(C) copyright 2008 by Steven Sharpe
The flight deck of the Royal Pleionese Naval ship Segin was crowded this afternoon, and with good reason, thought her captain, Yan. This was her first visit back to Sol and the planet Earth since she had successfully completed her contact mission here, three months ago. It had been an eventful mission, starting with a battle with a Chermain destroyer and ending with a second battle with a Chermain heavy cruiser in Earth orbit. The Segin had been victorious but had taken damage. Now she was back after repairs and a refit, and Yan was ready to fulfil a promise he had made.
"Welcome aboard, Robbie," he said to the young lady who disembarked from the shuttle that had just landed. "It's great to have you back."
Robbie Lewis smiled back at him, and then at the two officers who accompanied him: Harr and Ammet.
"It's good to be back, captain," she said in her softly lilting voice. "Thanks for the invitation."
Yan smiled.
"I keep my promises," he said, "And I promised you a cruise. Hopefully it will be a quieter visit than your first one. Is your kit on the shuttle?"
She nodded.
Yan turned to Case, the pilot of the shuttle. "If you can see that Miss Lewis' kit is transferred to her cabin, please? Robbie, let's clear off the deck and make for the bridge. I'm sure Harr would like to start getting this freight for Earth offloaded."
Lewis, Ammet and Yan left the flight deck, leaving Harr in charge.
As soon as they entered the bridge, though, the communications officer called over to Yan.
"Captain," said Chase, "I am receiving a priority one message from Central Field Command in Beta Hydrae. We are to leave this star system immediately, and proceed post haste to the system of E103, to pick up a group of archaeologists who have been working at a dig there."
Yan turned and looked at her.
"Is there any more? An explanation?"
"Yes, sir. The archaeologists have been exploring the ruins of a settlement of the First Galactic Empire. The planet they are on orbits a binary star consisting of a red subgiant and a white dwarf. According to their monitoring equipment, the dwarf is about to go nova. CF Command says that the Segin is the only ship in the area which could reach E103 in time."
Yan glanced at Lewis. "Did I say something about a quiet cruise? Trax, plot a course for E103, best velocity."
"Engine room reports reactors two and three are nominal, with number one being on line by the time we hit the Lipsey Barrier. Ion warp drives are on line as well, captain."
"Course plotted and laid in, sir. At factor 24, it will take us ten days, including backtracking time to a safe lane to E103."
"Inform Earth of our situation, Chase. And let Harr know that his freight is coming with us."
Lewis was smiling.
"Engage our course, Trax. Helm, full ahead sublight."
There was a slight change in the pitch of the nearly inaudible background hum which was the Segin's heartbeat, as the drives turned over and went to work. Earth and Moon swung out of the field of view of the main monitor, to be replaced finally by a brilliant orange star just off the centre of the field. Trax backed off on the magnification, and the constellations came into view. Lewis realized that the bright star was Arcturus.
However, it did not remain bright for long. This was the first time in which Lewis had been on the bridge when the cruiser had accelerated to a relativistic velocity. Within a minute, she noticed that Arcturus was becoming more and more blue. The colour darkened and faded to a deep violet, and was gone. The other stars in the constellation went through a similar transformation. At the same time, new stars appeared on the screen: first a deep red, then brightening to white, and ultimately fading to violet as well, before vanishing. The sky background seemed to fluctuate erratically in colour and brightness, too. Finally, the whole sky became red, then white, then violet, then dark again, as the 2.7 degree Kelvin remnant of the Big Bang was blue shifted into their view, and was gone. After that, there was nothing but blackness.
"I never tire of seeing that," she heard Harr say in a low voice from the doorway.
"Miss Lewis, it will be more than six hours before we make our Jump," Yan said, rising from his seat, "Ammet, Chase and I are going down to the officer's mess for some dinner. You are welcome to join us."
"I would love to," she said, "And my name is Robbie."
Lewis snapped awake. It was dark. She glanced at her wristwatch, and cursed. The dinner had been delicious - she definitely was developing a taste for Pleionese cuisine - and the drinks which accompanied it potent. Feeling tired, she had retired to her assigned cabin for a short nap, before returning to the bridge to watch the Segin make a superlight Jump. That had been eight hours ago. She had slept through it all.
She jumped out of bed, hitting the lights. Going into the tiny bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her face, before heading for the door, and the bridge.
The intelligent door recognised her as an authorized guest, and opened to admit her. The bridge was only partially manned, with Ammet in the captain's chair. What caught her attention, though, was the image on the viewer. It showed an obviously simulated image of two bright stars: one a bloated red giant, the other a tiny intense spot of white light. Encircling the latter was a ring of glowing gas. Flowing from the red star to this accretion disk was a thin streamer of gas. Overlaying this image was a grid pattern. In the centre of the field was a large red cross.
