Parker Interstellar Travels 4: The Trilisk Hunt

by Michael McCloskey

I ought to get a full V-pod in here for this.

  The virtual pods were used for extended stints in virtual worlds. They accommodated various bodily needs so the user could remain immersed in alternate realities for long periods of time. Such a pod could prove useful for extreme programming…

  Nah. Even on twitch, I’d crash in twelve hours anyway.

  She sent for a sandwich from the Terran mess using a Vovokan delivery system. It refused to bring her the food, since there was no transport sand on the floor between her and the Terranized mess hall. She had just wired through the delivery using one of Magnus’s scout robots when she saw Telisa had left her a message asking for a meeting.

  Shit.

  “Telisa, I’m free now. Sorry about that.”

  “That’s okay. Were you working or playing?”

  “Working on Clacker.”

  “Wow, you’re dedicated,” she said.

  She’s probing.

  “I can report to you guys now if you want,” Cilreth offered.

  “Report what?” Magnus said, joining the channel. He had a video feed, so Cilreth turned on her own. Telisa followed suit. Her companions looked the same as they always did: sickeningly strong, fit, and in love.

  At least they aren’t rolling at the moment.

  Current Terran vernacular allowed for the term to cover wrestling or lovemaking. With Telisa and Magnus, either applied with equal validity. They were either training, planning, or loving at any given moment of the day, and half of it was incarnate instead of virtual.

  “We have no short-term hope of securing Clacker against interference from Shiny, despite my best efforts. I’m still a child at this. I’ve come a long ways, I feel comfortable handling the Clacker for us, but Vovokan sciences are just… this is going to take a couple of years.”

  And about a ton of twitch, she added internally.

  “I’m glad you’re so interested in it,” Telisa said. “We need someone we can trust in charge of the ship. You might want to keep the data on your findings for a virtual trainer, in case we get you an apprentice someday.”

  “Sure,” Cilreth said.

  “Don’t work too hard,” Magnus said. “I don’t know when your next break will be. We don’t know how long it will be before we see action, either.”

  “Hrm, I’m playing Shiny next time. I got your back. From way, way behind you.”

  Telisa smiled. “Then it’s just us and the new team for the next one…” Telisa said, leaving a fat pause.

  “I know you’re waiting for me to mention the robots so you can laugh at me,” Magnus said.

  “The noobs still don’t know about Shiny,” Cilreth pointed out.

  “Maybe they don’t need to know. Whatever he does, we can just say it’s you back on the ship,” Telisa said.

  “They have to know eventually,” Cilreth said. “But the real question is, are they ready? As I found out last time, this stuff is dangerous. And now we know we’re after something nasty.”

  “I think they’re ready, but Arakaki and Magnus aren’t so sure,” Telisa said.

  “I think they’re young and all hot to go, but yeah, not really ready for this,” Cilreth said. “Neither was I, really, when I went out with you nut balls the last time.”

  “We can solve both these problems at once,” Magnus said.

  “Really? We’re listening,” Cilreth said.

  Magnus leaned forward. “Suppose we create a simulation of the Trilisk ruins on Thespera and put them in that trap. They get to meet Shiny, and it’s all a test. If they make it out of there like we did, then we know they’re ready.”

  “Wow, Magnus, that’s a great idea!” Telisa said.

  “They might just shoot Shiny dead,” Cilreth said.

  “Shiny might just shoot them dead,” Magnus said.

  Cilreth nodded. “Let’s do it. I’d like to learn more about that place. What if they don’t succeed?”

  “It’ll be informative for us and a learning experience for them,” Magnus said. “We should confer with Shiny on the details. I think he can help you get the simulation going. I don’t mean the programming aspect of it; I mean the depth of what he knows about the complex and himself compared to us. He might even use the prayer device. You could wire him in to control himself if he agrees, since I bet it will be hard to define the behavior module for his avatar without him.”

  “You got that right,” Telisa said. “In fact, if you do end up with a module for him, let us know so we can examine it. I’d like to be able to predict his actions.”

