Nilos waved his hand dismissively, “Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. All of this was an old government base abandoned decades ago.”
Calin cocked his head at Nilos, “Seriously? You’re going to go with that? Bud, even I can tell these tunnels are not government construction. Hell, they look more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen.” He pointed behind him and added, “And that building? I’ve never seen a base like that before. And the even the PPD did not go around killing miners for some old government base.”
Nilos pursed his lips in thought. He glanced back and forth between Calin and Shona and a sharp exhale he came to a decision. “All right, since it’s obvious you two will not let this slide, how about we do this. We work together.” He nodded at the map on Calin’s sleeve, “You share your information with me.” And he tilted his head at Shona, “And I will help you get justice for your brother.”
“Um… and what do I get out of this?” Calin asked. “I’m feeling a little left out here.”
Pursing his lips, Nilos replied, “I’m sure I can get you a reward for your time. OK?”
Calin and Shona looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement. Shona replied, “All right, we'll help you. But Captain Avis is mine, understand? He killed my brother and I’m not interested in taking prisoners.”
Nilos nodded in agreement, “Fine by me. But I suggest we get a move on, I’m sure someone will come to check for their missing squad soon. If you will follow me, I might know a back way into that building. If it has a control room, I should be able to get us both some answers.” And without a glance back to see if they followed, Nilos headed around the curve of the cavern.
Nilos led them around the cavern to the far side, behind the strange building. They carefully snuck up to its smooth wall that towered up above them to the ceiling of the cavern. Nilos headed straight to a slight, barely perceptible protrusion in the wall. He ran his fingers around the edge until he found a small lip which he slipped his fingertips under and pulled to expose a small access panel. For a few minutes he fiddled with the wires inside it until a soft “Aha!” escaped him. A rectangular door recessed into the wall next to Calin and slid sideways.
Calin looked at Shona in disbelief and looked at the now open doorway, “That wasn’t there before. I could have sworn that was a solid wall.” He whispered.
Nilos silently gestured for them to follow as he slipped into the mysterious building. After they had all stepped inside, the door silently slid back into place, the seam around its edge once again imperceptible to a casual viewer.
The room they had entered looked to be a storage area with stacks of square plastic boxes, all labeled with strange symbols Calin had never seen before. Living on the Moon was like living in a giant melting pot of nationalities. Calin himself could speak and read 6 languages, at the street level at least. Shona knew a handful more, and neither one of them had ever seen writing like this.
“What language is that?” Shona whispered to Nilos. He shook his head negatively and held a finger to his lips.
Quietly they navigated their way through the stacks of crates toward an arch in the far wall. Nilos peeked through the opening into the hallway outside and motioned them to follow as he darted left. The hallway curved out of sight as it followed the outer curve of the building. They hugged the inner wall as much as possible and kept their senses alert for any signs of company. The hallway was like the tunnels, walls smooth as glass and of a material unfamiliar to them. More strange writing was above multiple doors that led off from the hall. But soon they saw crates and equipment stacked in the hall that were clearly marked Exoplanet Corp. Nilos grabbed a tablet and they all grabbed Exoplanet jackets that were lying on top of a nearby table. Together they continued down the hall, doing their best to look like they belonged there.
After two more intersections with hallways that disappeared deeper into the base, they came across Exoplanet scientist and employees. No one gave them a second glance as most were busy trying to cut through locked doors or even the walls themselves. When they passed a large archway that led into a large area on their right, they had to stop and stare. A 10-meter wide double door covered the outside wall, with gangways and walkways crisscrossing at various levels above them. Scientist and engineers were all over the room as they examined and cataloged computer stations and equipment. And off to the side, hanging from a pylon, was the most beautiful ship Calin had ever seen. In a clean off-white color, its shape was like a flattened teardrop laying on its side and with small stubby wings sticking out. A large cluster of engine nozzles on the rear hinted it had been built for speed. He saw Nilos eyes widen when he saw the ship. A guard in the doorway gave them all an ugly look and ordered, “Move along”.
They tore their eyes away from the ship in the hangar and continued down the hall, Nilos intently studied the writing above each door. With a small “aha!” he stopped in front of a set of double doors, much like all the others they had passed by.
With a quick glance up and down the hallway, Nilos placed his palm on a symbol carved into the door frame. With a slight hiss, the double doors slid back into the walls and Nilos gestured them inside. After the doors slid shut behind them, Shona asked, “How did you know to do that?”
Nilos waved his hand dismissively, “It doesn’t matter, what matters is they haven’t found this room yet.”
“What do you mean by that? What is this place?” Calin asked as he looked around. The walls of the room were lined with what looked like powered down vid-tanks and control panels, but types he had never seen before. Aside from small emergency lights that lined the floor and ceiling, the room looked to be without power.
Nilos, engrossed in studying their surroundings, did not hear them. He walked straight to a pedestal in the center and placed his hand on a rectangular piece of glass that stuck straight up out of the top. As soon as he touched the glass the room around them came alive. Vid-tanks powered up, a rainbow of lights flashed on the instrument panels with the hum of computer equipment alive in the background. The glass he had touched lit up with diagrams and more of the strange writing. He gripped the glass panel and gave a small tug to detach it from its pedestal. Nilos ignored the room around him and swiped left and right, with an occasional tap on various icons displayed on the glass screen.
