by Dave Lemel
“Okay,” Li said while nodding as he dropped down and started crawling toward the platform.
“Guess he’s goin’ first,” said Simon.
“I gotta see, too,” said Todd as he dropped and crawled quickly to catch up to Li.
As they came to the mouth of the tunnel, Todd could finally see the top edge of the structure. He did not see anyone standing up there looking around, which had been his most immediate concern. As they started to creep onto the platform, Todd grabbed Li’s leg. Li turned around, and once again Todd held up his hand, palm out in a stop sign. Li nodded, and they both looked side to side to check for any unwanted eyes that may find their way onto them.
Todd looked to the right first. The machine was deep purplish and red in color. It had a scaly appearance with veins of shiny polished copper and bronze-like metals running all over it. It went on as far as his eye could see, from the floor nearly to the ceiling all the way down the cavern. He looked back to the left. Here he could see an end. A couple hundred feet this way, there was an edge to the gargantuan structure. The enormity of it overall was staggering. It was as if two skyscrapers had been laid on their sides end to end in the cavern. There looked to be a gap between the front edge of the machine and the wall of the cavern in that direction. It seemed like the voice was coming from somewhere on the ground in that gap.
Todd tapped Li. When he turned to look at him, Todd pointed back towards Jack and Simon. Li nodded, and they both turned and crawled back into the tunnel.
“Wow,” said Todd when they got back to the other two. “That may be the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. Ever. Of all things. At least things that were constructed by living creatures.”
“They made the cavern bigger,” said Li. “And that cavern is coated with something else. They must have their own structural coating. It used to be about the same distance to the right as the left. Now we can’t even see the end to the right.”
“I think we should send Shelly in,” said Todd. “Have her go up and get us a bird’s-eye of the whole situation as well as who exactly is talking down there.”
“I think we should send the feed from Shelly up to the Henrietta ,” said Simon. “Have Ben relay it back to Lombargnor in real time. This just sounds like something we need him to get eyes on.”
“You’re probably right,” Todd responded. “I’m telling you, this thing is incredible, Simon. I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“All the more reason to have Lombargnor get a look,” replied Simon. “You get Shelly going, and I’ll call Ben to tell him what’s up.”
Todd walked Shelly as far down the tunnel as he felt comfortable and said, “Stay high and use your camouflage to blend into the ceiling.” Shelly zipped out and up as Ben appeared on Simon’s link.
“Funny you should call,” said Ben.
“Why’s that?” asked Simon.
“Your lovely wife contacted us a few hours ago and told us to move into position close enough to Io for support if you guys need it. They noticed some kind of activity when they were monitoring, and Lombargnor got a bad feeling.”
“Huh,” said Simon. “That is interesting. Someone arrived here around that time. Whoever it is sent the Vikards into a frenzy. I was calling to have you relay a feed in real time from Shelly back to Lombargnor.”
“Whaddaya got?” asked Ben .
“It’s footage of some kind of enormous machine they built underground here,” replied Simon. “Shelly is getting a bird’s-eye right now. Also, whoever showed up a few hours ago is giving a speech. We’ll have Shelly get a look at them too.”
Ben glanced over his shoulder. “Foggen, go set up a real time with H.Q.; Lombargnor and Sasha only, you got it?” Ben turned back towards the screen. “Send the feed and we’ll relay it. I’m sure whatever he wants to tell you after seeing it will be important and likely time sensitive, so you guys keep the link open if you can.”
“Sounds good, Ben,” said Simon before adding, “And stay far enough that you don’t get spotted on your approach. There’s a pretty heavy Vikard presence here.”
“You got it, boss,” replied Ben as the screen transitioned back to the live feed from Shelly. A little green H stayed lit in the corner, indicating a connection had been kept open with the Henrietta .
The four men huddled together and watched through the two links. Todd shared his screen with Li while Jack peered over Simon’s shoulder. Shelly was at the top of the cavern and gliding slowly along towards the back.
The top of the machine looked exactly like the sides. Same purplish-reddish scaly appearance with the copper and bronze metallic veins running through. After a bit, Shelly passed an area that all the veins seemed to converge at. It was a hole. All the veins they had seen so far led to it, and all the ones heading to the back were coming out of it.
A few seconds after Shelly had passed over the hole, Todd spoke to her. “Shelly, turn around and head back all the way to the front. We need a look at the person speaking.” Shelly stopped, spun 180 degrees, and headed back the way she had come.
As she passed over the hole again, Jack asked, “What the heck do you guys think that is?”
“I don’t know,” replied Simon. “But it’s really weird.”
“Well, whatever it is,” said Todd, “all those metallic veiny things are leading down to it.”
The four observed in silence as Shelly crept forward over the top of the machine. The voice of the person speaking grew louder and more excited as Shelly neared the front. Shelly slowed as she came to the front edge of the top and the scene below came into view.
In the gap between the front of the machine and the wall of the cavern stood thousands of Vikards. They were all wearing identical red chrome suits and facing the front of the machine. There the speaker paced back and forth, his voice now growing in volume to a shout. He appeared to be of average height and build for a Vikard, but his suit certainly stood out as unique. It looked like it had been made from old gold. The light in the cavern danced off it from head to toe, and just like on the machine, veins of copper and bronze ran all over it.
