3012: The Artifact

by John M Grier

The Plan

  The way I see it, we have two choices” said Jack once they were back at his home under the mountain. “We can either pack what we will need and can carry in the hovercraft and take our chances traveling above ground, or, pack what we’ll need in two HumVees and explore these tunnels, while making our way north, which will probably take longer.”

  “I thought you were afraid the government might be occupying these tunnels?” asked Paul who was still a bit apprehensive about the whole idea.

  “Well, with these new official documents we shouldn’t have any trouble if we encounter anyone, I should think, and Janet mentioned that there was no one around but you. I would guess that means the tunnels are actually empty.” said Jack. “Besides, I have been dying to find out if the rumors are true about this place for myself.”

  “I suppose staying underground might throw Janet off track if she decides to come looking for me again.”

  “Actually,” said Suzie, “I have been monitoring your signal since Janet showed up and took you away. I think the rock of these mountains may just shield your signal if you’re deep enough. All of our levels here are rather shallow, but the elevator shaft we are considering is rather deep. You may just disappear from her view.”

  “Let’s plan for an underground journey, but be prepared for both, just in case we have to change plans quickly” said Jack. “I would love to find a way to block that signal or better yet, render it unusable.”

  “Okay, but let’s try to keep my head intact in the process. I have grown rather fond of it.” Paul nervously laughed at his little joke, then said “I suggest we head down to the warehouse level and start by unwrapping another HumVee.” He seemed excited at the prospect of actually driving a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. It didn’t occur to him that he was, just a few days ago, cringing at the thought of doing that very thing! It’s amazing how much you can change in a relatively short period of time, given the right set of circumstances.

  With a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye, hinting at her perkiness, Suzie said “I think I know a good place to start. Come with me.” They headed down to the warehouse, Suzie surprising them both by actually walking down the stairs with them instead of popping into existence at the bottom and further scaring Paul into an early grave.

  Jack drove the golf cart with Suzie riding beside him and Paul in the back, just as before. When they had traveled only a short way, Suzie had them turn down a narrow isle and stop shortly after. “I think there are some arctic supplies in this aisle” she said. Sure enough, Paul spotted the words arctic and survival on a series of boxes. They got them down and inside found cold weather boots, gloves and hats. Another box had coats. But the big find, in Jack’s mind was a much older version of the Mark One Hole Melter.

  As Paul and Jack inventoried the boxes they found, Suzie wandered down the isle and after a few minutes, she shouted “Hey guys! Check out what I just found.”

  As they approached, Jack saw the tongue of a trailer. When he got closer, he saw that it was a decent sized travel trailer. It wasn’t perfect for their purposes, but would do nicely with a bit of modification. A 30 foot travel trailer would be pretty close quarters for an extended expedition, but it could certainly be made to work and at least they wouldn't be in tents. One thing they would have to arrange for was some sort of skis or skid for the trailer once they got to the ice.

  Suzie was the one that came through once again. She found the skis that were used for the wheels of the giant cargo airplanes while on arctic expeditions. They would fit on the wheels of the trailer with a few minor alterations.

  They spent the rest of the day searching for everything they could think of that they might need and placing it in the HumVee, with a duplicate in the hovercraft parked outside.

  Jack arranged for their food. He gathered a supply of the food from his long term food storage facility, which he was still shocked to discover as edible after hundreds of years. He also gathered a supply of fresh and dried beef he had prepared a while back. His last task before they could set out was to set up Suzie’s program in her remote, which was an oversized briefcase. Not even knowing where it was, only that it existed, he consulted Suzie. “Suzie, where would I find that remote access device?”

  “Ohhh! Do you mean I’m going along this time?” she asked with enthusiasm while bouncing up and down and clapping her hands, much like a child just before her birthday.

  “Yes, I don’t want to take the chance of losing you if we actually find my boat and use it to get me back home. I really want you to come with me. I have lived all my life as a bachelor and these past ten years with you as a companion have been wonderful. I enjoy having you around.”

  Quickly adopting a serious expression on her face, she said “Jack, you have to realize that I will always be just a computer program, don’t you? Some day, you will meet the right woman and she may not understand, much less tolerate my presence.”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, feel free to come along.”

  “Thanks, Jack! I’ve been wondering what the world outside these caves looks like” said Suzie. “On the next level up, there’s an office at the far end of the main corridor. On a shelf, in a closet behind the desk you’ll find a small case. Bring it here and I’ll walk you through downloading me into it.”

