by John Walker
As independent researchers, they didn’t have the backing of any organization of power. They had no protection.
“We might want to keep a lid on this,” Kyle said. “For as long as humanly possible.”
“Until we can’t extract any more data,” Lysa replied. “That’s my plan.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“I’m sure we’ve both been thinking about how the colonies will respond to this. Not only the different universities but the commercial entities. The government. You know what they think right away. What are the military applications?” Lysa huffed. “It’s always about improving the guns, isn’t it?”
“Hey, we could’ve used better guns on Anthis Three, huh?”
“Yes, but I don’t have much use for guns now.” Lysa tapped the weapon on his shoulder. “What exactly do you think you’re going to shoot here today? Me?”
“I have thought about taking the credit all for myself,” Kyle teased. “Leave you buried in the rocks or something. Come on! We have no idea what might be in there. Automated defenses, weird animals, some kind of construct… you never know what you might have to shoot.”
“Someone read way too many pulp adventure stories when they were younger.” Lysa paused as they reached the shield. She ran a scan. “Wow… this energy…”
“What’s special about it?”
“The fact it’s probably been on forever?” Lysa turned to him. “I’m only using a little hyperbole there. I mean, based on these readings, it seems to have an unlimited wealth of power. I wonder…” She made some adjustments. “Aha! It’s geothermal. That’s how it continues.”
“That makes sense. Talk about renewable energy.”
“Yeah. Hmm.” Lysa picked up a rock and tossed it at the shield. It bounced off. “Okay, so it’ll reflect that. Um…” She rummaged around the area until she found a stick. She prepared to poke it but Kyle grabbed her hand. “What?”
“What if that zaps you?”
“I was going to toss it. See what it does to organic material?”
“Oh.” Kyle cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. Carry on.”
“Uh huh.” Lysa grinned, tossing the wood at the shield. It passed through to the other side, causing the surface to warble. “Interesting reaction.”
“That seems weird. Why would that work?”
“Not sure.” Lysa tapped at her computer. “I’m creating a simulation. Find out what will happen if we… you know… decided to walk through it.”
“That seems really insanely dangerous.”
“Hence the simulation.” Lysa directed him toward the ship. “Get the lights ready. I don’t think we’re getting through this shield…” The ground shook, interrupting her. She swayed. Kyle grabbed her, dragging her away from the shield. “What the hell?” She pointed. “Look! Look at the barrier specifically!”
Kyle squinted then took two steps back as the warble effect dissipated. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how prominent it had been. Heat poured off of it but with it gone, the chill of late afternoon fell over them. It hadn’t even dawned on him that it shouldn’t have been so warm down there.
“Did it just go down?” Kyle leaned to look at her computer. He had no idea what he saw. “Why? What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Lysa picked up another rock, tossing it ahead. It skipped across the ground, well beyond where the barrier had been. “But it’s gone.”
“Is there still power readings from inside?”
“Yeah, works fine. My guess is that some sensor detected us. The process may have taken a few minutes to bring the thing down. There’s no immediate danger of the place being destroyed by the rocks. That’s another possibility. Regardless.” Lysa smirked. “I say we get our asses in there.”
“One problem,” Kyle said, “what if the shield turns back on?”
“There must be a terminal in there.” Lysa shrugged. “We’ll shut it off.”
“How’re you so confident you’ll figure it out?”
“If you’re too worried, bring the survival pack. We’ll get it. I promise.”
Kyle considered the structure for a long moment in silence. He agreed with her. It was the right choice to get in there. That’s why they took the journey in the first place. Are instincts or paranoia holding me back? He couldn’t tell. I can’t hold us up because of irrational fear. No. It’s time to step inside.
“Let’s do it.” Kyle plunged forward without waiting, hurrying toward the engravings. He wanted imagery of them, a video but all that could wait. The first thing they needed to do was see inside, discover whatever wonder might be waiting for them. He set his computer to scan for anomalies, in the hopes it might discover any pitfalls or potential booby traps.
“Whoa!” Lysa rushed to catch up. “Leave a girl behind, eh? Come on!”
“You know how I am when I get nervous,” Kyle said. “I gotta move.”
“Yeah, I know. We should be good through the entrance. Topographical map shows the wall directly in front of his blocks direct view of whatever’s inside. However, we can go left or right to get around it. Then there should be a pretty big chamber. According to this, it’s easily large enough for the ship to comfortably park in the center.”
“Maybe a communal hall,” Kyle said, “or an audience chamber. Something for their leadership caste to get together with others. Maybe even a temple.”
“I hope there’s religious significance. Theology can tell us a lot about the culture. Depending on what sort of documentation we find… and what we can translate. Deciphering their writing will probably take years if there’s no codex or lexicon.” Lysa continued staring at the computer screen as they drew close to the entrance proper. “No anomalies yet.”
“Me neither.” Kyle drew a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s make history.”
They paced around to the left, rounding the wall. Embossed symbols took up the floor, not in squares but freeform, as if the entire thing had been a stoneworker’s mural. The walls held bizarre designs, squiggly figures with dots here and there. Kyle got a serpentine feel, as if the reptiles had been important or at least an inspiration.
