“Alright. Go down there and recon. I’ll tell Papa we found the entrance.”
Lightly he landed thirty meters on a smooth stone surface that was wet and muddy, not allowing for drainage of rain to seep. Up above Renee was delivering the news rather gleefully and caught her thinking “Baby, baby, baby! I’m going to be pregnant as soon as we leave and settle in. Oh, hurry up old man.” “Don’t tell me you are still twelve days out. I even gave you and the others the ligament enhancement so move your sorry ass. You got four days.” And she didn’t hide those words. Only the baby part. Renee never held much back.
Oliver had Nova and the rest of the Pride go secure two kilometers around the site. They gladly got to work eliminating threats. Rose and Sparky soon landed near him and the latter asked “Is the message the same?”
Staring at the secure nano-wall he said “No. It says: This temple to the castle of Terra is sealed by order of Queen Beli. Passage beyond is filled with poison gas. Beyond is an experiment that must be killed by the gas for ten millennia. To have uncovered this temple is a violation and you will be persecuted to full extent of the awareness and forethought of the act. It’s a warning clear as day.”
“But I remember seeing the image through my mate’s eyes of the AI’s focusing through this terrain. We must try to open.” Admitted Rose.
“No fucking way. Have you learned nothing from me, Rose? Remember poison creating?” Renee landed, sliding down the steep incline. “If it’s a poison they are using that lasts ten thousand years, it’s an aging poison that gradually gets stronger as time passes. We’ve well exceeded twice when it should have been opened long ago and see if whatever inside is dead. If Olly and I try to open it we could unleash a poison that’ll kill every single thing on this planet. It could be why he was warned to back the fuck off. But, maybe Olly can try out his new toy.”
“The neutrino drones?” He asked and she nodded. “They’re still experimental. I can’t always get a clear picture. And what if it collects poison and returns.”
“Leave them inside if they do. If the air is clean and anything inside is no longer moving, we’ll go in as a last resort. If it is bad you’ll need to level the rest of the area and see if there is another entrance. But try it first.”
“Alright.” He decided it was not a bad idea. Oliver connected his mind to the chip which relayed to the vambrace’s many functions. Five days ago, when he was bored he discovered an idea for drones so small they can pass through solid objects as energy. It was merely a rough idea the Valek had showed and there were issues that had to be solved and was beyond difficult, but little by little the ascent to a working product was being made. The downside was he knew he was months to years away from a reliable form of technology.
It was one of the billions of things it could create, but to create it meant the wiElder had to have intimate knowledge of mathematical and intuitive ways to regulate necessary power and how to put it into a working program it could run. Even inside the vambrace was the ability to teleport himself and anyone touching him to anywhere in the entire universe, but it was still far beyond his mental grasp. It was the original way to instantly travel. Oliver even suspected that the Creelin learned to teleport from his lost people. The calculating factors involved were truly astronomical to unlock the program. He knew Davan Took would be happy to know this since he had spent most of his adult life in pursuit of it.
Connected to the vambrace, deep on the subatomic level dropped millions of neutrino sized drones at the beck and call to command. They were contained in the vambrace itself since his suit was far too malleable. They were too small individually to make an image Oliver’s neural chip could recreate, but with millions working in tandem they formed a blurry, flickering image and were sent through the nano-wall, easily passing through solid matter. Readouts were jittery and gave Oliver a headache. Renee seeing his discomfort came up from behind and started rubbing his thick neck. Several times they failed and had to reconnect to the vambrace, but beyond the door showed fragments of green mist passing by like distant stars and several had measured what it contained. “We can’t open that damn door.” Oliver was adamant.
“That bad?”
“Worse.” Oliver swallowed and let the drones he had made be left inside. “Renee, run the poison through your chip and tell me your expert opinion.”
The flash of data came to her chip and she mentally ran the biological side, something her brain could do that his couldn’t fully grasp like hers on the technical side. She gave Oliver a sharp look and nodded. Tapping her ear she said “Papa, we hit a big snag.”
