‘Yup.’
‘The air inside is breathable by humans and doesn’t appear to have any harmful effects.’ She demonstrated by inhaling deeply.
‘Agreed.’ Kevin wondered where Simone was going with this. Knowing his sister, it was best to not interrupt and only make general noises of agreement.
‘When we were hungry and wanting some breakfast, the artefact provided it.’
‘And very nice it was too,’ said Kevin.
‘But not just any breakfast,’ said Simone.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look. If this artefact is an alien machine, I can get how it might be able to analyse our bodies somehow and determine our requirements. A sufficiently advanced technology could theoretically produce food from its constituent molecules.’
‘Like a replicator in that ancient show Dad made us watch.’
Simone nodded distractedly. ‘It can provide air in the mix we need to breathe. Food containing nutrients we require. But coffee? And toast, just the way we like it?’
‘Hey, speak for yourself. I like jam on mine.’
Simone waved away his objection. ‘And these mugs.’ She picked one up from the table. ‘Not just any mugs, but my mugs. The ones we have in our hab.’
‘It is a bit strange, yes.’
‘A bit strange? God, Kev. It’s like the thing is…’ She stopped.
‘What is it?’ asked Kevin.
Simone continued in a melodramatic whisper, ‘Reading our minds.’
Kevin laughed.
‘Don’t laugh. I’m serious.’
‘Sorry, Sim. You’re the scientist. Why don’t you tell me how real mind reading has turned out to be?’
‘Humans reading each other’s minds? Complete hokum. Aliens? That’s something else,’ said Simone.
Kevin had to admit, it would explain the weirdness they had experienced with this morning’s breakfast. ‘Ok. So it can read our minds and gives us what we think about. I’ve been thinking about getting out of here on and off since we got trapped and look where it’s got me.’
‘It obviously wants us in here.’
‘Simone, it’s a thing. It doesn’t want anything.’
‘It’s probably an AI.’
Kevin snorted. ‘AIs don’t want anything. They’re programmed.’
‘Alien,’ said Simone.
‘Is that how you’re going to explain everything?’
‘Only the stuff I can’t explain,’ said Simone.
‘Just so I know.’
Simone thought it was reading their minds? Kevin decided to try a little experiment. He closed his eyes and pictured a bottle of Dimitri’s rotgut.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Simone. ‘It looks like you’re constipated.’
‘Thinking about booze. Now, hush, I need to concentrate.’
‘Typical.’
Kevin concentrated with all his might for a good ten seconds. He then opened his eyes expectantly. Nothing had appeared.
‘Are you done?’ asked Simone.
‘So much for your theory,’ said Kevin.
‘Maybe it doesn’t work when the substance is harmful.’
‘Great. Trapped by an alien member of the temperance movement.’
CHAPTER 6
Daniel lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Since talking to Jacob, he had cleaned off the errant paint spatters from near his easel, arranged his brushes by size, and completed a full stock check of his paints. All this had failed to take his mind off the plight of Simone, and he had given up trying to distract himself and decided to just go with lying down and worrying.
The hab AI’s voice broke the silence. ‘Daniel, there is a story about Simone on the news feed. Do you wish to see it?’
‘God, yes.’ Daniel instantly got off the bed and moved into the main living area so he could see the screen as it flared into life.
The perfect AI presenter was delivering the news in precise reassuring tones.
‘Two people have now been confirmed missing. Brother and sister, Kevin Maddock and Simone Aarons were last seen in the vicinity of the artefact.’
The screen switched to CCTV footage of the pair walking around the half uncovered cube-shaped artefact which Kevin had found. The picture then showed Simone, running her hand in a circle on the surface of the grey, implacable object and a hole suddenly appearing where she had touched it.
As the recording showed the pair gingerly entering the artefact, the AI presenter continued with the report. ‘You can clearly see the two entering the object.’
The hole then disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Leaving the excavation site empty and lifeless.
‘They did not re-emerge and have not been seen since.’
