Alder's World Part One: Mass 17 (2 page)

“This is Dust. Go ahead.” Alder said.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the life support readouts
for the crew coming on one by one.

“Yeah.
We
’
re on the surface.
There
’
s a lot of static
electricity in the cloud. It blanked us out.
I
’
ve switched to the
microwave transmitter. It doesn
’
t seem to be affected by the storm.
”

Alder glanced at a camera
above his workstation. Although he was deep in the science station
at the base of the ship, he knew Pilton and the others were
watching from the bridge.
“
Surface? What surface?
”

“We
’
re down on the
central object. It
’
s got half
a G worth of gravity.
”

“Half a G on an object
that small? It
’
s not
possible.
”

“Yeah, I know.” Martin
agreed.
“
But here we
are.
”

“I
’
m not getting any
environment data on this line. Do you have a visual feed for
me?
”

“Better than that.” Martin
grinned.
“
I
’
ve got the ring on my
helmet going. You
’
re going to
want your mask.
”

“You can see something?”
The sensors on Lance One were reporting but the data Alder was
getting didn
’
t make much
sense.

“Just put on your mask.” Martin
grinned again. His face was big and gave a loose, friendly
smile.

Reaching to his right,
Alder grabbed a visor/headset and slipped it over his graying
temples. Immediately he was greeted by a 360 degree view of the
inside of Lance One
’
s cockpit
thanks to a dozen tiny cameras in a ring around
Martin
’
s helmet. He looked
around.
“
Very nice.” He said.
He
’
d years before gotten used
to the idea that he could
“
see
”
out the back of
Martin
’
s head.

“Yeah. Just wait. Jinx and
Pakerson are already inside.
”

“Inside?
”

“Yeah, inside.” Alder
waited while Martin made his way through the
Lance
’
s air lock. His brow
furrowed when Martin emerged into the strange space
beyond.

“What am I looking at?” He
asked peering around in the gloom. The scene was dark, lit only by
the Lance
’
s landing
lights.

“I
’
m not sure.”
Martin
’
s heavy breathing came
over the line with his voice.
“
We landed on a surface, some kind of weird polymer. Pakerson
did a reading. I don
’
t know
what she saw but it sure turned her on. Whatever this thing is, it
isn
’
t nearly big enough to
justify a half-g. I flew all the way around it before we landed.
The diameter is just over two kilometers.
”

“Around?
It
’
s a
sphere?
”

“It
’
s a sphere all
right with regular bumps and openings. Check this
out.
”

The screen went blurry as Martin swung
around and dipped suddenly below the surface.

“Are you getting this?” Alder asked
the bridge while waiting for the image to clear.

“Roger.” Came
Pilton
’
s breathless
reply.

“Okay. So
I
’
m sliding down the wall of
this sort of canyon. There are maybe twelve of them spread evenly
around the equator of the sphere. I think they must be some kind of
wave guide or something because the gravity is stronger here.
I
’
m experiencing almost a
full-G right now pulling me toward the sides of the canyon and also
down. I
’
ll be able to stand
again when the canyon turns slightly at about 300
meters.
”

Gravity wave guides were
beyond human technology but Alder could imagine it at least.
“
Roger. Where does it
lead?
”

“Almost there.
I
’
m back on my feet.
It
’
s as if
I
’
m stumbling down a steep
incline.
”

From inside the virtual
mask, Alder almost felt as if he were traveling down the deep
canyon with Martin. He could just make out the canyon rim high
above him and was dazzled by the rhythmic texture on the walls as
Martin
’
s lights played
around. He found himself matching the rhythm of
Martin
’
s
breathing.

“Do you remember that hike we took
through that Keyhole canyon on Gayson?” Martin asked.

“Yeah sure.” Alder
agreed.
“
Binary star system,
real water vapor clouds, blinding swarms of alien bugs. It was
beautiful. Made me wish we had dates with
us.
”

“Come on princess.” Martin
chided.
“
You know
you
’
d been working for months
to get a little alone time with me.”

Alder snorted.
“
I should have left you with the
bugs. They were the one
’
s
trying to get into your suit.
”

Martin laughed.
“
There is one thing that could have
made that hike better. It could have ended in a sight like
this.
”

Alder gasped when the
space in front of Martin opened suddenly. The walls vanished and he
found himself staring around a vast, round room. Pakerson and Jinx
in their pressurized suits looked like glittering beetles in the
darkness. Openings like the ones that Martin had just come out of
appeared at regular intervals around the circumference as far as
the three crew members
’
feeble lights were able to illuminate. It was what was in the
vast space that his mind refused to comprehend.

