Paphos, p.3
Paphos, page 3
“This is a good thing, honey, it’s a good thing. You did a real good job,” he said. It took a few moments for her breathing to steady, but when she looked up at him, she smiled.
Austin addressed the team. “We had better get back and radio this in. Hand it off to a team, one properly equipped to study this.”
“No.”
Eyes fell on Dmitry. “Not until we know what we are reporting.”
“Aye, we don’ need to get the corpo in a tizzy by jumping the gun. We’d be the laughing crew for all time, sure and begorra.”
Dmitry and Dublin seemed to agree, though Austin couldn’t believe his ears.
Dmitry addressed the others. “Listen, this may be exactly what we think it is. And it also may be something entirely different.”
“Like what?” Austin asked. They needed to report this immediately.
Dmitry was unfazed. “Like a government project. Or a corporate experiment. This planet has been in the queue for a while, at least a year before our arrival. Either way, if we say we found proof of intelligent life and it washes out, we all get fired.”
He forgot to add ‘or we keep it to ourselves and get filthy rich’. The pit in Austin’s stomach grew.
“But… we are under contract.” That was Orlean, in the loudest way he would dare to protest. Under contract, any discoveries of value made during a financed expedition became the property of the sponsoring company.
“Aye, Orlean,” Dublin cut him off. “But jus’ think for a moment about what Dmitry is sayin’.”
Austin gave a look to his daughter before speaking. He could sense where this was going, and someone had to be the voice of reason. “Guys, we are under contract. An agreement is in place, we must report the find.”
Dmitry pursed his lips. “Absolutely. After we know what it is.”
“But the protocol states--” Austin began.
“--and my orders are that we research it first. Then, once we’ve made sure this isn’t a classified outpost, we can report what we know,” Dmitry smiled.
“Won’t take long to confirm. The material is unlike anything we would use,” Orlean whistled. The digital displays on his prosthetic struggled to compare chart after chart of known and unknown compositions.
Athen didn’t know where she would side. She was Dublin’s assistant engineer, so it wasn’t a stretch to see her leaning towards him.
“Is that understood?” Dmitry asked. He addressed the team, but his gaze remained fixed on Austin.
“Tis.”
“Sure, we can report it after we study it a bit,” Orlean chimed in. Athen nodded, as did Helena.
“Austin?”
What else could he say? “I got it.”
He didn’t have an issue taking orders, never did. And he didn’t need to make a fuss; everyone was just too excited to think straight. When Dmitry and the crew came to their senses, they would follow protocol. He had nothing to worry about.
“Good. Engineers—find me a door,” Dmitry ordered.
“Aye aye!”
“Researchers, get your files ready. This is a worksite now. No place for kids.”
At least Austin could agree on that. “Honey, head on back to the huts. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“But daa-aad, by myself?”
“You didn’t have a problem going by yourself before; you won’t have a problem now.”
Carolina huffed, crossing her arms as she walked back to the quadrohuts. This wasn’t fair. She was the one who found the place, not them, and now they were kicking her out! She never should have told him!
She glowered all the way until the quadrohut door zipped. The details of her journey were lost in her tangent, but when she walked inside, she saw a blinking green light and smiled. Mom!
It was the weekly drop from the company, which also carried messages from home. She logged into the part she had access to and found her drop, a video message from her mom. Carolina watched eagerly as the video played. Her mother’s face sent pangs of homesickness, and she had to watch it twice. Mom looked better, not as sick. She transferred it to her dataPad, next to the other files, full of videos and pictures from home. It made her sad sometimes, because while she looked forward to these video packages, they also made her realize how badly she needed to go home.
She really missed her mom, but they wouldn’t be here for much longer. Another week or two. But then she wondered, what if they decided to stay now? No, they couldn’t, Daddy explained the whole launch window thingy. Finding the wall didn’t mean they’d stay longer; they weren’t allowed to.
