A Covenant of Thieves

by Christian Velguth

“That’s where we are with the artifacts. We’re scratching the surface and picking at the dust. They could be screaming their instruction manuals at us, and we’d never know it because they’re communicating through a medium we haven’t even discovered yet.

  “So no, Mr. Villeneuve,” Dr. Halley finished. “We really haven’t made very much progress at all.”

  Rick snorted. “And you want us to turn the thing off.”

  * * *

  An hour into the morning, they reached the summit. Most of the flattened plateau was covered by the quarantine dome, geodesic segments of translucent silvery polymer joined by a thin webwork of black rods. Through the dome’s filmy surface Rick could make out the general shape of the mosque and chapel, as well as some other structures that hadn’t been there before. Moving amongst it all were fuzzy silhouettes.

  What looked like an airlock faced the path, and the members of Retrieval immediately made to enter. Rick, however, was distracted by another sight. Moving around the perimeter of the dome and ignoring Dr. Halley’s calls, he looked out over the north flank of Mount Sinai. He could see down into the desert plain, where the complex of St. Catherine monastery was laid out. It was an ancient structure, buildings enclosed by tall mud brick walls. Rick knew it was a popular spot for tourists and pilgrims, and usually marked the beginning of a trip to Mount Sinai. The solitary road that cut through the desert to the complex was currently packed full of vehicles, but he suspected these weren’t your every-day tourists. He could make out clusters of people. They appeared to be held at bay by a cordon of concrete barriers and black vans.

  “What’s that?” he asked as Dr. Halley and Kai caught up with him. “Who’re those people?”

  “Gawkers, I expect.” Dr. Halley said distractedly.

  “I thought the area had been evacuated.”

  “It was, yes, but there’s only so much we can do as an outside entity. I expect that’ll be the local police force holding them back, with stories of military exercises or chemical spills or something equally vague.”

  “The Egyptians don’t know, do they? About what you’re really doing here?”

  “They know enough to convince them that they’re still working in service of their country. Which is true, from a certain perspective. We have several Egyptian nationals in Pharos, and the outcome of our research will benefit this country along with all others.”

  The mountain rumbled. It was a less violent tremor than the last one, but the people gathered below couldn’t have missed it. “How exactly are you going to explain that away?” Rick asked.

  “I really don’t know. It’s not my job. Shall we?”

  They allowed themselves to be led back to the dome entrance, where Dr. Okai was waiting impatiently. The Retrieval team appeared to have entered already, save for one, an older woman with iron-grey hair who nodded as they arrived. “You’ll need to suit up before entering. Standard quarantine procedures.”

  From a locker standing beside the outer door they were given bulky, bright-orange hazmat suits. The Retrieval member, who gave her name as Chris, instructed them in putting it on, activating the air canisters, using the mic, and monitoring various readouts on the wrist-mounted screen. Rick, already sweating from the climb, immediately fogged up the faceplate of his hood. Small internal fans kicked in a moment later, chilling his face and defogging his view.

  Kai, nearly too big for his suit even without the exoframe, was the last to be ready. After trying to figure out what to do with his right arm and the corresponding unused segment of the exoframe, the Retrieval team decided to remove that piece of the exoframe entirely so that the hazmat suit sleeve hung deflated at his side. His right arm remained slung across his chest, deforming the shape of the suit even further.

  Chris checked them all, then pulled on her helmet, which had an angular faceplate that polarized to black as she donned it. Her voice came through the radio in Rick’s hood: “We’ll go through a decontamination sequence, which takes about ninety seconds, and then enter the dome.”

  They stepped through the outer door and into a small chamber. A second door stood closed before them. As the outer one sealed with a hiss, a notification flashed on Rick’s wrist, telling him that decontamination was about to begin. A countdown started, and a fine mist hissed from nozzles arrayed throughout the chamber, coating his faceplate with faintly-blue droplets. This was followed by a buzzing blast of ultraviolet light, another spray -- this was almost invisible -- and then a gust of air. The countdown reached zero, and Rick’s wrist screen flashed green.

