The Eridani Convergence (Carson & Roberts Archeological Adventures in T-Space Book 3)

by Alastair Mayer

  “That was practical too. I didn’t know who Ducayne’s contact here was, so I had to advertise.”

  “Okay, but what does the Queen of Di—” and then the connection hit him. “Oh. Ha! Wait until he hears about this.”

  “He’ll probably congratulate me for creative thinking. Heck, his message to me was signed Quiche Desjardins.”

  Carson shook his head, still grinning. “You may be right. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s used it himself at some point.” As he said that, he remembered. “Come to think of it, he first suggested Queen Diana as the namesake for an endowment at the university. I take it the biker chick look is not a permanent change?”

  She grinned back at him. “I fly a starship. What’s a biker chick got that I don’t? But if you really like the look . . . .” she let that thought trail off with a sly smile.

  Carson decided that he did, but just said “I’ll keep that in mind. Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?”

  “Roger that. But you still owe me an explanation of how you happened to be parachuting down into a swamp. And why you’re here. I only got in a couple of days ago myself.”

  “Fair enough. But back at your ship, okay? I want to get out of these wet clothes.” He paused, looking around, then slapped at some bloodsucking insect that just landed on his neck. “And away from these damned mosquitoes!”

  CHAPTER 32: VAUGHAN RECALLED

  Church of Divine Stellar Providence, Harp City

  AS WAS HIS custom, Klaus Vaughan was reviewing reports and the local news feed while sipping coffee, when a message alert popped up. He glanced over at the calendar in a corner of his screen. Another immigration ship was due in soon. If it were in-system, this might be from its data dump. He entered a passphrase and the message opened.

  Vaughan read it with increasing consternation. Things were behind schedule on Verdigris, and he was being ordered back there to expedite operations.

  “Damn,” Vaughan said as he clicked the message closed.

  Mignon had been cleaning his small personal arsenal nearby. He looked up at Vaughan’s utterance. “Problem, Boss?”

  “Orders came in with the Speedwell’s email dump. We need to get back to Verdigris. Change in schedule. We leave tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Things are getting behind. The sooner I get them back on track, the better. Pass the word for everyone to get their gear together and get back to the Carcharodon.”

  “But what about that artifact?” Mignon said. “We’ve got a line on where it is. Things are set up for a couple of days from now.”

  Vaughan still wanted that. It might be nothing, but it also might be a significant piece of alien technology, especially if Smith was so interested in it. Standing orders were to collect any of the latter they could. “Move the schedule up. You don’t have time to be subtle, just get the crate and bring it to the ship. We will leave tomorrow.”

  “No subtlety. Got it,” Mignon said. He began to re-assemble the pistol he’d been cleaning. He was smiling.

  Vaughan wondered about that, but it was nice when a man could take pleasure in his work. He said, “Try not to attract any more attention than necessary this time, okay?”

  “Got it, Boss.”

  CHAPTER 33: CATCHING UP

  Back aboard the Sophie

  “WELL, YOU HAVE to admit, landing in the swamp did reduce your risk of detection.” Jackie said when she’d heard Carson’s explanation for his unconventional arrival.

  “Save me from literal-minded robots. I thought I did well to specify within walking distance,” Carson growled. His clothes were still soaked from the unexpected splashdown; he had insisted on hot coffee before changing. “I would have been a lot better off if I hadn’t done a parachute landing roll. I got soaked.”

  “At least you didn’t land on a croc’s nest. Mama might have been angry.”

  “There is that.” Carson downed the last of his coffee and looked at Jackie. “So, you were supposed to pick up a package. You were a bit coy about that on the comm. What’s going on?”

  “The package wasn’t waiting for me when I got here. I managed to make contact with Burnside, Ducayne’s man, but he doesn’t have it either. He had planned to pick it up yesterday but ran into a problem.”

  “So, you don’t know what’s in the package?”

  “Do you?”

  “Not what it is, but perhaps what it looks like. Ducayne had some pictures.”