“It’s my stupid wall anyways!” Carolina huffed. She decided then and there that she would go back; she could wait in the bushes or something. She had a legal right to it since she found it. Carolina grabbed a pouch of fruit slices and took her locator bracelet off. She could at least appear to be at the huts. She wouldn’t want her dad checking on her and not be where she was supposed to be.
This time, Carolina worked up a sweat. She was hiking as fast as she could, and parts of her were beginning to hurt. She stopped at a large mossy rock and held her side, waiting for the pain to go away. For a slight moment, she considered against this, but the thought of them finding something boiled her blood. Ten minutes later, she heard Dublin’s booming voice.
She took refuge behind a thick, sparse growth of heavy bush, slowly and quietly, if she could keep the leaves from rustling. As long as they kept talking, they probably wouldn’t hear as she found the best hiding spot.
Crouching behind a pineapple-shaped plant, Carolina sneaked over to a tree with shedding bark. The pale green trunk was wide enough for her to peek around without being seen. This was a good hiding spot. Peering through a web of branches, she found a window with the outline of her daddy and his boss. Dmitry was talking, her dad was just listening with a patient look on his face. She poked closer to hear what Dmitry was saying.
“…performance on the last mission was unsatisfactory. My report decides your future with this company.”
“I understand,” her dad said.
“Besides, you have your daughter to think about.”
Dad’s face twisted.
“What do you mean by that?”
Please don’t get in trouble again dad, please just do what he says, Carolina wished.
Dmitry smiled. “You need employment to support a family, don’t you?”
Dublin hollered, accent so thick she barely understood what he was saying, but she gathered that he still couldn’t find the door. Dmitry walked away, but Dad stood there for a while.
Carolina crouched to her left to peek over at Helena and Orlean. Moments later, Daddy joined them, or from what Carolina saw, pretended to join them. He simply stood next to them, occasionally taking a deep breath, every now and then glancing over at Dmitry. She hoped he wasn’t in trouble; she didn’t like it when her dad was in trouble.
Half an hour passed, and her dad still wasn’t focused on work. She could always tell when something bothered him. Orlean analyzed the same plot of wall now as earlier. Dublin and Athen were just banging with their wrenches, hoping. Dmitry stood with his arms folded, watching everything like a hawk. That was how she thought of him; like a hawk, always watching the mice.
Carolina blinked, staring at a jellyfish with eyes, perched in front of her. So close she could kick it.
She fell back, and it came after her on spider legs. She crashed into a bush, clamoring to her feet, terrified and shrieking. Where did it go?! She couldn’t see it anywhere!
Carolina’s chest pounded, but the jellyfish with eyes had vanished.
Something fell on her shoulder.
“AAAHHH!” Her shriek split the forest. Austin flew through the bushes after her, the others chased behind him. Then a shortened blood-curdling scream.
“Carolina!”
Austin ripped through the bushes, plowing through them and snapping branches out of his way. He found her with her hands at her side, unmoving and wearing a blank expression.
“What are you doing here? What’s the matter?”
“Tha’ did give me a heart attack! Thought she was at the quads!”
Austin put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, honey, you okay?”
She wouldn’t move. Austin shook her by the shoulders.
“What?” Carolina said, blinking into the now.
“Why were you screaming?”
“Was I?”
“Did you see something?” Dmitry asked, pulling up.
Carolina looked around.
“Hey… you okay?”
“I am sorry. I am better now. I forgot to tell you, I found the door,” Carolina said.
CHAPTER 4
Aust shook his head. “There is no door, honey. Why were you screaming?”
“Follow me…” she said, following her own outstretched arm. Whatever had happened, she now appeared calm. He plopped a hand to his forehead before following her. Kids were so hard to understand sometimes. And now a door?
Carolina regarded the faces staring at her. “Sorry for screaming. I thought there was a bug on me. I was wrong. The door is right over here.”
“G’wan, you be the one to find it, and I’ll make you chief engineer!” Dublin laughed. If the head engineer couldn’t find the door but a twelve-year-old could, he might as well.
Austin put a fatherly hand on her shoulder, unsure of what to say, trying not to doubt her. “It may not be a door, kid, don’t get your hopes up.”
