by Thomas Fay
‘The only thing missing is a Behemoth-class command ship floating in the sky above them,’ Lieutenant Gage said. ‘And the UEP flag flying in the gentle breeze over their conquered foes.’
We looked at each other. Then we burst out laughing. We stopped when one of the heavily armed marines approached us.
‘Sir, Sergeant Liu reporting both squads ready.’
I nodded. Casting one last look at the marines and their ships, my gaze turned towards the gigantic structure rising out of the purple meadow.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
****
The Cetian ship we had pursued through the asteroid field rested on the purple grass about fifty metres from the unknown structure. A quick scan revealed it was empty and its systems were powered down. The aft section was scorched from the disruptor orbs that had negated its shielding.
‘Sir, I’m detecting exotic particle emissions,’ Lieutenant Gage said.
‘It must be coming from the Cetian ship,’ I said.
‘No, sir. It’s coming from that.’
She pointed at the structure.
‘Is it the signature we’re looking for?’ I asked.
‘Yes, sir. Positive confirmation.’
I nodded, my eyes still scanning the alien structure. There was no discernible entrance.
‘Marines—fan out and scan the object with your field sensors. There has to be a way in,’ I said.
All twenty-four marines acknowledged my order and dispersed evenly around the object. I felt a twinge of anger at what had been done to them. They obeyed orders without question. I knew I could order them to their deaths and they would never object or falter. It was inhuman.
Shielding my eyes, I looked up at the sky. The auburn-coloured sun was still at the centre of the miniature Dyson sphere. I frowned.
‘Is it getting darker in here?’ I asked.
‘Sir? I think that’s impossible inside a Dyson sphere,’ Lieutenant Gage replied.
‘I know, but I could have sworn …’
Sergeant Liu’s voice interrupted me.
‘Sir, we’ve located a way inside the structure,’ his voice spoke over the coms.
‘Acknowledged. We’re on our way.’
Lieutenant Gage and I made our way around the periphery of the structure. As we walked, I found myself once more marvelling at the incredible landscape all around us. I breathed in the air. My vision dimmed momentarily.
‘Lieutenant, did you see that?’ I asked.
‘Yes, sir. What was that?’
‘No idea, but it definitely got darker just now.’
‘Should we fall back?’
‘No. We’ve come this far. Let’s see this through.’
We approached the marines who were standing guard around an entrance. Not an entrance exactly. It was an impossibly tall, thin sliver in the side of the obelisk, a veritable rift in its surface. The shape was identical to the external entrance into the Dyson sphere.
‘Sir, our sensors are detecting readings on the other side. We believe this leads to the inside of the structure,’ Sergeant Liu said.
‘Or a distant galaxy,’ I said.
‘Sir?’
‘Good work, Sergeant. Pick your best five to come with us, the rest to remain here and hold this position. No matter what.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Sergeant Liu pointed to five marines. They stepped forwards. The rest fanned out in a defensive formation around the entrance.
‘Ready, sir.’
I looked at the pitch-black opening in the side of the mysterious obelisk. There appeared to be nothing inside. It was like standing on the edge, staring into the abyss.
‘I really hope this doesn’t lead to another galaxy …’
I took a step forwards.
****
I found myself inside a cavernous hallway. Walls made of a densely interwoven metallic alloy disappeared into the distance far, far above me. The metallic alloy shimmered with a golden hue, seemingly flowing upwards in waves. The floor was made of a composite substance, a rich coppery colour. A hidden light source provided a steady auburn ambience illuminating the interior of the alien obelisk. The hallway stretched out in front of me.
I turned around. The opening I had stepped through was the same pitch-black from the inside—I couldn’t see outside the alien structure.
Lieutenant Gage materialised from the wall of nothingness, like a space phantom passing through a solid bulkhead. The marines appeared a moment after, weapons at the ready.
‘It appears to be even larger on the inside than it does on the outside,’ she said.
‘I suspect it’s an illusion created by whatever this metallic alloy is. Or we’ve stepped through some form of trans-dimensional portal. Even odds. The Cetians have to be here somewhere. Looks like there’s only one way to go: forwards.’
The marines spread out in front of us as we advanced cautiously down the seemingly endless hallway. It was quiet inside the obelisk. Our footsteps made no sound. The light was steady. The corridor seemed infinite.
‘This installation is definitely not Cetian,’ Lieutenant Gage observed.
‘No,’ I said. ‘There’s only one species that could have built something this advanced.’
‘You mean …?’
‘Yes. The Founders.’
‘Damn. Looks like I was right after all.’
‘Lieutenant?’
‘About this being a doomsday weapon built by the Founders.’
I smiled, marvelling at Gage’s sense of humour despite the sheer alienness of the environment we were in.
‘If I’m right about this being a Founder installation then that would explain why it appears to be abandoned,’ I said.
‘You mean because the Founders are extinct?’
I nodded.
‘I didn’t think they were real to begin with,’ Lieutenant Gage said.
‘Neither did I. I suspect that’s a belief the UEP has worked very hard to maintain. This could be the greatest find in mankind’s history, it could—’
‘Sir, movement high above us!’ one of the marines shouted.
