Starflight, page 3
“Roger. Understand pinned but safe. Damage to right arm. Primary computer destroyed. Suit integrity satisfactory.” There was a pause and another crackle of static. “Environmental readings?”
She lifted her left arm and checked the readings again. “Significantly lower radiation readings, reads zero-point three six C/Kg. Temperature is sixteen-point six degrees.” She watched as twin beams of light swept over her and one of the multi-purpose drones slipped through the hole above her. She raised her left hand and waved. “About time you guys got down here. I was starting to get lonely.”
“This area is much smoother than where we were just at,” remarked Sahnuli. “This might have originally been an underground water supply or flood tunnel. The weight of Sarah and the other equipment was just enough to precipitate the collapse.”
“I heard that Sahn,” Sarah half-laughed, half-coughed through her suit speaker. “You’re saying I’m fat and that’s what caused me to fall in here.” The drone was acting as a radio relay system to keep everyone connected since the suit radios did not have the power to reach through the rock effectively.
“Of course not Sarah. I would never deem to comment on your personal weight status. I was taught better than that by my creche.”
Sarah laughed again. “The drone is now in the chamber I fell into.” She stopped and listened. Scraping noises drifted down from the hole. “You guys must be getting pretty close. I can hear your climbing noises from above me. Just please be careful not to step on me when you get down here. I’m already uncomfortable from the fall.”
She watched in dazed anticipation as Gareth and Sahnuli’s light beams played across the open shaft above her. It was going to be good to be back in physical contact with the team. Injuries were annoying. She watched her friends descend from the ceiling. Most of the fine dust had finally settled out of the air, improving the visibility in the chamber.
As soon as Gareth knew he was firmly on the ground, he dropped the medkit and reached out to assist Sahnuli onto the wide ledge. Elowan, strangely enough, were extremely good medical personnel. He pulled sufficient slack to allow them to move around freely. The sooner he could get Sahn treating Sarah, the better it was going to be for everybody.
Sahnuli opened the medkit with one set of fronds while he quickly examined Sarah’s general state. Without her life support computer, it limited Sahnuli to what she could tell him or he could observe. Instead of crushing her leg, it appeared the rocks had landed in a manner where they were supporting each other, though still trapping her lower limb. She was rotated awkwardly at the hip, left arm across her body and her right arm straight out and visibly swollen. He could see beads of sweat form and roll off her forehead, and she was paler than normal.
“Sarah, you’re in shock. I am going to give you a general broad-spectrum painkiller and anti-inflammatory to reduce the swelling in the arm. Then I am going to splint it. Once I stabilize the arm, Gareth and I will begin moving the rocks away from your leg so that we can evacuate you. Do you understand?”
Sarah nodded weakly and lifted her left hand, thumb extended upward in the ancient signal of everything’s good.
Sahnuli sifted through the medkit and removed a pair of liquid-filled ampules and inflatable splints. Pressing the ampules to the suit’s medport, he heard a soft pfft as the pneumatic dispenser injected the medications. He held out a frond. “Gareth, please help me set the splint.”
The pair waited a minute for the painkiller cocktail to begin working, then straightened out Sarah’s arm. She bit her lip to prevent making any sounds. The moving of her arm hurt significantly more than when she had done it on her own. As soon as it was straight, Sahnuli touched the inflation button, and the splint inflated, both cushioning the arm and ensuring it remained stationary.
“Oh, by the seven nights of fever that hurts. Please tell me you don’t need to do any more with my arm,” Sarah wheezed, tears of pain squeezing out of the corners of her eyes.
Sahnuli shook his head in negative. “That is all I need to do here. I don’t think it is broken, thankfully. There was no indication while I felt it. There could be a hairline fracture, but until I get you into the med bay on the terrain vehicle I cannot know for certain. I think it is bruising and a rather intense sprain. Our next job will be to free your leg and get you back on your feet.”
