Transport 3_The Zone

by Phillip P. Peterson

  What? “But you have data on all the other planets on which there were transporters.”

  “That is correct!”

  “So why don’t you have information about this particular planet?”

  “I do not have an explanation.”

  “Strange!” Dr. Hope whispered.

  “Did any other transporters land in this solar system?” Russell asked.

  “No, only one transporter was created and put into operation.”

  “Was it ever used?”

  “There is no available data.”

  “And the other planets of this dwarf galaxy. Do you have any data? What about the nearest solar system to TZ-1? How many transporters were there?”

  “Four.”

  “Do you have any data about these planets before their destruction?”

  “Yes, that data can be obtained.”

  “Strange ...” Mitchell murmured, fiddling around at his console.

  “What?” Dr. Hope asked.

  Mitchell looked perplexed. “I put in the old destination code of a neighboring planet to TZ-1. And it’s accepted it! The transporter has accepted the code as a valid destination.”

  “You mean, the transporter and the planet weren’t destroyed?” General Morrow asked.

  Mitchell shrugged. “I think the transporter has just been removed from the register. The same as we tried to do on the mission with Mr. Richards and Mr. Bridgeman.” His fingers flew over the touchscreen. “It’s the same for other transporters in the dwarf galaxy. They haven’t been destroyed. They were just removed from the register and that’s why the points disappeared.”

  “Transporter!” Dr. Hope said. “Can you give us any up-to-date information about the planet that has been currently selected by the control system?”

  “No. There is only historic data. The connection to that transporter was broken off five million years ago.”

  “So how do you explain that it can be selected for a transport?”

  “The entry in the register was removed, which would have broken off the data transmission.”

  We worked that out for ourselves.

  But they were getting closer to an answer. “What about TZ-1 itself?” Russell asked.

  Mitchell looked back and forth between his two monitors and tapped a code into his keypad, then let out a whistle of surprise. “It can be dialed!”

  Morrow sat up straight. “I think we have our answer. There is only one logical conclusion to what the AI is telling us.”

  Russell looked at him expectantly, although he already knew what the general would say. He had come to the same conclusion himself.

  “TZ-1 is the home of a hostile, alien civilization that first hid the transporters in its own galaxy, somehow deleting proof of their existence from the network’s memory. And now they are destroying the transporters in our galaxy, after they detected we had been using them.”

  “But the disguise is very crude,” Chris said. “After all, in the end we found it out pretty quickly.”

  “If we hadn’t been so stupid, we would have found out sooner,” Russell added crossly.

  “They could have destroyed their own transporter if they felt threatened by us,” Marlene added.

  “Why destroy your own treasure if you can destroy all the others?” Morrow asked.

  There was complete silence in the control room.

  It’s monstrous! An alien civilization that is ruthlessly erasing all the planets in our galaxy. What kind of beings are they? Or are we wrong, and there’s another explanation entirely? Russell shook his head. No, it was the only logical explanation. But what could they do?

  “And now what?” Chris asked. “Are we going to go to TZ-1?”

  “Absolutely not!” Morrow shot out his reply. “We would probably be killed at once or taken prisoner. And anyhow, they would know where we’ve come from. They would destroy Venus next.”

  “If we’re the reason the aliens are destroying the network, then they already know about us,” Mitchell pointed out.

  “If we had some atomic bombs in the depot we could send a special task force to destroy the transporter on TZ-1,” Dr. Hope said. “Then they’d have no more influence over the network and the danger would be eliminated.”

  “But that’s assuming TZ-1 is the only planet the aliens live on,” Russell said. “If they’ve had the transporter at their disposal for thousands of years, they might have colonized the entire dwarf galaxy by now.”

  “No, they’ve never used the transporter,” Hope said. “If they had, the transports would show up in the database.”

  “Maybe they concealed the transports.”

  Hope shook his head. “Concealing the transporter makes it unusable. We worked that out for ourselves.”

  Russell wanted to add something, but Morrow cut in: “Unfortunately we don’t have that option.”

  “Ask to have an atomic bomb sent from Earth!” Marlene suggested.

  Morrow snorted. “You don’t know what you’re talking about! The transport ship needs six months to get from the Earth’s orbit to Venus.”

  “I just don’t get it,” Russell mused. “They concealed their transporters five million years ago. That’s a hell of a long time. Back then, humans were still living in trees or in caves. The aliens could have colonized the whole galaxy by now using the transporter network. Their own galaxy and ours. So why didn’t they?”

  “We have no idea who these aliens are,” Chris said. “Their objectives might be completely different from ours. Maybe expansion isn’t one of the driving forces of their civilization.”

  “Well, their technology is probably far more advanced than ours,” Dr. Hope said drily.

  Morrow nodded. “You’re right. We don’t have a clue who we’re dealing with here. We need to plan our next steps very carefully. If we make a mistake now, we might as well dig our own graves. I’ll talk to the Command Center on Earth and see what they have to say. In the meantime, we won’t do anything.”

