by Doug Farren
“I suggest we split up,” Lashpa said. “It’s cramped in here and it would be more efficient.”
“I’ll take the left,” Tom said, moving off.
A few minutes later, Lashpa reported she had located the fusion reactor as well as its control console.
“I’m detecting no residual radiation,” she said. “This reactor hasn’t been in operation for at least 500 years.”
“I haven’t found anything of interest,” Tom said. “Switchgear, water processing, air handling units, and other mundane stuff. Meet you back at the entrance.”
A few minutes later, they were looking into the last room. To get there, they had to pass through two doors separated by a three-meter long hallway. Both doors showed signs of having been forced open. Shiny metal workbenches ran along the walls. Metal cabinets with glass doors were mounted above. Many of the doors had been left open and the glass in a few of them was broken. If there had been any equipment here, it was now gone. At the far end of the long room, a thick door lay on the floor, the edges of the wall where it had once stood guard were melted and scored by a high-temperature cutting torch.
“This looks like a chemistry lab,” Tom said.
“Those were airlock doors we passed through,” Lashpa said. “This could also have been a microbiology lab.”
“Look at this,” Tom said, pointing towards a collection of short pipes mounted on a support column near the center of the room. “Could these be air line connections for isolation suits?”
“Do you suppose this is where T11-N106 was created?” Lashpa asked.
“I’m beginning to think so,” Tom replied, taking a step into the empty room. “We know it was created using non-Alliance technology and it sure seems like this facility was built by a race unknown to the Alliance. That might also explain the operating room.”
“The researchers would use it to assess the damage done by the pathogen,” Lashpa continued his line of reasoning. “The prison cells were used to keep the test subjects locked up until one was needed.”
“But the operating room as well as all the cells weren’t separated from the rest of the facility by an airlock. If you’re testing a bioweapon, you sure don’t do the autopsy inside a room that shares the same air supply as the rest of the facility.”
“Perhaps T11-N106 was never designed to be a bioweapon,” Lashpa suggested.
Tom turned and stared at the blank surface of Lashpa’s combat armor. Instead of having a clear faceplate, the armor surrounding their heads was solid. The suit’s external sensors were designed to feed visual and tactile information to the wearer’s cybernetic implants.
“I never thought about that!” Tom said.
Pointing to the back of the room, Lashpa said, “That’s the only place we haven’t looked yet.”
Tom walked through the empty room, his lights bouncing off the shiny surfaces creating a wild display of reflected light. The door lying on the floor was about four centimeters thick. A keypad as well as a dark touchscreen were mounted just above the handle.
Tom stepped through a hole that had been cut in the wall. It was barely wide enough for his combat armor to pass through. Lashpa remained outside, using her interface with Tom’s suit to observe what he was seeing. Inside, he found a small room with shelves on either side. All of them were empty. Examining the edges of the door that still framed the entrance, he said, “This door is not only thick and secured with an electronic lock, it also has a gasket running all the way around.”
“Perhaps this is where the pathogen was stored,” Lashpa said.
“I certainly hope there was nothing here when the Purists arrived,” Tom said, stepping back out of the room. Looking at his HUD, he added, “We’ve been at this for almost three hours. Let’s get back to the entrance.”
“Agreed.”
The dust had settled into a thick layer on the floor of the tunnel and they could now clearly make out the pile of rubble that blocked the exit. The level of hydrogen cyanide had dropped to a point where their suits’ filtration system would be able to keep them safe for many days.
“What do you think?” Tom asked Lashpa as they locked their suits into a standing position not far from the exit. “Did the Purists clean this place out or did the previous inhabitants do so?”
“It’s hard to say,” Lashpa replied. “I find it difficult to believe that the original owners of this facility would have abandoned it with everything inside.”
“Unless they were forced to leave,” Tom pointed out. “King Syan did say that the Mowry believe their creators were unpopular with the other gods.”
“We may never know what happened,” Lashpa said. “It takes at least 500 years for a fusion reactor core to decay to background levels. So we can safely say that this place has been abandoned for at least that long. Mowry history goes back several thousand years and their knowledge of the gods has faded into legend. Unless the Purists found something and we can retrieve it, we’ll have a very hard time identifying what took place here.”
“Let’s just hope the Purists haven’t gotten their hands on the equipment needed to make T11-N106,” Tom said.
“I’ve often wondered why some groups of Terrans have adopted a life of violence and terror. As far as I know, your species is unique in this respect.”
“I’m not sure,” Tom replied after a moment of reflection. “We are a very diverse people with a long history of racial violence and state-sponsored terrorism. For some people, it’s how they’ve been raised. For others, I think they like the idea of causing trouble.”
“That’s my point,” Lashpa replied. “Why would an intelligent being enjoy creating strife? It’s so much easier and far more efficient to work together toward a common goal than to purposefully create trouble.”
“I’ve never understood it myself. I grew up among Shandarians. During my trips back to Earth with my parents, I was shocked at some of the behaviors I saw. I- - -”
“Tom,” a message blared into Tom’s ears, “If you are receiving this, fire a round at the rock face.” There was a pause and the message repeated.
