NEBULAR Collection 6 - The Great Tremor: Episodes 27 - 30

by Thomas Rabenstein

  »How can a cosmic constant change like that?« Maya asked confused and looked around.

  Arkroid’s face seemed frozen.

  »This can only mean one thing. The parasites galaxy is on the way. These effects are similar to the dimension overlaps in Scutum-Crux. Remember the anomalies we encountered, even there, the laws of nature were turned upside down. It now looks as if the phenomena that prevail in Scutum-Crux would capture the entire galaxy.

  »It’s serious,« Tranos agreed.

  »What did you expect? There’re only a few hours to the Great Tremor,« Kuster~Laap commented with flapping ears. His blue skin color had darkened visibly, a sign of his excitement. »Nood and Naad believe that you can already see the parasite constellations using a tachyon raster telescope. This will increase the panic everywhere. I try to imagine what is going on at this moment on the worlds of Scutum-Crux.«

  »I don’t want to imagine it,« Maya replied depressed. »Although, we don’t have these tachyon raster telescopes, the effects of the time-space tremors have certainly been noticed.«

  »I have taken up the Chiropters’ proposal and created a tachyon telescope,« said Nautilus. »The parasite galaxy is now visible.«

  »Show us!« Arkroid commanded, looking in the direction in which he expected the holographic image. »I want to see what it looks like!«

  All held their breaths after the holo established.

  »In the name of the Pleunatan swamp spirits!« Paafnas shrieked. »Look! It’s manifesting itself!«

  Arkroid squinted.

  »At the moment it’s only a milky spot, which has covered a spiral arm of our Milky Way. It looks like a fine mist, which has enveloped Scutum-Crux.«

  That will change soon, Nautilus replied mentally. The contrast increases with every second. The perception can be compared to the blurred setting of a camera, which is being corrected step by step. Once sharply defined, the parasite galaxy will have reached our space-time continuum. The process cannot be stopped anymore then.

  Arkroid defiantly clenched his teeth and thought, What do you mean? Are you giving up? You mean, we’ve already lost?

  Nautilus’ thoughts seemed to Arkroid strangely calm and collected.

  The short stay near the galactic center has triggered something in me. I see things differently now. This cosmic melody! I heard it. For me, there were only ambient sounds without any meaning.

  What exactly happened there? Why are you reacting so strange? Arkroid asked. I don’t know you like this.

  Do you actually think that it is possible to stop a mass transfer of so many stellar objects with five small Jamal-Combs? Nautilus answered with a counter-question.

  If I did not have at least the hope, then our whole expedition would have made no sense, thought Arkroid, wondering once more about Nautilus’ strange mood.

  You still believe the universe can be explained by constants, physical laws, and a few tachyon equations, that it is enough to understand its complexity ...

  Arkroid listened intently to the mental impulses.

  You have created a false image, produced false models and concocted a cosmology that only serves your limited mind. It does not coincide with reality. There’s something I did not know ... it’s exhilarating and beautiful at the same time ...

  I hope the enigmatic melody has not damaged your logical mind, Arkroid expressed his concerns openly.

  I bring you home! I do not dare to assess if this home is safe, however, replied Nautilus.

  With these thoughts, which Pi didn’t receive, Nautilus accelerated the ship.

  Nobody’s going to believe this

  Why did I say yes to this crazy mission? Did I want to prove something to the professor or kiss up his ass, pretending that I’m better than the other students? Was it just my specialist status or my quest for adventure? I should’ve just said, I’m very sorry, Fitz. No Interest! Now I’m getting the bill for it. The pilot is dead and the professor has completely lost his mind. He has turned into a cosmic detective and taken it upon himself to solve the mystery of Haumea ...

  »Bruno! Are you dreaming? I asked you what you’re thinking right now.«

  Fitz looked reverently at the pulsing energy flows, which ran along the walls, the ceiling, and the floors and could only be seen with infrared filters.

