by H. G Ahedi
“Aliens?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on. Are you telling me that there’s a secret wormhole right under our noses, and we didn’t know about it?”
“No. This is not a wormhole,” Dr. Kent said. “It’s a portal or a gateway, whatever you want to call it. It was probably created centuries ago. The door might lead to another solar system. We don’t know!”
Anastasia leaned forward. “What?”
“I can’t explain it. We don’t possess the technology to explain it, and the distance doesn’t make it easy.”
“How did it open?”
“That’s a question only Emmeline and Delta can answer,” Dr. Kent said. “They probably opened it. We need to make every effort to keep that portal open. Who knows where it could lead?”
Anastasia picked up the pad and went through the data. “Looks stable enough. Any planets?”
“I can’t say.”
“Well, I’m sure Emmeline can keep it open.”
“That’s where I want your help.”
Anastasia raised her eyebrows.
“The admiral,” Dr. Kent clarified.
She placed the pad back on the table and held her head in her hands.
“He is a dear friend, but he suffers from tunnel vision,” commented Dr. Kent.
“I don’t understand him,” Anastasia replied. “He’s an explorer. How is this any different?”
“Anastasia, whatever he does, he does it with the rules in mind. Rules are integrated into his neurons. Anyone breaking them makes him really, really unhappy. The girls broke the rules, so in his book, they’re criminals. What he doesn’t realize is that if they hadn’t, we would never have found that doorway. We have to deal with the admiral, and we should work together.”
“Oh, so now you’re on her side?” asked Anastasia.
Dr. Kent looked hurt. “There are things I have had to do. I am not proud of that, but I have to keep the lab running. That won’t be possible without the support of the Imperial Command,” He paused, and Anastasia felt his pain. He was human, after all. “You should know by now; I would do anything to keep the Crystal Lab and my overenthusiastic students.”
Anastasia smiled. “The incident a year ago . . .”
He shook his head. “I get her. Whatever she does, she does it for science and to fulfill her curiosity. God knows she’s the most curious creature on this station. But she listens to me.” He paused, then refocused. “Just imagine. Imagine what we can achieve. We need to talk to the admiral. What is his plan?”
“He intends to enter the doorway and get . . .”
“No! He should not!”
Anastasia glared at him.
“Commander, anything we do could trigger its collapse or destruction,” Dr. Kent said urgently. “We must be careful. The admiral should wait for them to return.”
“Or we could send a probe,” Anastasia suggested.
“Now, that’s a good idea.”
The Rogue Planet
Emmeline was the first to climb. She pushed herself up, holding onto the small rocks poking out of the mountain for leverage. She was faster than she thought, or perhaps she was just happy that they were close. She reached the opening and looked into the dark, narrow cave. She pushed herself up and stood silently. Liquid dripped from the walls of the mountain. Emmeline took a few minutes to scan the interior of the cave as Delta caught up with her.
“Please tell me there’s no more hiking,” Delta said breathlessly.
“The terrain ahead is flat,” Emmeline responded. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Delta said, stretching her back. “Will this cave hold?”
“For now, yes.” Emmeline turned on her flashlight. Transparent liquid dripped down from the roof of the cave.
“Is that . . .?” Delta started.
“Water,” Emmeline confirmed.
They walked through the dark tunnel. It was cold, and the wind howled through the cracks and roared through the dark passageway. Minding her step, Emmeline tried to remain as calm as possible. Despite the drop in temperature, she was sweating. She moved her flashlight back and forth, examining the massive rocks that surrounded them. For the next few meters, the cave turned triangular, and they had to bend down to get through. Emmeline gave a sigh of relief when she appeared on the other side of the tunnel. But her relief was short-lived.
“What now?” muttered Delta.
They turned their flashlights into the void just inches away from their feet. It was so deep and dark that the light disappeared within just a few meters. Emmeline looked up and realized that they were standing in a dome inside the mountain.
“Is this possible?” asked Delta.
Emmeline was already scanning the interior. “The rock is natural, but did you notice that?” She pointed to a large piece of rock. “It was sliced to create this.”
“Wow. Someone or something made this.”
Emmeline angled her flashlight at a narrow rock bridge. It was no more than forty centimeters wide and was the same color as the mountain.
Emmeline held her flashlight in one hand and put her scanner in her pocket. She lifted her left foot, rested it on the bridge, and waited. She took her next step, then another. When she was halfway across, she gave Delta an approving look. She crossed the bridge and entered another narrow passageway. Delta was right behind her. They had to squeeze through, trying to dodge the sharp ends of the rocks poking out of the mountain. Once they were out, Emmeline felt enormous relief.
“You have got to be kidding me,” muttered Delta.
Emmeline bowed her head. The passageway opened into another structure, but rocks blocked the entrance.
Delta held up her scanner. “We can’t blast through it,” she said. “But we could move a few of those stones.” She pointed toward the top of the cave.
Using all their might, they moved two stones, creating a large enough opening to crawl through. Emmeline peered inside. Besides a small light in the middle, the interior was completely dark. She heard a soft tapping noise.
