The Agathon: Book One (3 page)

“Aquaria base acknowledges,” he says, smiling.

Carrie’s mind shifts, leaving her father and floating across the red soil. It finds her mother’s mind and merges with it. She feels her hands grasping at the cave wall as she makes her way inside it. At first, she thinks the soil is giving way before she looks down and starts to see the rocks have started to become smooth and uniform. She stops in her tracks and turns to the others.

“You see this, Jin?” she says

“Yes, Doctor, very strange. Seems to get flatter the further we go down. Some sort of erosion from a lake or freshwater source?” Jennifer shakes her head without answering and continues on.

“The passageway opens up in
twenty
-two meters,” Jin chirps over comms. Their lights begin to disperse as they approach an opening slowly. The ground is dark. Black. They pause and take in their surroundings. Jennifer reaches over to the side of the cave wall and runs her fingers over the surface. It is smooth, like polished stone.

“Jin, are you getting any readings?” she asks.

“Mapping it now, Doctor. One moment,” she replies, as she points a long
cigar
-shaped instrument around the inside of the cave and along its floor. Charlie holds firm, directing his lighting array onto the cave floor.

“Why is the ground black?” he asks. Jennifer looks on.

“I really don’t know, Charlie, but it looks like some sort of ice formation,” she says. Jin finishes up with her scans and looks bewildered at the results on her pad.

“My God, it’s organic,” she says in awe.

“What?” Jennifer says, as she makes her way over to confirm.

“The cave floor,” Jin continues, “it’s not ice. It’s some sort of organic matter.” Charlie bends down and reaches a hand out. The two scientists do not see him do it. His fingers slip into the ground easily.

“It’s not solid, Doctor,” he says, immersing his whole arm beneath the surface.

“Charlie, step back,” Jennifer says. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”

Charlie looks at Jennifer.

“Sorry, Doc, wasn’t thinking.” He does not move. Jennifer steps closer to the young man.

“Charlie, I said step back,” she repeats, annoyed that she has to tell him again.

“I am trying to, Doctor, but I appear to be stuck.” Charlie starts to jerk his arm backward to no avail.

Then the screaming starts. His mouth opens and his eyes turn red. Jennifer realises there is something very wrong. She moves quickly towards him and tries to pull him out. She cannot. Carrie feels panic begin to well inside her mother’s chest as her heartbeat begins to increase. Whatever has him has a firm grip and is pulling his arm in deeper. It looks like thick black liquid. He begins to flail widely, in agony, unable to speak. Jin grabs his other arm and jams her feet into the ground to get resistance. Charlie jerks forward and the momentum of the motion throws Jin straight into the black fluid. She gives a last shocked scream before disappearing from Jennifer’s view under the surface. Charlie begins to sink.

“Jin!” Jennifer shouts, while trying to keep a firm grip on the manic security officer. He looks at her as blood begins to flow from his eyes. She tries one last time to hold on as he is pulled under the surface. She lets him go and steps back to the edge of the blackness. She is out of breath and tears of shock begin to stream down her face.

“Jin!” she screams into the darkness. No answer. She stands up slowly and keeps quiet, trying to listen for voices. Nothing. She turns to pick up the scanner and loses concentration for an instant. She loses her footing on a smooth rock and slips into the dark fluid.

“Fuck,” she says. To her surprise, she is able to stand in it. Knee deep in what feels like warm mud. A tingling sensation begins to creep up her legs. Then the pain. It shoots through her legs like a high voltage shock. She cannot scream. The shock of it has knocked the air out of her lungs. Her feet go numb. Her mouth is wide and eyes bulge. She begins to sink into the black fluid. Her legs go numb. As if they are no longer there. Carrie feels the pain. She feels her mother’s panic. She feels her helplessness. Her thoughts begin to merge and blur. She can feel herself losing consciousness and grabs the comm panel on her arm. It activates. Now chest deep. No feeling in her torso. She has no muscles contraction in her lungs. She cannot breath. She finds the strength in one last breath and gives it to her husband who she desperately hopes can hear her.

“John,” she screams, her throat beginning to fill with blood. “I love you. Save Carrie!” As the black liquid covers her eyes and fills her lungs, she can only mouth the name of her daughter as the organism takes her.