  »I was just thinking how much I’m happy to be here, below Haumea’s surface, searching for a secret,« Bruno replied dryly. »My previous life seems boring and bland all of a sudden.«

  »Don’t lie to me,« Fitz said softly, pointing at the test instrument at his wrist. »There’s a chlorine gas atmosphere down here. However, the atmospheric pressure is very low. Presumably, most of the gas escaped into space after the Techno-Cleric crashed into the tunnel. We’re certainly dealing with a Globuster cave. Just don’t get the crazy idea and open your helmet.«

  »I may still be young and don’t have your experience, but, please, don’t take me for a suicide candidate. I can read and interpret my wrist instrument very well.«

  »Why are you so spiteful?« Fitz wanted to know. »Oh, you’re unhappy with our situation. Torn between anger and despair? You probably want to turn around and run away.«

  Fitz sounded suddenly solemn.

  »Free yourself from these thoughts, because panic or resignation is your enemy. I had already explained to you what choices we have. None! We need to find this Techno-Cleric and contact him! I’m sure he is around here somewhere in the cave. If something bothers you, then let it out now.«

  »Bother?« Bruno whispered irritated. »That doesn’t describe it properly. I have an insane fear that one of these monsters is waiting for us behind the next corridor bend.«

  Fitz chuckled.

  »I told you already, Bruno, there’re no Globusters here anymore; they left Haumea. I could not imagine that the Techno-Cleric would’ve landed here if the Globs were still in charge.«

  »But this entire cave, the black stuff and everything else in it is extraterrestrial, alien, half-organic and dangerous! I feel like Jonas, who walked straight down the gullet of the whale and cheerfully said, Let’s see where this leads.«

  »What an interesting comparison,« said Fitz, grabbed his assistant’s arm and pulled him to the wall.

  Bruno briefly touched the wall and felt the strange black material. Instinctively, he pulled his hand back.

  »This is unpleasant. It seems alive ...«

  »Be quiet and concentrate!« Fitz interrupted harshly. »The corridor widens, can you see that too? I think it opens after this slight bend in front of us into a kind of underground bubble, the actual Globuster cave. We have arrived!«

  Bruno clutched his weapon. He struggled to control his fear. The gun, at least, gave him a false sense of security.

  Cautiously peering through their infrared filters, the two men entered the cave, when suddenly a shadow scurried past their field of vision blocking their view for a second.

  »What was that?« Bruno shouted in panic.

  Fitz retracted the infrared filter and looked around terrified.

  »Damn! That must’ve been the Techno-Cleric! He came from the corridor behind us and flew past us very fast, right into the cave!«

  »Now, I’m really getting scared!« Bruno confessed in a muted voice. He almost whispered when he continued, »Why does the Techno-Cleric behave so strangely? Why was he scaring us and not make contact with us? I thought these robots are friendly!«

  »I have no idea,« Fitz admitted, he seemed irritated. »Usually they are friendly. The spherical robot body doesn’t emit heat radiation, so we saw him with our sensors only at the last second. The robot probably didn’t even want to scare us and just ignored us.«

  »We should go back immediately,« Bruno insisted. »I have a awful feeling about this. With my weapon, we could burn a hole into the Hawk’s hull and enter it that way. Inside the ship, we no longer need to worry.«

  »Useless,« Fitz replied in a calm voice. »With your weapon you’ll never cut through the
ship’s armor. The attempt alone is utterly hopeless, also, the hole through which we entered the tunnel is probably closed by now.«

  The self-healing process, Bruno thought alarmed. »You’ve known it all along, and didn’t care! Am I right?«

  »You knew it too, Bruno! Nevertheless, you came with me and entered the Globuster cave.«

  Fitz’s words sounded hard and didn’t leave room for objections. »Come now. We go into the cave and talk to the robot! Together, we’ll find a solution.«

  The two men groped their way forward cautiously and peered into the cave. Bruno knew the structures from numerous reports. He feverishly searched the cave for Globusters, but Fitz was right. There was no beast on Haumea anymore.

  »See? What did I tell you?« Fitz’s calming words sounded in Bruno’s helmet. »Relax, Bruno.«

  »Where is that robot?« he asked anxiously.

  Fitz switched on his helmet flashlight and illuminated the cave.