Carolina stopped in front of an inconspicuous piece of the wall, looking as unremarkable as the rest. There was a collective holding of breath until nothing happened. After a minute, Austin shrugged, and the others resumed conversation.
Except Dmitry, who continued watching this one mouse. It may have been a minute later when Carolina closed her eyes. A steady beam of light shot straight out from the ground. The blue light spread into thousands of beams, small and pinpoint, like a thin sheet that studied her from head to toe.
“Watch out!” Austin ran to her, but the blue light slipped away.
“It’s okay, Daddy, I wanted it to do that.”
“To do… what?”
As if to answer him, the wall rumbled. Austin grabbed her and retreated. All eyes watched as a section of the wall regressed inward and slid to one side. Dmitry’s icy gaze fell on Carolina.
“Whoa…” Orlean said, looking into the hallway that appeared. “How did she do that?”
Dmitry lowered his chin. “Report.”
Orlean raised his sensor-laden fingertips and started gathering his readings. The data on his forearm danced with charts and graphs. “I’m getting strange readings, strange energy patterns, unknown compounds.”
Helena was Orlean’s backup, reading the same graphs on her separate device. “But look at those levels, they’re off the charts. This has to be a power reactor for these numbers.”
Austin put his little girl down, wondering how she did that. He rested a hand on her shoulder and found heat coming through her jacket. He touched her forehead, then her glowing red cheeks. “Are you feeling okay?”
She was feverish, but that was not possible, not with the kind of vaccine cocktails they all had. She shouldn’t even come close to getting sick. Maybe it was time for a booster shot. “Let’s get some water in you. I think you might be dehydrated.”
“I am fine.” Carolina brushed his hand away and stepped towards the entrance that appeared.
Behind the entry, soft lights flickered. A stream of stale, aged air escaped.
“Jus’ let us take this one, miss, ye can’t get all the fun.”
“We have to be good for something around here. Whoa, you’re really burning up.” It was Athen who noticed this time. “Austin?”
“She’s just dehydrated,” he said, offering his water. Carolina ignored it.
“Nothing radioactive, oxygen remains breathable, we can advance,” Orlean said with a look towards Dmitry.
“We can?”
Dmitry gave Helena a smug little grin. “Helena, if you aren’t comfortable with this, I could use help standing watch at the quadrohuts.”
“N-no, I’m right behind you.”
“Talk to me,” Dmitry ordered to no one in particular.
Carolina moved as if to speak, but she stayed quiet. The lights were now fully powered, revealing a massive tunnel that stretched at least forty meters into the earth before disappearing downward. It was no mining cave; the floor and walls were not made of dirt and rock. As a group, they remained outside, staring.
“Suppose we do now?”
They looked at each other, waiting for Dmitry to give the command.
“We go in.”
The entryway angled down almost too steeply to travel on foot. Steady warm air flowed past them, evaporating up into the forest as if freed from confinement. Austin took the first step in, doing so carefully. The floor was incredibly smooth, to the point of being slippery. The boots they all wore were made for more natural surfaces and gave little friction.
“Not much grip on this,” Austin warned.
“I can see that,” Athen agreed, her hands out for balance. “We should get ropes.”
“Carolina, stay at the entry.” Austin glanced up to make sure his daughter listened when he heard a yelp. Athen had fallen and threatened to slide downhill.
“Athen!”
She flailed to stop herself, grabbing Orlean’s outstretched hand, but the momentum yanked him down too. Dublin leaned over and gripped Orlean by the scruff of his shirt, his thick forearm bulging. “Where ye’ think you’re goin?”
“Do you have them Dublin?”
“Aye, but I could use a little help,” Dublin said softly and controlled, his arm unwavering. Austin leaned against the slope, rooting himself to help steady Orlean on the other side of him.
“Athen, take your gloves off, and your boots,” Dmitry ordered. “Your skin will have more friction on that smooth floor.”
