T'aafhal Legacy 1: Ghosts of Orion

by Doug L. Hoffman

  “Go Drainpipe One.” The voice was Cmdr. Danner's.

  “We have eyes on Drainpipe Leader. They are pinned down next to a tunnel opening at the upper end of the large chamber. They all appear to be unharmed. There is a recon drone with them as well.”

  “Roger. What is your position with respect to the others?”

  “We are in a side tunnel about one third of the way down the chamber wall, maybe 90 meters from the others. We are observing the chamber using a fiber-optic probe to avoid being seen by the creatures. I am patching the video feed through to you now.”

  “Roger that, Drainpipe. Wait one.”

  Shuttle One

  Bobby and Mizuki stared at the scene from the boulder filled chamber, kilometers below the surface of the moon. The motile rock creatures hemmed the Gunny's party in on all sides, though they were keeping their distance, particularly from Umky.

  “I don't see how the three trapped in the chamber can make it to the tunnel where Drainpipe One is hiding, do you Mizuki?”

  “There are so many of the creatures, I do not think the Marines could all cross the chamber to the other tunnel without being intercepted. Peggy Sue says the creatures are probably molten inside?”

  “Yeah, moving blobs of lava with a hard rock cover—I wonder how much they weigh?”

  “A one meter boulder would mass approximately 10,000 kilograms,” Mizuki replied, doing a quick calculation in her head.

  “Ten tons? And that's for the small ones! The Marines' armor is tough but I don't think they want to try dodging a living landslide.”

  “I would be more concerned about being enveloped by the molten rock inside of the creatures. From the sensor data it looks like the recon drone we lost was surrounded by lava and melted.”

  “Let's see if the Captain or Beth have any ideas. Peggy Sue, Shuttle one, over.”

  “Go, Shuttle One,” came the immediate reply.

  “We've found our missing Marines, but the situation is still precarious. Our people are surrounded by moving, multiton boulders. We think their way out is blocked and there is little hope of them making it to the tunnel Drainpipe One is hiding in without getting mobbed by the lava creatures. If you have any ideas, we'd love to hear them.”

  “We understand. Beth and I have been looking at the tactical displays and haven't come up with anything ourselves.”

  “Roger that, Peggy Sue.”

  “The only possible bright spot is that the computer is making progress decoding the creatures' speech. It looks like they use a kind of spread spectrum RF to talk and microwaves to see with, based on readings from the encounter at the gem pit.”

  “Can we communicate with them?”

  “That's still a negative, Shuttle One. We need more sample signals and the ability to interact with the creatures so we can more quickly nail down the translation algorithm.”

  “Roger, Peggy Sue. Wait one.” Bobby muted the comm. “Mizuki, I have an idea.”

  “Yes, Bobby?” She gazed at him, her eyes wide, a serious look on her face.

  “Somebody needs to go down to reestablish broadband communication to the computer and try to talk with the boulder creatures.”

  “But that will take an hour or more.”

  “Not with what I have in mind.”

  “So we are going to go and rescue the Marines?”

  Bobby looked into his beloved's eyes and realized that there was no way he could make Mizuki stay behind if he was going to go in harm's way. In fact, telling her he was going to go alone might be more dangerous than facing the lava creatures themselves. Surrendering to inevitability, he smiled and said, “Let me tell you what I have in mind.”

  CIC, Peggy Sue

  “You want to do what?” demanded the Captain.

  “Mizuki and I are going to take one of the hover sleds down the tunnel that Drainpipe Leader went down, until we make contact.”

  “Is he daft? We already have most of our expeditionary force trapped inside that metal rabbit warren,” Beth hissed at her husband.

  Billy Ray held up his hand, forestalling further commentary, and said, “Let's hear him out.”

  “Tell us what you have in mind, Shuttle One.”

  “Roger. I went over the telemetry from the two drones and Drainpipe Leader's descent into the central tunnel. It is big enough for a hover sled all the way to the chamber. I figure we can reach the chamber in about eight minutes.”

  “Why do I have visions of you smeared all over the tunnel wall, pardner?”