"Good morning, Robbie," the second officer said, "You're a little early for the fun yet, though."
"You mean we haven't Jumped, yet? Is something wrong?"
Ammet laughed.
"You can't be awake, yet," she said, "We've Jumped ten times since I last saw you. We're just inside the E103 system, and closing on the planet where the archaeologists are working."
Lewis was dumfounded. She had been under the impression that it was a ten day voyage to E103 from Earth.
"How long have I been asleep for?" she asked.
"Eight hours ship time, give or take a few minutes," Ammet said, still smiling, "But that's ten days in a non-relativistic time frame."
"Have you ever heard of the concept of time dilation and compression?" asked Traka, looking up from the sensor panel.
"Of course," said Lewis, still taken aback. "But I thought you somehow were able to circumvent special relativity."
Traka listened to the translator for a moment, before replying.
"Partly," he replied, "If we were unable to circumvent it at all, then the voyage we have just made would have taken 120 years at the speed of light. As it is, our actual Jumps through space-time take zero time. It is when we are sublight recharging our ion warp drive's capacitors that time passes."
Lewis nodded, though it was obvious that she was not following his explanation too well. At that moment, Harr entered the bridge. Ammet rose, and he took the commander's seat.
"We are receiving an automatic broadcast from the archaeologist's main transmitter," Ammet told him, "They have been forced to retreat deeper beneath the surface of E103A for protection from radiation. They have portable short range communicators with them."
"Status of the white dwarf?" Harr asked Traka.
"Active, and definitely heading for an outburst. Timescale uncertain, but I would guess within the next six weeks."
"Radiation levels?"
"At the orbit of E103A, the lethal dose would occur within four hours for an unprotected person. Commander, even within the Segin, we would only have 16 hours or so at those levels."
"How about underground?"
"It would depend on how deep they are. If they could get down to below a kilometre, they might even be able to survive the nova. Getting them out again might be a problem, though, since the surface will be melted..."
"How soon to orbit?"
"Six hours."
"Very good. Communications, keep trying to raise the party. Also, inform the flight deck to ready a shuttle." Harr turned to Lewis, "Would you like to join the Captain and me for breakfast?"
The Officer's Mess was located on Deck 1, amidships on the starboard side of the cruiser. Lewis and Harr entered, to find a few other people already seated in small groups at tables here and there. They found Yan seated at his favourite table, reading reports by the large exterior window. The armour plating had been slid back, but due to the ship's relativistic velocity, all outside was inky black.
Joining the Captain, Harr gave him a brief report of the situation. Yan listened quietly, while Lewis looked around the room. It was tastefully decorated in subdued tones of grey, blue, and green. Many living plants grew along the walls and among the tables, giving the room a lush appearance. Under the bright white lighting which the Pleionese preferred, though, the mess hall was not a warm and inviting place to Lewis. For that matter, most of the areas of the Segin which she had seen as yet seemed cold to her. She knew that this was a purely psychological effect of the lighting and colour, but it was difficult to shake off several million years of evolution under a yellow sun in just a few days.
She turned back to the officers as Harr concluded his report.
"Very well," Yan was saying, "It looks like we might have some time before this star blows. That's good. So, the scientists did not give us any directions as to where they would be?"
"Not in so many words. They indicated that they would be awaiting rescue in an area which they have been exploring, 0.8 kilometres underground. According to their message, it will be a straightforward matter to find them and get them out."
They paused, as a steward brought their meals.
"Have you ever been in a Mosh settlement, Harr?" Yan asked, after the food had been set before them.
"No, but I've seen pictures."
"I visited one some years back...located inside a rocky moon orbiting a gas giant. I suppose when one considers that it was built something like 50,000 years ago, it was in a remarkable state of preservation."
"According to Traka, this one is the most intact ruin yet discovered...intact to the point that there is still power in parts of the complex."
Yan paused in his chewing.
"Wow!" he exclaimed, "When the Mosh built something, they meant for it to last, didn't they?"
"I suppose so." He paused and looked through the window beside them, "I wonder what became of them?"
"Long gone, I hope," Yan answered, "From what we've been able to surmise about their culture, it appears to have been an exceptionally brutal one."
"But we are their descendants..." Robbie muttered.
Yan glanced at her.
"I take it that Earth's history is a bloody one?"
"By our own standards, yes."
"Most human civilisations seem to be inherently violent," Yan said.
