The Circle and Star

by John Foster

  The little party of humans shrank back from these increasingly hostile looking creatures.

  “We need to go and go now,” said Volkum holding out his weapon toward the sand piles.

  “Yes, observations can wait,” said Madison as she reached for her HDA. “West! We stirred up something or somethings and we’re heading back to the ship.”

  “What’ve you got?” said West over her HDA speaker.

  “It’s a long story but you’d better get everyone back into the ship and pronto,” said Madison.

  “I’ll come with a party of our security team.”

  “No, don’t do that, there’s hundreds of them,” said Madison.

  “What? What are they?” asked West, his voice clearly concerned now.

  “Some kind of giant protozoa, is the best description I can think of. We’re running now,” said Madison switching off the device.

  West stared at his HDA and then called over to the ship. Theo activate the perimeter weapons but lock them safe for humans.”

  “Roger,” said Theo. “Battle Stations, ground assault of some kind after our science team,” rang out from the exterior ship speakers. Several crew members who had been setting up vehicles for longer distance excursions now dashed back into the cargo bay and then quickly returned with large rifle like beam weapons.

  The anti-aircraft pods that had set up around the Paradig were shaped like black boxes with a ball on top with either dual or quad projections in tandem sticking up from the top. The weapons now pivoted and turned with their sensors actively seeking targets. One of the crew, Donally, ran up to West and thrust a laser rifle at him. “Thought you might want one of these,” said Donally, smiling and raising his own rifle as Madison and the rest of her team appeared around the corner of one of the amber spires.

  Madison’s team was running and Curt and Volkum were half turned and looking back over their shoulders as they ran.

  “What’s happening Sir?” asked Donally.

  “Our science team is apparently getting a biology lesson,” said West as he raised his rifle.

  Madison seeing West, ran towards him with the rest of the team in tow. “Some kind of pseudopod with horns and tentacles is after us, there are hundreds of them,” said Madison breathing in hard gasps.

  The rest of the team gathered to one side of West and Madison as the sand creatures made their appearance. The sand creatures were moving quicker, as if their central tentacle was a nose which touched the pavement seeking their scent. There were 10 of them and they turned exactly where Madison’s team did and in an appalling burst of speed hurried across the square.

  “Theo? The pods aren’t firing. Get them up and running,” yelled West.

  “What? That can’t be, those pods will blast anything that isn’t human,” said Theo sounding exasperated.

  “Hurry, Theo, we’re running out of time.”

  West turned to the other six team members and said, “Fire at those creatures and keep firing.”

  Madison and her team also lined up and started to fire at the fast approaching blobs which were now frighteningly close. The weapon fire didn’t seem to have any effect but then the super-heated blasts started to melt the tentacle legs of the closest creatures and their tan color suddenly turned white, pulsed brightly, then their main body seem to solidify, then crack, and fall apart like a crushed ice cube.

  It took several shots per creature to stop them and more to kill them.

  “Theo, we need those weapons activated,” yelled West over his HDA. “Madison says there’s hundreds of them and we’re not going to be able to keep this up for long.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with them, they’re not able to fire at humans and everything else should be fair game,” said Theo.

  “These things aren’t human Theo,” said West as another larger group of the creatures rounded the corner and raced to them.

  “Alright, get everyone on the ship and I’ll do weapons free and see if that does the trick. Everyone has to be inside though,” said Theo.

  The exterior radio blared the instructions to get inside the ship and all the crew turned to run inside. The sand creatures sensing their prey moved quicker but some stopped and sniffed at their dead companions and Madison realized with horror that they appeared to be eating their own kind.

  “Let’s go inside,” West said as he grabbed her shoulder and hurried her along.

  Once West was assured everyone was within the ship, he raced to the bridge. He ran up behind Theo who was in the pilots’ chair and looking at the main view port.

  “Everyone in?” asked Theo.

  “Yep, let’s see if our defense is going to activate,” said West. Theo flipped a switch over with a red capsule and pushed it. The weapons pods on the ships outside suddenly pivoted seeking targets again and started to fire at the sand creatures who were now crawling about the exterior of the ship. There were hundreds of them and more coming into the square as they watched.

  Theo adjusted intensity and beam width and the creatures suddenly started dying quickly. In a few minutes, the weapons stopped pivoting and the square was littered with the dead and fractured remains of the sand creatures.

  “Wow. Madison? You should be more careful of who you study next time,” said Theo looking up at her.

  West was looking at the landscape littered with the dead corpses of the creatures. “What happened to the weapon platforms?” asked West. Theo just shook his head.

  “Madison and Volkum, go over the weapons software and find out where the glitch is and see if you can fix that. We can’t afford to have that happen again,” said West to Madison and Volkum.

  They both nodded and Madison grabbed Volkums’s arm and left the bridge to go to Madison’s work station.

  “Theo, let’s take a walk around and see if there’s any more of these sand creatures,” said West.

  “Right, you want me to assemble a fire team?”

  “Yep, make it 10 people. We’ll form up at the cargo bay, and then move out in increments. I’ll have Volkum man the weapon bots so we don’t get blasted.”