Calin was amazed, it wasn’t a piece of glass but a tablet, a transparent tablet. He remarked dryly, “that’s some pretty advanced tech for an old government base, I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Nilos ignored Calin's veiled accusation and grinned, “Yes it is. My sister is the tech head in the family, she would love to get her hands on this.” He said as he continued to walk around the room to glance from the tablet in his hand to the displays on the walls.
Calin stepped forward in front of Nilos to stop him in his path. “And how is it you know how to read this writing and operate this equipment when all these scientists can't? You said you snuck in here behind us, which means you had never been here before." He pointed a finger in Nilos's face, "So how do you know so much about this place? This tech is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Calin placed his hand on his gun and continued, “And I’m getting real tired, real quick of your dismissive statements. You know a lot more than you are letting on. It’s time you shared with the class.”
Shona pulled her gun and pointed it at Nilos, "I highly suggest you answer the man."
Nilos gave a charming smile, “Now, this is getting out of hand. I told you…” but whatever he had planned on saying was interrupted by the appearance of Calin’s blaster pointed at his face.
Nilos tilted his head to look around the blaster at Calin in surprise. He took a step back and leaned up against a control panel to glare at Calin and Shona. A pained look on his face betrayed the difficult decision he had made in his mind. With a slight nod to himself, Nilos began, “I guess you are not giving me much choice. It would have been better for all of us if you didn’t pry. But what I am about to tell you, i
t's going to sound crazy and far-fetch but I assure you it is the truth." He wrapped his arms around the glass tablet and looked at his feet before he continued. "As I told you before I am investigating Exoplanet for the SSA, and I'm also investigating Silas Drummer for a wide variety of federal crimes.” He paused, exhaled, and looked up at them. “But I'm also part of a secret group that operates within the Solar System Authority. We call ourselves The Terreo Group. Whenever something weird pops up on our radar, strange tech or unknown writings like this place, we investigate and if necessary make it disappear.”
Nilos stood up, paced across the room and pointed all around them. “My people have been looking for this base for generations, and now that I found it I have to make sure Silas doesn’t get it operational.”
Calin looked at him puzzled, “Your people? You mean your group, the Terreo Group?” He indicated for Nilos to continue with wiggle of his gun.
Nilos starred at the floor in thought, the struggle of an internal debate clear on his face. He took a deep breath, made a decision, and looked up at them.
“They are the same thing. My people are a small group descended from a very specific location and civilization on Earth. We have kept our existence secret throughout history, mostly. This language you see all around us is my native language. It's a dead language to the rest of the world and to those scientists out there, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Calin squinted his eyes and asked again, “Your people?”
Nilos looked at them sideways and took a deep breath, “You would call us Atlanteans. We are the descendant of the civilization of Atlantis.”
Shona, taken back, gasped, “Atlantis? The mythical city of ancient Greece?”
“Mythical? Not really. More like removed from history but yes, the sunken city of Greek legends. The city is gone as is the civilization, and along with most of my ancestors."
Calin tightened his grip on his blaster, "Uh huh, sure. You could have led with 'I'm a crazy government agent.' It would have made more sense."
Nilos chuckled. "No, really. I'm telling the truth. I do come from a prehistoric advanced civilization. At the dawn of mankind, my ancestors collected all the scraps of human knowledge, put it in one place and called the repository Atlantis. Eventually, the library expanded into an entire city dedicated to the collection and advancement of knowledge. While the rest of the world was developing steel weapons, the people of Atlantis were developing manned flight, advanced chemistry, and the beginnings of nuclear physics.”
“If it was so advanced, how did it disappear?” Calin accused.
“What I’ve been told is that Atlantis was powered geothermally by a small volcano on the island. Unfortunately, that small volcano became active and turned into a large volcano. Between its seismic activity and lava flows it destroyed the island of Atlantis.”
Nilos, seeing the questionable frown on Calin’s face, continued. “Yes, I know exactly how I sound. I swear, I’m not crazy.”
“If your people have been around for centuries, how come you didn’t know about this place?” Calin asked as he gestured around them.
“Because we lost a lot of our history, generations of it.”
Nilos sat at a nearby desk before he continued. “The Atlanteans were able to hide from the rest of humanity for a thousand years by disappearing to the far corners of the Earth. But hundreds of years ago, when mankind’s expansion across the globe severely restricted where they could hide, the Atlanteans decided it was time to leave Earth and let the rest of mankind develop at their own pace. Unfortunately, over the centuries many small pockets of Atlanteans spread out across the globe to create small communities of their own. My ancestors spread out, from Antarctica to Brazil to Iraq. They rarely communicating with each other. Then for some unknown reason, the majority of Atlanteans left the planet, and they didn’t wait for the smaller communities to gather. These little towns and villages of Atlanteans, already distant from their parent civilization for so many generations, slowly dissipated and dissolved into the rest of humankind. Atlantis became a legend, even to their descendants.”