If the suit wasn’t enough to distinguish him as different, his face definitely put him over the top. He looked older than other Vikards they had encountered. As he paced, Shelly was able to zoom in and get a view of the severely battle-scarred face. On the left side, the cheek area had three parallel scars running at an angle downward from his ear to his chin. On the right, a single large scar started above the outer edge of his eye and ran straight down to the jaw. The eye itself was not the normal golden hue of a Vikard eye, but blood red with sporadic golden specs showing through.
Todd and Simon both looked up from their links at the same time. “Uh-oh,” said Simon.
“What, uh-oh?” asked Jack, looking back and forth between the two.
“We gotta move,” said Todd. “He just said it’s ready to turn on, and this appears to be the coronation ceremony.”
“What does it do?” asked Jack.
“Lombargnor didn’t give us a full rundown in his description, but he made it clear it would be bad for anything living in this solar system if it turns on.”
Simon looked at Todd. “I think we need to break off in pairs now. This thing, whatever it is, is too big for us to stay together and effectively place explosives in a timely manner. If they’re about to turn it on, we need to be quick and get the hell out of here.”
Todd nodded. “I agree. You take Jack and head to the rear. I’ll take Li and go for the front. I think to be safe we need to be sure to set the charges on the older miner’s walls, not the new Vikard coating. My guess is we’ll be getting clearer instructions from headquarters soon, but for now let’s set a few charges in position to flood this chamber with magma. Li?”
“Yes?” he responded.
“Can you explain to Simon a good route to the back end of the cavern?”
“I can give them a route,” replied Li. “But I have no idea where guards may be along the
way. It is completely different down here, and like I said, they expanded the cavern that way.”
“Fair enough,” said Todd. “Give Simon a route while Jack comes over here to go over these charges with me one more time.”
Chapter 24
The Vikard leader’s voice grew louder and louder. Todd and Li crept toward the end of the tunnel Li had led them to at the front of the cavern. Todd tucked up against the wall as they neared the exit. He leaned out to get a look and immediately snapped back against the wall. “I think we may need a different route to the front,” said Todd. “There’re too many Vikards there. No way we can sneak into the cavern from here unnoticed.”
Li thought for a moment before responding. “We cannot. Not on this end. This is the last tunnel at the front of the cavern before a huge magma chamber.” Li pointed across from them at the other side of the tunnel. “It is right on the other side of that wall.”
Todd looked across, then back the way they had come, then right and out towards the main cavern. “This tunnel slopes toward the main cavern,” he said. “Not a lot, but it doesn’t need to be a lot. Plus, it’s lined with the old coating.”
Li looked left, then right, then at Todd. “Yeah, so?”
“So we could blow a hole in the wall of the tunnel there, and the magma would pour through and go right down and out the tunnel into the cavern with the machine.”
Li nodded, “Ah. What are we waiting for?”
Todd pointed up along the top edge of the wall across from them. “I think we should set a line of charges along the top there. That way, if anyone leaves the cavern through this tunnel before they detonate, hopefully they won’t be spotted. ”
“Okay” Li responded.
“Well, first I need to show you how to set them,” said Todd.
“Why?” asked Li.
“Because I didn’t bring a stepladder, and there’s no way I can reach all the way up there. I’m going to have to hoist you on my shoulders, and you will have to place them.”
“Sounds good,” said Li. “But hurry. The leader has been talking a while now and must be finishing soon.”
A few minutes later, Li was attaching the cord to the final charge in the chain when Todd’s link notified him he was receiving a transmission. “Jump down and grab the bag,” said Todd. “I gotta take this call.” Todd tapped his link to receive, and Lombargnor and Sasha appeared on his link. “Yell-oh,” he said as he walked back up the tunnel towards the beehive.
“Hello, Marshal Jordan,” Lombargnor began. “We just finished going over the footage you sent from your hover droid.”
“And?” replied Todd.
“Things are worse than I had anticipated,” said Lombargnor. “Your crew absolutely must move with purpose and vigor. We have no time to spare.”
“Todd,” said Sasha with a hint of concern in her voice. “Where is Simon?”
“We split into pairs,” Todd replied. “Had a hunch time was of the essence. While we waited to hear back from you, Li and I went to the front of the cavern while your husband and Jack headed to the rear. ”
As if on cue, a fourth voice joined the conversation. “Hello, wife,” said Simon with a smile. “How’s Penny?” Simon’s smile melted a little with this question.
“She’s good, honey.” Sasha grinned and added, “She’s crawling.”
“What?” said Simon, entirely too loud considering his current situation. Sasha’s smile was replaced with a very stern look. “Simon! Quiet down!”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Simon. “Nobody’s down on this end. Must all be up in front by ugly.”
“Hey, who you callin’ ugly?” said Todd.
“Not you,” said Simon, chuckling. “This time I meant the looker in front of the machine rambling on.”
“Oh…” said Todd. “Yeah, he ain’t winning any beauty contests.”
“We really do not have time for this, marshals,” said Lombargnor.
