Stranded (A stand-alone SF thriller) (The Prometheus Project Book 3)

by Richards, Douglas E

  “It didn’t heal him instantly, of course,” continued their mother, “although doctors agree that without it he would have never healed properly. But miraculously, because of the Med-Pen, Carl healed in only a few weeks. Completely and perfectly. Those devices are truly amazing. He wasn’t even scarred.” She considered this further and then shook her head. “At least not physically,” she added gravely.

  CHAPTER 4

  Collision Course

  Mrs. Resnick powered the windows back up and they exited the car, each lost in their own thoughts. Mrs. Resnick’s mood remained somber, but she began to snap out of it at the first security checkpoint—drawn out by the guards who, as usual, chatted pleasantly with her and the kids while they worked. The guards carefully inspected Ryan and Regan’s backpacks and let them pass.

  Six weeks earlier, the Med-Pen the team was studying went missing for a day. While it had only been misplaced, security had been stepped up. Now, team members were scanned and backpacks checked on the way out of Prometheus as well as in, to make sure no one left with an alien object, purposely or accidentally. Security had also installed a number of sensors that were keyed to detect chemical, material, or energy signatures that were out of the ordinary. This made it even more difficult to sneak anything of alien origin by the guards.

  They next entered a structure called the decoy building. It was nothing but a shell that had been built around the reinforced concrete bunker that housed the Prometheus elevator. The decoy building looked normal from the outside. Its spacious lobby even had a reception desk and a receptionist, so anyone from Proact who entered the building by mistake would not be suspicious. But anyone who wasn’t part of the Prometheus Project would find it easier to break into Fort Knox than to get beyond the reception desk.

  They passed though several additional checkpoints, provided additional passwords, and had their fingerprints and retinas scanned electronically. Finally, after ten minutes, they entered the massive Prometheus elevator, slightly larger than a three-car garage and several stories high. Their mother was upbeat by nature and her mood had now fully returned to normal.

  “After what happened to Carl,” broadcast Ryan as the elevator began its long descent, “I can’t believe Mom and Dad are letting us go with them.”

  “Me either. But whatever you do, don’t say anything about it and jinx us.”

  “You two really owe me for this, by the way,” said their mother as if reading their minds. “Dad was originally against you coming with us.”

  “Really?” said Regan, as if she couldn’t imagine anyone being so unreasonable.

  “Really. I was finally able to convince him that Isis was safer than most of the planets we’ve let you visit, despite what happened to Carl. I reminded him that I’ve been on Isis eleven times before this tragic incident and I never got as much as a scratch, and not a single animal ever paid us the slightest attention—including the species that could disguise themselves as lava rocks. I pointed out that the few individuals from this species that finally did react to us only did so because Carl crushed one of them—and none of these survived to hold a grudge.”

  “Sounds safe to me,” agreed Regan enthusiastically.

  “Well, as safe as any primitive planet can ever be, I suppose. But even so, we’ll be taking precautions. We’re bringing a portable force-field generator, just in case. And the guards going with us will have guns—this time filled with tranquilizer darts,” she added pointedly, intent on ensuring that no further senseless killing of Isis wildlife would be possible, regardless of the provocation. “But whatever you do,” she instructed her children firmly, “don’t step on any lava rocks.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Mom,” he said sarcastically. “If you hadn’t warned us just now that would have been the first thing I did.”

  At last the elevator stopped and they stepped off into a massive, manmade cavern, the size of a baseball stadium, illuminated by powerful electric lights and filled with machinery and high-tech equipment. They said a warm hello to two heavily armed guards, both dressed casually. Carl had not wanted Prometheus turned into a military base and insisted the members of his security team not wear uniforms or use military titles. In fact, everyone on the team used first names with each other, decorated colonels and Nobel Prize winning chemists alike. Dr. Harris was the only exception, despite his objections, because he was the head of the entire project.

  They entered the city through a rainbow-colored section of the force-field wall their father had managed to hold open with a furious onslaught of precisely tuned energy.

