The Clones of Mawcett (16 page)

“Find our source of power yet, Bill?”

“Well, we're not a hundred percent sure. We very early ruled out wind power and normal fluidic power systems because energy collection devices would be fairly obvious. We've also ruled out solar because we haven't found any evidence of collection panels in the area. Fission and fusion are out because we haven't found the presence of radioactivity above and beyond normal solar levels, and we've ruled out antimatter because we're not picking up any release of gamma rays. That leaves either thermal, chemical, or stored energy as our prime candidates. I'm hoping that it's stored energy because I really want to see the power cell that stays charged for twenty thousand years, but I'm putting my money on thermal power. We know that this planet has a molten core, and although it's not quite as large as Earth's, and geotectonic plate movement is more subdued, it can provide more than enough energy to power a billion small facilities like this one. Our main problem is that so much of this facility is shielded. We've determined that it's about five times as large as the one room, assuming a single level, but we haven't been able to open the other doors, or even penetrate the walls. I'm afraid to use the force that I think would do the job because it might destroy the entire facility.”

“So we have to stick with conventional tools with limited destructive force?”

“Bingo.”

“Okay, Bill. Keep at it.”

“Will do. I'm sending half my team back up to the ship. I'll keep the rest down here to work with me. That's more than enough now that we've narrowed down the possibilities.”

Jenetta nodded, moved over to the worktable that she'd claimed when the building was erected, and sat down to think about the translation problem. She didn't know exactly how long she had been sitting there when she suddenly realized that Doctor Vlashsku was standing in front of the table. He had adopted her skin color for the meeting. As she looked up he bowed his head and touched his closed right hand to his chest.

“Hello Doctor, can I help you?”

“I'm hoping that I can be of service to you, Captain Carver. I imagine that you're trying to decipher the symbols on the people duplicating equipment. I wanted to tell you that on the morning we first found the room, Doctor Ramilo mentioned that the symbols were like the ones found at site three.”

“Really? Do they have a Rosetta Stone?”

“A Rosetta Stone, Captain?”

“Yes. Um, that's a term from Earth's history. Archeologists trying to decipher an ancient writing system known as Hieroglyphics were having little success; their interpretations being just guesswork. Then one day an ancient stone tablet was discovered that contained the same message in three forms, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic, and Greek. With that one stone tablet, an entire 'dead' culture was revealed to the scientists of our world.”

“I see. No, they don't have a translation stone available for the symbols, but I thought that having a larger sample might provide some clues as to their possible meanings.”

“It can't hurt. Is it readily accessible?”

Producing a portable viewpad, Doctor Vlashsku said, “It's all contained in here.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Jenetta said as she took the pad, connected it to her interface device, uploaded the file, and then handed the pad back. “It may prove very useful.”

“I hope so, Captain.”

“Doctor, who discovered the facility?”

“Doctor Peterson's assistant, Bruce Priestly, discovered the tunnel. I understand that he never informed Edward until they had completely cleared the passageway and reached the entrance door to the facility I suspect that he was still smarting from a premature announcement the previous day about a secret burial chamber after he discovered a large sewer pipe.”

Jenetta managed to suppress the chuckle that attempted to break free as Dr. Vlashsku related the amusing anecdote. “And the door opened easily?”

“No, not at all. We spent the better part of an afternoon trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. We finally wrapped things up for the day and went to dinner.”

“With the door still sealed?”

“Yes.”

“Who finally managed to open it?”

“I guess that I did.”

“What tools did you use?”

“None. We'd already used everything available, including our plasma torches, and hadn't even marred the surface.”

“Then how did you get the door open?”

“I screamed at it!” he said grinning.

“That's all you did?”

“Not exactly. I was excited and couldn't sleep so I got up and went back to look at the door. I examined every millimeter of the door and frame with an optical analyzer, but found not the slightest indication of a means to open the chamber. After several hours of working on the door I started yelling and cursing at it out of weariness and frustration. I don't even remember what I said. Then all of a sudden I heard a noise like a creak and the door slid back into the frame. I was immediately apprehensive and hurried to Doctor Peterson's tent to wake him up. He told me to get the others up while he dressed, and we entered the facility as a group; probably the first people to enter it in twenty thousand years.”

“It must have been a mess.”

“Not at all! It looked as if it had been cleaned an hour earlier before by an army of housekeeping bots. It was spotless.”

“Spotless? After twenty thousand years?”

“I suppose that with the door closed, the facility must have been hermetically sealed. Either that or the facility's air filtration system kept the lab clean.”

“It would seem so. Thank you, Doctor. You've been very helpful.”

“It has been my great honor if I have assisted you in any way, Captain. My younger brother is an officer on the Klidestru, and he would have been lost to our family if you had not come to his rescue and destroyed the Raiders that had disabled his ship's engines.”