  The inner door clicked, and swung smoothly open.

  Chris led the way, followed by Dr. Okai. Rick went next. The light quality was weird beneath the dome; its material rendered the morning sun dim and flat, as if its light weren’t actually reaching them at all. Lights mounted overhead made up for this with a harsh white glare, giving everything a hyper-real feeling. Rick felt like he was on the stage of a movie as he followed Chris and Dr. Okai. Everything felt both fake and too vivid.

  Banks of workstations had been set up around the chapel, three rows arranged in a semicircle. These were occupied by people in more orange hazmat suits. The chapel itself sat beneath a second enclosure, a large pressurized tent whose walls billowed outwards. A veritable forest of tripod-mounted cameras and sensors surrounded the tent, all pointed inwards. Just in case something happened.

  Kai fell into step beside Rick, looking like a golem bound in gaudy wrapping paper thanks to the bulk of his exoframe. “This is surreal,” he said over the radio.

  Rick could only nod.

  Past the workstations and up the chapel steps, to where a transparent square of material was stretched over the open doorway of the building. There was no zipper visible; instead, Chris simply pushed her way through an invisible seam. The material parted just wide enough to grant her passage, letting only a small squeak of air out before sealing up tight. Dr. Okai went next, but Dr. Halley ushered Rick and Kai before him. Kai went first, ducking slightly, his massive frame filling the entrance and letting a more substantial gust of air through. Rick followed. Moving through the material felt like pushing against a watery membrane, and then he was inside the chapel.

  The altar and all the other religious accoutrements had been shoved to one side of the small space. In their place were standing lamps, lighting up the chapel until every crack in every stone was visible. Straddling the wide opening of the shaft was some sort of metal scaffold. A cage hung over the opening -- a lift. The other members of Retrieval were gathered around it, waiting patiently like pieces on a chessboard. Once Chris joined them, it was impossible to tell their blackened faceplates apart.

  “Couple ground rules,” Chris said. “Once we get down there, the word of Retrieval is law. That means any one of us tells you to jump, you get hopping, understood? You too, Dr. Okai. I know you’re the expert on these things, but it’s our job to keep that big brain of yours in one piece. Second, don’t touch anything. I don’t care how shiny it is. You might see things that don’t make sense, or that frighten you. They’re not real. Probably. And if they are, we’ll deal with them. Third and final, don’t leave the guideline. We move in single-file, always with one hand on the line. Doing otherwise gives us permission to put you on your ass and haul you out of here. Losing your head checks that same box. If you start to feel like your thoughts aren’t your own, let us know and we’ll get you out. Don’t stay quiet because you’re embarrassed or frightened. Communication is key. Understood?”

  “Yes, yes,” Dr. Okai snapped. “Proceed.”

  There was no response over the radio, but by the way the heads of Retrieval turned towards each other, Rick guessed they were sharing their exasperation on a private channel. One of them opened the red lift gate and stepped inside. “We go down two by two. Dr. Okai, step forward.” The orange-suited figure joined the helmeted person in the lift. The gate closed behind him, and the cage started down with a soft electric whine. In less than two minutes it returned, e
mpty.

  Dr. Halley went next, and then Kai. He shared a look and a nod with Rick, then joined his escort, the lift swaying and sagging noticeably as he climbed inside. They sank down, disappearing beneath the stone floor. Rick realized he was holding his breath only once the lift returned.

  “Álvarez, with me.” He recognized the voice as the bearded man they had spoken with earlier, the only Retrieval member remaining topside with him. He stepped into the lift and held the gate open.

  Rick took a step forward -- and then it hit him. He was fucking terrified. Flashes of blue-green light burst behind his eyes, images of bodies and stone melting, and his throat tightened like a Chinese finger trap. Some small part of him grew irritated at this. Move, it barked, and he took another step forward -- then froze up again.

  He didn’t know what was down there. None of them did. And yet they expected him to talk to it. To convince it to stop whatever the hell it was doing. How the fuck was he supposed to do that, when he couldn’t even make it to the lift?