  “So is Dad just coming to keep us company?” asked Regan.

  “Actually, it’s his expedition. I decided to go and bring along some of my staff to keep him company.” Amanda and Ben Resnick were among the first few members of the Prometheus Project and had recruited dozens of scientists who now worked for them.

  “I don’t get it,” said Regan. “You’re the one who studies alien life. What does a physicist want with a primitive planet?”

  “Isis is about 25,000 light years away. Less than 900 light years from a massive black hole in the center of our galaxy.”

  A light year was the distance light could travel in a year. And since light was insanely fast, screaming along at 670 million miles per hour, 25,000 light years was some serious distance. Einstein had shown that nothing in the universe could travel faster than light—but obviously the Qwervy had found ways to circumvent this rule with their portals.

  “According to your father, when stars are sucked into black holes and annihilated, X-rays are emitted into space. He’s calculated that the X-rays from one of these events that happened many, many years ago will be close enough to Isis for him to measure sometime tomorrow or Sunday. He says this data has the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of black holes. He’ll set up the equipment tonight, and baby-sit it for the rest of the weekend to make sure nothing goes wrong.” Mrs. Resnick shook her head and an amused smile crossed her face. “He’s pretty excited about it.”

  “Who wouldn’t be?” teased Regan, unable to keep a straight face.

  Her mother’s smile broadened. “Since the animal life on Isis is so interesting,” she continued, “and since I haven’t had time to return since the incident, I thought we could make it a family outing. With a few others along for the ride. It’ll be fun.”

  The familiar rows of fast, oversized electric-powered golf-carts were parked beside the entrance along with a half dozen electric trucks. The trucks were huge, with expansive cargo beds. They were called Haulers by the team since they were used to haul heavy scientific equipment around Prometheus. Despite their size their electric engines were almost whisper quiet. The trio jumped into a large golf-cart at the end of the row. This time Regan took the front seat next to their mother while Ryan took the back.

  They drove past buildings that shimmered and others that changed colors depending on the angle from which they were viewed. Buildings that appeared to be floating and others that sparkled brilliantly as though made of diamonds. The city was magnificent. No matter how often the kids visited they continued to find it awe-inspiring.

  Several minutes later their mother stopped the cart in front of a four-story building in the shape of a complex three-dimensional snowflake. “I need to speak with Lou Holmgren,” she announced. “Wait here. This should only take a few minutes. Then we’ll go see the Enigma Cube.”

  As they waited, one of the buildings off in the distance began changing shape, something that was always fun to watch. They exited the cart and walked toward one edge of the snowflake building to get a better view.

  “Hold on,” said Regan when they were ten feet from the building’s edge. “I need to tie my shoe.” She knelt down to begin tying.

  Ryan turned toward her to ask her a question.

  And then a low hum hit his ears. The hum from a Hauler!

  Ryan’s heart jumped to his throat! He turned back around just in time to see a mas
sive runaway Hauler shoot around the corner of the building. It was headed right for them!

  The driver—a scientist who had been working around the clock for days—had fallen asleep at the wheel. Ryan absorbed the entire situation in an instant, but it was too late.

  Before he could begin to warn his sister or launch himself out of the way, the twelve-ton vehicle was on them.

  Ryan didn’t even have time to close his eyes as the Hauler slammed into his chest.

  CHAPTER 5

  The Enigma Cube

  The exact instant the Hauler made contact with Ryan’s sweatshirt, he felt a powerful force acting on his body that he couldn’t possibly describe, threatening to pull him apart. And then the driver’s face was less than a foot in front of him.

  Impossible! The front of the Hauler should have crushed his chest and thrown him under the tires already.

  Even more impossible, he could see inside the driver’s face!

  Ryan could clearly see his brain, a three-pound mass of wrinkly material. He could see the backs of his eyeballs; huge orbs set into his skull, riddled with a complex network of blood vessels. And he could see inside of the blood vessels as well. And inside of the individual cells that made up the blood. And he could see through the truck to the driver’s chest, and through this to his heart, and through this to his cells. He could see all of this in a single instant, and knew that his mind couldn’t hold it all in and would soon become overloaded.