What seemed like an eternity later, Carrie awoke screaming. Grasping at her chest. She looked into the viewing chamber. The Earth was gone. What looked like an asteroid field was now swirling through the chamber. Huge sections of rock and fire were floating past her slowly. She caught her breath and tried to clear the images from her recurring nightmare, as she righted herself in her seat. She closed her eyes and took in several deep breaths, before looking around at the empty lab. Tyrell was still out. She was alone.

“Computer, time,” she asked, feeling groggy.

“Time is zero three zero ten,” said the soft, female voice. She looked on at the asteroid field.

“Computer, realign array Earth,” she said.

“Alignment currently locked to those coordinates,” said the voice. Carrie looked at the rocks. She looked at the control panel above her and checked her readings. Twice. She felt confused. She tapped in the coordinates for Earth’s moon. The image in the viewing chamber shifted out to show the moon. It was definitely Earth’s moon.

“Aspect change to Earth, viewed from lunar surface,” Carrie said. The viewing chamber obeyed and took Carrie to the white powdery surface of the Earth’s moon. There, looking up from its surface, were masses of floating rock.

“Where is the Earth?” Carrie asked.

“Planetary body cannot be found. Gamma radiation detected,” said the calm, female computer voice.

“What?” Carrie said. “What do you mean, it cannot be found?” she asked. “Gamma radiation?” She reached up and tapped some commands into the control panel.

“Computer, show me the last thirty minutes of recorded data,” she said. The images in the viewing chamber froze and went black.

“Time index commencing at three seven,” said the soft, female computer voice, not sharing a hint of the anxiety Carrie was now feeling. The imager came to life, showing the blue rotating Earth.

“Okay,” said Carrie to herself. “There she is. Now what the hell happened?” She allowed the critical scientist voice to take over. “Has to be an array malfunction,” she said. “Computer, when was Gamma radiation detected?”

The viewing chamber began to speed the image up, then it stopped. The Earth’s rotation returned to its normal smooth self. Then a bright flash of light made Carrie place her hand over her eyes. After a few seconds she looked at the viewing chamber in time to see the Earth exploding from the inside out. Its atmosphere bleeding out into space as the detonation from its centre engulfed the entire globe in a hail of fire and light. It had happened so quickly. Chunks of rock floated outwards towards the edges of the viewing chamber. Carrie’s mouth remained wide open. Her lips were dry.

“My God!” she said. “Doctor Tyrell!” she screamed at the empty lab. No answer. The debris field filled the viewing chamber. She leapt from the seat and ran towards the door of the main lab. It hissed open and there stood Doctor Tyrell. He looked down at her. His eyes were red and crazed. He looked at Carrie and then up at the viewing chamber.

“Gamma Explosion detected,” repeated the female voice.

“Doctor!” she said, pointing to the viewing chamber.

“I know, Carrie,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Remain calm,” Tyrell said with a firm and almost surreal tone to his voice. “Come with me.” He turned her back towards the diagnostic tables.

“Computer, pause viewer and discontinue alert,” he said assertively. The alarm stopped and all went silent. He turned to Carrie. “Sit down, Carrie,” he said gently. Carrie began to shake but obeyed him.

Tyrell turned and walked over to one of the diagnostic tables and started punching in commands. Carrie sensed something from him. It was faint, but the more she opened herself up to it the stronger it got. For a moment, she thought it was excitement. But she dismissed it as her imagination. His adrenalin was probably playing havoc with his emotional state. Something in Tyrell’s eyes didn’t sit right with her. She looked back at the now empty viewing chamber. The room was silent. Only the chirps of the computers filled the void. Tyrell sat down and looked over at Carrie.

“What just happened, Doctor Tyrell?” she asked. Tyrell looked at the empty viewing chamber.

“Too early to tell, but it looks like some sort of Gamma radiation. The entire planet has broken up.” He paused. “Your father is on his way here now. In the meantime I am going to conduct some more observations to see if I can ascertain what we’re dealing with.” He turned back to his diagnostics display and began sifting through the data being transmitted by the array. Carrie closed her eyes and, for a moment, she thought she could hear the faint sound of screams.

