The Battle for the Ringed Planet

by Richard Edmond Johnson

  “I hear things, but nothing shows up on the Con. We’re almost there.” he sighed in frustration.

  In the dim light, aided by cracks of sunlight through the rings, they saw a large looming object ahead. The width and height seemed endless.

  “Something big ahead,” Torian announced glancing at the small black device attached to the top of his rifle emitting a holo of the objects further on.

  “I can make it out now,” May spoke from behind, “It goes on forever.”

  “Yeah, doesn’t look natural.” Torian replied and then glanced back to the blonde girl, “Any idea, Siiri, stories or rumors?”

  “Just that there are lost ones in the Outlawed Lands.”

  “We saw those,” May replied dryly.

  The object grew larger as they marched nearer, black and smooth across the entire horizon. It blotted out rays of sun leaked through the rings and the shadow placed them in complete darkness. The vastness of the structure, only meters away, awed them all. There were no obvious details except that it was enormously wide, tall, and evenly smooth all the way.

  “It’s a long wall.” Siiri guessed.

  “It’s a kilometer high, nothing on the top, not any parapets, towers...” Torian added.

  He stopped and May came up beside him, “What’s it made of, stone?”

  “Con says unknown material, but it could be malfunctioning again.”

  Siiri added, “The road leads up to it.”

  Cautiously Torian, followed by Siiri and then May, paced up to the large smooth black wall.

  “Ambush, left!” May cried out and leveled her rifle. Two figures appeared, both male, one older with grey hair, wearing hooded robes open at the front with loose pants. They carried no weapons, but their eyes glowed. Neither advanced, merely watching.

  Torian and Siiri aimed their rifles but no one fired, “Nothing on my Con!” the flight specialist reported. Then Siiri lowered her rifle, and her eyes glowed.

  May stared, alarmed, “Uh … Torian …”

  “Aye … Siiri?”

  No one moved and May kept her rifle pointing towards the two strange men in robes. She kept glancing nervously at Siiri and the two strangers as Torian touched Siiri’s shoulder.

  Not knowing what to expect from the blonde haired girl, he was reassured when she gently reached to hold his hand, closing her eyes quietly concentrating.

  “Are you all right, Siiri?” he whispered, remembering how she got when the voices affected her before.

  “I’m fine, Torian, give me a moment.”

  “Are they going to attack?” May gripped her rifle tighter.

  “No…” she opened her eyes and they were back to her lovely azurite blue, “They say no harm will come to us if we promise not to hurt them.”

  “I don’t trust them.” the towering marine watched the two strangers suspiciously, but then they began to back away, disappearing into the shadowy darkness.

  Torian gave Siiri a hard look, “Who told you this?”

  “I don’t know. There were too many.”

  Sighing, he turned back to the wall, stepping up and touching the smooth surface where the road stopped. It was a blue-black sort of color and cool to the touch.

  “It feels like ice.”

  A single tiny hole with a bluish hue was the only interruption on the exterior directly in the middle of the road width at Torian’s height.

  May touched the surface followed by Siiri and the tall marine remarked with awe in her voice, “I’ve never felt a material like that in all the places I’ve seen.”

  “Torian?” Siiri whispered, studying the dimly glowing hole in the wall, “Remember the key Father Jarlan gave you?”

  “Oh yeah.” he fumbled around in one of the many pockets on his flight suit and pulled out the bluish crystal stick that Jarlan had given him.

  “You’re not going to put that in there?” May cautioned.

  “Why?”

  “Well, I’ve seen a lot of security systems that will fry you if you don’t have the right DNA.”

  “Comforting. Somehow I think Jarlan had something to do with this weird structure …” he tossed the key to Siiri.

  “Her?”

  “Remember when I told you about the designer of the shield? His name is Jarlan. He is also a priest, engineer, doctor … and her ancestor. So her DNA would be a family match.”

  “He’s a priest? Christian or Buddhist?”

  “Christian.” Siiri examined the key, “He also designed all of the mechanics in the village, electricity, plumbing, power generators …”

  “So he could have designed this?” Torian frowned.

  “I don’t know, Space Jockey.” May shook her head, “Have you seen anything like this on any of the holos or planets?”

  “No, but there is one way to find out…”

  “Right.” Siiri held the key and held it near the small hole that glowed with the same color as the crystal key. She inserted the crystal into the slot and the key lit up. Both she and Torian stepped backwards.

  When nothing happened, they all glanced at each other and Torian remarked, “What now?”

  “Pull it out?” May replied.

  Siiri grasped the key and pulled it out. Then, almost instantly, an outline of a rectangular door glowed with the same hue as the key. It was wide and tall, enough for a hover vehicle. Inside the door outline, the sheer wall completely vanished. Curious, but cautious, the three figures peered inside.

  The ground within the structure was smooth and flat, just like the walls themselves. It was dark and shadowy inside, but when Torian aimed his rifle shining his light they could make out square and rectangular buildings on either side of a main corridor, or street, as wide as the door.

