NEBULAR Collection 5 - Panic in the Galaxy: Episodes 22 - 26

by Thomas Rabenstein

  Growling, Herimos approached her, shaking his fist. He considered Paafnas his friend.

  »Call back your hairy friend, he can’t intimidate me!« the replication said.

  »We can still throw you back into the portal, if that’s what you want? You’d be a delightful feast for the crystal substance,« Herimos rumbled angrily, making an eating gesture.

  »Just ignore her, Herimos,« Ivanova said. »Paafnas is an intelligent being and a fearless scientist. I can rely on him a hundred percent!«

  The replication frowned, sending hateful glances at Ivanova.

  »You’ll all die on this planet, huh.«

  »So will you then, skank!« Ivanova shook her fist.

  Arkroid and Pi turned away. Pi whispered to him, »Realistically … we just got some breathing space, you know? I can’t see any open waters, not even a bloody creek. We need something to drink and eat! We can manage for a while with our suit’s survival supply, but I don’t know about Herimos, Vasina and the others. They need to drink at some point!«

  »I haven’t even started to think about that yet.«

  Arkroid knit his brows.

  »Well, the Kugos live here. If they can survive in this environment, so can we. I remember our first surface scan when we passed the planet before we landed on Spook. There’re interior lakes and rivers. We just need to find them. I’m certain that the Kugos will help us, if we ask them nicely. Otherwise, the ZyClonians need to concoct some sort of a drinking-water condenser with the help of their nanopods. We’ll make it, I’m sure.«

  »First we need to find these people. This temple or whatever it is, doesn’t seem to be visited often,« Arkroid said.

  »Where is that Klorian guy?« Maya shouted. »He disappeared again!«

  Arkroid smirked.

  »If he isn’t hiding behind his disguise field, then he probably went over to the monument.«

  »Where else,« Pi added with a scolding intonation. »The temple is the only interesting object around here, if we don’t count the portal.«

  »I have arrived at the bottom of the stair,« Paafnas reported. »Strange sculptures are flanking the stairs upward. They don’t look like Kugos. I’ll climb up the wall and enter the monument through one of the terrace-like niches.«

  Arkroid looked through his electronic binoculars and whistled through his teeth.

  »I see it, Paaf. Be careful and let us know when the area is clear. Find out what this mountain is all about.«

  »Will do, Toiber.«

  Arkroid smiled and nodded at Kuster~Laap.

  »Please, ask your ZyClonians to send some nanopods over to Paafnas. They can assist him; also find out why we couldn’t detect this portal upon our arrival in this system. Especially, since you mentioned that you knew this planet!«

  »The data about this planetary system are incomplete,« Kuster~Laap defended himself with swirling ears.

  »This is slightly exaggerated, I assume,« Maya butted in sarcastically. »You also didn’t know anything about Morgotradon’s star base!«

  »The micro-technicians have begun examining the mountain. Soon, we’ll know more.«

  Kuster~Laap was irritated and turned his back on her.

  »Paaf, try to find Klori’Tar,« Arkroid instructed. »He disappeared. I bet a million Solar Credits that he’s inside the monument!«

  »I’ll let you know as soon as I find something or Klori’Tar,« replied Paafnas and began his ascension.

  Useless disguise

  Klori’Tar shuddered as he entered the mountain. The entrance looked like a wide open snout of a large beast, projecting fear. Klori’Tar ignored the threatening feeling and was surprised that his subconscious had reacted or was it caused by something else?

  Did I just stumble into an energy field? What was this? Am I getting scanned? He wondered.

  He couldn’t see anything in the nearby surrounding. His suit would’ve warned him, if there were any energy barriers or hidden projectors.

  Klori’Tar was amazed to see that the almost twenty meter long corridor was dimly lit. He hadn’t noticed it from the outside before he entered the mountain.

  Hmm … artificial light? Here?

  He looked farther and moments later, found the answer to this riddle.