"It's an environmental effect," Harr explained. "Most worlds inhabited by homo sapiens are harsh in one way or another; either with unfriendly environments, unfriendly predators or competitors, or both. Violence breeds violence."
"That's one theory, anyway," Yan said with a grin. "Getting back to the matter at hand, though, did you want to lead the landing party, Harr?"
"I'd love to, Captain!" the first officer replied, obviously pleased.
"Very good. Have the landing party ready to depart as soon as we achieve orbit."
"Ummm..." said Lewis slowly. "Any chance that I could tag along, too?"
Yan looked at her, and chewed thoughtfully.
"You are a fairly important passenger, Robbie," he said carefully at last. "If you were to get injured or killed while with us, there might be difficulties with your people. But, I think the risks may be worth it...considering what you will see and no doubt report back to your people when we return. I'll leave it up to the commander of the landing party to decide. Ultimately, he would be responsible for your safety."
Harr grinned.
"Be on the flight deck when we reach orbit!"
While Lewis was no stranger to space flight, she still found it exciting. This particular flight was doubly so. The Segin was far above them, as they dropped with alarming speed (to her) towards the surface of E103A in a shuttle the size of a bus. Through the side view port she could see the pair of stars - red and white - doing their duet in space together, connected to each other by a gossamer streamer of ionised gas. As she watched, the white dwarf started to pass behind the red giant. It faded slowly, as the extended layers of gas from the red star slowly obscured it. Then suddenly the limb of the planet rose up and blocked her view, as Case, the pilot, made a course correction.
Lewis looked around the cabin at her companions. Besides Harr and Case, there were a half a dozen marines going along as well. They were there not because any fighting was expected, but rather because they were a capable group trained for missions in hostile environments such as this one. The only one whose name she knew was Farr, the sergeant.
Looking down at the planet rising up at them, she was struck at the similarity between it and Earth's Moon. This world had long ago lost its atmosphere to the prodigious solar winds blowing outwards from its parent stars...that is, if it ever had much of an atmosphere to begin with. Binary stars make difficult parents for little planets. It was quite likely that E103A had always been an airless, rocky place. And yet, the people of what Yan referred to as the First Galactic Empire - or the Mosh, as they had apparently called themselves - had seen fit to inhabit this world, tens of millennia ago, and now the people of the current interstellar spacefaring civilisation were trying to find out why. Their efforts were about to be interrupted by a nova outburst; perhaps, she thought uncomfortably, permanently.
The shuttle landed in a cloud of superheated gases in the middle of a large, flat plain. The surface of the plain was black, and through the window looked like ashes or cinders to Lewis. Littered about everywhere, it seemed, was equipment. Most of it was unidentifiable to her eyes. In addition, several large metal structures, on pads, were evidently the living quarters and research labs of the scientists who were to be rescued. They reminded her in appearance of the Ganymede station. Soon, she had been told, another large freight shuttle from the Segin would arrive, charged with the task of lifting each of these buildings up to the cruiser.
The task for the occupants of this shuttle, though, lay beneath the surface of the planet.
On a signal from Case, Harr stood up. The marines followed suit.
From a locker at the back of the passenger compartment, one of the men started handing out what they referred to as environment suits. Lewis took hers, and inspected it The garment was much lighter than a space suit of the sort which she had been used to wearing in the Jupiter subsystem, being of a metallic fabric. A clear, fully enclosed helmet and a small pack attached to the lower back completed the ensemble. Somehow she wondered whether it would provide the protection that it was supposed to.
"These suits are intended for only short forays into hostile environments," Harr said, noticing the dubious expression on her face. "There's no food supply and no way for them to handle bodily wastes. Apparently the site has a breathable atmosphere, so we only need these to get to it."
Watching the others to see how it was done, Lewis stepped into her suit, and pulled it up over her abdomen. The material fit her body tightly but did not constrict or restrict her. Attaching the fanny pack which contained the lifesystem, she tested it out and was gratified to get a breath of air out of the neck of the suit. One of the marines helped her with her clear helmet, then she put on her gloves.
Next, Case handed out small backpacks to each of them. These, she told her, contained emergency rations, some water, tools, a first aid kit, batteries and a small emergency tank of air.
Last, Sergeant Farr came over and handed her what could only be a pistol.
"I'm sure you won't need it, but it's standard procedure," he explained.
She clipped it to the belt of her suit, and said nothing.
When everyone was ready they exited the shuttle, passing through the tiny air lock in twos. Lewis was the last to leave, with Corporal Hake, Farr's second-in-command.