Before any of us could react, a swarm of metallic objects descended upon us. Miniature versions of the defence drones we had encountered on the outside of the sphere, their photonic propulsion cut out as they levelled out in front of us. They began to peel apart. The memory of a Raptor heavy fighter exploding flashed through my mind. I realised we had seconds to act.
‘Destroy them before they can fire!’ I shouted.
The marines reacted instantly. Unleashing a devastating barrage of disruptor blasts, they scrambled the drones’ systems. Then they brought their beam weapons to bear. Streams of azure energy sliced the drones into pieces, their charred and smouldering components crashing to the ground.
‘Nice work, Sergeant,’ I said.
‘Yes, sir. Should we bring more of the squad inside?’
‘No. We don’t know what’s out there and we need to cover our retreat.’
‘Understood, sir.’
I peered down the hallway, trying to discern what lay at the end. It was no use. It seemed to go on forever.
‘I really hope there aren’t any more of those things.’
****
We were attacked two more times by drones descending from some unseen lair. Despite the marines’ skill and powerful weaponry, we did not escape unscathed. A single drone managed to discharge its photonic weapon. It struck Private Hendricks. His shielding expended its full charge in a microsecond, attempting to absorb the power of the photonic blast. But it was no match for the alien drone’s weapon. His shield vanished. The weaponised light punched straight through his armour and vaporised his insides. He died instantly.
‘Is he …?’ Lieutenant Gage asked.
I didn’t need to examine the crumpled body armour lying on the ground to know the answer. I motioned to Sergeant Liu.
‘Defensive formation. Two in front, three behind. Watch the walls a
nd ceiling.’
‘Yes, sir. Marines—move out!’ Sergeant Liu ordered. As the heavily armed marines deployed around us, I cast a final glance at what had been Private Hendricks. He would have been so stimmed the moment the drone’s photonic charge hit that he wouldn’t have felt a thing. Just like the rest of his squad was able to continue without even a glance at their fallen comrade. It was barbaric, what had been done to them.
I stood up and followed the marines. We continued down the corridor until we reached a solid metallic wall. There appeared to be no way forward.
‘Any ideas?’ I asked.
Lieutenant Gage shrugged.
‘Looks solid to me.’
‘Sergeant?’
Sergeant Liu hefted his weapon and aimed it at the wall.
‘Permission to fire, sir?’
‘I don’t think that’s going to work, Sergeant. This looks the same as …’
‘Sir?’
I reached out and placed my hand on the wall. It was warm to the touch. I ran my hand across the surface. It wasn’t smooth. It was a densely interlaced mesh of metallic alloy.
‘It looks like the same material as the exterior of the Dyson sphere,’ I said. ‘Which suggests this structure is an integral part of the sphere itself, not just part of the landscape. That must be why the Cetians are here.’
‘Do you think it has something to do with the exotic particle emissions?’ Lieutenant Gage asked.
I nodded.
‘It makes senses. We really need to get through this wall.’
‘Sir, another wave of defence drones inbound!’ Sergeant Liu said.
I looked up as the cone-shaped drones descended upon us. Their photonic propulsion cut out about ten metres above us. They began to unfurl. The marines lifted their weapons.
‘Fire!’ Sergeant Liu ordered.
Sizzling disruptor orbs accelerated upwards. Striking the drones, they disabled them. The marines switched to their beam weapon attachments. After the death of Private Hendricks, they were taking no chances.
‘Wait!’ I shouted. ‘Don’t destroy them. Hit them with another disruptor blast.’
‘Are you sure, sir? These things are extremely powerful,’ Sergeant Liu said.
‘I’m counting on it, Sergeant.’
****
It took Specialist Tanaka about ten minutes to figure out how to hack into the disabled drones. Despite their advanced technology, the miniature defence drones were fundamentally simple, consisting of three core systems: propulsion, navigation and the weapon. The photonic reactor’s power was transferred from propulsion to the weapon using a series of reflective surfaces configured around a central focusing crystal.
‘Ready, sir,’ Specialist Tanaka said.
‘Fire when ready,’ I said.
The captured drones unleashed their single photonic charge simultaneously. All five hit their mark. A three-by-three metre section of the metallic wall melted away, revealing a room dimly lit by the now familiar auburn illumination.
The marines moved through the opening, weapons held at the ready and force fields at maximum.
‘Do not shoot,’ a strange metallic voice said.
‘Hold your fire, Sergeant,’ I said.
Stepping through the opening, I found myself inside a circular room. In the centre was a series of what appeared to be interlinked modules of an unknown design. They fed into a single conduit, one end disappearing into the metallic floor while the other extended upwards, vanishing in the impossibly high ceiling. It reminded me of a graviton flux generator feeding shielding matrixes aboard Zenith-class capital ships.
Three Cetians stood next to one of the energy modules. Humanoid in appearance, they had thick skin marbled with deep veins. Their eyes were twice the size of human eyes and they had no noticeable ears. All three were dressed in Cetian military garb. The one that had addressed us wore the dark-red battle garb of a house archon with integrated breathing apparatus. The house archons were the ruling elite and the only members of Cetian society allowed inside the Forum.
