It was some hours later when a clearer picture of the surface began to emerge. There were great cities and signs of high-technology on the planet, but it was completely abandoned and falling into ruin. There weren’t even any signs of primitive settlements which would have suggested some sort of cataclysmic event that destroyed modern society and then a subsequent rebuilding period. It was as if every A’arcooni had been teleported off the planet and nature was reclaiming it. Not only that, but it looked like this may have happened hundreds of years ago.
“Stand down from the tactical alert. Let’s all go sit down and talk about this. We need some answers and I don’t think that’s going to happen while we’re in orbit,” Jason said as he engaged the autopilot and climbed out of his seat. “We’re going to have to get boots on the ground so let’s figure out which site is most promising.”
*****
The Phoenix soared over the great A’arcooni city, turning in a tight spiral and descending sharply. Jason angled them to come to a steady hover fifty feet over what appeared to be an area of congregation for the former residents. Dressed in full armor, he stood and motioned for Doc to take the pilot’s seat. “We’ll look around in the buildings we marked from orbit,” he said. “Take the ship and do some passes and launch the twins to parallel you north and south. If you don’t see anything interesting, climb out and loiter around this city. Stay within the atmosphere in case we need a quick dust off.”
“Will do, Captain,” Doc said as he hopped into the seat. While he would never admit it, he did love to fly the ship and secretly was glad when Jason left with the other two on ground missions. Jason was almost to the stairs when he heard someone call his name.
“Jason, wait up,” Taryn called as she jogged down the short passageway of the command deck. She grabbed him on either side of his head and planted a firm kiss on his lips. “Be careful out there,” she said seriously. Jason saw the look on her face and bit down the laugh that was coming up. He didn’t see much danger in poking around, but he wouldn’t insult her by scoffing at her concern.
“I will,” he said with a wink, and activated the helmet to his armor. He clomped down the stairs, through the common area, and out the main crew entrance into the cargo bay. He hopped over the railing and landed on the deck with an enormous thud as Crusher and Lucky moved into position near the drop hatch. Once the hatch opened and the transit beam activated, Lucky hopped into the opening, followed by the other two.
“We’re on the ground, Doc,” Jason said over the com. “Get to it.”
“Copy, Captain. We’ll see you in a bit.” As soon as the drop hatch closed, Jason could feel the throb in his bones as the Phoenix throttled up and accelerated away, climbing up steeply to avoid the buildings that were a short distance away.
The three began a slow walk towards their first destination: an ornate, squat building right off the square they were standing in. Jason looked around and noticed that the construction of the city seemed to be monolithic. In fact, he could discern no breaks in the material used, which appeared to be a natural stone, and wondered if the city could actually be carved from a single block. He looked up at the tall towers that jutted up into the sky and figured there had to be another explanation.
The construction style did lend itself to an unusually well-preserved city given the length of time it seemed to have been abandoned. On Earth, trees would have already been growing up through the streets, buildings and bridges would begin to crumble as corrosion took its toll, but here it simply looked unoccupied. The effect was unnerving as they walked across the large common area, relying on Lucky’s sensors to warn them of any potential danger.
“So do you really think this building holds some sort of cultural significance?” Crusher asked.
“I’m groping around in the dark, to be honest,” Jason admitted. “But this building is different than the others in the city. Not only that, but this city appears to have been the capital, either of government or commerce, so we’ll start here.”
“It is an assumption this species had a central seat of power,” Lucky said. “Not all societies require governance.”
“Please … Let’s not get into another wide-ranging discussion on xenopsychology,” Jason begged. “Let’s just assume, and hope, that they’re like ninety percent of all the other species I’ve met so far, and that their big, clunky, bureaucratic government left us some clues lying about.” Crusher snorted but said nothing as they began to ascend the steps into the building.
The doors were a large metal affair that looked to be incredibly heavy, but when Jason pushed experimentally against them they swung open easily. The three stepped tentatively inside, looking about in multiple spectrums as they did. Jason could see that the door was actually a honeycombed, hollow construct that only looked like a solid slab of alloy. While the outside had faded a bit, the inside was still burnished to a shine.
They found themselves in an enormous, arched hall that seemed to extend all the way to the back of the building. There were alcoves that extended off the main hall, but it was clear that whatever the purpose of the building had been, it had revolved around that central room. They split up and poked around for a bit but could find nothing of value in the place. It was more than barren; it seemed to have been sterilized as there were large scrapes and scuffs along some walls that could have been from something being removed.
“This is interesting enough, but is it likely to have what we’re looking for?” Crusher asked. “Whatever that is,” he grumbled under his breath.
“I’m not certain,” Jason admitted. “We had thought this may have been an administrative or government building, but the layout doesn’t make too much sense for that.”
“It almost looks like a place of worship,” Lucky commented. Jason looked around again at all the equally spaced and sized alcoves as well as the large common area they surrounded.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But it actually looks more like a market place or bazaar from back home.”
