PERIL (17 page)

“This is neither,” Bain murmurs.

“I’m picking up some sort of resonance pulse. Scans are all over the place. Unable to get a clear reading,” Reed informs Bains.

The structure appears to be two half-moon shaped rock formations facing each other, the size of mountains. The tops of each of them pierce the clouds above. Directly in between them, hovering slightly off the ground is a perfect orb-shaped rock formation. There are symbols positioned uniformly all over it. The symbols glow with intensity.

“So this is what they didn’t want us to find,” Reed says.

“The Titan’s scans aren’t able to penetrate it. Let’s take a closer look,” Bains says daringly.

Reed grabs his handheld scanning device.  They both exit the Titan, which seems to be dwarfed by the giant structure. Immediately, they both feel slightly ill. The structure hums emitting a low-pitched frequency.

“Reed, you feel that?” Bains asks.

“Yeah!”

They become more nauseous as they get closer to the structure. They turn to retreat back into the Titan when suddenly several rocks emerge from the ground. The rocks form steps leading right up to the orb-shaped rock formation hovering before Bains and Reed. The symbols begin to flash in a certain pattern and then stop. Then they flashed in the same pattern again, this time faster and harmonic tones accompany the flashing symbols. The symbols flash continuously for several seconds and then stop abruptly.

A large door opens at the top of the stairway. Immediately, Bains and Reed start to feel better. Their nausea passes with the opening of the door.

“Is this an invitation?” Reed asks Bains.

“Scan the interior,” Bains orders.

“This is weird. Scans are not registering anything. It’s as if its not even there,” Reed says.

Bains and Reed proceed to climb the stairway up to the ominous sphere. They hesitate for a moment and then enter.

It is dark and its interior walls seem to be rough and jagged. They are in a large tunnel that goes on for several meters. At the end of the tunnel is a smooth wall with strange carvings in it. The wall is the source of the strange low-pitched hum. Reed touches the wall and feels it vibrating. The pitch of the hum seems to change as he touches it.

“Reed let’s get the hell outta here,” Bains says nervously.

“You were ordered to stay fifty-clicks away from this site, Captain,” Commander Yamaguchi says.

Reed and Bains turn around quickly noticing Captain Satoh, Commander Yamaguchi and a few of their team members walking up on them.

“Now I know why,” Bains responds.

“What is this place?” Reed asks.

“Captain Yuri’s, team unearthed it during their mining activities. It just sprung out of the ground like a geyser. Unfortunately, its rise to the heavens claimed some of the lives of, Yuri’s, team. We can assume it was put here by some alien culture and that wall is a doorway,” Captain Satoh says pointing at the wall.

“To where?” Bains asks.

“We think an alternate Universe,” Satoh replies.

“Captain Satoh!” Yamaguchi interjects.

“It’s okay, Commander. They’ve come all this way for answers. You’ll forgive my first officer she can be a bit guarded, understandably,” Satoh says.

Bains and Reed move away from the wall eager to hear the rest. Captain Satoh walks up to the wall and moves his hand across it slowly. Again, the low-pitched hum changes in frequency.

“It’s been here for about a millennia. At least that’s what carbon dating suggests. Of course, we could be wrong––our scans are inconclusive.”

“You said an alternate Universe,” Bains pries for more info.

“I’m afraid that’s all I can say. Aaron Enterprises and Apollo Corp. have a standing agreement. There is a non-disclosure clause of course. Anything beyond what I’ve told you is confidential.”

Bains knows the only reason Satoh shared as much as he did is to gloat. The three companies are highly competitive. Besides, with Earth being three years away there is nothing Bains or Ares Corp. can do to annex the unique find.

Commander Yamaguchi and the rest of their team begin to set up laser drills and other equipment.

“You’re not thinking about opening it are you?” Bains asks.

“Captain, I’m afraid at this point you’ve worn out your welcome,” Captain Satoh warns.

“C’mon Bains,” Reed urges.

Reed tries to lead Bains out of the tunnel, but Bains turns back to Captain Satoh.

“A closed door typically means keep out!” Bains yells as Reed pulls her along.

“Vanessa, C’mon!” Reed begs.

  Bains and Reed leave the strange site and heads back to their habitat. On the drive back, Bains and Reed talk about their experience. Bains is furious.

“He’s got to be crazy to try and open that thing. He hasn’t the slightest ideal of what he’s dealing with,” Bains argues.

“Agreed, but it’s unlikely they can open it or they would have by now. I say we send word back home and get reinforcements here, A.S.A.P. Let Ares Corp. handle it.”

“Reed, you know it’ll be three years before anyone can get here.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do? Look, let’s just get our ore and leave this fucking rock. In the meantime, we’ll keep tabs on them. That’s all we can do.”

Bains reluctantly agrees with Reed. What Captain Satoh didn’t tell Bains and Reed is that though he and Yuri are unable to penetrate the wall, they have established communications with an alien species on the other side of the wall called th
e
Shingella-Tor
i
. They are also able to decipher many of the symbols that cover the fortress and the wall inside of it. The symbols are warnings indicating that the fortress and the wall is a barrier to prevent the Shingella-Tori from entering our Universe. These warnings Satoh and Yuri ignore in the hopes of gaining Shingella-Tori technology. This technology Aaron Enterprises and Apollo Corporation intend to use to usurp power back on Earth. They never questioned why the fortress was built and by whom. Captains Satoh and Yuri ignorantly tamper with the unknown and put all life in our Universe in jeopardy.

Chapter Eighteen

The next seven months is challenging for Bains and her team. It is mutually decided that all communications be terminated between the Ares Corporation team and the now Aaron Enterprises & Apollo Corporation Alliance team.