Kevin as well? Daniel felt dizzy; the floor felt as if it was dropping away beneath him. He sat down heavily in his favourite chair; his throat felt choked with emotion, and he had to blink away the tears in his eyes. They were all he had left. This couldn’t be happening.
‘Scientists have been trying to reopen the object, but have so far failed in this endeavour. We will be running this news item on the hour, and will bring any breaking news as it happens.’
The screen then showed pictures of his children from their colony records. Daniel was numb. It was bad enough Simone being missing. But now Kevin too, and in some alien artefact.
‘Doris, I’ll be going out for a while. If anyone asks, I’ll be at the water mine.’
The hab AI’s voice was as even and calm as ever. ‘Yes, Daniel.’
Sector seven was crawling with people setting up various pieces of equipment. Daniel assumed it was mostly monitoring equipment, although someone seemed to be setting up some sort of high-powered laser near the artefact which, he had to admit, looked a lot more impressive than it had on the news feed pictures.
Daniel stopped one of the scientists as he was walking past. The man was carrying a clipboard and looked a bit stressed.
‘Excuse me, can you tell me who is in charge?’ asked Daniel.
‘Doctor Webb,’ the man said simply. He pointed with his pen towards the machine that was probably a laser. The man fiddling with the machine was familiar to Daniel. He’d seen his picture on the news feed. He was on the council. Simone had mentioned that he was one of those who seemed intent on starving the Program of resources.
Daniel looked from the man and his laser to the massive grey cube half buried in the rock. He supposed they hadn’t arranged a replacement for Kevin, who had been in charge of removing the rock from around the site. Hoping that Doctor Webb could give him good news about his two children, Daniel descended the stone steps leading down to the ominous object.
‘Doctor Webb?’
The man looked up, pushing a pair of glasses up his nose. ‘Yes?’
‘I’m Daniel Maddock.’
Webb gave a start of recognition. His surname Daniel supposed. Webb would certainly have known Doris.
‘I’m the father of Simone and Kevin.’
Webb frowned. ‘And that should mean something to me why?’
‘The two people inside that.’ He gestured towards the smooth grey surface beside them.
‘Oh. I’m sorry.’
‘Most people I meet are.’ Daniel did not think Webb sounded that sorry. ‘I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell me what the hell is going on.’
‘If you’ve seen the news feed, then you know almost as much as us.’
‘Are they really inside?’ Daniel examined the sheer surface of the object. ‘Where does it open?’
‘Both good questions,’ said Webb. ‘The answers are “we think so” and “apparently here”.’ As he gave the second answer, Webb pointed at a bit of the surface that looked identical to the rest of it. ‘If you’re about to ask “how does it open?” the answer is we don’t know.’
Daniel had been just about to ask that exact question. Instead, he decided to ask about the machine that Webb had been fiddling with. ‘Is that a laser?’
&nb
sp; ‘No. It’s a quantum projection device. It operates at a subatomic level.’
Daniel was starting to feel the way he did when Simone started to explain her work to her dear old dad.
Webb, apparently detecting the lack of comprehension on Daniel’s face, stopped his explanation. ‘Yes, it’s sort of like a laser.’
‘And you’re going to use it on that.’ Daniel nodded towards the object.
‘Yes.’ Webb pushed a button on the thing that was sort of like a laser and adjusted a dial. ‘And now we should move to a safe distance.’
Daniel hurried to comply, retreating back to the observation area where he was handed a pair of goggles. A warning klaxon then sounded three short blasts, which prompted everyone else to back away from the object and don their own goggles. Webb was holding a small black box with a single switch on it.
‘Stand by,’ said Webb.
Daniel stood by. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was standing by for, but thought he should probably listen to the man with a remote control for something that was sort of like a laser.
Webb flipped the switch.
As far as Daniel could tell, apart from a faint hum from the machine, nothing happened. He looked around. Everyone seemed to be watching the machine and the object expectantly. He shrugged and returned his attention to the scene that was unfolding in front of him. He blinked a couple of times, trying to clear whatever was making his vision blurry, then stopped when he realised that it was only the edges of the artefact which were smearing across his vision.
