Planetfall

by L. E. Howel

  The door into the building opened stiffly and they passed through into a rubble-filled foyer. Stone, dust, and metal fragments lay across what might once have been an impressive, polished marble floor. They could just barely make out the logo for the news station etched in bold letters across the stone. Strangely the remains of an impressive glass chandelier remained incongruously perched in the flaking ceiling, though much of the glass had fallen away and left it looking much like the dead branches of a rotten tree.

  Water had gotten everywhere. Without a roof the weather had taken its toll on the building and left a moldy mess with scummy growth on everything. The impression was much the same as if you could walk now along the decks of the submerged Titanic in the depths of the sea. An eerie peace held over this scene of violent destruction, and as they walked now through this once impressive hall the sound of their feet echoed emptily around the decaying walls.

  The first floor produced nothing of interest. The showy part of the building, it was filled with executive offices with rotting art and furniture. The next floor was more promising, and contained practical working equipment for the station. There was no power to work any of the terminals though, and so their dusty screens stared blankly back at them. Diligent searching provided no other evidence to what had happened here. The papers left scattered about the building were worthless, insignificant memos and letters about company policies or ratings and advertising information. Nothing remained to tell the story of this city’s end.

  They passed through an abandoned studio, perhaps the scene of the last reports of the city, but not an echo remained. They were still no wiser about what had happened here. Birch had expected the power problem, but he had hoped that something else might have been left, some papers or anything that could help them. They saw nothing but decay.

  They continued up through the remaining floors. Dusty and empty, there was little here to help them. The seventh floor was the last one remaining and it was worse than the others, its ceiling now acted as the roof for the building since the rest of the structure had fallen away. It had taken the brunt of the weather and this was a task far beyond its original purpose. Holes had allowed water to destroy much of what had once been here and the sagging ceiling and floor left Birch unwilling to venture any further to investigate.

  “I guess there’s not much here for us,” Birch muttered. “Maybe we should try somewhere else, perhaps a newspaper office or something. I’m not sure that would be any better though. It looks like things happened so quickly that I doubt anybody had time to write about it. Still, there must have been some warning, some indication that would have been left on record somewhere. It’s just a question of getting at it.” He glared angrily at the dead equipment around him. He knew they probably contained the answers he sought, but they were mute, a silent witnesses who refused to speak or share what they knew.

  “What about alternative power sources?” Karla asked. “Most of these places had backup generators in the basement in case of power cuts. We could see if there’s any chance of getting it running again. If we could power-up the terminals then we could see what happened, assuming we could get the other equipment working of course.”

  Birch scowled thoughtfully for a moment. “I guess that’s possible, though I’m not sure that any generator engine left dormant this long could ever be started again. And even if we could, getting those computers working after that would be something else altogether. I’m not sure it’ll work, but I guess it’s worth a try. Let’s see what we can do.”

  Together they descended the same musty stairwell they had climbed moments ago, but instead of stopping at the ground level and escaping into the wide foyer, instead of fleeing out the dank rot and stench of decay into the open daylight, they continued down deeper into the basement.

  It was dark and difficult to see much beyond the bottom of the stairs. Birch took a box of matches from his backpack and lit one. In that instant of illumination they saw lines of doors along both walls. A large pair of swinging double doors at the end of the corridor was marked with a yellow diamond shaped warning sign, indicating that electrical equipment lay within.

  “That looks like our generator,” Birch said pointing to the sign. “Let’s see what kind of shape it’s in.”

  The match went out, burning Birch’s fingers. He didn’t light a new one, but instead used his memory of the corridor to feel his way to the doors in the darkness. A dim outline of the crack between the doors became clearer as he approached. A faint light was seeping through from the other side. Cautiously he pushed the doors open and peered into a workroom filled with heavy equipment for the heating and lighting of the building. At one time this would have been the noisy heart of the structure, pumping power and air to all the rooms above, now it was still and dusty. A trickle of natural light through small, muddied windows high up on the wall lit the scene. The machinery was all still there, but it was badly neglected.

  “This looks like junk,” Birch muttered as he examined one of the furnaces. It was rusting and decaying where it stood. Clumps of broken metal lay about it, where they had dropped off, and the instrument panel seemed to have corroded to a goopy mess.

  “The generator doesn’t look much better,” Karla commented ruefully, as she poked at another machine in the corner of the room. “I think it might be possible to restart it, but only if we had a couple of weeks to strip it apart, clean it up, and put it back together. Then we’d need some fresh fuel of course. Even with that it might need some other replacement parts when we looked inside.”

  “In other words, it’s junk too,” Birch remarked curtly.

  “This is kind of an interesting feature though,” Karla added, ignoring Birch’s bitter words.”

  “What?” Birch asked, hardly interested.

  “Well, this has an external feed, some kind of solar support system that gives extra power to the generator and adds that to the grid. It’s a good way to reduce building fuel consumption with free, natural energy. If we could tap into it maybe we could get some juice flowing back into this old building yet.”