  Theo stood in the middle of assembled crew and said, “Okay people, listen up. When Volkum gets done setting up the weapons bots, we’re going to move out slowly and in groups of two. Pick a partner and stay within reach of each other. I want to move slowly until we know what we’re up against. We think we got most if not all of the sand things. But there could be hundreds more so stay alert and stay within sight of the main team,” said Theo.

  West then walked down the ramp and they fanned out in a line abreast and started walking to the tall red building. “Madison said all of the sand creatures she encountered came from the ruined red building, so we’ll start there,” said West.

  As they turned the corner, they halted and took up a defensive formation but saw nothing but a couple of blasted sand creatures. West and Terri, one of the crew, moved forward and then Theo and another person moved to the opposite corner of the building but also saw nothing. After wandering and searching around, there was no evidence that any of the sand creatures were left.

  “What do you think my friend?” asked West of Theo.

  “Looks like they’re all dead or have tasted enough laser to have satisfied their curiosity,” said Theo.

  “Put a couple of motion detectors with cameras here, so we can monitor any movements in this area, then I’ll set up a team with Madison to do some exploring,” said West.

  Theo gave some instructions to two of the teams and they jogged back to the ship to get the equipment. West also returned and sought out Madison and found her, predictably, at her work station with someone else who was standing very close to her. He smiled when he saw her but lost that quickly when he saw that it was Dickens leaning over her shoulder looking at something on her monitor.

  “Well, how are we doing this morning?” said West looking at Dickens.

  Dickens looked up and smiled at West, “I’m helping Madison with the scans she took
as we did our orbits. What she found is quite interesting.”

  Madison finished typing on her keyboard, looked up and smiled at West. “Yes, Dickens has been a big help. He noticed that in addition to the energy sources that seem to lead here, there are also relay towers that point to this area as a nexus for transmissions,” said Madison.

  “Relay towers?” asked West, now looking skeptical. “Wouldn’t they have used satellites?” asked West.

  “Not necessarily. The intensity of the storms here may have made it necessary to have a backup system in place that would allow uninterrupted communications. There are radiating lines of towers and structures that all seem to have a relay capacity and they all point to here,” said Dickens who was looking quite pleased with himself.

  “That’s in keeping with my theory that this city is the primary or only spaceport for this planet and thus needs reliable communications,” said Madison.

  “Okay, good, nice work Dickens,” said West but not really feeling the comradery that his voice created.

  Dickens smiled and excused himself, but not without saying, “Hey Madison, you want to have dinner with me tonight? I’m cooking.”

  Madison suddenly looked self-conscious and started to say something but Dickens quickly intervened, “It’s okay, I realize you’re busy, maybe some other time.” With that said, Dickens left the room.

  “Well,” said West, watching Dickens as he left the room. “I wanted to show you the data we got off the radar images from earlier.”

  Madison seemed a little flustered and self-conscious. “Okay, what did you find?”

  “It looks like there are some tunnels below the square that we’re on but also some large chambers, some as big as a sports stadium. The walls are too dense to see through but considering the size it must be some type of storage facility or possibly fuel if your idea that this is a spaceport is correct, and I think we should assume it is. Interestingly enough, it appears that the entrance is through that building with the sand creatures,” said West.

  “Really? Speaking of nightmares, what did you find on your exploration?”

  “Nothing, no creatures, no piles, just the blasted remains of them. Debbie Gray has looked over the bones that we found on the creatures and will give us a report later,” said West.

  “It will be interesting to find out what they were eating or ... absorbing,” said Madison, grimacing.

  “Precisely, and I’d like you to take another team into that building and find out what is in that chamber. This could help us find the weapon by understanding what facilities they have here and what sort of infrastructure they had.”

  “Okay, can I take the original team and some others?” asked Madison.

  “You can bet I’ll make sure they’re well-armed. I’ll have Curt take some explosives too, just in case you find anything that needs to be opened,” said West grinning.

  “Oh, you’re gonna make a lot of boys happy today. Nothing like laser weapons and loud noises to make a kid happy,” said Madison smiling.

  “Yes, it’s a shame I have to miss it but I’m helping Theo make repairs on the tail of the ship. You have fun though and let me know when you get back,” said West looking over his shoulder as he made his way out of the cabin.

  At the ship cargo ramp, Madison’s exploration team was gathering their equipment and gear to start their exploration. “Okay, we’ve got everything we need, all checked off and accounted for,” said Volkum, cradling a large laser rifle while he checked things off on his HDA. He nodded to Madison.

  “Right. Thank you, Volkum. We’re going back to the red building. We’ll enter the structure, search for an access tunnel, and then find those chambers that West and his team found. I’ve already sent you the data maps that the Captain was able to compile from the radar scans,” said Madison.

  Curt raised his hand his face troubled, “Any idea what’s in those chambers, they look awfully big,” he said looking down at the scans.

  “No, the walls are too dense to see through so we have no idea of what’s in them. We have to be careful it’s not some form of gas or fuel that may blow us up if ignited. Keep that in mind if you decide to start firing on shadows or something. We do this carefully and slowly,” said Madison, her head slowly scanning each of the team to make sure they acknowledged.