“Hold up, everyone.” He said and responded moments later. “Go ahead, Lass.”
“Papa, the door we found is laced with the deadliest poison I’ve ever come across. Just a dozen particles released in the atmosphere will propagate like a virus and kill all living organism on this planet within seventy hours. I’m issuing a stage zero biological hazard. We got lucky Oliver’s uncovering this place didn’t kill us all. Order Abdul to bring the Dorgenox around and prepare the Ripper for maximum load.”
“Lass, are ye certain…”
“Papa, I can’t leave this hazard here. It’s an extinction level poison. The only solution is to take it all and throw it right into Zerika’s sun to be safe. Nothing I can do can negate this concentration. It’ll take one tiny crack. One little earthquake. I don’t care how advanced they were, we have no choice.”
“I will inform Elder Scythe of the situation. Send me your report while I also make Abdul aware.”
“Sending now.” She got the confirmation the transfer chip to chip was successful.
Oliver leaned back against the ground, rubbed the bridge of his nose and she helped by leaning her rear up against his groin, gave a little wiggle and settled her armored back against him. They were left to silence for several minutes till Jake said “Lass, ye were understating how bad it is. I won’t ask how ye got the reading without killing yerself, but I’m glad. Young Elder Scythe is granting permission to fly it to ye and use the Ripper, but we must continue on foot. Lass, ye need to get away from there.”
“Fine, but Olly says he’s going to throw up a barrier in event the Dorgenox doesn’t catch it all and in event the city attacks.”
Rose, Sparky and Renee flew far away and the Pride also cleared out. Flying above the treetops, Oliver easily found the Dorgenox silently sailing through the air. It came right over, high enough for the failing sunlight to beat against the starboard hull. It moved very slow. His com beeped and Abdul’s voice came through. “Ripper functions are up and running, Oliver. Tell me how wide and deep I must go. Ground penetrating scans are useless.”
“Assume the worst. The castle of wind was over ten kilometers deep. Go nine. Also I don’t know how the defenses will react to such a violent means, so power up the shields to maximum and I’ll add a second layer over the ship at full power too.”
“The ripper will start in fifteen seconds. We’re depending on you.”
Oliver’s hair burned bright gold as he Gathered every shard of inner power together and lifted his hand to cloak the ship in a barrier so brilliant it lit up the sky like staring into a blue star. The land grew bright. Below he erected another barrier that would trap everything. If the Ripper didn’t work, it would need to keep taking.
The gravimetric strip that ran the entire length of the underside of the Dorgenox began creating a deep, vibrating sound that made a person’s back teeth rattle loose in their gums. The sound was the manipulated force of gravity creating an isolated field to greatly counteract the six gee gravity of Zerika. Ground around the sealed tunnel shook madly. For five kilometers wide and five down the ground began to rise and be ripped from the surface to be held aloft.
As feared, Solarian defenses came out of the ground and tens of thousands of drones with a barrel came out from all around and put the Dorgenox under heavy and deadly fire. The constant stream of power on Oliver’s bright barrier was immense. Immense eno
ugh to need to pull on the energy from the vambrace.
“ABDUL! Hurry. I can’t hold back their fire for more than another minute. Scan for poison NOW!!!” Oliver shook by the draining. Had Oliver not been so strong the ship would have been obliterated. As it is, the amount of power he used could shred stars and yet the city defenses were even greater.
Six long seconds later the first mate said “No seepage detected. We got it all. We’ll make the jump in ten seconds, hold on!”
Nine and some off percent of seconds later and the sailboat was gone. Oliver immediately dropped the shield and canceled all extra power not a moment too soon when all drones turned on him as next threat. He dropped to the ground, hand’s up.
Over a hundred drones hovered in front of him silently till a dark brown skinned hologram of a woman appeared in front of him. “Explain yourself, General Void.”
“You know me? And English?” Oliver didn’t lower his hands.
“Vladamin of the Wind updated your preference. Answer or I will open fire and pursue the ship and destroy it.” The woman said with a huge crater behind her.