‘Something’s happening!’ exclaimed one of the observers.
Was it working? Would Simone and Kevin be returned safe and sound? Daniel leaned forward, trying to see what it was that was happening.
The hum from the machine was then matched and drowned out by a deeper pitched humming noise from the object. Then there was a loud, ear-splitting bang, and Daniel’s view of proceedings was blocked by a roiling cloud of dust that billowed out across the chamber. He was glad of the filters on his mask as he was engulfed in the powdery rock dust. He wiped his finger across the intake, and it came away caked in dust. He’d need to replace the filters when he got back to the hab.
The dust slowly settled, and what it revealed filled Daniel with a horrible sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Beyond the machine that was sort of like a laser was a big hole where the object used to be. It, along with Simone and Kevin, had disappeared.
CHAPTER 7
‘Did you hear that?’
Kevin looked up at his sister from his makeshift bed on the floor. She was sitting in one of the chairs, her head tilted to one side as if she was listening for something.
‘Hear what?’ he asked.
‘You’ve spent too much time in the mines, little brother. Your hearing’s shot.’
‘Can we skip the bit about me ruining my hearing and get to what you heard?’
‘It was a popping noise.’
‘What, like a balloon?’
‘No. Softer, like a soap bubble.’ Simone got to her feet and stood very still.
‘Now what?’
‘Hush. I’m trying to listen.’
Kevin closed his eyes. Simone had given up with her incessant tapping half an hour ago, and he’d been almost enjoying the quiet. He hadn’t realised how noisy the environment he lived in was. Obviously, when he was at work, the sound of the dig-units and extraction plant could get pretty loud. When he was back at the communal hab, if there wasn’t someone talking then there was the constant background noise of the life support systems: the continual droning of fans moving air around the hab and dripping of water condensers. Even his walks outside were accompanied by the sound of his mask valve feeding him oxygen. This weird grey alien box was refreshingly quiet in comparison.
‘Maybe I imagined it,’ said Simone.
Kevin opened his eyes and gazed at the grey featureless ceiling. ‘It’s so drab in here.’
This coaxed a laugh from Simone. ‘Drab? Says the man who spends his time staring at rocks all day.’
‘You’ve got to admit that the mine is bright and cheery compared to this.’
Simone looked around at the four bare walls surrounding the solitary table and two chairs. ‘I suppose it could use a couple of pictures and maybe a screen.’
As she finished this last sentence, Kevin saw a rectangular section of one of the walls shimmer and then solidify into the distinctive black mirror of an inactive screen.
He sat bolt upright. ‘What the hell?’
Simone stood up and stumbled backwards, away from the wall. ‘Kev.’ She reached for his hand, which Kevin took, gratefully getting as much comfort from his sister as she was from him.
‘No way,’ said Simone. ‘Look at the other wall.’ She pointed, her finger trembling.
Kevin tore his eyes away from the screen and looked where she was pointing. There were now two framed pictures hanging on the wall. Not just any pictures. He recognised these as Martian landscapes painted by their father and given as a hab-warming gift to Simone and Jacob when they moved to their married accommodation.
‘Let me guess, you were thinking of those paintings,’ said Kevin.
Simone just nodded, apparently unable to speak.
‘I don’t get it,’ said Kevin. ‘Why does it work for Dad’s paintings, but not Dimitri’s hooch?’
‘Not the best time for joking, Kev.’
‘I’m serious. Kind of. It only seems to be you who can bend this crazy grey prison to your will.’
Simone said nothing, her brow furrowed in thought.
‘Me? I’ve been wishing for a pillow for at least half an hour. And booze for longer. Do I get anything? No. Nothing for poor old Kev. But Simone, oh she’s special. She’s got the power—’
‘Kev,’ interrupted Simone.
‘What?’
‘You’re babbling.’
