"It's about time. I thought the kid was gonna die before he ever made a move."
Trish frowned. "I don't see this working out."
"You don't see it or you don't want it?" Harris replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means if those two connect that leaves you as the third wheel in that group rather than the hub. You should be happy for your brother and for Sharvie if it works out."
"And if it doesn't?"
Harris was silent for several seconds. "It will."
"And like you said... where does that leave me."
Tawn patted her on the back. "Sounds like we need to take you back to Domicile and find you a man."
Trish grimaced. "I think I'd rather be the third wheel than have that help. I'll go search on my own, thank you."
Tawn held up her hands. "Was just offering. And it's a standing offer."
"I think I'll pass for now, thanks."
The three returned to the bunker after their meals. Harris continued to joke with his virtual self while Tawn pushed a hundred questions at her avatar. Trish sulked as she reluctantly conversed with hers. When time had come for dinner, the five met in the supply hut.
Trish asked, "How was lunch?"
Sharvie shrugged. "It was OK. We mostly talked about home. What we did as kids. Was a nice break."
"How's the interaction with your virtual other going?"
"I found out I'm more boring than I thought. Lots of periods of awkward silence."
Harris chuckled. "I found out I'm a riot. Of course I already knew that, so I guess I didn't find out I'm a riot. Did I say I was a riot?"
Tawn scoffed. "You're a riot to yourself. Out here you're more like what's left after a riot."
"And how was you're afternoon session. Still find yourself irritating?"
"Nope. I found out I have a lot in common with myself. Such as, we both think you're an idiot, but you probably already knew that."
Harris sighed. "So I suppose you found commonality with loathing me? That hurts my feelings."
Tawn chuckled. "Haven't we had this discussion before?"
Harris nodded. "Yes. And I see you're laughing. Which means I'm a riot."
Trish asked, "Anyone have any idea where Alex is trying to take us with these virtual selves?"
Harris replied, "I think he plans on secretly replacing us with virtual friends."
Sharvie asked, "Has anyone questioned him about it?"
Harris nodded. "He said his purpose would be known in good time. I really don't have a clue as to what that would be. His games haven't been harmful so far, so I don't have issue with seeing it through. Besides, I like being with myself. I'm funny."
Tawn scoffed. "Funny would not be the word I would use."
"Since we came out here to eat, can we get started on that?" Trish said, "Listening to the two of you sniping like that gets old after a while. Maybe we should make a run out to Eden, or to Rumanta to check on the Earther recovery?"
Harris pulled a pack of meals from storage. "That sounds like an excellent plan. Something to break up this new level."
The meal was eaten with haste. The Bangor was boarded and the jump made to the Rumanta system.
Harris looked over the nav display as they approached. "I don't get it. They aren't doing anything. I don't see a single ship here."
Tawn said, "Take us down."
"What? Why?"
"I want to see what they were building."
"Doesn't it bother you that no one is here?"
Tawn shook her head. "Not in the least. The Denzee killed all the colonists. I doubt the emperor is eager to send out any new ones given his current focus is on building ships."
"Why not a military outpost or a single ship to keep watch?"
"Couldn't say."
Ten minutes later, the Bangor was landing on the surface beside one of the Denzee hives.
Gandy said, "Not what I was expecting. Look at those openings and walls. They look equal size. The Denzee were precision builders. When you called it a hive I pictured dirt tunnels. Those are hard, polished, and pristine looking."
Tawn pressed the button to open the hatch as she stood. "You three stay here with the ship. Harris and I will check this out."
Trish sat in the copilot's chair. "Hold up."
Tawn and Harris stopped at the door.
"I have a bioscan running... and you're clear. No Human sized bios and no Denzee sized bios within twenty kilometers of here."
Harris hopped to the ground, followed by Tawn.
"It does look a lot cleaner than I was expecting," Tawn said.
Harris looked back into the cabin. "Trish? What's the scan tell you about the interior?"
"The building is six kilometers diameter. Sensors only go in about half a kilo. The outer portion appears to be concentric circles. Go in a hundred meters and there's another one. Go up a story and it's the same thing, only lacking the outermost ring. Same with the story above that."
"Any unusual features we will want to head toward?"
Trish shrugged. "Can't see beyond that. I guess just go straight in. Until you hit the first circle. Go right or left and you'll find the next hall going further in."
Harris nodded. "Keep your eyes pealed for any signs on the nav sensors. Don't want the Earthers sneaking up on us." He turned, following Tawn into the structure.
Tawn ran her finger along the wall as they walked. "Smooth. Almost glass-like."
"You do realize you're touching their secretions, right?"
"Secretions of what?"
Harris chuckled. "Exactly. All the info we have is that it's built from their secretions."
Tawn withdrew her finger, sniffing it. "Doesn't smell."
Harris replied, "I didn't have to touch it to tell you that."
"Hold on. Let's check this room." Tawn turned. The light from her helmet illuminated a wide empty space."
Harris said, "Storage maybe? Doesn't look like they were finished with their build-out."
Two additional rooms were examined before a wide hall was reached.