  »There … over there, he’s hovering over there! Can you see him?«

  Bruno took a deep breath and pointed at the robot.

  »Yes, I see him. The robot is hovering above a pedestal-like base. There, all these strange energy routes and lines are coming together like a communications hub. What kind of network structure is this?«

  »I think this is the pedestal on which the Globuster usually stands. Isn’t it strange that the Techno-Cleric is doing exactly the same thing? Why?«

  »Let’s ask him?« Bruno suggested enthusiastically and disconnected the communication cable. The young assistant listened and nodded, as he couldn’t hear any static noise from his radio receiver, which had automatically switched over after he had pulled the cable. The Globuster cave shielded the helmet radios from outside signals.

  With slow steps, Bruno walked toward the hovering robot and carefully raised his hand.

  »I don’t know your designation, but I’m sure you’ve noticed our presence long ago.«

  Bruno listened, but there was no answer. The robot’s sphere-like body shone pale in the light of his headlamp.

  »Carry On,« Fitz encouraged him to continue. »In a technical sense, the robot is far superior. I’m confident that he can receive your radio call, and that he understood your words.«

  Bruno wasn’t sure and stepped closer toward the Techno-Cleric.

  »Why don’t you answer me? We came here because we need your help.«

  Again no response. The cave and the strange pedestal with the mysterious hub made the two men feel more and more uneasy.

  Bruno thought he had seen a movement in the network hub and twitched. But as much as he stared at the pedestal, the event did not repeat itself.

  I have to stay focused and don’t get crazy. There’s only the robot and us here, Bruno tried to calm himself.

  He began to circle the Techno-Cleric, sought instinctively for a side that was approachable. The Techno-Clerics, however, had no face, no eyes, and no mouth. They were perfect spheres.

  »Why don’t you answer me,« Bruno said again, his brief moment of enthusiasm fading. He said angrily, »You damn robot, answer me when I talk to you!«

  Suddenly, Bruno stopped. He had semi-circled the Techno-Cleric and was now facing Fitz.

  »What is it? Did you discover something?« Fitz asked impatiently. »Come on, tell me already!«

  Bruno’s sounded breathless, »You need to see this for yourself, Professor. There’s something weird on this side of the sphere.«

  With a healthy respect, Fitz slowly moved around the robot and looked at the cleric. He now saw what had made Bruno nervous.

  »There’s a hole in the robot’s body!« he said surprised.

  »That’s not just a hole, Professor. This looks like a designed gap. This orange-peel segment measures exactly twenty degrees from top to bottom so-to-speak.«

  Fitz took a step closer and carefully looked into the cutout. The professor tried to see details of the interior. Surprised, he withdrew.

  »Something is wrong here. There’s nothing. We have an empty, floating torso in front of us!«

  Bruno’s alarming scream scared Fitz half to death.

  »Behind us! Look! Something is moving!« Bruno yelled.

  Fitz stepped backward and pulled Bruno along to gain distance from the terrible substance or creature that slowly crawled down the wall toward the Globuster network hub.

  Bruno groaned suppressed when the awful-looking something reached the base pulled itself up the pedestal. It looked like a giant ameba or some flowing slime, which was about to reach for the robot body.

  »Heavens! What is that?« Bruno said as if in pain. He could hardly suppress his flight instinct.

  »Nobody has seen something like that before,« Fitz replied breathlessly. »I’m sure, we made an important discovery. They won’t believe us, nobody’s going to believe this.«

  With wide open eyes, Bruno watched how the strange and repulsive life-form withdrew into the inside of the robot’s body. A second later, the gap closed.

  »I’m losing it! Something lives in the sphere?« Bruno gasped for air and wanted to run away, but Fitz caught him by the suit.

  »Wait! Running away doesn’t make sense. Let’s make contact.«

  This time, however, the Techno-Cleric was faster than Fitz.

  The pleasantly modulated, clear voice suddenly seemed to Bruno abstruse and offensive.

