The Circle and Star

by John Foster

  CONTENTS

  1. FINDS AT IFLA PLAINS

  2. THE DISC

  3. JOURNEY TO JO-TENE

  4. LANDING AT JO-TENE

  5. THE ANCIENT SHIP

  6. AMAL

  7. THE VAPOR CREATURES

  8. THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO

  9. FIGHT IN THE TOWER

  10. WEAPON FOUND

  11. MADISON CAPTURED

  12. THE FINAL BATTLE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  The Circle and Star,

  Book 1, The Seeds of the Kaa Series

  West Carter, Space Archaeologist

  By John M. Foster

  Copyright © 2014 by John M. Foster

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be

  Reproduced in any form or by any

  Electronic or mechanical means,

  Including information storage

  and retrieval systems, without

  written permission from the

  author, except for the use of brief

  quotations in a book review.

  FINDS AT IFLA PLAINS

  Lying on his stomach at the excavation site, West felt his comfortably familiar world tremble just a little bit as he stared in astonishment at the human skull he had just painstakingly unearthed from the tunnel's powdery soil. The dim overhead light reflected off the whitewashed walls brightly enough that he knew he was not mistaken. Yes, there were definitely three eye sockets.

  Everything had been going smoothly on the dig. Finding human burials was not unusual, and working such a site became very personal for the excavator. You got to know every bone up close and personal. Great satisfaction came with the exposure of each part of the relic as the grains of the centuries were pried carefully away from the skeleton. Working on the face of the skull as it still lay embedded in the packed earth, he felt the sharp point of his small steel pick working its way between fragile aged fractures, and his weathered fingers gently swept away the dislodged soil with a well-worn camel hair brush. As he started to work on a deposit of crusted debris in the middle of the forehead, he felt no resistance to the pick's tip as he probed the area, leading him to believe that the skull had been damaged in that spot. Feeling a tweak of curiosity, West wondered if that damage had caused the subject's death, or if it had occurred later. As he continued the exploration, running the pick along the edges of the area, the surface felt smoothly rounded rather than jagged, as it should be, if damaged. That's when West first felt his world shift a bit, and he shook his head and grimaced in an attempt to come to grips with what he had found. He loosened the remaining debris and applied a small suction tube to remove not only the last traces of dirt but also any doubt as to his discovery.

  And so, he continued to lie there, staring intently at the three dark sockets that gazed tauntingly back up at him, making him question all that he had been taught. His brain racing, he tried to still his mind and think rationally. After more thoughtful examination from numerous angles without disturbing the skull's position in the soil, West finally sat up, pursed his lips, and whistled sharply toward the back of the tunnel where a rickety ladder led to the outside world.

  The tunnel he was working was discovered more than 20 years ago by West’s grandfather, Professor James Carter, Chairman of the Archaeology Department at the North American Science Center. Located in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the archaeological site had initially been spotted during an examination of old satellite imagery that showed faint evidence of radial lines spreading out from a central point. The thermal imagery had picked up differential temperature readings that had led his grandfather to visit the area.

  After a moment, the creaking of the ladder signaled the arrival of a crew member. West glanced up but was blinded by the glare of sunlight at the entry hole but judging by the relatively quiet descent, he decided it must be one of the women. Soft footsteps approached, accompanied by a faintly audible hum of some classical tune, which he guessed was probably the Downhill Boys.

  “How are you and our bony friend there getting along?” asked Malena as she bent down next to West, shooting him the lighthearted grin that reflected her personality so well. "Sharing a moment?"

  Taking care to shield the skull out of her line of sight he nodded as if in reluctant agreement. “Oh, we’re having a fine little moment with each other all right.” Meeting her gaze, his expression was serious and thoughtful, causing her wide almond eyes to blink in surprise and she rocked onto her buttocks to sit cross legged.

  “You’d better not have found anything cool while I was having lunch!”

  Slowly bringing the skull into view West said, “Maybe one thing.”

  Malena pulled herself forward to get a better look. "Oh wow, a bullet hole right between the eyes!"

  “Take a better look."

  Intrigued, Malena studied the object more intently, her smooth young forehead furrowed in concentration. As comprehension dawned, her mouth opened in momentary speechless amazement. “But... how...?” she stammered. “Wait, you're kidding, right?”

  “Nope. We seem to have ourselves a three-eyed mystery.”

  West stood abruptly, stretching and twisting his aching shoulders in an attempt to relieve the built-up tension. “We need to do imagery documentation of the burial before any more excavation. I'd like you to clean up and prepare the site. I’ll send Tomar down to assist you."

  “Right. Okay,” Malena said slowly, a bit dazed as the implications of the find continued to sink in as she considered all the questions that it posed. Was it a freak? WAS it an alien? Why was it here?

  West walked stiffly to exit the tunnel and found the ladder swinging with a jerky motion. He looked up, expecting to see a member of the crew peering down at him but saw only the blank harsh glare of sunlight. Shrugging, he climbed up, the rungs creaking loudly in protest as he thought about the implications of the find. He squinted as he emerged onto the caramel colored sand, to where his metallic atmospheric/vacuum (AtVac) craft "Paradig" glinted in sparkling contrast to the dust covered tents and canopies of the camp.