  Siiri held Torian’s shoulder as he proceeded to step inside with May close behind shining her light. All three held their rifles nervously staring at the architecture. Buildings, windowless, made of the same smooth material as the street and walls, rose up in different heights on either side. Some had openings for doors but many were sealed. Taller buildings could be seen further along the road, but all three stopped, staring ahead at a vast array of colors in the distance.

  “What are they?” Siiri gasped.

  Torian shook his head, “Got me.”

  In the distant were tall tube-like structures reaching far up to the sky. Each tube was a bright color, tints and shades of blues, greens, yellows, oranges and reds. It was a sort of rainbow effect, dazzling and stunning.

  “Con is totally out. There must be thousands of those things, reaching into the sky …” Torian spoke softly, in awe, “They must be giving off power … I don’t understand why we didn’t see those from orbit …”

  “Directly under the rings…” May added, “…hidden.”

  Movement inside one of the smooth buildings caught Siiri’s eyes and she gripped Torian’s shoulder tightly. He turned and saw several pairs of glowing eyes watching them from the open doorway of a building to their left.

  “More over there,” May pointed and they saw a woman and two small children with glowing eyes watching them.

  “They told me no harm would come to us.” Siiri whispered.

  “Let’s hope so, I think there are more watching from the high-rises.”

  Walking in single file close together, the three explorers noted two parked hover pick up trucks with same colors and markings as the truck at the tower, fully intact. Images covered some of the smooth walled buildings, pictures that seemed like a flat panel displays on the entire wall. The first one they saw depicted the planetary system, showing the sun and all the satellites, including Selunia, with its rings and moons.

  “Look at that one!” Siiri pointed at one image that depicted fields of some sort of crop, aqua stems and round blue bulbs on top.

  “That isn’t barley …” Torian lowered his rifle with one hand, while Siiri held his other.

  “Torian … Siiri …” May faced another image and the other two gasped. It was
an image on a tall apartment like building, large and wide. A family of four walked in a field of tall green plants with web-like yellow lines on wide leaves. Astonishingly, they were not human. Tall, very tall, thin brown skinned creatures with elongated heads, round gold eyes, and three fingers on each hand.

  “This is an alien city …” Torian spoke quietly.

  Chapter 15: Under the Rings

  “Maybe it’s some sort of holo science fiction movie poster.” May quickly added.

  “I hope you’re right.” he replied and while Siiri gripped his hand tighter he glanced at her, “Let’s keep walking.”

  More humans in robes or rags peered from doorways or around corners with gold colored eyes, “What about them?” May whispered, “They have the same colored eyes as the aliens…”

  Torian interrupted, “Let’s not jump to conclusions yet. There is supposed to be a facility in here where Jarlan said we could find the access code to the shields. But I think I am beginning to understand why he said we wouldn’t like it.”

  “I’m definitely am not liking this.” Siiri spoke in a subdued voice.

  They passed under a couple of transparent walkways between buildings, round and clear. There were more images on buildings, depicting more of the strange beings, possibly former inhabitants of the city.

  May pointed at a depiction of a creature holding a dark brown colored bottle with white script on the label, “Looks like they had Coke here, too.”

  A fleeting smile formed on Torian’s lips, “If I remember the coordinates, the facility should be close, maybe a click.”

  Although the city appeared neat due to the strange metallic smooth walls there was still debris littering the road, dirt swept in from above and water marks on residence walls, but no vegetation anywhere. Torian could not even guess the size of the place, but he imagined it was much larger than Kaarina. They came closer to one of the giant tubes, this one greenish, reaching far into the sky. Cylindrical in shape, the giant glowing rod was only a couple of meters across and at the base a small sphere was the same color.

  “What are they?” Siiri peered up to the sky following the strange object.

  The young man gazed up where colored hues brightened the dark shadowy rings, “I think they may be some sort of energy source, chemical reactions to power the city.”

  “Torian, there is a building over there. It’s different, like one of ours,” the tall helmeted marine pointed.

  “Yeah, that looks like the same material as the tower, let’s go check it out.” With eyes from the other humans, watching the three walked apprehensively towards a single two story rectangular building, silver and grey standing out from the dark taller buildings with images occupying their walls. There was a hover truck parked, a lone vehicle on streets empty save for some debris and piles of refuse.

  The metal door, closed along with metal shuttered windows, appeared secure. Walking around the building, which was three times the size of the tower where they had spent the night, they found no other exit. Dents and scratches on the door show signs of attempted forced entry.

  “It’s sealed up tight.” Torian observed, “There is an old key pad here, but I don’t know the code.”

  “We can blow it open.” May suggested, pulling out a grenade.

  Torian nodded and May placed the explosive next to the door and they ducked around a corner. A loud boom echoed through the street. Upon inspection, the door was badly dented leaving a gap of a few inches.

  “I’ll check the truck for tools.” Torian strode over with Siiri in tow. He used his rifle to smash a window after trying the locked doors and sure enough under the seat were a hammer and a crowbar.

  After a couple of attempts May pushed the metal door open wide enough for them to pass. Inside the darkened interior smelled of mold but a quick survey with flashlights showed the entry area to be an office similar to the one in the tower, also empty. They removed their backpacks near the door and examined the room more closely while May exerted some effort pulling it closed again.