  “Rick?” It was his Retrieval escort. “Come on. You can do it. I know this is overwhelming, but so long as you stay by my side, everything will be fine.”

  “You said you’ve never done this before,” he said, voice jerky and oddly high. “Never dealt with a Remnant like this.”

  “Shit,” one of the other Retrieval members said from below. “You told him that?”

  “It’ll be ok,” the man said more firmly. “Trust me, Rick. Can you do that?”

  “No.” But Kai is down there. Then he took a breath and forced himself across the rest of the space to the lift. He entered it quickly, bumping into the other man, not letting himself slow down and freeze up again.

  The Retrieval member steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. “Ok?” He nodded wordlessly, and the lift began to sink. “My name’s Torv. I’ll be with you, ok?”

  “I feel so much better.” He was being an asshole, but he was also beyond caring. Torv, to his credit, didn’t call him out on it.

  The lift dropped slowly into the round chamber. Kai was waiting, along with the two doctors and the rest of Retrieval. They all stood around the entrance to the tunnel that led deeper into the mountain, beneath small lights that had been stuck to the rock. A pole had been driven into the floor, a thick rope stretching from it and into the tunnel. It glowed with strong blue luminescence, illuminating the tunnel even under the wall-mounted lights. Everyone had a hand on the rope.

  “This is the guideline,” said Chris. The suited figure at the front of the group moved its head. “Rule number three: always one hand on it, remember? Let me hear you say it.” There came a chorus of voices echoing rule number three, Kai rumbling along with him. Rick croaked out the words, and Chris nodded again. “Alright. Let’s move out, single-file.”

  She led the way into the tunnel. They proceeded in alternating order, one Retrieval member between each of their charges, with Torv bringing up the rear behind Rick. Kai was in front of Rick. As he passed through the tunnel mouth he couldn’t help but glance up at the words carved in stone, left by the Templar knights.

  It was not God we found but the devil.

  “How’s it going, Rick?” Kai asked conversationally.

  “Fucking peachy.” His heart was pounding, but at least he wasn’t freezing up again.

  The tunnel seemed even narrower than he remembered, probably because of the bulky hazmat suit. His head kept brushing against the ceiling, his shoulders scraping noisily against the glassy walls. Fog kept encroaching upon his faceplate, until the azure glow of the guideline was diffused across his entire field of vision.

  “Breathe slowly,” Torve told him, voice calm in his ear. “You’ll burn through your air otherwise.”

  Great. One more thing to worry about. The tightness in his throat was still there, but he forced his breathing to slow down.

  As they progressed, however, something strange happened. Rick’s fear began to subside and was replaced by a buzzing energy, an excitement. He was afraid of the thing, the Ark, but part of him wanted to see it again. To see its mystery, to try and understand it. This eagerness conflicted with his unease and left him feeling a bit nauseous. Was it really his own excitement? Or was he being influenced? Were these those outside thoughts Chris had mentioned? Should he say something?

  Before Rick could decide, a tremendous roar came barrelling up the tunnel. The stone shook around them, the floor seeming to writhe like a living thing. Rick’s head hit the ceiling painfully, and he gripped the guideline with both hands to keep from falling. Ahead, beyond the bodies of those in front of him, something shone brightly, a pure golden light broken by flickers of blue-green.

  Something warm and electrifying stirred within him, and for a moment Rick was standing outside himself, in a white nothingness -- only it wasn’t empty, it --

  He fell back into himself, stumbling back against Torv. He caught him, propping him up. “You ok?”

  Rick shook himself. The tremor had passed, and everyone was craning around to look at him. He could see the concern on Kai’s face, curiosity on the doctors’. How long had he been…gone?

  “Yeah,” he gasped, regaining his footing. “That -- the tremors feel a lot stronger down here.”

  Chris grunted. “That was a bad one. Come on, nearly there.”

  The fog in Rick’s head had dissipated by the time they reached the end of the tunnel. The guideline began a series of switchbacks as it entered the larger chamber, crossing from wall to wall. He kept one hand on it as he came to stand beside Kai and his escort -- and froze.

