Crucible: Records of the Argos

by Michael J. Farlow

  From a distant hover maintained by Harry, we watched the enclosure for a while and still saw no activity. It could be just a storage facility for ships that had to drop off cargos and move to another ambush site in space. Or, it could be a communications relay station, among other things.

  I told Harry to set the shuttle down on a flat spot about a click from the enclosure. Then Amini and I would step out and get a closeup and personal idea of what this place was. When the shuttle was down, Amini turned to face me.

  “What’s this step out and get a closer look? Can’t we just use the drone some more and stay safe in the shuttle?”

  “At this point, no, Amini. We need to get up close to see what this place is. The drone can serve as a security watch. Come on. It’ll be fun!”

  Amini gave me a stare that left no doubt that this was not fun for her. But she moved along.

  It didn’t take long to find a hatch that promised entry into the enclosure, but initial manipulation of the lever told us it was locked. A quick look showed us a keypad for a cipher lock. In the few Sci-Fi or detective movies I remembered seeing back home, the good guys always had some sort of gadget they fastened on to the cipher lock, which eventually found the right code, and the door opened with a beep. You’ve seen those same movies I’ll bet. Truth is, I couldn’t find one of those for this mission — if they existed. Luckily, I had Harry.

  “Harry.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “We have a cipher lock here. Need a little help.” From a click away, I had no idea what Harry could do, but I was sure it was something.

  “One moment, Captain. I’m dispatching a firefly.” Firefly (or fireflies when in large numbers) was the name my father had given to some very small bug-like drones that he and Harry used many years ago to infiltrate structures and even to attach to humans to collect information. They could fly, crawl, or attach themselves to anything. They acted like cameras and microphones and could last for weeks on a single charge. Since those early days, Harry had managed to improve them. Now they could think, make calculations, store data, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t remember. They also now came in various sizes, depending on the need. The one that landed on the cipher pad was larger than most and resembled a praying mantis; that’s what it looked like to me anyway — the smaller, male variety. Having not seen this particular model of a drone before, Amini jumped back when she saw it like anybody might when seeing a bug that they didn’t recognize.

  “Just one of Harry’s new drones; don’t get excited. Let’s see what it can do.”

  I’m not sure how to describe what the bug was doing. Its feet skittered across the keys and even into the spaces between the keys. It turned one way, then another. In other words, it was all over the cipher pad before it stopped.

  “What’s it doing now?” Amini asked.

  “Not sure, but it appears to be thinking.” Amini looked at me like I was crazy.

  Thinking done, the bug reached out with one of its forelegs and began pushing buttons on the pad. When it pressed the seventh button, it stopped and vibrated. A green light appeared above the pad, and we both heard a click from the door. The drone flew off and hovered behind us. I guess it was waiting to see if we needed more help. Clever bug.

  Without being told, Amini grasped the door lever in both hands and moved it to the left. With a faint hiss, the door opened to reveal an airlock that we passed through.

  “See,” I said, followed by a grin. “Easy peasy when you have technology on your side. Let’s take a look around.” Amini said nothing but grabbed hold of one of my arms and held it like a vice. I was worried I might lose circulation in that arm.

  No lights were on, but we didn’t need much. The space we were in was filled with equipment running on power from a nearby source, I guessed. There were enough status lights and illuminated dials to give just enough light for our helmet sensors to light up the space to our eyes with impressive clarity. This had to be the main source of all the emissions we detected earlier. But I had no idea what it was all for.

  “Harry. You seeing this?”

  “Yes, Captain, the firefly and your helmets are transmitting the visual scene to the shuttle.”

  “Any idea what all this is?”

  “Part of it is a computer system and supporting storage devices. Other pieces of equipment appear to be communications relay modules.”

  “Relay for what?”

  “I can only speculate, Captain.”

  “Speculate away.”

  “Based on the antenna array on top of the enclosure, Captain, I would say that this facility receives information from a distant source and relays it to other stations or ships. It most likely can also work in the opposite fashion.”

  “So, orders from someplace else get sent here and are then sent to other systems like those aboard ships?”

  “Very likely, Captain. And, as I said, information can flow back the same way.”

  “And the purpose of the computer system and storage?”

  “Computers would be required for encryption and security, Captain. Also, records are likely kept here, including cargo inventories, distribution records, and other data required to run a business.”

  That made sense. All businesses need to have infrastructure support. Also, communicating over long distances would require significant pieces of equipment, some of such size and numbers that they would not be suited for limited space aboard private or commercial ships. In addition, such a system would require large amounts of power, which might also not be available aboard most ships. Finally, it would be expensive. Nice setup.

  Amini tugged at my arm, which she still held tightly.

  “Look, there is another door.” Her free hand pointed to a nearby wall. She hadn’t yet developed enough courage to let go of my arm.

  Sure enough, I could see the outline of a door. No, an oval hatch with a simple grab handle and locking lever.

  “Let’s have a look.”

  No cipher lock on this hatch.

  “Captain!” Harry called.