  Jack found the room easily enough, especially since Suzie was right there beside him the whole time. The door was locked, though. Suzie took a look from the other side and discovered the door was thoroughly blocked by debris from a small cave in, years ago.

  Jack, feeling like the hero in an epic space movie, pulled his newly acquired molecular blade from the holster on his belt and sliced a neat hole through the door. He stepped through and found the case easily enough.

  When he turned around to head back out the door, he noticed the desk chair sitting in the corner. Sitting in the chair was the mummified remains of a man. Suzie saw him at about the same time and said “That must be President Thompson. This was his office when I was here last.”

  “Rather odd that he died sitting in a chair in the corner like that” said Jack as they made their way back to the workshop. Suzie walked Jack through the procedure and in a few minutes, she blinked out of existence momentarily, only to reappear as her original, stern and very male body.

  Jack nearly broke down and cried thinking she was gone forever until the man started laughing and quickly turned into Suzie again. “Gotcha!” she said.

  “Wow, I was really worried there for a minute that I had lost you. Not funny, Suzie!”

  “Sorry” she said with a giggle. “You know you love me, Jack. You can’t stay mad.”

  “Yeah, well, please don’t do it again” he said. “We should head back to the warehouse and see how Paul is doing.”

  Before they left, Jack gathered the contents of the briefcase that they had brought from the dig site. He returned the items to the remains of the briefcase and strapped a belt around it to keep it closed. He considered just putting them in another bag, but thought the case may yet be important. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and be too far away to get it quickly.

  They made their way back to the warehouse to find Paul driving the HumVee and screaming at the top of his lungs. He came to a screeching halt in front of them and said “Hop in and let’s go for a ride!”

  “No thanks, we’ll take the golf cart and meet you at the trailer” said Jack.

  Suzie said “He sure picked that up fast.”

  “Yes, he certainly did. I guess his powers of observation rival those of Sherlock Holmes.” They made their way to the trailer and Jack showed Paul how to hook up the trailer to the hitch on the HumVee. “I really am going to miss that hovercraft. I wish there was a way to take it with us.”

  Suzie said “You can set it on auto pilot and it will follow whichever vehicle you tell it to. All we have to do is
get it down here. The electric charge should last for several days before it becomes desperate for a charge.”

  Paul said, “Jack, we are going to have to use the elevator to get further down anyway, why not take it to the surface first?”

  “I suppose that’s a good idea. I want to remain below ground as long as possible. Hopefully Suzie is right and this green rock will shield us from anything the government uses to track you, Paul.”

  Fully loaded, they proceeded to the elevator area. They then called the elevator and for the first time Jack heard it rise. It seemed to take forever to rise to their level, but eventually, the doors opened and they saw the largest freight elevator ever made. Jack backed the HumVee with its trailer into the elevator and Paul pressed the button for the surface.

  Jack remained behind the wheel as the elevator began to rise. Paul stayed in place by the door and Suzie bounced around with the excitement of a kid in a candy store. The elevator arrived at the surface and when the doors opened they had to clear debris out of the way from the fallen building they emerged in. But after a bit of manual labor they had both vehicles in the elevator and descended to the lowest level the elevator was capable of.

  As they exited the elevator, Jack asked “Suzie, do you have any information about this place?”

  “Sorry, Jack, no. I was only ever used on the levels you occupied. I knew of their existence, but little else of any value.”

  Before they set out, they checked one last time to ensure their fuel cans, water cans and other supplies were securely attached and tied down. The hovercraft followed like a faithful puppy and they set off in the only direction available to them.

  The tunnel they were in was obviously man made, had walls carved from the green rock and a high ceiling. It also had the appearance of being unoccupied and unused for many years. They were heading in a general northward direction, which was the way they wanted to travel. After about a mile or so, they came to an intersection.

  On the wall was an ancient bronze plaque. Jack and Paul got out and looked at it. It had directions that only made sense to Jack, based on old cities, states and the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system. Using Jack’s knowledge of the cities on the surface’s past, they continued in a northward direction.

  In no time at all, they encountered a large lake in an even bigger cavern, obviously, natural. Even though they had only traveled a short time, they decided to make camp by the lake. Suzie was excited at her first camping trip and changed her clothing to reflect a safari outfit. Jack was secretly glad she was a hologram and therefore wouldn’t complain about the dirt and primitive conditions.

  Jack said “I know this place looks like no one has been here in many years, but I’d feel much better of we posted a watch. Suzie, would you stand watch tonight for us?”

