Questor

by L. S. Gibson

  Jon ran his hand over the metallic substance and was surprised that it felt warm to the touch. He climbed atop the remnants of a broken pillar and peered out at the vista before him. He was astonished.

  As far as the eye could see the ruins were laid out, repeating and repeating. Roads, streets, buildings, towers, all tumbled and coated with a variety of growth, and all covered over by the canopy of trees far overhead. It had the effect of great beauty, and great sadness.

  “It must have been a wonderful place.”

  “It was, but it wasn’t how we wished to continue to live. There was too much technology. Everything was automated and there are all kinds of scientific marvels, most of which I don’t understand. Somewhere here is one that I do, and which can be of tremendous help to us now,” she said with a touch of mystery and headed off again. “If I can but find the right one,” she mumbled to herself.

  Manny also climbed for a better look around, and he was indeed impressed. “I can imagine what this place must’ve been like millennia ago.” He moved for a closer inspection of one of the blinking lights. “What was the source of power for all this? It must be something remarkable if it’s been running untended for all these centuries.”

  Jon gave Triena a grin. “Manny’s in his element, scientist to the last.”

  “It’s powered from magma, as long as the planet survives, so will the power source.”

  “How’s it controlled? I assume it must be a volatile source.”

  “I’m afraid I know some of the basic facts, but for more details you do need to talk to Mychlo. He’s the expert.”

  “But he’s the one who’s a prisoner in Reliff, right?” Manny queried.

  “Yes, and the reason I’ve brought you here is to try to free him and the others. Come, let me show you.” She glanced around checking her bearings. “This way,” she said and headed off deeper into the ruins. After a few more minutes she hesitated and checked her bearings again. She headed north-north-west and came to a halt next to a large exquisitely carved pillar.

  At first it seemed to be stone, but when Jon laid a hand on it he was struck to find it was warm. “It’s metal!” he exclaimed.

  “It’s a marker, and an entranceway,” Triena explained, as she placed three fingers on three particular spots in what seemed to be an abstract design. A small portion of the pillar disappeared and behind was a control box. Triena touched the pads inside in a particular order, and a door-sized portion of the pillar to the side of the control box disappeared, at the same time as the cover to the control box reappeared. Triena led the way inside and once they were all in, the entranceway closed up again. From the outside it was a pillar again.

  Inside the darkness began to lift until they could see clearly. There was a small panel on the curved wall just to the left of the now invisible entrance. There was little room to move with all of them inside and Triena reached over Manny’s head to press three of the touchpads.

  “It’s an elevator!” Manny exclaimed as they began to descend and Jon smirked at Manny’s excitement over what in reality was such a simple device.

  “Yes, most of the control systems are underground. There were, of course, many entrances from inside the buildings. The pillars were a kind of backup, a security system if you will. But now it’s easier to find the pillars than the interior entrances.”

  “There’s a lot you didn’t tell us, isn’t there?” Jon commented with a troubled look.

  Triena seemed hurt. “It wasn’t my choice. The Elders have a duty to our people, and I have a duty to the Elders,” she said, appearing apologetic. She hesitated, glancing from one to the other. “I’m sorry, but now you’ll understand.” Almost as she finished speaking the descent halted, and with a slight creaking the door opened. They all stood spellbound by the sight that greeted them.

  The doors opened on a huge open space, with a vaulted ceiling that the light revealed but dimly. As they exited they moved along a walkway about two meters wide and on each side the walkway dropped off to what seemed like infinity, though they could still make out the surrounding walls which were about fifty feet away, lit by the pulses of energy that swirled up and down the tubes lining the walls. Each tube was two inches in diameter, and there must have been hundreds of the things.

  “God, I feel like an ant lost in an engineering complex,” Manny exclaimed. He glanced at Triena. “Is this the center of operations for the whole planet? Those tubes,” he said, indicating the walls, “look as if they are capable of carrying much more power than they are at the moment.”

  “I don’t know that much about it. As I said, the one person who knows all the facts is Mychlo. I’m not sure if there’s just the one center, but for sure it’s the one that powered this city and most of the area around it. It’s just operating at its minimum capacity at the moment, but that doesn’t matter now. When we need power we can draw whatever we require.”

  “Power for what?” Jon asked. He’d been rather quiet ever since they’d left the elevator.

  “Come, it’s easier if I show you.” She hurried on across the walkway and they entered yet another room, this one large but not comparable with where they’d just left. She led the way across the room to the back wall, which was covered with a variety of consoles and dark screens, hesitating as she reached about three-quarters of the way across.

  She stood, getting her bearings, before turning to her left. At first it appeared as if she was making for a large console, but in fact she headed down a divide between that console and an adjoining one, and there was a small door. She placed her hand against a dim wall plate. At her touch it brightened and a plethora of designs appeared. She pressed three of the designs and the door slid sideways. She stood aside to let Manny and Jon go through.

  Jon glanced at her as he passed and he noted she was a little nervous. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Wrong?” she said. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Triena,” he said, with the inflection of a gentle rebuke. He knew better, and she should know now that he would.