“Yes,” Crusher agreed, kicking over a metal chair that had a strange split-back design. “We have something similar on my world. Either way, I don’t think this is what we’re looking for.”
“Agreed,” Jason said. “Let’s get hustling to the next building on the list.”
There was something undeniably eerie about walking through a seemingly abandoned city. For Jason, the fact it was an alien city amplified that effect. Even Crusher was becoming agitated the further they traveled.
The next two buildings were the same as the first; interesting, but not informative. So far they had yet to even find any signs that the beings that had lived in the city were related to those who built the ships that attacked Earth. As they walked down the middle of a large street, the Phoenix rumbled overhead in a slow flyby. Frustrated with the lack of progress over the previous few hours, Jason just waved his ship on without bothering to make contact over the com, certain he was being viewed on the sensors.
His hunch proved correct as the whining rumble became a roaring crescendo as the gunship accelerated up and away from the city, heading on a northerly route. They were making their way towards the last building they had marked to search when the silence became unbearable to Jason.
“Have you noticed that everything is either stone or metal? There’s no wood or cloth or anything like that,” he said.
“Have you noticed we’ve been walking aimlessly for five hours with nothing to show for it?” Crusher shot back at him.
“It may be a cultural peculiarity,” Lucky said smoothly, ignoring his friend. “The lack of organic building material could mean a few things. The stone construction of this city is quite unique.”
They fell into silence again as they approached the last building; the sun was beginning to set over the buildings, throwing long shadows and making the empty city even more uninviting. The building they were heading towards looked impregnable from the outside. It looked as if it were made from an enormous slab of stone, a
nd angled upward with the sides tilting inward at fifteen degrees. The truncated pyramid had a flat roof and a large, arching entrance. The three members of the ground team simply looked at each other before stepping into the gloomy building.
Once inside, they could tell there was something different about this building. The entrance had chicanes and barricades that appeared to be part of the original construction. All the other buildings had open floor plans, while this one looked like it had built-in security measures. There was also heavy scoring along the walls that was consistent with energy weapon fire.
“Which way?” Crusher asked.
“Down,” Jason said. “We try to find a way into the lower levels. This looks like a secured location and most bunkers or vaults are built underground.”
“You mean humans build most bunkers and vaults underground,” Crusher insisted.
“Who in the hell would build a bunker suspended above ground level?” Jason asked, tiring of the warrior’s disagreeable attitude during the operation.
“Who would build a city out of one piece of rock?”
“Just find a way down,” Jason ground out. “I’m not wanting to stand around and debate this.” Crusher just shrugged and began looking through doorways to try and find a way down to the lower levels his captain assumed existed. Lucky took a different approach and was using his impressive sensor suite to try and penetrate the interior walls.
“This way, Captain,” he said, after spinning around in four complete revolutions. He led them down a short passageway to the left of the security posts and stopped in front of a wall that appeared the same as the others. He pressed against it and pushed to no effect. Leaning into it, the powerful battlesynth pushed so hard a discernible whine could be heard from his actuators, yet still the wall held.
“There are easier ways to tunnel into solid rock,” Crusher said as he leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, not volunteering to add his considerable strength to the task. Without responding, Lucky placed his back against the spot of wall, jumped enough to get his feet out in front of him, and fired the repulsors in the bottom of his treads. The repulsors over-pressured the passageway, nearly knocking Jason down, and the section of wall disappeared in a screech of tortured metal. Lucky also disappeared through the sudden gap and could be heard crashing down the passageway beyond.
By the time Jason and Crusher rushed to the opening, Lucky was already on his feet and moving back up towards them. Beyond the hidden door there was a ramp that led down steeply and curved to the right as it spiraled downward. Looking at the beveled edge of the wall, Crusher let out a low whistle.
“That’s impressive,” he admitted. “I could see no gap between the door and the wall when it was closed.”
“It was held in place with considerable pressure,” Lucky said as he joined them, “but it is obviously part of the same, solid piece of rock that makes up the wall. This is a departure from the other construction methods we have seen so far. I would surmise this passageway leads someplace that was meant to remain hidden.”
“Fair assumption,” Jason agreed. “Shall we?”
The spiraling ramp seemed to stretch on forever before ending in some sort of control room. Jason drew in a sharp breath when he walked in; for the first time since getting boots on the ground there was proof of the previous tenants’ technology. Large monitors adorned the walls, and control panels littered benches all around the room.
“Interesting,” he said as he walked carefully through the room. “So the fifty million credit question is this: why is this the only room we’ve seen with any kind of tech?”
“There is also organic construction material used here,” Lucky said as he knocked experimentally on the fibrous material of the desks. “The room must have been hermetically sealed when the door closed, as these show very little sign of decomposition.”
“You can say that again,” Crusher said, spinning one of the chairs around to show a shockingly well-preserved, but quite dead, alien body.
“Damnit! Warn me next time,” Jason griped. Crusher just smiled at him as he looked over the alien body.