  “What is your interest?”

  “There’s writing on it. It’s alien tech, probably old. Of course I’m interested.”

  “Burnside thought it might be an FTL communicator.”

  “Really? Is that possible?”

  “A century ago we thought FTL travel of any kind was impossible,” she said, “so I’m not going to say no. And we saw some weird stuff in the Reticuli system. But I’m skeptical. Do you have the pictures? I’d like to see what it is I’m supposed to be picking up.”

  Carson pulled out his omni and tapped in a pass-code sequence, then held it up to his eye so it could do a retina scan.

  “Elaborate security,” Jackie said.

  “Ducayne insisted. Anyway, here’s what we’ve got.”

  It wasn’t much. The first couple of images showed what could have been alien high tech gear, but could also have been a prop from an old sci-fi video series. There was nothing in the images to indicate scale. The next one was better; an omniphone, with a centimeter scale on the screen, rested on it near one of the panels of indicators and what were probably switches on the side of the thing, suggesting that the whole artifact, which was roughly cylindrical, wasn’t much more than a meter and a half long and not quite a meter wide. An arrow, added after the picture was taken, pointed to the panel.

  The next image was a close-up of what the arrow in the previous picture had been pointing at. There were regular markings on the control panel that did indeed look like a simplified version of cuneiform.

  “You’re right; those don’t look anything like the markings we found in the pyramid on Chara III, or on the disintegrator we found there.”

  “No, they don’t, do they.” Carson agreed. “That would tend to rule out any connection to the original, pre-Kesh pyramid builders.”

  “Let me see those earlier pictures again, of the whole gizmo.”

  Carson flipped back to one. “Here. Why?”

  “Remember the room we found in the pyramid on Verdigris? The one that had been broken into?”

  “Sure. There was a dais or bench of some kind, looked like a piece of equipment had been removed.”

  “Do you see any way this,” she gestured at the image, “could have fit into the space where that gear had been?”

  Carson looked at it, trying to recall the details of what they’d found on the planet in the Delta Pavonis system. They had discussed whether it might have been an alien signaling device. A Kesh pyramid ship—although they hadn’t known what it was then—had shown up very soon after they’d entered the pyramid on Chara III, and they had joked about tripping an alarm.

  “The table had a hole for power conductor cables. I don’t see anything on this that would have lined up with that. It doesn’t look like a good shape for staying put on a table anyway.”

  “And no cables dangling from it. Do you have pictures of the other side of it?”

  “No, that’s all I have. If it was from the Verdigris pyramid, or one like it, I don’t see it in what we’ve got. We’d have to look at the whole artifact. No wonder Ducayne wants to get hold of it.”

  “But if it was a Spacefarer pyramid and device,” Roberts said, “there’s no reason for it to have Kesh labels.”

  “I’m becoming increasingly convinced that there’s more to the Kesh than meets the eye,” Carson said.

  “And what has met the eye so far isn’t very much. Why do the Kesh have pyramid-shaped ships?”

  “No idea. Did we see anything in the Chara museum that would suggest pyramid
ships were a good idea?”

  “You mean other than the pyramid itself? No. But we were focused on finding a way out. At least I was. You and Marten had lapsed into archeologist mode.”

  “I don’t recall seeing anything either. The Kesh are definitely keeping secrets, but if what Ketzshanass said about their civil war is true, then they probably have good reason,” he said. “It sounds like the non-interference faction won that one.”

  “Well, we won’t solve it by sitting around. We need to get that artifact. Burnside is supposed to contact me by tomorrow, otherwise we fall back on plan B.”

  “What’s plan B?”

  “No idea.”

  Carson chuckled at that. “At least I’m here now.”

  Roberts raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think he included that in his plans?”

  “Of course n—” Carson stopped in mid-sentence, reviewing how he came to be here. “Damn it, you just might be right.”

  He shook his head, then continued after a short pause. “You know what? I could use some food. I had some nutrient solution in the pod, but it wasn’t very filling.”