  “It’s just that I never expected to see this equipment, let alone use any of it. It’s a little unsettling.” As she spoke she glanced into the small room. Jon followed her gaze. He saw a small console and a bank of screens against one wall and in the center of the room was a small raised platform, and that was all.

  “What is this place?” asked Manny.

  “This is the Transmat,” she replied.

  “Transmat? What does it do?” Manny asked walking forward, fascinated.

  “The name stands for transition of matter,” she replied following him, no less fascinated.

  “Does that mean what I think it does? You can change matter from one state to another? But with what purpose?”

  “We change matter into energy and send it from one place to another. On receipt it’s changed back into its original matter,” she said it as if she was quoting a well-learned lesson.

  Manny’s eyes widened and then he smirked. “I suspected it might be something like that but the idea’s so fantastic it's hard to believe it.” He was excited as he moved over to the console.

  Jon stared from one to the other, and back again at the raised platform. “You can send a person from there,” he said pointing to the platform, “to arrive somewhere else, but where? And do you mean there has to be another Transmat platform to receive them?”

  “Yes, that’s correct. And there is another platform—underneath Reliff.”

  Now it all made sense. “You have a plan to rescue the others inside the city!” Jon exclaimed.

  FOURTEEN

  “Does it still work, after all this time?” Manny studied the consoles, but he seemed confused by what he saw. “How long has it been, anyway?”

  “I’m not sure how long, as least a millennium, but from what I understand, it’s in perfect working order. It's apparent it’s self-repairing under an explicit designed automatic system. Vrai told me how to set up a test device. It's obvious we can�
��t send it through and get a report as would be the normal method, but what we can do is send it through and bring it back. If all goes well then we’ll know it’s in good working order. Then we can send through a volunteer to contact the Elders at Reliff.”

  “A volunteer?” Jon asked, looking at her with suspicion. “And just who might that be?”

  “I don’t know. All I discussed with Vrai was showing you two the Transmat and checking it by sending through the test device. Meanwhile, she’s gathering all the information she needs to carry through the plan, and when she’s ready she’ll inform our people, and yours.”

  “And how do we contact her when we’ve sent the test device, do we have to go all the way back to Sanctuary?” Manny asked.

  “No, the communication system is fine, and there’s a receiving device at Sanctuary.”

  “Just what else is down here, Triena?” Jon demanded.

  Triena sighed. It had begun; what she’d dreaded when she began this journey. Was she going to lose his trust, after all they’d been through? She heard the doubt in his tone. It struck her hard, because she’d never heard that in his voice before. It hurt to think he could doubt her, but should she be surprised, after all? There was so much she’d not told him, and with his newfound insight he’d know that.

  She noted Manny was too involved with studying the consoles to take stock of their conversation so she took Jon to one side. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed in me, but—”

  “It’s not so much that I am disappointed in you,” he interrupted, with an odd smile. “I understand why you didn’t talk about it. What I don’t understand is why you’ve not used this,” he spread his arms wide to take in everything hidden deep below the ground, “before now to protect yourselves.”

  “I suppose it’s hard for you to understand, but when we decided long ago to put away all this,” she said, mimicking his all-encompassing movement, “it wasn’t easy, but once we made the decision, a clean break was best. There was the safeguard of a Curator, if you will, but as a people we refused to live that way. Therefore, it wasn’t a choice we wanted to make now, to turn our backs on the life of our choice which has proven so successful for us. Now, though, we’ve had to face the fact that without our technology we’ve no hope of defeating the Mideans.”

  “Where’s this test device you mentioned?” Manny called, dragging himself away from his scientific discoveries.

  “Go on, show him. I think I understand,” Jon said. As she set out he reached out and touched her wrist. She twisted back, eyes wide. “Don’t worry, nothing’s changed,” he said with a smile, the kind of shy smile he’d had when they’d first met.

  Her heart skipped at the memory of the ingenuous young man he’d been then, sadness filling her at the change he’d been forced to undergo. He saw the expression flit across her face, realized her pain, though not the cause of it. He took her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. She placed the back of her hand against his cheek, then hurried over to show Manny the device.

  She explained it contained all the information required to indicate the safety of the Transmat system for use by a living being. She was unable to explain how it worked; she just knew what to do to make it function. She reached down the side of the console, which Manny was studying, and pressed an icon that opened a slot from which she took the device. It was a thin cylinder, about eighteen inches in length, with markings down one side and a few controls and lights on the other, though at present none of the lights were functioning. Triena took it out and twisted it over. On the base was an icon that she pressed, then the lights came on and it also proved to be transparent. Inside could be seen swirling gases in a variety of colors. Then she pressed three of the control icons on the side of the device.

  “It’s now set for use,” she said, handing it to Manny, who regarded it and handled it with great care. “Would you place it on the center of the platform, please?”

  Jon stood beside them to watch. “How can something so small tell you it’s safe for a person to use the equipment?” he queried.

  “No doubt it contains minute particles of every substance that constitutes a person, a Rhiava, of course, and the programming will project the information. If it arrives in the exact condition it left that would indicate the device is working well,” Manny surmised. He placed the device on the platform and moved back to the console.

