Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel 1: The Deimos Artifact (28 page)

"Maybe it's not an announcement or a warning at all," said Zack, "Maybe it's some sort of test."

"A test for what?" asked Ariane.

"I don't know, maybe there's a reward for becoming a space-faring race or something."

"What if they left it here to keep an eye on us and are ready to return after we pass their test?" said Ariane.

"Or exterminate us if we fail it?" added Gertrude.

Holger's call interrupted the conversation,
"Gertrude?"

"Yes, Father?"

"It sounds like little Helga had a powerful vision just a little while ago. She was raving about armies and aliens. I can't say I like the sound of it very much."

"Neither do we."

"What does it mean?"
asked Holger.

"We're working on it," replied Gertrude, "Thanks, Father."

"Nasty business,"
mumbled Holger as he signed off.

Zack, Ariane and Gertrude looked long and hard at one another. Ariane finally broke the silence, "I'll go and tell the scientists about Helga's vision. It could be important. In the meantime, maybe we should leave the wild speculation to the experts."

"Yeah," replied Zack, "I'm okay with that."

"So am I," added Gertrude.

Chapter 32.
Peace Train?

Nova Philadelphia, July 15, 2676.

Miriam "Madam" Love and another eight "sensitives" were gathered in a group to do some brainstorming when all of them were jolted simultaneously by a powerful mass vision -- even though it was the middle of the morning and all were wide awake! They saw the little pyramid covered with glowing letters just as before, but the peaceful beginning of the vision was followed by scenes of marching armies that segued into horrific battles involving both human and alien soldiers. Miriam remained in the vision a little longer than the others and might have remained immersed longer yet if one of the others in the group hadn't been rendered hysterical by the realistic and terrifying vision.

"Madam Love! What does it mean?" asked Ellen Dawson, who had been hosting the meeting, the largest gathering of sensitives in one place up to that time.

"I...I don't know yet," replied the little medium, truthfully. She herself was still somewhat shaken by the disturbing visions, "but the combined presence of all of us sensitives in one place must have intensified the dream. My own vision was the most powerful one I've had yet!"

"Mine was too," said Ellen, "It looks as though it was all too much for poor Harriet."

Several of the others were tending to a frail elderly woman who had been apparently been overwhelmed by the frightening experience. She had stopped sobbing and was now stretched out on the Dawson's couch where several of the other guests had escorted her. Her brow was still beaded with sweat but her breathing seemed to be settling into a more regular rhythm.

"Whatever is going on regarding these visions, it seems to be drawing closer to some kind of conclusion," said Miriam. She paused and shook her head, "I just wish I knew what we're supposed to do. We seem to be getting all of these warnings and promises but never any directions on what kind of action we're supposed to take."

"This latest vision was terrifying!" said Ellen, who was something more than a minor sensitive herself, "I can see why poor Harriet reacted so strongly."

"It is almost as though we are facing some kind of test," said Miriam, "If we pass, all will be well. If we fail..." she gave her companion a grave and worried look, "Ellen, we simply cannot fail! You must tell your husband that these visions are real and how we respond to them is of crucial importance!"

"I've been keeping him informed and I can assure you that he has an idea of how important the visions are," replied Ellen, "The difficulty will be convincing the other members of Congress."

"I'll do anything in my power to help," said Miriam.

Later in the day, Ellen took Madam Love to meet with her husband, Senator Everett Dawson. Miriam had talked to the Senator for a few minutes just before the press conference of a few days earlier but the little medium had butterflies again at the prospect of meeting the powerful official one on one. Her convictions regarding the true meaning of the visions, which felt more and more "right" the more she mulled them over, gave her the strength to press on. Ellen Dawson ushered her into the Senator's office.

"Good afternoon My Dear," the Senator said to his wife, "and to you, Madam Love. Please, both of you, have a seat. Coffee? Tea?"

"We're fine, Everett," said Ellen, "We're here because these dreams are becoming more and more compelling. They've also been occurring more often. Just this morning, we were subjected to the most powerful and disturbing vision since the whole business began!"

"Easy, My Dear," said the Senator, "Rest assured that we have some of our best people on it," he turned his attention to the little medium, "What have you been able to interpret from these visions, Madam Love?"

"As you know, the visions seem to come in two versions," said Miriam, "About half of them are very optimistic and the other half are... just the opposite."

"Yes," said the Senator, "We have amassed an extensive catalogue of the various versions of these dreams. What's your opinion of them?"

"I think that Mankind is facing some kind of test that will have a profound effect on our future. The outcome hasn't been determined yet but something tells me we must do everything in our power to avoid starting any more wars."

"There are those who would strongly disagree with you about that."

"Of course, but they're wrong. I can feel it!"

"Trust me when I say that I am inclined to agree with you, Madam Love. What do you suggest we do?"

"We should be reaching out to our traditional enemies and we should call a halt to all military hostilities immediately."

"That will be a very tall order," replied Dawson.

"I know, Senator, but we're doomed to fail this...test if we can't figure out how to stop the strife within the ranks of humanity."

