9 – Fun In The Asteroid Belt….
(Spera – Bridge – Year 3, Day 50, 1250)
Cinara and Nikita Aranov were manning the two science stations and studying the energy signatures on the sensors. At the same time, Major Levine was plotting a course past all the asteroids on their list. He was also looking for a place where they could take a closer look at the sources of the signals. So far, they had been able to confirm that said sources were Zovaris obelisks. These units were much smaller then the one on Eden. But they had not been able to find a place where they could send a team in spacesuits yet. The asteroids they had passed so far had been barren, except for the alien devices.
“Anything so far ?” Hailey asked.
“No,” Cinara began. “But every asteroid is slightly bigger than the one before.”
“That lines up with our practice theory,” Levine said.
Suddenly, there was a beep from Aranov’s console. He worked his controls and realized that one of the asteroids was not solid. Instead, there was a cave system inside. And the Zovaris had made the asteroid spin, so that centrifugal force simulated gravity. This created zero-point-nine G inside the caves. But there was no atmosphere inside these caves. Aranov reported what he had found to Hailey.
“Is the obelisk inside the caves ?”
“Yes, it is,” Aranov said. “If I’m reading this right, in the exact center, Colonel.”
“I’m still getting used to that,” Hailey said with a smile. “Can we get a team in there for a closer look ?”
“There are no hatches sealing the ends of the cave system, so we should be able to get in there,” Aranov turned his chair around. “And I think I’ve found a good place to park the ship while the team is inside.”
“Major Levine, set a course.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Spera set course for the asteroid. She was moving at full sub-light speed, so it only took her a minute to arrive. Aranov transferred the coordinates to Levine’s station and the Major parked the ship in that location. As soon as he reported that they were in position, Hailey decided that she would lead the team herself.
“So, who is going down there ?”
Hailey looked at the asteroid and made the decision.
(Puddle Jumper Two – Cockpit – Year 3, Day 50, 1235)
Vale flew the Jumper away from the obelisk. Next to him, Cadman was watching the temperate belt below them. ~I should have checked if she received the gene therapy.~ Of course, if the answer was no, then Doctor Bennett could fix that. In order to keep the silence from getting awkward, Vale decided to speak up.
“So, I know this is a cliché question…” He began. “…But, why did you join this expedition ? I read your file and your had a pretty sweet gig aboard the George Hammond. You had your own security team.”
“And now I have my own security team again. I’ve come full circle,” Cadman said with a smile. “But you’re right, life on the Hammond was good. Still, when Colonel Young asked me, I couldn’t say no.”
“We don’t leave our people behind ?”
“Exactly.”
“Speaking of clichés, have you had the gene therapy yet ?”
“No,” Cadman said. “It was on my to do list while I was assigned to Atlantis. And then I got reassigned…” She paused. “And what about you, sir ? Did you get the therapy or were you born with the gene ?”
“I got it from mother nature. And both of my parents, just like Lieutenant-Colonel Sheppard.” There was a beep from the sensors as they detected two cabins on the surface. They came with a pier, canoes and a steam vessel identical to the one they had found next to the cabins that had been next to obelisk. Vale told the Jumper to make a note, which it did. “Anyway, we should fix that. Get you the gene and then some flying lessons in one of the beauties.”
“Yes, sir,” Cadman paused. “You know, it’s been weeks since we’ve left Freedom Prime. How come we haven’t had this conversation ?”
“Hmm….maybe we’re both workaholics ?”
“Maybe,” Cadman said with a snicker. “So, is true that you used to be a Roman Centurion ?”
“Yes, it is. And don’t belief any of the romanticized things Hollywood tried to tell you were the truth. The Legions were brutal and so was I.”
“I get what you’re saying, but I’ve been in the uniform long enough to know that modern politicians, admiral and generals are far from having clean hands themselves. And don’t get me started on all the cloak-and-dagger games played by intelligence services,” She paused. “So, there’s plenty of hypocrisy to go around. I like working for a boss who tries to avoid it.”
