by Jacen Aster
Serira hesitated for only a moment at hearing that. “Nevertheless, it is still our best option.” Not waiting for them to agree, she plunged into the newly opened canyon.
The rest of them looked at each other before hurrying after her.
Apparently, Serira must have hurried forward at a near run, as they didn't catch her until she was placing the second detpack against the canyon wall roughly five hundred meters down from their entrance. She turned to them, “This looks like our best bet. The equipment says the wall here is thin.”
Henry, though, was looking at the top of the canyon wall. “I'm not sure we need to take the risk. The wall just down from here is only about nine meters high. We could climb that pretty easily.”
Aertlie breathed out a relieved sigh. “That would be preferable, Mr. Harper. Miss Serira's methods are too reckless.”
Serira looked irritated at that. “Blowing the wall is still the most efficient way. Besides, if the region is as unstable as you imply, climbing may be just as dangerous.” She backed away from the wall without removing the detpack. “Now find cover.”
“Now wait just a minute!” Vivian said, clearly alarmed. “We should—”
Serira didn't wait, thumbing the detonator. The warning whine of the explosives sent all of them scrambling for cover. The ground shook slightly again as the detpack went off, then shook again a moment later, before it stilled once more.
When the debris settled Serira strode forward. “There. See? No harm done and—”
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a sharp crack as the floor of the canyon dropped away under them. Henry began to fall, but stopped abruptly as Aertlie caught him in one large hand. As the new debris from the collapse settled again, he saw Vivian in a similar hold by Bretallis, but of Serira there was no sign. Henry, freeing himself, tentatively scrambled to the edge of the newly created abyss.
“Serira!” he called as he gazed down into the gaping hole. He directed a handlight downward, and saw a steep drop, easily fifteen meters, with nothing but piles of obsidian and volcanic rock at the bottom. “Serira!” he called again. “Can you hear me?”
There was no reply. Henry felt a human hand on his shoulder. When he looked back, Vivian's face was twisted with grave regret. “Henry. Even if Brillian's are tougher than us, the rock would have crushed her after such a drop.”
Henry scowled. “You don't know that. Most of the rock would have fallen below her. We have to get down there and look for her.”
Vivian hesitated. “Henry, the air. We can stay here, but our guides....”
Henry's face twisted as he registered the cold fact that the natives didn't have much more time in the canyons. He was saved from replying when Bretallis spoke from behind them.
“The crevasse is narrow. You and my husband can cross over and continue on. I will search for your friend. When I find her, or her body, I will return to our people with her.”
Henry was hesitant. Serira was their responsibility, even if she had done something reckless. Even if she had known the risks coming into the fields.
Vivian, however, nodded firmly. “If you're certain you can do this safely, then I thank you for it. We can leave a portable and a medkit. The portable can guide you through treatment for her species if she is alive but wounded.”
Bretallis quickly accepted both items and started her way down. A few minutes work got the rest of them across the new crevasse. Henry hesitated on the other side, then gritted his teeth and moved forward. He didn't agree, but Vivian was still in charge, and with Bretallis’ offer her decision did make enough sense that he wouldn't fight it. All of this would be for nothing if they didn't reach the installation after all.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Their second use of explosives had caused rockslides along their path, forcing several minor delays before they reached the installation. It was approaching nightfall when they entered the artificial, and still somehow intact, valley leading up to the installation entrance. The Xeroteais shield projectors loomed impressively above them, fifty meters at least, and most of the installation size was actually underground. The shimmer of force fields, normal ones rather than the phase shield on the planet, were visible above the device.
Aertlie stretched his arm out to stop them. “This is as close as anyone has been able to get since the defenses were activated. Any closer and auto turrets begin firing from above the doors. The aerial shields made any bombardment useless even before the air became turbulent.”
Vivian nodded and dropped her pack, beginning to pull her tools from it. “Alright, Henry, this is where you and I earn our keep. Those auto cannons have to have a sensor somewhere. Get a drone up, see if that triggers them. I'll start scanning from here.”
Henry nodded and shrugged off his own pack, quickly pulling one of their drones from inside. He connected it to his portable and got it flying while Vivian assembled their primary sensor array. He paused, taking a few initial scans while waiting for her to finish. They'd want those scanners up to record what happened to the drone. Vivian waved him on a minute later and he instructed the small floating orb that was their drone of choice to move forward, slowly. It made it halfway up the valley before the auto cannons popped out and the drone exploded.
“Hmmmm,” Henry murmured, looking through the data they'd gotten. “Looks like two sets of sensors, at least. The drone picked up the near ones, in the valley walls, but they ignored it. They're probably only rigged for living things. The ones the drone itself triggered are probably on the door or near it.”
“Yeah, I've got them. Both sets actually, not terribly subtle.”
“Doubt they were meant to be. After all, if someone got this far in....”
“Fair point,” Vivian admitted.
Henry rocked back on his heels and scratched his head. “So, how do you want to handle this? I doubt we can crack a shutdown signal without a sample. Unless they’re generic.”