Shona, confused, asked, “So how do you know all this then?”
Nilos continued his historical lecture, “Early in the 1900s, when the knowledge of DNA and chromosomes emerged, some Atlanteans pieced together the genetic differences between us and the rest of mankind.” He pointed at his steel-gray eyes, “One of the strongest genetic markers is our eye color. This is how we first find people to test their DNA. Since then, we have grouped together to focus on regaining our history and to keep it a secret from the rest of mankind. Our main objective is to find out where our ancestors went, and why.”
He gestured around them, "Which is why this base is so important. On Earth, the Atlantean civilization blended into the rest of mankind so they would not stand out. But up here on the Moon there was no need. But even hundreds of years ago mankind had telescopes, which is why the base was built underground."
Calin asked, “If you are the Solar System Authority, why doesn’t the government simply swoop in and take the base away from Silas?”
“We are in small secretive groups. We do what we can inside the government, but we don’t control it.” Nilos sat heavily into a chair as if a huge weight sat on his shoulders.
From behind him, Calin gave a questioning look at Shona and circled his finger around his ear, to which she shrugged.
Suddenly Nilos sat up straight and squared his shoulders. “But that’s a problem for another day. Right now we have a bigger issue.”
He gestured with the table in his hand and continued, “This tablet indicates that this base is powered by a fusion reactor. Currently, it is shut down, everything is running off emergency power right now. But that flashing icon in the center warns it requires a DNA check for initialize the fusion reactor power-up sequence. Atlantean DNA.”
Nilos turned to look at them with a grave expression, “From our previous experiences with their security systems we know my ancestors used this security protocol often to prevent their technology from falling into mankind’s hands.”
Shona interrupted, “So what happens if they try to start the fusion reactor without the Atlantean DNA?”
He looked at them both with a clenched jaw, “It explodes. And if this fission reactor were to go critical, it would crack the Moon like an egg.”
Chapter 16
Calin and Shona stood there and tried to comprehend the scope of the disaster that Nilos warned them could happen. If Silas tried to start the fusion reactor without the correct DNA, it would go critical.
Their thoughts were interrupted when the doors to the control room hissed open to reveal a squad of troopers, weapons at the ready.
Shona reacted quickly and jumped up clapping. Cheerfully she exclaimed, “Oh thank goodness! We’ve been trying to get those doors open forever. Thank you!”
One trooper stepped into the room, his eyes scanned the room suspiciously before he replied, “One of the eggheads figured out which symbol opened the doors.” He squinted his eyes and asked, “If you didn’t know that, how did you get in here?”
Calin saw Nilos slowly slip the control tablet in his hand inside his worker coverall, so he spoke up loudly to distract the guard. “It just opened when I leaned against the wall, I must have leaned on the correct symbol.”
The guard jerked his head to the door and ordered, “This room hasn’t been cleared yet for study, you have to leave. Head to the hangar for assignments.”
“Gladly sir!” Shona answered with a smile as they filed out and squeezed past the rest of the squad in the doorway. The lead guard was already on his comm to call in the room's location.
As they walked together down the hallway back to the hangar, Nilos cussed up a storm under his breath in an interesting mix of Russian, Chinese, and English. “It won’t take their engineers and scientist long to figure out that’s the Main Control Room for the base! I’ve got to get out of here and let my people know what
’s going on!” He tapped the tablet under his coverall, “And get this out of here. Without this, there isn't much they can do.”
A guard ahead of them gestured for them to hurry and pointed into the large room they had passed earlier. “Hurry up!” he ordered harshly, “Captain Avis has called everyone into a meeting.”
Calin glanced at Nilos and whispered as they entered the crowded hangar, “Uh oh… guess he got out of the cave in, we really need to get out of here.”
The hangar was filled up with a mix of engineers and scientist, all dressed in the same Exoplanet coverall. Calin tugged down his right sleeve to cover as much of his cybernetics as possible. As they slipped through the crowd, Calin paused at the buffet table against the wall and grabbed a donut with coffee. Shona, astounded, asked, “How can you eat at a time like this?”
Calin shrugged, “Hey, I’m hungry. And I don’t see a steak in my near future so I’m fueling up.”
Nilos stepped between them to interrupt their banter and whispered, “I have an idea I want to try, follow me.”
So they followed him and squeezed through the crowd to get under the ship they had glimpsed earlier from the doorway.
The ship, attached to a pylon that descended from the ceiling of the hangar, hung 10 feet above the floor. A bit smaller than his own ship the Sky Rover, Calin couldn’t help admire its lines and curves as a thing of beauty. A crowd of engineers and scientist swarmed around the ship and pointed various instruments up at it, undoubtedly trying to figure out how to access the ship.
When they were near the Atlantean ship, Calin and Shona stood in front of Nilos to screen him as he pulled out the tablet from his coverall. Methodically he searched through the symbols and apps on the tablet and swiped around until a little “aha!” escaped from his lips. “Got it!” he said excitedly.
Calin looked over his shoulder and watched Nilos slip a hand into his pocket to pull out a taz grenade.
Lunar Escape Page 9