The glare momentarily blinded her, even in the split second before her helmet darkened. As she stood still just outside the now closing air lock door waiting for her vision to return to normal, she felt the heat from the white dwarf through the fabric of her suit.
"Let's go," said the voice of Harr through the suit radio. The other people fell in behind him and she did likewise, and they set out across the surface of E103A. The ground seemed to be composed of black cinders, which crunched under the soles of her boots. The gravity was slightly higher than that of the Segin, which Lewis now realised she was becoming used to.
They moved quickly across the plain to a small building of metal, and by the time they arrived the sweat was beading on Lewis' brow. There was a door in one side, which Farr pulled open, to reveal another air lock. This one was just large enough for them to all fit into. Harr stepped in, and the others followed. When everyone was in, Farr swung the door closed and Harr pressed a button beside it. There was a slight shudder, and a second door slid down out of a slot just inside the first one. Next came the sound of hissing air, barely heard at first but rapidly growing in volume, while at the same time the air lock jerked and began to descend beneath the surface of the planet.
By the time the elevator/air lock stopped moving several minutes later the air had reached a breathable density, and they removed their helmets. The atmosphere smelled...different. The second door slid back into the ceiling, revealing Lewis' first view of Mosh construction.
They stepped out into a medium sized semi-circular shaped entrance hall. Lewis paused and looked around. Clearly, the scientific expedition had bored a shaft down to this place, and run the elevator/air lock down here. The difference in the construction between the old and new was obvious. The floor of the entrance hall was of a black, non-reflecting tile. The walls appeared to be of the same material, but cream coloured. Passages branched off in all directions. The ceiling glowed, casting a slightly ruddy illumination over the scene. The entire area was clean and dust free. There was no sign of aging. The only sound was the faint hum of a life support system. The whole scene seemed to be sterile and lifeless.
They stood and took it all in. The elevator door closed, behind them.
"Now what?" asked one of the soldiers, a private named Burrow.
"Let's find those scientists and get them out of here," replied Harr.
The marine sergeant took out a communicator and spoke into it.
"Case, you there?" said Farr, calling the pilot of the shuttle on the surface above.
"For now," came her voice. "You're about a hundred meters below the surface of the planet. Any sign of them?"
"We're just starting to look for them now."
"The scientists are another 700 meters below us," Harr said. He took out a plaque and looked at it. Lewis realised that it was some sort of mini-computer. "Their directions tell us to take the centre passage at this point."
"I'm heading back up to the Segin, then," said Case. "I don't want to absorb any more of this radiation than I have to."
"Right-o," said Farr, "We'll contact you when we return with the scientists."
He put his communicator away.
Suddenly, Lewis felt very alone.
The first officer set off, leading the way. The rest of them followed, Lewis bringing up the rear.
The centre hallway was lined with doors. Some were open, revealing rooms beyond, whose original purposes were unclear. All were stripped bare. A few had doors leading off of them, deeper into the complex. They did not pause to explore.
Eventually, the passage ended, and they came into a large room, rectangular-shaped. To Lewis, it resembled a small subway station. Two other passages ran out of the room, exiting from opposite ends. What could only be a pair of monorail tracks ran the length of the room along the back wall, disappearing into the two exit tunnels.
On one of the tracks sat a car. Made mostly of a transparent material, they could see inside twelve richly upholstered seats lined up two abreast behind a streamlined windshield.
Lewis smiled. Here, over a hundred lightyears from home, under a star about to go nova and in a labyrinth carved out by a dead civilisation dozens of millennia ago, was something familiar: the ancestor of the London Underground.
The others had already spotted something else, a control panel against one of the end walls, and were heading over to it. Lewis, though, walked over to the car, and looked more closely at it. At the rear of it, she noticed what might be a motor of some description. A clear sliding door was open at the front of the machine. She slid into one of the front seats, and in doing so, accidently kicked a foot pedal on the floor.
The motor roared to life and the car jerked forward, knocking Lewis sprawling across the front seats. Then, the rail car rapidly accelerated across the room and exited into one of the tunnel entrances, taking Lewis with it.
Harr and the marines spun about at the first sound, and gaped as Lewis vanished.
"She's...gone!" exclaimed Private Burrow.
Not knowing what to say, the first officer knew that he had to say something.
"We'll have to go after her," he said, trying to sound more in command of matters than he felt. He had only held the post of first officer for five months, having been recently promoted from second officer of a tender. This was his first tour on the Segin.
"Aye, sir...but how?" asked Corporal Hake.
"Take a look at this display, and I think you'll see the answer," said Farr, coming to Harr's rescue.
