Taking a deep breath, Christa uttered, "Sumattah." The spoken command, which translates from Nordakian as 'lights on,' had the desired result. Almost instantly, the interior of the facility was brilliantly illuminated. Since the door had responded to a spoken command, Christa knew the facility had at least some power available, and, to prevent a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden environment change, she had alerted the Marines to expect the lights. With the bright illumination, her initial sense of dread evaporated.
Before moving forward, Christa took a good look into a cavernous space that was nothing like the other facility— almost. The builders, as with Fort Carver, had used a metamorphic stone for the floor and walls, and it's marble-like surfaces, polished to a high gloss, gleamed brightly when the lights came on. And, like the other facility, it was as clean as a nanotech laboratory. But where the entrance to Fort Carver opened to reveal a short corridor, this one opened into a large rotunda like that found in many large commercial and government buildings.
Positioned along each side of the entranceway were narrow rooms that looked like security stations. Christa assumed that the rooms, about five meters long and two meters deep, were intended for screening people as they entered or left the facility. Security people, protected behind some sort of thick transparent material, would probably sit at the counter that faced the entranceway. Each room contained five chairs, but no other visible equipment. Remembering the work console in Fort Carver that looked like an ordinary table until activated, she turned to Lt. Uronson.
"Lieutenant," Christa said to the Marine officer standing just off her right side, "alert your people to the possible dangers in here. Tell them to touch nothing except the floor. No one is to enter either of these two rooms until they've been examined. Then have them spread out around the foyer and look for anything out of the ordinary. We're looking for sensors, switches, or booby traps, so tell them to be careful where they walk."
Uronson said, "Aye, Commander," then immediately repeated the orders to Sgt. Burton, who assigned his Marines to specific areas of the rotunda. Christa watched as they spread out and carefully examined the floor and walls. When all reports came back negative, Christa moved to the rear wall where a single set of doors interrupted the circular shape of the room.
"Only one way in?" Carmoody asked.
"Looks that way. The two rooms up front and single doorway back here indicate that this might have been a security area where people waited until their credentials were checked before being allowed inside. Well, here goes." Christa took a deep breath and said, "Dwuthathsei." Unlike her first attempts to open the entrance door, these doors groaned a little, then opened a little, then groaned some more, and finally opened wide, revealing a small room roughly five meters square.
"Is this all there is?" Carmoody said as lights flickered on in the room.
"No, look, there's another set of doors at the back of the room. This must be some sort of decontamination chamber."
"Why would they need that?'
"Perhaps they wanted to suck up any loose dirt and dust particles before entering a clean area."
"A clean area? This front area is so clean you can eat pancakes with maple syrup directly off the floor."
"I told you it would be clean."
"Yeah, but I thought you were exaggerating just a tiny bit."
"Lieutenant," Christa said, "post two men at the doors to this room. Nobody follows us in without orders to the contrary. Then have the rest of your people join us.
Christa and Carmoody entered the room and waited until the Marines were inside. There was more than adequate space to accommodate all of the Marines, even in their battle armor, but she wanted to ensure someone was left behind to report what happened if they became stuck inside the small room.
As the last of the Marines entered, Christa said, "Hudaksei," the Nordakian word for 'close.' The double doors closed so fast she hardly saw the movement and barely had time to say, "Wow!" before the floor fell out from beneath them.
* * *
"Geosynchronous orbit has been established over Loudescott, Captain," the helmsman said as he completed the orbiting track maneuver and set the ship controls to maintain the position.
"Very good, Lieutenant," Captain Kalastarus said. "Tactical, scan the site and plot LZs."
"Aye, Captain," the tactical officer said as she studied the monitors. She had already begun her work as the ship entered orbit, as any good tac officer would have done, and she had a tentative landing plot. She just wanted to verify the situation on the ground before sending coordinates to each of the waiting shuttles.
* * *
As the occupants of the small room began to recover from the unexpected free fall, their legs received the full effect of rapid braking. It was a relief when the room came to a stop.
"I've heard of high-speed elevators in old buildings not having inertial compensation," Carmoody said to Christa, "but I never experienced anything like that."
"It was only bad because we weren't prepared for it. There's nothing in here to indicate this is an elevator. But— it was exhilarating for a few seconds."
Her last comment was met by a few phony coughs and sighs.
"What?" Christa said, looking around. "Is anyone in here going to tell me it didn't get their heart pumping?"
"I can definitely say it got my heart pumping, ma'am," Lt. Uronson said, "after it started beating again. I was truly expecting the stop to be quite a bit more sudden. I'm glad I was wrong."
Christa smiled. "I think we all expected the worst, Lieutenant." Turning serious, she said, "But it's time to get back to work. It appears we've stopped moving."
Christa took a deep breath and said, "Dwuthathsei." The doors at what had been the back of the room opened to reveal total blackness. As with the Chembrite panels and the rotunda, the light inside the elevator penetrated perhaps a few meters. It showed there was a floor there, but absolutely nothing else was visible. The Marines were ready to turn on their helmet lights when Christa said, "Sumattah." Lights immediately illuminated the area outside the elevator.