“The poison in the temple was too dangerous. We removed it for safety. We could not chance a breach with our knowledge of the level of risk. I felt the warning you gave when I uncovered it.”
“No untruths alter your vocalizations. It is a logical form of removal. I will not defend my lady’s city from you with this rational explanation.” She lifted a hand and the drone weapons flew away and disappeared in the forests or down tunnels that had been uncovered by the ripper’s brute force.
“What is your name?” he asked and lowered his arms.
“Jenniviq. And I know why you come, General. You wish for the first part of the five.”
“How do you… Vladamin told you?”
“Correct. He told all of us cleared to hold our Queens’ clues. His limited connection to us updated this language. He also told us about the humans, but he always was a biased and insufferable fool.” She winked and turned serious after a moment. “I’m afraid you will find little different than the territory of wind’s deadness. My city too is barren and under water. The only difference should you drain it is in our art. My lady was of solid ground. Earth. Rock. Or Terra if you prefer. She embodied the warrior’s foundation and support of the other Queens. My lady had the unbreakable spirit that remains within survivors, no matter how far you fall. She was the first to defend and shield from any threats. She was also called the Firm Mother. Do you wish to disable the defenses here too for the group of humans I’m detecting heading in this direction?”
“Please. Jenniviq, will you be our guide to your city? I’ll drain the water.” Oliver asked as Nova and the others all showed up. Renee cautiously watching from in the saddle.
“I would like that.” The AI smiled like a mother welcoming home a long lost child. “This way.” As Jenniviq moved, her bare feet didn’t disturb anything on the ground as she wasn’t truly real. Merely an image of a distant memory able to assume form.
“Package delivered to the stellar incinerator.” Abdul reported in and ended the conversation that fast, not one to talk a person’s ear off. Also because he already heard Oliver talking to someone.
“Are you okay?” Renee had dropped from Sparky and lent Oliver a shoulder when he stumbled.
“Not exactly. I’m drained. Using my full strength to shield such a small area, even one of the Dorgenox’s size, took a lot out. Worse, the attack drained me and nearly broke through. Had I not gone all out I would have lost. Still, using all I can took out too much and I had to pull from my vambrace’s stores.”
“Yikes. The orange oval is much thinner than last time. You used half of it at minimum.” She noted, looking at the oval inside the forearm. “Breathe and recover.”
The new crater had quickly gained attention as they followed the artificial intelligence at a gradual pace. It truly was devastating. But with the absence of hundreds of thousands of tons, aquifers that were once below the ground poured from the openings like a waterfall. Seeing how many liters falling into the hole prompted Renee into action. When her man would walk better she lifted great rocks, her hair raised and eyes glowing. With boulders from dryer areas she telekinetically threw them like missiles from a catapult to plug the larger gushing waterfalls. Able to multitask, she plugged openings as best she could, collapsed the smaller hemorrhaging fountains and kept pace. Her power making quick work to limit more watery problems. But aquifers seeing the light of day again was not the only openings. Dozens of great holes went down deeper, but stone steps and arched angles showed the unnatural routes into and out of the city. But they quickly found themselves angling more to the westerly side where the largest opening awaited.
On the way Oliver slowly overcame being lightheaded to ask “Red, what was that earlier about the quarantine being zero?”
She stopped throwing boulders three to five times her own height like child’s play and let her eyes dim back to normal. “Deadly pathogens are ranked on a scale of zero to ten. Ten being easy to take care of. Level zero on the other hand quite literally means there is a zero percent chance of survival once infected. Death is near instant and the only safe method of disposal for those agents are to be destroyed in the violence of suns. The hotter the better… Oh, Jenniviq, are there any other places that were sealed off?”
“One other, but you removed it as well. It was a viral strain that had broken in a laboratory, but my sensors let me seal it off before it escaped.”
“What was the poison trying to kill that needed ten thousand years to do it?”