Emmeline crawled through the opening, and once she had emerged on the other side, she carefully walked over the stones.
Once she was clear, she scanned the entire cave. The walls were made of wet black stone. Water leaked through the roof. In the back of her mind, she was already thinking about their journey back to Astra and wondering if there was a way to shorten it. “It’s safe,” she announced.
Except for the small yellow light, their flashlights were the only source of illumination. They gradually made their way toward the light. At the far end of the cave was an oval-shaped stone-carved structure. It was about four feet tall and two feet wide. Inside the oval structure was the source of the dim light.
“Incredible,” Delta said, touching the soft surface of the stone.
Titan, Deck 1, Bridge
Anastasia stood with Dr. Kent, watching Jacob on the screen. Anastasia could tell he was angry. His face was stern, and she was sure she could see a vein bulging on his forehead.
“Commander, I understand, but we have to set an example,” he said.
“It’s not about setting an example,” replied Dr. Kent. “It’s about humanity’s future. Fine! She broke a few rules. Of course, disciplinary action should be taken. But not before considering all the facts. If you put away the only person who’s qualified to work on the portal, what the hell is Titan for?”
“Dr. Kent, I think you’ve said enough!” Jacob argued, his voice rising.
“I haven’t even started. I strongly suggest you wait, or the science committee is going to hear about this. Patience is the key, Admiral.”
“I know you know people in high places. That changes nothing,” threatened Jacob.
“I know you are in command of Freedom, but as the head scientist on Titan, I have to tell you, you would risk everyone’s life on Freedom, including Emmeline and Delta’s if you enter the portal without studying it. The best course of action would be to send a probe
.”
“What will that accomplish?”
“It will give us more information,” Anastasia interjected.
“We are at war,” said Jacob. “I can’t just wait around. What if the Orias show up?”
“It would be just a couple of hours, and we can communicate with the girls.” Dr. Kent said.
“I’m sure Emmeline has a reasonable explanation,” said Anastasia.
“I don’t agree! We are entering the portal and bringing them home. Law will be enforced!” shouted the admiral. The screen turned black.
“Ahh!” Dr. Kent shouted.
Anastasia bowed her head. “You did your best.”
“Commander, we should stop the admiral. He’s not thinking straight, and I have a very bad feeling about this.” Dr. Kent walked up and down the bridge.
His reaction stunned Anastasia. Dr. Kent had never shown so much concern. For the last ten years, she’d thought he never thought of anyone but himself.
“What can we do?” Dr. Kent asked.
“I don’t want to send another ship, but I want the girl’s home safely and the portal investigated,” Anastasia replied.
“Well, Commander, we want the same things,” Dr. Kent said. “The science committee is going to hear about this. Are you with me?”
Anastasia thought it was best to play the power game. She nodded.
“Is there any way we can contact Emmeline?” Dr. Kent asked.
Anastasia looked at Evan.
“No. She’s out of range,” he replied. “Perhaps when Freedom gets to the portal, we can talk to her.”
The Rogue Planet
Emmeline’s heartbeat faster as she got down on her knees to look at the light. Suddenly, it became brighter, almost as if it sensed her. At the heart of the bright light, she saw a solid yellow object.
“How do we get it?” Delta asked.
Emmeline had already begun scanning. “There’s no force field around this stone structure,” she replied as her hand moved over the stone. Then she focused on the base of the structure. “I don’t detect any traps or mechanisms.” After a few minutes, she turned her scanner toward the bright light. “This is interesting. My scanner doesn’t detect the object at all.”
“What? But it’s there! It is the source, right?”
Emmeline put the scanner away and outstretched her hand. The object glowed brightly. Her heart was pounding. As her hand got closer, to her surprise, she felt cold. She slowly reached for it, but her hand went right through the object. “Ah!” Emmeline cried out, withdrawing her hand.
“Oh, damn. It’s not real!” Delta called out.
“It’s a reflection,” Emmeline concluded.
“If that’s a reflection, where’s the real one?” Delta asked.
Emmeline observed the small stone oval box from the inside. She looked up and saw no conduits or any kind of technology.
“Anything you can remember from the plaque?” Delta prompted her.
Emmeline tried to force herself to visualize the plaque. When she was unsuccessful, she got her pad out of the backpack and looked through the images of the plaque. A beeping noise echoed in the cave. Emmeline turned to Delta, who was looking at her communications device. “What is it?” Emmeline asked.
“It’s Astra,” Delta replied. “It has detected a ship approximately four hours away from the portal.”
The blood drained from Emmeline’s face.
“Oh, this is not good,” said Delta.
“Oh my God,” Emmeline murmured, feeling as if the entire cave was moving.
“What are we going to do?” Delta asked.
Emmeline held her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe we can escape.”
“And go where? Titan is our home.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I don’t know. I’m sorry I got you into this!” Emmeline said sadly.
“No. You didn’t.”
“Okay. Okay. They know we snuck out. Maybe we can apologize.”
Delta looked at her.
“We have to do something! Can we just say we were curious?” Emmeline suggested.
Delta bowed her head. “That won’t do, and you know it.”