  “How could you do that though?” Birch was interested again, but doubted that the young lieutenant had considered all of the obstacles to her plan. “The solar panels must have been destroyed when the rest of the building went down.”

  Karla shook her head. “That’s what’s so interesting about this. What you say would have been true of the old style solar panels, but this must be something new, because it looks like there’s still some kind of flicker of power barely dripping into the system from somewhere.”

  “You mean there’s power going into the system from some outside source,” Birch was puzzled, “where would that be coming from?”

  “I think it must be the building itself,” Karla was already excitedly working on a panel of the old generator. “It’s something I heard of as an idea once, the theory that these tall buildings, with all their windows and that potential for collecting solar energy, could become more efficient if a better collection panel could be developed, something transparent and thin, like a window. That must be what we have here. Because so much of the building’s been destroyed it’s barely a trickle now, but whatever’s left of that system is still trying to collect and produce energy. It’s just enough to barely register when it’s spread through the system like this, but if I could direct the energy just to the right place, then there might be enough to get one of the terminals working up there.”

  Birch nodded. “How are you going to do that?”

  Karla looked up from her panel. “This is a pretty modern building, at least it was. I’m already getting enough energy to use on the building’s mainframe computer here, from that I can turn off wiring routes and direct power where I want it.” She continued tapping at the keyboard as she talked. “Things like that were useful for fire and emergency measures. This should be enough to get us into the records anyway.”

  “Great,” Birch patted Karla’s arm enthusiastically, “how
long before we can get in.” Karla didn’t look up from her screen.

  “It’ll take a few minutes for me to work out a good route, a lot of the wirings out so I’m just testing for a path I can make to the terminals upstairs. Once I’ve done that I’ll need you to go up there and test it out for me to make sure the connection works, if not we’ll need to find something else.”

  Birch looked doubtful. “You mean I’ve got to leave you down here, alone? That doesn’t sound a very good plan. Don’t forget that Ares guy rattling at our door last night. I’m not sure it would be a good idea to leave you down here.”

  “I haven’t forgotten anything. I haven’t forgotten that we need to get out of this town as soon as we can, and that if you insist on us sticking together then we’ll have to keep going up and down the stairs every few seconds to try and get this thing working. You need me to stay down here to keep this running. If you don’t want to do that then this is a waste of time.” Birch marveled at her words.

  “It looks like I can get the internal phone system working too,” she continued, “so when you’re up there you can tell me what’s working and what isn’t. I can fix things better that way.”

  For a moment Birch remained silent. He didn’t like the idea, and he still didn’t know if he could trust Karla to take care of herself. If any Ares came across her down here, alone what would she do? She wouldn’t have a chance. Still there was a logic to what she had said. He couldn’t deny that. It seemed like the only chance they had to get out of the city before nightfall. When he finally spoke his words came slowly, as though he hardly wanted them to escape.

  “Sure,” he muttered, “that makes sense. Keep a watch out though, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  Karla smiled. “Don’t worry, I will.” She looked down at her screen again.

  “I’ve got a clear wiring path through to a few locations up on the second floor. Office 227 seems to be the closest to the stairwell so I’ll start there. If you go up now I’ll get things ready and let you know when I’m about to send the power through.” Birch nodded and walked to the door. In the dim light of the basement he turned for a last look at Karla, she was engrossed in her work. Her golden hair, muddied by the dimness around it, bobbed in time to her typing fingers. Birch turned and left.

  It was easier finding his way back up than it had been to find his way down. The light from the stairs seemed to guide him out and soon he was climbing to the second floor. When he reached it the same sense of desolation hit him, only harder. He wished Karla was there. He was worried about her, all alone in that dark basement, but not only that, it seemed that this place was darker without her.

  Office 227 was a few doors down from the stairs. As Birch turned the knob and opened the door he almost feared what he might find inside. The evil smell that pervaded through the building might have only been the rampant mold and rotting furniture around him, but it smelt like death to Birch. Again, he had to fight to suppress his thoughts about the individuals here, about the sudden death or the terror that must have filled this very room all that time ago. It seemed now that the screams still echoed in his mind and he didn’t want to hear. His hands went to his ears, but he couldn’t block them until his thoughts turned towards life and what he was doing now. That wasn’t much of a comfort but it snapped him out of it. He was here to find out what happened. Not what happened to the people, but to this city. This inanimate thing that could feel no pain and register no remorse or regrets; this would help him, nothing would help the others. If he could find out what happened here he was sure he could understand this new world better.

  The office contained a desk, chair, and computer. Its window was still intact and Birch looked through its smeared pane out onto the surrounding destruction, and beyond it toward the majestic mountains that towered above them all. A moment later the telephone on the desk rang rustily and Birch reached over to answer it. It was a strange throwback to the normal times this building would never see again.