They turned back to the panel on the wall. A map of what could only be the rail system had formed on it. The rail routes were shown as white lines, with what were evidently stops or stations shown as purple dots. The exception was one dot in the centre, which was pink. A green dot was moving away from this dot at a good turn of speed along a white path. It could only be the car carrying Robbie. Suddenly another green dot appeared at the next station in the opposite direction. It was moving towards the pink dot, the station where the remainder of the landing party stood.
"An automatic switching system," Burrow said, "If one car gets started then it clears the line and the next one back automatically moves on."
"Or else there's someone on that approaching car," said Farr.
"Unlikely," said Harr, "But we'll be ready. If there is no one on it then we'll take it and go after Lewis."
"How fast does it seem to be going?" asked Hake.
"A lot slower than Lewis'."
According to the map, Lewis was already over half way to the next station, while the approaching car seemed to be just crawling along.
A half an hour later, the vacant car rolled into the station, just as Lewis was reaching the edge of the map. The car did not stop, but it was going slow enough for Harr, Case and the six marines to jump and scramble aboard. It was very cramped, and the machine slowed down even further under the added load.
The vehicle entered the tunnel, leaving the only known exit out of these catacombs behind.
"At least Lewis went off in the same direction that the scientists are," said Harr, trying to make the best of the situation.
"Can't we speed this thing up?" asked Hake, "We can walk faster than this."
Farr was sitting in one of the front seats, beside Harr. In front of them was a near naked control panel, having only two displays. The purpose of them was unknown. By Farr's foot was a lever. It was partially pushed forward.
"Could that be a throttle?" Harr asked.
"One way to find out," the sergeant replied. He reached down with one hand and pushed the lever forward, slightly. The hum of the motor in the rear increased, and the vehicle accelerated a bit.
"That's the throttle, then," Harr said, "Okay, pilot, push her up to full. Hold on, everyone!"
The vehicle accelerated again. Finally, after a few moments it would go no faster. Lewis was still making better speed, because her machine was not carrying as large a load.
Time dragged on. They passed three more stations, all identical to the first, all deserted. Then, the rail car started to slow down for no apparent reason. The throttle was still pushed forward as far as possible. It continued to decelerate. Then, out of nowhere, another monorail track appeared. They ran alongside theirs, to the right.
Suddenly they came out of the dimly lit tunnel and into a massive station, a switching yard.
Branch lines forked off of the main line. Rows of rail cars similar to the one they were riding were parked on the sidings, along with what could only be freight cars. Their car ran through this area slowly, then accelerated again. The dark opening of another tunnel appeared ahead. By the time they entered it they were back up to cruising speed.
Then, above the sound of the air rushing by them, they became aware of a deep rumbling coming from ahead.
Harr looked at the sergeant, who shrugged.
It came into sight eventually: a cataract of water falling from somewhere high above them, and out of sight down a wide circular vertical tunnel. The base of the falls lay far below. The wall of water never touched the smooth rock sides of the shaft. Around and around this rock wall, held up by only frail supports driven into the stone, wound the monorail tracks...down into the darkness.
The motor stopped, and the car coasted into this gigantic tube and started going down the winding ribbon of rail, gaining speed. Then, the motor started humming again. For an instant Harr thought that it was going to accelerate them to their doom, then he realised that it was attempting to provide braking action.
Around and around they went, spiralling down the shaft at a steadily increasing velocity. The rails became banked. The Pleionese were pressed down into their seats. The spray from the cataract covered the clear outer shell of the car. Burrow closed his eyes, and Hake could see his lips moving.
Finally, ten eternal minutes later the car and its passengers suddenly left the shaft and entered a horizontal tunnel. For several minutes they raced down it at a terrific speed before the reversed motor started to have an effect on their velocity.
After going along on the level stretch for awhile the track started to descend again. This time, though, the grade was easy, and the motor was able to keep their speed constant.
Down and down they went. Once again they heard the sound the flowing water, this time from overhead. The track became level yet again. The motor stopped, then immediately resumed, this time propelling them forward. The tunnel curved right, and they started climbing for a change. The motor strained as the incline increased. Still, their speed fell off, until at last they were barely making a walking speed. Then the track levelled off and they sped up again.
They whipped through another empty station and began climbing again.
This time there was no let up. They kept ascending, finally doing little more than a walking pace, for an hour. The only break in the monotony came when a walkway appeared out of a tunnel to the right. It ran beside the track for awhile, then crossed and vanished into a tunnel on the left.
A short time after that they reached the end of their climb. The track curved sharply and they rolled into another station.
Dead ahead was another rail car.
Farr pulled back on the throttle just in time to avoid an accident. Their car coasted to a stop, a meter short of the other car.