Athen, dangling from holding onto Orlean, tugged a glove off with her teeth. How Dmitry thought she was going to get her boots off was another thing. But her hand carried enough friction to hold herself from sliding. She spat the glove free and managed to get back to her hands and knees, lending a thank-you smile to Orlean for catching her. Or at least for falling with her when trying.
“Anytime,” Orlean smiled.
A sharp pop of electricity stole their attention.
“What was that?” Dmitry asked.
“I don’t know, but… where’s my glove?” A snaking line of white ash hovered where the slope leveled a meter below them. Athen’s glove was gone. “Where’s my glove?”
Everyone studied the area where the popping and snapping white ash was located.
“Could’ve been you, love,” Dublin said, suddenly reinforcing his grip and his stance.
“Okay… everyone get back to the top, carefully,” Dmitry ordered.
“That’s why we need to get another team here, guys,” Austin urged. Somehow, his words still fell flat.
“Whoa whoa whoa… I see it now,” Orlean cooed, scanning with his prosthetic hand. “There’s an intense field of energy down there. A security measure, I’m assuming. But we almost lost Athen just now. That field could annihilate us as easily as that glove.”
“Get me up!”
“Just relax, you can walk back up with the friction of your palms, just go slow and steady,” Austin said to calm her. It wasn’t that steep, but certain death added some fear.
“Get me up! Now!” she cried again. Athen clung to the slope like a cat.
“Just don’t move, we’re coming,” Austin tried calming her again.
Carolina stirred at the top of the walkway, dying to come down.
“Stay up there!” Austin ordered. No acknowledgement, just a determined face.
“Okay… okay… just hurry…” Athen quivered, gaining some control of herself.
Orlean had to climb out first, and his foot slipped an inch, causing a wave of gasps.
“Dublin?”
“Jus’ holding on from here, don’t want to go sliding myself,” Dublin added, calm but tense. The singed air served as quite a warning.
Orlean had climbed up, but Dublin was deadlocked, keeping Athen from sliding. Austin removed his boots, socks, and gloves. On all fours, he steadily went backwards down towards Athen.
“Can I come down now, daddy?” Carolina asked.
“Absolutely not.” What has gotten into her?
Austin moved slowly to ensure he didn’t go sliding down into the invisible field. Judging from the floating ash, his vaporization would be painless. He slowly went past Dublin and took hold of Athen’s hand. The floor was warm.
“I’ve got you.”
Athen smiled sheepishly. “I know I won’t slip, I’m just not ready to move yet. It was just those boots, right?”
Austin stood with caution and then slowly helped Athen to stand. She remained terrified, not that he blamed her. When her glove vanished, it seemed everyone could taste their sudden mortality. Austin kept his fear from getting to him this time.
Helping her to the top was easier than coming down, but by the time Athen could stand without worry, she crumpled to the floor in a sweaty mess. Carolina stood over her, expressionless. Kids handled stress in the oddest of ways. Dublin came back easily now that he wasn’t anyone’s anchor. Soon they gaggled at the top, but this time with some apprehension.
“It’s no wonder I didn’t see it at first. My scanners can barely process the energy output of the facility. I’m just now honing in on this room. I’m sorry,” Orlean apologized. Helena’s tablet copied everything Orlean’s prosthetic arm picked up; the two analyzed the same readings separately.
“If it’s trapped, then they didn’t want visitors,” Austin reminded everyone. He hoped this would be enough to drive some sense home; it was past time to go back and report this. They were barely a few meters in; who knew what other security traps were down there? Hopefully, everyone saw that now.
Carolina stepped away for a moment and came back, her hands full of dirt. She flung the dirt and watched as the field zapped and obliterated it. For the briefest moment, they saw the energy beams and discovered a gap leading towards what was basically a panel. The key panel disappeared when the commotion of dirt being annihilated finally settled, explaining why they didn’t see it until now. Austin considered it a key panel, but nothing certified that it was. It didn’t have the box exterior, buttons, and cables that he was familiar with, but it was definitely a panel for something. That observation aside, how did Carolina know to do that? Maybe she had explored more than she let on. He was going to have a long talk with her about this.