  The team moved away from the ship and headed for the ruined building. Madison had some trepidation about going back there after the encounter with the sand creatures that had shaken her with the unexpectedness of seeing something that appeared as benign as a sand pile turn into a horrifying creature that wanted to ingest her and the team. Intellectually, she understood that exploration in space was dangerous, but the reality of it wanting to eat her was something she hadn’t really internalized. Shaking her head, she led the team to the front of the red building, the massive doors quiet and forbidding.

  “May I?” said Volkum looking to Madison as he grabbed the long metal door handles. Madison nodded and Volkum had the team range in a semi-circle around the door in the event that something was waiting inside for them.

  Volkum pulled the handle and the door surprisingly gave way with very little pull and Volkum almost stumbled as it glided open revealing a large room suffused with warm light. Volkum walked through the entrance his rifle leveled in the event that something was still hiding in there. “Nothing,” said Volkum nervously glancing around.

  The team slowly entered the room looking at the high ceilings dotted with small designs and what appeared to be writing. While there was light in the room there was no obvious source and Madison found it necessary to shine her hand light on the ceilings and walls to see what the symbols and glyphs were. She scanned some panels of what she presumed was writing and sent it back to the ship for analysis. The ship’s special crypto-programing that provided translation services was also adept at understanding ancient languages which provided an important tool in their work as archaeologists. While the computer was fast, it might take days for it to understand the nuances of language and ideographic representations that sometimes were found together.

  “There’s a vertical shaft through the middle of the building,” said Volkum shining a light up inside a square sided chamber in the back of the room.

  “Is it an elevator?” asked Madison as she made her way to the doorway that Volkum was standing in.

  “Well, if it is, it doesn’t use machinery like we do,” said Volkum moving his hand light up and down looking for evidence of machinery.

  Madison looked up and then down seeing nothing but smooth walls that had the same golden light emanating from the material. As Madison looked up and thought she saw a quick movement at some point high above them in the building but it was only a flash of movement and she thought it was just nerves and tension. Volkum noticed. “You see anything?”

  “Thought I saw a movement up above but I guess it’s just nerves from our last encounter,” said Madison looking up the walls of the shaft.

  Volkum shined his light up the walls and could see other openings along the shaft both above and below them. He pulled back from the precipice. “How do you want to handle this? I can get some spider lines and grips that will lower us down?” said Volkum.

  “Yeah, that will do it. We’ll search around the building and see if there are any other ways up or down,” said Madison. Volkum and Johnson hurried off to fetch the equipment. A short while later, they returned with a small motor vehicle with some boxes of small reels of thin thread that had the strength of steel. Volkum used the remote control to move the vehicle to the edge of the shaft and stop. “Okay, I rigged a harness so we can lower one or two down at a time,” said Volkum.

  Curt stepped forward and took hold of the harness and started to put it on. “I’ll go first and clear the way,” said Curt swinging out his massive short barreled weapon attached to a shoulder sling.

  “What in heaven’s name is that?” said Madison looking dubiously at the firearm that Curt had slung over his broad sh
oulder.

  “It’s an old-style shotgun fitted with a laser weapon as a backup. Very effective at close range,” said Curt smiling.

  “Okay, you need to go down 100 feet and then you should find another tunnel that heads back towards the ship or east as the compass works here,” said Madison.

  Volkum stabilized the hoist and positioned the jib over the shaft. “Make sure you write,” said Volkum as Curt descended. Curt looked up smiling and waved with one hand and then looked down intently.

  “I’ve set the descent to 90 feet and you’ll stop there to listen and get your bearings,” said Volkum into his HDA which was set to communicate with Curt’s HDA. In a few moments, the hoist stopped and the cable swayed a bit as Curt positioned himself to see what he could below him. His voice came out clear in Volkums’s HDA. “I’m above the entrance I guess we’re looking for,” said Curt, his voice a little breathless from holding it. “Can’t hear anything from the tunnel, let me down fast about 8 feet,” said Curt.

  “Right, here you go,” said Volkum as he input the depth into the hoist.

  The line buzzed for a second and then the team around the shaft entrance watched the cable sway a bit. “Wow, you should see this,” said Curt his voice enraptured.

  Madison and Volkum turned and looked at each other. “Right, what’s up my little friend?” asked Volkum.

  There was a pause, “It’s amazing, there are two large spears with wooden shafts at the beginning of the tunnel and they look like they have stone tips. Then the tunnel continues in a straight line and disappears into the distance. There’re little lights in the ceiling every 20 paces or so and the walls of the tunnel are a peach color on the bottom, then turquoise, and then at the top a sky blue. The floor is like lawn grass and the amazing part is that it looks like real grass.”

  Madison and Volkum looked at each other again. “Can you swing yourself over to the tunnel entrance? We’ll give you some slack,” said Madison as she motioned to Volkum who nodded.

  “Yeah, I can, hold on.”

  The hoist cable dropped a foot and started to slowly swing but gained momentum and then abruptly stopped. “I’m in the tunnel and letting go of the harness in a sec.”