‘Sorry. It must be the thought of spending the rest of my life in this box getting to me.’
‘Don’t think like that,’ said Simone.
‘Why not? It’s true isn’t it?’
‘Think for a moment. Our situation has already improved over the last ten minutes.’ She gestured at the screen on the wall.
‘What use is a screen? Even if it works, what good will it do us?’
‘Why do you think it doesn’t work?’ asked Simone.
Kevin scrambled to his feet. If Simone was right, and this thing was run by an AI, he’d try talking to it like an AI. ‘Box, show the colony news feed.’
Nothing happened.
Simone frowned. ‘Let me try something.’
‘Be my guest.’ Kevin bowed theatrically and extended his arm towards the lifeless screen.
‘Box.’ Simone stopped. She licked her lips.
Kevin tried not to show his annoyance. ‘Go on then, what are you waiting for?’
‘Box, show an exterior view.’
The screen flicked into life. It was not, however, showing the chamber outside the box. Instead, the picture was of a row of cubes identical to the one they were in now. These were not buried in rock but were arranged neatly in a gleaming white chamber bigger than any structure on Mars.
‘If that’s an exterior view, we’re not in the water mines,’ said Kevin.
Simone looked at him, and he could see fear vying with wonder and curiosity on her face. ‘We have to go outside and take a look.’
‘How? We’re trapped in here, unless you forgot. And even if we did get out, what are we going to breathe?’
‘You’re right. We mustn’t rush into anything.’
Kevin recognised Simone’s expression. It was the same one she had worn as a child when determined to get her own way. So, he did what any little brother would do in similar circumstances: he gave in to the inevitable. ‘Ok, what do we do then?’
‘We start testing my superpowers,’ said Simone with a smile.
Kevin laughed. ‘Have you thought of a superhero name yet? The amazing box-controllin
g woman, although accurate, doesn’t have much of a ring to it.’
Simone struck a classic superhero pose, hands on her hips and chest puffed out. ‘Just call me... Miss Incredible.’
‘Alright, Miss Incredible. Work your magic,’ said Kevin, still laughing.
‘Box, display external atmospheric gas percentages,’ said Simone.
The screen flicked to a new display. It was a list of gases and percentages. It was a Nitrogen/Oxygen mix. 17.43% was a lower concentration of oxygen than they were used to but was enough to breathe without a mask.
‘How the hell is that even English?’ asked Kevin.
Simone had a stupid grin on her face. It was the same grin she used to use when she’d aced a test at school. ‘I think I’m getting the hang of this.’
‘No shit.’
‘We can breathe out there,’ said Simone.
‘And that helps us how?’
‘Box, open a door to the outside.’
A circular hole in one of the walls, identical to the one they had entered yesterday, snapped into existence. Through it, they could see the place that had been pictured on the screen. The row of sombre grey cubes looked more imposing viewed from here.
Simone put her hand on Kevin’s shoulder. ‘Shall we?’
‘What if it closes and we can’t get back in?’ asked Kevin.
‘Ignoring the fact that all we’ve wanted to do for the past day is get out of here?’
‘We weren’t considering stepping out into god knows where without any way of getting home.’
Simone nodded. ‘Point taken. How about you go out and we see if it closes. I should be able to open it again.’
‘Fair enough.’ Kevin gingerly stepped through the hole and onto the floor outside. The flooring gave a little as he stepped on it as if it was made from some sort of rubber. Kevin looked back at his sister. ‘So far, so good.’
‘Yes. Move a bit further away.’
Kevin complied and started to walk towards the row of giant grey cubes in front of him.
‘It’s still open. I’m coming out too,’ called Simone.
Kevin turned and watched his sister step out of the hole. A few metres to her right, a one-metre square section of the cube was covered in a seething, shiny metallic globule. It looked a bit like a giant blob of mercury. A giant blob of mercury that was pulsating and writhing on the surface of the cube. ‘What is that?’ said Kevin, pointing at the blob.
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