"Hey, look at this."
The other two came close.
"It must be some sort of reflective effect," she said.
Morden looked off into the darkness.
"The cave rock must interfere with scanning as well as communications."
"I've got the title for my expedition report," Favorito said.
"Archaeology in the house of mirrors. This will be a challenge."
"The scan seems accurate up to about thirty yards," Morden said.
"Let me get the sonic probe in here," Favorito said.
"That will tell us what's down there."
Favorito was right. But unfortunately, the sonic probe couldn't be brought in without the mobile elevator platform. For today, they were winging it.
"Let's go with door number three."
They turned down and to the right, Morden lighting the entrance to their branch. Without accurate scanner readings past thirty yards, those lights were their only way out. Anna thought of Hansel and Gretel, marking their path with bread crumbs. The new branch was narrower-about ten feet across-and steeper, the fragments on the ground making the going slippery. The cave ceiling descended to a level about six feet high, forcing Favorito to stoop and Anna and Morden to keep a sharp eye out for headache stones. Only a short distance in, Favorito called out.
"Eureka!"
He knelt down as Anna and Morden approached.
"Look at this. It's almost perfectly preserved."
They shone their flashlights down with his. A small desiccated corpse lay near the cave wall, partially buried in the rocky surface.
"Incredible," Morden said.
Favorito carefully brushed some of the rock fragments away from the area of the corpse, the camera hovering over his shoulder.
"What is that?"
It appeared nearly intact, strings of dried muscle and tendon holding it together. The dry environment had helped to partially preserve it. It wasn't a mouse; the shape and structure were different. It was roughly circular, about a foot in diameter, but only about two inches thick. The bones and connective tissues were a rust color, the bones extremely delicate, narrowing to needlelike thinness for much of their length and widening to about one-quarter inch at the joints.
The configuration of the bones seemed more geometric than organic, on the top bones radiating out from the center of the circle to its edge, joined to short bones that went halfway down its side. The bottom was a mirror image of the top, the overall shape reminiscent of a spoked wheel. The inside of this structure was mainly empty, except for its center, where an odd dried-out twist of connective tissue fastened a smaller formation of bones to the top and bottom of the outer skeleton. In her mind the division was made automatically and instinctively: the outer skeleton and the inner skeleton. The inner bones poked through the remnants of a layer of tissue. They were cruder, more of a uniform thickness, and whiter, and they also appeared more familiar and more functional.
She could see what appeared to be limbs, and a skull. But what would limbs and a skull be doing at the center of this creature? Structurally and evolutionarily, it made no sense. She would have liked to believe that the larger creature had swallowed the smaller one, but that would not explain the connective tissue. This was either a single organism of a totally new, unfamiliar type, or two organisms tied together in some symbiotic or parasitic fashion. Except that the outer organism did not appear natural.
The bones had the same look as the mouse bones, crafted, elegant, artificial. The mouse had also had an odd interior skeletal structure, but it had been much more subtle than this, much more complex. This appeared quite obviously to be two separate organisms. It looked almost like a small flying saucer with a tiny pilot inside. That made her think of their saucer-shaped camera, and as she imagined a tiny pilot inside, her mind flashed to the probe control module, to the feeling that for a few moments she and the machine had been one. It was crude, and this was sophisticated, but she felt sure, as she studied the small skeleton caught in the suffocating grip of tissue, that she knew the key to biomechanical technology. The realization sang through her with a rush.
"That small skeleton inside was a living creature," she said.
"They took something living and hooked it into their machines. That's how they worked."
She straightened as Morden did, and his mouth opened, awe breaking over his face.
"That's what you sensed with Donne's mouse fragment."
"Yes."
She felt the same excitement she saw on his face, the adrenaline high of the breakthrough better than any stim junkie's fix.
"That may be why the devices seem to work telepathically-one living being communicating with another."
"And I thought humans won the award for sickest culture."
Favorito rose into his stooped standing posture.
"How did they do it? How could they plug a living creature into something else like some interchangeable component?"
"I don't know. But the artificial section, remember, also has a biological element. Somehow they work together, in some sort of symbiotic or parasitic relationship."
"Parasitic, I'd say."
Favorito made some notations on his comp-pad.
"This doesn't look like a mutual thing to me."
Morden had turned away, thoughtful. Now he marked the location of the artifact with a light.
"I only have two lights left."
"We need to be heading back soon anyway," Anna said, but her mind was racing, eager.
"Let's just go a little farther."
They went as far as the two lights would take them without finding anything else, then continued beyond the last light until it was a weak glimmer in the darkness. The cave ceiling descended further, until it was about five feet high. They had to move very slowly then, crouched over, the blackness hiding obstacles. That's when her light caught on it, about twenty feet away, a smooth, oily blackness that reflected her light back at her, totally unlike the jagged, absorbing black of the cave walls. They all saw it, and as they approached it they closed ranks, instinctively moving closer together in the darkness. They stopped about six feet from it. The surface, in their lights, appeared shifting and oily, almost iridescent.
