Exiled to the Stars

by Zellmann, William

  Ken straightened. "Tell me about it."

  "Well," Ron began, "We went right to the coordinates, but we didn't see much at first. It's right at the edge of a bluff, maybe 10 meters high. We landed at the base of the bluff near an old rockslide, and started to make camp. We were spraying a site when Elaine saw a sort of cave in the face of the bluff. We checked it with the instruments, and they were off the scale! It was still early, so we decided to check it out.

  "At first, I thought it was just a cave. But then I realized that it was artificial. The tunnel was, well, circular, but kinda squashed into an oval. The walls were some sort of weird stuff, looked like plas or ceramic. But it drove the detectors crazy. They kept screaming 'unknown substance, unknown substance'.

  "The tunnel only ran about twelve meters, and it ended in a small room with eight funny-looking saddle things sticking up from the floor. The room was oval shaped, like the tunnel, but rotated ninety degrees. When we were coming out, I realized that there must have been a landslide a few years ago that uncovered the tunnel. We looked around until we found a few small pieces of that wall stuff that got broken off in the slide. We brought them back in sample containers."

  "Please tell me you got pictures," Ken begged.

  Both Ron and Elaine grinned. "Of course, sire. But we put them in the tablets' local storage. We didn't think you'd want them on the 'net." the Explorers quickly downloaded their photos and vid to Ken's tablet.

  He started through them. "You're right," he said. "That stuff does look like plas."

  Ron nodded. "Yar, but when you look at the sample, you'll see that it looks like it's made up of fibers of some kind.

  Ken continued through the images. The tunnel's artificial origins were obvious, even in the light of the Explorers' lanterns. In shape it resembled an oval, wider than its height. The walls were white, smooth and seamless.

  The tunnel's end was smooth, but abrupt. The room at the end shared the flattened oval shape, but at 90 degrees to the original tunnel. The eight saddles were wide and flat, with scalloped edges. They were mounted on oval poles protruding from the floor. "They're about a meter long," Elaine supplied, "And maybe two-thirds of that wide. The poles are about a meter high. Everything was covered in about five cems of dust."

  "The room at the end had no doors, other than the one that connected with the tunnel," Ron added. "As you'll see, I examined it closely, and it does seem there's a door of some sort." He grinned. "I wasn't about to try to make it work. Especially not from the inside!"

  Ken grinned. "I don't blame you," he replied. He stopped the vid, and sat back in his chair. The others didn't try to disturb his obvious deep thought.

  Finally, he sat forward. "All right," he said. "The two of you get on home and enjoy your night off before Susan finds out you're back and returns your two terrorists. In the morning, I'll want you, Ron, to put together a full team of Explorers to escort the party of investigators we'll be sending. There may be only half a dozen or so at first, but as they start to find and analyze things, they'll be calling in other experts. I'd set up as large a camp as you have room for, because I'll guarantee it won't be large enough."

  "They're not terrorists," Elaine protested. "They're just…energetic."

  "And spoiled," Ron added, earning himself a glare from his wife. "I'm a bit concerned about protecting a large number of sightseers."

  Ken nodded. "Do whatever you have to. These are no aquatic animals, and they've been here a long time."

  "But where have they been?" Elaine asked. "We've caused enough ruckus in the last 40 years to wake the dead. How could they not know about us?"

  Ken shrugged. "Maybe they do. Maybe they've been watching us for 40 years. Whatever's going on, we have to learn as much as we can as quickly as we can. If they have been watching us, they're sure to be watching for us to discover them. Let's hope it wasn't the signal for them to destroy us!"

  Ken watched the couple leave, arms around each other' waists. He and Evelyn had once been that way. He envied them.

  He shook himself. To work. He called Lee. Can't tell him much now, he reminded himself. He's married to the biggest snoop in the colony! "Lee," he said, "I'm sorry to call you at home, but something's come up, and I need you…Yes, tonight, I'm afraid. Sorry."

  There was the slightest of hesitations, and then, "I'll be there in ten minutes."

