“Doctor, take these as well,” he said handing over his satchel. There must’ve been thirty bars in it and a hundred supplements.
“Thank you, commander.”
Farr waved the comment away dismissively. “I’m glad you two thought of it. Can you and Ming give me your assessment of the condition of these people when you’re done?”
“Certainly,” he said and then resumed his mission.
CHAPTER 10
Farr continued observing the people of this fragmented world while he waited patiently for Ming and Takashi. He glanced from gathering to gathering, seeing very little verbal communication but moments which must’ve been tender compassionate ones. As he watched the groups, a person would place their hand on another’s cheek and look deeply into their eyes. Such a tender gesture struck a nerve in his normally neutral soul.
Although he didn’t see much conversation among the Workers, a constant murmuring buzz, as of many voices, assaulted him, disrupting his thoughts often. He decided that the acoustics of the cave they were in must be responsible, deflecting their whispers off of the walls and focusing them toward the center of the cavern. He’d seen this before on Earth but it hadn’t been as disruptive as these echoes seemed to be.
An hour later he was gathered with Ming and Takashi near the place where the Foreman sat with several of his people, including Eric. Farr noticed the gesture he’d seen many times over the last hour repeated again within the group, especially between Eric and the Foreman.
“What’s the condition of these people?” he asked the two men, going straight to the point.
Takashi started. “As you can tell without my assessment, malnutrition is rampant. We were careful in giving them our food because it’s very high in nutrients, vitamins and general nutrition. It could’ve been overwhelming for their system. But the little we gave them had an almost immediate positive result. They’re suffering from vitamin deficiencies, and rickets and scurvy are rampant. About forty percent of the population is genetically altered and they handle most of the work and, because of their enhancements, handle the environment better than the others. Their eyes have adapted, whether or not they’ve been altered, so even if the “garden” as they call it was available to them, I don’t think they could tolerate normal sunlight. Frankly, these people need doctors, food and medical care. I think Dr. Alexeyev could work wonders here in a single day.”
“It’s like Takashi says,” Ming said as his associate finished. “We’ve seen this before at the compounds that we find in out of the way places on Earth, with all of the same symptoms. But these people have endured these conditions for a century and I don’t see how they can go on much longer. They’re at the end of their rope. If we don’t do something to stop it, the Suits will eventually enslave or kill these people. By my estimate there are approximately twenty-six hundred Workers, give or take, well, quite a bit actually. They’ve got obsidian knives and that’s pretty much it. They can’t stand up to the Suits because they have propelled munitions, which are primitive yes, but quite effective.”
“And their world is dying?” Farr asked.
“It would seem so,” Takashi chimed back in. “I analyzed the squares they’re given daily and, as I thought, it is an algae compound. It’s supposed to be a high protein, vitamin enriched algae compound, but its quality is very poor. That’s an indication that the machines are wearing down, i.e.¸ I’m finding lots of impurities in what they’re being given. It’s impossible to say for sure, but best guess is the cafeteria closes for good in about four to six months. Frankly I’m surprised any of them are alive at all.”
“Well, that’s why we’re here gentlemen. Have you thought about how to get around those warbots guarding the dome?”
“Yeah,” Ming replied. “Well, maybe. We think it would be possible to rig a small EMP device using two or three Tasers and some of the odds and ends in Tegev’s box of goodies and the DEW. But…” he trailed off.
“But what?”
“Well, we’ll have to make it really small and be very careful how we let the pulse escape because everything in the dome is electrically driven…”
“So, too much pulse and we could shut down the dome and too little and we don’t take the warbots down. Is that about it?”
“Pretty much,” Ming hedged squinting his eyes a little.
“And?”
“And if the pulse is too small to take out the warbots, then the on board computer will probably view that as an attack and kill anything within fifty meters.” Ming finished quickly and Takashi nodded vigorously.
“Well Goldilocks,” Farr said addressing Ming. “Why don’t you and Dr. Takashi here see if you can make an EMP device that’s just right so we don’t kill the dome or ourselves in the process?” The two men traded skeptical glances.
“Listen guys, we don’t really have any EMP devices on the ship either. Sure we can configure one in no time but it wouldn’t be a small one and anything we configure on board Resolution would have too much power, so this is our best bet. Even with our full security team I don’t want to charge those monstrosities guarding the entrance so this is it.”
“We could wait for Earth to send people. I’ll bet they can have a team onsite within a few weeks,” Takashi offered. Farr nodded toward the people along the walls.
“Probably a lot less. I think Admiral Ngata has some contingency plans for just such an occasion as this. But how many of these people will die in, oh let’s say the three weeks to a month that a relief mission will take, from treatable causes?”
“Eighty to a hundred, at the very least, depending on if the food is deteriorating as fast as I think,” Takashi said, lowering his gaze.
“How many do you think will be killed or enslaved within a month?” he asked Ming.
“According to those I talked with twenty to thirty a month lately. It’s been getting progressively worse as the quality of food declines. The attack we witnessed was the first one to occur that deeply into the place of the Workers,” Ming said with a deep sigh.