"Is this Robbie's?" asked Harr, climbing out of the car. His legs ached.
"It had better be, or else we took the wrong track," Farr answered with some sourness.
They were all out of their car by now, inspecting the other vehicle.
"There is no way to tell if this is the one Lewis took off in or not," said Burrow.
"Over there," said another marine by the name of Dona, who had been keeping watch, pointing. They looked and saw a pile of what looked like litter in a corner. It seemed very out of place in an outpost of the First Galactic Empire. They walked over to it, and Farr picked up the wrappings from a meal of emergency rations.
"She's been here, then," commented Harr, "And stopped for lunch."
"We'd better have a word with her about dropping litter in archaeological sites," added Hake, taking the wrappers and putting them in her pack.
"She probably went down this hall," said Burrow, motioning down a passage close by.
"Let's try it," said Farr with a note of disgust in his tone, glancing at Harr. The first officer nodded, and the sergeant led the way. Farr was not a subtle man, and his opinion of Lewis' actions was clear for all to see.
The hall was very brightly lit, compared to the dim and shadowy monorail tunnels. Once again they marvelled at the fact that the infrastructure of this place had been functioning unattended for a good fifty millennia. The loud hum of machinery came from up ahead and also through the cream coloured walls to either side. They had the feeling that there entering a major centre of some sort.
They rounded a curve in the corridor and they saw a barred door up ahead, blocking their path. When they got close to it, though, it slid to one side, and they continued down the passage.
They came upon two more of these gates and each time got past them without incident.
Then, the passage abruptly ended, and they stepped into a massive chamber.
At least it seemed to be massive at first. In reality, it turned out to be a large, glassed in balcony overlooking a gargantuan cavern. Almost every available inch of floor space in the balcony was taken up by control panels of some sort. A long control board ran along the entire length of the glass wall, opposite the door. Viewers were inset in this panel.
A solitary chair was before this board. In it sat Roberta Lewis. She was looking through the glass wall, oblivious to their presence. Flanking her on either side were a half a dozen men and women...the archeological expedition.
"Lewis!" barked Farr. She turned around with a jerk.
"Robbie, are you alright?" asked Harr, hurrying over.
"I'm fine," she answered, looking sheepish, "Sorry about getting separated - "
"You damned well should be," said the sergeant angrily, "Your stupidity has - "
"Belay that, Farr," cut in the commander, "She's my responsibility. This is my fault."
Farr halted, and glared at Harr. Farr was a marine of the old school, who did not interact well with people who had not been subjected to a lifetime of military discipline. Harr, he knew, was his direct superior here, but he also felt that he was more than a little wet behind the ears...to put it politely.
"Yes sir," he muttered.
"What have you discovered here?" asked Harr, returning his attention to Lewis.
Her eyes flicked from Farr to Harr.
"The people I think we were to rescue," she said slowly. "They were at that station immediately after the waterfall."
"I am Yeselda Marvo," said one of the scientists, a middle-aged woman. "Thank you for coming for us. We are in some danger, here."
"This is the centre of the planet's defence system. Look out there," another scientist, a man, said, motioning to the scene through the glass wall.
Harr and the marines looked. The cavern which they overlooked was full of banks of what could only be missiles and their launchers. They were all pointed towards the roof of the cavern.
They looked up.
The roof of the cave, they now saw, was not nature's work. Looking at it more closely, they saw that it was actually a giant pair of double doors, mounted on rails, so they could be slid open.
"Primitive," said Hake dismissively, regarding the missiles.
Marvo smiled but said nothing.
"I would not be so sure," commented Harr. "By all accounts the technology of the First Galactic Empire at its peak 50,000 years ago surpassed our current level considerably."
"Easily," commented a third scientist, half to himself.
"Primitive or not, they could be effective even against one of our ships, if it was unsuspecting," added Farr, his anger evaporating.
"And one is unsuspecting," said Lewis, pointing to a viewer on the control board.
It showed a rather grainy image of the Segin.
"Is she in orbit above us?" asked Dona.
"Yes. Take a look at this radar screen."
"A what?" said Burrow.
"Radar. Oh, sorry," said Lewis, "It's a type of sensor used on Earth. I don't know if this is the same thing."
She pointed to another viewer. This one showed a white dot in the centre, presumably the planet. About half way to the outer edge of the viewer was a glowing red blip. Around the centre dot was a glowing white circle. The red blip lay just outside this circle.
"I'll bet that's the Segin," Marvo said, pointing to the red blip, "And I think that if she comes inside that circle, those missiles out there will start firing. Of course other ships have visited this system but they always stay in a more distant orbit. I think it is size sensitive, since our shuttles and small landers have never triggered an attack."
