»What’s going on, Sati? The artificial horizon hasn’t changed yet! We’re still descending!«
»The computer’s sending the control signals to the flaps and the thrusters, but the ship doesn’t respond! We seem to be caught in an eddy, pulling us further down!«
Ivanova paled. Sati had warned her. They had plunged too deep into the atmosphere. Now it became a matter of life and death.
She quickly bypassed the auto-pilot and tried to fly the Hawk by hand. She knew how dangerous this was; a wrong angle of attack could result in a disaster. She fought with everything she had but the manual mode didn’t work either.
»Our steering system doesn’t respond to manual commands, try automatic mode again, fast!« she yelled. Sati increased the thrusters to 115 percent output, but to no avail. The Hawk’s nose didn’t move upward.
»We just passed the point-of-no-return, Commander!« Sati announced in a strange, calm voice. »We’re in a tube-like force field that’s pulling us downward. We can’t get out of it. I can’t tell if it’s a natural phenomenon or not.«
Sati seemed to be in a trance.
Is what we’re feeling a mental defense mechanism – just before death? Maya asked herself.
Ivanova let go of the yoke and kept staring at the displays. Slowly, gradually, the flight became much calmer. Ivanova and Sati were suddenly thrown about in their seats by very strong deceleration forces, compensated for by the fast deploying gel-cushions of their seats.
»We’re decelerating rapidly!« Sati announced happily but dazedly. »The nose is coming up!«
Ivanova didn’t understand what was going on around her. The Hawk went into horizontal flight and reduced its speed.
»That’s impossible, Sati. We should be dead by now. How can the Hawk maneuver like that?«
Sati looked irritated at his displays.
»We’re inside a gravitation zone, different from what we could expect. Atmospheric ionization has ceased too – outside pressure resembles Earth at sea level!« Sati re-checked his instruments, not daring to believe his eyes. »We’re inside a space-bubble that’s isolating Neptune’s forces. We should be able to get a clear image from outside.«
He activated the outside cameras with a quick hand movement.
They both twitched when they saw the screens. This could never be inside Neptune’s atmosphere!
Discoveries
»Sati, I’m dreaming?«
Her co-pilot was speechless for a moment and looked mesmerized at his displays, which revealed a gigantic object in Neptune’s atmosphere.
»What is that?« he asked in unfeigned surprise. »Is that ours, something top secret?«
Ivanova shook her head.
»No, Sati, it’s not ours. Looks to me like a circular platform with a bell-like force field on top.«
»What do you mean, force field, Commander?« Sati asked with a trembling voice.
»It must be a force field, shielding the platform from the atmosphere. We’re inside it or at least in range of its effects. We have a clear view but a different outside pressure,« Ivanova explained.
»Not only that, there’s Earth gravity inside the force field. That can’t be.«
Ivanova noticed that Sati was looking lost. The man was beginning to doubt his own senses.
»Artificial gravity, Sati. Has to be.«
He shook his head.
»That’s technically impossible!«
»Yeah, for us!« she replied.
Maya had an idea.
»Can you detect the Eagle?«
Sati had to force himself away from the view and activate the close-range scanners.
»Affirmative! Fosset’s Eagle has landed on the platform – about two hundred meters below us. This entire area reminds me of a spaceport. Seems as if we found a space station, floating inside Neptune’s atmosphere … unbelievable.«
»Uh … no … Fosset found it!« she corrected Sati. »Is our computer back in control of the ship in the meantime?«
»Just a second … Yes, the ship’s reacting to my inputs again! We can land.«
»Land the Hawk right beside the Eagle. I want to kick Fosset’s ass when I catch him!« she said savagely.
The Hawk slowly descended and landed softly beside the Eagle.
Ivanova gave Sati a brief encouraging nod.
»Let’s suit up and get ready to leave ship. Take your weapon with you and a portable scanner. I bet Fosset is already out of his ship.«
»You … really want to go out there?« Sati asked uncertainly.