“Mute,” Tom told the suit. “Lashpa, did- - -”
“Tom,” she said at practically the same time. Tom stopped talking so he could listen. “I’ve received a message from my ship,” she said.
Unlocking his suit, Tom raised his right arm and spoke a single command. Running from the shoulder of his right arm to the top of his wrist was a small but very powerful rail-gun. Latches engaged, locking his arm into a solid piece just before the rail-gun fired three quick bursts into a large rock near the center of the pile of rubble. As each projectile was fired, a chemical thruster pushed back with equal force keeping him from being pushed over.
The projectiles struck the rock and exploded, sending shrapnel flying back at them. Tom heard the impacts of the rocks as they glanced off his armor. A moment later, a new message appeared.
“I am transmitting this at full power,” the ship said. “Your suit’s transmitter will not have sufficient power for me to hear your reply. Krish and I have removed as much rubble as possible from the entrance using tractor beams but there is still at least 10 meters of rock left. Krish was damaged by the avalanche but is flight capable. Help is on the way but there is no heavy mining equipment in the system. We believe we can burn our way in, but you must be clear of the entrance before we begin. If you want us to try this method, fire two bursts separated by five seconds. If not, fire only a single burst to acknowledge this message.”
“Do you have any mini-drones?” Tom asked Lashpa. “The power cells on the ones I deployed must be near exhaustion.”
“Deploying them now,” she replied as she began moving down the tunnel. “Tell them to begin.”
Tom fired two bursts into the rocks.
“Reply received. Take shelter and standby.”
Tom turned and quickly followed Lashpa. They took cover inside the equipment room and waited. Outside, the two ships prepared to burn their
way through the rubble.
Chapter 14
The explosives the Purists left behind had caused most of the cliff overhanging the entrance to crumble and fall, blocking the way into the facility. Using tractor beams, the Orion and the Krish managed to remove most of the rubble leaving a large pile underneath an enormous section of solid rock that had slid down from above.
Melting a path through rock is not something that is easily accomplished. Old science fiction movies make it look easy but real directed energy weapons have a hard time boring a deep hole into solid rock. If the water content is high, the rocks tend to explode. The molten material must also have a path to flow away giving the beam access to new rock. Gasses and debris in the air will absorb a good portion of the beam’s energy greatly reducing its effectiveness. The heat generated by the beam will also be quickly conducted away from the point of impact by the surrounding rocks.
All of this and more was taken into consideration as the two AIs worked together to calculate the best method of burning or blasting their way through the rubble. The possibility of collapse also had to be computed and figured into the final analysis. Throughout every calculation was the desire to limit the amount of damage to the interior of the facility once burn-through occurred. After carefully considering all their options, the ships acted.
Instead of attempting to melt their way into the facility, the two AIs decided to try to cause another landslide that would hopefully clear away most of the rubble from the entrance. Fortunately, Seek-class ships were armed with an assortment of missiles with yields varying from chemical warheads to thermonuclear. Both ships rose into the air and took up a position on the west side of the mountain. The Orion fired first.
A missile tipped with a high-explosive chemical warhead slammed into the side of the mountain and detonated blasting out a huge chunk of rock. The ships spent a few seconds evaluating the results. Krish fired the second missile. It hit a spot just above where the first had struck. The huge slab of rock covering the entrance moved a few meters then stopped. Krish fired again, targeting a spot farther down the mountain undercutting a portion of the landing zone. The Orion dropped down and fired its next shot into the upper section of the undercut.
The blast partially lifted the slab they were trying to dislodge. As it came down, the rock underneath gave way. Both ships activated their tractor beams and applied as much force as possible. Loose rock and debris started to fly toward the ships but quickly began to fall as the beams were turned off.
Slowly, ponderously, the huge slab of rock that had been cleaved from the side of the cliff began to slide. Another quick tug with the tractor beams pulled the slab over the edge. It fell, breaking into several large pieces that continued rolling for 30 or 40 meters before coming to a stop. Smaller rocks and boulders continued rolling down the mountain for another 100 meters until they came to a crashing halt against a small stand of trees.
Tractor beams removed as much of the remaining rubble as possible leaving about five meters of rock blocking the entrance. Taking up position in front of the entrance, the two ships powered up their particle-beam cannons and opened fire. Built by the Tholtarans using technology given to them by the ancient Kyrra, the antimatter-enhanced weapons quickly heated the rock. The two ships swept the beams back and forth across the surface to heat up a large section. The rock glowed red then began to soften and flow away.
Using their secondary weapons, the ships formed a path for the molten rock directing it off the side of the cliff they had just created with their missiles. The cracking of heated rock could easily be heard over the hum of the particle beams. The ground under the beams began to smoke as the air they passed through became superheated. Clouds of smoke rose into the air as the beams relentlessly bored their way through the rubble.
After fifteen minutes of continuous fire, the particle beams winked out. A glowing hole led into the mountain while a stream of quickly cooling lava formed a ribbon of red down the mountain’s side.
“Tom, do you copy?” the Orion transmitted.