  “Hello?” Karla’s voice came muddily through the dirty receiver, “is that you, Major?”

  “Yes,” he answered impatiently. It wasn’t as though there would be anyone else around here taking calls.

  “I’m about to send power up to your office. Could you check the plugs and see everything checks out before I do.” Birch grunted a response and looked at the computer and the wiring to the outlet. It looked like it had been wet at one time, but he wasn’t sure he would find anything better anywhere else in this decrepit building.

  “It seems okay,” Birch answered, “let’s give it a try.”

  “Okay,” Karla answered brightly, “power coming up. Let me know if you have any problems and I’ll switch off.” Birch waited, nothing noticeable happened. Karla’s voice came through the receiver. “You’re getting power now, try the computer.”

  Birch moved back to the desk and leaned over to look at the dirty monitor’s screen. With a deep breath he pushed the button on the terminal and waited. For a moment nothing happened, but then it started to hum erratically, like an old car trying to catch its ignition and start up on a cold day. Eventually it seemed to catch its rhythm and start loading up, but in that instant a shower of sparks flew from the screen and a strange, high-pitched screeching howl filled the room.

  “Shut it down, shut it down!” Birch shouted into the receiver as he ran for the door. The sparks were flying up into the air and flames were licking at the screen as he dove through the doorway to escape its gleaming destruction.

  “Thomas!” Karla’s voice sounded distantly from the phone lying on the floor. “Are you okay? Are you alright? Talk to me, Major!” A thudding boom sounded through the phone’s receiver.

  Birch shook his head groggily and picked up the phone from the hall floor. “I’m here,” he answered flatly, “that one didn’t work.” Karla laughed in nervous relief. “Okay,” he continued. “What’s the next office to try?”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea,” Karla’s voice was filled with concern, “you could have died up there.”

  “I’ll be careful, we’ve come this far and I’m not going to give up now.”

  “Try across the hall, 232,” Karla’s voice came back faintly through the phone, “please, be careful though.”

  “Sure, thanks.” Birch turned and looked at the office he had just escaped. The sparks were gone, but a thick smoke billowed from the computer that had melted in on itself, leaving a dripping pool of plastic residue on the scorched desk. He used a ragged rug from the floor to smoother the last remnants of the flame before moving up the hall to the next room.

  Office 232 seemed somewhat better than the previous one. Moisture hadn’t reached this room to quite the same extent, and an examination of the wiring on the terminal showed a much healthier looking connection. “This looks much better,” Birch said to Karla, “juice her up and let’s see what she’ll do.”

  “Okay,” Karla’s voice came back over the handset. “Keep your distance this time though.”

  “Don’t worry about that, just tell me when we’re ready and I’ll hit the button and run for the door.” A few moments passed. Birch could hear the sound of the keys as Karla tapped away at her console.

  “Right, I’ve got it patched through now. Start it when you’re ready, watch yourself though.”

  “Sure,” Birch was starting to get irritated with her concern. If she told him to be careful one more time he would turn the phone off. He glanced down at the computer and finally pushed the startup button. Taking a few steps back he waited and watched to see what would happen.

  It wasn’t the smoothest of beginnings, like the last computer it made a chugging, clunking start and for a time it seemed that it wasn’t going to do anything more. Finally, though, it seemed to cough and then purr as it remembered its long forgotten purpose. Its programming kicked in and it started through the opening screens.

  “Great, we’ve got it!” Birch, casting his caution aside, quickly sat at the desk
and pulled the screen closer to him.

  “Is anything happening yet?” Karla’s voice came faintly again through the phone. In his excitement Birch had forgotten her and put the phone on the desk. He picked it up.

  “We’re getting in right now; it looks like it’s going to work!” The symbol for channel 36 flashed across the screen and Birch watched expectantly for what would happen next.

  TWENTY-NINE

  A night’s rest made everything look better. Edwards’ head didn’t hurt as it had before. His mind didn’t ache and his eyes didn’t smart with the sting of the glaring light outside. Jane’s words had troubled him. His own thoughts had troubled him, but from the safety of this place he knew what was right. In his sleep Jane’s words had mingled with his own doubts to oppress and haunt him, but he had awoken to certainty. In his sleep his own mind had worked it out. Freed from his conscious doubting he knew the truth. This place was secure and they were secure, all of them.

  This fort was tiny, but it was safe, and from its battlements you could see the plains stretched out below. He saw the emptiness of the land. It was waiting to be reclaimed, rescued from its fallow state and brought back to its former glory. It was wild and had lost its use, someday that use would return and he was one of the few, the idealists that believed the Ares could be brought with it. The more he had known them the more he had known it to be true. It wasn’t just the Ares land that was fallow, but also the Ares’ mind. They had some intelligence and a remarkable cunning, but still they lacked what it really meant to exist. Someday, after their final defeat, they would learn.