“How big is it?” He finally managed to
ask.

“We measure it at 93.6
meters to a side and it
’
s
perfectly smooth.” Pakerson broke in, glancing over her shoulder
from where she and Jinx were setting up equipment.

“Exactly
square?
”

“Exactly. Each plane 93.6
meters.” Pakerson
’
s calm
voice hid any excitement.

“A perfect cube inside a
sphere. That
’
s intelligence.”
Alder mused, staring through
Martin
’
s helmet. The thing
that towered over Pakerson and Jinx, was silver black, faintly
metallic; a massive, perfect cube floating in the darkness
“
What
’
s holding it
up?
”

“We kind of think it is
up.” Martin chimed back in.
“
We think it
’
s
generating those nuts gravity waves
we
’
ve been reading.
There
’
s a rhythm to its
energy output. Up down every few tenths of a second and the gravity
in here is funky. I
’
m at half
a G now pointed toward my feet but Pakerson and Jinx are almost
neutral. It
’
s like there are
gravity wave forms around the room.
”

Alder
’
s brain spun. For
a second he was caught in the vertigo of the huge room his crew
mates were in.

“All right. Uhh. What sort
of energy signals are you getting?
”

“Not much.” Pakerson
answered.
“
There
’
s some low level
electrical output but we can
’
t detect whatever is generating the gravity...other than the
fact that we
’
re experiencing
gravity. Jinx has almost got the sensor array
online.
”

Breathless moments passed while Jinx
and Pakerson worked with the scientific instrument and the cube
hung before them in omnipresent silence. Finally, a light turned
green and the machine flared to life.

“Okay.” Pakerson started
narrating, her tall, athletic frame towering over Jinx and the
sensor set.
“
Radar is unable
to pierce the object. Looks like
we
’
ve got a surface of some
kind of ceramic, but we do detect some energy sources inside, very
faint. We
’
ll have to take a
closer look later at a higher power setting.
There
’
s a little bit of gas
in here with us. Just traces of Oxygen and
Hydrogen.
”

The video on
Alder
’
s mask shuddered
slightly.
“
What was
that?
”

“I
don
’
t know.”
Martin
’
s voice shot
back.
“
The whole place just
gave a little shake.
”

“Do you think they heard us?” Jinx
laughed nervously.

“We
’
ve got changes.”
Pakerson reported.
“
An
electrical current just ran over the surface of the cube. Small, a
few microvolts, but the surface is
heating.
”

“Heating?
How?
”

“Ummm.” Pakerson seemed
confused.

“There
’
s a chemical
reaction taking place.” Jinx jumped in.
“
Just a
sec.
”

“Look up.” Alder
ordered.
“
Martin, look up at
the cube.
”

Martin complied, his
lights playing on the shadowy form.
“
Hey, I think they did hear us. The
surface is changing, just a little. Can you guys see it?
It
’
s like a texture is
forming or...wait, it
’
s
getting wet.
”

“Surface temperature
climbing. Oh.” Pakerson gasped.
“
A power source just activated inside the cube. Maybe twenty
volts. Chemical battery maybe.
”

“What chemicals are active at these
temperatures?” Jinx mused back.

“What do you mean wet?”
Alder asked.
“
It
’
s 100 degrees below
freezing in there.
”

“I
’
m going to get
closer.” Martin
’
s cameras
bobbed and weaved as he made his way through the strange
gravity.
“
It may just be the
optics but the surface looked dry a minute ago and now it looks
wet.
”

“Be careful.” Alder said,
pointlessly.

Martin grunted as he struggled through
the lumpy gravity to get closer to the nearest point of the
cube.

“Is there any water?” He
asked.

“No.” Came
Pakerson
’
s tense
reply.
“
But the Oxygen level
is rising. Also, some other trace gasses. Surface temperature is up
10k from initial readings.
”

Martin
’
s lights were
playing up and down the surface of the cube from about a meter
away.
“
It really looks wet
you guys. Are you seeing this?
”

Alder grunted.
“
Yes. The reflectivity has changed.
Look around. Are there any other changes in the
cube?
”

“Hey yeah.”
Martin
’
s lights moved down to
the finely formed point of the cube.
“
There
’
s a drop forming
here.
”

As Alder watched, a single
drop, black in Martin
’
s
lights, fell off the point of the cube and drifted lazily down to
the surface of the sphere below where it vanished in the
glare.

“This is
tunneling.”
Pakerson announced.