“Not necessarily, I’m just saying we’ve found something. I have no idea how it got there, or who put it there, or why. But there it is. And if we want to find answers, I think we need to go back. As Sabrina mentioned to some of you earlier, we believe the object has been partially buried there, untouched, for quite some time, judging by the amount of debris and dirt at its base. It could be thousands of years old for all we know. I propose we put a team together and take two rovers back there tomorrow. A couple of us will need to stay here with Chasma, of course. I think we should figure that out right now, so we can all prepare for tomorrow.”
After making plans on who was going, what to bring and what time they would leave, Dedrick finally added: “I suggest we all get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us. See you all tomorrow. Goodnight.”
Much later, lying next to Vera in his pod, Dedrick finally fell asleep, hoping he would not have his nightmare again.
The Sphere
The next day’s weather conditions had prevented the group from leaving the base. Several dust storms had rendered the visibility too poor to attempt any outing. The group had stayed put, and shared a few laughs, and tears, watching Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush and The Kid. The two black and white movies from the silent movie era had been enthusiastically suggested by François, when he had found the listing in the station's library.
Luckily, today's weather conditions were looking much more promising, and the anxious and impatient explorers couldn't wait to get on their way to the new discovery.
Less than forty-five minutes after sunrise, the two rovers and their five passengers were leaving the garage, in route for sector 42-23. Sabrina and Vera had chosen to stay behind. Someone had to man the station. Vera had preferred to stay with Chasma. Sabrina, having been there the previous day, had opted to do the same, seven if she had not seen the sphere in person yet. There would be a next time.
Rover 2, occupied by Dedrick and François, was leading the way, ARC 3 in tow.
They arrived at the cliff in record time. After securing the basket to the winch, Dedrick and Liu headed down first and sent the carrier back. The next two passengers, Ladli and Tendai, soon followed. François, having already been on the site, had offered to stay up above with the rovers to control the winch. As they reached the site, Dedrick helped Ladli climb out of swinging basket. Liu was too mesmerized by the sight to help. After carefully securing their footing on the level terrace, the four found themselves facing a site like none they had ever seen. For a moment, no one said a word. At the center of the space, the large spherical artifact was mesmerizing. The floor of the shell-shaped niche was surprisingly flat and smooth. Now seeing the enclosure for themselves, the newcomers had no more doubt. It could not have been carved naturally. Liu slowly approached the object in the middle, transfixed.
She kneeled and stared at it for a moment. Its lower portion was partially buried in and surrounded by a thick band of dirt. The surface of the object was perfectly smooth and round, and void of any imperfections.
“Tendai, can you hand me a scanner, please?” she finally asked.
Reaching into the carry-on bag, Tendai grabbed the instrument and handed it to her.
“Thanks.”
“Guys, before we do anything…” interjected Dedrick, “I just want to remind you that we really know nothing of this thing, so I suggest we all proceed with extreme caution, at least until we can figure out exactly what we are dealing with here. Just be careful, OK?”
“OK,” replied Liu. The other two nodded in their helmets.
The four got to work. Kneeling next to Liu, Tendai pulled a small rod from his tool pocket, and slowly pushed the blunt object in the dirt near the base of the massive sphere. The dirt was dry and cracked in places, but he noticed with surprise that all the cracks appeared to be moving away from the “orb,” as Ladli had called it. Something was definitely unique about the ground surrounding the artifact. Meticulously scanning the object with her thermal imaging instrument, Liu was also surprised by the inconsistencies of the readings. The multi-colored picture on the screen was fluctuating widely, registering huge temperatures changes within seconds. Ladli, staring at the rocky wall behind them, was absolutely amazed at its perfect geometry. She ran her gloved hand on the smooth surface, trying to imagine what tool or machine could have created such an even cut, as dust displaced by her fingers fell to the ground. Dedrick, standing a few steps behind her, suddenly noticed something above her head.
“Guys! Look!”
They all turned.
In the sunlight now partially hitting the back of the recess, a shape was starting to emerge. Large geometric lines and grooves were gradually becoming more and more distinct as the rising sun was quickly engulfing the large terrace. Although the large carving and its deep lines were covered by layers of Martian sand and dirt, the entire sculpture was quickly becoming well defined. It had to be a door or gate of sorts.
Dedrick dropped his analyzer to the ground. His mouth half open, he couldn't believe his eyes. There it was, the door in his dream, exactly as he remembered it. The huge feature, covered with strange markings and enigmatic shapes, was standing in front of him, as real and solid as the rocky cliff itself.
“What is that?” asked Tendai.
“Whatever it is, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind it’s not man-made,” calmly replied Ladli.
“I totally agree... This is amazing!” concurred Liu with excitement.
“I can't believe we are looking at an alien structure. Do you realize what this means? This is definite proof we are not alone in the universe. This is unbelievable!” Tendai couldn't wrap his mind around it.
“I think we should clear the dirt off this door. I want to see what this thing really looks like.” finally said Ladli.
“No, wait! You can't just...”
But before Dedrick could do anything, the Irish woman, a brush already in hand, started cleaning away.