  “Just a minute, Harry, while I turn this lever and pull.”

  “But, Captain…”

  I thought I had gone blind. Even Amini let go of my arm to cover her eyes from the initial bright light of the new space. The visors on our helmets darkened to reduce the glare, but the first second of bright light nearly paralyzed us just like Harry had done to our unwanted visitors aboard the Argos.

  When everything became clear, I saw we were not alone. So much for sneaking around.

  Chapter 5

  Three combat-suited figures stood before us. All three with large rifles that I was certain were not stun guns. The two men (I assumed they were men based on their size) on either side of the short figure in the middle reacted to a nod by the short one and took the few brief steps to us and relieved us of our weapons.

  “I would say welcome, but you not invited here. Remove helmets so we see who you are.” The voice from the battle helmet seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place it due to resonance in his helmet.

  “There is adequate oxygen in the room, Captain. My assessment is that it is safe to remove your helmet.” That was Harry over my implant. I responded via the same channel.

  “Thanks, Harry, you could have at least warned us that there were people in the room before…”

  “I tried, Captain, but you weren’t listening. Besides, they were not there when you entered the first room. It appears they came from below the enclosure. Probably when they detected you and Miss Amini.”

  “Helmets off NOW!” came that familiar voice… harsher now.

  The rifle pointed at my head was an incentive. We were wearing lightweight suits which would not have fared well at point-blank range. We both twisted our helmets and lifted them off, revealing our faces to our yet unidentified captors.


  “Ha! The Argos captain. What surprise. I was hope to see you again.”

  Still puzzled, the truth revealed itself when the short man took off his helmet.

  “Toor!”

  “Yes, Toor. Same Toor who try help you with your business. That was not nice what you did to me and my men last time we see you.”

  “You were going to steal our ship.”

  “No, no. You make mistake. We try to help you. Then you not nice. Damage my ship. Cost much script to fix. Why you here? Who send you? How you find this place?”

  “Nobody sent us, Toor,” I said. “After you declined to do business with us and attacked us, we started looking for other opportunities. Our sensors detected a signal coming from here, so we came to investigate. We hoped there would be trade here.” That was a lie, but better than the truth.

  Toor looked puzzled and had no immediate response.

  “What are you going to do with us?” Amini asked with a quivering voice.

  “Why, you our guest. We have nice places below for guests.”

  With a jerk of Toor’s head, the two other battle-suited men ushered us to a stairway and down to the next level as Toor followed. Then a short distance along a passageway to what were unmistakably cells — bars and all.

  “This your room. Very nice. You stay here, and we go to talk about what to do with you.”

  Amini and I were shoved into the cell, the door clanked shut, and the lock clicked into place. As you might imagine, it wasn’t very fancy — two chairs, two things that looked like mattresses. I say looked like because we couldn’t see much detail in them due to the black and brown stains on them. The only other item of furniture was a bucket, half full of a liquid that looked like, but did not smell like, water.

  There were bars on three sides, front and each side. The back of the cell was striated rock that had been carved and chiseled into the cell structure. No way out there.

  The cell to the left of us was empty, but the one on the right had a big gray lump in the middle of the floor. The lump was slowly heaving up and down, like a big man asleep.

  “Hey!” I called out. “Who’s in there?”

  No response.

  I tried again and pounded my helmet on the bars at the same time. The lump moved.

  Slowly the gray lump elevated itself, and the gray covering fell to the floor. Amini gasped.

  “It’s an Arkon Red!”

  An Arkon Red was the warrior class within the old Arkon Empire. The red part was a bright red crest that unfurled into brilliance when they were angry or ready for battle. The other two classes were, as I may have mentioned, Browns and Blues. Browns are the lowest level in the caste system with short brown crests, and the Blues are the ruling class with brilliant blue crests that unfurled like Reds when angry or excited. This was definitely a Red, but the crest was not up high on display. Instead, it was furled and laid down on the creature’s back.

  When I say creature, I mean a re-engineered version of humans. Now they looked more like big lizards than humans. They had two arms and stood upright on two bipedal legs, but that’s where the resemblance ended. The fingers ended in sharp claws as did their feet. The skin was covered in gray scales, and the head was definitely lizard-like with a slight snout and sharp protruding teeth. They did all that to themselves when they broke away from their human counterparts, the Galactic Host, and started building an empire for themselves. No one knows exactly why they went through the re-engineering process other than, to guess, they wanted to abandon and create distance from the Host that had a drastically different view of what the future should look like.

  They became intractable enemies. That is until they were defeated by an allied force led by my father.

  While I was thinking all this, the Red slowly turned to look at us. For those who fought them like Amini and me, this Red sent chills through us both. A reminder, a flashback if you will, to the days when creatures like this wanted to kill us all.

  This Arkon may have been somewhat subdued, but his red eyes still glowed hot when he said (or maybe hissed) in Arkon standard, “Who are you?”

  No harm in telling him.

  “My name is Nick, and I’m the captain of a trading ship. This is Amini, our navigator and pilot.”

  “What ship?”