  “You’re the one who says we can trust him,” Magnus said.

  “We can. I’d just like to know more about Vovokans, xeno freak that I am,” Telisa said.

  “Let’s see what we can learn,” Cilreth said.

  ***

  “Shiny?”

  The connection request came from Cilreth. She called for him by his Terran name. He had looked it up long ago and understood its origin completely after a short misunderstanding where he thought it might describe his intelligence. In fact, his reflective gold-colored surface had birthed the designation.

  “Go,” he responded. It seemed a very popular and efficient Terran response in use on their network. Cilreth paused. Kirizzo wondered if he had responded inappropriately.

  “Could we ask you a small favor?”

  “Shiny open to negotiation.”

  “Oh. Good. Well, we’re setting up a test for the recruits. We want to simulate the Trilisk installation on Thespera where you met Telisa and Magnus. Can you help us? And would you be willing to play your own part?”

  Kirizzo immediately realized such as test could prove to be a valuable source of insight into the new team and Terrans in general, as well as give him an opportunity to affect the ranking of the new team members.

  “I will accommodate, provide, assist,” Kirizzo said. There was another pause. Kirizzo believed Cilreth was waiting for him to state his terms. “No external trade of services to propose. Intrinsic value sufficient: Shiny wishes to invest, assist, improve training of Terran allies.”

  “Excellent. I think you just said this is a win-win. I’ll send you what I have, and we can move from there.” Cilreth disconnected.

  Unfortunately, Kirizzo had spent most of his time analyzing the incident with the Trilisk and had been unable to focus on the changes happening among his Terran allies. He reviewed the conversations, training sessions, and behavior records of all the Terrans on the Clacker since the last expedition.

  The social dynamic was changing as the number of Terrans increased. Though the Terran society put forward a precept of gender agnosticism, Shiny noted strong gender-related patterns. He noted unusual behaviors shaping up between the males in their training. They worked to establish an unconscious sort of ranking among themselves. Kirizzo remembered something from his previous studies and investigated it again on the Terran network. The term was “pecking order”. Strong Terran males competed for positions in micro societies by testing themselves against each other in both physical and subtler ways. There were many precedents to this in other species on their home planet, especially among phylum chordata, class mammalia.

  Of the newcomers, Caden appeared to be the most confident, aggressive. This one had an advanced skillset for virtual simulations of combat and strategy. At first he merely challenged Magnus’s dominance in virtual contests of skill. Finding an advantage there, he would slowly gain confidence and eventually, perhaps over years, come to replace Magnus as the lead male.

  Jamie Arakaki, though female, behaved and fit into the tiny society as a male: perhaps a requirement as a warrior in a species where martial traditions had evolved among males before females had taken roles as fighters. Telisa’s behavior hinted that she placed herself in a role of more direct competition with Arakaki than with Caden and the others. Some sort of gender-specific partitioning of competition. Possibly this occurred at an instinctual level, a subconscious drive, since Terrans’ self-proclaimed directive of
equality between their sexes would not support such behavior as occurred in the rest of the Terran class mammalia.

  Siobhan’s behavior had been shown to be much more like a Vovokan: she was content to follow and watch until she saw her opportunity. Then she became unpredictable, dangerous. Kirizzo felt a warm familiarity in the profile defined by all her actions thus far. She was his favorite.

  Shiny concluded the long planning phase. He decided what he needed to do for an optimal long-term picture. Kirizzo would secure his position near the top of the pecking order by decrementing Caden’s self-confidence and perceived rank.

  Chapter 9

  Siobhan sat in a comfortable chair in the simulation room they had set up for virtual training. Siobhan, Imanol, Caden, and Maxsym often came there to train rather than just sign in from their rooms. Siobhan thought her room was incredible for any quarters aboard a starship, but it was nice to leave it and move around the Clacker every day. Real physical movement gave her a sense of health and well-being. She had been cooking up some cool ideas for daredevil stunts in the landing bay where they had first arrived. That kind of space should not be wasted.