“See? Nothing! I'm still alive! Stop worrying and come help,” she said with a smile, without looking at him.
Tendai and Liu grabbed a brush and joined her. The three began dusting off all the grooves and crannies they could find. They couldn’t easily reach the last meter at the top, but after a few minutes, most of the alien door was standing in front of them, massive and imposing, its intricate markings now clearly defined and visible. Carved right out of the rock face, the door was covered from top to bottom with lines crisscrossing in all directions, making up intricate designs and geometric shapes that all met at a single point in its center. Several centimeters deep in places, a handful of the lines disappeared outside the portal frame, into the floor of the terrace. The outside groove of the large structure appeared to continue deep into the wall, suggesting it was detached from the rock face and had to move in some way.
“What do you think?” asked Liu, looking at the others.
“It’s definitely a door of some kind,” offered Ladli.
“I agree. Now the question is, how do we open it?”
There was no handle, no lever, no mechanism of any kind, as far as she could tell.
“Whoa! Are we sure we want to do that?” interjected Tendai.
“How else are we supposed to find out where it goes? It's right here, begging for us to.”
“Could be dangerous...” Dedrick seconded.
“In the words of François, there's only one way to find out,” offered Ladli, as she raised her arm toward it.
“Wait!” But Dedrick’s protesting was futile.
Pushing as hard as she could against the doorway, she tried desperately to make the large feature barge, to no avail. Giving up, she began pressing her gloved fingers over a few promising spots, including the central point where all the lines seemed to meet, hoping to find a secret lock, without any success. She stepped back somewhat disappointed and looked again attentively at the impressive frame. It just stood there like a giant puzzle towering over them, and she ached to solve it.
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“I don’t get it. There’s gotta be a way…” she finally said.
“Maybe it doesn’t open,” suggested Liu.
“What else could it be?
“Actually, Liu has a good point. How do we know for sure it's a door? I mean, it may look like one to us, but maybe it was something else entirely to those who carved it. Maybe it's simply a sculpture of some kind, meant as a display, similar to some of the monuments we have, back on Earth.” added Tendai.
“No, it’s a door,” finally volunteered Dedrick.
“How do you know that?”
“Because, I've seen it in my dreams.”
“In your dreams? What do you mean, you've seen it in your dreams?” asked a baffled Tendai.
All three were now staring intensely at Dedrick.
“Well?”
He took a big breath. “I know this is going to sound nuts, but for the past few years now, I've been having this recurring dream… I'm at my uncle’s house, back in Russia, and I’m being chased by this odd-looking man. Eventually, we end up in front of the exact same door. The stranger opens it and drags me in,” he said, looking at them hesitantly.
Perplexed, Tendai stared at the commander, wondering if he had really understood what Dedrick had just said.
“OK, you’re just messing with us, right?”
“No joke. I'm just telling you guys the truth. I don't understand any of it either. I've never been here before, but I have seen this door, many times.”
“How come you've never mentioned this before?”
“Not really something I felt like sharing. Only Vera and François know.”
“Well…actually… I know about it too,” volunteered Liu, in a timid voice.
“What? How?” asked Dedrick, shocked.
“Vera told me. But please don't tell her I told you. She made me promise to never tell anyone. It was a few years ago. She said it was getting worse and she was worried about you.”
“Great! That’s just great,” simply commented Dedrick. “Well, I guess everyone knows now.”
After a short silence, Ladli returned to the subject at hand.
“OK then, how do we open this thing, boss?”
“I don't know. In my dream, the man chasing me just waves his hand in front of it, and it just opens.”
“I see.” Tendai sounded a bit skeptical.
“Ok, then.” Facing the gate, Ladli began waving her hands in front of it, drawing different shapes in the air, first slowly, then faster, but nothing happened. “OK, what am I doing wrong?”
“I guess I should’ve also mentioned that the man has this small object in his hand, a smaller version of the sphere here, and a ray of light comes out and…it’s difficult to describe. Anyway, there’s a good chance we need that to open it,” replied Dedrick.
“I see. So, all we need is a sphere that shoots out a ‘magical’ ray of light. Well, that shouldn’t be too hard to find. I’ll just go down to the local store. I’ll be right back!” said Tendai sarcastically.
“Ha ha. Very funny,” said Ladli, unimpressed.
“Maybe we’re supposed to do something with THAT sphere…” Liu was pointing at the large object in the middle of the terrace.
“Maybe, but I don’t know what,” replied the Russian. “And maybe it’s just beyond us. We really don’t know what we’re doing, here. There’s a good chance only those who put it there know.”
“Maybe you missed something. What else can you remember from your dream?” asked him Ladli.
“Guys? What's going on down there? Somebody talk to me, please!” a voice came on everyone's earpiece.
“Hey François! Are seeing what we’re seeing? Can you believe it? It’s just incredible,” replied Tendai.
“No, I’m not. I lost signal about ten minutes ago. I’ve been calling you since then. I was about to come down there myself. All I have is the view on the two baskets from up here. Glad to finally have you back! What happened?”
“Shoot! We had no idea. We thought you were following everything from up there. Aren't you getting the camera feeds?” said Dedrick.