  “Naw, it's all good. I ran simulations on the flight deck computer three times. We just use the sled's attitude to keep its bottom repulsors in opposition to the G forces. It'll be just like a theme park ride. In fact, the sled could probably make the run on its own. Let me send you the simulation runs.”

  “Roger, Shuttle One. Receiving now.”

  Beth and Billy Ray fell silent as they watched the computer simulation of the proposed descent on the CIC monitors. Beth shook her head and marveled.

  “He's insane, totally barking mad.”

  “Well, darlin', if it was anyone but Bobby I would have my doubts, but he is the best pilot I've ever known.”

  “Why is he taking Mizuki with him?”

  “Do you honestly think she would let him go on a dangerous mission without her? Hell, he's the less adventurous of the two.”

  “I just don't want to lose half our crew and our two best friends down some alien death trap.”

  “Right.” Billy Ray took the comm off mute. “Shuttle One. Tell me again why it has to be you two who make this little foray?”

  “Peggy Sue, I am the only one qualified to fly the sled, particularly in tight quarters. And Mizuki and I are the only experienced, combat trained personnel left down here. Captain, I sent them into that maze; I have to try and get them back out.”

  Muting the comm the Captain turned to his First Officer. “Well, he's not wrong about that. You know if our positions were reversed we'd try something to get our people back.”

  “Something not quite this dangerous, I should hope,” said Beth, resignation in her voice. “At this point I don't think we could stop them anyway.”

  Billy Ray nodded.

  “Shuttle One, Peggy Sue. Yer a go on this sled thing. Do not make me regret it, pardner.”

  “Roger that, Peggy Sue. We'll be careful.”

  “In a pig's eye,” Beth said under her breath.

  Surface, Metal Moon

  It took only a few minutes for Mizuki and Bobby to don their suits of standard armor and unship the hover sled. The sled was a simple open platform with low sides and repulsors mounted on its bottom, enabling it to fly over rough terrain. Other repulsors were mounted fore and aft and along the sides to allow maneuvering in tight quarters.

  On the back of the sled, Taylor and Wilson, the two sailors who rounded out the shuttle's crew, mounted a hatbox shaped container that held within it a coil of thin wire, similar to the guidance wire on naval torpedoes. The idea was that the wire would provide a harder to detect, and hence less likely to be disrupted, communications channel back to the surface.

  “You're good to go, Mr. Danner,” reported Tamara Wilson. “Are you sure you don't want us to go with you, Sir?”

  “We've been over that,” Bobby replied. “I want you two on the shuttle's flight deck ready to provide covering fire if we come back out hot. Or to get the shuttle out of here if we screw the pooch. We still have a couple of science section types on board and they didn't really sign up to fight lava filled boulders inside a metal termite mound.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  “So you two are clear on your orders? Wait for us to come back to the surface as long as we remain in contact. If you lose comm head back to the Peggy Sue to regroup.”

  “Aye, Commander, she'll be right,” said Jay Taylor, “it's a box of birds.”

  “A box of what?” asked Mizuki.

  “Sorry, Ma'am, my gran was a Kiwi and that was one of her saying
s. It means it's all good.”

  “Ah,” Mizuki replied with a smile. “We used to have an Australian pilot named Sandy, and she had all sorts of colorful sayings.”

  “Yeah,” added Bobby, “but she did it on purpose to mess with us Yanks, at least until everyone on board was speaking in Aussie slang. Damn good pilot though. All right, Dr. Ogawa, your carriage awaits.”

  Bobby followed Mizuki onto the floating sled and worked his way to the front. Once they were both aboard they laid down on the floor of the open conveyance, hoping for some minimal protection from the sled's low sides.

  “Peggy Sue, Slider is ready to depart.”

  “Roger, Slider. God speed.

  As the two sailors reboarded the shuttle, Tamara spoke to Jay on suit-to-suit. “I hope nothing bad happens to them, or the others.”

  “Too right, Tamara. God help 'em if they get into an argy-bargy with a bunch of rocks.”

