The Deep Dark Well

by Doug Dandridge

“Possession of the proper key probe will allow access to whoever holds one.”

  “Like this?” she asked, holding up the finger of the robot, the needle like key sticking from its front.

  “Exactly like that.”

  “Then lead on, McDuff. I want to see the armory before I settle for anything as unimportant as food.”

  * * *

  The heavy door opened as soon as the needle key was inserted into the small hole. Another door, then another beyond that, slid back into the wall. Whoever built the station had definitely wanted to keep unauthorized people out of this place. She wondered for a moment as to what other security this armory might have. But the computer had not warned her of any, and it hadn’t led her astray, yet. And surely it would control any security system the armory might have.

  She walked into the armory, finding herself at first in a moderate sized chamber. An empty chamber, with three doors leading off of it. An insertion of the key and the first door opened. This room contained rack upon rack of rifles and pistols. She had no idea what most of them did, but they sure looked deadly enough.

  Pandi grabbed what looked like a small handgun. It felt light and well balanced, much lighter than she had expected. The grip felt strange in her hand, at first. Then it seemed to mold itself to her grip, as if it had been made for her.

  “A good choice of a weapon,” said the computer.

  “What is it?”

  “A standard laser pistol, with settings for multiple frequencies of coherent light. It will stop most targets, with a minimum of collateral damage. You will of course want to take some power packs to go with it.”

  She set the pistol aside and grabbed a quartet of power packs from a shelf above the rack, making sure they were the type that fit the pistol. Then she went about looking over the rest of the rack of pistols until she found something that was a bit different. This was somewhat larger, with a bulb at the front of the barrel.

  “An EMP gun, capable of disabling any kind of electrical equipment. With an almost unlimited range.”

  “Can electrical systems be shielded against its effects?”

  “Possible,” replied the computer. “Standard robots are incapable of carrying that weight of shielding.”

  “Good enough,” she said, placing the pistol on the floor beside the laser. “Now how about something with some real firepower?”

  The computer directed her to another rack, this one of larger weapons. Many looked like what she would have called assault rifles, though some were more of the submachine gun class. One in particular caught her eye, like something she had seen in the history books. From one of the great wars of the twentieth century. Something the Russians had used against the Germans, though she couldn’t remember the name of the weapon.

  “No,” said the computer, “it is not a Russian PPSh submachine gun, though it does bear a superficial resemblance to one.”

  Pandi pulled the weapon from the rack. Just as with the pistols it took a second for the weapon to adjust to her touch, but within moments it felt at home in her hands. Again it was light and well balanced. This one seemed to hold the infantryman’s dreams.

  “What is it?”

  “That is a light assault gun. It uses magnetic force to propel the pellets held in the drum at ultra high velocity.”

  “A rail gun?”

  “Very similar, though much more powerful than what you are thinking. The drum holds two thousand rounds of 5mm ammunition. The selector on the left side of the weapon allows you to select single shot, burst or continuous automatic. The switch on the right side allows you to select the power of the shot. The dial on the front of the drum allows ammunition configuration.”

  “It carries more than one kind of ammunition?”

  “Choices are limited to standard hard case projectile, exploding minigrenades and shape charge penetrators.”

  “Sound like enough for me. I guess I’ll take a couple of extra drums with me. No use getting caught without ammo.”

  The next room contained grenades and explosives of various types, much smaller than anything she would have expected. The computer guided her through a selection, until she had a dozen of the small devices.

  The last room contained a number of identical vests and helmets, as well as web gear and accessories. The vests were body armor, lightweight and affording much more protection than her jumpsuit. She found one that fit properly, strapping down the deltoid guards, closing the fasteners. A holster that would hold the laser fit on the left side of the vest. She found another holster, this one for the EMP pistol, and attached it to her belt, strapping the lower part of the holster to her right thigh. Power packs fit into belt and vest pouches, the drums into a light backpack.

  The helmets were marvels. The visor that fit over the front allowed a multitude of different sensory modes. Radar, ladar, infrared and ultraviolet, passive and active. As with everything else it fit perfectly, molding itself to her head.

  Pandi checked herself out, making sure everything was attached and in the right place. If she didn’t look dangerous she didn’t know what else she could do to make herself so. The next time she ran into something that meant her harm she would be able to fight back, effectively.

  “OK,” she said, “I’m ready. Show me to the food.”

  * * *

  The thirteen large vessels slowed to a complete halt, a little over two billion kilometers from the Donut. They assumed a globular formation that allowed them all to bring their weapons to bear to the front, while also surrounding the flagship in a defensive screen. Passive sensors strained to gather all possible data from the object ahead.

  Admiral Miklas Gerasi stood close to the holo display of the Orca, watching the incoming data come to life, as the Donut and the object it orbited assumed a three dimensional structure in the display. He was aware of the rest of the bridge crew staring at the display, nervousness etched upon their faces. He knew what they were thinking. It was what he was thinking.