  “Shouldn’t we just go to TZ-1 and talk to them?” Russell asked. That would surely be better than doing nothing.

  Morrow burst out laughing, shook his head, and left the control room.

  Chapter 27

  “We could carry out some transports to neighboring solar systems to TZ-1,” Chris suggested.

  Russell looked at him skeptically. Together with Marlene they were sitting in the mess room discussing the latest revelations. They had to find out more about these aliens and their world. But there was no time left. New California would be destroyed in seven days. Russell feared they would have no more say in what would happen. He only hoped the plan that Morrow developed with his superiors back on Earth would also be to the benefit of New California.

  “What would be the point?” Marlene asked Chris.

  “We could see if there are any signs of the aliens. We could even set up radio telescopes pointed in the direction of their planet and see if there is any radio communication. Even if they’re not interested in expansion, for whatever reason, we ought to be able to detect signs of their technological development.”

  Russell groaned. The destruction of their home planet was imminent, and his pal wanted to carry out scientific experiments. “Seven days, Chris! Seven days!”

  Chris sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, I know.”

  Russell stood up. He simply couldn’t sit still. Time was of the essence. “Let’s go. Maybe Morrow has some news from Earth.”

  They left the canteen and marched to the entrance of the high-security area, where a bullish-looking soldier with a fierce expression was on guard duty. When he saw them coming, he confronted them with folded arms.

  “We need to get back into the control room,” Russell said, expecting the soldier to escort them to the general. But he just shook his head. “I am under orders not to let you back into the high-security area until I receive further instructions.”

  Russell blinked. “But we were in there just an hour ago. Cal
l General Morrow and tell him that we want to see him.”

  “My orders come directly from the general. I am not permitted to let you in.”

  Russell turned to his friends. Chris looked as irritated as he felt. Marlene just shrugged. What was going on?

  “I want to speak to General Morrow!” Russell said insistently.

  “I told you, it’s not possible. Please return to your quarters. You will be called when you are needed.”

  “But ...”

  It was pointless. The man didn’t show any sign of relenting. No doubt he had been given strict orders. But why?

  There was nothing left to do but leave. Russell sat alone on his cot and racked his brains. What could have happened? Had Morrow received new orders from Earth? Had Hope and Mitchell found something out which they wanted to keep secret from the New Californians? It didn’t make any sense. Ever since they’d been on Venus, Morrow had included them in his plans more or less as equals. And for a good reason, since their planet was just as much under threat as Venus.

  It was evening already, and Russell presumed nothing more would happen that day. He decided to go to bed.

  If only we had more time!

  Russell was still fast asleep when the door to his room was kicked open and two soldiers stepped inside. He woke up with a start, rubbed his eyes and squinted at the men.

  “Pack your belongings. You’re leaving the Venus base with your colleagues. You have half an hour, then you will be brought to the transporter,” the taller of the two men, a captain, said in a severe tone of voice.

  What the hell is going on? “To the transporter? Where are you sending us?”

  “You’ll find out shortly.”

  “I want to speak to Morrow.”

  “He will see you in the transporter lab.”

  “I want to talk to him now!”

  The man shook his head. “Half an hour!” Then the soldiers left the room.

  Russell waited a minute, then went to the door. He wanted to speak to Chris and Marlene. He turned the knob, but the door didn’t budge. Locked! What’s going on?

  In the small bathroom, Russell splashed his face with water. The water was lukewarm, but it helped revive him. Resigned, he emptied his wardrobe and put his few belongings in his bag. He didn’t have much of a choice.

  Exactly half an hour later the door to his room was opened again, and the soldiers pushed him out into the hallway. “Come on, move!” Chris and Marlene were already waiting outside, both of them holding their bags.

  “What’s all this about?” Chris asked.

  “I don’t have a clue,” Russell admitted.

  “It looks like they want to get rid of us,” Marlene said grimly.

  Russell nodded. “I have the same feeling. But why?” Well, they would find out soon enough.

  The soldiers led them to the high-security area and through the control room, where there was an unusual flurry of activity. Technicians and engineers were dismantling some of the consoles and putting the parts into big boxes. Mitchell was standing in the background, overseeing the work. Their eyes met. Mitchell just shrugged and got back to work.

  Some of the soldiers shoved Russell forward. A guard opened the door and Russell, Marlene, and Chris climbed down the narrow metal steps to the lab. Here there was even more activity. Soldiers carrying heavy bags had taken up position around the edge of the lab waiting for orders. Scientists and assistants were carrying in big wooden crates and piling them up in front of the transporter. General Morrow and Dr. Hope were standing right in front of the alien contraption. The scientist seemed annoyed and was waving his arms around wildly. As Russell and his comrades came nearer, Hope made a dismissive gesture and stalked off toward the control room.

  “General Morrow!” Russell called. “What’s going on?”

  The general walked up to him. “New orders!” he said curtly.

  “New orders? What ...?”

  Morrow interrupted him. “We’re going to New California. And you’re coming with us.”

  “What about TZ-1? What about the aliens?”