  “I restocked the chef at Tau Ceti, and it’s just been me aboard.” She gestured around the galley. “Help yourself.”

  “Thanks.” Carson stood and stepped over to the autochef built in to a corner of the galley area, touched a pad and began browsing the menu screen. “You know,” he said, “even if that gizmo isn’t some kind of FTL communicator, the Kesh still have some interesting technology. Their pyramid ship had anti-gravity and a tractor beam.”

  “Probably related technologies, but I don’t think either of those would fit into something as small as what your pictures showed.”

  “Well, not the whole thing, but it might tell us something about the technology.” He made his selection and waited while the machine prepared it. “On the other hand,” he mused, “it could just be the Kesh equivalent of an autochef.”

  “Well, that would be disappointing.”

  “But more likely. I’d be interested to know the circumstances under which it was found, and where. That can tell a lot about an artifact. If it was found in the alien equivalent of a midden heap, for example, then it’s likely to be a piece of broken junk that somebody threw out.”

  “I’ll bet Ducayne and company want to know where it came from too.”

  The autochef signaled completion and Carson slid its door open, removed his meal—meat and vegetables wrapped in a pastry crust that he could eat by hand—and took it to the table.

  He nodded agreement at her comment.

  “You’re probably right.” He took a bite of the hand-meal. It was hot, and spicy, although not like Kakuloan sausage. Something Tau Cetan, he imagined. He chewed thoughtfully. Wouldn’t Ducayne have told him everything he knew about the artifact? Maybe not, to avoid biasing Carson to any particular conclusion.

  He swallowed his food then said, “You know, I’m getting the feeling I was rushed out here for nothing.”

  Roberts leaned back against the counter, her arms crossed, looking thoughtful. She shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like Ducayne, though. He’s like a chess player. Every move he makes has multiple possibilities for further moves.”

  Carson had to agree. What were the other possible reasons for sending him out here? “Can you pull up the file on Tanith? I’m curious as to what else might be here of archeological interest. If there is something, I can’t remember the specifics at the moment. Well, aside from the ancient Carthaginian goddess, but that’s usually spelled differently.”

  “Sure,” she said, then raised her voice. “Sophie, galley display, information on planet Tanith, highlight archeology.”

  “Since when did you start using the ship’s voice interface?” Carson asked.

  “Since around twenty hours ago when I was rudely awakened, and I asked for coffee. Or whenever I don’t feel like going forward to the cockpit or my cabin, where I left my control pad, like now.”

  “Oh,” he said, and took another bite. He skimmed the data on the galley display.

  As he’d thought, there wasn’t anything of archeological interest here, unless you counted the site of the first landing. If there had ever been intelligent natives here, humans had yet to find any trace of them. He continued reading. There was other information about the 82 Eridani system, and he’d never been here before. An item caught his eye. “That’s interesting,” he said

  “What is?” Roberts asked.

  “There are three other Earth-like planets in this system. I’m guessing they’re not terraformed?”

  “Correct. They’re not Earth-like either, the term is ‘terrestrial’, which just means rocky,” she said. “And no, they’re all hot and heavy.”

  “Say what?”

  “They’re super-Earths, ranging from two-and-a-half to five times Earth mass, and they all orbit the star at or closer than Mercury orbits Sol. Even with 82 Eridani being slightly cooler than Sol, they’re all very hot, with high gravity.”

  “Not exactly tourist spots, then,” Carson said.

  “No, but there are some outposts, especially near the poles. None of them are tidally locked, they’re in a weird spin resonance with each other, so they don’t have permanent night sides as such.” Jackie looked at him, her head cocked at a slight angle. “What brought that up?”

  “Just wondering if the Kesh, or the Spacefarers, would have had any interest in them. Sounds like not.”

  “They might have had. The planets are all geologically active, so you get ores forming that you wouldn’t find in asteroids. Are you thinking that’s where the artifact came from?”