“Sorry, boss,” replied Todd and Simon in unison.
“What have you accomplished thus far?” asked Lombargnor.
“Well, like Simon said, pretty much everyone is up in the front by us. It was difficult to find even the one spot we did to place a string of charges. Li says there is a massive magma chamber right behind the wall where we placed them, so hopefully it will still flood the cavern from this end pretty well.”
“We had the opposite,” said Simon. “Ran into one guard. Stunned him. Jack is placing our fourth grouping now. He said the way we laid them all out, it should blow a hole the size of a ten-story building in the cavern wall.”
“Good,” Lombargnor responded. “That should be adequate to flood the cavern. Now listen closely. There is little time and much to explain.
“The Vikard giving the commencement speech goes by the name Dow. For much of my life, he has led the Vikards. I abhor violence, and death by violent act makes me physically ill.” Lombargnor paused, took a deep breath, and let it out very slowly. “However,” he continued, “in the case of Dow, a violent end would be a well-deserved one.”
“You want us to take him out?” Todd asked, unsure if he was shocked, terrified, mildly excited, or all of the above.
“Absolutely not,” replied Lombargnor. “You are to avoid direct confrontation with Dow. He is an incredibly seasoned warrior with a passion and talent for inflicting as much pain and suffering as possible before squeezing the last bit of life out of his prey. What I meant was in all my travels, I have encountered no being in this galaxy responsible for more suffering than Dow. If he happened to be in the wrong place at the right time when the charges detonated, well…I do not believe that particular violent death would be one that made me feel ill.”
“Understood,” Todd responded.
“Loud and clear,” said Simon. “Hey, boss. What exactly is this machine?”
“As I explained before, the Vikard consider themselves to be the supreme beings in our galaxy. As such, they feel it is their right to take anything and everything they need or desire with no reason to consider the consequences for what they perceive to be lesser species or even the galaxy as a whole. They consider this machine to be the pinnacle of all their creation.”
“What does it do again? You said it eats solar systems?” Todd asked.
“Simply put, yes, it eats solar systems,” replied Lombargnor.
“What do you mean, it eats solar system?” asked Todd.
“They call it a Kreblach.”
“Did you say kreplach ?” asked Simon.
“No, Kreb. With a B,” replied Lombargnor.
“Oh, man, that would have been crazy,” said Simon. “Kreplach is a Jewish food. My grandma makes it for the high holidays every year. It’s like Jewish ravioli, but you put it in chicken soup.”
“Sounds weird,” replied Todd.
“Dude, it’s awesome. I’m no expert like my nana, but I’ll make some on the way home. You’ll love it, I promise.”
“Ahem…” Sasha cleared her throat loudly to interrupt. “Seriously, Simon?”
“My bad,” said Simon. “Carry on, sir.”
“Yes, so as I was saying,” continued Lombargnor. “They call it a Kreblach. Roughly translated, it means ‘super mine.’ It takes in every bit of matter in a solar system, processes it, and then ships it out to the Vikard colony it designates for each load. ”
“How is that possible?” asked Todd. “It’s big, but not nearly big enough to devour an entire solar system.”
“Not yet,” replied Lombargnor. “But it will grow. As it takes material in to process, it pulls out what it needs to feed itself and grow.”
“You talk about this thing as if it’s alive,” said Todd.
“That is because it is, Marshal Jordan. It is a bio-machine. Part machine, part living organism. It grows and grows, becoming more effective and efficient at its task before finally reaching optimum size, where it becomes nearly indestructible. At that point, it strikes a perfect balance between how much of its i
ntake it keeps for fuel to survive while still sending a majority of the material out to Vikard civilizations.”
“Are there others like this?” asked Simon.
“Unfortunately, yes,” replied Lombargnor. “We have been battling these since the first was unleashed on the galaxy centuries ago. We have destroyed a few before they have had the chance to grow, but there are currently five out there operating at full capacity. They roam the galaxy, indiscriminately eating everything in their path. Asteroids, moons, planets, even stars. Everything.”
“Has one ever been stopped once it reached optimal size?” asked Todd.
“Just one,” replied Lombargnor. “It was exceedingly difficult, and many lives were lost in the process.”
“So, it is possible at least,” said Simon .
“It was incredibly difficult, marshal. That machine devoured seven solar systems, two of which were inhabited, before it was stopped. Nothing good can come from one of these once they are turned on. We are already battling throughout the galaxy in an attempt to stop five others. I have no desire for it to be six again.”
“No,” said Todd. “This one dies right here in the bowels of Io. What else do you need us to do?”
“The machine generates a shield field. This field will protect it when it is in its early and vulnerable stage. It allows desirable materials to pass through and rejects the harmful ones until it is ready and able to eat and process those without harm. The shield field generator must be destroyed at the same time that the charges you have already placed detonate. That way, the magma can do its work and decimate the machine.”
“Just point me in the right direction and consider it done,” said Todd.
“Actually, Marshal Jordan, I have a different job for you. To access the shield field generator, you must get inside the machine. Where you are, near the front, the only access points are too heavily surrounded by Vikards. Where Marshal Cain is near the rear of the machine is a far more advantageous access point under current circumstances.”
