is it?« Caroline asked, frightened.
»There’s something … strange, an invisible barrier! It feels like some kind of strong electric field. You can feel it if you walk past this point here. It crawls up your arm and it makes the radio receiver crackle.«
NEBULAR Collection 1 - The Triton Base: Episodes 1 - 5 Page 6