  Triena sat at it and operated the equipment from memory. There was a definite increase in the sound level in the room and various lights on the console came on. The platform itself glowed with a pale green light. Triena watched the console, and when a large button in the center flashed green she pressed it. The light pulsing from the platform dimmed for a second and without a sound the device was gone.

  “Wow!” Manny said with enthusiasm. He paced back and forth for a moment. “Now what?” he asked after no more than fifteen seconds.

  “We wait for five minutes and then I’ll bring it back.” Triena sounded nervous. “This had better work, or else we’ll have to think again.”

  "And just what is the plan if this works?” Jon asked.

  “Someone will go through, make their way up into the city to try and contact the Elders. Then send as many out through the Transmat as they can.”

  “That sounds a lot simpler than it will actually be; you know that, don’t you?” Jon asked. “And do you plan to just send someone through?” he added with a raised eyebrow.

  She met his gaze but didn’t respond to his specific question. “Let’s just concentrate on the test for now, shall we?”

  Jon frowned but didn’t say anything, and Triena knew he was letting it go but just for the moment. Five minutes passed, and Triena held her breath as she pressed the correct control to bring the device back from Reliff. At once the pale green light pulsed darker for an instant and then returned to normal. In the center of the platform sat the device, looking just the same as when it left.

  “Well, it looks okay, but I presume there’s some confirmation procedure,” Manny said.

  “Yes, indeed. Would you bring it here please, Manny?”

  He picked it up and brought back to Triena. “It feels warm.”

  “Yes, it should be the same temperature as normal for the subject,” she said as she slipped the device back into the opening from which she’d removed it. It was a tight fit, and as it slid in the screen at the side of the slot lit up. As they watched, information scrolled across the screen, and down the right hand side symbols lit up one after the other in ascending sequence. “Once all the symbols are lit it confirms the device is in perfect order. If there’s just one unlit symbol, then we have a problem.”

  More information continued to be displayed, including pictograms and graphs, and lights continued to come on. It was obvious a detailed study was being performed, which made those watching feel a little more secure. Especially when the final light flashed on.

  Jon glanced at Triena and declared, “You’re not going.”

  “What?” she said.

  “I know you intend to go, but I’ll go instead,” he said, reaching out to hold her arms with a gentle but firm grip.

  She beamed at him. “Thank you for the kind thought, but it’s not that simple. It’s calibrated for Rhiava; one of us has to go. And I’m the only one here.”

  “I can’t see the others would’ve agreed to let you of all people take this risk. That wasn’t the arrangement, was it?” He gripped her arms a little tighter.

  “All right!” she declared with rising anger. Jon released his grip a little. “No, I was just supposed to bring you here, show you, and check out the equipment. Then I was to contact Vrai who would make the trip, but I don’t want her to take the risk.” She glanced at Jon and all her anger was gone. She felt his fear for her as if he’d spoken it aloud. It was no less than she’d felt when he’d first been captured. She understood all too well the pain brought on by fear for a loved one.

  All of a sudden Manny said, “I’ll go. I know wh
at you said about it being set for a Rhiava, but I don’t think that matters. The test just shows it’s in good working order. It’s been set up for its builders, but it doesn’t mean it’s not safe for another being to use it. Irida has said we seem rather alike.” He glanced from one to the other with an indulgent grin. “Besides, you’re arguing about who should use it from a process of elimination. I want to use it—it’ll be the experience of a lifetime!”

  “Are you sure, Manny?” Jon asked, frowning.

  “You know me, Jon. Anything new fascinates me. What’s newer than this?”

  “But are you certain it’ll be safe for you?” Jon walked toward the platform.

  “Certain enough I would’ve let you go, if I couldn’t talk you out of it,” he replied with a grin.

  “You’re sure about it being safe? You’re the scientist here after all,” Triena said.

  “I’m curious, not suicidal,” Manny said.

  “Very well. You go through and come right back. Assuming everything goes according to plan, we’ll report to Sanctuary, and then go through together.” She squeezed Jon’s hand. “Vrai wouldn’t need to be involved at all.” She hesitated, cocked her head on one side to study Jon and Manny, biting her lip. “Yes, I could make you look Rhiava. All you need is some facial decoration, and the Mideans would never know the difference. We could manage it all ourselves.”

  “Then let’s not waste any more time. The sooner I go through and test it the better.” Manny hurried forward and stepped up onto the platform. He twisted back to face them, eagerness written all over his features.

  “Be careful, Manny!” admonished Jon. “Who knows better than I how easily you get carried away.”

  “Don’t worry. Just give me five minutes there,” he added, directing this to Triena. “When I get there I’ll just step off the platform, check the room out and then get back on.”

  Triena nodded her agreement. “Ready?” she asked, her hand hovering over the control that would dispatch Manny through the Transmat. She felt Jon’s nervousness, and it did nothing to bolster her flagging confidence. She reached out and took his hand, not sure if it was to help him or her. She pressed the icon, and the pulsing pale green light flashed for an instant and Manny was gone.