  And then the truck was past him! Instantly his vision returned to normal.

  With a start, the driver of the Hauler awakened and jerked the wheel to straighten the vehicle. Realizing he had dozed off for several seconds, he shook himself awake and drove on, completely unaware he had just hit two kids.

  Only he hadn’t. He had passed right through them.

  Ryan felt faint and dropped to a sitting position on the ground next to Regan as the Hauler receded in the distance. Both were now white as ghosts—which is apparently what they and the truck had become.

  “How can we be alive?” said Regan, her heart pounding thunderously in her ears. “I looked up and the Hauler was on us. We didn’t have a chance.”

  Ryan nodded. “Just as it hit us, it became transparent somehow.” He paused. “No, that’s not the word for it. It became, I don’t know—not solid. Like a cloud or something. I think we did too.”

  Regan nodded her agreement. “It was so freaky. I could see inside the tires. And inside the front hood—I could see the engine. And inside the engine. Somehow we and the truck passed right through each other.”

  Both kids looked down and pressed on their arms and stomachs, half expecting their hands to pass through their bodies.

  “Well, we’re solid enough now,” said Ryan. “And the truck became solid again once it passed us.” He shuddered as the memory of the massive steel Hauler bearing down on him replayed itself in his mind. Never before had he felt so totally helpless and so certain that he had taken his last breath.

  “That was like some kind of miracle,” said Regan, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Yeah,” said Ryan, nodding thoughtfully. “It was.” The slightest of smiles played over his face as he reached an inescapable conclusion. “So who do we know that can pull off miracles?”

  The answer came to Regan immediately. “The Teacher,” she whispered, her eyes widening. Of course! The city’s central computer—so advanced it made a human supercomputer seem like a primitive adding machine. There could be no doubt it had saved them from certain death.

  “Thanks,” broadcast Regan to the Teacher with as much power as she could.

  There was no reply, which didn’t really surprise them.

  The existence of the Qwervy’s observation post was supposed to remain a secret, off limits to humans and aliens alike. When the Qwervy discovered that humans had managed to find and enter their city, they considered expelling them and erasing their memories. While the Qwervy thought humanity was very promising, they knew the species had a dark and dangerous side it needed to master. They finally decided to let the team remain, but would not allow the Teacher to have any further contact with Ryan or Regan or help the team in any way. The human race would be on its own. The Qwervy wanted to see if humans could learn from the city’s technology rather than destroy themselves with it. Humanity had thrown itself into deep water, and now it was time to see if the species would sink or swim. Only Ryan and Regan knew the exact nature of the Qwervy’s decision and that they were keeping tabs on the team.

  Ryan scratched his head. “This had to have been the Teacher’s doing, all right, but I still don’t get it. It’s under orders not to help us. Call me crazy, but doesn’t saving our lives count as helping us?”

  Regan thought about this for a moment. “Maybe not. I mean, it did help us, but I think the idea was it wasn’t supposed to help us if we got into trouble while messing around with Qwervy technology. We’re supposed to be on our own with that. If we decide to play with fire and burn ourselves, that’s our problem. But being hit by a runaway Hauler? Come on—that has nothing to do with how we use their technology. I bet that’s why it saved us.”

  “Whatever the reason,” said Ryan, “I’m not complaining.” He paused. “At least we’ve figured out who saved us. How the Teacher did it is another story. We’ll probably never know that.”

  “Dad might know what happened,” said Regan hopefully. “You know, come up with some kind of weird physics theory.”

  “You think we should tell him?”

  “Yes!” said Regan emphatically. “Why wouldn’t we?”

  Ryan considered. At first, harboring important secrets like the Prometheus Project and their telepathy had been fun, but this had quickly become a burden they were very tired of carrying. “I can think of a reason,” he said finally, not looking at all happy about it. “If we told him what happened, we’d also have to tell him about the Teacher—about the Qwervy monitoring the team. We promised the Teacher we wouldn’t do that.” Ryan didn’t know what would happen if they broke this promise, but he didn’t want to risk finding out. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Qwervy changed their mind and refused to allow them to explore the abandoned city any further.