  Chapter 16

  Slider Descending

  The tunnel raced toward them like a bobsled run covered in black ice. Bobby's gloved hands rested lightly on the sled's controls, only occasionally making a correction, letting the guidance program he had downloaded into their transport's autopilot do most of the work. Mizuki was snatching occasional peeks over Bobby's horizontal form, mostly keeping her head down as the speeding sled twisted its way deeper into the metal moon.

  “I told you this would work, Mizuki-chan. We are making close to a hundred kilometers an hour.”

  “Great, Bobby. Just don't run into anything.”

  “I'm trying not to, sweetheart.”

  The sled rolled right, then left and then right again, as Bobby kept the skittish craft's bottom repulsors in opposition to the G forces caused by the turns. The forces came on suddenly, rapidly building to three or four Earth gravities and then just as suddenly dropping back to zero. Another sequence of turns threw the sled into a corkscrew eliciting a protest from Mizuki.

  “Teishi! Watashi wa byōki ni nari-sōda.”

  As the racing craft entered another welcome straight stretch Bobby replied, “what was that?”

  “I said I'm going to throw up if this keeps up much longer.”

  “Sorry, I'll throttle back a bit, but I can't change the shape of the tunnel.”

  Mizuki's response was a muffled whimper. She was not overly susceptible to motion-sickness but this was like a carnival ride gone amok. Being thrown from side to side by the cornering forces was not as bad as the transitions to and from zero G. Making matters worse, there was no point of reference, no horizon in the dark tunnel to fix on. Mizuki swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut.

  None of this bothered Bobby a bit—he was in his element flying a wildly gyrating craft right up to the edge of controllability. If Mizuki had not complained he would have gone even faster. As it was, his face muscles were starting to hurt from grinning so widely.

  “Slider, Peggy Sue. You don't need to set any speed records to impress us, pardner.” Billy Ray, who had known Bobby for years and had shared the helm of the Peggy Sue with him in many tense situations, knew his friend's love of speed and inability to resist flying like a madman.

  “Just pushing the envelope a bit, Peggy Sue.”

  “The problem with pushing the envelope is that sometimes the envelope pushes back. Remember we got nobody to come scrape you off the tunnel wall if you discover the limit by steppin' over it.”

  “Roger that, we are almost to the chamber anyway.”

  The sled rolled sharply to starboard and then leveled out, headed for the tunnel's end fifty meters ahead. It took Bobby a fraction of a second to interpret the view forward on his helmet's display. LIDAR readings showed that there was something blocking the tunnel, just shy of the large chamber that was their destination.

  “Aw shit!” Bobby said under his breath before shouting to Mizuki over suit-to-suit. “Hang on to something, we're going to hit!”

  Bobby threw the sled into full reverse, but this type of utility craft was not intended for use in zero G and not known for its braking capability under any circumstances. Their forward velocity dropped to thirty kilometers per hour prior to impact and the forward facing repulsors helped cushion the blow, but Newton's Laws cannot be denied.

  Arrival, The Chamber

  A boulder creature over a meter in diameter came flying out of the tunnel, careening into another who was hanging in space fifteen meters from the Gunny and her companions. This set off a chain reaction as the initial boulder veered off to the right and the boulder it struck flew to the left. Both collided with more of their kind, initiating a wave of contact that rippled outward, spreading toward the far end of the chamber.

  “This is like three dimensional lawn bowling,” said Rosey, as the Marines looked on helplessly.

  Closely following the living boulder out of the tunnel was the speeding sled. Having struck the boulder a bit low and off center, the sled toppled forward as it emerged, its nose dropping down while flinging Mizuki and Bobby from their mount.

  “Jump, Mizuki!” Bobby cried, but she was already airborne, flying toward the gathering of boulders. Bobby himself did a slow tumble, turning head over heels on a collision course with the head alien.

  “Those officers must be batshit crazy to ride a hover sled down that tunnel,” Vinny marveled.

  “If Hitch and Jacobs had done it, it would be crazy,” said the Gunny, “Since those two officers did it, it must be a clever tactical maneuver.”