“Thank you. And I can’t promise I’ll always succeed.”
Before Cadman could reply, the sensors beeped as they passed over another cabin complex. She made a note on the map and noticed something. ~They appeared to be equally spaced around the planet.~ She grabbed her backpack and took out an electronic pad, which she connected to the controls. Then she keyed in several commands, which made a several green dots appear on the plotter display. The complexes they had already passed over were blue dots.
“Got something ?”
“I think they are placed at thirty-six degree intervals,” Cadman said. “Providing the whole planet with a basic safety net for any Order ship in trouble.”
“But only one has a obelisk…” Vale had an idea. “Let go take a closer look.”
He increased speed as he took them towards the next cabin complex. It was time for them to find some answers.
(Spera – Jumper Bay – Year 3, Day 50, 1300)
The outer door to the Jumper Bay opened, revealing the asteroid that they had codenamed Tango One. Hailey had picked three people to come along with her, while leaving Major Levine in charge of the Spera. Nikita Aranov was coming along to cover the archeological angle, while Carl Grogan was the security officer for the mission. Alec Colson was off-world, but Xander Henderson was an electrician and had a degree in computer science. ~We didn’t make him Chief of Maintenance for nothing.~ So he was in the fourth suit.
“Okay, people,” Hailey began. “Here we go.”
Hailey jumped through the door, with the others following. Because of the gravity conditions – namely the fact that there was nearly none – they sailed towards Tango One slowly. The suits came with thrusters, so they were able to control their descent with those if the situation called for it. But the landing ended up being soft and easy.
“Welcome to Tango One,” Hailey said.
“The walls of these caves are relatively smooth,” Henderson said. “And there stone slabs on the floor.”
“The walls are natural, but the floor was clearly made or carved by the Zovaris,” Aranov added. “Of course, considering that this whole asteroid was build, the concept of natural is a bit flexible.” The pointed to a section of the call, where an arrow was carved into the stone. “And I think those are for people who don’t have the benefit of Spera’s sensors. They probably lead right to the obelisk, boss.”
“Let’s test that theory.”
They followed the arrow and found another one. Soon, they were approaching the heart of the asteroid. It was a large cave that came with stalactites and stalagmites. There was a carved path that ended in a circle, with the obelisk in the middle. As she walked around the obelisk, Hailey saw that the path they had used to enter was not the only one. There were three more paths heading into the asteroid. While Aranov and Henderson set to studying the obelisk, Grogan also noticed the other passages.
“Why more then one access point ?” He asked.
“Sergeant, Doctor, stay here and study our alien friend,” Hailey said. “Grogan, let’s see if we can find the answer to your question.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Grogan said.
“Studying the obelisk it is,” Henderson said.
Grogan and Hailey left, leaving Henderson and Aranov with the obelisk. Aranov led Henderson take the lead. Back in the early days of the expedition, he had asked Henderson what exactly a Chief of Maintenance did. Spera had several ICT personnel aboard, and a small team of electricians. There were also two crewmembers that took care of the laundry. Finally, the ship was self-cleaning. But if there had been a janitorial staff, they would have also reported to Henderson.
~It’s people like this that keep the ship afloat.~ That was a lesson Nikita had learned from his father. Ivan Aranov had been a sailor in the Russian Navy. He had retired with the rank of Senior Michman, which was the highest enlisted rank possible. ~Getting him and Nicholas Rush’s father together could have been interesting.~ Alas, Rush senior had passed. And Ivan didn’t have the proper security clearance. Which was fine with Nikita, because his father hated keeping secrets from the love of his life, Natasha.
Natasha was the one who had gotten him interested in archeology. Her father Boris had been a history teacher, who had taken up archeology as a hobby. After seeing his notes and artifacts, Nikita had ended up picking up the torch. His grandfather had passed away several years after that. But not before announcing that he was extremely proud of his grandson. ~Well, grandpa, I could use your help on this one.~ He smiled at the Sergeant and they set to work.