“So one hundred to a hundred and thirty preventable deaths minimum, if we don’t act now, is that correct?” The two men nodded affirmatively. “Personally, I think it will be worse, and I think we may’ve inadvertently caused it to become so. When we stopped the attack in the tunnels something happened that had never happened here before. A well-armed party of Suits failed to return. We can’t let those prisoners go back to their people because they’ve been too close to the hiding place of the Workers. I personally don’t want to execute them, do you?” he asked looking at the two men. Ming cringed at the thought and Takashi went pale. “I didn’t think so. But no matter what, the foraging party isn’t going to return. They will send a much larger, probably better armed party to seek retribution and find out what happened. Either way, things are changing here so we might as well change them to better serve these people.”
“We need communications then,” Ming said.
“Yes, I haven’t heard a peep out of Tegev,” Farr said, frowning as he double tapped the tiny unit in his ear. One tap on the unit allowed him to receive any communication from other units without transmitting. Two taps put him into transmit and receive mode and anyone on the other end could hear what was said in the vicinity of the user.
“Tegev this is Farr,” he called over the net. He waited and then tried twice more. Nothing.
“I’m going to ask Eric to take me back along the tunnels to see if I can get communications. You two,” he said to Ming, “get me an EMP device.” He turned away from Ming and Takashi and found Eric along the wall with Alain´.
“Is something wrong commander?” the old man asked.
“No, not really. I can’t raise the two crewmembers that went back to the ship. I was wondering if I could borrow Eric to guide me along the tunnels until I can raise them.”
“Why, of course, Eric will be happy to guide you, won’t you Eric?”
“Yes, Foreman. Come with me commander,” Eric o
rdered and turned to lead Farr out of the chamber without another word and through the inner tunnels of the Workers haven. Farr was lost after the first few turnings, but Eric never paused as he led the way.
They exited the place of the Workers and entered the dark, and to Farr, forbidding tunnels beyond. By this time the oppressive feeling emanating from the dark tunnels had settled in on him again. At intervals along the way Farr tried his communications. He received no reply but he wasn’t really worried because by now Tegev would’ve passed the point where they’d lost communications with Home Base. Both men were wary as they approached the branch in the tunnels where the attack had occurred. Farr, who’d been busy trying to raise Tegev as they walked, was surprised when they reached it so quickly and he still didn’t have communications. Farr directed Eric in the direction from whence his team had come and Eric stopped short a hundred meters down the corridor.
“There are many footprints in the dust here,” he said pointing at the floor. “These were made by Suits, at least ten of them.” Strain as he might Farr could not see the footprints, and if he couldn’t see them, then Tegev couldn’t.
“Eric,” he said softly, easily slipping into combat mode and bringing his weapon up, his senses sharpening and reminding him over and over that he was in a low g environment “do the prints go both ways?”
“Yes,” he whispered back. “But there are only seven, maybe eight returning and they could be dragging or half carrying something.” Farr thought quickly, knowing something was definitely wrong.
“Let’s follow them and see where they stop ahead,” Farr suggested and Eric led the way, hugging the walls of the corridor and blending in with the shadows as he moved. Farr followed his movements, mimicking his actions. He hadn’t realized until now just how sensitive the eyes of the denizens of this world were, thinking that the lowlight opticals they were using were superior to the human eye. And they would’ve been if these were normal humans, but a century of living in the abject darkness had honed their eyesight until it was unmatched in the natural world.
The tracks continued on, at least according to Eric, almost a kilometer. Eric stopped and mapped out the scene as it appeared to him.
“Ten Suits were hiding in the shadows over here. The eyes of the Suits are not as keen as ours and they think to surprise us by hiding in the natural alcoves of the tunnels. It has never worked because we see them before they see us. But they never stop trying,” he said pointing to a natural alcove in the wall. “Two people came along here,” he said pointing at the center of the passageway. “They were your people, at least based on the footprints I see. From what I can tell they never saw the Suits until they were rushed. There was a scuffle here, and then the scuffle moved down this way,” he said pointing further up the corridor. “One set of footsteps, moving fast, lead away with two in pursuit. It would seem that one of your people got free and two Suits followed them. The rest went back toward the places of the Suits, I think, dragging a prisoner.”
“The places of the Suits are the old living quarters of Five, are they not, and they’re on the other side of the offering portal?” Farr said, his voice barely audible and as quiet as Eric’s had been.
“Yes, the Foreman says the old histories tell us the mad Chief wanted to be closer to the Garden of Five.”
“Okay, let’s find out what happened to my people.”
Eric continued on for another five hundred meters and then stopped.
“There are two bodies lying on the right side of the tunnel. There may be someone in that nook near them, trying to conceal themselves.”
“How close can you get before we’re exposed to danger?”
“Another thirty meters,” he said and moved before Farr could comment. As they crept into the situation, Farr kept looking at the spot where Eric had pointed and finally a figure appeared on his lowlight. He tapped the optical once and said softly, “Infrared.”