  Dark eyes watched from behind one of those tents as West walked the 100 meters toward a large canopy in the center of the compound. Its welcome shade protected the crew from the punishing heat as they completed their lunch of fruit and jerked meat, a gift of the nearest village, some fifty kilometers distant.

  A broad shouldered young man with curly brown hair detached himself from the shelter of the canopy and walked over to West. “How’s it going Chief? You want some lunch?” said Volkum, smiling broadly as West approached. Originally from Turkey, Volkum was personable, charming, and a creative problem solver - one of those people who could think on his feet and find a way to make things work. It was an attribute in short supply in a high-tech universe where you were often far, far away from anyone or anything.

  “No … thanks,” West answered distractedly. He turned to the rest of the crew as they bantered and laughed under the canopy. “I have an announcement to make,” said West, his voice rising to be heard over the chatter. “Listen up!” He tried to look stern but excitement played about his face as he began to tell them what had been found. They had stumbled upon something much bigger than anticipated. It was show time and he relished it.

  The discovery of the burial had started out as routine procedure in the investigation of the tunnels. When they had first arrived, they quickly rediscovered the tunnels that West’s grandfather had found years before in the middle of a large open plain with rocky foothills and steep canyons along one flank. A large donut mound of soil with a hand-made rickety ladder tied with fibers and hardened leather in the center of the hole led them to the tunnel entrance. The ladder indicat
ed that the tunnel had been used by the locals for some purpose. Small mounds of sand that had been blown in over the years obscured the base of the ladder. The first step had been to check the tunnels for roof fall or obscured holes in the passageways, to see if they were safe to walk in. They had encountered both at previous sites and it was important to make sure they didn’t have any dangerous conditions that the crew might encounter. A two-person crew then entered the tunnel with handheld ground penetrating radar units and scanned the tunnel floors and walls to see if there were any anomalies worth investigation. All of the tunnels had various debris in them that ranged from recent bones of sheep that had fallen to their death, to what must have been ancient or at least very old storage jars. Other than the sheep bones there was almost no evidence of modern intrusion except for the natives who had tried to rescue their animals who had fallen in. The locals now viewed the area as haunted and refused to come near.

  The tunnels were pristine white, a meter and a half wide by two and a half meters tall and showed no damage or even any obvious age, considering they were 5,000 years old. Their condition was actually similar to other desert sites, as the arid climate tended to preserve both artifacts and features far longer than in more humid environments. The scanning crew, Thomas and Curt, transmitted all data to the Paradig while they walked the corridors. It was ironic that the scan tool beamed the data through a relay station at the tunnel's entrance to the top of the entry mound, then to one of the three Geostationary Relay Platforms that had replaced the thousands of space satellites in use prior to the Unification War, and then back down to the Paradig which sat just 300 meters away from the site. It was round-about but fast. Malena and Volkum, both technical specialists on the project, monitored that information for accuracy, potential issues, and results so that additional data could be obtained if necessary. It came as a surprise when something actually popped up on the data scans near the entrance. A simple elongated meter and-a-half anomaly of different soil densities was evident in the middle of the corridor floor not far from the base of the ladder. The scanning crew didn’t even realize the anomaly was there until Malena excitedly reported the fact back to them from her work station aboard the Paradig.

  After analyzing the collected data with Volkum, Malena left her station inside the cool AtVac and walked down the ramp into the blinding glare of the desert camp. She immediately spotted West's tall straight form as he gave instructions to the survey team that was preparing to leave for one of the local villages, some 60 klicks away. Her carbon fiber boots danced lightly over the hot dunes as she hurried toward the group. West glanced over at her but continued to finish with the briefing in spite of noticing her poorly concealed impatience. When he concluded his meeting, he turned to her with amusement.

  “What’s up Malena?

  “We found an anomaly near our tunnel entry and I want to volunteer to excavate it.”

  “What does it look like?”

  "Hey West," interrupted a lingering surveyor. "One last thing?"

  Before West could turn his attention away Malena's answer came in a rush, “It’s in the middle of the floor, about 40 cm deep and about a meter and half long.” She had that darned pleading look on her face that he found so charming. She was unabashedly manipulative with her cuteness which made it all the more appealing.

  “Sure, just make sure that Madison documents it first. Then go right ahead,” said West as he turned away to address additional survey details.

  “Thank you, thank you,” said Malena, clapping her hands in tiny movements. Her dark almond eyes sparkled in the morning light as she ran off to search for Madison.

  Preparing to head out with another survey team, Madison looked up from her data pad to find Malena approaching at what could only be called a skip, and she couldn't help but smile. The men on the crew held Madison in awe for her striking blue eyes, silky copper hair, curves that should have warning signs around them, and one of the finest scientific minds of the human world. Her happily married demeanor prevented any problems that might have occurred in other circumstances. Malena however, admired her fairness and wry sense of humor.

