Henry Gallant Saga 2: Lieutenant Henry Gallant

by H. Peter Alesso

  Having traversed the mountain, they marched through the jungle once more. They angled southwest through the dense growth, with the rising sun directly behind them. Picking their route south as closely as possible, they marched through the underbrush, which pushed them first to one side, then another. They were soon hungry and thirsty, but they ignored those thoughts. The day was only beginning to warm up. A light breeze passed them.

  One thing was certain—this wasn’t going to be an easy walk. Gallant’s muscles strained from the effort and his wounds from the Titan battle still seared as he stretched the flesh around them with each effort. He guessed Alaina would also be suffering, but she had shrugged off his offer for more frequent rest stops.

  At the first sign of a large buffalo-like animal, they decided to hit the high ground in one of the nearby trees. They picked the tree carefully—a tall willow which could offer concealment beneath its flowing, bowing branches. They climbed up, sticking to strong branches and settling in a sturdy fork as a bed. After the creature passed, they dropped down and resumed their journey. Jumping from the tree to endure the impact of the hard, densely packed earth stunned Gallant, making him wobbly as he tried to stand up.

  They listened to the voices around the calls of birds. Small animal noises blended with the wind through the trees. They ran across regions where volcanic vents with flowing lava would shoot steaming hot air and black ash around them.

  The rays of the afternoon sun fell on the back of Gallant’s neck. He continued to perspire as he pushed aside the tangled jungle vines that blocked his path. He looked over his shoulder and kept his back oriented to the east and continued to march to the south. The rainforest characteristics of the jungle made the vegetation dense enough to evoke his ire on the growth interlacing and obstructing his path; his knife was kept busy. On the other hand, the area was thick with game. He spotted mammals climbing in the trees, birds swooping down, and small deer-like animals prancing off in the distance. He could’ve filled a zoo with the variety of wildlife around him. He watched where he put his feet as he walked, hoping not to trip. He was acutely aware of being followed by the animals. At first he felt uneasy, but a growing conviction—based on Alaina’s lack of concern—said these daytime animals were not the creatures that might do him harm.

  Alaina trudged alongside Gallant for the rest of the day, and, finally as the sun set, they made camp in the clearing, gathering wood and kindling to make a fire. They were near enough to the stream to collect water in a hollowed-out rock. They had no intention of drinking the water directly; too many pathogens were possible. They built a fire and boiled the water. With a drink to quench their thirst, they felt better. They prepared for a second night in the jungle.

  The heat and physical activity had worn out Alaina. She was not feeling particularly well by the time they settled down and made camp. She slept undisturbed throughout the night, getting much-needed rest, while Gallant maintained the fire, taking catnaps when he could. While he was briefly disappointed they would not revisit their tryst of the night before, he understood and shared her exhaustion.

  ***

  The following day they got up and resumed their journey, much as they had the day before. As they were working their way through the jungle, they came upon an outcropping of rocks several hundred meters high with a particularly unique mantle face. The color and smoothness of the stone was uniquely different from every other mineral deposit they had seen. The structure didn’t look quite natural either, resembling more of a carved edifice. They were curious enough to examine it more in detail, and found a ledge with chiseled stairs and a raised platform with a large lever sticking up from the base. The tremendous overgrowth of trees and vines around the structure made it seem ancient and inaccessible.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this?” asked Gallant.

  “No. I’ve never heard of anyone finding remnants of any prior inhabitants on this planet before. It might be the ruins of a lost civilization. What an incredible find,” said Alaina.

  “Looks like ancient stone ruins overrun by jungle growth. This is going to take effort just to get closer to it.”

  They made their way through the vines and vegetative obstructions—Gallant with his knife and Alaina with a pointed spear—until they reached the stone stairs. They climbed the stairs careful to avoid loose rocks and debris. After several dozen steps, they stood on the carved platform.

  Gallant looked at Alaina and put his hands on the two-meter-long wooden lever. “What do you think?”

  “Try it,” she said, mischievously. “Let’s see what happens.”

  Gallant pushed on the ancient lever, but it wouldn’t budge.

  Bracing himself, he said, “Give me a hand.”

  Together they strained against the handle until it yielded. A distinct rumbling began as if the lever had activated old internal machinery, but looking around they didn’t see anything in motion.

  After several minutes of noisy reverberations, an opening at the base of the rock mantle appeared.

  Gallant watched as the opening expanded, like a huge sliding hanger door, five meters wide as well as high.

  The door exposed a stone staircase descending beneath the rock outcropping down into the earth.

  “Well this is an interesting piece of luck, isn’t it?”

  “We’ve found an entrance,” said Alaina.

  “Yes, but an entrance to what?”

  The sky darkened as a cloud passed over the sun.

  “A storm is approaching,” said Gallant, surveying the sky.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this. We must go in,” said Alaina.

  Gallant felt his way along the solid, but soggy ground and on down a narrow tunnel made of a highly polished slab of stone. Alaina stayed close.