  »Look at that,« he murmured, »vertical ventilation and light-shafts reach down from the top and go through the entire mountain! I bet it’s pitch dark in here at night!«

  Klori’Tar was wrong as he found out a little later. Highly polished walls emitted light from inside!

  Phosphorus material! It absorbs the sunlight and re-emits it at night! That’s why this dimmed, yellow light. It’s coming from the walls.

  At the end of the corridor, two grim-looking warrior statues awaited him to the left and right. They were, however, not as tall as the ones outside, but much more detailed. Klori’Tar hovered at about eye-height of the statues and looked at their eyes.

  Threatening, intimidating! These are perfect warriors who would scare anybody with their sharp teeth, wide mouths, their pointed ears and high, boney foreheads. Their clawed feet and hands add to their aggressive appearance. All hearing, all seeing, powerful and eerie! Who are they? Where they born out of fantasies or were they real? Are they depictions of mystical beings or gods?

  Klori’Tar felt strange, he clutched his weapon tighter. Cautiously, he hovered in-between the statues and, again, felt a ticklish sensation. He looked at his scanner, but the device hadn’t detected anything suspicious.

  Although, he would’ve felt safer behind his disguise field, it would’ve, on the other hand, hindered him.

  Suddenly, the tunnel ended in a big, round hall. Here too, he saw statues of strange-looking warriors, some of them several meters high. They seemed to interact with each other and were grouped around a heavy, circular marble-like table, half a meter thick. The table’s diameter was about three meters and weighed at least two or three tons, he estimated.

  What kind of place is this? Is this a cult site, an altar?

  He hovered over to the table and ascended a couple of meters. Now, he saw the finely engraved markings on the table top. The markings resembled numbers, lines and symbols, grouped and interconnected.

  The circular symbols are part of a language – Genorantan! But … wait … there’re other, non-Genorantan symbols! They’re not even close to the other ones! I’ve never seen such symbols before!

  Klori’Tar’s two hearts were racing. He had to calm himself to insure that his hearts were beating synchronously.

  All this was installed around the table at a later date! It seems that these warrior statues protect the table, probably to scare off unwanted visitors. They might also be part of a ritual framework … all this to honor the Genorantan shrine?

  A gut feeling told Klori’Tar that he had found an important artifact and used his scanner, recording and measuring the table surface.

  These fine lines and grooves are so detailed and exact that they must have been made by means of a far advanced technology. The Kugo’s certainly never possessed these skills. These lines were created by a computer controlled engraving machine, perhaps laser or plasma cutters. The groves are exactly one tenth of a millimeter deep!

  Before he could finish his work on the table, he saw a quick movement from the corner of his eye. Lightning fast he turned around, pointing his weapon in that direction. Nobody was there!

  The tall warrior statues around him stared at him scornfully.

  There! Another movement!

  I’m not alone in this hall! he thought and activated his disguise shield, slowly ascending.

  If an invisible attacker was in this hall, then he didn’t want to meet him at ground level.

  Klori’Tar held his breath. With his air-filled breathing bags at the side of his head, he could endure it for about ten minutes. This way the invisible attacker or whoever this was, could not hear him breathing.

  He slowly turned around his axis and observed the environment thoroughly.
<
br />   Nothing!

  Klori’Tar took another deep breath.

  I’m beginning to hallucinate. I need to concentrate on the artifact. There’s nobody else here!

  He descended and hovered above the table.

  What do these other, totally different carved symbols mean? Who made them?

  Again, he used his scanner, but then: The older, fine-lined symbols could not be scanned!

  Klori’Tar didn’t believe his eyes and initiated the scanner’s self-test. The test was okay, except, that the table scan could not be performed.

  Hmm … is this an unknown copy protection? This must be really important then! If push comes to shove, I’ll take this table with me to the Cobalt-Hunter and analyze it in my ship! I’ll find out what the secret is!

  Klori’Tar stepped forward. Suddenly, he heard a strong voice.

  If you touch the table, you’ll die! If you steal or damage the testimony to the alliance, then your people will be doomed forever!

  Klori’Tar screeched. The voice had not spoken to him, but had manifested itself in his mind!