"Hopefully the Segin is too small as well, then," commented Lewis.
"Do you know our location?" asked Harr.
"Yes. We are in some mountains."
"Look at the ship!" said Hake suddenly.
The blip was edging closer to the white line. The two touched and merged.
The machines in the room started to come to life...humming and blinking lights.
A roaring sound was heard from the cavern. It grew in volume rapidly, then gradually faded to silence.
Another viewer on the panel lit up. Symbols started to flash across it.
A grating sound was heard from outside through the walls. The roof of the cavern started to split open. Through the widening gap they could see stars in a black sky.
"Can we stop this thing?" asked Harr, an edge to his voice, as he looked anxiously about.
Marvo looked helpless. "We knew of this chamber but have not done any work here, yet."
"Think they'll even work, after all these years?" asked Farr.
"Look around you," snapped Harr, "The Mosh built things to last."
Lights were flashing down on the floor of the cavern.
The doors were completely open. The grating sounds stopped.
The blip that was the Segin came inside the white circle on the viewer.
With a shudder, seven missiles were hurled upwards through the opening in the roof of the cavern. Once they were clear, some sort of drive in their sterns lit up, and they blazed away into the night.
As he watched the shuttle pull away from his ship, Captain Yan was having misgivings about letting Harr take the Terran with him. Harr appeared to be a competent officer, but he was inexperienced in dealing with both new races like the Earthlings and old ruins like what the Mosh had left in this system. He had greater faith in Sergeant Farr, who had been in Mosh ruins before. Then there was the matter of E103 itself. But the ship's scientists had agreed for once that the white dwarf was not going to go nova for six weeks, yet. So, if Case did not crash the shuttle then they should be alright.
He watched the ship until it had dwindled out of sight against the bulk of the planet, then headed to the mess for a cup of chaka. Ten minutes later he was back on the bridge, to be informed that the shuttle had safely landed and disgorged her passengers. A short time later a message came in from Case that he was lifting off and returning to the Segin.
Satisfied that all was routine, Yan stood up and left for his office, to catch up on some paperwork.
Hours passed, then Jakov called him to the bridge again.
"What's the matter?" Yan asked, strolling over to his console, cup in hand.
"My sensors have detected an intense disturbance forming in the white dwarf. I'd say a major mass ejection will occur...preceded by a very large x-ray flare."
"Is she going nova now?"
"No, this will just be a prelude," Jakov replied, "But we should expect more of these episodes in the coming weeks...and of increasing intensity."
Yan stood silent for a moment. He sipped his chaka, to all appearances unconcerned. Those who had served under him for awhile knew otherwise, however.
"Keep me posted," he finally said, and returned to his chair. His relaxed demeanour had evaporated.
Five minutes later the sensor officer observed, "That disturbance is very close to the surface now, Captain. Radiation levels are climbing."
Then science officer Traka burst into the bridge.
"Captain Yan," he said breathlessly, "I've been making more observations of that white dwarf. The new data indicates with a 71% probability that the star will nova within 75 hours."
Yan went rigid.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. We've double checked the data. More is coming in, so that estimate will refine further."
He paused.
"There are some of our people down on that planet, aren't there?"
"Yes."
"Then I would advise you to tell them to return as soon as possible. Radiation is going to increase to levels that the Segin could not withstand, long before 75 hours have elapsed."
Yan's first inclination was to snap at the science officer that it had been his confident predictions of stellar stability of only a few hours ago that had convinced him to send his people out there in the first place, but he held his words. The death throes of stars were but poorly understood, even now. There had only been a handful of novae within the realm of so-called civilised space since humanity had regained superlight space travel. This was a golden opportunity to witness one first hand and close up...but he did not want to lose lives in the process.
"Marjoy, contact the landing party and tell them to return immediately."
"Aye, sir," the communications officer replied, and turned to his panel.
"And get a helmsman and navigator to the bridge as well," the Captain added.
"Aye," Marjoy answered, not looking up.
"Sir!" Jakov exclaimed, "The dwarf is erupting."
"Main screen," Yan ordered.
The image on the viewer shifted from the surface of the planet to that of the white dwarf. At first it appeared as it had before: a dazzling white orb surrounded by a glowing accretion disk. The latter had a bright spot on it where a thin stream of matter from the red giant met the disk. Then, what appeared to them to be a bubble of gas rose away from a portion of the surface of the dwarf and expanded away from it.
Navigator Trax and helmsman Mok entered the bridge, followed by Second Officer Ammet.