"How do you know these things?"

"I...I can feel the rightness of it."

"Again, I am inclined to agree with you, but I'll need more than strong feelings to convince Congress and the Prime Minister to call for such radical actions."

"I'm pretty sure I can rely on a large number of the sensitives to help us get the message out. As far as we know, there are thousands of sensitives on every planet and within every government. That should count for something."

"How do you propose to contact them?"

"I know that we can't reach every one of them, but Ellen and I have a following of several thousand on our chat line right now. If we put the word out...we can reach out to even more."

"It's a start, I guess," said Dawson.

"I said that I think I know what we need to do, Senator Dawson. I never said it would be easy. That and..."

"...And what, Madam Love?"

"As I said, it will be impossible to reach them all. Many of them will be acting independently on their own interpretations of the visions. That could work for us...or against us. I pray there won't be too many working against us."

Madam Love's prediction proved to be accurate yet again. Later that same day, riots begin flaring up in large population centers on planets located all over Human-occupied space...

Chapter 33.
Negotiations and Decisions.

Voltaire Crater, Deimos, July 15, 2676.

Holger's two additional ships arrived about an hour before the Soviet craft did, practically guaranteeing that there would be no attempt on the part of the Soviets to use force. When the
Murmansk
arrived, Sergei ordered that his ship be parked in a position several thousand kilometers away, a distance that left all of the armed ships well out of range of each other's pulse beam weapons but allowed for easy two-way communication using conventional radio, without any annoying time lag between responses.

Holger, viewing a video relay from the bridge of
Warbird One
, kept a wary eye on the Soviet ship, waiting to react if they made a move of some kind. He didn't have long to wait. Within minutes after the Soviet ship came to rest relative to the Viking contingent, the Viking commander received a transmission.

"This is Soviet People's Ship
Murmansk
calling the Honorable Viking leader, Holger Tvedt."

"This is King Holger," came the reply, "You have violated Viking space, ignored an order to stand down and be boarded and now you're here disrupting a scientific mission. I hope you have a good reason for all of these actions."

Apparently Holger had no qualms about using his full title when he felt it suited the situation.

"This is Captain Sergei Popov, Holger. It is good to hear your voice again."

"Good for you, maybe," replied Holger, "Seems like I never hear from you unless you want something. What is it this time, Popov?"

"Your new colleagues are in possession of an item that we would very much like to examine."

"Is that so?" replied Holger, "My new friends also informed me that a man named Marvin Pangbourne was in possession of a certain item." He paused briefly for effect before continuing, "Turns out he died of mysterious causes out on Haven a month or so ago. Do you know anything about that?"

"Another regrettable consequence of the business he was involved with, I'm afraid, though I assure you that, as far as I know, the Soviet government had nothing to do with his untimely death."

As far as Sergei knew, he spoke the truth about Marvin Pangbourne and he truly was unaware of any involvement on the part of his own government in the man's brutal and suspicious death. What the mysterious Ambassador and his shadowy associates within the Political Corps might have done was another matter entirely. Sergei had his suspicions, but was in no position to take any action on them.

"You will understand if I admit that I'm skeptical about that," said Holger.

"That is your choice,"
came the reply.

"I'll ask again, what is it that you really want Sergei? As I said, we're in the middle of a scientific mission here."

"Perhaps an exchange of information might be in order."

"What do you have that we could possibly want?"

"We have in our possession some high quality holographs that were made of the location where the object was originally discovered. To show that I am acting in good faith, I will freely share this important information that, I am sure you and your friends do not have."

"We'll listen, but be advised that I'm not agreeing to anything just yet."

"As you wish. We have hard evidence that the object was originally discovered on Earth. Our holographs were taken inside a cave in a remote valley in what used to be Egypt, before the great nuclear conflict destroyed everything. There were inscriptions on three walls of the cave. Our experts have been studying these inscriptions for almost a year now. We believe that they have made considerable progress in deciphering what the meanings of the inscriptions are. I am guessing that your scientists have only begun the process. It is almost certain that we could save you a great deal of time."

"What is it you want in return?"

"We would like a share in whatever it is that lies more deeply inside the moon."

Holger did his best to hide his astonishment. Did the Soviets know about the internal doorway and something about the mysteries that lie beyond it? The Viking leader was doubtful about that, since the members of their own expedition were the only people he knew of who had ever been in the cavern here on Deimos, unless the Soviet experts had found some kind of reference to a more extensive facility within Deimos somewhere in the inscriptions Sergei claimed they had.

"That is an interesting offer," replied Holger, "You don't mind if I consult with my own experts?"

"I would expect nothing less,"
said Sergei,
"One more thing, if you please?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Tell Professor MacPherson that we have brought Dr. Dostoyevski with us."

"Dostoyevski, eh?" said Holger, "Fine, I'll be back in touch."

He broke the connection and immediately called up Ariane and Zack next door on the
Capri
.

"
Capri
? I just received a communication from the Soviet ship. The Captain has offered to exchange information regarding the pyramid."

"How do we know that they have anything to offer?"
asked Ariane.