  Ken went back to the Explorers' vid. There was something about that room. Something somehow familiar. But how? He was sure he'd never seen anything like it before. And yet…

  Lee came in smiling. "This had better be good," he said in lieu of a greeting. "You wouldn't believe the interrogation I'm going to get when I get home."

  "Then why are you smiling?"

  "Because Kerry's interrogations can be quite…imaginative," he replied. "So, what's the big flap?"

  The smile disappeared quickly when Ken began explaining. The vids and photos sobered him even more. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "Just when we've started believing the planet's uninhabited."

  Ken nodded. "With or without Kerry's interrogations, word of this will get out quickly once we start sending people up there."

  Lee nodded. "We've got to work on panic control. Especially when the bloggers start going off on flights of fancy. Kerry…"

  Ken shook his head. "Kerry was a big help during the power failure. But we can't keep counting on Kerry to defuse emergencies. It could damage her reputation, as well as ours. Let her go her own way this time. But we're going to be calling people this evening, so don't worry about keeping anything from Kerry." He grinned. "After a suitable interrogation, of course."

  "Ron's Explorers will all be tied up protecting people at the tunnel. We'll have to get onto Chun and tell him he's on his own, and to prepare for possible panic and civil unrest. He'll probably need some of the riot control gear from the armory. Meanwhile, we've got to get busy deciding who will be on the initial team."

  They were deep in discussion when Chun arrived with his deputy, a man named Adams. He was quickly briefed, and hurried off to the armory for riot gear.

  It was late when they began calling scientists and techs to join the investigating team. Ken realized that it would be impossible to keep this discovery secret, so he and Lee openly discussed the mission during their calls. Lee called Kerry. "Self-defense," he confided. "Once you made it public, I had to tell her, even if it means I miss out on an interrogation."

  Ken waited as long as he felt he could, but around midnight he uploaded the Explorers' vid to the 'net, and referred the members of the investigating team to the footage.

  Ken and Lee took turns grabbing a few hours' sleep, but shortly after midnight excitement began to build, and calls began to come in. Anyone not on the team got a simple "We're sending a team to investigate. Until they report, no comment." Team members were reassured and mission planning proceeded.

  Ron called in at 06. "We've got a team of about a dozen," Ken told him. "Get a crew up there, and get the site cleared. We don't want a scientist stung by a jelly monster, or grabbed by a wolf lizard."

  Ron nodded. "How much time do I have?"

  "Not much. The team is pretty excited. Most of them have been packing and talking all night. But you know scientists. I doubt they'll get organized before noon. And the airships are slow. I doubt they'll arrive before 16 or so."

  "No problem," Ron replied. "We'll use a heli, and be up there in a couple of hours. We'll need all the time we can get to clear a large enough area."

  "Well, make it large, and use the same procedure you're using at the mines. I suspect this is going to be a long-term project."

  Ron frowned. "Well, the heli will probably have to make a few trips, but it's better than trying to pry an airship away from the scientists!" He grinned. "Elaine's furious that she'll have to stay behind with the kids, but I told her you'll need Vlad, and that she can come up in a day or so. She's desperately calling around for a sitter."

  Ken nodded. "Good thinking. I'm definitely
going to need your father-in-law's help. I wouldn't plan on him being available to spoil your demolition team for at least a week."

  Ron laughed. "Oh, he'll find a way."

  By the time Ken called Vlad, the investigating team had been organized. Angel Koh would lead the science contingent. Frank Wong was already so engrossed in analyzing the strange material the Explorers had brought back that he wasn't even interested in going. "Let the kids do that," he told Ken. "We'll need people here to analyze the information they collect."

  Ken agreed, and appointed him to oversee the colony end of the project. He was surprised when Susan Renko didn't object. In her '70's now, Susan seemed more and more content to work in her lab, despite the fact that she appeared only middle-aged. "Michiko's going," she'd told Ken. "She's better equipped to go climbing mountains and crawling around tunnels."

  Vlad Renko, however, was another story. "Why didn't you call me?" He wailed.