  “We wouldn’t have to tell him about the Teacher and the Qwervy,” said Regan.

  “Yes we would. In the end we would. Dad’s not stupid. He would know the timing couldn’t be a coincidence. What are the odds of us turning into ghosts the exact instant the truck was about to hit us? Dad would figure out we’re being monitored pretty fast—it’s the only conclusion that makes any sense.”

  “We could lie and tell him it just happened out of the blue.”

  Ryan thought about this. He wondered if his father would even believe them. Solid objects just didn’t become non-solid. That was even more impossible than the other impossible stuff they had seen. Heck, he almost didn’t believe it, and it had happened to him. But this wasn’t even the issue. “I don’t think we should risk it, Regan,” he replied at last. “Whatever the Teacher did to save our lives, it probably shouldn’t have. It may have used an ability the Qwervy don’t want humans to know about. I think we should keep this to ourselves.”

  Regan’s eyes glistened as if she was holding back tears and severe disappointment was written all over her face. After having looked certain death in the eye her emotions were running high. Ryan knew exactly how she felt.

  “I’m really sorry, Regan,” he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I hate the idea of keeping this secret as much as you do.”

  They sat in silence for several minutes, each reflecting on their traumatic experience and trying to get their nerves back under control.

  Mrs. Resnick emerged from the building and walked over to them, wondering why they had decided to plop themselves on the ground at this particular spot. Her eyebrows came together quizzically. “Having a picnic?” she said. She looked more closely at them. “Are you two okay? You look pale.”

  After
staring death in the face, Regan didn’t doubt it. “We’re fine, Mom,” she said, barely managing to fake a smile. “Must just be the lighting.”

  Ryan rose unsteadily from the ground and gestured toward the cart. “What are we waiting for?” he said, although with more weariness than enthusiasm. “Let’s go see the Enigma Cube.”

  Five minutes later they parked the cart near a cylinder-shaped building with a surface as reflective as the finest mirrors on Earth. They watched themselves approach. The curved wall of the building distorted their reflections like a funhouse mirror. As they neared an opening appeared in the seamless structure and then disappeared once they were inside.

  The floor was made from a smooth, polished material, pure white in color, that was one of several dozen building materials the Qwervy seemed to favor. It was similar in many ways to marble, only much harder. There were concentric rings etched into the floor spreading out from the center of the building, which had about as much space inside as a large gymnasium. The far wall was totally transparent, providing a massive window onto the sprawling city. Three foot by three foot cubes were sprinkled throughout the room and holographic projections, often used by the aliens as controls, appeared at different locations. The cubes were alien chairs, and would instantly reform themselves around any body type to provide unmatched comfort.

  “Dad says this room is as perfect a circle as anyone has ever measured,” said their mom as they walked toward its center.

  The small alien artifact sat on the floor at the precise center of the room. The trio approached it carefully and crouched down to get a better view.

  It was every bit as astounding as the kids had been told.

  It had an outer shell of edges linked together to form an open, cubical cage, about the size of a Rubik’s cube. Small indentations appeared at even intervals along this outer cage, possibly controls of some kind. It didn’t have a color, but it shined with such unearthly brightness it seemed almost to be made of pure light. Within this outer cage was cradled a smaller, solid cube—but this was anything but normal. It was a cube yet not a cube. It was motionless but at the same time spinning furiously—their minds couldn’t decide which of these distinct visual impressions to believe. It pulsated with a strange energy, as if it had a heart beat. Energy that seemed limitless. It changed back and forth continuously between a cube and other geometric shapes. Now it was a cube. Now a diamond. Now an impossible shape that was indescribable and unsettling to look at. The pulsating cube was almost hypnotic, drawing them in with its unearthly power. Yet they were unable to look at the object for more than a few seconds at a time without looking away.