  This morning, Telisa joined them in person in the simulation room.

  Something is up. Telisa did not usually show up in person at this time of day. She looked fit and determined. Siobhan admired Telisa, feared Magnus, and half respected, half hated Arakaki.

  “Today we have a special test for you,” Telisa said. “Like a lot of what you’ve been practicing, it’s full virtual. However, the main difference is, the place you’re going to is real. It’s a place that explorers went to, and some of them didn’t make it back. Good luck.”

  “What happens if we die too?” asked Siobhan.

  “If you die, then you get to watch the others. You can no longer affect the outcome, of course,” Magnus said from somewhere else on the ship.

  Siobhan meant what if they failed the test, but she didn’t ask again.

  “I’m thinking this is one of those scenarios where we can’t survive; the odds are stacked impossibly against us,” Imanol said.

  “Maybe it is. You take the lead, Imanol,” Telisa said.

  Imanol made a face.

  “That’s what you get for your trouble,” Siobhan said to him on a private channel.

  Siobhan felt nervous. But she knew that was only because she cared about the result. She had not cared about anything but revenge on Speronautics for a long time. Siobhan had told Telisa days ago that she wanted to join the team. Her commitment to them was real.

  An especially important test. I’ve seen so many amazing things here. This outfit, whoever they are, are people worth working for. And they chose me. I want to make the cut.

  Siobhan signed in to the virtual world. The four trainees appeared on the surface of an alien planet. They were in some kind of jungle: surrounded by spiny plants or plant-like things. They were thick growing, dense, and covered in thin needles. Siobhan looked all around while Telisa gave them some background.

  “You’ve arrived here to investigate a mysterious power source. You’re here for alien artifacts, but with a time constraint. Get what you can and rally back here for extraction within a couple of days,” Telisa said.

  Siobhan tested her legs. The planet felt close to Earth in mass, which meant she felt a bit heavy. Among the plants she saw something more interesting: a ruin. The group stood ten meters from a smooth, gray building. It was as tall as a Terran building of one or two stories and partly covered by the dense vegetation.

  She checked her pack’s inventory. The backpack reported holding water, food, three universal power modules, a three-day toiletry packet, a medical kit, and a few survival tools like a mini-shovel and a water tester. A light-duty smart rope was coiled around the perimeter of the pack.

  At her belt she had a stunner with an extra charge magazine, two tiny but powerful flashlights, and a long knife. Her suit felt leathery and tough, but it was not military-grade armor.

  Why not a Veer suit? We have so many on Clacker. They’re like a religion to those people.

  Siobhan looked at the others. Only Caden had a Veer suit on.

  What’s up with that? Favoritism?

  “Okay, well I think we found the ruins,” Imanol said dryly. “Everyone sharp. We’ll move together this way around the perimeter of this building with Caden on point. Maxsym, watch the way we came and make sure nothing’s sneaking up on us. Siobhan, watch the forest carefully. I’ll be paying more attention to the building side and seeing how to get in there.”

  Siobhan looked into the tree-things. They looked jumbled. She saw a few of them that grew on top of some of the others. They were all fuzzy or spiny. But nothing moved out there except some branches swaying in the breeze. These plants were quieter in the wind than the many leaves of a Terran forest.

  The group started walking around the building. They turned a smooth corner carefully.

  “Well, easier and easier,” Imanol said. A large hole had been put into the side of the building. “Here’s our entrance point.”

  Caden went inside to check it out. Siobhan stood on edge, scanning the forest with her eyes and holding her stunner ready. She watched the trees and the ground.

  What’s the catch? There’s a catch. I’m not going to be the one to miss it.

  “Got something,” Siobhan said. She had her stunner trained on it instantly. Some kind of orange crab-snail in a tree. “Looks harmless,” she added after a moment. She added its location to their shared map.

  “No assumptions,” Imanol said. Then he looked at the creature himself. “Poisonous, maybe? Looks slow enough… just keep an eye on it.”