Vivian shook her head. “No such luck. Already tried all the generics we have in archive. Not that I expected them to work. No response.” She worried her lower lip for a moment. “No, I think we'll need to be more aggressive. A biomask. They weren't much for visual sensors so that might get us close.”
Henry looked askance at her. “Might? I hope you're volunteering.”
She smirked and pulled out a set of small white wafers—masker nodes—and began attaching them to her body. “Of course. I doubt you've ever even used them before.”
Henry grinned. “Well, there was this one time when I was drunk on Satoria Station....”
She paused and looked askance at him. “Okay, even ignoring that alcohol is illegal in that whole system, you're telling me that story later.”
Henry smirked at her as she began programming the maskers. “Maybe if you ask nicely enough.”
She winked and moved forward, throwing a comment over her shoulder as she got to work. “I'm sure I can think of something.”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Aertlie looked on in total awe as the installation doors slid silently open and Vivian stepped through, scanner in hand. “For over two centuries my people have tried to open these doors, and the two of you do it in less than half an hour. How is this possible?”
Henry grinned. “Our boss employs Vivian for a reason. She's one of the best, maybe even the best security expert in our corner of the galaxy. It was never a matter of if she could get us in, it was just a matter of how long it would take.”
“Damn right I am. Henry makes a good minion too. One of these days, I'll convince him his true calling is in security, not engineering.”
“Hmph. I don't think this old dog is going to be learning that many new tricks, Viv. Besides, someone has to actually fix this thing, you know.”
“Old? You're what, fifty-eight? I'm only a few years younger than that, so you better not be saying I'm old, Henry.”
Henry smiled. “It's not the age Viv, it's the parsecs, and I dare say I've seen quite a
few more of them than even you.”
“Well, that's true enough, I suppose. Oh look, pillars.” The last was said in dry humor as she pointed to a pair of all-too-familiar scanning pillars. Just like those that had nearly done them in when they first found the Transient Planet. They were a common find by now and it only took a few moments to shut them down.
As they made their way into what was obviously the main control room, Henry took over. “Alright, Viv, crack the security please, I'm going to take a look at the hardware, make sure there's nothing unexpected.” He popped a panel on the main terminal while Vivian made a confirming noise and got to work on the computers.
A quarter of an hour later, they were in, and Henry was pouring over the data. “Huh. No obvious damage. In fact, the whole system is remarkably intact given the seismic problems. Looks like the whole installation is using some kind of geo-stabilizers.” He sighed. “So much for this being easy. I'm gonna need time to pour over the data. On a positive note, this place has its own life support. We can ditch the rebreathers.”
“Oh thank God!” Vivian practically ripped her rebreather off and tossed it aside. “I’ve never had to use one of those for so long. It was unbearable!”
Henry, being far more gentle with his, admitted, “Yeah, they kind of make the air taste funny somehow. Not to mention that they get itchy after a while. I've had to use them for longer before, but not often, and it's never pleasant. Now, let’s see if we can't figure out what's going on here.” Frowning for a moment, he added, “Aertlie, the comm panel is just to your left. Why don't you see if you can get ahold of the transports. Find out if your wife and Serira have shown up.” The tall being nodded and they all three set to work.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
It had taken Henry nearly a day, and his mind was sluggish when he finally got there, but he was sure he had it. Still, he needed another pair of eyes. “Vivian?” He gestured her over, and she came, looking nearly as exhausted as he felt. Neither had gotten any rest since their uncomfortable camp in the volcano fields.
When she came up next to him, he showed her his portable. “Take a look at these numbers, and then at the timeline for the disasters.” His portable displayed two graphs, side by side. One was the station's readings on the odd energy the planet produced. The other a graph of the planetary imbalances over time.
It didn't take Vivian long to see the pattern he thought he'd seen. “Well shit. If that's right, it isn't damage at all. It's a design flaw.”
Henry nodded as he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, raising his free hand to rub his eyes.
“A design flaw? What sort of design flaw could account for all of our problems centuries after the device was turned on?”
Henry started but didn't open his tired eyes, he had almost forgotten about Aertlie. He'd gotten in touch with his people, the installation's height taking it above the comm disruption, but his wife and their crewmate were still missing. Thankfully, that wouldn't be alarming for another day or so. Their guide had otherwise done a good job of being unobtrusive, even getting them food and drink when they needed it. Henry opened his mouth to explain, but Vivian beat him to it.
“The kind where they didn't expect to be missing for those centuries. This was a prototype and they likely thought they would fine-tune any long-term effects out. It's even possible that they intended to use the phase shield to help you, as I'm suddenly suspecting this might be connected to your ability to leave the planet.”
Henry's eyes opened at that, and he looked at the data thoughtfully. “Now there's a possibility. Yeah, I can see that.”
“Excuse me, but I still don't understand.”
Henry decided to give a proper explanation this time. “The phase shields are trapping the energy your planet emits, not letting it radiate out into space. The concentrations have been slowly increasing over the centuries. Vivian is guessing that it's connected with your ability to leave the planet. That the high concentrations eventually caused your people to develop their own capacity to produce it.” Henry shrugged. “The Xeroteais may even have planned it that way. Regardless, eventually it seems to have reached a point that it is started backfeeding into the planet. Like a pressure vessel with too much pressure. The volcanoes and seismic shifts are the result.”