  Without preamble, Malena breathlessly said, “West wants to know if you have time to document a feature I'm going to excavate in one of the tunnels.” Her long dark ponytail bounced impatiently as she spoke.

  “Well Malena, I was just heading out with the survey crew, to spend the day eating dust and sand and sweating in the blinding 120-degree heat. You're asking me to change my plans and work instead in a dimly lit, deliciously cool tunnel? I'll have to think about it for a while,” said Madison, her face alight with her large wide smile.

  “Oh...…,” said Malena, her eyes crinkled with a suppressed laugh, "I suppose it could wait until you get back.”

  “Uh huh right. Let's go. I’ll text my regrets to the survey team leader.”

  The two walked across camp to the tunnel's mounded entrance where Madison grabbed the polished handles of the old wooden ladder and felt with relief the cool air kiss her long limbs as she descended into the dim light. Malena quickly followed and pointed to the spot where she had removed the piled sand from the anomaly, explaining to Madison the parameters of the scanning data. The area looked just like the rest of tunnel floor but Madison knew that it would need to be documented thoroughly, particularly in light of the dimensions that Malena had mentioned.

  “Does West know that this might be a burial?” asked Madison, looking at Malena.

  “Well, he was a little busy when I asked him,” said Malena with overlarge, innocent eyes.

  “Indeed,” said Madison with a smile, “and have you done many burials before?”

  “I did all those dog burials in front of the Roman tombs in Egypt. They should count for something in technique.”

  Madison laughed and walked back to the ladder, shaking her head. As they exited the tunnel, she turned to Malena and said, “We'll get Theo to rig up a vacuum/screen unit on the surface near the tunnel entry, then you can go to work on your excavation.”

  Malena smiled and gave a little clap of hands as they walked to the Paradig to find Theo.

  Busy within the gleaming Paradig, Theo grumbled at their intrusion but they both knew he was powerless to resist their feminine entreaties and sure enough, he not only heaved the vacuum/screen unit out of the cargo hold but also wheeled it all the way across camp to the tunnel entry point for them. Theo was a burly man with a round face hidden by a curly beard and a long flowing mustache that occasionally got caught in doors. His endearing personality made women want to take care of him. He was definitely one of the finest pilots and engineers that West had ever come across and ultimately, he also became West’s best friend. In their early travels together, the "care taking women" often got Theo into trouble since he didn’t have an off switch for it and having a girl -- or three -- in every port made each trip one of trepidation and turmoil. West often would find Theo skulking in the ship when they docked at a space port or facility to avoid any unpleasantness. Eventually, Theo stopped dating altogether and he now stayed close to home.

  “This where you want it?” asked Theo, his hand wiping the sweat beads above his drooping mustache as he stood looking at Madison.

  Madison looked to Malena for confirmation who nodded yes, with a quick clapping of her hands.

  Theo watched the little interaction, grunted, and started to set up the machinery.

  “How many separations do you want on the screens?” he asked.

  “The full number,” said Malena.

  “The full number?” asked Theo, eying the two of them suspiciously.

  “It’s the only anomaly, so we want to be careful with what’s in it,” said Madison quickly.

  “Hmmm.........,” said Theo continuing to scrutinize them as if they were hiding something.

  Malena tugged on Theo’s sleeve and gave him a big grin while clasping her hands as if in prayer.

  “Hmmm......,” Theo said again, continuing to look suspi
cious, but after a moment he finished the set-up and turned around to head back to the Paradig.

  “You know he’s gonna talk to West,” said Madison to Malena.

  “I know, but you’ll be down there with me and I’ll be busy working away ever so efficiently when he shows up to check on us.” Her eyes sparkled.

  “Why do I feel like a conspirator in all this?” asked Madison with a grin.

  As expected, West appeared an hour later. He watched silently as Malena slowly and methodically cleared away the overburden on top of the feature. Satisfied that she was following appropriate procedure, he simply cautioned her to call him when she found something. He then returned to the surface and Malena continued working in a totally contented fashion.

  The hum of the vacuum unit and the soft screeching of the sonic trowel which loosened soil of just about any density in a very narrow field were music to Malena's ears. The trowel was named after the old-time hand tool that archaeologists had used generations ago when they worked on excavations, even though it no longer had any resemblance to that primitive tool. She gently swept long tines across the soil, causing the packed earth to loosen from the sonic vibrations, and then she took the vacuum unit and removed the loosened soil to search for changes in soil color that would indicate a pit. She worked quickly but methodically, knowing that the actual feature was 40 cm deep and she was still on just the top surface of the anomaly.

  As time passed, she began to worry that there was no pit after all but finally observed a faint difference between soil within and without the area where the feature lay. She eagerly noted the depth and followed the subtle line around the feature, inputting precise measurements on her HDA. As she completed the outline, she transmitted a priority message for West, letting him know she had found a pit and that she would stop work until he arrived, but would have Madison document it in the interim.