by M. D. Cooper
Tanis cocked her head, brows nearly meeting.
Joe gave a caustic laugh.
The comment brought to mind Finaeus’s likely demise at Sagittarius A*, and Sera winced, wondering what his final moments had been like.
Tanis’s eyes locked on hers.
Tanis gave a half smile.
Sera’s brow fell again.
Tanis’s lips drew into a thin line, and she glanced at Joe, who gave her an encouraging nod.
Tanis nodded.
Sera bit her lip, weighing desire to remain at the alien find against searching for her uncle.
Tanis shrugged.
Tanis nodded.
Sera whistled, shaking her head in disbelief.
Sera heaved a sigh.
It was Joe’s turn to sigh.
Tanis shrugged.
Angela added.
Sera approached them while Jason lingered at the statue for a moment longer before walking to the edge as well.
Tanis nodded at the a-grav platform a few meters away.
Saanvi quirked a smile.
The a-grav platform was big enough for twenty, but it somehow felt crowded with even seven passengers as it drifted out into the center of the shaft and began its slow descent.
Saanvi nodded.
The young woman whistled.
Tanis chuckled.
Angela said.
Sera chuckled.
Jason coughed.
She glanced at him and nodded.
Tanis nodded.
Joe glanced at Saanvi, a mock laugh on his lips.
Saanvi said.
Sera shook her head.
A close-up view of the wall came over the Link, courtesy of Tanis’s highly augmented eyes.
Tanis nodded, as did Saanvi.
Saanvi winked.
Sera nodded.
Tanis mused.
Saanvi shot her mother a narrow-eyed look.
Tanis raised her hands in mock defense.
Here, the tunnels had small platforms at their mouths, something Sera suspected made it easier to move materials in and out of the caverns beyond—or they were for something else entirely.
She wondered how long it would truly take to understand the structure they were descending into. How did the Sigs’s environmental systems work? How did they transport waste? Where was food stored before it was placed in the strange cylinders…if that was what those were for?
Sera shrugged.
Tanis gave a half-smile.
Sera glanced at him and sighed.
Joe snorted a laugh.
She fixed him with a level stare.
CHAPTER 18 - TANIS
STELLAR DATE: 01.02.8960 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Sigma 1199 Alien Facility
REGION: Sigma 1199 System, Norma Arm
Joe said.
Tanis grinned at the red-skinned woman.
She was first off the platform and led the group across the hundred-meter-wide shaft floor.
ere,> Joe commented.
Saanvi shrugged.
Sera nodded in appreciation.
The group fell silent as they reached the tunnel, a ten-meter-wide half-circle that led straight through the moon’s lithosphere for three hundred meters before reaching a pair of five-meter-high doors that were sealed shut.
Tanis said as she ran a hand across the cool surfaces.
Jen replied.
Tanis laughed and pushed a shoulder into the door.
It moved a few millimeters then came to a stop with a dull thud.