»What else can we do? Wait here? We have to prevent this idiot from killing himself, and we need to take a closer look at this platform. It’s inside our sphere of interest and it could be a threat. It might be connected to the Globusters.«
»I keep asking myself why they haven’t noticed us yet. They must’ve seen us landing here,« Sati whispered half to himself.
»I have no idea,« Ivanova replied, acknowledging him. Sati seemed near to slipping over the edge. »The platform looks abandoned. Let’s see if that’s true.«
Maya thoroughly checked Sati’s suit and his equipment after she had suited up. She opened the airlock and stepped outside. The Eagle was standing about twenty meters away – with an open airlock!
Cautiously, they looked around. The platform was flat and circular in shape and was illuminated from the dome’s zenith by some strange lighting, making the surroundings seem more bluish than on Earth. The ground appeared metallic, with circular markings of different colors distributed over the entire landing field, leading toward a circular superstructure at the platform’s center. The circles became smaller the closer they got to the center. The superstructure seemed to be a plateau that could be reached by wide steps from four sides. Two oversized, thirty-meter tall crystal structures towered over the plateau.
»Have you ever seen anything like this?« Sati asked, impressed despite himself.
»Not even in my dreams,« Ivanova admitted.
»Nobody … has seen this before!« Fosset’s voice came over the suit’s radio receivers.
Ivanova looked cautiously around but she couldn’t see Fosset.
»Where are you, Fosset? Come out in the open!«
Ivanova saw two people coming out of the Eagle’s shadow.
»I’m not alone, Commander. My bodyguard and advisor is with me.«
»Samuel McCord,« the second man introduced himself.
»Let’s meet halfway between the ships,« Ivanova commanded and signaled Sati to follow her. Moments later the two groups were facing each other on the landing field.
»Okay, I know you’re mad at me,« Fosset began, »This situation is my mistake. I have to admit that I erred, because this is not really what I was looking for.«
Ivanova and Sati briefly looked at each other. She had a stern answer on her lips but swallowed it.
»We’ll discuss the consequences later, Fosset,« she replied coolly. »First explain to me how you got the insane idea to come here?«
Fosset looked at the ground.
»We thought we’d found the lost Progonaut ship,« McCord answered instead. »But this here,« McCord made a wide open gesture with his arms, »is something totally different.«
»What, the Atlantika?« Ivanova asked, startled. She also had read Vasina’s reports.
»Instead, we discovered something new,« Fosset added a bit more confidently, »and we have the chance of a lifetime to explore this platform. You probably noticed that we have about normal gravity on this platform, and did you analyze the atmosphere under this dome? Oxygen-nitrogen! We can breathe here. It seems that the designers were similar to us at the least.«
Ivanova looked at Sati, who briefly nodded, indicating that he had confirmed Fosset’s findings.
»Look at this strange structure in the middle of the platform. The two very large crystal pillars protruding from the plateau. We need to check this out.«
Ivanova’s gaze followed Fosset’s hand pointing at the objects.
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»I’m afraid we’ll never share our knowledge with the rest of the world,« she remarked. »We can’t return – we’re too deep inside Neptune’s atmosphere. My Hawk isn’t strong enough to get us back. We’re paying a high prize for your curiosity, Fosset – our lives!«
Fosset fondled his helmet’s release mechanism and folded it back before Ivanova could yell a warning. He took a deep breath and looked down at himself.
»Fosset, damn you, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind?« Ivanova screamed at him angrily.
»I’m just saving my personal oxygen supply for later. Don’t know when I might need it. I told you we can breathe the air here.«
Ivanova stepped closer to Fosset and seized him by his shoulder straps.
»I’m hoping for your sake that this atmosphere doesn’t contain any toxic elements. Do you really believe that your run-of-the-mill analyzer can detect all the dangers? Not to mention bacteria, viruses, mold spore and whatever else there might be. But,« she added with a feral grin, »thanks for being our Guinea pig!«
Fosset smiled, less sure of himself, and quickly glanced at McCord.