His opticals displayed the corridor in the new mode. The two bodies were still cooling in the thin air and Farr could make out their size, which was that of the Suits he’d seen earlier. The person in the alcove was considerably smaller.
“Tegev,” he called softly. The person didn’t move. “Tegev,” he called again. The person stirred, moving their head around looking for the sound. “Tegev, it’s commander Farr.” The body became more alert and animated.
“Commander? Is that you?”
“Yes, relax, we’re coming over.” He and Eric quickly covered the space between them. Farr switched his opticals back to lowlight. Tegev was covered with bumps and bruises, as if she had been pummeled by many assailants. Her eye was swollen, as well as her cheek. Her lips were split and cracked and bloody. Farr’s face did not change expression but his eyes were like twin blue flames. One of the compressed air guns of the Suits lay beside her.
“Just tell us what happened, Tegev,” he said gently, but firmly.
“It was my fault sir. I hadn’t turned my comms on yet. I was about to, I swear, when I saw something that looked like movement ahead. I told Dr. Skorsson to wait in one of the shadows while I went forward to investigate and they came out of nowhere and surrounded me. I didn’t see them until it was too late.” Tears rolled down her battered face and her bruised lips quivered.
“Breath deep, Sergeant, just breath deep and tell us what happened then.” She took a deep breath and steadied herself.
“They were all around me kicking and punching and they tore my suit off of me. I fought back but there must’ve been eight or ten of them. I know I hurt some of them but they kept on pounding on me. I went down to my knees and they grabbed me and jerked me to my feet and continued with the beating. I was done and I knew it. Then Dr. Skorsson was there all of a sudden, punching and kicking and yelling like a madman. He was hitting everything that came near us and all of a sudden I was free. Skorsson tossed me this weapon and yelled for me to run. I’m sorry commander, but I did,” she said and hung her head.
“That was the right action, Tegev, and Dr. Skorsson knew it. What happened then?”
“Well, my opticals and commbud were gone. I couldn’t see or call for help. I stumbled along the passageway and fell into this corner. They must’ve sent someone after me because I heard a faint whisper in the dark. I knew their night vision was way better than mine, so I lay limply on the tunnel floor, hoping they’d think I passed out and come close enough so I could hear their breathing. It must have worked, because I eventually heard breathing close by and I spun around and emptied the weapon in that direction. I don’t know if I hit anything or not, but the breathing stopped. They yanked my suit off quick when they first surprised me, but I had increased the air pressure to almost Earth norm when you ordered us back. The sudden change in pressure and oxygen gave me altitude sickness and I’ve been trying to recover here.”
“It’s okay Tegev, there were two and you got them both. I’m going to get you back to Eric’s people and Ming and Takashi will take care of you.”
“What about Dr. Skorsson? They’ve got him commander.” Tegev’s eyes were fraught with worry and she appeared to be on the brink of tears again.
“Nobody takes my people Tegev,” Farr assured her and his eyes were cold and fierce. “I’ll get the doctor back, but first let’s get communications with Home Base and get you back to Eric’s people.”
Farr continued up the corridor for perhaps another kilometer while Eric guarded Tegev, calling intermittently for Home Base, and was rewarded with Faye’s static laden voice.
“Away party this is Home Base. You’re four hours late commander! I was afraid I’d never hear from you again. The Master Chief’s been raising hell,” Faye’s voice reproached him. He could detect the strain in her voice as she spoke and knew that the waiting had been hard for her. “I almost requested the Master Chief do a remote dust off so I could put a rescue party together.”
Four hours late, Farr thought! How could we’ve lost track of time so badly? He looked around at the endless dar
kness and shook his head. The brooding monotony of the tunnels was timeless to him. He’d never longed so much for the light and an end to the dreary murkiness of this subterranean world.
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do, Faye,” Farr said, making his decision. “We’ve located two tribes of people here and one of the tribes is not much with the hospitality thing,” he said, mimicking Ming and trying to diffuse the young technician’s tension. “I want you to contact Resolution and have the Master Chief bring you home. Tell him I’ll contact him with marching orders once we’re inside the biome, which may take some time,” he conceded. “He’s not to do anything until he hears from me. Do you understand these orders Technician Faye?”
“Understood commander, Home Base out.”
Farr returned to his original position and retrieved Eric and Tegev. A short time later Eric stopped them and proceeded to the right wall where he tapped twice, paused and tapped three times.
A whisper drifted very quietly down the corridor. “Who?”
“Eric, of the family of Gaetos,” he barely whispered in reply. “We only use our family names for entrance,” Eric explained to Farr.
“I didn’t even know you had family names,” Farr admitted. No one had introduced themselves with anything but a first name while he’d been among the Workers.
“Yes, we do, but we know each other in our place of living, so we don’t use them there, but a Suit could not gain entrance to our abode unless he knew both names of a Worker and they don’t know that we have family names either.”
A guard approached Eric cautiously, but relaxed when he was within thirty meters of him, obviously recognizing him. Farr was amazed at the vision and hearing of these people. His low light opticals couldn’t make out the guard’s face until he was within twenty meters. He filed that information away as important.
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