  It’s so big. How could we have thought to attempt the conquest of such a thing. A mass of the ultimate in degenerate matter, more mass than a thousand star systems. Closed off from the rest of the Universe. Used by the thin ring in orbit around it. Thin in a relative term, with enough space inside to house the sum total of humanity in this Galaxy.

  Not when it was built, of course. Then the Galaxy overflowed with human life, as well as the teeming masses of hellish aliens. Still the largest structure ever built by human hands, turning the black hole into the most immense power generating source in the Galaxy. The energy to link the hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Galaxy, allowing people to travel to any destination in almost no time. The power to control the Galaxy. And his people must have it, or no one would.

  “Orbital velocity of the object is.”

  “Yes,” said the admiral to the staring science officer. “The orbital velocity is what?”

  “Sorry sir,” said the man with a sheepish expression on his face. “It’s just, that the figures seem so, unbelievable.”

  “We are now in the realm of the unbelievable,” said Gerasi. “Any figures your sensors show you are likely to be correct, no matter how unbelievable.”

  “Yes sir,” said the officer. “Orbital velocity of the outer shell of the structure is 18,813.68 kilometers per second.”

  “That’s over .06 C,” said the navigation officer, his voice cracking at the enormity of the thought.

  “That would be the necessary velocity to generate the centrifugal force needed to counterbalance the pull of the hole,” said the science officer, studying his computer displays.

  “What about tidal forces?” said the admiral.

  “It’s too far out from the hole for tidal forces to be much of a factor,” said the science officer. “Especially such a massive hole. Difference in G force between the inner and outer shell of the station couldn’t be more than .04 G.

  “Material of the structure must be similar to that of the pyramids of t
he elders,” said the science officer. “Super dense, super strong.”

  “We knew it had to be such,” said the captain.

  Yes, thought the admiral. And it had taken the best of their technology years of constant struggle to gain entry to one of the structures that dwelt on every inhabitable planet. Only to find that the gates were all dead, with no way to reactivate them from planetside. That ability had to reside in the Donut itself.

  “It will be three point two hours before active sensory arrays are able to add to our data base,” continued the science officer. “Round trip travel time for light speed transmission.”

  “Passive sensors will continue to gather all variables in energy transmission from the station,” said the navigation officer, checking his own displays.

  “I’ll be in my ready room,” said the admiral. “Please call me if anything out of the ordinary happens.”

  “That covers a lot of ground,” said the captain.

  “That’s right,” said Gerasi. “Anything that makes anyone of the bridge crew thinks it might be meaningful.”

  Gerasi stalked from the bridge into his ready room, trying to smooth down the conflicting emotions that threatened to bubble to the surface. Fear was paramount among those emotions, and it wouldn’t do to let the crew see such an emotion in their leader. He must be the bastion of strength, no matter how much he wanted to run from this place as fast as his ships could carry him.

  Chapter 10

  Civilizations rise and fall. This has been the history of mankind, of all the civilizations that have existed. This is the history of all of the nonhuman races as well. With the opening of this station, this hub of commerce and transportation for the benefit of all sentients of this Galaxy, this history will change. Civilization is now eternal.

  Speech of Lord Mathali Kramsa on the opening of the first Donut

  The being that called himself Vengeance glowered at the holo display in the air to his front. They just sat there, doing nothing but probing the structure of the Donut from a distance. Just beyond the line of death he had imposed, as if they knew of the line, and what awaited them if they crossed.

  “Active sensory probes are now impacting the station,” said the computer.

  “Types?”

  “Standard radar, deep radar, ladar, and aether wave,” replied the computer.

  “Standard level nine tech,” said Vengeance. “No graviton beam probes?”

  “No, Vengeance. Even though the ships themselves seem to use graviton production for artificial gravity, they appear to have not advanced in graviton research far enough to use them for sensory probes.”

  “Then they will be shocked by what hits them if they come closer,” said Vengeance, laughing silently. He gestured with a long fingered hand and a robot approached. As the creature stepped into his sight his expression hardened, as anger rose back to the surface.

  “Why have you not been able to find her?” he growled at the robot as he turned his chair toward it. “How can one primitive organic have eluded you? How could she have escaped in the first place?”

  The robot stood impassively to his front. Of course, he thought, it has no emotions. He could not really frighten it into increased action. The robot had a self-preservation program, but it was not the same thing as fear. Maybe I need to create some organic servants. At least they would give him pleasure in their reactions, and he could entertain himself with their torture.

  That thought sent a thrill of pleasure coursing through him. He had so looked forward to continuing his, entertainment, with her. And she had the effrontery to escape, when he had planned such an exquisite treatment for her.

  “I want her found, if you have to tear the station apart.”

  “It is surmised that she has obtained aid of some sort,” said the robot.

  “Who? Watcher? I was not told he was on the station.

  “Computer,” said Vengeance, turning back to the holo display. “Is Watcher on the station at this time?”

  “The being known as Watcher is not on the station at this time,” answered the computer.

  “Have you been able to locate the being known as Pandi Latham?”