»Uhm … Hughey, I think, we should follow the Commander’s lead while we’re here. She’s certainly more experienced than us.« McCord was trying to defuse the situation.
Fosset gave in.
»Okay then, what should we do next, ‘Commander’?«
Ivanova could hardly control herself.
»Sati will analyze the atmosphere more thoroughly and then we’ll know if you just made a lethal mistake. I don’t want to see anything stupid like that from you again … understood?«
Fosset frowned.
»Certainly, Commander, but as you’ll find out, the air smells great; kind of aromatic and clean.«
»Well …,« Sati replied, »we don’t really have to do anything but wait. If he’s still alive in an hour, we can take off our helmets too.«
Crystal Pillars
As soon as Sati gave the all clear, Maya Ivanova also folded back her helmet. They were now able to talk normally without helmet-comms. The air pressure was about normal for Earth at an altitude of 1000 meters. The concentration of inert gases was a bit higher, especially helium, which caused their voices to sound funny. Fosset was amused by the voice changes, but Ivanova didn’t quite appreciate Fosset’s humor. Her thoughts were revolving around a possible return to space, so far to no avail.
»Looking at the markings on the ground, this could well be a mobile spaceport. The area is large enough for a small fleet. Why the platform is located inside Neptune’s atmosphere beats me. A fleet tender would make more sense in outer space.«
»Is it possible that the platform was originally orbiting Neptune, but sank into the atmosphere under the strong gravitational pull over time?« Fosset asked cautiously.
»Not very likely,« Ivanova told him in a mocking tone. »The platform’s technical installations are still working properly – the energy shield or the tubular force field proves that. The platform is held in place artificially, or it would have crashed long ago. I’m afraid somebody intentionally hid the platform from us.«
»Globusters?« asked McCord.
»… more like their masters, I’d guess!« Maya acknowledged McCord’s train of thought. »Either way we need to be very cautious. I’m pretty sure we’re only still alive because this platform isn’t occupied right now. If there were any Globs around, we’d be dead!«
»Why wasn’t the platform better secured then?« Fosset tried a different approach.
Ivanova took her time answering.
»They didn’t expect us to find it. We never would have if it weren’t for Quaoar’s fragments plunging into Neptune’s atmosphere and causing the strange readings Triton detected.«
»Well, the most outstanding features are these huge pillars. We should take a closer look at them,« Sati suggested.
»Agreed!« Ivanova nodded.
She took the lead while the rest of the group followed without further questions.
Her eyes kept wandering toward the dome’s zenith, where Neptune’s atmosphere streamed in wild, swirling dances outside the shield.
»It’s fascinating, isn’t it? This is an unbelievable technology,« remarked Fosset. He’d caught up with her, obviously looking for somebody to talk to.
Ivanova only looked at him grudgingly.
»Yeah. You’re right about that, at least,« she replied sullenly.
»Why did you follow us?« Fosset wanted to know.
Ivanova threw her hair back as she answered, »A blunt question deserves a blunt answer. I hoped you would come to your senses. Nobody figured on your bullheadedness!«
Fosset smiled.
»I understand. Why hasn’t the scientific faculty on Triton Base checked out this object yet? Its presence has been known for some time.«
»They did, but only observed it from a distance. This energy field interferes with their scanners and sensors. To just dive into Neptune’s atmosphere – nobody thought of it yet!« She added, »They’re not that crazy.«
Fosset thought he had seen a brief smile on Ivanova’s face. He was fascinated by her. He liked her resolute mindset and had no problem taking her orders. Maya Ivanova seemed to constantly think about ways to return to the base or Earth. She wasn’t influenced by fame, money or the privilege of being part of the group that discovered this platform. Her concern was the survival of their party. Fosset had to admit that she impressed him, and he decided to take some of the burden from her shoulders.
»Well … you know, our situation is not as helpless as it might seem.«
Ivanova ignored Fosset’s argument.