  “Speaking of the Navy's two trouble magnets,” rumbled Umky, pointing across the chamber with the barrel of his railgun, “it looks like Kato and Bosco found them and brought them to the party.”

  Rosy glanced in the direction indicated in time to see the last of four armored humans emerge from a side tunnel into the chamber. Their appearance added to the confusion among the ranks of boulders as the creatures shied away from the new arrivals. Meanwhile, Misuki had drawn her katana and was about to collide with a large boulder.

  “She ain't gonna attack that rock with a sword, is she?”

  Mizuki tucked and tumbled forward while waving the katana in a complex pattern. This altered her attitude so that she landed feet first on the boulder. The boulder, out massing the scientist a hundred fold, was barely moved. Kicking off, the sword wielding physicist reversed course and headed back for the Marines deployed around the tunnel opening the sled had just entered from.

  “Dr. Ogawa is one of the smartest humans around, DeSilva. She's using the sword like a tightrope walker uses a pole, for balance.”

  “You're right, Umky,” added the Gunny, as Mizuki landed with a particularly theatrical sweep of her katana.

  “I think the jury is still out on Cmdr. Danner,” DeSilva retorted.

  Bobby continued his slow somersaulting trajectory until he collided face first with the lead boulder. Bobby rebounded and slowly drifted backwards, opening a gap between himself and the lava creature. The collision stopped his rotation and allowed him to come to a halt using his suit's repulsors.

  “We come in peace,” Bobby broadcast using the computer's best attempt at translation. While trying to communicate, he smiled and held both hands up, palms outward.

  * * * * *

  “What are these insane aliens trying to do?” Asked one of the elder lava creatures. Others were busy apologizing to each other and trying to sort out the spontaneous reordering caused by the new arrivals to the chamber.

  “Hey,” exclaimed Gx!pk, “there are the poo jugglers!”

  “And the two who pelted us with uranium!” added Kq*zt.

  “You think if I jumped around a bit the aliens would throw food at me?” asked Zz#tx, peering intently at the four oddly shaped aliens. “These are a lot bigger than the one I ate.”

  This caused a ripple of conversation among those nearby, followed by a tentative advance on the aliens. In response the aliens raised the devices that Qz@px had called 'weapons'.

  “Everyone just stop!” yelled Qz@px. “Let's not do
anything spectacularly stupid until we can find out what these creatures want!”

  * * * * *

  “OK people, let's not do anything spectacularly stupid until I can establish a rapport with the head boulder here,” said Bobby over the squad frequency.

  The large alien floating in space in front of Bobby shuddered, waves traveling across the surface of its body. Rhythmic pulsations deformed the alien's dark exterior, sending a web of cracks spreading across its skin. Showing through the cracks was the hot red-orange glow of molten rock.

  The alien's entire body deformed as two protuberances formed. One to either side, separated by an angle of around 120 degrees. As Bobby watched spellbound, they grew longer and thinner.

  “What's that thing doing, Commander,” asked a nervous Gunny, fingering the trigger guard on her railgun. Mizuki, who had landed gracefully on the chamber wall next to Umky, resheathed her katana.

  “I do not think it is menacing Cmdr. Danner, Gunny, I think it is mimicking his movements,” the always observant Mizuki answered. “Bobby, it looks like the creature is trying to imitate your arm gestures.”

  “I think you're right, Mizuki,” he replied. “Everyone maintain position and don't make any threatening moves or gestures.”

  “How do you threaten a rock, Sir?” asked Hitch from his position on the side of the chamber.

  “Don't point your weapons at them for a starter. You already shot a couple of them.” All the while Bobby was smiling for all he was worth and waving his open hands back and forth in what he sincerely hoped was a friendly manner. As he watched, the big alien's new “arms” grew fingers and waved back clumsily.

  * * * * *

  “I think these creatures are trying to communicate with us,” Qz@px announced to his fellows. “Everyone be quiet while I try to talk to them.”

  “Ask them if they have more food,” said Zz#tx. He was immediately hushed by others around him.

  “Welcome to our home, visitor,” Qz@px said to the alien.