  “I have not been able to locate the being known as Pandi Latham for your forces,” answered the computer.

  Vengeance puzzled for a second on the computer’s choice of words. His mind blanked for a second as he tried to analyze its semantics, to discover if there was a hidden meaning. When the world swam back into focus he had forgotten what he had been thinking about.

  “Well, keep looking for her,” he said, his words ending in a yawn. “I’ll try to keep myself amused with these new visitors. Open a channel to those ships.”

  “Transmission will take one point six hours to arrive at vessels,” said the computer. “Unless you would like to open a wormhole transmission tunnel?”

  “I can wait. I don’t want them to know all of our capabilities at this time.”

  Vengeance assumed the character he wished the aliens to see, while sending the message he hoped would bring them into his web.

  * * *

  “You want me to step into that thing?”

  Pandi looked down the shaft, the seemingly bottomless hole that dropped into the perspective of infinity. Even though she knew it couldn’t be more than fifty kilometers or so. Only fifty kilometers. I must be crazy.

  “It is perfectly safe,” said the computer.

  Pandi wasn’t sure about its pronouncement. She was used to having something beneath her feet when she went up or down.

  “However,” said the computer, “waiting for those who come this way is not.”

  That decided her. She stepped into the shaft, her eyes closed. The wind whistled around her as she fell, as she suppressed the scream rattling in her throat. After a few seconds she realized she was not falling any faster than when she had first stepped into the shaft. She opened her eyes, and took in the tableau of the walls of the shaft passing by, about ten meters a second. Enough velocity to hurt her when she struck bottom, but she would survive.

  “Of course,” said the computer, “and you will decelerate before coming to the proper level.”

  Good enough, she thought, though she would never know what the proper level was. She hated putting her trust in the machine, that which also served her enemy in some capacity. But it had helped her out, when it could just as easily have led her right into the hands of her enemies.

  Screwing up her courage, Pandi looked down. That view had not changed. It still looked like infinity below, a sight that brought terror into her primate’s heart.

  Her decent slowed suddenly, as the walls of the shaft crawled before her eyes. She stopped and the opening of a doorway to another corridor stood before her.

  Pandi stepped forward, her knees shaking with joy and contained terror as her feet hit the solidity of a floor. Survival instincts rose to the fore and her concentration was soon on her surroundings. This corridor seemed like any other. A different color, and she noted that her clothing had turned that shade chameleon like. But the dimensions were the same, with the same kind of doorways that led to rooms off other corridors.

  “Why here?”

  “This corridor leads to an open space,” answered the computer. “You will be able to rest beneath the foliage and refresh yourself.”

  “Lead on,” she replied. It would be good to see something natural for a change.

  * * *

  Natural was not really the description of the place. At least not according to any nature she was familiar with. Beautiful did fit, as beautiful as anything she had ever seen.

  The chamber was enormous. Much too large to be taken in with one scan. It stretched for kilometers in each direction. How many she didn’t know, but at least for dozens. The ceiling of the chamber was over a kilometer above. A bright point of fusion fire sat in the center of that ceiling, simulating a sun, but not a sun such as she was used to seeing. Too much blue in the light. An F5 if she guessed right.


  Then the foliage grabbed her attention. Hues of red were the shades of the leaves on the huge trees. Canopies, multiple levels of vegetation, stretched from the ground to a hundred meters in the air. Other than the colors they at first seemed to be very much like their earthly counterparts. But the bark also had a reddish sheen, mixed in with golds and silvers, like the elfin trees of fantasy. Flowers blossomed here and there, whites and blues and purples, even a few greens. Creatures much like insects flitted from blossom to blossom, or hunted the flower feeders.

  A cry from above brought her eyes and assault rifle up in one motion. A bird was her first thought, until she counted its wings and remembered that no earthly bird had four leather flaps. It looked like a miniature dragon. Her eyes flitted back and forth, following the motions of dozens, then hundreds of the creatures, all sizes and shades of color. Bird analogues then, something reptilian that performed the same function.

  Rustles in the bushes raised the alarm again, rifle barrel swinging to follow the motion. Pandi stifled a laugh as the creature came into view. A slow moving sloth like creature with light red fur covering its scales, grabbing some low foliage to bring into its wide, flat toothed mouth.

  “There are no creatures here which would prove a threat to you,” said the computer. “Snake analogues are the largest hunters, and their poison only works on the biology of the natives in this environment.”

  Snakes, she thought with a shrug. Snakes had never really scared her, growing up near the southern pines of her home state. As a girl she had caught snakes along with the young boys who were her friends and companions. She had loved putting the creatures where other, less courageous girls, could find them, chuckling over their screams of fear as they ran from the harmless creatures.

  “So this forest, or jungle, was never filled with large predators?”

  “The natural habitat, from the home world of the Maurids, contained a number of large predators. Much larger and fiercer than those on your Earth. But this chamber was stocked as a parkland, for the enjoyment of all who wished to visit.”