  “Holy shit,” he breathed.

  The chamber had been relatively large when they first found it, about the size of a two-story house. Craning his head, Rick estimated the chamber to now be about as large as a football stadium. The peaked ceiling was the same height that he remembered, but two or three meters ahead the floor dropped away suddenly, the ceiling rose, and the walls expanded outward. Beyond, a yawning space stretched into distant shadow. Massive pillars flowed down from the ceiling in orderly rows, square-sided and glassy-smooth except for where dendritic growths connected one to another, their bases disappearing from view as they plunged downward into a vast pit. A golden glow filtered upward like a haze. As he gaped, there came crackling flashes of brighter light and sparks of blue-green energy that touched several pillars and coursed along the high ceiling and walls. Where they made contact, the stone glowed briefly.

  “The artifact has been quite busy,” Dr. Halley said breathlessly.

  “You ain’t kidding,” Kai muttered.

  They moved forward, following the switchbacks of the guideline as they approached the edge of the pit. Stationed around its lip were unfathomable devices, dishes and antennas and sensors all pointed down into the pit. The guideline brought them to the very edge amongst the equipment, and here Rick could peer down into the depths.

  It dropped for what must have been a hundred feet or more, the wall on which they were standing tumbling downwards in tiers and cyclopian steps. Ladders had been bolted to the stone, establish a route down to the bottom. The floor of the pit stretched off between the forest of towering pillars, a smooth expanse only occasionally marred by irregular blocks and recesses. In the middle of the massive chamber sat something that gave off an intense, almost painful radiance, surrounded by a shifting nebula of light that looked somehow solid. It sent out lances of blue-green energy as they watched.

  “It’s already changed,” Dr. Okai said, sounding almost giddy. “Since we were last here, the chamber has grown -- what, half again its previous size, Halley?”

  “Maybe. Maybe.” The doctor sounded dazed.

  “It’s building something,” Kai said.

  Dr. Okai nodded. “Yes. The question is, what?”

  “A temple.” Rick surprised himself by speaking, and all heads turned to stare at him. “This is a new temple.”

  * * *

  The hazmat suits made the climb down awkward and slow. Each t
ime Rick mounted a ladder, he half-expected the Ark to let loose another one of its tremors and throw him to his death. Yet it never did; he heard snaps and buzzes, the chamber lighting up as more flares of that mysterious energy were loosed. But the mountain didn’t shake once during their descent. Almost as if the artifact were being considerate of their presence.

  Kai whistled over the radio as they reached the bottom of the pit, head craned back to fully take in the size of the chamber. Rick’s first estimate had been wrong: the chamber was much larger than a stadium. Or maybe it just felt larger at the bottom. It was like standing in a fantastical cathedral. “You guys thought that tiny dome up top was going to contain all this?”

  “We weren’t expecting activity on such a vast scale,” Dr. Okai said. “Everything about this situation is unprecedented.”

  “All the more reason to wrap this up quick,” said Chris. “For all we know, the Remnant will just keep at it until the whole damn mountain has been repurposed for its…temple.”

  They proceeded down the wide central aisle that ran between the towering pillars. The Ark sat in the exact center of the chamber. Rick couldn’t see its actual form, only a brilliant spot amidst the shifting golden nebula. There was no guideline set up down here, but they remained in single-file formation anyway. It felt safer, tapped into some ancient primate pack mentality.

  “Anyone else seeing this?” Rick asked. The air around them seemed to be thickening, swirling with eddies of sparkling golden fireflies. They danced around the group in clusters like fish or starlings, reacting to their movements but never actually making contact.

  “These motes,” Dr. Halley said. “We’ve observed them before, but never in such high concentrations. They’re clearly related to artifact activity, but whether they’re byproducts or functional agents…”

  He trailed off. Rick could feel his hair standing on end. A charge seemed to be growing in the air, tangible even inside the hazmat suit. It made him wonder just how useful the things really were. The density of the fireflies seemed to be growing as well, shifting currents that flowed and corkscrewed with a building frantic energy --