As the pair worked, the drone continued its program and mapped the small cavern that they were in. It found a large opening near the back and descended into it. Sarah could do nothing other than wait as Sahnuli and Gareth moved rocks carefully off her leg. She listened to the grunts of exertion as they rolled a large stone away from her leg. After they removed a few rocks, she was able to wriggle her leg and pull it free. She leaned on Gareth as she stood; her left leg full of pins and needles as the blood flow resumed normal levels.
“Oh yeah. . .Leg fell asleep.” She limped around in tiny circles to restore feeling. Slowly the tingling faded and Sarah was comfortable walking normally and without support. “Alright, I think I can move on now. Even my arm is feeling better.” She moved the arm a bit in her sling.
“That is good news,” stated Sahnuli as he grasped the extra harness the two had lowered with them. “We need to get you into the harness for ascent.”
Gareth smiled as the three began setting up the harness units. He glanced around the small cavern and then frowned.
“Where’d the drone get off to?”
Sarah and Sahnuli paused and looked around. There was a faint glow at the end of the cavern farthest from them. “Over there perhaps,” Sahnuli stated and waved a frond towards the dim light.
“Maybe. I’m going to check. Hate to lose one down here. Bosses might charge it to us.”
Everyone laughed at that.
Gareth stepped away from his harness and, carefully, worked his way towards the cavern’s far end. The light appeared to be coming from a large, circular hole in the cavern's floor. Gareth stared in surprise. The hole was not just round; it appeared to have been carved out of the stone. He crouched down on his knees to get a better view. The upper edges of the hole were slightly eroded, but the remainder of the hole’s sides were smooth. Looking through the hole, he could see the lights from the drone fanning back and forth.
“Sahnuli, Sarah. I think you should come see this.”
The other two members exchanged glances and then divested themselves of their harnesses. They walked back to where Gareth was kneeling.
“What’s up? I’d really like to get back to the rover.” Sarah placed a hand on Gareth’s shoulder. “Actually, get out of this suit and check my arm.”
Gareth nodded absently. Then he pointed at the hole. “I don’t think this is natural. I mean, the sides, the cut edges. This looks created.”
Both Sarah and Sahnuli leaned over and looked hard at the hole. After a moment, Sarah spoke up. “I agree. It looks like a mining bore more than anything else.” She looked up. “Sahn, could you shine your light above us?”
He turned and lifted the light up, playing it over the rough ceiling just a foot above their heads. The rock looked normal and untouched by any living hands.
Sarah sniffed. “Problem is, a mining bore needs to come from the surface. Can’t bore from underneath up.” She smacked the side of her helmet with her good hand. “This is silly.”
“What?” asked Gareth as he stood back up.
“We can use the drone to see what’s down there. Bring up the video on your arm display.”
Gareth tapped a quick command, and the screen on his left arm shifted to a view from the forward camera on the drone.
The two humans gasped, and Sahnuli ducked his head in surprise. There were remains. Two sets. One set of human bones and the parts of a single Velox exoskeleton.
The four crew members sat in their stations, chairs turned to look at each other.
Gareth shook his head. “I say we leave it to someone who knows what they are doing. The only reason we are even here is to test the terrain vehicle.” Crossing his arms, he sank deeper into his chair.
“Yet we have found something unexpected. A possible proof of the legends of Arthlings living in the Southern Zone.” Phxnolx clicked his mouth parts together, grinding them slightly. “We know that this area had been bombed almost a thousand years ago. We have never determined the complete why of that attack, nor of who might have been the aggressor. There are hints. . .”
“Tales.” Gareth interrupted. “Tales in The Book of Endurium. Stories to ensure that we understand our place on Arth and the universe. Those tales are not enough to send us back down.”
Sarah started at the venom in Gareth’s tone. She knew he had grown up in a religious household, but it surprised her he would allow that to overshadow his scientific training.
Sahnuli raised a frond and waved it towards the front window of the vehicle. “I do not suggest that we return below, due to those tales. I suggest we return to gather the remains of fellow beings, give them a proper release, and determine how and why they are there. All the drone readings and samples indicate that the caverns and chamber below have been sealed for several decades, possibly centuries.
“There is no need for all of us to descend,” he continued. “In truth, I am certain that maintaining at least one of us topside during the investigation is not only worthwhile, but necessary. So I shall suggest to Remote Base One.”