  Siobhan watched the thing like a hawk for ten seconds. Then she decided it might be a distraction. It was very tiny. She kept scanning.

  “Clear inside,” Caden reported over his link.

  “Okay, Maxsym, then Siobhan, inside,” Imanol said. He turned to cover the forest with his rifle. Siobhan turned from the creature and stepped carefully through the jagged hole. The material of the building looked like ceramic or plastic. She saw tall gray shapes inside. Her heart rate increased.

  As her eyes adjusted, she saw the inside was dirty. She figured the hole must have been there a long time. The gray hulks had black panes of glass or plastic on their surfaces.

  “Alien?” asked Imanol.

  Siobhan looked the machines over. They appeared powered down. But still, it wasn’t like any factory she had been in.

  Could it be a factory? I don’t think so.

  “Yes, alien,” she said. “I’m thinking alien power plant. I see heavy conductors. Or are they tubes? Of course my link isn’t picking any services up. We won’t be able to interface with their machines. We should just try to find some loose artifacts we can retrieve for study. Then we might learn enough to know what to look for next. Or if these heavy banks of equipment are worth taking back with us.”

  “This stuff could be Trilisk,” Maxsym said. “I’ve studied them a bit.”

  “I saw a show on them once. Didn’t learn a damn thing,” Imanol said.

  “That’s because we don’t know much about them,” Maxsym said. “But these devices look like what I saw. No manual controls. Like statues, but with these black plates. I think this is a Trilisk ruin.”

  “Should we try to take them apart?” Caden asked.

  “Yes, if we can’t find anything better. Check out that huge pipe.”

  The pipe sat in the center, with a huge open end. The other end sloped into the ground. It was large enough to allow humans to walk inside. Caden moved in on the pipe as if it were a smart mine. His weapon never wavered as he approached.

  “It leads down. Maybe another level,” he said. “We can fit.”

  “Scout it out,” Imanol said. “I’ll cover the entrance here. Siobhan, Maxsym, keep looking around.”

  Siobhan sifted through the mud on the floor and walked around the dark machines. Whatever they were, the machinery or circuit
ry was sealed inside. They appeared dirty but undamaged. They had not found anything new by the time Caden reported back on his link.

  “I’m on a level below. There’s something very odd at the end of the tunnel. A perfect black hole. Or sphere. It’s so perfectly black I can’t even tell its shape. Flashlight has no effect. I stuck the end of my knife in; it seemed to come out unchanged.”

  Imanol walked over to the mouth of the tube.

  “You guys, watch the entrance. I’m going to check this out.”

  After another couple of minutes, Imanol transmitted, “Everyone down here, please.”

  Siobhan looked at the circular pipe entrance. She traded looks with Maxsym.

  “What if that thing closes on us?” she asked.

  “Well, we walked into the building, didn’t we?” asked Maxsym. “It could just as easily have been a death trap.”

  Siobhan felt scared. She unclipped a powerful light and activated it, pointing it ahead.

  What if this is a giant water pipe? Or worse? We could be trapped in here, suffocated, swept away… I guess it wouldn’t be open like this if it was for liquid.

  The pipe did not seem to have any closure mechanism on the end. Mechanically, at least, it did not appear that it would seal on them.

  Who are you kidding? A Trilisk pipe could probably just materialize an end cap like magic.

  She stepped into the pipe. It slanted downward and spiraled to one side. Siobhan relied on her light. She told it to increase intensity through her link to help dispel her fear with more light. They joined the others at the end, many meters below the surface. Siobhan saw only blackness at the end, even when she shined her light into it.

  “Ideas?” Imanol said. “We stuck a rifle barrel through there, and it came back okay. And Caden stuck his hand through. No pain or noticeable effects.”

  “Yet who knows what happens as soon as your brain goes in there. Or all of you,” Siobhan said, verbalizing the worry they all felt.

  “I know what to do,” Maxsym said. “Grab one of those critters from outside. Stick one in there and see if it’s harmed.”