  Ken smiled. "I'd promised Ron and Elaine a night off," he replied. "Besides, I wasn't sure I could drag you away from the kids."

  "But you needed me," Vlad protested.

  Ken nodded. "I still need you. This thing's barely off the ground. The Explorers took off a few minutes ago, but the investigating team hasn't even lifted off. With all the gear they want to take, I've had to authorize the use of both airships. And even then, I've already had to settle arguments. Get over to the hangar, will you, and sort things out? We've already had a geologist take a swing at another scientist over what everybody's going to have to leave behind."

  Vlad rolled his eyes. "I've lived with a scientist for over forty years," he replied. "They think they're helpless unless they have their entire lab with them." He nodded. "Sure. I'll go over there and sort it out."

  The silence of the small valley was shattered by the Whup! Whup! As two helicopters appeared in the air above it. Due to the distance involved, Ken had authorized the use of both of the colony's helis, as well as both of its airships. The helis hovered above the arid ground, and nozzles in their bellies began to spray it with the liquid that had proven almost instantly fatal to Crashlanding life.

  Once a large enough landing area had been sprayed, the aircraft settled to the ground. As soon as they were grounded, Explorers began exiting and taking up positions. Four of them carried shoulder lasers, and assumed guard positions around both helis. Another four wore large tanks of spray, and began expanding the safe area established by the helis.

  The remaining eight Explorers began quickly and efficiently unloading the idling helis. Within minutes, the helis lifted from among the the piles of cases and boxes, and headed back to the colony for another load.

  Ron paced off a rough circle some thirty meters in diameter, dropping markers. The sprayers followed, careful to cover every cem with the lethal spray. His circle complete, Ron paced it again, this time planting the solar-powered 'mole repellers' that had proven effective at the mines. Others, following, began erecting the electrified fence borrowed from the mines that would keep out above-ground predators.

  Within three hours the site was cleared and established, but the Explorers, lasers in hand, formed up shoulder-to-shoulder, and slowly paced its extent, checking for millipedes and jelly monsters. Satisfied, they began setting up the array of solar panels that would provide power for the labs and the scientists and techs unused to 'roughing it'.

  "So, where are they?" Denis Chu asked. "It's gonna get dark in a couple of hours, and I can't imagine the eggheads trying to set up tents in the dark, or sleeping 'beneath the stars'."

  Ron shook his head. "Neither can I. It would be great comedy, but they'd be at it all night. And they've got business in the morning." He sighed. "I guess we'll have to start setting up tents for them."

  "Oh, there's a surprise," Tran put in. But neither he nor any of the others protested as they began setting up the lab and sleeping tents. With sixteen of them, it went quickly, and by the time the two airships appeared in the sky, the camp was nearly complete.

  Since darkness was already approaching, Ron decided to put off unloading the science team's equipment until the morning. There were many loud protests, of course, but with Angel Koh's support, Ron prevailed.

  Finally, the scientists and techs were assembled in the mess tent. Angel Koh rose.

  "As you all know, I have been appointed to manage the scientific end of this operation," he began. "But I want to make perfectly clear that the Explorers are in command of this expedition. They are responsible for our safety, and Messer Creding's orders take precedence over mine. You will accept the direction of any Explorer. If there is difference of opinion, come to me, and we will approach Messer Creding. But his decision is final. He and his people are keeping us alive, and I expect all of you to treat them with courtesy and respect. Messer Creding?"

  He sat down, and Ron rose. "All right, ladies and gentlemen, here is the situation. The Explorers have established a safe zone about thirty meters in diameter. We have also cleared and protected a path to the cave. Do not go past the barrier fence, and don't touch it. It's electrified, and you'll get a nasty shock. It's solar powered, so the charge isn't strong enough to be fatal to a human, but I guarantee you won't like it.