  “Possible. It would be interesting if there were evidence of old mining operations or the like.” Would the Kesh or the Spacefarers have left noticeable evidence of that if they had been here? “What about here? Tanith has been settled for what, fifteen or so years now?”

  “Twenty local,” Jackie said, “so yes, roughly fifteen Earth years.”

  “Enough time for some pretty good orbital surveys, but still plenty of ground that hasn’t been thoroughly explored. The artifact could well have been found here.” Carson didn’t think it likely, but what if someone had discovered a buried pyramid, or the hidden remains of some alien base? Or perhaps he’d just been reading too many of Brown’s UFO files.

  “You’re wondering if there’s more where that came from?”

  “Of course,” he said. “It would be better if it were on Tanith, I don’t relish the idea of tromping around on a hot high-gravity planet.”

  “That might not even be an option,” Jackie said. “I don’t know if I have gear suitable, and the third planet may just be too big.”

  “Too big to land on?”

  “Oh, we could land on it. Once. I’m not sure the Sophie would be able to lift off again. I think the surface gravity is within her specs, but it also depends on the gravity gradient and how thick the atmosphere is. The high temperature doesn’t help there; it raises the top of the mesosphere, so orbital altitude is much higher. There are some tricks, but unless there’s a good reason, I’d just as soon not try.”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  “Let’s hope it came from Tanith or one of the in-system moons. But,” she continued, “there’s no indication of there ever being local sentient life here, and there certainly isn’t now. Haven’t the Spacefarer pyramids been limited to planets with local primitives to uplift? Why build one where there aren’t any?”

  She had a point, but Carson could only guess at alien motives. He shrugged. “As I said, plenty of ground that hasn’t been explored. Maybe somebody recently found ruins and hasn’t told anyone yet so they can pick the best for private sale. But—”

  “Why would anyone buy something from a planet with no reported natives?” Roberts said. “That’s a red flag for a scam.”

  “The find would be announced after tomb raiders have skimmed the best stuff to a warehouse, and then they’ll sell it. It wouldn’t be the firs
t time.” That was a sore point with Carson. Without thinking, he balled his right hand into a fist and pressed it into the palm of his left.

  “But there’s no evidence sentient life ever developed here, is there?” she asked.

  “Not yet. Maybe it just hasn’t been discovered. The spear-point finds on Sawyers World by the first landers was sheer luck. They might have gone undiscovered for decades.”

  “Okay. You’re the archeologist. But there’s no pyramid on Sawyers World either.”

  Carson looked at her. He couldn’t keep a wry grin from growing on his face.

  “What? Hannibal, why are you looking at me like that?”

  “That,” he said, his grin broadening, “may turn out not to be the case.”

  “There is a pyramid? Where?”

  “It will take some excavating to prove it, but it sounds similar to the Chara pyramid, but partially buried. I had an interesting chat, a few days before leaving for here, with Elizabeth Sawyer. She mentioned something interesting.”

  “Wait, the Elizabeth Sawyer? The Anderson expedition? Who the planet is named for? That one?”

  Carson nodded.

  “A pyramid on Sawyers World? How?”

  “Maybe. I still need to talk to Peter Finley, but Sawyer said that he thought Pete’s Peak was a pyramid from the start. It just didn’t make any archeological sense. Apparently, it doesn’t make much geological sense either, but she and the other geologists dubbed it a volcanic neck and everyone forgot about it.”

  Roberts brow furrowed as she processed this, then her eyes widened and she looked up at him. “So, the talisman whose star map we thought pointed to Sol might actually point to Alpha Centauri. I’ll have to check that. Or . . . maybe the pyramid on Earth just hasn’t been found yet.”

  Carson started to disagree with her, then changed his mind. A Spacefarer pyramid on Earth was unlikely; there were few places it could be and still remain undiscovered. But nor was it clear that the Sol talisman was actually an Alpha Centauri talisman. Instead he said: “I’ll tell you what has been found on Earth, though. We found out about it after you left with Marten for Taprobane, so maybe you haven’t heard.”