“Much of my records were moved, but the one you question was a Beast that had mutated beyond control and was immune to me creator’s psionic abilities. Only by a poison that becomes more potent given time, the cellular structure of the Beast would eventually succumb to degradation and eventual rot. The mutated Joint Ape was experimented on, but found to be too dangerous to be allowed to mate and pass on its genes. This was the only viable method to eliminate the threat.”
“They sure are tough Beasts. I still remember it breaking my leg in its grip and bite. If you’re saying it was stronger and more resilient… I’d hate to imagine what would have happened had it escaped.” Said Oliver rubbing his thigh absently.
Arriving at the entrance he gave a silent command and six members of the Pride scattered all around the new pit to make sure nothing got inside the new open space.
The neural chip switched to night vision when it became too dark down the hole. Shades of green penetrated the descending tunnel and was clear. Using a dim shoulder light, the light made it clearer. Heightened hearing picked up many drips of water echoing up and out the polished stone stairs. The air was thick with clean water and blessedly cool. It was much better than the muggy humidity that was so thick you were drinking the air more than breathing it.
About a kilometer later there came an inky end to the descent and the way the light rippled and reflected showed that the water had indeed found a way in. He asked the apparition “How did the city get flooded?”
“A tectonic quake opened a fissure in the ceiling nineteen hundred years ago. When it hit, a great chunk of stone fell on the primary hub which hold and distributes drones for city maintenance and repair. Without it being operational, groundwater seeped into the city and eventually filled it.”
“Why build a city below ground? Especially so far?”
“It is no longer within my memory.” She said.
“A good place to hole up in times of crisis I’d imagine. It’s like a bunker. How do you want to drain it?”
“The most efficient way I can think of is to swim into its center and make a barrier to push it all out through all the holes.”
Renee gave him a considering look “Alright, but you’ll need a way to store that water. I’ll go back topside and blast open a reservoir and cut channels from all the holes we saw. Are you up to doing more strenuous expenditure?”
“Certainly. It’
ll be easier than blocking from an attack. Much easier in fact.” Oliver slid on his helmet, turned around and dove directly into the frigid water. It wasn’t too bad as the armor offered adequate insulation. More light beamed into the murky depths, especially from the remaining Pride following. After a dozen meters the water cleared, showing sediment had settled long ago. And he breathed, his mask filtering the necessary air right out of the water. Exhaled bubbles went up and behind. From his boots grew flippers and the gauntlets slipped in added webbing between the fingers. To make it more efficient to swim a fin extended from the forearms.
On the way down there hung a great portrait etched of a woman with high, pronounced cheekbones and had feathers decorating her hair. It was of the queen of earth. Queen Beli.
Finding the pyramid city was breathtaking as being underwater had given it a different feel as it held the basic pyramid uniformity back on Drakken Prime. Lights from his suit and that of the swimming Ligers’ brightened the dark city. At least the water was still settled and clear. In the water though, the AI rippled and distorted and didn’t swim. She continued to walk as if still on solid ground.
Sensing the distant tingle of a spike in energy told Oliver Renee had begun readying for the drowned city. To make sure all water got away he sent his power out and simultaneously opened up every single door and drawer within the city simultaneously, doing hundreds at a time easily while swimming and taking in the sights. He and the Pride swam between firm and carved pillars, proud statues covered in silt, and thousands of darker stone pyramids surrounding one grand in the center.
In about two hours his com alerted and Renee said “Ready up top.”
“Then here I go.”
Oliver stood atop the castle’s pointed tip and stretched his arms out. From deep inside the open windowed castle, after having Jenniviq opening the castle without needing Renee to help open the closed hall, there came an expanding dome. It was under vacuum which made it harder, but not too much for him. The dome’s expansion wasn’t alone. Sixteen more grew throughout the city, pushing the water away. The Pride stayed close and were near to the ground when the barrier passed them and they lost buoyancy. One tunnel to the surface had opened an air hole kilometers through to the city and connected to the vacant area left behind to ease the want from implosion. The spaced out domes soon were large enough to combine with one another. When air was there to help, the water continued to expand out of dozens of uncovered holes much more easily.
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