  “We’ve come up with a plan with Earth. We’re going to start a mission and neutralize the danger.”

  “From New California?” Marlene asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

  “Correct. We don’t want the aliens to register Venus as the originator of the missions, in case there are problems or delays.”

  Marlene snorted. “So you’d rather put our colony in danger. Go to another, uninhabited planet!”

  “Those are orders,” said Morrow. “We already have a lot of the equipment we need in the base we set up on New California.”

  “What’s the plan?” asked Russell.

  “That is no longer your concern. We regard your job as done. The President of the United States thanks you for your support and dismisses you from his service. As promised, we will respect your colony’s independence.”

  The President? For God’s sake, Russell didn’t even know his name. “At least tell us what you’re planning, damn it!”

  “As I said, we are planning a mission against the alien aggressors. We are confident we can eliminate the danger. You don’t need to know more. Be happy. You can go home.”

  Go home? Is that a joke? With the death zone right on our doorstep? “For Christ’s sake! We risked our lives for you and now you’re going to leave us in the dark like this?”

  “I’m just following orders,” Morrow retorted sharply. He waved two soldiers over. “Take these three to New California and drive them to their settlement.” He turned on his heel, and left.

  Why won’t he tell us what they’re planning? But Russell already knew the answer.

  We wouldn’t like it!

  Chapter 28

  Russell still felt dazed and confused when he arrived in Eridu in the early afternoon local time. A crowd of colonists gathered around him, Marlene, and Chris as they stepped out of the jeeps. Marlene immediately retreated to her hut. So it was left to Russell and Chris to tell everyone what had happened on Venus. Speaking calmly, Russell told them about the death zone and the suspected place of origin, while Chris took aside the families of Ernie, Lee, and Travis. Russell waited until they were out of earshot to tell the others about their deaths. He also told them about their sudden departure from Venus and his concern that Morrow was planning an attack on the aliens with the help of the transporter on New California.

  Finally he saw Ellen, who was pushing her way through the crowd toward him. Russell stopped mid-sentence and took her in his arms. He promised the crowd he would keep them updated as soon as he received any further information.

  Russell put his arm around Ellen’s shoulder, and together they went to their hut at the edge of the settlement. Once the door had shut behind them, he lowered himself slowly onto one of the hard chairs. Greg hopped around him excitedly for a few more minutes until Ellen sent him outside. Jim was——as always——at Catherine Hawke’s, and Grace also hadn’t come back home. Russell and Ellen were alone. She sat down beside him and took his hand.

  “I’m so happy you’re alive,” she whispered.

  Russell nodded. “Me too. But Lee, Albert, Travis, and Ernie died on their missions.”

  “You said. What’s with Marlene? She seemed so hostile.”

  “She’s changed since the disaster with Albert’s transport. And she blames me.”

  “And should she?”

  Russell hesitated. “I did nothing to help her convince Albert and Morrow to cancel the mission. It was badly planned, and it was carried out far too quickly.”

  “Did Albert go voluntarily? He wasn’t forced?”

  “No. All of us went on our missions without complaining.”

  “Then she can’t give you the blame,” Ellen said decisively.

  Russell shrugged. “It makes no difference whether she can or not. The fact is, she does blame me, and I think our relationship has been broken beyond repair. But that’s not what I’m worried
about at the moment.”

  “Morrow?”

  Russell nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what he’s planning. It worries me that he wants to start the attack——or whatever it is he and whoever back on Earth planned——from New California. He wanted us gone so suddenly, it can only mean he’s expecting resistance if we discover the truth.”

  “What can we do?”

  “We have to find out what he’s planning.” And quickly! “I need to rest for an hour. Please tell Chris, Cashmore, Dressel, and Sammy that I want to speak to them in the mess hut around sundown. William Lennox could be helpful, too.”

  “Isn’t it Marlene’s job to do something?”

  Russell shook his head. “Forget Marlene! She’s had it.”

  Two hours later, Russell, Chris, the two scientists, Sammy Yang, and Bill Lennox were sitting at the big wooden table in the mess hut. Katrina Cole had organized some food and drink for the men. Russell began by explaining in more detail what had happened on Venus and his fears about what Morrow was up to. Patiently he answered the men’s questions.

  “You said the general is planning an attack on the aliens on ... what did you call the planet?” Sammy asked.

  “TZ-1. Yes, the general said they’re planning a mission with a special forces unit,” Russell replied.

  “But he didn’t say what he’s planning,” Chris added.

  “I wish Marlene were here,” Bill said. The stocky geologist wasn’t a soldier, but had proven himself to be quick-witted, even if he tended towards arrogance at times.

  “Me too,” Russell said. “Chris told her we’re having a meeting, but obviously she decided not to come. The events on Venus were too much for her.”

  “And what do you think we should do?” Bill asked.

  Russell had been thinking about it the last few hours. He had come up with a rough plan, but he wasn’t convinced it would work. “First we have to find out what Morrow is planning. I’d like two men to keep watch on the transporter and the soldiers tonight under cover of darkness.”