“I will, willingly, go back down, as long as I can use the harness,” Sarah stated. “My last descent was a bit faster than I enjoy.”
“How is the arm progressing?” Phxnolx questioned.
“Great. Once Sahnuli got me into the medi-station, he did his magic and encouraged the muscles to accept the quick heal process.” She rotated the arm about, wincing slightly as it twinged on the upper part of the circle. “Still a little stiff, but almost healed and much better than it was.”
“Any other concerns?” questioned Sahnuli. He waited a moment. No one spoke up. “Very well. I will contact our superiors and brief them on what we found and our plans.” He stood up and shuffled to the drive compartment, shutting the privacy shield behind himself.
The rest of the crew busied themselves with a game of cards as they waited for Sahnuli to return. They were uncertain of how long the conversation would take or what Remote Base One’s answers would be.
“I’ll take two,” Gareth said as he tossed two of his hand on the table. Phxnolx gathered up the spent cards and slid two new cards across the table. Sarah sighed and dropped a single card.
“One please.” She glanced at the card that Phxnolx passed and grinned.
Phxnolx stated, “Miner’s Paradise, ores and gems.” He laid seven cards face up, three gems and four ores. “Twelve points”
“Flitz! That tears my hand. All I have is a Minor Trade Route and a Cargo Haul. That only gets me seven points.” Gareth laid six cards face up in two sets of three. A single transport, a crewmember, and an ore in one group and three cargo in the other.
Sarah fanned all twelve of her cards face up on the table; four transports, six cargo, and a pair of crew members. “Trader’s Bounty! That’s twenty-six points for me.”
The players looked up from the game as Sahnuli slid open the privacy shield. He stepped down into the main compartment and folded his fronds in front of himself.
“Remote Base wants us to take a preliminary look down in the chasm. They are directing two of us to stay with the terrain vehicle. Those two crew members will maintain communications between the away team and Remote Base One. I suggest that Sarah and Phxnolx are the away team. Phxnolx will operate the drone. Sarah, Base informed me you have a background in archeology. I was not aware of that.” A faint hint of verbena wafted from the team commander, showing his surprise.
Sarah found everyone was looking at her. “Not archeology. I took a summer internship working with some friends from college on a fossil dig in the North Province. We were looking for the evidence and fossils of the early sauroid plant eaters. Instead, we discovered a primitive Velox hive community that seemed to have no connection with any of the other races. That’s it, just the one summer in college.” She raised both her hands in supplication.
Phxnolx click his mandibles together. “You were part of the team that discovered the No’lenx hive?” He intently stared at her.
Sarah shrugged. “Yeah. It really isn’t that big a deal. There were seventeen others on that dig as well.”
“I will accept your answer while maintaining my own choices when it comes to ‘how big a deal’ the find was,” Phxnolx stated firmly. “I am quite satisfied with your ability to assist with this investigation.” He cocked his head and his caprice tinged slightly blue in humor.
Laughing, Sarah dropped her head in mock surrender. “I bow to your acceptance.”
Less than an hour later, the four members were finishing their final suit checks. Sarah had swapped out her broken computer and flashlight. Gareth then verified her suit’s condition a second time prior to anyone descending into the shaft. A double winching arrangement replaced the original, hastily built system. The descent team would use the same dedicated communications line as the first team had used. They also carried several signal boosters in a bag. These they would place as they made their way down the shaft to the large cavern where Sarah had fallen earlier. The boosters would maintain a clear and strong radio signal even after the two were no longer using the communications lines. Two small multi-purpose drones rode in special harnesses on Phxnolx’s back.
The climb down the initial section of the shaft was significantly slower than the tumble Sarah had made several hours earlier. The suits were automatically recording video as they descended. At the first bend, Phxnolx drove a support piton into the rock face and hung the first repeater. He pressed the test button and a blue light flashed, blinked several times, and then glowed steadily.
“Topside, Descent. We are at the first bend. Repeater one in place and indicating a strong signal.”
“Copy that Descent. Topside indicates connection to first repeater.”
