Part 6 (2/2)
Thomas shook his head. Jack shrugged.
”Something weird is going on, that's for sure. Should we bolt?” asked Jack.
”There should be Trilisk artifacts here. Let's find some and then leave as soon as possible,” said Telisa. She had come so far and didn't want to give it all up now.
”Maybe the place is still under construction,” said Magnus. ”But I can't explain the field at the entrance. Unless it's Trilisk technology the UNSF has mastered.”
The suggestion was amazing. If the UNSF had already gleaned some of the secrets of Trilisk technology, then they were ahead of what she had expected. What powers had the government scientists gained in secret from the civilian world? Could they be trusted to use the technology wisely? Telisa didn't think so. The government didn't have the best interest of the ma.s.ses in mind anymore. It had grown into a beast of its own that lived for its own growth and satisfaction.
”I see some services, but don't link up,” Thomas warned. ”Security is really lax here, but maybe the main computer is farther along. It might report us if we link up and it finds out we're not UNSF.”
Telisa automatically checked the services available at the mention of them. There were general ports for information, and a main library port. She took Thomas's warning seriously and didn't link up. It took a surprising effort of will. She was accustomed to querying services without a second thought her entire life.
”Which direction?” asked Jack. He looked at Telisa. ”Take your pick.”
Telisa shrugged and pointed to her left. A corridor extended past a set of doorways in that direction. Magnus took the lead and headed for the first door. He carefully opened it and peeked inside.
”Some kind of storage room. Let's find something a little more interesting.”
No one disagreed. They moved along the corridor and started cautiously looking into each room. They found a meeting room and several more storage areas with boxes in the corners and lockers along the walls. Then they got to a series of deserted living quarters, with two beds bunked together in each one.
Telisa stood in the corridor and sighed in frustration.
”Hrm, either it's just now finished and not occupied yet, or it's been abandoned,” Telisa said. ”If it's been abandoned, then we're wasting our time here. The UNSF, or whoever built this place, wouldn't leave if there were still artifacts to be found.”
”Something's odd around the corner,” Magnus said. He was at the end of the hallway, unslinging his slug thrower. Telisa and the others walked forward to the turn in the corridor, curious to see for themselves.
After the corridor turned, it continued another thirty feet and then ended in an irregular gaping cave. There was another ordinary-looking doorway on the left wall. Everyone advanced closer to the cave, trying to see inside.
The lights of the corridor showed a natural-looking s.p.a.ce with patches of cube-shaped blocks clinging to the walls and ceiling. The floor of the cavern was about a meter lower than the hallway flooring. The edge of the overhang looked like it had been cut, fitting perfectly into the side of the cave.
”Looks like there's some damage to the installation here,” commented Thomas. ”I don't understand. Could some kind of earthquake have caused this?”
”Who knows? This planet's seismicity is an unknown at this point,” Jack said. ”Those blocks are weird. They remind me of something. I wonder if they're worth anything?”
”Project blox,” Telisa said. ”They look like those kid's toys... for building all sorts of stuff.”
”Well, at this point we have nothing to lose by taking some. We don't have any Trilisk artifacts to weigh us down,” Telisa said bitterly. Somehow the artifacts that she had been dreaming of had not materialized other than the inoperative hulks in the building above. There had been no clue as to the source of the blackfield. Telisa wondered if they should go back to the entrance and try to break through the walls around it to find the mechanism.
Jack hopped down and approached one of the cl.u.s.ters. Telisa examined the edge of the floor where it met the cavern. Magnus stood next to her while Thomas milled around behind them.
”It doesn't make any sense,” Telisa pointed out. ”The floor meets the cavern perfectlya”so do the walls and ceiling. Where is the rubble from whatever caused this?”
Thomas pulled aside a ceiling panel.
”You think that's weird, look at this,” he said. He pointed to a lighting rod above. The LED filament stopped halfway along its length where it met the cavern, as if it had been sheared in half by a laser.
Magnus nodded. ”Something is wrong. I don't have an explanation.”
Telisa stared at the ceiling. She couldn't think of what could have caused the strange transition from hallway to cavern.
”Well, I have some of these things, whatever they are,” Jack announced. He had pried some from the wall with pliers and placed them into a container from his pack.
Thomas hopped down and reached for one.
”Don't do that,” Jack said. ”Who knows? It might be poisonous.”
”I agree, you shouldn't touch that stuff until we figure out what it is,” Magnus said.
”Don't touch them? This coming from the guy who just walked through the black doorway? They could be valuable. Take a few more, and we'll keep looking,” said Thomas. ”n.o.body said this was safe. We could be hurt just by walking by an artifact.”
Jack was turning back towards the wall when he exploded. Flesh and blood gouted out of his chest like a bad horror sim, accompanied by a loud popping sound.
Telisa froze for a moment, watching as Thomas absorbed in utter shock what had happened. He was literally covered in blood and body debris.
”Fall back! Run!” Magnus ordered.
Thomas scrambled for the lip of the cave and Magnus held out a hand to help him up. Telisa took out her stunner and backed away, not seeing any target.
Magnus grabbed Thomas's hand and started to pull him up. There was another awful popping noise and Thomas disintegrated over Magnus. Blood sprayed onto Telisa. She crouched, unable to believe what was happening. Time seemed to slow, and she found herself thinking that she had come too far to die here. Tears were welling in her eyes.
Magnus fell slightly backward, off balance, and released a burst from his slug thrower. The sound was louder than anything Telisa had ever heard, even with the weapon pointed away from her. She couldn't see what he was shooting at, if anything. Magnus turned and sprinted towards her. Telisa's muscles released, and she turned to run with him.
Telisa ran around the corner with Magnus close behind her. She stopped short just around the turn. Instead of the long corridor of doors they had just explored, there was a smooth empty wall on her left with another cave entrance straight ahead. An open corridor branched away on her right. None of it was the same as she remembered.
”s.h.i.+t! How'd we get turned around?” Telisa asked. Her voice sounded rapid and squeaky in her own ears.
”Cover the corner,” Magnus said, pointing back where they had come from. He aimed his own slug thrower in the opposite direction towards the other cavern. He moved up to the edge.
Telisa set herself a meter from the corner, holding her stunner out ready to fire. She realized she was panting and shaking. Would something come around the corner? Telisa heard Magnus behind her. She wondered if he planned on going into the other cavern.
”Let's go this way, try and find our way back,” Magnus called. Telisa turned to join him, stepping closer.
The wall on the left exploded next to Magnus. He tumbled forward, enveloped in flames and chunks of building material. Telisa curled away, cringing from the smoke and debris in the air.
”Magnus!”
A second or two later she staggered back to her feet. Magnus appeared as a shadow through the haze, crawling forward. Telisa ran to his side and pulled him up. Magnus stood uncertainly.
”Somehow the thing knew where we were through the wall,” he said hollowly.
Then he seemed to recover and started retreating further back, dragging Telisa along with an iron grip on her arm. They took the corridor to the right that formed the T intersection.
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