Stepping from the elevator, Christa saw she was in a corridor that stretched into darkness for roughly ten meters in both directions, but even this was enough to show that this facility was larger than Fort Carver. Like the rotunda above them, the corridor was spotlessly clean.
"It appears that the vocal command only activates the lights within an established range," Christa said as she was joined in the corridor by Carmoody and Uronson. "We'll probably have to use it repeatedly as we proceed."
"Proceed where?" Carmoody asked. "We don't even know where we are."
"How far would you estimate we descended?"
"Based on the time and apparent speed of descent, I would guess we're somewhere between two hundred and four hundred meters below the rotunda."
"That agrees with my estimate," Christa said, "so let's say three hundred meters until we have more accurate information. There were no controls in the elevator, so this may be the only other level."
"Unless this level is simply the default stop if no level is specified."
"True. But if it is a default stop, we should investigate this floor and learn what we can before going elsewhere."
"In the rotunda you spoke of possible booby traps," Lt. Uronson said. "Do you believe that to be the case down here as well, Commander?"
"I didn't really expect to find any in the rotunda, given the effort required to enter the facility, but I wanted everyone to be extra alert. And I don't expect to find intentional booby traps down here either, but we could fall victim to alien technology if we're not especially careful. We should split up into two groups, each taking a different direction in the corridor. Make sure your people know the vocal commands that turn lights on and off, and open and close doors. Activate the tracking transponders in your battle armor and visually mark your trail with the returned coordinates as you proceed because we don't know what kind of labyrinth we're facing down here. Follow
SOP and mark each door as a room is cleared. We'll use this location as Point Zero. I can use the data collected from the transponders to create a floor plan of this level as each group proceeds, unless someone moves into a shielded area. If that happens, we'll lose voice communications as well.
"Should you notice that voice communications are lost, move back to the last point where we had a confirmed connection and remain there until you reestablish contact."
"Aye, Commander," Uronson said.
The next few minutes were spent teaching the Marines the simple Nordakian commands they would need and giving them instructions. Uronson then divided his people into groups and they moved out. Christa accompanied one and Carmoody another.
* * *
"What do you mean we can't enter?" Captain Kalastarus said angrily to the Marine corporal. His face was becoming a mottled red color and his nose was just centimeters from that of the corporal. "Do you know who I am?"
"I'm sorry, sir," the corporal said calmly. "I don't know who you are, but I can see from your uniform that you're a Space Command captain. I mean no disrespect, sir, but I have my orders."
"And what are those orders, exactly?"
"Commander Carver said absolutely no one shall be permitted to enter the tunnel without her personal authorization."
"Do you think she intended that to include senior Space Command officers?" Kalastarus shouted.
"Perhaps not, sir, but my orders were quite explicit. I can't let you pass."
"And suppose I just push past you?"
"I really hope you won't try that, sir. Commander Carver said to use whatever force was necessary to see that no one entered the tunnel."
"Are you saying you would use force to stop me?"
"Most regretfully, sir. And we've only been issued laser weapons rather than stun rifles, so if I'm required to discharge my weapon there could be serious injury."
Kalastarus blanched slightly and was suddenly pushed aside by a hand from behind him. A more senior officer immediately replaced him in the corporal's face. "Do you know who I am, corporal?"
"No, sir."
"I'm Rear Admiral Hubera. I'm a member of the Admiralty Board."
"Yes, sir," the corporal said. "I've heard of you, sir."
"You will now allow me and the other officers to enter."
"No, sir, I will not."
"I'm countermanding the orders you received from Commander Carver. You will allow all Space Command officers to enter the tunnel."
"No, sir, I will not until Commander Carver authorizes your passage or amends my orders."
"I'm an Admiral, corporal. The last I heard, that outranks a Lt. Commander by a wide margin."
"Yes, sir, you do. And as such you must be familiar with regulations. An order cannot be countermanded by a senior unless the senior is in the same chain of command, or the person who gave the order is missing and assumed captured or lost."
"I'm her superior officer," Hubera screamed, his own face now becoming mottled with rage.
"Yes, sir, you have superior rank, but you're not in the same chain of command."
"I'm a member of the Admiralty Board. My authority supersedes EVERY chain of command."
"No, sir, not this time. Commander Carver is currently acting under direct orders from Admiral Carver. Admiral Carver is senior to you, sir, and operating in a separate command chain."
Hubera sputtered something unintelligible and turned to face Captain Kalastarus. "Are you just going to stand for this?"
"What do you propose, sir? If you order us to attack this position and overcome the guards, I'll have our Marine complement come down from the ship, but I'll need a specific order from you to attack and overpower Marine sentries that are only following the lawful orders of their base commander. And, much as I hate to say it, there's no guarantee our Marines would obey an order to attack Marine sentries who aren't acting illegally and overtly."