‘You should not have come here, human,’ the metallic voice said. I realised the archon was addressing us via a translation device integrated into his battle garb. I assumed it would translate both ways.
‘What is this place?’ I asked.
‘Humans have no right to be here.’
‘The Treaty of Tau III gives us the right. Your people agreed to peaceful negotiations with a view to forging a long-term agreement.’
‘Traitors within the Forum signed the Treaty of Tau III. The true Houses of Tau never agreed to humans entering our system. One day soon we will rise up and cast you out.’
The archon’s words were not surprising. While the ruling Un’Glaz faction and its supporters had seized upon an alliance with the UEP to gain control of the Forum when the Second Fleet had reached Tau Ceti, the other houses of Tau viewed the human presence in Tau Ceti as an invasion. The Treaty of Tau III, which had established Tau III as a sovereign human world, was seen as the greatest betrayal of the Cetians perpetrated by the Un’Glaz faction. Attacks against Tau III by supposedly rogue factions were common.
None of that explained what the Cetians were doing transporting exotic materials to what could only be a Founder installation. And not just any installation. A miniature Dyson sphere with incredibly powerful defensive drones powered by photonic reactors.
I looked closely at the energy modules. They were faint, almost depleted. The Cetians had been attempting to connect a smaller module to the energy conduit. This one pulsed with a deep, rich glow.
‘You did not build this,’ I said. It was a statement, not a question.
‘No,’ the archon agreed. ‘This was built by the Founders.’
I was slightly surprised by the certainty with which the Cetian knew it was a Founder installation. Clearly, they had known the Founders had been real, that their technology still survived. Which begged the question how much did the UEP really know about the Founders given their alliance with the Un’Glaz faction?
‘What happened here?’ I asked.
‘The Founders sought to entomb themselves within this installation. They had foreseen a cataclysmic cosmic event that would destroy them. Through their incredible technology they built these miniature worlds as final refuges. Something went wrong. While the installation survived, they did not.’
‘The sun which powers this sphere is dying. We witnessed the darkening outside.’
‘We have been searching for a replacement power source to keep this installation active. We found this one and were delivering it here when your ship attacked us. We were forced to use much of the remaining power to defend ourselves. Your arrival has accelerated this installation’s demise, human.’
‘How can these energy modules sustain it?’
‘The Founders had technology beyond any of us, human. The sun at the core of this installation is artificial, which is why the installation could be constructed on such a small scale. These energy modules have sustained this installation for millennia. We sought to find more Founder technology to restore it. This module would have been enough to run this installation for another century at least.’
‘Sir,’ Sergeant Liu cut in. ‘Our team on the surface has come under heavy attack from more drones. They’ve taken casualties but are holding position.’
‘Deactivate the drones!’ I shouted.
‘No, human. If this installation must be sacrificed, then at least it will not be wasted. Your ships have arrived from Tau III. It will make no difference. Your fleet is no match for the legacy of the Founders. None of you will leave here alive. Deploy the module!’
‘Stop them!’ I yelled.
The Cetian archon drew a pair of particle blades and lunged towards me. The shimmering blades danced before my eyes, descending towards me. I tried to move out of the way but the Cetian was too fast.
‘Get down!’ Sergeant Liu roared as he leapt in front of me, moving faster than any human ever could than
ks to the CARIL augmentations and stims coursing through his body. The archon’s blades connected with the shielding on Sergeant Liu’s armour. A sound like distant thunder resounded throughout the chamber as the shielding absorbed the full brunt of the particle blades. Sergeant Liu staggered backwards but his shielding held. He had saved my life.
‘Are you alright?’ Lieutenant Gage asked. She had leapt to the side, her superior reflexes a match for the Cetian’s natural speed.
‘Yes,’ I managed to say.
The archon recovered and lunged at the other marines. Two disruptor blasts struck him. Any other living being, without shielded armour, would have suffered complete synaptic shutdown. The Cetians’ natural resistance to neural weapons made them formidable opponents. As the archon raised his particle blades for a devastating strike, another three disruptor blasts struck him. This time he faltered. Another barrage brought him to the ground.
‘Stop them from installing the module!’ I shouted.
The marines turned their weapons on the remaining two Cetians, unleashing a devastating barrage of disruptor blasts. The Cetians fell to the ground but it was too late. They had finished installing the module. It lit up as it integrated with the obelisk and fed power to the Founder installation. A shudder ran through the entire structure as the power conduit pulsed with a steady hum.
Sergeant Liu raised his weapon, aiming at the module.
‘Don’t! It’s too dangerous,’ I shouted.
‘Understood, sir,’ Sergeant Liu said, lowering his weapon.
‘We need to get out of here.’
‘What about them?’ Lieutenant Gage asked.
This time I knew there was no easy answer. If we tried to save the unconscious Cetians then there was a good chance that none of us would make it out of the structure alive. On the other hand, if we didn’t, we risked starting an interstellar incident with Tau Ceti. My gaze flicked to the comatose Cetians.
‘Sir?’
Reluctantly, I realised there was no other option.
‘Leave them. Now move!’