Both sides have sent transmissions back to Earth, awaiting instructions on how to handle their situation. It will take at least a year before they can expect a response and three years before anyone from Earth can reach them. The treaty has failed leaving the two sides in a precarious position.

It is clear that Satoh and Yuri continue their attempts to penetrate the wall at the ominous fortress. Bains’ team keeps them under constant surveillance, but from a distance. They see several trips being made to and from the fortress, but have no clue as to what is going on inside. They have noticed that the planet’s atmosphere appears to be slowly changing. The mist has become thicker and traces of an unknown element have been found, but Bains fails to connect these occurrences to the fortress and the other team’s activities.

Bains’ mining of the Beryllium is fraught with a rash of equipment failures making the mission even more difficult. Even some of the habitat’s systems experience occasional unexplained failures. These malfunctions increase as time goes by adding to the crew’s frustration.

Lt. Amanda Magruder is now eight months pregnant. Her belly is huge and her once quick upright stride is now reduced to a slow waddle. 

Everyone except Neil is in the Mess Hall eating dinner. Magruder takes a seat next to Doctor Pierce.

“Why is it so damn hot in here? HAB lower the temperature by ten degrees,” Magruder orders.

“Acknowledged,” HAB 1 complies.

“Oh for, Christ’s, sake, Magruder, that’s the third time you’ve adjusted that damn thing!” Cruise barks.

“Give her a break, Cruise. She is pregnant,” Doctor Pierce interjects.

“Yeah well–––I feel like I’m carrying the baby with all the complaining she does,” Cruise retorts.

“I wish you could carry it then you’d have a little more compassion, asshole,” Magruder gripes.

Suddenly, Neil rushes into the room and BLAM! He slams a faulty laser drill down on the table in front of Cruise. Food splatters across the table barely missing everyone but, Cruise, isn’t so lucky. Neil is seething. Bains rolls her eyes towards the ceiling. It’s another testosterone-filled catfight that she and Reed will have to defuse.

“What the fuck man!” Pendersen yells.

Neil ignores him and focuses his anger on Cruise.

“You said you fixed this thing two days ago!”

“I did,” Cruise says calmly as he flicks a spaghetti noodle from his sleeve.

“Then maybe you can explain to me why it almost CUT MY FUCKING HAND OFF!”

Cruise calmly picks up the drill and looks it over.

“Well let’s see. Ah yeah here’s your problem, right here, see? It says, handle with care,” Cruise replies sarcastically pointing at the warning label.

A couple of seconds of intense silence passes. All eyes are on Neil to see his reaction. Neil’s face reddens as his anger builds. Magruder and Pendersen can no longer hold back their amusement. They burst into laughter sending Neil over the edge. Neil grabs Cruise by the collar yanking him up from his chair. Immediately Reed, Pendersen and Nickolette leap in between them.

“Let it go man!” Pendersen says.

“Knock it off!” Bains yells.

“I could’ve lost my hand, because of him!”

“Awe, your limbs are replaceable. I thought you embraced being disembodied!” Cruise snarls clinching his fist.

Bains picks up the faulty drill and examines it.

“Cruise, did you work on this unit?” Bains asks.

“Yup, and it was working fine.”

Bains looks over at Neil indicating that Cruise’s answer is good enough for her. The drill is just another faulty unit to be added to the others.

“This is, bullshit!” Neil complains.

“Look, we’re all fatigued here and running on short fuses, but let’s stay focused. Four more months and we go home,” Bains says to the crew.

“Okay, four months and we’re off this freaking rock!” Neil says trying to calm himself.

“Right, so just chill out,” Bains urges.

Magruder starts to clean up the mess at the table. Cruise sits back in his chair and pulls a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket.

“You got a little something right here,” Magruder, says to, Cruise.

She tries to pick a piece off spaghetti noodle from Cruise’s baldhead, but he moves away from her hand. Pendersen and Nickolette laugh awkwardly. Bains places the drill down in front of Doctor Pierce.

“Add this to the others and speed up your tests. I need answers as to why our, shit, keeps failing.”

Doctor Pierce throws his hands up in frustration. He is no closer to solving the mystery behind the malfunctions and the drill, more than likely, isn’t going to reveal anything new. He complained to Bains on a few occasions, that he was a Doctor, not an Engineer. Bains dismisses his complaints, because she feels that everyone on this mission has to work out of their field of expertise and he is no exception.

The next morning, the crew gets an early start at their dig site. The atmosphere is dense and visibility remains very low. High winds bear down on them making their task much more difficult. They depend heavily on their scans, which are unreliable at times. Reed, Cruise, Pendersen, Nickolette and Neil mine for more Beryllium while Bains, Magruder, Doctor Pierce and Neil remained at the habitat. They bore large holes into the surface of their drill site to get at the precious ore.

Reed pushes the men and the drills to their limits. But, they aren’t alone. Lurking in the mist is a deadly menace spawning and multiplying. 

Reed is forced to wrap up his dig activities early. The laser drills have become clogged with debris and the winds are becoming dangerously high. Reed and the men return to the habitat hoping that the impending storm passes.

That afternoon, Doctor Pierce and Bains meet in the Med Lab reviewing the diagnostics Peirce ran on the faulty equipment. The equipment looks out of place in the Med Lab, but Pierce refuses to work in Engineering with Cruise. They have all become territorial. Doctor Pierce finds working in the lab preferable, because he can listen to his classical music without Cruise’s complaining about it. There is a table covered with many different tools and mechanical parts. HAB 1 watches Bains and Pierce intently via the video strip on the ceiling.