"That flare is not breaking up very slowly," Traka said, eyes still on the viewer.
"Marjoy, alert the engine room to stand by for orders," said Yan.
"We're not leaving, sir?" asked Ammet.
"I sincerely doubt it," Yan replied, "I was thinking about taking the Segin in closer to meet them."
Ammet nodded. She too was fairly new to the Segin and the ways of her captain.
"Lieutenant Trax," Yan continued, "Plot the trajectory of that eruption."
Jacov said, "Already picking up interference from the outburst."
"Engine room reports reactor number one online, reactor two coming up and three in reserve. All drives ready."
"Sir, that flare is going to strike the planet!" Trax suddenly exclaimed, having completed his computation.
There was silence on the bridge.
"We've got to get them off before the flare," said Jacov.
"How much time do we have?" Yan asked.
"About twenty two minutes," Traka replied, from where he stood next to Jacov.
"Unable to contact the landing party," said Marjoy. "Too much interference from the eruption...or they are too far below the surface of the planet...or both."
"Helm, drop us into a one hundred kilometre orbit. Communications, tell Case in the shuttle to stand by to retrieve the landing party. Keep trying to raise the party. From closer in we might be able to get through to them."
The cruiser's thrusters fired, then fired again, and the Segin began to drop towards the planet.
Yan drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair.
"Captain," said Marjoy, "I am picking up a transponder."
"And I am registering life forms," added Jacov. "They appear to be in some sort of an artificial cavern. Interesting. The sensor signature matches reinforced concrete, and the roof is moveable. Hmmm. I don't like this."
"Care to tell us more?" asked Yan dryly.
"The cavern seems to contain about one hundred space ships...missiles, I think, along with twenty launchers."
"Missiles?" Yan repeated sharply. "What type?"
"Chemical fuelled. Cannot identify the type of warhead, though."
"Do you think that they would be in working condition?"
"I think so."
"Order red alert," said Yan. "If the landing party fires those missiles by accident then we may be the target."
The sirens went off.
"We are being scanned, Captain," Yacov said suddenly.
"Try to raise the party, Marjoy."
"Something is happening down there," Jacov reported. "The roof is opening, and I am picking up mechanical activity from within."
"We've reached the new orbit, sir," announced helmsman Mok.
"Those doors are fully opened," Jacov said. "Sir! The missiles have fired!"
"Incoming missiles!" exclaimed Ammet. "We are targeted!"
They were plainly visible on the main viewer. A bright flare as a cluster of missiles poured out of the crater of a dead volcano.
"Take her up!" Yan said sharply. "Evasive action!"
"Weapons tracking incoming missiles," said S'Hugman, over at fire control.
The Segin's thrusters fired again, as her bow turned spaceward, bringing the full force of her ion warp drive to bear. A missile swept by as she accelerated and swerved. A laser fired and the missile exploded in a brilliant blast.
More missiles were coming in and the cruiser's guns fired again. Another projectile exploded, then another. By this time the Segin was rapidly accelerating and already travelling at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light and the missiles were falling behind. One by one their rocket motors died as they ran out of fuel.
One by one they were picked off by the Segin's gunners.
"Well," said the captain, sitting down again in his chair. "Are we in danger of another attack if we move back in?"
"There are more missiles down there, but they are not on the launchers," replied Jacov.
"Helm, take us down again, but be ready to get out if we see any signs of another attack. Maintain red alert."
The Segin decelerated, then dropped back down towards its previous low orbit. A short time later they had the extinct volcano centred on the main viewer again. No further attacks seemed to be forthcoming.
"Communications, contact Case on the shuttle. Pass on the coordinates of the location of the landing party and tell her to get over there, fast. She has less than fifteen minutes. Fire control, stand by in case we need to punch a hole through that concrete to get at the landing party."
Five minutes later the shuttle cleared the lip of the volcanic crater and dropped down into it. The ship moved across the crater, coming to a stop before the glassed in balcony, where it hovered. Through the glass Case counted the landing party and the scientific team, and gestured for them to stand well back and to hang onto something. Then, with a short blast of the thrusters, she nudged the shuttle into the glass wall, and it shattered.
There was an explosion of escaping air and behind the party the pressure doors slammed shut. Then they were running for the shuttle. Case had depressurized the entire cabin so that the party could scramble aboard quickly and not have to take turns going through the air lock. Less than a minute later the shuttle was at full throttle and climbing spaceward for the Segin.
By the time the flare engulfed E103A the cruiser was already approaching lightspeed as she fled for the edge of the star system to watch the white dwarf go nova in safety.
And, three days later, it did just that.