Aertlie took a few moments to absorb this. Then he asked the obvious. “Can it be fixed?”
Henry hesitated before reluctantly speaking. “I'm an engineer, not a scientist. Shutting down the phase shield is the obvious solution, but I just don't know enough to say if the planet will heal at this point or not. Worse, from what I can tell, the Xeroteais never had a plan for how to shut the device off. It's powered by the very energy it's trapping. At this point, I don't think we could shut it off.”
Aertlie sagged. “So it is hopeless then?”
“No!” Henry hurried to correct that assumption. “No, it isn't hopeless. Even if we can't shut it off, we should be able to modify it so that there are continuous channels in the shield, like those you use to let ships in and out. Those will allow the energy to bleed out into space. The only thing I can't say is if it will be fast enough to save the planet or not.”
Aertlie straightened. “You can do this?”
Henry gave a weary nod. “Yes, or at least I think I can. We'll have to go down into the device itself though, which isn't going to be fun with it still powered on.” He rubbed his eyes again before adding, “We'll all need some rest first as well. Why don't you get in contact with your government. Offer my assistance in making the changes, though I can't guarantee they will work. Then we can get some rest for a few hours while they sort out their answer. A few hours one way or another will make no difference at this point.”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
No one was surprised that the powers that be of Klenthe agreed to try Henry's fix. Vivian and Henry were a bit shocked that it was agreed on so quickly, having half expected to be waiting days, but then desperation can make even politicians work swiftly. It was only eight hours later that Henry, Vivian, and Aertlie began their descent into the workings of the device. Given the need to do a delicate juggle of power flow to keep their current area free of radiation as they went, it took another three to reach their destination.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, we're here. Vivian, help me get set up. Aertlie, start getting the panels I marked on the map pulled off. It will save us some time.”
“Uh, Henry, I think you need to see this.” Vivian, who hadn't moved to join him, gestured him to her view point.
“What is it?” Henry moved to join her, and came to an abrupt halt when he saw what she was silently pointing at. “Oh. Well, that's not good.”
The area wasn't as untouched by the seismic disturbances as everywhere else had been. It made sense, given that they were near the focal point of the problems. Huge rents had appeared in the walls and it looked like the geo-stabilizers were the only things holding it all together.
Henry scowled. “That's very not good, but there's nothing we can do about it. That would require heavy equipment to fix. Until the planet calms down, there's no way to get it in here.”
Vivian grimaced and nodded. They would just have to work around it.
Work they did. For sixteen hours, they worked on making Henry's changes. At last, with hope and relief present in equal measures, they were ready to make the transition. Henry threw the switch and everyone held their breath as the thrum of the power feeds and pulse of the shield towers altered in pitch. Slowly, they all let those breaths out and started smiling.
And then a geo-stabilizer exploded.
Xeroteais klaxons screamed as a wall bowed in, collapsing on a backup power feed, which hissed and shorted, blowing half a dozen other systems. Blue arcs of lightning flashed from the feed, nearly striking Vivian before Henry grabbed her and pulled her away. The pulse of the shield towers went erratic and phase energy splashed all over the room.
Henry cursed as his hand phased righ
t through Vivian. Throwing himself towards the primary control panel, he managed to hit just two switches before his hand phased through that as well. He shouted but couldn't hear the words. Vivian, apparently, could. She pushed herself up from her daze and slapped at the control he was trying to hit. She must have been in phase with that portion of the panel, as it worked. The arcs of lightning stopped and, working together, they compensated for the lost stabilizer with power from others. The rumbling and shrieks of torn metal quieted. Phase energy washed over them again and neither could touch the panel. Henry pointed at the door leading to the secondary control nexus, almost blocked by rockfall, and both scrambled toward it. Henry despaired when it didn't respond to their touch. Only for Aertlie to slap the control from behind them and have it work.
They rushed through and into chaos. The room was a mess, having apparently been hit much worse than the main area. Half the systems were crushed by rock, but when he reached the control panel he could touch it. It was far enough away from the shield towers, good. A stabbed button silenced the klaxons and a lever stabilized the power flow. Moments raced past as Henry and Vivian struggled to rein in the wildly out of control shield pulses, knowing if they didn't, the whole planet would enter into random phases, likely ripping it apart. Finally, Henry saw his chance but wavered a moment. If he did that, it would backfeed into the room. Vivian saw his hesitation and almost certainly understood the why. She didn’t falter as she slammed her hand down on his, activating the command.
For a moment, everything tasted green and smelled lilac. Then there was only black.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Henry woke with a groan, his groggy mind immediately trying to run through his normal checklist. No concussion, goodie. A fleeting thought about having a checklist for black outs being a bad sign was replaced by concern as he took in the dim light. A moment more and he realized that the only light was from his portable lying next to him. He fumbled in his many pockets for a chem light. Breaking the seal, he looked at the room in the green tinted shades it cast. Vivian was down, but stirring. Aertlie was moving, looking around like he was. “Alright, Aertlie?”