The Great Symmetry (18 page)

The map provided the details of every passage, large and small, proudly summarized on the map as 6.53 kilometers. The end of each passage was described and photographed. There were no unexplored leads shown –
the mapping project was complete.

The cave map showed three entrances, of which DelMonaco had entered through the largest by far. The team could still see her heat signature, just inside, as she set up camp. Two smaller entrances connected into the network.

The team set up in position, not just to track the movements of their subject, but also to observe if anyone else came nearby. Then they waited. They were on the clock, so that was fine.

A few hours before dawn, a chopper came in. It flew carefully, with no lights, down in a shallow canyon, and then at only two meters above the ground when the cover of the canyon ran out.
The maneuvers were no match for military equipment, which picked up the chopper easily.

The team leader alerted their command and continued to monitor, as the chopper pulled up near the entrance to the cave, and two people stepped off.

Backup came within minutes. Six choppers, twenty agents, and their leader, Arn Lobeck. The agents fanned out and approached the cave.

The trap was sprung.

Hall Of The Departed

Nine vaults. Each was an enormous rounded rectangle, over three meters tall, two wide, and five long, and unadorned except for one short set of symbols in a small rectangle on each, centered on one end. They were arranged in a perfect line, just over four meters between each vault. Still, the vaults took up only a small part of the large natural hall.

Having already been shushed once by Mira, Evan gave his regards silently to each one.

Greetings, Edras. He was no longer in the vault, but still deserving of a word.

Greetings, Elanas. Also in the museum.

Emmala
. Still here. They had raised the top, in the 2298 expedition, and taken many images.

The plan had been to remove the remains for display and further study, as for the prior two. As they had observed and catalogued over three days, they had pondered, until finally Kate had opened up the topic. “She belongs here,” Kate had announced, clearly expecting disagreement
. Evan had been filled with relief, and the next day they had slowly winched down the cover, leaving Emmala to her rest.

Uve. When they had opened her tomb, they had already known what they
planned to do. Observe, photograph, replace the top.

The last five had only been seen by remote imaging, as well as the team could achieve through the stone. There were definitely remains there. They discussed boring a hole, and putting a camera through. Somehow that project never got to
the top of the list. What did they hope to learn, that would be worth disturbing the sleep of the departed?

Greetings, Irstis, Essatti, Wei, Rissta, and Ote.

Kate had named them. The names were based on a transliteration of the symbols, using a scheme that they had
since abandoned. But the names had stuck.

Beyond the vaults were the pits that Evan, Kate, and their helpers had dug. Many had rich yields of artifacts. First they had imaged, and then dug where there were promising signs.

Kate and Evan followed Mira as she hurriedly threaded the trail past the pits, heading deeper into the cave.

Seeing the vaults brought it all back for Evan.
The reason he had spent so many years scratching at the past. The existence of the Versari was one of the great wonders in all of known space. Almost a million years ago, these space-farers had lived here. For over a hundred thousand years they had traveled between the star systems known to humans, and beyond. Then they were gone. Died out, or perhaps they had moved on.

Although some trace of the Versari had been found in twenty six out of the thirty currently explored star systems, the locations all appeared to be outposts. Way stations – not grand cities that would have left a larger footprint even so many years later.

Did those cities exist? Evan believed so, although he couldn’t prove it. Not yet.

Soon they were in much more rugged passage. Evan had been here before, surely, but he had no memory of the choices. Through an obscure hole. Straight up a wall
for five meters. Mira simply leapt up, then helped each of them. Walking sideways. Crawling.

As they traveled, Evan tried to catch a look at Kate. It had been more than two years. The cave was dark, and it would be blinding to shine his light at her face. He collected fragments. A backlit profile from Mira’s light ahead. The outline of her cheek as she turned to assess the next climb
. Her nose, just slightly turned up.

They came to a junction in a tall room. Mira directed each of them. “Evan, walk that way until you get to a fork. Go into each fork for as far as you can go, and then come back here. Kate, crawl into that hole. You should get about fifty meters until you have to back out. I’ll go this way. We meet right here.”

“Are we looking for something?” Kate asked.

“Nope, we’re leaving something. Now hop to it.”

They each completed their assigned missions, and soon were reassembled at the junction. “You guys are so lucky to have me,” Mira told them. “Watch.” She jumped straight up, catching a ledge with one hand and then pulling herself up. From there she hopped to the opposite wall, then back, and then launched upward once again. Evan had the distinct feeling that she was showing off. Finally she called from a spot that was at least thirty meters above them.

“Okay, I’m up.
Who’s next?”

“Mira, I don’t think we can do that,” Evan shouted upward.

“Really, didn’t you watch?” Mira was taunting.

“Are you going to leave us?”

In answer, a silver line came down. “You are all so double lucky to have me. Never leave home without it.”

They climbed up the rope
in turn, easy to do in Kelter’s low gravity. Kate was next, then Evan. With a grunt, he pulled through a narrow spot and climbed up to a ledge in the chamber above, while Mira pulled up the line. The entire ceiling consisted of a jumble of boulders, and Evan couldn’t see any way on. It was a miracle that the rocks weren’t raining do
wn on them. Somehow they were jammed in place. “Where now?” he asked.

Suddenly Mira held up her hands. “Lights!” she hissed. “And be still!”

She reached up to turn off her light. Kate must have already done so, because Evan saw that his was the only light still burning. He reached for the switch and clicked his light off. Then they were in darkness.

Evan felt behind him and found the wall. There was just a little bit of space, and he stepped back, away from the edge of the ledge that he knew was there.

Far below, he heard a series of irregular thumps. It was nothing like a person walking. The passage below had not allowed it.