"It looks alive," Favorito said, sending the camera around the side of it.
Anna scanned it.
"I'm not getting any reading on this at all."
"You sure that scanner's working?" Favorito asked.
"It reads all of us. I'll check it when we get back."
They moved their lights across its surface, remaining side by side.
"It looks like a perfect sphere," Morden said.
"Maybe eight-foot diameter."
"It's blocking the passage," Favorito said.
"There's no way around it."
For some reason that made Anna nervous. The space containing them seemed to contract around her. She thought of the long way back up to the surface. And yet she didn't want to leave the sphere with such little information. Without the scanner, all they had was a visual recording of a round black ball. The sense of life, of movement in its surface, seemed almost to pulsate, the shifting reflections moving in surges, as if tied to the act of breathing. The nodule had an odd sense of flatness to it that came and went, as if she were looking at a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional object, or, perhaps, at a projection or shadow of something that existed in a fuller form elsewhere in the darkness.
"We should leave," Favorito said, and Anna realized she had no idea how long they'd been crouched there.
The camera was hovering beside Favorito's shoulder.
"I want to take a sample," Anna said and, feeling this statement required further explanation, added, "since we can't get any scanner readings."
The black membranous surface disturbed her and drew her. They had to find out what this was, whether it really was alive. Morden opened a small specimen case.
"How are you going to get the sample?"
She forced herself to take a step forward, then another. She was right in front of it now, the oily blackness subtly shifting, realigning itself. She raised her hand. She was glad, now, she was wearing the EVA suit. She brought her fingers to the membrane, as if to tap the surface of a pond. Her hand passed through it as if there were nothing there. She could still see her hand, and she could still see the blackness beyond her hand, as if she had misjudged its distance. But then the blackness moved, and this movement was totally unlike the liquid shifting she'd been studying; this was the structural movement of a body, and she realized it was no longer the surface of the nodule she was seeing but something equally black inside it, something that in the shadows gave the impression of rising.
With it rose an odd, symmetrical pattern of dim lights, like a tiny constellation separated by aeons of cold space, and as she looked longingly toward that tiny, distant constellation of light rising through the darkness and it stopped even with her at eye level, her depth perception shifted, and the lights were no longer at a vast distance but inches from her face, and they were no longer stars but eyes, that were watching and had been watching, tiny suns of knowledge, malice, and desire, an ancient intelligence, a furnace of hunger that engulfed star systems and galaxies, that unfolded inside her a black well, as if all her life she'd been hollow, waiting only for this moment to open, need burning through her like a scream. She stumbled back, her oxygen tank jamming into her spine as she hit the ground. Morden was beside her.
"Are you all right?"
She grabbed on to him, pulled herself to her feet. She was gasping, couldn't catch her breath. She took his hand, grabbed for Favorito and got his arm, began pulling them, crouching, away from the nodule.
"What is it?"
Morden was looking back over his shoulder. As she pulled on them they began to run uphill, toward the tiny glimmer of blue light enveloped in darkness.
CHAPTER 12
Undress her robe of office behind, Delenn hurried from the Great Hall and out into the sunlit, crystalline passages of the city, which glittered with the brilliance of spring. She had no time to appreciate them. She was anxious to take action now that the Grey Council had authorized it, for she had lost a day already since Kosh had contacted her, and she sensed that every moment was precious.
Kosh would not have called on her if the situation were not critical. The ship might even now be arriving at Z'ha'dum. Her office was a medium-sized, functional room, yet with its few carefully placed crystals, she thought it fostered an environment of peace. Today, however, that peace seemed to elude her. She ordered her assistant, Nerid, from the room, composed herself as best she could, and put through the call.
She was soon connected to Commander Sinclair, who appeared to be in his quarters on Babylon 5.
"Ambassador Delenn. I hope you'll be rejoining us in time for the dedication ceremony."
Delenn had not had much personal contact with him yet, but the commander projected a warmth, intelligence, and honesty that made him seem superior to other humans.
"I have been delayed, Commander, but I plan to leave for Babylon 5 shortly. Unfortunately, an urgent matter requires your attention. I hope you may be of some help."
His eyebrows-a most expressive feature on humans -rose.
"I'll do what I can, Ambassador."
"An Earth vessel has been sent to a planet near the rim of known space. You call this planet by the name of" -she checked her notes-
"Alpha Omega 3. This ship must be recalled immediately. It is a matter of the gravest importance."
"Minbari territory is nowhere near the rim. Wh at is your interest in this matter?"
She chose her words carefully.
"The vessel poses a potential danger to us all, Commander."
His eyebrows now contracted.
"What kind of danger?"
"I am not at liberty to say more. But many lives, far more than those aboard that ship, lie in the balance. You must have that ship recalled, Commander Sinclair. Please do everything in your power."
"What is on Alpha Omega 3, Ambassador?"
She took a step forward.
"I hope, in the new spirit of cooperation among our races, and as the first diplomatic challenge faced by Babylon 5, that you will be able to grant our request."