"Right or left."
Tawn replied, "Right feels... right."
"What is this? Eight by eight? Could move some big equipment through here."
Tawn stopped at the next hall going left. "Maybe we're in a new section or something. Haven't seen any indication of anything being moved around."
The walk continued, passing another six concentric halls. Every room examined along the way was empty with no sign of habitation. As they approached the seventh hall crossing, a glow appeared to come from the next hall going in. A short walk had the Biomarine duo standing in wonder.
"What is it?" Harris said.
Tawn looked up. "I'd say it's a solar concentrator. That's a Fresnel lens up there. All those holes we saw from above, they for letting in light or power?"
Harris began to walk toward the focal point.
Tawn said, "Uh, that's probably a few thousand degrees out there. What are you doing?"
"I'm throwing that lever beside it."
"You think that's wise?"
Harris shrugged as he arrived at the lever. "Don't know. Must be here for a reason."
The meter tall lever was grabbed and pulled. In an instant, light shot outward from a translucent floor, as if like spokes in a wheel. The light slowly traveled up the walls, turning the otherwise empty room to a bright white.
Tawn said, "Hey, I don't like this."
"Relax. It's just a lighting system."
Tawn shook her head. "Not so sure about that. We're already up four degrees in here. Might be more like a solar oven."
Immense doors leading in and out of the large room slid closed in only a few seconds. The temperature continued to climb.
"Tawn pushed against one of the doors. "Wow. That's both heavy and solid."
Stepping back, a plasma round was fired into the door material. Crackles and sparks were met with a plasma round fizzling out and dissipating.<
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"Harris, this is not good."
"Hang on. I'll just push the lever back."
An attempt was made. The long handle moved, but the solar fired heat continued to build.
Tawn said, "These suits are good for another fifty degrees or so. After that we're gonna be cooking."
Harris pointed. "Over there. Another lever. Must be the off switch."
Tawn followed her partner to the mechanism. "I don't know. Doesn't appear to be connected with that one in any way."
Harris reached out and grabbed it, pulling it toward himself. "One way to find out."
A half dozen small ports opened in the walls. Torrents of water began to pour out into the room.
Tawn sighed. "Great. Now we're gonna be boiled to death."
Harris lifted his weapon, firing a plasma round at the closest door. Sparks and crackles again saw the round dissipate without leaving evidence of damage.
"We should coat the Bangor in this stuff."
Tawn crossed her arms. "You mean before or after we die a horrible death?"
"We aren't dying. These suits can handle boiling water."
Tawn shook her head. "Two issues with your reasoning. First, who says this water will only boil? Could be used for superheated steam. And second, even if it does only reach boiling temperature, how long do you think our powerpacks will last in here under those conditions? I'm betting a couple hours tops."
Harris winced. "OK. Ordinarily that might be a reasonable concern, but the others will come for us before then. And all we have to do is comm them." Harris tried, receiving no response from the team on the Bangor.
"When did we lose comm?"
Tawn replied, "A couple circles back. I told you we had lost comms."
"Relax would you. We have time to figure this out."
"Less than you think. When submerged our oxygen system doesn't fully function. We'll have enough for about thirty minutes tops."
Harris reiterated. "The others will find us by then."
Tawn shook her head. "Took us a half hour to get here. I know they can do it in less, but they don't know exactly where we are. And look at those doors... that fit look seamless to you?"
Harris waded through the now ankle-deep water to where one of the doors had been. "Nice construction. Only the tiniest of cracks. Get back five meters and you can't see it."
"Which means they won't be finding us. We need to figure our own way out of here."
Harris took aim at a nearby wall. "We'll see how the rest of this holds up."
A plasma round sparked and fizzled.
"Step back. I'm shooting the floor where one of those white lines is running."
Tawn said, "You think that's wise?"
Harris pulled the trigger. A loud crack was followed by a wave of steam blowing him backwards. Tawn knelt as the concussion from the expanding steam passed her way.
"OK, genius. Time for you to stop doing things without a discussion first."
Harris nodded. "Fair enough. And since you asked for a discussion. How about this one? I pull the charge from my rifle, set it to overload and then leave it by this door. We go to the other side, it blows, and we walk out of here."
"I can't say I'm fond of that one either. What else you got?"
Harris placed his hands on his hips. "I wonder what my virtual self would say?"
Tawn looked at the floor, shaking her head before looking back at her partner. "Did you seriously just ask that?"
Harris nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes you have to think outside the box if you want a solution to such a unique situation."
Tawn chuckled. "Well you at least got the outside the box part of that right. Your bulbous head is a box. An empty one."
Harris thought for a moment. "My alter self would tell me to look for an answer where I haven't looked before."
Tawn scowled. "What does that mean exactly?"
Harris leaned his head back. "It means look up. See the mounts for that lens? Think you can take them out?"
Tawn looked up. "OK. We might be able to take out the lens. What does that buy us? Same amount of sunlight will still be streaming in here."
Harris shrugged. "It won't be concentrated. And it does make the situation different. Maybe a new option will present itself."