They placed three more repeaters, each in the same manner, before reaching the cavern where Sarah had finished her fall.
“Topside, Descent. Phxnolx and I have arrived at my impact point. We are proceeding to the final drop.” She paused as the air filled with the buzz of the first drone. The flyer was just slightly larger than her hand. She watched as it lifted from its safety harness and flew down into the shaft at the back of the flat area. “Drone one is operational and on. . .” Sarah glanced over at Phxnolx. He held up three digits. “On video three.”
“Roger Descent. You have permission to enter the drop-down. Request from Remote Base One to not disturb the remains. Photos and passive scans only.”
“Copy Topside. Passive only.”
“I believe that since you discovered this area—”
Sarah interrupted Phxnolx. “I didn’t exactly discover this. More like I fell into it.”
“Yes.” Phxnolx dipped his head in acceptance. “However, you were the first of us here. You should have the honor of being the first down into this area as well.”
When Phxnolx started talking about honor, there was no reason to argue. Honor carried significant cultural weight in the Eastern Islands. Sarah nodded and stepped into the hole. The line remained taut, causing her legs to swing free. She keyed her radio. “Topside, Sarah. Ready for lowering.”
“Acknowledged. Starting winch.”
Gravity’s pull drug her down as Topside operated the winch. She steadied herself with her hands as her waist and chest entered the hole. As she passed the lower lip of the hole, she looked up at it in surprise.
“Guys, the bottom of this hole has been reinforced with metal. There is a solid ring about six centimeters thick and twelve centimeters wide. Looks like it is directly fused to the rock.” She turned her head back and forth to ensure the camera caught the entire ring.
“I see it, Sarah. Definitely made by sentient hands.” Sahnuli’s voice was quiet on the channel.
Her legs caught her weight as she reached the floor. She allowed the cable to spool momentarily and then contacted Gareth to stop the winch. She stepped away from the hole cautiously.
“I’m clear Phxnolx. Come on down.”
The Velox descended quickly, using his arms and legs to steady himself. Before proceeding, the two paused a moment to gaze around the new area. This cavern was larger than any of the previous ones they had descended through. It was instantly obvious this room had felt sentient hands. From the squared corners to the smooth walls and ceiling, everything showed a non-natural creation. The large air vent and fan set into one wall confirmed the theory.
The remains of the two bodies were on the far side of the room from the fan. Solemnly, Sarah and Phxnolx walked over, their harness lines lifting as they neared the two.
“Fox, I’d like you to video this as I dictate.”
The squat Velox nodded once and lifted a small camera. He initially pointed it at Sarah. She began speaking, gesturing slowly with her hands.
“I think the two people may have initially entered the room through the fan shaft at the far end.” Sarah pointed and continued. “The cover for the fan is pinned open. The fan itself appears to have been stopped and the fan blades locked to clear a space from the center portion of the bottom.” She squatted next to the human remains and Phxnolx panned to the body.
Sarah continued to talk as she pointed at the bone sticking through the leg of the clothing. “This appears to be a compound fracture. There is no way someone with this injury could have made the climb up through the caverns without assistance. Also, depending on where the fracture occurred, they may have bled out before anyone could assist them. Both bodies are wearing similar clothing, though with how they have collapsed I cannot see any writing,” Sarah stated as she played a flashlight across the remains. “Hold on. . .Phxnolx, take a look here.”
A small circular patch was evident just under the left arm of the empty carapace. Sarah leaned in close, trying to determine what the patch looked like. She could see the outer border was reddish brown, surrounding a pale blue. There were symbols sown into the background. She squinted, trying to determine what the individual stitches represented. Were they a language, number system, or merely decoration? She pondered the question as Phxnolx finished filming the specifics of each. The clothing was a powder blue, with thin white stripes running the length of the arms, legs, and torsos of the two. During the examination, Sarah determined that all visible organic material had been stripped from the bodies. The exposed bones of the human remains were clean, with tiny scratches over the surface of the bones. When she shone her flashlight through the exposed chiton of the Velox, similar scratches fractured the flashlight’s beam.