  "You've all heard of plains rats, jelly monsters and millipedes, and perhaps you've seen the preserved wolf lizard in the colony's bio lab. Well, all of those creatures and more could be waiting outside the barrier. We're five hundred klicks from the colony, and there could be nasties here we don't even know about. We call 'em 'boojums', and we spend more time worrying about them than we do the known threats. Even the plants could be deadly. Stay inside the fence.

  "Now," he continued. "About the project. You've all seen our vids. What you're going to find is an oval-shaped tunnel. It's about three meters wide, and two high" He shrugged. "I don't think there's very much of interest in the tunnel itself. But at the end, there's a room, also oval. It's arranged at ninety degrees to the tunnel's orientation. It's almost featureless, except for the eight saddles, or whatever they are. It's also smaller than the main tunnel, only about two meters wide and one and a half high, so some of you taller people might find yourself bumping your heads. You should also know that you're going to lose communications and contact with the 'net while you're in the tunnel. Your tablets will still function, of course, but without network contact.

  "We Explorers will try to keep out of the way as much as possible, but we will be escorting you into the tunnel in groups. I understand Dr. Koh is setting up a rotation, so each of you will get research time on the site. But there simply is not room for more than four scientists, plus their Explorer escorts.

  "Finally," he concluded, "power is going to be an issue. We are limited to solar power, and part of the array is dedicated to charging batteries for lights inside the tunnel. Think before you turn on a light. Do you really need it? Will you be depriving another researcher of light for his project?"

  "Enlarge the array!" one scientist shouted. "Bring up a fusactor," shouted another. Ron shrugged. "That's not my call. I understand that the Administrator is planning additional supply flights by the airships. It's possible we will be able to increase the array, if it appears that this camp will be a long-term establishment. I'm sure Dr. Koh will bring your concerns to the Administrator's attention."

  By the time the nuts and bolts of the camp's operation had been covered, darkness had fallen, and Ron hurriedly dismissed them, reminding them that they were now operating on battery power. He cautioned them to use as little power as possible settling into their sleeping tents, and reminded them that Explorers were patrolling for threats, but they would also enforce energy discipline when necessary.

  There were few smiles among the scientists, but there were no real protests.

  Ron shook his head. "I don't envy you, Angel. Nobody's going to be happy about only being able to work a few hours at a time."

  "True," Angel agreed, "but in a tunnel, day and night don't matter. There are twelve of us. I've set up a
rotation of three eight-hour shifts. I don't think anyone will complain. Besides, I doubt this expedition will last more than a week or so.

  "There is simply not that much to investigate. Frank already has your samples of wall material. That just leaves the room, and it's only two meters wide and six long. The only real items of interest are those saddle things. A few metal scrapings from those poles, a small sample from one of the 'saddles', and we might as well be comfortable back in the colony.

  He shrugged. "Frankly, I consider most of these people sightseers, anyway. I mean, really. What is a biologist like Michiko going to learn? I think she's just here because Susan doesn't want to be left out. I'd estimate two days maximum before the tourists start agitating to go home. Once we're back, the infighting and science-fiction theories will begin." He chuckled. "I'll bet you a silver at least one of 'em decides it's a buried spaceship."

  Ron grinned. "No bet. I've been around you egghead types all my life."

  They reported to Ken. Angel went first. He essentially repeated what he'd told Ron. "Ron took me up there. There's just not much there to analyze. Oh, it's fascinating, of course, and I could probably spend a couple of days poking around it. But productive research?" He shrugged. "A few hours scanning and collecting samples, and then weeks in a lab in the colony.

  "I've been asked to relay a request for more solar panel arrays, but I really don't think we need them. And at this point, I don't think we need more researchers, either."

  Ken nodded. "Ron?"

  "I agree with Angel, sire," Ron replied. "I mean, it's a great mystery and all, but what do we have, really? A twelve-meter tunnel and a small room, both empty. No real artifacts other than the 'saddles'. The real issue is that it proves there are, or were, people here. The real research will go on elsewhere. Where are they? What are they? We're not going to learn those answers here."

  Ken frowned. "Frank Wong wants to recall the survey airship, and have the R65C scan that whole area again, looking for anomalies this time."