“I have no record of this species,” Lucky said, inspecting the body himself. “But I was not built for this type of task.” The alien was slight of build–although that may have been because of the dehydration that went along with its mummification–and had thin, willowy limbs. There was a tall crest that ran down the back of its head, and its large eyelids were closed. Jason could also see what appeared to be the remains of some sort of feathers on its head running down either side of the crest.
“While interesting, we need to see what else we can find,” Jason said, averting his eyes from the dried husk of a being that had likely starved to death in that room. As he looked around, he noticed another alloy door inset into the far wall. Leaving his friends to poke around the control room, he strode over and grabbed what he assumed to be the handle. It was hemispherical, about two feet in diameter, and set dead center in the door. Giving it a test jiggle he could see it move ever so slightly, so he commanded his armor up to full strength, grabbed the handle and cranked it to the left, hoping to force the mechanism open through brute force. All he accomplished, however, was shearing the handle off the mechanism and leaving a sharp spike sticking out of the door where it had been mounted. “Shit.”
“That was probably not the best way to gain entry, Captain,” Lucky said from across the room. Jason just stared flatly at him for a moment.
“Thanks, Lucky, but I figured that out myself.”
“It would’ve helped if you had figured it out before ripping the handle off the door,” Crusher chimed in as he pawed through stack of documents he’d found.
“If you’re both done being helpful,” Jason said calmly, “maybe one of you, probably the one with lasers in his arms, could come over and cut this door down.” Unperturbed, Lucky walked over and deployed one of the powerful laser projectors that was in each of his forearms. With a brilliant shower of sparks and billowing smoke, he began to cut through the right edge of the door, adjusting the power and focus of the beam as he did so to avoid destroying what lay beyond.
Ten minutes later, after some cutting and wrenching, the door hung open on its hinges and Jason was stepping inside, ignoring the hiss of the still-glowing metal as it brushed against his armor. Inside was just a tiny alcove that held a single desk and chair. Seated in the chair was another mummified A’arcooni, this one slumped forward with its face planted onto the desk. He looked away and saw a multi-lensed device mounted on the wall. He smiled as he recognized it for what it was, despite its alien construction: a camera. This one had four lenses arrayed equidistant from each other, so Jason assumed it to be a three-dimensional or holographic camera. He lifted it gingerly off the wall and turned it over. It appeared to be self-contained, with no external storage device or power supply. Looking again at the alien behind the desk, he got the impression this was someone of some importance judging by the intricacy of the clothes it wore.
“I think this is what we were looking for,” he said to his companions. “It looks like this fella might have recorded a last message; it might be on the camera still.” Crusher looked dubious but said nothing. Lucky moved to inspect the unit, but also remained silent.
“Let’s get topside and call the ship for a pickup,” Jason told them. “We’ve been here for a while and this is probably as good as we’re going to find.”
“What about them?” Crusher asked, nodding towards the bodies. Jason frowned as he contemplated that.
“I guess we have no choice but to leave them,” Jason said. “I have no idea what funeral rites, if any, they prefer. Anything we might do could be wildly disrespectful.” Crusher seemed to think this over before nodding his agreement.
They walked up the spiraling ramp in silence, pausing while Lucky moved the door back into place as best he could, and exited the building into the night.
Twenty minutes later the Phoenix dropped to a low h
over and lowered the rear ramp so they could board. Jason didn’t want to risk taking the camera he cradled up through the transit beam and having it disintegrate in the fields. He met Twingo in the common area and handed him the unit.
“Be very careful with this,” he told his friend. “Find out how to power it up and have Kage help you get whatever might be on it, off.” He clopped up onto the bridge and retracted his helmet. “Anything?”
“Nothing crucial, but there were some things of interest,” Doc reported from the pilot’s seat.
“You can tell me about it in a bit,” Jason said, turning away to leave. “I’m getting out of this thing and changing into a clean uniform. Get us up into high geosync and we’ll figure out what to do next.”
As Jason walked off towards the armory, he could hear the engines throttle back up as Doc sent them rocketing up out of the atmosphere and into a geosynchronous orbit. Once he was cleaned up and his gear was stowed, he joined the rest of the crew, and Taryn, for a late meal and some reflection on the day’s events.
“I’m still going through the data from the feed on Jason’s armor,” Twingo was saying, “but I just can’t believe that these buildings were constructed from a solid piece of rock.”
“That’s not even the strangest thing we saw down there, but I have my doubts as well,” Jason said as he ate, feeling decidedly mellow after their long trek across the alien city.
“Let’s try to stay focused on the matter at hand,” Doc said. “Tomorrow we’ll attack this fresh and try to see what may be left on that device Jason brought back. And with that in mind, I bid you all goodnight.” He got up from the table and ambled off to his quarters without further comment.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jason conceded. “We’re all beat after the flight out and the day we’ve had. I’m going up to the bridge to put the Phoenix to bed and then I’m hitting the rack for at least six hours.”
Omega Force: Savage Homecoming Page 7