As they rounded the way into the chamber proper, they stopped before the entrance. The hall stretched back a hundred yards with an eighty foot high ceiling. Pillars lined the path directly ahead of them but to either side, built in benches lined area. Otherwise, it appeared to be empty. No pottery, no equipment… nothing.
“Those benches are around our size,” Lysa pointed out. “If they’re for sitting and not to put your foot on, then they might have been around our height.”
The far side of the room remained in shadow. Kyle gestured. “We should check that side out. See if there are passages or entryways that might take us further into the complex. Or if this is it.”
And if it is, we’ll have to document every square inch. There must be something here. Though I guess the structure itself is enough to keep the hunt going.
They set foot inside. Something clacked above them. Lights burst to life, revealing the entire room. The source of the illumination remained difficult to ascertain. Parts of the ceiling just seemed to glow but however it worked, it chased away all the shadows while casting a couple of beams specifically on a pedestal opposite them.
“That’s promising,” Lysa said. “And motion activated lights.”
“Not a surprise given the shield.” Kyle rubbed his chin. “Okay. Let’s check that thing out then we can look through the rest of this place.” He started across the chamber. Every footstep echoed off the vast ceiling, even when he tried to walk softly. At the halfway point, he stopped to turn in place, soaking up the majesty of it.
Massive structures like that spoke of opulence to him though this culture may have been acknowledging simple economy. They chose to build their structure into the cliff, which may have been hollowed out already. Regardless, the way they decorated the walls and ceiling, the pillars and the floor, the lights�
�� it all spoke to people who cared about aesthetics.
Well beyond a survival phase. Kyle continued along the way, catching up with Lysa. This speaks to a sense of awe… of reverence. They must have cared about whatever they planned to store here. Enough so to put it in a place of real splendor. He jogged the last little bit, standing beside his partner.
The pedestal held a black box floating above a foundation. A white glow surrounded it, humming from the power expenditure. Lysa scanned it, walking around the thing several times. Kyle leaned to examine the thing, noting that it was perfectly smooth on all sides, the matte finish drinking in all the light.
“That’s a cube,” Kyle said. “Is it hollow?”
“More concerned about the power right now,” Lysa replied. “I’m almost done with the scan.”
“I’m just thinking it might have something inside it.”
“It might. But it won’t matter if we can’t take the thing.”
Kyle held his hand close to the light. It didn’t give off any heat. “It’s not like the shield outside.”
“No, it may just be a suspensor field.” Lysa frowned. “Why would they have it levitate? That doesn’t make much sense.”
“Cause it looks amazing?” Kyle offered. That earned him a glare. “You know, sometimes people do things just because they’re neat. They don’t need a particular reason. Look around at the walls. They’re gorgeous. Whoever built this place cares about the splendor. So it’s not a farfetched idea that we’re looking at an aesthetic choice.”
“Surprisingly well thought out excuse for saying something looks cool,” Lysa said. “And I honestly can’t refute it. There’s no mechanism in place on the pedestal, nothing on that foundation. No energy we have to be worried about. No radiation even, not even low levels. We could just take it. And nothing should happen.”
“Because you checked for mechanisms,” Kyle confirmed. “Right?”
“Yes. I scanned the entire structure here and there’s nothing.”
“Right. So…” Kyle shrugged. “Should I just… take it?”
Lysa sighed. “I… guess?”
Kyle put on his leather gloves. “That make you feel better?”
“I mean, I don’t want you to lose a hand,” Lysa said, “but I’m also glad to let you have a go at it.”
“Thanks… I guess.” Kyle let out a breath, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He took a moment to steady himself… then grabbed the cube with both hands. Drawing it back shut down the foundation, turning off the humming power. He held his breath in anticipation of something awful happening.
When it didn’t, he let it out. “I’m okay.”
“That’s debatable.” Lysa scanned him. “No ill effects. No radiation. Nothing at all. You’re good.” She directed the scanner to the cube. “And that thing… it has an internal power core. Holy shit.”
“What? That’s not good. What am I holding? How nervous should I be?”
“It’s just…” Lysa hummed. “The core in that thing is powerful enough to destroy our ship. If it blew up? Easily.”
“But it’s not volatile, right?”
“No. It’s very stable. I’m quite frankly baffled about how they crammed so much power into such a small space. We couldn’t do it. Humanity, I mean.” Lysa lowered the scanner. “We should get it back to the ship to check it out. I need the bigger computer to perform a proper analysis. And the three-dimensional scanner can do a full assessment.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to do that?”
“How else are we going to examine it?” Lysa tilted her head. “Do you have any ideas?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should observe it for a few hours. Make sure it’s not going to disintegrate or something creepy. That thing could’ve been holding the outside structure intact. If we mess with it before we know, and the core gets exposed, it could be extremely dangerous. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, and no. Okay. Why don’t we examine the rest of this place before we head out? That way, we’ll give it a chance to do whatever. Will that make you happy? Or at least more comfortable?”