  “Argos.”

  “Never heard of it. It is not Arkon.”

  “True, we are traders from Zarminia.”

  “And what do you trade for, way out here? There are only cast-off asteroids. Unless you are with these others.”

  “If you mean Toor and his companions, the answer is no. We were trying to get away from pirates that wanted our ship. We stumbled upon this place and came to see what it was.”

  That wasn’t exactly true, but close enough.

  “But Toor knows you. I listened when you thought I was asleep.”

  “True, we first met him on Tye, and he promised us some cargo and a delivery job. But all he wanted was our ship and our money. He didn’t get either.”

  “But here you are, his prisoners.”

  “Yes, damn the bad luck. How about you. Why are you here?”

  “I once worked for these people. My fighting ability was of value to them.”

  “What happened?” Amini asked as she took in the Arkon’s tale with interest.

  “When I saw there was no honor here, I told them no more. What they wanted from me was below the honor of an Arkon Red.” When he said those last words, his red crest started to unfurl a bit as he felt some level of pride rushing through him.

  “What did they do?” asked Amini, now fully engrossed in this creature’s story.

  “They shot me and threw me in here. That was many vikas (weeks) ago.”

  “They shot you, and you’re still alive?” asked Amini incredulously.

  “The wound was slight but stunned me. It took several armor-suited men to drag me here and lock me in.”

  I had to ask. “Why keep you alive?”

  “They have some plan for me at another place. I know not what it is, but only that I could be taken from this place soon. The same could be for you.”

  I thought about that for a minute before venting my fear. “I’m guessing, but that could be a labor camp someplace. I imagine that as their business grows, they need people to do the grunt work.”

  “You may be right. I only know they are expected to move me soon.”

  Amini waved her hand to speak, “Who are you? What is your name?”

  “I am Sif, former commander of hundreds.”

  “Hundreds of what?”

  “That is a rank in the Arkon land forces.” His red warrior crest unfolded and sprang to life. “I commanded hundreds of soldiers in eleven Arkon battles and won them all.” Then his crest fell. “Then your people defeated our space forces, along with the Supreme Leader, and the ground forces were disbanded. I looked for work where I could use my skills. That was a mistake here.”

  While Sif was talking, I saw the mantis drone land on the face of the cell lock. It jumped around as if trying to understand the strange mechanism. Could it open the cell door? What if it did? Then what?

  “Are you listening, Mister Nick?”

  Sif had seen my distraction but not the small drone.

  “Ah, yes, of course. I was just wondering, if we could get out of this cell, how could we escape this complex and get back to the surface.” If we could, I felt confident Harry could pick us up and get us away from here. Speaking of Harry, I realized that he hadn’t called us on implants. I tried with no results.

  When I refocused on my companions, Sif was speaking.

  “What good would that do? There’s no place to go there.”

  “Maybe. We might have a friend who could help if we could get there.”

  Sif fell silent, obviously thinking as he scratched
his long chin with a couple of sharp claws. Coming to a conclusion, the Red dropped his arm to his side and laughed. At least it sounded like a laugh. Maybe it was snorts of disgust.

  “Not possible. I have tried every way to get out of this cell. I even ignored the difficulty of evading the sensors in the passageway ceiling and the locked door at the end. I even fooled myself that I could defeat the armed guards on the other side. Still, if I died trying, I would die with honor. But it is not possible to get out of the cells.”

  I saw the drone buzz away as the cell door clicked and partly opened. Sif’s mouth dropped open long enough for some slimy drool to fall from one of his long teeth.

  “You were saying, Sif?” Of course, I had to grin at him. Amini said nothing, and I assumed she had seen the little mantis enter partly into the lock.

  There was a second click, and Sif’s cell door unlocked. The Arkon warrior stared first at the door and then at us in bewilderment.

  Remembering that these new drone series were able to think as well as act, I hoped more than assumed the next target for the miniature insect would be to attack the sensors, then the lock on the door at the end of the passageway. Not everyone had the same expectation.

  “Wait!” the Arkon warned. “This has to be a trap.”

  I knew it was not but didn’t want to give away our tiny friend and his capabilities just yet.

  “Only one way to find out. Besides, they wouldn’t have to set a trap to shoot us. They’d just waltz down here and fire away.”

  Sif nodded in delayed agreement.

  We exited our cells at the same time, and the Arkon warrior took it upon himself to lead the way, probably sure his combat skills were much greater than ours. He was right.

  Sif took us right up to the door, where he stopped and put his ear to the metal door.

  “Why are we stopping?” Amini asked, expecting the drone to open this door as well.

  “Listening to hear who is on the other side.”

  “And?” was Amini’s quiet, one-word question.

  “I hear one, maybe two guards close to the door. They are talking.” Sif continued to listen and then nodded his scaled head and stood up straight. “I hear two. I will tap on the door, not too hard, and when one opens it, we will push it in hard. That will hit the guard on the right, and I will jump in and take the guard on the left. You, Mister Nick, will take the guard on the right behind the door.”