»I know that the Hawk can’t make it, but our Eagle can,« he tried again.
»Don’t bullshit me, Fosset. The Eagle’s an old and antiquated model, years behind today’s technology.«
»That’s what it looks like!« he replied, more strongly than he’d intended. »We souped up the Eagle – converted the nuclear drive to performance levels capable of getting us out of Neptune’s atmosphere and away from here … provided the platform’s owners allow us that.«
Maya Ivanova suddenly stopped.
»What did you just say? You revamped the Eagle? Modified it …?«
»… spared no cost,« Fosset acknowledged quickly.
»Sati!« Ivanova addressed him sharply. »Go with McCord and find out if the Eagle can really reach escape velocity after we’ve inspected these pillars.«
Ivanova turned back to Fosset.
»By the way, I’ve confiscated your Eagle,« she said dryly.
She continued her walk toward the crystal pillars.
»Isn’t she adorable?« McCord whispered to Fosset.
»That she is,« Fosset replied sourly, but then smirked, »and probably furious in bed!«
The group arrived at the plateau a few minutes later. Ivanova had to tilt her head all the way back to view the full height of the pillars.
»What is this, Sati?« she asked mutedly.
Sati just shrugged.
»I don’t know. The steps kind of lead up to the pillars, almost like an invitation. What do you think?«
»I think we should risk investigating these pillars,« Ivanova suggested. »We’d have a great view from up there and maybe discover something else.«
Ivanova looked around and then slowly mounted the steps.
»The step risers are almost the same as on Earth,« McCord commented.
»What are you trying to say, McCord?« Sati inquired.
»Well, the atmosphere, then the gravity, the steps … seems that the designers were similar to us.«
»You wanna bet?« Ivanova asked but kept walking. The higher she ascended, the taller the pillars became. When they arrived at the top of the plateau, Ivanova had to revise her first estimate – the pillars were at least 50 meters tall! The plateau itself didn’t show anything out of the ordinary. It looked polished. The floor was laid in octagonal tiles joined without grooves or rough edge
s. Sati’s analyzer could not reveal the mineral composition of the tiles or prove that the pillars really were the huge crystals they resembled.
Sati was at a loss for words.
»The pillars measure five meters in diameter and are exactly 43 meters high with an octagonal base. In addition, they are 32 meters apart from each other. That’s all I can tell you.«
Pondering, Fosset glanced at the pillars alternately while Maya tried to find something else on the platform.
»Somehow, this looks familiar,« Fosset declared.
»Don’t be ridiculous, Fosset,« Ivanova replied without turning around.
»No, really, I remember having heard of such objects before,« Fosset insisted. »It wasn’t related to anything dangerous, though, otherwise I would certainly remember it.
McCord took Fosset’s arguments more seriously.
»What did that resemblance relate to, can you recall?«
»It was mentioned in Vasina’s unclassified reports, I’m sure.«
Fosset kept pondering and estimating the pillars. Suddenly, he smacked his head.
»I got it! How could I forget! These pillars look like the ones Vasina described in her report about the Tachyon Portal she had used fleeing from her home-world Atlantika.«
Ivanova swung around on her heals.
»What?«
»This appears to be a Tachyon Portal,« he repeated, »only much bigger!«
»Sati, McCord … we have to get out of here, quick!« she yelled, almost alarmed.
»Why so excited?« but now he could feel it for himself. The ground had begun to vibrate slightly under his feet.
»Something’s going on here. RUN!« Ivanova yelled again and started down the steps, only to run into an invisible barrier. She was thrown back.
»Too late! Some kind of energy shield has formed around the portal!« Sati reported.
They turned around at a mysterious crackling behind them. A very bright, almost white energy field had established itself between the pillars. It wasn’t a static field but showed strangely flowing patterns, fading and re-establishing again while the patterns seemed to ricochet from pillar to pillar.
NEBULAR Collection 2 - The Expedition: NEBULAR Episodes 6 - 11 Page 16