“I’m good with that.” Kyle gestured to the left. “I’ll bring it with me over here. You want to check the other side?”
“Sure.” Lysa paced away. “But I’m willing to bet you anything we’ve found the only important thing in this entire place.” She rose her voice to be heard. “No matter what else this place holds, that weird cube proves everything. Anyone who thinks we made it up or built it ourselves just has to look at our finances to know we’re not that clever.”
I hope she’s right. Kyle looked at the box, weighing it in his hands. He expected it to be heavier but he put it at no more than fifteen pounds max. The sides felt tough, the whole thing gave off a sense of density like it could withstand quite the punishment. One thing was certain, after a few minutes, it seemed no different than it had when he took it.
That’s a good sign. Still, he preferred to err on the side of caution. Especially when it came to alien artifacts. A few more minutes in that place wouldn’t make much of a difference. Not in the grand scheme of things. Then we can go back and study things device for the next three hundred hours. Until then… I feel like we can relax. We did it! Time to enjoy the spoils.
***
Renz stepped onto the bridge a few minutes before they arrived at their destination. He sat in his seat behind the rest of the command crew, staring at the viewscreen. It displayed tactical data, information about the system they approached. Six planets in the area, two capable of supporting life, with a third that might be modified for use.
This made some sense. Chances were good at least some of his people lived on both. Perhaps the third sustained life before it lost power, falling to neglect. None of that mattered to him. He wanted in and out… back to the real war before he’d been gone for too long. Playing catchup with his peers held the potential of ruining his career.
Or at least holding it back.
This child’s run will prove to be a waste of time. Renz figured whoever happened to be on the planet must’ve stumbled on the place. There was no conspiracy, no plot to discover anything at all. He did not believe the Prophet had the resources to put together an expedition so far from home. This trip took hours. Surely, these rebels are relegated to the home system.
Whoever they discovered, he fully intended to execute. Perhaps not on the spot though that tempted him. No, he needed to exhibit some patience. Enough to discover who might be backing these fools then they were expendable. That meant some finesse with his people, who were not exactly trained to take prisoners.
I’ll put Kivda in charge. His private force will know what to do. Renz had relied on them many times before. His friend had expanded the scope of the training he provided, encouraging a select few toward freethinking. It was one of the reasons they were so successful together. The people he employed pulled off victories other units may have struggled with.
Especially against the damn Prytin. Thinking of them made his blood boil. He’d faced them in combat several times. Coming out ahead proved… difficult to say the least. Of all the cultures they faced, that one had been the most like their own. Warlike, brutal in some cases, and constantly at the ready. A worthy foe but frustrating.
The Prytin didn’t always fight in a straightforward manner. They used guerrilla tactics, destroying targets behind Kahl lines. Stealth of that nature seemed like cowardice but Renz had a hard time calling them out even publicly due to their own Lord Corps. If their enemies fielded a disgraced group to make up for mistakes, then that explained their actions.
“We are here,” Darr Benth, their pilot announced the information. It drew Renz’s attention back to the screen. It changed to a view of the planet they were approaching, a green and blue place with a heavy patch of brown in the southern hemisphere. “Twenty minutes to orbit, sir.”
Porth Mundal acted as the commander of the vessel. Renz had him there to take care of
the basics. He knew his presence made the man nervous but that worked to his advantage. It meant his subordinate worked hard to make the right call… to do what they needed to be successful while following all their rules.
And there were quite a few of those. Most of them designed to keep their fleets safe during operations. They shouldn’t have applied out there. Renz still allowed Porth to go through the motions. It was best to keep things normal. Slack might lead to a mistake during an important operation with others around.
I can’t lose face over a faux pas.
“Get me a full system scan,” Porth said. “Be on alert for vehicles in stealth mode. If this is a Prytin trap, they could be hiding amongst any debris field in this sector.”
I hadn’t considered that. Renz gave the man credit. He took his father’s word for the fact they were going to an ancient distress signal of some sort. The old man didn’t know for sure if it had been triggered by their enemies or even fabricated. If that’s the case, this may prove to be a worthy trip anyway.
Defeating Prytin cowards, ambushers might well grant him some serious points with his peers. All alone, outnumbered… he savored the idea of such a fight. Deep down he knew such a desire was foolish. Many ambitious generals lost their lives for going against impossible odds. But the one who came out alive…
Legends are made on chances.
Inda Ushe, their tech officer stood to deliver her report. “I have completed the sweep of this area. There are no Prytin energy signals. We do have a powerful energy reading on the planet we’re approaching. It’s some sort of geothermal design we retired quite a while ago. However, it’s efficient enough.
“Couple that with a faint, but obvious artificial power reading.”
“What is it?” Porth asked.
“It’s incredibly weak, sir,” Inda replied, “however, I would venture to guess it is some kind of space vessel. It certainly has enough power to break orbit but beyond that… I can barely fathom how it manages to leave a system efficiently let travel. The object in question is in close proximity to the geothermal reading.”