  The sloping ceilings and floor led them down over a hundred meters into the earth. Alaina bumped into Gallant several times due to the darkness which was periodically interrupted by a dull bioluminescence emanating from within the walls, giving the tunnel an ethereal, warm glow.

  After twenty minutes, they found drawings and pictures on the wall near the lit places. Eventually they reached a cavernous vault with several branching passages, most blocked by its own heavy stone door.

  Off to one side were steps carved into one wall leading to a ledge balcony. They went up to the balcony and reached a point where a single plank led away over a chasm and into a small tunnel entrance hole in the wall. In time, the tunnel widened out and branched off in several different directions. They stayed together and walked down the central path with self-illuminating ceilings providing guidance.

  Gallant was beginning to think they had ventured as far as they should, but Alaina said, “Let’s look into this opening before we turn back.”

  This door revealed the inner chamber that was made of smooth metal instead of stone. This opening led into a long semicircular tube-like corridor with a floor about three meters wide. More indirect illumination came from the ceiling, lighting the way forward.

  Gallant placed his hand near the source of light. It was cool to the touch. Running his hand over the surface, he found no seams or bolts or welding connections in the tunnel, giving the possibility it was all manufactured as one piece.

  “Okay. This is different. This metal structure is also ancient in origin, but this section is beautifully maintained and cleaned. A form of power is illuminating the tunnel,” said Gallant.

  They entered the central room and crept forward together into a vestibule leading to a long hallway and finally into a great gallery. The marble floors and metal walls were highly polished and remarkably well finished into a high gloss.

  Gallant examined the vault-like features of the structure. They came to a blank wall blocking their path that they presumed had to be a secret passageway. They are unable to find any way to open it. The dead end convinced them that, despite their curiosity about this intriguing site, they should head out into the jungle once more. Hopefully the storm h
ad passed them by now.

  “Given all the different passages running in every direction, I imagine there must be more doors on the surface scattered across the jungle,” Alaina said.

  “I agree. So why hasn’t anyone else stumbled on these ancient ruins before?” asked Gallant.

  “Maybe someone has but hasn’t made it known.”

  “Alaina, the ruins and the subsequent metal passages have all witnessed a great passage of time. The lower levels show the possibility of non-human technology.”

  “Yeah, it must be non-human technology, abandoned centuries ago. Wow, now that’s a puzzle. Do you like puzzles?” asked Alaina, spreading her arms.

  “Actually, I do like puzzles, but I’ll bet this one isn’t going to be easy to solve. So I think we should resume our trek back to Hallo.”

  They returned to the surface. They decided they would come back another time to explore the ancient ruins and the vault in more detail, but, for now, they needed to get back to civilization and seek medical attention.

  Gallant tried to get his bearings on their location, but, with the thick storm clouds overhead, they could only get a rough idea of which way was south.

  They resumed their march through the jungle. After several more hours, they saw pinpoints of light on the horizon. The pinpoints grew into defined arrays of windows, and soon the windows defined a building.

  They had reached an Elysium outpost at the jungle’s edge.

  CHAPTER 16

  MINING

  Being in charge of a large enterprise was a curious activity. It required thinking, planning, and preparing, but most of all, success ultimately hinged on execution and the ability to overcome what some never thought of, planned for, or prepared for.

  The burden of designing, organizing, and constructing the needed mining, forging, and manufacturing facilities, scattered across sixty kilometers of widely disparate terrain, fell to Gallant.

  “Chief, I’m assuming the Titan destroyer will need at least four months of refit before it would be able to return and challenge the Intrepid. Four months, therefore, is our completion date for all repairs to the Intrepid as well as providing whatever additional weaponry we can make to challenge the destroyer,” said Gallant

  Chief Howard nodded his agreement. “Yes sir, I concur.”

  “I’ve broken down our repair requirements for the Intrepid into three classes,” said Gallant, pulling up a virtual screen displaying his detailed plan. “This break-out shows the mining materials we need, followed by the forging and manufacturing facilities we will have to construct with the help of the Elysium citizens.”

  Howard skimmed down the list.

  First – Mining and material requirements: titanium molybdenum alloy steel for hull and bulkhead repair; aluminum-carbide composites for special equipment parts; silicon and germanium wafers for microprocessors; uranium and plutonium metals for nuclear warheads; deuterium-tritium oxide metals for fusion reactor fuel; ferromagnetic iron, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth metals to construct accelerator magnets; antiproton particles to stimulate the fusion reaction; and heavy-metal antiparticles to stimulate dark matter warp reactions.

  Second – Forging and manufacturing facilities: for the separation of raw mining material into metals without impurities and then forging them into the needed sizes and shapes, plus manufacturing the parts to install and mold to the Intrepid’s needs.

  Third – Special elements: a large hadron collider tevatron accelerator to create antiparticles and dark matter, then superconducting plasma-containment bottles to hold antiparticles and dark matter, followed by microprocessor manufacture to replace losses.

  “Whew,” commented Howard. “That would be a tall order even if we were at a space station. How are we going to get the expertise and equipment?”