The noise grew louder. Scrapes were added to the thumps. Evan, never able to turn off his analytical mind, realized that when high frequency sound was audible, there were very few bends in the passage between him and those who approached.

With the complexity of the passage they had traversed, he wondered how they had followed so quickly.

A faint light came
from below. Their pursuers were in the room at the bottom of the climb. “Three ways on,” echoed up to them. “We’ll scan while the rest of the squad gets here.”

Despite the situation, Evan was relieved to see where the ledge ended in front of him. It was better than standing in complete darkness, knowing the edge was somewhere out there.

“I’ve got a hit! Twenty-three meters, straight up!”

A focused beam now shone up through the hole. Evan could see dust in the cylinder of light, describing swirls and eddies but mostly flowing down, to the
chamber below.

More people were arriving. Evan heard the now familiar sequence of low thumps and knocks, then sharper sounds, with scrapes and finally voices conferring.

“Right here, sir,” Evan heard, followed by the most recognizable voice he knew. Deep, powerful, assured. Calling up from below.

“Evan! Evan McElroy! It’s Arn! Talk to me, friend!”

Love Letter

Eliza Malken looked into the camera’s eye and kept speaking.

“So Krishnan, those are the updates. But, there’s one thing more. I wanted to say that I miss you. I hope that you are well and that you will return here soon.”

After a pause, she continued. “I know we have just been co-workers. But we have done so much together, when you are away from here it is not the same. And I have not been able to get any news of you. Colin says it’s just routine security process, but still I worry.

“After you get back, perhaps we could take some time to talk. About what matters the most, about what we care about. We could have dinner, just you and me. That is, if you would like to do that. I guess I shouldn’t assume.

“Please make me proud, by doing great work, with judgment and always doing what is right.
And then come right back here.

“I so hope to see you very soon.”

Eliza reached out to stop the recording.

She turned to her wrangler. “There. It is done. I hope you are happy.”

“That’s just great,” Colin Ellison told her. “We’ll do a little editing and get it sent right off to Ravi. Thanks Eliza!”

“Mr. Ellison.”

“What, I’m not Colin anymore?”

“You are not. And from this moment forward, you will address me as Dr. Malken. Always.”

“As you say, Dr. Malken.”

“Out!” A few moments more, and she would not be able to hold it back.

“You really helped us. Thank you for your cooperation,” Ellison said as he stepped out.

Every word she had spoken to the camera was true. And more.

So many men strutted up to Eliza and spread their feathers, each man expressing his desire that she should get to know him better. Telling of their prowess, whether intellectual, sporting, or material. Krishnan
Ravi, alone of all men, did the one thing that mattered. He listened to exactly what she was saying and the thoughts behind her words. Then he responded to what he heard. With acerbic disagreement, sometimes, it was true. But he replied to the actual person she was
.

He was always so formal. Did he care for her? Eliza didn’t know.

And now, wherever he was, and whatever was going on, would the letter help Ravi or would it hurt him? How would they make use of it?

Eliza was always confident. Self-assured. When she spoke, people listened. When she needed something, she simply asked and it was hers. She was the kind of person everybody wanted to be with. She was a woman in charge of her destiny.

At this moment, she felt helpless. Completely. Utterly. Through her entire adult life, it was not something she had experienced.

“Door. Close. And Lock.”

Eliza resolved that she would never, ever, let her wrangler see her cry.

This is Solvable

Standing on a narrow ledge far above the floor of the cave, Evan found himself in conversation with a man who wanted him dead. He called down. “I’m here.”

“Evan! We have found each other.” That was not how Evan would have put it.

“I wasn’t exactly looking for you,” he shouted into the slot below him. Lobeck was in the large room from which they had climbed, twenty-three meters below.

“
Then it is good fortune for both of us that I have found you now,” came back up. “We have much more to discover together, and to provide to the world. You could even be the one to announce it. A new life, for billions of souls.”

For a moment, Evan found himself imagining the moment. After years of being scoffed at, even pitied.

That was insane. The man was here to kill the three of them, or worse.

Lobeck continued from below. “We have had a great partnership, and we need to continue with it. You ran off, and I have come to bring you back.”

Red sparks of light danced on the boulder ceiling above. Tracers from below.

“Partnership? You launched missiles at my runabout!” The moment suddenly came back to Evan. Staking it all on a plunge into the void of the unknown glome, while trying not to puke.

“They were only sent to guide you back to us. Why did you leave the station?”

“I was checking my
theory. Proving it. Just doing what I always do.”

“You planned to steal it!” Evan could hear Lobeck’s anger. “Keep it all for yourself. Well, that won’t do you any good now. Soon enough, we will have the tools to get you down from your perch. If you come down voluntarily, the three of you, it will go much more easily for you all.”

Evan stopped himself from replying. Something else was going on, and the long distance conversation was distracting him from what he really should be paying attention to. He leaned over to Mira and whispered, “Where is the way on?”

In reply she flipped on her light with
a narrow spot beam and shone it up at a small alcove directly above them. It was just a small recess in the forbidding ceiling of jumbled boulders. A dancing collection of tiny red lights, tracers from below, painted the entire area. The alcove was directly in the line of fire.

Evan summoned the phrase that had seen him through so many times before. “This is solvable,” he told himself. He looked down. Their entire connection with the large room below, and their pursuers, was a narrow slot three
meters long and less than a meter wide. The exposed area near the ceiling, as illustrated by the tracers, was clearly wider than that meter, because some of the soldiers had placed themselves in different places in the wide room below. He could picture the geometry.

This is solvable.

It all came back to that narrow connection.

Evan pulled off his pack and considered the slot below them. He would have one chance to get it exactly right, so that the pack would jam in the slot and not fall through.
Blocking the line of sight of Lobeck’s weapons for a few precious moments. One throw for the whole prize.