“What if we find the device, take it back, and explain to them what it can do?”
“That’s a good idea. Do you know what it can do?” Delta asked incredulously.
“Look, so far, the myth seems to be true. It can be a source of unlimited power. If we get the piece, we have proof that this device exists. That could be our bargaining chip.”
Silence engulfed the cave. Emmeline wondered if this could work. Delta’s communicator buzzed again. They exchanged worried glances. She looked at the device. Astra was transmitting the details of the ship.
Delta’s face paled. “It’s the admiral.”
Emmeline banged her head. “Oh no. Why the hell does it have to be him? We’re ruined! Damn! I’m so close. This isn’t fair! It’s right there!” she yelled, marching around in circles. “We have to do something! We have to get to Commander Waters and Argon.”
“Astra, come in. Astra, come in. This is Admiral Donavan. Respond,” Jacob’s voice rang through the communications device.
Emmeline banged her head again.
“As you said, we need a bargaining chip and a pretty good one.” Delta said, turning toward the yellow light.
Emmeline’s face turned stony. “I’m not handing over the device to anyone! No! Not to that damn arrogant admiral. Not to Dr. Kent! No! I’m not giving it to them. The plaque belongs to my family. It belongs to me!”
“I’m not saying that,” Delta drawled. “I’m saying we use it to our advantage and get ourselves out of this mess. Emmeline, at this point, it can save us. We can put in an appeal with our seniors. Then we can contact the science committee. But be ready to face some consequences. The admiral is a stubborn man. Do you think your father would help?”
The communicator buzzed again, and Delta silenced it.
Emmeline felt hope. “Yes. Yes. I know he’d be mad, but yes. He would help.”
“Okay. This is the plan. Once we get the device, we return to our space but tell the admiral we will only speak with Commander Waters. The admiral will threaten us, but as citizens of Titan, we have that right. We can directly appeal to be taken to Commander Waters. We will explain our situation. Give her the data and if no other choice, the piece. We’re not running. We’re going to stand our ground and work this out. Do you agree?”
Emmeline nodded. “Let’s hope we can find it first.”
As Delta anxiously walked around the cave, Emmeline looked through her pad and her notes about the mythical device.
“Did you find anything?” Delta asked her a few moments later.
“I’m so stupid,” Emmeline muttered.
“You missed something?”
Emmeline dropped her head. “I should have seen this before!”
“Seen what?”
“When I was running algorithms, it deciphered the star map.”
“Yeah.”
“But I never told the computer to stop. The computer kept running more algorithms and decoded an image embedded in the star map. I had programed it to save whatever patterns it found and then keep analyzing.”
“What image?”
The picture on the pad changed. The stars disappeared, and a diagram of the mythical device appeared. They could tell that there were seven parts of the device, as there was a bit of a gap between each. Six pieces looked like petals around a central round piece.
“Seven parts? Are you telling me there are six more pieces out there?” Delta said in disbelief.
“I didn’t know,” Emmeline said. “I just found out!”
“Okay. Where are those pieces?”
“I have no idea. I just saw this!”
“Could that be a part of the device?” Delta said, pointing to the glowing object.
“Yes. Yes. It is. The first part. Look it matches the image.”
Delta’s fa
ce turned white. “Where do we find the rest of them?”
“I don’t know,” said Emmeline. “But we have to start somewhere.”
“This is not good. Could this piece have any powers?”
“I don’t know! We have to get it before we can make any assumptions.”
Emmeline’s heart sunk. Without the complete device, there might be no way to prove that the mythical device had unlimited power. Time was precious, and she felt they were getting nowhere.
Emmeline marched around the oval structure, looking high and low, then sulked. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s all stone. There’s no technology, and if there is, we can’t detect it.” Then her eyes drifted away from Delta as if she had been transported somewhere else.
“I’ve seen that look before,” remarked Delta.
Emmeline walked past her and reached out to touch the wall. It was cold and wet. But that wasn’t what had attracted her to it. She hadn’t noticed it before because of the darkness. But there, carved into the stone, was a mark. A symbol she had seen before. There were seventeen small dots on the wall. Their shape and size were just like the markings that had appeared on the back of the plaque when she’d first found it. She smiled and turned.
“What?” Delta asked.
Emmeline picked up the pad and scrolled through the files. “Hold on,” she said. “Ah! Found it.”
The musical tune echoed through the cave.
The glow intensified. The girls moved away from the stone structure. Brightness engulfed the stone, then started spreading. The light spread throughout the entire cave and glittered. It was so bright that they had to shut their eyes.
Emmeline momentarily opened her eyes and was surprised. What she saw terrified and amazed her at the same time. Beautiful sparkling golden lights surrounded them. She looked to her side. Delta’s eyes were closed. She tried to tell her to open them, but she couldn’t speak. She tried again, but she had no voice. Delta didn’t move. Emmeline tried to call her. But she remained still, as if frozen in time.
Emmeline looked around and touched a string of glitter. It melted away. She wondered if she could walk and took a step forward. A large bubble appeared in front of her, then another. A group of bubbles, about twenty centimeters in radius, floated in the golden mist.