“François? François? I think he's lost us again,” he said turning to the small crew.
“No... I’m… I'm here...” he said slowly, in a low voice. He was sitting in the rover, mesmerized by the images he was finally viewing for the first time on the monitor in front of him. Switching randomly from camera to camera between the crew's helmets, he couldn't quite believe what he was looking at.
“I'm looking at the images right now. What is that… thing on the wall?” he finally asked.
“We don't know. We’re guessing it’s some kind of door.”
“It looks so…big.” He didn’t know what else to say, he was at a complete loss. “And what are all these markings? I’ve never seen anything like it…”
“We’re not sure.”
“Oh, look!!” Liu was pointing at the large orb in the middle of the small group. The sun had finally reached the spherical object, and the large orb appeared to be radiating from within. They all took a few steps back.
“Ok, that’s new,” voiced Ladli.
A thin gas-like substance began to form on the sphere’s surface. Gradually spreading over the whole object, the purple haze slowly started churning and glowing. The site was mesmerizing.
“Dedrick?” called out Liu worried.
“What do we do?” asked Tendai, feeling just as uneasy.
They stared a while at the captivating display. Ladli, finally finding the strength to pry her eyes away, glanced again at the door. Still nothing. She suddenly had an idea. “Maybe it will open now…” She turned back her attention on the alien door and began waving her hands in front it again. But still nothing happened.
“Liu, what do you have on the infrared scan?” asked Dedrick.
The Korean biochemist raised the analyzer toward the sphere. “Nothing. No heat signature. Apparently, it’s completely cold. That’s weird…” she puzzled.
“Weird? Of course it’s weird. Everything is. Look at this place. I’m really not sure coming down here was such a good idea, after all.” Tendai sounded genuinely concerned, now.
“I don’t know what to think, here,” continued Liu. “This thing was pegging like crazy earlier. Now, it’s like… it’s not even there!”
“Dedrick?! What are you doing?” Ladli was watching the tall Russian approach the sphere, his hand extended in front of him.
“It’s OK. I just want to check something.”
“Dedrick?”
Kneeling next to the large round object, he gently pressed his hand down, and slowly moved it across the smooth surface. His teammates unconsciously held their breath. The purple vapor parted easily around his glove, creating undulating waves all around the object, like ripples in a pond. Checking the Thermal readings again, Liu barely noticed a rise in temperature. Keeping his and on the sphere, Dedrick turned around and stared at the door on the wall behind him with disappointment. He removed his hand, and the glowing gas reclaimed the space his glove had just occupied.
“Well, so much for that idea.”
For the next half hour, the group kept observing, and trying to interact with, the alien artifact and its surrounding. But they didn’t really learn anything else. The sphere seemed to react to sunlight. That much was established. As for the gas, its purpose was a mystery.
“Guys? I was wondering if one of you would mind heading back up here, so I can take a look down there. I’d love to see that thing up close.”
“Sure, François. I’ll come up!” offered Tendai right away.
“Thanks, buddy.”
A few minutes later, the Frenchman was down in the recess with the others. Tendai was glad to be away from the area. He had suggested to Ladli to follow him up, but she was too enthralled by the alien place to leave yet. Back in ARC 3, Tendai was updating Sabrina on François’ whereabouts.
“Yeah, he just went down there to check it out. I’m telling you,
the place might be ancient, but that sphere is definitely not. It’s like someone put it there yesterday.” He was talking to her on the rover’s main monitor, while keeping an eye on the small group on the other screen.
“Wow! It’s all so surreal…” She was staring at the images as well, from back home.
“Personally, I think we should leave the whole thing alone. We really don’t know what we’re doing. Who knows what that sphere is for? And if we can’t open that door, that…portal, or whatever you want to call it, maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe, what’s inside is dangerous. Who knows? Either way, I really don’t think we should mess around with it. I mean, we’re talking about alien technology here. We’re way over our heads, here. This is pure madness.”
“You have a point, but how else do you want to find out what it is? Aren’t you the least bit curious?” replied Sabrina.
“I am, but I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.”
“Don’t worry Tendai, I don’t think we’re gonna stay much longer,” mentioned Dedrick who could hear their conversation in his headset. “OK, let’s make sure we have all the footage and pictures we need, and let’s pack,” he added to his three colleagues down below.
“Hey, Tendai?”
“Yes?”
“Can you ask François to bring back some samples from the enclosure, if he can? A few rocks would be nice.”
“Sure. Hey, François? Sabrina would like you to bring back a few rocks.”
“You got it.”
He carefully approached the edge of the terrace, grabbed a small hammer out of the tool kit and began chiseling away. After getting a few pieces into a small container, he sat a moment on the edge, his feet dangling above the abyss. Across from him, the other side of the narrow canyon was already in the shadows. Far up above, the sun had begun its descent beyond the plateau. Looking down at his feet hanging above the canyon below, he realized it would not be long before the shadow, cast by the facing cliff, had reached them too.
“What are you doing?” asked Dedrick.
“I was just admiring the view.” He got back up and rejoined the others.
Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 20