  “Sure thing, Jack. I didn’t have any other plans anyway” she said with a smile as she changed once again into a guard’s uniform making it look much better than the man she defaulted to.

  The primary reason for stopping so early was to do a bit of looking around. Somewhere near here, if the rumors were right, was a town, complete with buildings. If this place was occupied, it was a pretty good bet that the town was occupied as well. And if that were the case, Jack wanted to know about them before they came rolling through in antique military vehicles. Voicing his opinions, he said “I think we need to take a look around and see what else is nearby.”

  “Ok, Jack. This is your expedition, not mine. I’m a bit out of my element here, I’m sorry to say.”

  Jack picked up his trusty rifle and headed toward the far wall, at least the far wall on this side of the huge lake. Paul, naturally, was upset about the inclusion of guns, but said nothing since he had just told Jack he was in charge. It was too late now to back out and to be honest; he was beginning to enjoy the adventure.

  As they headed off, Suzie noticed something moving in the distance. She called out to Jack to stop. “Jack, I see someone coming this way in the distance. Maybe it will be better to stay here and confront them nearby? This way, if we have to make a quick get away, we can.”

  “I guess that makes sense, Suzie, but I have to say, if we feel the need for a quick get away, it will probably be too late. We are rather limited in our options as far as direction.”

  Jack decided to hang onto the rifle, but remain out of view until he knew for sure just who was approaching. If it was the surface government, they were already in violation of breaking the law by driving an internal combustion powered vehicle. The gun would just be one more violation. However, if it were someone else, they would need the gun to establish superiority, perhaps.

  At any rate, he held the gun, but slipped out of sight and let Suzie do the talking. She quietly changed out of military garb and into something less threatening. Back in her safari garb, she sauntered up to the pair of men walking her way. “Hi. We are a little bit lost. Can you help us?” she asked with a smile.

  Both men were wearing what looked to Jack as US military special ops uniforms and carrying what had to be weapons of some sort, but like nothing Jack had ever seen or heard about.

  The larger of the two spoke. He said “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”

  Paul said “We were just exploring these tunnels and got a bit turned around. Could you tell us the quickest path to the surface?”

  The smaller of the two men glanced at his companion and said “Surface people. Should have known.”

  The other said “Quiet, Shultz. I’ll handle this. Now, what are a bunch of surface dwellers doing here? And don’t give me that ‘we were just exploring’ nonsense. The surface government would not allow you to use a vehicle that runs on diesel fuel.”

  Jack chose that moment to come out of hiding. He said “Let’s not get too excited, gentlemen. Why don’t we put those weapons down and have a nice civilized conversation?”

  Shultz laughed and said “Take a look at that old relic he’s carrying. What are the odds it will even fire?”

  Jack replied “I assure you it will fire and I know how to use it well. I have been hunting game with it for ten years. Rest assured I will have no problems using it again, if necessary. I was sincerely hoping I didn’t have to, though.”

  With a scowl, the large man said “Shultz, please just shut up and let me handle this.”

  “Sorry boss.”

  “Ok, why don’t we all take a walk back to town and talk it over with our superiors?”

  Suzie said “I have a better idea. Why don’t we all get in the vehicle and drive there? Why walk if you don’t have to?” She flashed an award-winning smile as she spoke.

  The big guy said “I guess that wouldn’t hurt. But, I would prefer if the lady here drove.”

  Jack quickly spoke up and said “Only the two of us know how”, indicating Paul.

  “Then I suppose you should drive, that way we can keep an eye on you better.”

  With that they all loaded into the HumVee, which was still connected to the trailer. Once everyone was settled, Jack drove off. He said “Mind telling me where we’re going?”

  “Just shut up and drive. I’ll let you know when you need to know.” The two men sat quietly and very stiff and formal, showing as little emotion as they could.

  Jack quietly drove slowly. He didn’t want to give any secrets away that he didn’t need to and speed may be a benefit later. He quietly cringed at the thought that Suzie’s little secret was almost out of the bag. They drove to the wall that Jack and Paul had originally headed toward. Just past the entrance to the tunnel, they saw light. It turned out the tunnel was only a doorway of sorts to the next cavern.

  The next cavern was even larger than the previous. And, sitting there in the midst was a town. It was like looking at one of those snow globes that used to be popular in Jack’s time. It was not a big town as towns go, but certainly big enough to be self sustaining.

  The most i
ntriguing aspect of the cavern was the light. Jack couldn’t see what the source was, but it was just like daylight. He parked the HumVee where the big man instructed and got out when told. Shultz and his large companion then marched them into a three story building.