Scions of Humanity - A Metaphysical Space Opera Adventure (Aeon 14

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.

  Sera’s head snapped up.

  Tanis gave a half smile.

  Sera’s brow fell again.

 

  Sera’s mouth hung open.

 

  The words tumbled out of Sera’s mind.

  Tanis’s lips drew into a thin line, and she glanced at Joe, who gave her an encouraging nod.

  Sera held up a hand.

  Tanis nodded.

  Sera demanded.

  Tanis said, reaching for the other woman’s hands.

  Sera bit her lip, weighing desire to remain at the alien find against searching for her uncle.

  Joe said.

  Sera insisted.

  Joe explained.

  Sera muttered, then switched to a private channel that excluded the two Marines.

  Tanis shrugged.

 

  Joe explained.

  Angela said.

  Joe nodded.

  Sera asked.

  Tanis nodded.

  Sera whistled, shaking her head in disbelief.

 

  Sera heaved a sigh.

 

  Sera arched a brow.

  It was Joe’s turn to sigh.

  Sera muttered.

  Tanis shrugged.

  Joe said, finally turning away from the statue to look at the shaft.

  Angela added.

  Tanis said as she turned to join Joe.

  Sera approached them while Jason lingered at the statue for a moment longer before walking to the edge as well.

  she replied.

  Tanis nodded at the a-grav platform a few meters away.

  Saanvi said, finally rejoining the group.

  Tanis flashed a grin at her daughter.

  Saanvi patted the sidearm on her hip.

  Jason jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the statue’s direction.

  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.

  Jen explained.

  Joe asked.

  Jen said.

  Saanvi nodded.

  Jason replied.

  The young woman whistled.

  Tanis chuckled.

  Angela said.

  Sera chuckled.

  Jason coughed.

  She glanced at him and nodded.


  Saanvi asked as the platform continued its steady descent, more and more passages opening up in the shaft.

  Tanis replied.

  Angela suggested.

  Sera said, staring off into the distance.

  Tanis nodded.

  Angela said in a mournful tone.

  Sera asked.

  the AI replied.

  Joe glanced at Saanvi, a mock laugh on his lips.

  Angela warned.

  Jason winked at the others.

  Saanvi said.

  Sera shook her head.

  Tanis asked.

  Joe cocked a brow.

  A close-up view of the wall came over the Link, courtesy of Tanis’s highly augmented eyes.

 

  Sera crossed her arms.

  Saanvi warned.

  Joe asked.

  Sera replied.

  Tanis nodded, as did Saanvi.

  the young woman said.

  Sera said.

  Saanvi winked.

  Tanis asked.

  Sera nodded.

  Tanis mused.

  Sera replied, then pointed at a large notch cut into the side of the shaft.

  Jason said, pointing at the far side of the open space.

  Joe said.

  Saanvi suggested.

  Tanis asked with a half-smile.

  Saanvi shot her mother a narrow-eyed look.

  Tanis raised her hands in mock defense.

  Sera said.

  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?

  Saanvi pointed into a wide passage.

  Joe gestured at a passage to his right.

  Jen said.

  Sera added.

  Tanis laughed, giving Sera a nudge with her elbow.

  Sera shrugged.

  Jason confirmed.

  Tanis gave a half-smile.

  Sera pursed her lips.

  Jason asked.

  Sera glanced at him and sighed.

  Joe snorted a laugh.

  She fixed him with a level stare.

  Jason waved a hand in the direction of the platform’s exit as they descended the final few meters.

  CHAPTER 18 - TANIS

  STELLAR DATE: 01.02.8960 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Sigma 1199 Alien Facility

  REGION: Sigma 1199 System, Norma Arm

  Tanis asked as she stretched and pushed back from the railing.

  Jen said, highlighting the opening directly across from the platform’s exit.

  Joe said.

  Sera suggested. She winked at the Marines.

  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 suggested.

  Angela asked.

  Saanvi shrugged.

  Sera nodded in appreciation.

  Joe glanced back at her from Tanis’s side.

  Sera corrected.

  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.

  Angela commented.

  Jen replied.

  Angela said.

  Tanis laughed and pushed a shoulder into the door.

  It moved a few millimeters then came to a stop with a dull thud.

 

  Angela’s mental tone was filled with glee at the prospect of a puzzle.