  “My Con is working.” May announced.

  “Mine, too. On the wall.” Torian directed the others with his light.

  “Interactive maps, well, at one time.” May added her light. There were two flat screens depicting the city created with architectural design software, but filled in with details and color. One showed a top view, but the middle was mostly incomplete and the other showed a side view.

  “Is that right?” May turned to Torian, “2000 kilometers wide and 4000 long …”

  “And 100 kilometers deep, looks like lots of underground chambers.”

  “The biggest city I’ve ever seen, even for earth.”

  A set of stairs led up and a hallway extended to the rear of the building. In the corridor, there were several doors to the right and one set of double doors to the left. Torian strode over the first door on the right and found it unlocked. When he opened it he grimaced at the rank odor and then upon illuminating the room with his light glanced solemnly at May and Siiri.

  “Office. The occupant shot himself in the head.” Torian stepped aside and the other two glanced quickly at a human skeleton slumped over a desk with a boney hand still clutching a black pistol.

  Across the small hallway, the double doors were locked. May handed him the crow bar and after a moment, he forced them open. A small set of steps led down into a large room with an even more pungent smell. It appeared to be a lab and there were four examining tables laid out in the center.

  “Aye!” Torian exclaimed and the others focused their lights on his. On each of the tables were skeletal remains, but not human. The remains belonged to humanoid creatures with some bones similar to humans: femurs, elongated skulls, pelvis, and ribs.

  Aiming his Con Torian remarked, “They excavated them.” he studied the vertical screens from the small black device, “About 10,000 years old, these ones …” he walked over to another table, “…about the same here.”

  “More bones on the counters, and lab equipment.” May added, “Is this what both armies are fighting over?”

  The young man shook his head, “No, they don’t know about this place. I think there is something else to do with Jarlan’s experiments. This might be worth a war, though.”

  In the other offices on the first floor, there was nothing out of the ordinary until the last one at the end. Two human skeletons lay on the floor both with bony hands wrapped around each other’s necks.

  “And these two killed each other, so it seems.” then in the hallway Torian turned to Siiri, “Your quiet.”

  The blonde girl peered into his chestnut eyes with tears welling up in her own, and then she reached for him and caught the young man off guard while he took her arms in his, “Hey? What’s wrong?”

  She sobbed for a moment before answering as May walked over and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Siiri?”

  Between sobs she lifted her head and whispered, “The voices … they’re aliens, in my head.”

  A look of alarm spread across Torian’s face and May stepped back, “Damn!”

  Torian recovered quickly, “You don’t know that, Siiri.”

  Angrily she pounded her hand on his chest, “It all makes sense! They’re the real demons! Look at the lost ones, with their eyes! They’re not free! The aliens control them. They live through the human hosts, eating the city food stores, hunting animals, bearing children, and the poor souls can only watch, trapped!” then she let out a long sigh, “Now I know why Kayla would want me to take long walks along the river, put flowers in my hair, and to kiss Brant! She was living through me!”

  Swallowing, Torian was at a loss for words, stepping back and staring into Siiri’s sad blue eyes, “But she hasn’t taken you over completely …”

  “No, between her and Sarloth, they would spend moments …” the blonde girl could not finish.

  “Where are they? All I see is bones and pictures. No living creatures.” puzzled, May asked.

  “De
ad. All of them.” Siiri choked, and then she buried her face into Torian’s shoulder.

  The towering marine shot Torian a worried glanced, “Can they take us over, too?”

  “I’ve heard no voices, and only certain people in her village were affected.” Torian held Siiri tighter, “But the original colonists were special, they belonged to a secret society, with some sort of enhanced abilities.”

  “Did the aliens kill the colonists in Kaarina?”

  May and Torian stared at each other in fear, “The ground troops …what if …” the young man gently pulled away from Siiri and peered down at her tear streaked face “We have to find Jarlan’s office, get the codes, and then we’re getting out of here and off-world.” She nodded slowly, wiping her face.

  “The offices have names, who are we looking for?” May started down the hall.

  “Jarlan Almquist”

  “Not on this floor.”

  “Then upstairs,” tenderly he held Siiri’s hand, “We won’t stay long.”

  On the second floor, there was a small eating area and a few more offices. There were no more skeletons but at the very back was the largest office, and on the door was a nameplate in gold with faded black lettering with Jarlan’s name.

  The door was ajar and the office empty, but the window shutters, metal panels that slide closed, were partially open, and May noted the tactical view of the street outside.

  “Siiri, check his desk, I’ll check the holo computer.” the blonde girl opened the drawers to the wooden desk, still intact and in good shape.

  “Will that work after all these years?” May looked skeptical as Torian checked the controls of the small flat box on the desk.

  “No…” he pulled out his Con, “but I can scan and decrypt the storage media, they’re built to last.” He set to work and images and documents appeared on his holo display. The wiry young man shuffled through them, stopping to read a few.

  Then Siiri froze, clutching her forehead.

  “Torian!” May strode up as the girl’s knees folded. He put the Con down and went by her side.