Tawn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What the heck. I'll give it a shot."
"I count eight of those supports," Harris said, "Let's leave the one above us in place so if that beast falls it should fall the other way. I'd rather not make it this far only to be crushed by your mistake."
"My mistake? Well genius, why don't you take the shots?"
Harris shook his head as he aimed up. "So sensitive."
The first round hammered a support, cracking the hump of secreted material it was composed of. "Good news. We can do this."
A second and then a third round had the support snap away with a loud pop sound coming from the Fresnel lens. Tawn joined in the effort with a second and a third support breaking free.
Tawn said, "When we hit number five that thing is likely to be coming down. Be ready to run one way or the other when that happens, should it come for us."
Harris looked down and laughed. "In thigh-deep water? We aren't running anywhere. Let's just take out these next two and live or die with the results."
Tawn sighed. "Fair enough."
The fifth support snapped away, leaving the giant lens perched on the final three.
Tawn said, "Let's at least back up to the wall."
Harris nodded. "Over here by this lever. That little outcropping it's sitting in may give us an out."
Tawn squatted, took aim, and squeezed the trigger. The sixth support snapped allowing the great lens to shift. It's alignment sending the concentrated beam into the water. The lens cocked itself against the wall, failing to fall. Steam shot up, threatening to block the visibility in the room the fifty meters going up to the lens itself.
Harris raised his rifle. A shot to the wall where the lens had stopped loosed its grip.
Tawn said, "It's coming."
As if in slow motion, the fifty meter diameter, meter thick Fresnel lens fell. Upon impact at an angle, the large piece of transparent material snapped in half, sending the upper portion directly toward the pair.
Tawn reached out, grabbing Harris' shoulder and pulling him back. The immense piece of material slammed into the wall only centimeters above their heads before falling and catching on the outcropping that held the lever, sliding back and dropping to rest on the submerged floor.
Tawn stood. "Wow. That was close. And we're no better off than we were before."
Harris scanned the room. "Maybe."
"Maybe what?"
Harris pointed at a black streak on the wall. "Maybe we have something to shoot at now. The beam from that lens melted a spot on that wall just as it fell."
"And?"
"And these plasma rounds now have something to dig into. Maybe that smooth surface we had before was key to the charge dissipating."
Tawn scoffed. "That's ludicrous."
Harris took aim and loosed a round. A half-meter-size chunk exploded from the wall.
Harris turned with a grin. "Outside the box enough for you?"
Tawn shook her head. "This gets us out of here and I'll never doubt you again. And you know how much it pains me to say that."
The duo traded shots at the damaged wall. Eight minutes later, as the water had risen to their shoulders, a crack grew and water began to pour through. Two additional minutes of plasma fire saw a hole develop that was large enough for the oversize Biomarines to slip through. A long walk had them back at the Bangor.
Harris stepped up into the cabin sporting a smile.
Gandy asked, "What happened? What'd you see?"
Tawn plopped down on a bench. "Would rather not talk about it. Can we just leave this dump?"
— Chapter 4 —
* * *
Harris told of their adventure the entire ride back to Midelon.
Another session with their assistants was spent by all, emerging when it was time for food and rest.
Tawn laid back on the bunk in the Bangor. "What a weird day."
Harris nodded as he kicked back on his own. "Goes with the weird week, weird month, and weird year."
"What could that room have possibly been used for? And why would the doors close and seal while you were in there?"
Harris shrugged. "Big boiling pot for those little vermin they eat? Hot water for the entire structure? Steam power? Who knows."
Tawn sat up. "Alex might know."
"Why would that be something he knew?"
"Because he studied them. Duh. At least long enough to translate that language and give us the layout of their ships."
"I guess. Anyway... that will keep until the morning."
Tawn let out a deep breath. "I may have to go back in there to ask him. Otherwise this is gonna keep me up."
Tawn looked over to see her partner was already fast asleep, his mouth open wide. She shook her head as she rolled over to face the other direction. Sleep came grudgingly. At first light, she was up and in the bunker.
"Alex, I sent you the recordings of our adventure. Can you tell me what that room was for?"
"It was for recycling of their dead and infirm."
"Recycling? How so?"
"The Denzee will lose at least a thousand workers per day in a hive. The dead are stripped of their fur and dumped into the boiling water. The dead-stew if you will, is then piped out to the farms where the bogwem are grown."
"Ew. So the bogwem eat their dead, and they eat the bogwem?"
Alex nodded. "An efficient model, although not a savory one for Humans."
"So Harris is thinking of a visit to see the emperor of New Earth. We've been offered positions in the royal family. I think going would be a mistake. What's to stop the emperor from doing away with us right then and there?"
"Nothing. You would be placing yourselves at his mercy."
"Exactly."
"Tawn?"
"Yes?"
"You should be having this discussion with your virtual assistant."
Tawn frowned. "Can I ask why we have them? What's the purpose?"
"No you may not. That purpose will be revealed at the end of this level."
"Great. I guess you can go then. And send in my likeness."
ARMS Eden Lost: (Book 4) Page 3