“Loud and clear,” Tom’s reply followed.
If an artificial intelligence could have felt elation, the Orion would have. Although they were the most advanced AIs available, they were still a machine intelligence. Although capable of emulating emotions, even the AIs understood that true emotions exist only within a living brain.
“We’ve cleared away most of the rubble,” Orion said. “You’ll have to widen the hole at your end.”
“Roger that,” Tom said. “If anyone is out there, keep them clear. The tunnel was filled with hydrogen cyanide during the explosion.”
“Acknowledged. At this time, nobody is here.”
Inside the facility, Tom and Lashpa approached the smoking pile of rubble that still blocked their exit. A four-centimeter wide glowing hole indicated where the beam had broken through. Glancing around, Tom found where it had struck the metal wall burning off the paint and leaving a deep scar across the surface.
“Stand back,” Laspha said.
Taking aim, she opened fire with her railgun. Rock chips flew off in all directions as the high-speed projectiles slammed into the surface at supersonic speed. Throwing three 40-gram slugs each second at a speed of 2,600 meters per second, Lashpa emptied her magazine of 250 rounds in just over 83 seconds. While firing, a constant jet of exhaust from the reverse-force thruster balanced the kick of the railgun allowing her to remain on target. A cloud of released coolant formed around her as each projectile was followed by a burst of liquid helium.
Lowering her arm, she took a few steps forward to observe the effects. The hole was now 19-centimeters wide. The rocks surrounding it were chipped and cracked.
“That didn’t work as well as I had expected,” Lashpa said.
Tom took manual control of one of their mini-drones and flew it into the hole. Feeding the video to Lashpa, they discussed their options.
“Looks like the rock is still pretty thick in a few places,” Tom said after examining the video.
“I doubt we can smash our way out either,” Lashpa said. “The rocks have cooled into a solid piece. We’ll have to come up with some other way to widen the hole or wait until someone arrives with heavy drilling machinery.”
“Orion,” Tom said, “Do you or Krish have any more low-yield chemical missiles in your inventory?”
“I have one missile remaining,” the ship replied. “The rest are either high-yield or nukes.”
“If we placed the warhead properly, could we blow the hole wide enough for us to get out of here without collapsing the tunnel?”
“There is a 12-percent chance of causing a collapse,” the ship replied. “The warhead carries a shaped charge. Placing it appropriately will most likely widen the hole without causing a collapse.”
“Do it!” Tom said. “Lashpa and I will fall back into the facility.”
“Acknowledged. I have an important message from Flothir. I can relay it now or wait until you’re clear of the facility.”
“Now is fine,” Tom said. “It will give us something to talk about while you place the warhead.”
Tom and Lashpa made their way back down the corridor and once again took shelter in the equipment room. While they walked, they listened to Flothir’s message.
“I have some potentially good news to report,” the biomaster began. “I’ve found a way to test for the presence of T11-N106 outside of the body. Unfortunately, this same test won’t work on an infected person because it involves grinding up a sample and then looking for the chemical that T11-N106 uses to destroy its nucleus. It’s unique and can be detected in quantities as low as eight parts per billion. Based on the tests I’ve run on samples taken from several places on Gwon-Go, T11-N106 is everywhere. Anyone that set foot on the surface could be carrying it around. I’m considering instigating a quarantine of the planet until we know more.”
“End of message,” Orion said.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Tom exclaimed.
&nbs
p; “In this particular instance, I agree,” Lashpa replied.
“Get Captain Orflen on the line,” Tom said. “Wake him up if you have to.”
“Acknowledged.”
A few seconds later, the connection was made. “This is Captain Orflen. I was worried when your ship informed me of what happened. Are you okay?”
“Lashpa and myself are fine,” Tom told him. “We’re still trapped but should be out shortly. In the meantime, get a team together. We’ve found a very old facility and I want this place gone over in excruciating detail. I want to know who built it, when it was built, and what it was built for. My ship will forward you what we know about it so far.”
“Understood. Are there any precautions we should take?”
“Consult with biomaster Flothir,” Tom replied. “I don’t think the Purists left any more surprises behind other than the explosives we set off.”
“I’ll begin assembling a team immediately.”
Tom glanced at his clock then said, “It’ll be dark here soon. You can start in the morning if you want. Also, I want to meet with Flothir in person in Namruit an hour after sunrise.”
“Understood.”
Tom ended the connection then said, “Orion, transmit videos and sensor data of this facility to the Churva.”
Tom and Lashpa discussed their future plans while the Orion prepared the missile’s warhead. It took 15 minutes for a maintenance robot to remove the warhead from the missile and another ten minutes to have that same robot climb into the tunnel and place it into position. To further reduce the possibility of collapsing the tunnel, several pieces of armor were removed from the damaged section of Lashpa’s ship and placed around the warhead. The main force of the blast would be focused into the thin wall of rock keeping Tom and Lashpa trapped. The rest would be directed out of the tunnel by the makeshift shield.
“I’m ready,” Orion announced after everything was in place.
“Proceed,” Tom ordered.