  »Where are you?« he shouted out loud. »Where are you hiding? You can’t threaten me!«

  No reply.

  As he repeated the words in his mind, a response followed.

  You heard the warning!

  A quick movement made Klori’Tar freeze. This time he had seen it! The head of one of the warrior statues had turned toward him. The glance from the single eye on the beast’s forehead seemed to drill right through his skull. Determined, he threw himself around and pointed the weapon at the warrior. At the same moment, the wrist of his hand holding the weapon was hit by a projectile. Gasping for air, Klori’Tar watched his weapon fall to the ground. A stinging pain came from his right wrist. As he looked up he saw the projectile! A curved, boomerang-like weapon swirled through the air, landing in the claws of another warrior!

  »What in the name of …,« Klori’Tar cursed, seeing how more and more of these warriors came out of their stasis-like condition, walking toward him with crackling and screeching noises.

  »How’s that possible!«

  In shock he saw one of the warriors put a primitive pipe object to his lips, taking a deep breath, blowing up his cheeks – almost like Klori’Tar’s bags.

  »No, no, DON’T! This is all a misunderstanding!« he yelled panic struck, waving his hands.

  Too late!

  The guardian had blown a small arrow-like projectile in Klori’Tar’s direction. The projectile just grazed his neck, producing a slight pressure point, then it fell to the ground.

  It went right through my protective shield! My disguise field is useless! They can see me! Seconds later, he fell unconscious.

  Kugos?

  Herimos looked up. A reflection in the distance had caught his eye. He squinted. His eyesight was extremely keen.

  »Somebody is coming,« he alerted the team members. »A vehicle!«

  Arkroid looked through his binoculars and checked the direction. A small dot, surrounded by a cloud of dust, was approaching the portal.

  »Yepp, Herimos is correct! We’re getting visitors. Paaf, can you hear me?« he contacted Paafnas. »Hide! Somebody’s coming to pay us a visit. We’ll wait here at the portal and keep a low profile.«

  No answer.

  »Paaf! Paaf answer me!«

  Nothing.

  Arkroid took his binoculars and scanned the steep mountain slope, but couldn’t see the amphibian.

  Shit, he must be inside already!

  He turned around and gave Maya an inquiring look.

  She understood and clasped her weapon.

  »Come with me, Voit!«

  Arkroid watched the two running toward the mountain.

  I shouldn’t have let him go … and where is Klori’Tar?

  Arkroid looked at the approaching vehicle.

  »Who could that be?« Pi asked with unrest in his voice. He glanced at the replication, but she just grinned at him.

  »She doesn’t know anything,« Herimos replied, noticing Pi’s head movement. »She’s never been on this planet. She just wants to confuse us. Ignore her!«

  Tranos placed his hand over his eyebrows and looked in the direction of the unknown visitors. He positioned his shield in such a way that he could check the displays from time to time.

  »That must be Kugos. Maybe they found out about us and are sending us a welcoming committee.«

  »That’s quite possible,« Pi acknowledged.

  Arkroid was nervous and didn’t really listen to Pi’s and Herimos’ words. Again and again he looked over to the mountain and called Paafnas via the radio-comm.

  »As soon as we arrive at the stairs, we’ll go inside and look for Paaf!« Maya radioed, gasping for air.

  »Be extremely cautious!« Arkroid warned them. »Something’s not right!«

  He cursed silently.

  The dust cloud at the horizon became larger and moments later a silverish shimmering, armored vehicle appeared. It was moving fast and loud over the terrain, hovering one meter above the tundra’s surface.

  »They’re not exactly environmentally friendly these guys,« Pi complained as he saw the vehicle’s thick exhaust smoke. It has some sort of a combustion engine, which seems to be generating an air cushion. I think Tranos is right, that must be Kugos! Their technology fits the description.«

  The hover-tank stopped at a respectful distance before the portal and slowly sank to the ground. A loud bang signaled that the engine had stalled.

  »Nood and Naad have already sent their nanopods. I can say that the vehicle does not possess an advanced energy source,« Kuster~Laap advised.