  »I have come to this remote world, to verify the last time marker. These structures are part of the predicted timeline and things will come true, just as the Creators foresaw them. The Law of Time states that anyone who gets an insight into his future changes it automatically and become a part of it. The Creators were able to prevent a paradox using a wise, step-by-step approach to avoid a paradox. They prevented a drift of the timeline into an uncertain future. The components of the degenerated technology are authentic and exactly as they should be.«

  Fitz listened to the words of the robot and signaled Bruno with his hands that he hadn’t understood a thing.

  »We don’t know what you want to tell us, but we’ve seen your real anatomy. Why didn’t you tell us that you’re biomechanical creatures? What are you hiding?«

  The Techno-Cleric hovered slightly up and down and apparently did not want to respond to the question. He said instead, »Have you not seen the sign? Are you people blind, even now, just before the onset of the catastrophe?«

  »What sign? Are you talking about the light in the sky?« Bruno yelled at the robot. »We don’t know what this object is all about. That’s not important to us right now, we have other problems, which began when you arrived here. Will you call for help on our behalf so we can leave this planetoid?« Bruno asked.

  »This is not a request! We demand it!« Fitz firmly insisted. »Our pilot died because of you!«

  »There is only one priority and that is the strict adherence to the proclaimed processes. Any deviation must be corrected,« the Techno-Cleric replied unemotionally.

  »We cannot survive long on this planetoid. Our oxygen and water supplies are limited. We need your help to call a rescue team!« shouted Fitz.

  »There is only one priority,« the Techno-Cleric said again with an indifferent tone of voice. »You are a nonconformity that must be eliminated.«

  Bruno held his breath. He thought he had misheard.

  »What? What are you implying?«

  »My forward memory doesn’t contain anything about two Humans who are meeting with me inside this Globuster cave. Also, you saw my most inner self. Humanity must never know about this. You are a violation and a danger to the stability of the timeline.«

  Bruno stepped back and drew his weapon.

  Fitz raised both hands and moved between the Techno-Cleric and Bruno.

  »Wait!« Fitz stopped him. »Wait a moment! What does this mean? We are people in distress and need help. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.«

  »Didn’t you understand him, Professor? That thing inside the sphere won’t help us! He wants
to kill us. Step aside, quick!«

  »But …,« Fitz staggered. He couldn’t say a word for a couple of seconds. »What are you talking about, Bruno? The robots are our friends. They possess unique morals. They can’t hurt us. Lower your weapon, before something happens, we both regret.«

  »Get out of my line of fire, Fitz!« Bruno shouted hysterically.

  »The time marker has been confirmed and I transmitted the result to my brothers,« the Techno-Cleric declared satisfied. »Soon, the circle closes and the plan of the Galactic Brotherhood will be fulfilled. We, however, will observe the accomplishment from a different perspective.«

  »Huh? Different perspective?« Fitz screamed in rising panic. »Let’s talk about it. You don’t need to do this!«

  With wide open, terrified eyes, both men watched as the spherical shell of the Techno-Cleric rapidly inflated, glowing brightly.

  »The deviation must be eliminated!«

  These were the cleric’s last words, and then a massive nuclear explosion tore apart the Globuster cave.

  The surface above the cave vaporized within a radius of fifty kilometers, including the Hawk. What remained was only a funnel-shaped crater of molten rock.

  What’s going on with you

  Information, transmitted with the speed of light, was not affected by the beacon and needed about four hours to reach Triton from Earth. The command central crew on Triton held their breath when Nok read the four-hour-old messages.

  »Riots have broken out on Earth and Mars. The Caravan Scout beacon is also visible in all colonies. To the people it looks like a second sun,« Nok read to the crew. »Somebody leaked information about the impending catastrophe. Since then, various news channels are outdoing themselves by broadcasting bad news, speculations and all kinds of doomsday newsflashes.«

  Nuri, who had entered the command central a few minutes ago, seemed saddened by this news.

  »Self-proclaimed experts interpret the changes in the solar protection field as a bad omen,« Nok continued. »Religious fanatics have appeared from out of the woodworks who interpret the bright light of the beacon as a heralding angel and call upon the people to find their way back to their faiths.«