“I'm pleased that I was able to help your brother and his shipmates.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“You're welcome, Doctor. Good day.”

Doctor Vlashsku bowed his head and pressed his closed hand against his chest before turning and leaving the shelter. Jenetta refocused on the problem at hand, giving special consideration to new thoughts about the facility's almost impenetrable door opening by vocal command. Given the obvious technology employed in the facility, it was certainly within the realm of possibility. But what phrase had opened it? And would the same phrase work on the other doors that they had so far been unable to open? It was a billion to one chance that they would happen across the same combination of words that would sound like the command to open the door in the language of the people that had once populated this planet.

The graphic images from dig site three were definitely the same language as that used in the facility. Jenetta recognized several symbols, or perhaps more accurately, letters, since it looked more like a written language rather than a symbolic one.

A few more hours of staring at the strange letters, without making any progress in deciphering them, left Jenetta in serious need of a break. She left the command shelter and wandered towards the areas where digging was proceeding. People were down on hands and knees or lying in the dirt using tiny brushes and precision picks. Jenetta watched as they delicately removed small objects that appeared to be made of plastic or metal, all the time acting as if it was the most valuable object in the world. 'Who knows,' Jenetta thought shrugging, 'maybe they are— in their world.'

As she meandered around the dig site, she saw Captain Kanes, presently engaged in conversation with several laborers. As Jenetta walked in his direction, Doctor Peterson spotted her and moved to intercept her.

“Excuse me, Miss. How soon can we get back inside the facility that we discovered?”

“I'm sorry, Doctor, but I have my orders. You'll be given access just as soon as we can remove the illegal equipment and transport it to the Prometheus. Until then, the facility is strictly off-limits.”

“This is absurd. That equipment has valuable historical significance. Space Command can't just confiscate it.”

“The equipment is illegal according to the laws of the Galactic Alliance. It's our duty to impound it. You'll have an opportunity to file a protest and attempt to have it returned, but I doubt that will happen. I'm very sorry, Doctor.”

“Not as sorry as you're going to be,” the doctor said, glaring at Jenetta before turning and plodding away.

She stared after him for a few seconds then turned and walked back to the secured compound, stopping into the medical center. There were no less than four versions of Doctor Peterson seated at different health stations while physicians checked their physical condition. Jenetta looked for and found Doctor Hong.

“Doctor, it looks like you're up to your ears in Doctor Petersons.”

He grimaced slightly. “And each one has the same delightful personality, unfortunately.”

Jenetta smiled. “I've already experienced it several times today; a charming man, the doctor. But I guess we really can't blame him; we've barged in here and taken over what could be the archeological 'find' of the century.”

“Only because of their sloppy scientific procedures. If his people hadn't activated the equipment, we wouldn't have been summoned.”

“We haven't yet figured out what activated the equipment. I'm beginning to believe that it was an innocent verbalization, interpreted incorrectly by the equipment. How's the health of the original eleven that were cloned.”

“They're all in pretty good health. There are the usual minor maladies, of course, all being controlled by medication. Their biggest problem is their diet. These field people just hire anyone who can boil water, instead of getting themselves a proper dietician. Their diet probably knocks twenty or thirty years off their possible life expectancy. They'll all be lucky if they live to be a hundred twenty.”

“And the clones?”

“We've just started on them, but so far they appear to be identical to the originals, even down to retinal images and fingerprints. They also have the same minor maladies as their originals.”

“Okay. Thanks, Doc.”

“Sure thing, Jen. Say, your eyes are looking a bit bloodshot.”

“I've been staring at a vid screen for hours.”

“That'll do it. Lean back.”

Doctor Hong produced a dispenser from a pocket and put a drop of liquid in each of Jenetta's eyes. “That'll help. They should feel better in a few minutes.”

“They feel better already. Thanks, Doc.”

“My pleasure.”

Leaving the medical shelter, Jenetta walked down to the underground facility to continue her work, but only wound up pacing around the cloning rotunda while she glanced at the symbols and thought about the problem. She knew that some action on the part of the scientists or labors must have precipitated the engagement of the equipment. If it was like the door, it could have been a vocal command spoken accidentally by one of the archeologists examining the symbols in the floor, or even one of the laborers setting up the lights. If not vocal, then someone had activated the machine by some specific action. It seemed unlikely that a mechanical activation switch would be located in the area where subjects to be duplicated were placed. That left the three laborers who were carrying in light panels.

Jenetta walked around looking at the placement of the light panels. She knew that access to the room had been restricted since the accident, but she had no way of knowing if this was their original placement, or if they had been moved at some point. All but one of the panels seemed to be located near a wall, but none were actually touching the walls anywhere. Of course, a laborer could have leaned against the wall as he was setting up the light.