Phobos Orbit

Gamma Event T minus seventeen minutes

Jerome Young stopped the manoeuvring jets on his harness and positioned himself just over the equator of the small moon. There, he hung weightless in emptiness and stared down at the surface of Phobos. His EVA had lasted longer than he had scheduled but it had been a particularly beautiful view of The Agathon dry dock and he wanted to watch the construction for a while. Besides, it was the first moment he had had to himself in over two weeks. The only sound was his own breath inside the faceplate of his helmet.

“Young to orbital,” he said into his comms.

“Orbital here, go ahead, Mr. Young,” came the swift response of a young, male voice.

“Patch up the signal to my comms, will you?” he said.

“Patching now, sir,” the young voice said. The silence in his helmet was replaced by the steady rhythmic clicks and harmonies of the signal. He closed his eyes and listened. He allowed himself to drift in the emptiness, as the sound reverberated through his mind. Maybe this time he would crack it. After all, true inspiration came when one was totally isolated from distraction. His father had never cared for signals from other worlds. A ruthless and violent man, he had preached to Young that power was the only true constant in the Universe.

“One either has power or one is a slave. There is no in between.” Young had listened and had learned to appreciate what his father had meant, but had always looked to the signal.

The signal. What good was power when the Universe continued to perplex the mind? Power without knowledge haunted him. When his father died the plans for the orbital platform on Phobos went ahead with the full resources of the company. Protected by Jycorp Military personnel and its pitfalls. It was hard for Young to find privacy anymore. Even out here, floating above the surface of Phobos, he had a tracking detail of three security personnel a half a kilometre away in case he got into difficulty. He loved the view from this angle of the Monolith. Almost perfectly perpendicular to the top surface of the mirrored structure. He had often viewed that section as the antennae cluster, even though no real evidence existed to support it. He had thought that if he stood directly on top of it, then the signal would flow though his body and give him the means to decipher it. He stretched his arms out and closed his eyes to listen. His comms chirped.

“Mr. Young, we have an incoming transmission from the chancellor,” said a male voice. Young’s heart quickened. The title of chancellor wasn’t quite befitting the beauty of Sienna Clark, whom Young had appointed to the position less than a year earlier. As head of state to the planet, her elegance was matched only by her fierce intellect and legendary ruthlessness. Yet, her charm and humour was infectious. They had shared an evening of passion, unbeknownst to the world, after her inauguration dinner.

“Put it through up here, Lieutenant,” he replied. The comms chirped again

“Jerome, this is the chancellor, I hope I am not interrupting you?” said an assertive, female voice. Young smiled in his breathing plate.

“Not at all. I’m actually looking at you right now.” He flicked his eye up to Earth. “What can I do for you on this fine summer’s day?” He redirected his manoeuvring jets and began his descent onto the surface of Phobos.

“Well, I normally wouldn’t disturb you when you’re out ‘jogging’, but our listening post on the surface of Mars relayed a signal change from the Monolith a few moments ago. I have contacted Doctor Tyrell and also advised our listening posts here on planet to advise. Have you had the same readings?” The surface of the moon grew closer as Young slowed his descent towards the Monolith. He hadn’t heard anything from either orbital platforms, but that wasn’t surprising, as he had left strict instructions not to be disturbed.

“I haven’t checked in yet, Sienna, but I’ll do so now. I’m on my way to the surface as we speak. I’ll link up when I’m inside the main hangar bay in thirty minutes. Any idea what the change signifies?” His curiosity had made him lower his guard and his tone towards the chancellor had now become very familiar. She snapped him back to reality.

“Please do, Mr. Young. I will speak to you then.” The penny dropped.

“Of course, Chancellor. Young out.” His comm snapped closed and there was again silence.

A change in the frequency was something that had happened on only a handful of occasions. It usually signified a galactic event like a supernova or black hole that had interfered with the data stream. He watched the Monolith, as it grew closer. His escort followed his descent on the surface of the moon. It was a manoeuvre his detail had not been fond of. His atmo suit’s thrusters were automatically programmed to bring him to the surface with relative ease, but there was always a little nervousness in case they failed.