"She's not the base commander," Hubera sputtered. "And this isn't a base. At best it might be considered an outpost." He knew there was no way he could order an attack on Marines doing their duty as spelled out in the regulations simply because he was being inconvenienced. Turning back to the corporal, he said, "Contact Commander Carver and tell her I'm here."
"When the shuttles began landing, I tried to contact the commander to inform her, but she's out of communication."
"What? Out of communication? What does that mean?"
"The Commander must be in a part of the new facility that is shielded. Dakinium blocks all radio signals. Whenever we conduct a drill at Fort Carver, we lose all communication to the outside when the main door is closed."
"Fort Carver?" Hubera said. It was doubtful his eyes could have opened wider.
"The other facility has been informally known by that name for about fifteen years, sir, ever since the time of the Raider attack and the battle that took place there."
Hubera groaned slightly. He hadn't known of the unofficial name. As far as the records indicated, it was only referred to as the Loudescott Outpost. "Corporal, just as soon as you regain contact with Commander Carver, you tell her to report to me aboard the Murray. Understand?"
"Yes, sir, Admiral."
"And regardless of the chain of command, she had better not keep me waiting long."
Hubera turned and stomped off towards oh-gee vehicles with the other Space Command officers following.
"Oh, Lordy!" the Marine corporal muttered to himself. "Methinks the Commander is in for a reaming."
* * *
When Christa had used the term 'labyrinth,' she couldn't have known how accurate it would prove to be. As her team began its investigation, they were astounded by the maze of corridors, large dormitory-style rooms, and mess halls they discovered. Each dorm room was like the single dorm at Fort Carver, and there were dozens. And, like the dorm at Fort Carver, there were several small, private rooms associated with each of the large rooms.
"Have you found anything other than dorms and mess halls?" Christa asked Carmoody after two hours of searching.
"Nothing yet," Christa heard in her CT, "if you don't count the kitchens and supply rooms associated with each mess hall."
"Same here," Christa said, looking at the holo-magazine image that showed the floor plan created so far for the areas searched. As she watched, another area appeared as part of the expanding image. "Okay, let's keep at it until we reach the outside perimeter."
An hour and a half later, Christa heard the soft, chime-like noise that indicated she was receiving a message on her CT.
"We've reached what appears to be the outer perimeter, Commander," Carmoody said. "We're splitting into two groups and spreading out in an effort to identify the size of the facility as we work our way back."
"Understood," Christa said. "If we assume the elevator was in the center of the facility, we should be encountering the outer perimeter ourselves pretty soon. We'll meet you back at Point Zero."
"Affirmative," Grace said. "Carmoody out."
It was another four hours before Christa and half her team arrived back at Point Zero. Carmoody wasn't there yet, but Lt. Uronson and his team had returned.
"Just dormitory rooms and mess halls, Commander. At first we performed a thorough check of each room, but after about a dozen, we just visually verified that each room was empty and moved on. There didn't seem any point in checking closer since they were all identical."
"We did the same, Lieutenant. The only thing that changed was the location information in each section. We have what looks like a fairly complete floor plan." Looking at the diagram on her holo-magazine cylinder, she said, "It appears that the other two groups are almost done. There are only a few areas that show no indication of having been searched yet. They should join us within ten minutes."
"So there's apparently no cloning equipment here," Uronson said. "Do we let the scientists in?"
"No, not yet. This place doesn't make sense given what I know of ancient history. I have to figure ou
t why they built it."
"Perhaps it was intended as a shelter in the event of war."
"The other facility is quite similar in design and construction, which would seem to indicate they were built around the same time period. But we know the Dakistians knew they were a dying race when they built that facility, so why build something like this? Who is going to start a war when you know the entire race will be extinct in a matter of decades?"
"People do strange things at times."
"My impression of the Ancient Nordakians is that they were a highly intelligent society. They knew they were looking at the end of their lineage on this world, and efforts to locate the dissidents who left were unsuccessful. I doubt anyone would be thinking of war and, if they were, it should have been difficult to garner any support. Lieutenant, have you checked in with your people top-side?"
"I've tried several times, but I haven't received any acknowledgment."
"No acknowledgment? Why didn't you report that to me?"
"I assumed communications are being blocked by the Dakinium construction of this facility. We experience such problems at Fort Carver when we run drills."
"Possibly. But if I'd known, I would have ended our search early and gone to the surface to verify that. If we can't contact them, then they can't contact us. We have no idea what's happening up there. I guess we'll need a more powerful communications system in here."
"My people are well trained and well armed, ma'am. They can certainly handle a few scientists, or even the entire Loudescott archeological complement."
"There could be situations other than an attack by scientists, Lieutenant, that require immediate attention." Christa breathed deeply and then released it. "Very well, we'll head up as soon as the rest of our people get back."
* * *
Chapter Ten
~ October 22nd, 2285 ~
"Gracie, this may take longer than I expected," Christa said to Carmoody via her CT. "Admiral Hubera's kept me waiting for an hour already. I have no idea how long I'll be up here."
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