There. Humans loved to be challenged. Perhaps that would work. The commander smiled.
"I'll do everything I can, Ambassador."
"Thank you so much."
Delenn bowed and ended the communication. He did not know how much was at stake. But she had told him all she could. She directed Nerid to have her belongings loaded on board the ship at once.
* * *
They ran up the ramp into the crawler, Anna still gripping them, unable to let go. She shot a nervous glance over her shoulder. Behind them, dust blasted in through the opening, shifting its angle like a living thing as the ramp rose, closing. The camera slipped inside, settling over Favorito's shoulder.
"Are you all right?" Razor said.
The rest of the party was already in the crawler, some seated, some standing, all watching them.
"Yes," Morden answered for her.
All three of them were hunched over, gasping for air, breathless and exhausted after the long run in the EVA suits in heavy gravity.
"I think so. What happened to the weather?"
"About an hour ago it suddenly got worse. I don't understand it. None of our projections predicted anything like this. We had to take shelter in here."
With a vibration Anna felt beneath her feet, the ramp sealed shut against the side of the crawler, and the pressure of the wind died into stillness.
"What did you find?"
Standish asked, the light reflecting off his EVA helmet. Anna found her voice.
"Have you heard from Chang's party?"
"No," Razor said.
"We tried to reach them to share information about the storm track, but no response. It's probably just interference from the storm. I was able to reach Captain Hidalgo, but the transmission was distorted. I couldn't read him."
Anna saw the tech who drove their crawler standing behind Razor.
"Get us over to Chang's site, now. Tell our other crawler to follow."
"Yes, Doctor."
The tech headed toward the front of the crawler.
"I really don't think the storm is anything to worry about," Razor said.
"The crawlers can handle it. Chang is probably already back at the Icarus."
"Let's just make sure," Anna said.
"Keep trying to reach Chang."
Razor nodded and headed for the front of the crawler. Standish remained, watchful, curious.
"Standish, could you get me the latest readings on the storm?"
Standish reluctantly retreated. As the crawler started to move, the techs all found seats in one of the two rows that lined the crawler's sides, facing center. The large open center section was still filled with the sonic probe and other heavy equipment they had meant to leave at the site. Instead of going up front with the rest of the archaeological team, Anna pulled Morden and Favorito, still attached to her, to three empty seats. The camera followed. Right now Anna didn't know what to think. She was ashamed of her performance in the caves, running away like a schoolgirl in a spook house. Chang was probably fine, was probably back at the Icarus. But she was no longer sure. What she had seen changed everything. She tried not to think of it.
"What happened in there?" Favorito asked.
She forced her fingers to open, releasing Favorito's arm, and linked down to their subgroup. Her hand shook slightly.
"Deactivate that camera."
Favorito took hold of the camera and deactivated it, setting it on the floor beside him.
"I don't want you to tell anyone about that nodule we found," Anna said.
"Not until I give the okay."
She waited until they both nod
ded.
"What was it?" Morden asked.
"It was alive," Anna said, "and it was watching us. This race is not dead."
They sat in silence until Standish found them. He grabbed the hand bar above them to keep his balance. Anna's link chimed as he linked into her subgroup.
"I thought you were coming up front."
He handed her a comp-pad with the latest information on the storm.
"It's concentrated over this whole region. Winds are gusting up to seventy miles per hour. It looks like it's going to be with us for the next few days at least."
She handed back the comp-pad.
"When we looked at the data from the orbiter this morning, it didn't predict a storm."
"I know. For some reason the computer hasn't been able to come up with a terribly accurate model. There must be factors influencing the weather that it's not taking into account."
He took a few steps to maintain his balance as the crawler slowed to a stop. As she went to stand, Anna realized she was still holding Morden's hand. Although they were separated by two layers of bulky gloves, she could feel the substance of his hand, its return pressure against her. The simple human contact was reassuring. With an embarrassed smile she released his hand, pulled her arm out from his.
She didn't say anything since it would have automatically gone out over the link. Anna linked back to the main group and went up to the front of the crawler, followed by Morden, Favorito, and Standish. Out the front windows, through the sheets of blowing dust and sand, the major pillar was intermittently visible. To its left, perhaps thirty yards off, were Chang's two crawlers. He was not back at the Icarus.
"The egg is gone," Razor said.
He was staring out the window.
"I wasn't sure at first. The scanners are giving us some trouble with the storm. But you can see. It's not there."
"That's impossible."
Favorito elbowed his way to the front.
"Why don't you turn on the lights?"
As Favorito flipped on the crawler's floodlights, the answer became apparent. They reflected back off the curtains of dust, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Razor turned the lights off, and they all stared into the shifting curtains of dust outside. As the dust lessened for a few moments, the area around the base of the pillar became clear, a jagged plain of cracked, reddish-brown stone. The egg was gone.
Babylon 5 07 - The Shadow Within (Cavelos, Jeanne) Page 14