  »They don’t have energy shields or energy weapons,« Tranos added. »Uh … we’re just being scanned with a high-frequency microwave burst!«

  »Radar?« Pi inquired but didn’t get an answer. »They’re scanning the portal and the surroundings.«

  »What’s their distance?« Arkroid asked.

  »About … one point two kilometers,« Tranos replied. »What are they waiting for?«

  »They’re keeping a healthy, respectful distance, I might say,« Herimos speculated. »Maybe they think we’re gods?«

  »You don’t look for gods with radar,« Pi said. »I think they know that we’re beings of flesh and blood. There’s a different reason for their hesitation.«

  »Perhaps, we should take the initiative?« Tranos suggested.

  Arkroid seemed undecided.

  »We shouldn’t leave the portal as long as Paafnas and the others haven’t returned.«

  »We arrived at the top of the stairs,« Maya announced via radio-comm. »The entrance looks like a wide opened mouth of a dragon … really creepy! Paaf probably entered the mountain from further up. Since we can’t climb the steep wall, we’ll use this entrance!«

  Arkroid nodded faintly and acknowledged, then he concentrated on the vehicle again.

  »Vasina, do you want to establish contact with the visitors? I’d like to hold the portal.«

  Vasina smiled.

  »We’ll find out what the Kugos want from us. It won’t take long.«

  Determined, she walked down the portal steps and approached the vehicle openly, accompanied by her shield bearer.

  »I hope that goes well,« Pi whispered to Arkroid.

  We arrived on this world a little more than an hour ago and everything is heading from bad to worse!

  No bio-electric field

  Maya and Voit followed the tunnel leading into the mountain. At the end of the tunnel they faced two strange-looking, large statues.

  She touched a sensor pad on her glove to establish communication with Arkroid, but her receiver only produced interference. She tried it several times at different locations, but was unsuccessful.

  »Strange … the radio-comm is useless, although it was designed by Nautilus.« She looked at Masgur. »We’re not just using a simple FM-receiver, you know. The radio should have no problem at all penetrating the rock. I wonder what’s
causing this interference?«

  Voit shrugged, he had no connection either.

  »Maybe we’re shielded in here, because of an unknown iron ore or minerals. This entire monolith is a geological mystery. No wonder, the Kugos selected this mountain.«

  Maya took a closer look at the statues.

  »These aren’t Kugos! What do you think this is, a temple?«

  Voit scratched his chin, then he said, »These are probably statues from Kugo mythologies. Monuments or figures like this were common in Earth’s history. We should pay more attention, when it comes to the relics of other galactic peoples.«

  Maya smiled.

  »Let’s stay alert. By the way: can you smell anything?«

  Voit smirked amused and faintly shook his head.

  »No, but I’ll keep sniffing!«

  »Okay, let’s continue then.«

  A cold shower ran down Maya’s back as she passed between the statues. Irritated, she looked over her shoulder and then at Voit.

  »Did you feel that too?«

  »Yes, I felt it … and I can see it!«

  »What?«

  »Your aura just flickered,« he said.

  Maya checked her instruments.

  »I can’t detect any energy! Nothing! Maybe we’re just imagining it?«

  »I’m absolutely certain,« Voit insisted and looked back at the statues. »It occurred as we passed them.«

  »What the …? Look at this Voit! There’re more of them!« She pointed forward into a great hall.

  A large stone table was surrounded by a group of statues.

  »Impressive!« he commented. »They’re forming a circle.«

  »Let’s take a look,« she suggested.

  She was about to step forward as she heard a faint voice via her radio-comm, »Don’t go there! Stay where you are!«

  Maya froze.

  »Is that you Paaf?« she whispered into the radio, signaling Voit with her hand.

  »Don’t go further. I’m right above you, Maya!«

  Slowly, she turned her head upward. There he was, clinging to the ceiling, head down. He blended perfectly into the background and was difficult to detect. Nautilus had designed his suit that it would react the same way as Paaf’s skin pigmentations.