"The Captain's name is Sergei Popov. He and I are...were...old business partners."

"Hold on a minute, Holger," said Ariane, "I need to go and get my father." She left the bridge to fetch the Professor.

Zack addressed the viewscreen, "What do you know about this Captain Popov, Holger? You say you used to be business partners. What happened to change that? Can we trust him?"

"Sergei Popov is a dedicated officer in the Soviet People's Space Navy and I can guarantee you that whatever else he does, loyalty to his government is foremost in his mind."

Ariane and Professor MacPherson rushed onto the bridge. The Professor had arrived in time to hear the last part of the conversation.

"I overheard you say that Sergei Popov is in command of that ship. Bring me up to date, Holger," asked the Professor, "What does he want?"

Holger outlined his conversation with the Soviet captain about the Earth being the origin of the artifact and that the Soviets had holographs of additional inscriptions taken in the place where the artifact had originally been found. Holger finished up with, "...He says that all he wants is a share of whatever it is that lies more deeply within the moon."

"Damned Soviets!" said the Professor. "A share of what lies more deeply within the moon? How can they possibly know anything about this moon? We discovered the cavern and the inner doorway just a few hours ago! No matter what we do, they somehow seem to be a step ahead of us!"

"What's your take on collaborating with them on this pyramid business?" asked Holger. "By the way, he said he brought a Dr. Dostoyevski with him. Does that mean anything to you?"

Upon receiving this new information, the Professor stopped, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh before continuing, "He brought Dostoyevski?"

"That's what he said," replied Holger.

MacPherson thought long and hard before his next reply, "On the surface, a collaboration looks like a wise course of action. Popov claims they've had a year or so to study a set of inscriptions that we don't have, but we have the artifact itself and all of the inscriptions from the pyramid in the cavern. We almost certainly have key information that they're missing. On the other hand, what else might be in the additional inscriptions from that cave back on Earth? Plus, he brought Dostoyevski."

"So you're inclined to take him up on his offer?"

"I'm sorely tempted, but...can we trust him?"

"That's an open question," said Holger, "Though we could set this up so that any kind of interaction would be on our terms."

"How so?" asked MacPherson.

"We do have at least three times as much firepower as he does," Holger continued, "We could dictate the conditions under which we will allow this exchange of information to take place."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Perhaps we could allow Popov's expert to come on board the
Capri
and work with you and Kathryn and Arnold. You and your people ought to be able to tell whether or not this person is being straight about what they know." The image of Holger in the viewscreen gave MacPherson a calculating look and added, "I would be very surprised if Popov allowed his expert to share everything, however."

"Then we intentionally hold back some information ourselves," replied the Professor.

"Like what?"

"Like all of the symbols from one entire side of our two pyramids," said MacPherson. "We each give a portion of our knowledge but keep something in reserve."

"That could work," said Holger, "Do you want me to propose this to Popov?"

"I wouldn't tell him that we intend to intentionally withhold information, but what have we got to lose? The time and the information we might be able to gain could prove to be invaluable. This is an awful lot to take in all at once, Holger. Let me talk this over with my people before we make any kind of decision. Can I have a few minutes?"

"Sounds like a good idea," said Holger, "Let me know what you decide. Holger out."

The four people on the bridge of the
Capri
looked at one another.

"What do you know about this Captain Popov, Professor?" asked Zack.

"Not a lot more than you do," replied MacPherson, "He is a dedicated officer of the Soviet Space Navy and, up until a year ago, I would have said that he is basically trustworthy."

"Any reason to believe that might have changed?" asked Zack

"Outside of his attack on your ship? Who knows? He may well have just been following orders. That, at least, would be very much in character for him."

"So we really can't trust him at all," said Ariane.

"At this juncture, I would approach any dealings with extreme caution," replied the Professor.

"Then why allow this exchange?" asked Gertrude.

"Popov's expert is one of the best symbologists in the field," said the Professor, "Granted, Kathryn may be as good, but the two of them together..."

"Who is he?" asked Ariane.

"She," replied the Professor, "Her name is Dostoyevski, Dr. Olga Dostoyevski. She's from the Moscow Institute, which is considered by most experts to be the center of knowledge for the study of Egyptology."

"Any relation to the ancient novelist?" asked Gertrude, the history student.

"She claims she is not," replied the Professor. He appeared to be deep in thought for a long moment. He looked at Zack and Ariane. "Will the two of you come with me? We need to talk this over with my colleagues."

Zack and Ariane followed the Professor back down to the meeting room. MacPherson explained the situation to his two colleagues.

"Olga Dostoyevski?" said Kathryn, after hearing about the Soviet expert, "Her input would be invaluable on this!"

"Arnold?"

"She is one of the best," replied Arnold, "We could probably save a lot of time..."

MacPherson looked around at his small audience, "Tell me why we shouldn't go ahead with this exchange of information? Anyone? Zack? Ariane?"

No one had any further comment.

"I'll go and tell Holger to contact the Soviet ship and arrange for Dostoyevski to come down here," said Ariane.