(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1252)
Colson was drawing a schematic. He and Porter had been studying the Order circuits. It turned out there were ten of them, with one of them being the big red button T’Zalo had suggested. The other nine were some kind of short-range transceivers. But the question was…where did they transmit to and from ? Suddenly, there was a beep from the console. G’Yal was standing next to the alcove. He looked at the circuits and saw that there was small display about the keyboard. And that display was now activate.
“Colonel, where are you ?”
“I’m in an Order cabin. It turns out there are sets of them at thirty-six degrees intervals.”
“So, ten sets of cabins in total ?” G’Yal paused. “That makes sense with what Porter and Colson have discovered here. Allison, we need somebody to do the technobabble.” ~And that certainly isn’t me.~ G’Yal thought.
Porter took over and began explaining what they had learned.
(Tango One – Tunnel - Year 3, Day 50, 1308)
They had reached the end of the first tunnel. It ended in a large, round chamber with a circle of light embedded in the walls. Grogan looked up and saw that the room was a metal door, which reminded him of the iris on Earth’s Stargate. ~Why wasn’t there a door like that in the tunnel we used to get in ?~ He looked around, but there was no sign of any controls for the door. Still, it was clear that this was meant for people who arrived by spaceship.
“Well, that’s one,” Grogan said.
“Why wasn’t there a door in the tunnel we used ?” Hailey asked. “If you want to pressurize this place, you need to close all the passages.”
“Yeah, I thought about that. We can take a closer look later, for now….” Grogan stopped, because he spotted something. He had been taking a closer look at the walls. “…I’m thinking we should….” He knocked on a section of wall, which sounded hollow. He noticed that this part was totally smooth. “….try this…” He felt an outline and pushed. There was a grinding noise and then the section slid aside. “….door. And the corridor beyond.”
“Lead the way.”
Grogan lead the way into the corridor. It passed a small control room, which had a single chair that faced a wall full of buttons, switches and displays. There was a thick layer of dust on all of them. Grogan stepped into the control room and cleared some of the dust. The markings on the buttons were not Zovaris, suggesting that this was a later addition by somebody else. ~And not the Order of the Other either. Just what we need, another alien species to deal with.~ He took out a camera and took a photo of the controls. Then he zoomed in on the clean section and took another. That done, he continued down the corridor.
(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1317)
Jumper Two had returned to the obelisk. The others were putting the supplies and equipment back in the Jumper, while Vale was taking a closer look at the controls that Colson and Porter had found. ~Nine short-range transceivers, which tap into the long-range transceiver that uses the obelisk as a booster.~ Besides allowing the transmission of a distress call, this also allowed for communications between the cabins.
~Which we saw firsthand.~ But he wanted to check if there was just one long-range channel. He hit several keys and a short list appeared. It had three channels. One was the distress channel, but the other two were locations in this solar system. ~Both in the asteroid belt.~ He took out a paper note-bloc and made some notes. Then he closed the panel and headed for the Puddle Jumper. He sat down behind the controls and seconds later the ship took off.
This time, the trip through the atmosphere was shorter. On their way in, he had taken them down slowly so that they could get a good look at the moon below them. But that was not a consideration this time around. As soon as they reached space, he realized that Spera was not there anymore. Fortunately, a scan quickly revealed that the ship was nearby. ~In the asteroid belt and…~ He focused and the display zoomed in. And realized that Spera was at one of locations he had just identified.
“Looks like they are having some fun in the asteroid belt,” Cadman said.
“It’s a short hop,” Vale said. “At full sub-light we’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“You think that asteroid might be a Zovaris construct as well ?” Colson asked.
Vale nodded. He knew that Moon One had given them a starting place. And now the asteroid belt might provide them with the next piece of the puzzle. ~And, as always, there is only one way to find out.~ So he set course for Spera and pushed the engines to maximum.
No comments:
Post a Comment