  “I’m drawing thirty men from our engineering and operations departments,” Gallant began, before Howard interrupted him.

  “That will leave us shorthanded on board. We’re already overloaded with life support and reactor repairs.”

  “It can’t be helped. Their expertise is absolutely necessary. The Elysium citizens have a mining heritage and skills to contribute, but they will for the most part, be general labor. I’m hoping for about seventy to volunteer.”

  “What about replication designs?”

  “As part of the manufacturing plant, I want you to install three-dimensional printers using our standards UP designs to replicate the replacement parts,” said Gallant.

  “We only have two three-D’s left. I’m sure Mr. Neumann will require we keep one on board no matter what.”

  “Then the first priority is to manufacture another printer when we get set up.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  “Also, I’ve set the following designation for the four sites. I’ve designated them as site-M for Mining, site-F for forging and manufacturing, site-A for accelerator, and site-D for deuterium-tritium extraction,” said Gallant.

  “Yes, sir. What about communications? We’ll need to keep each site in touch with the Intrepid as well as each other.”

  “So long as Wolfe leaves the force field down, we’ll be able to use standard communication equipment; however, I’ll need special equipment for the AI control systems to run the operations at each site,” said Gallant. “Will you get a comm-tech working on setting it up as well?

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  ***

  Gallant was pleased Wolfe kept his initial part of the bargain, and mining preparations were soon well underway. Inventorying the supplies and equipment available showed the community would be severely strained to meet the demands of the endeavor; nevertheless, it was clear they were intent on delivering on their promise. For his part, Gallant was unsure how the Intrepid would meet its demanding schedule to deal with the Titans, but he intended to keep the work moving ahead as smoothly as possible.

  Chief Howard accompanied the Intrepid crewmen to Elysium to get them organized, but he planned to commute back and forth throughout the mining and repair mission. Traveling between the Intrepid and Elysium was made possible by Howard’s construction of a trailer vessel. Using a tractor beam, Gallant’s Hummingbird towed the trailer behind it, transporting men and equipment from the ship to the surface and back to orbit again.

  Gallant divided the mining and construction men into three teams with several Intrepid crewmen on each team. The first team was responsible for mining raw heavy metal materials from Brobdingnag’s rugged mountain slopes using trucks, excavators, tractors, and drilling equipment. They established a camp site and supply depot at the base of the mountain.

  The second team would develop a small milling, forging, and manufacturing facility to produce repair parts. In addition this team would fabricate a half-dozen nuclear-tipped anti-ship missiles to arm the Intrepid for its next encounter with the Titans. This station would be several kilometers south of the mines.

  The third team was to construct a six-kilometer in diameter circular track for an accelerator which would create anti-matter and dark matter particles to be kept in containment fields. The track would be located on open range halfway between the jungle and the town of Hallo.

  The citizens of Elysium pooled their heavy equipment together into a gigantic convoy which safely transported the workers for many kilometers along a rugged jungle and mountain road to the great volcano. The supplies and equipment involved totaled thousands of tons. Tractors, excavators, and drills were carried on flatbed trucks, all of that were following rock, fuel, supply, and tow trucks moving determinedly toward the three active sites which Gallant had marked on the map. About seventy citizens joined thirty Intrepid crewmen, led by Chief Howard, to make the journey. The citizens included several old hands with mining experience from their days on the asteroid Ceres; they expressed excitement at resuming their old craft and gratitude their expertise was needed. Gallant pushed his crew and the citizens as hard as he dared.

  The first few hours of the trip passed unremarkably, bu
t when they started climbing the mountain roads with their steep grades, breakdowns began. Broken fuel lines, hydraulic leaks, flat tires, burst pistons, and endless other mechanical and electrical failure took their toll on the overtaxed vehicles. While the colonists worked to keep their vehicles running, much of the quick and efficient repairs were handled by the Intrepid’ mechanics, who had the greater skills and modern tools.

  It took over ten hours for the convoy to travel fifty kilometers before dusk overtook them, and they pitched a makeshift camp alongside the road. Multiple campfires lit up the night as the workers prepared food and thereafter settled into their sleeping bags. Several guards were posted at various points to thwart any dangerous, wandering animals.

  The next morning they got up again, and the difficult journey was renewed.

  Things became considerably more arduous the following day when the roads were reduced to mere paths and half-cleared trails. Time was spent cutting away brush, and bulldozers were used to clear and widen the access. It took four more days to get to the mining location and to establish their mining and support facilities.

  Establishing a base camp was a serious undertaking, requiring engineering planning and precision. Housing and supply buildings were the first to go up, and then the mining roads were laid down from camp to the mining site itself. A nearby river served as a source for water cannons to cut into the loose surface material before they began blasting deeper into the mountain’s rock face to extract ore. A fireworks display noted the holes made at the different deposit sites to be mined.

  Soon the manufacturing facilities were also under construction to protect the forge equipment, which was somewhat exposed to the elements for now. A few buildings had half of their foundations laid along with the internal walls framed out. Meanwhile the workers’ tents were arranged around a rough campsite with a fire pit burning continuously.