The Alien Orb (38 page)

Once Dexter saw that its information was
about the same, he left, to join the others.

“
Is there power to recharge the
vehicle?
”
Selina asked.

“
I
’
ll have a look for it later
...
”

Suddenly, he realized Basinger was gone.
Then he saw him eagerly removing dust from a large machine, at the
other side of the structure, and Dexter briskly left towards
him.

As he was approaching him, he gasped, when
he clearly saw the machine.

“
I got enough information about it
...!
”
Basinger mumbled.

“
My god! Did you recognize it
...?
”

“
What ...?
”

“
It
’
s the alien artifact
–
we found on
Mars!
”

Basinger looked at it amazed, and he walked
around it, closely examining it, at different angles.

“
It is not the same one.
It
’
s one of
the Star Chambers, identical to the diagram ...!
”

“
It had its cover over its
controls!
”

“
So they actually copied that alien
sphere ...!
”
Burrell mumbled, approaching them.

“
Do you know if it will
work?
”
Dexter enquired.

Basinger walked to the side of it, where he
had been, and he played around with an unlocking mechanism on
it.

“
This control I believe should reveal
more controls!
”

A panel silently slid into the machine,
revealing its complex controls.

Basinger
’
s hand gently touched a control, and
Dexter barely kept his eyes open, not wishing to see what it would
do. To his fascination, a shield slid away, from its central
region, going into the machine, revealing a deep darkness. Then he
looked upon the blanket of blackness in disgust, wanting to edge
away from it, but it did not seem to be a genuine danger. The
machine seemed to be in control of it. It had no protection screen
over it, yet there was no pull from it. It was stable, and it
covered the entire area of the inner chamber.

“
Why is the inside of it actually
different ...?
”
Burrell asked Basinger.

“
From the information I got from the
machines, I would say that the one at the laboratory had been left
on, and it lost most of its power. The black hole would have formed
in it, from the entrance curtain, over the chamber. It collapsed
into its original state, and one of the machine
’
s safety devices was holding
it, at the machine. In the right circumstance not even the safety
devices could stop it escaping from it!
”

“
Why are there so many
controls?
”

“
They are different destinations
...!
”

“
Will the other machines be
working?
”

“
They may be!
”

Dexter avoided saying any more on the
subject, and he wondered just what he was planning on doing.

“
Let
’
s try the machine
out!
”
Basinger taunted.
“
Touch them two buttons!
”

A dim view of something lit up on a screen,
at the top of the controls.

“
This gives a view of the other side
of the black hole!
”

Basinger pressed the first of the hundreds
of location buttons, at the top of them, and the screen partially
lit, in dim shades. They viewed it at different perspectives. The
light slightly vibrated, and he began to understand what it
was.

He held his hands apart, in front of his
eyes, over the screen.

“
Is that daylight? Could that be where
it is passing through?
”
Dexter presumed, looking at specks floating
about, in the beams of light.

“
It
’
s underwater!
”
Basinger continued.

“
It must be at this side of the
world
–
the
sun is out!
”

Basinger pressed another button, and he saw
dirt and rocks dimly light, in a green shade, from light going into
it.

“
We can use this to transport
ourselves about the world!
”
Basinger explained.
“
And we can properly explore
it. The other machines will have lots of other
destinations!
”

“
Do you want to push something into
it,
”
Burrell enquired,
“
to see what happens?
”

“
Let
’
s find something
...!
”
Basinger answered, wandering away, looking for something long
enough.

Dexter knew where there was a pole, which
could be detached from one of the machines, and he went straight to
it, and got it.

Basinger eagerly returned to the machine,
with him, and Dexter put it into it.

It felt strange, as though the magnetic
properties of something had caught it, and there were no signs of
any time derangements. The end of it then hit something, which was
the ground surrounding the machine at the other end.

“
Do you want to try the other
controls?
”

“
They only adjust some of its basic
functions.
”

“
Let
’
s see some more of its
destinations!
”

The first controls activated more buried
machines, but then the interior of a small structure appeared,
which had light entering it from a slightly open entrance.

“
If that machine is not working
properly,
”
Dexter enquired,
“
will we be able to return
here?
”

“
You pushed the pole through, and it
came back through!
”
Burrell answered.

Dexter shrugged his shoulders, and just
smiled.

“
But the top of the pole is
missing!
”
Basinger replied, showing them the top of it
missing.

“
You said nothing could break that
material!
”

“
Good, it has the ability of virtually
stopping everything, from coming through it
–
if you
don
’
t open
it at the other end, to return. I am positive that the other
machines will be working, if their shields open!
”

Dexter wondered what Basinger was going to
do next.

“
I am going through
...!
”
Basinger suddenly volunteered.

“
How about us searching for a better
location first?
”
Dexter pleaded.
“
It would not take that long to search through
them! If you cannot activate it, to get back here, it may leave you
trapped in a desert!
”

“
No!
”
Basinger grunted, and he
unhesitatingly plunged into its blackness.

Chapter 11

The Star
Chambers

The dark city shapes of the sunken city
rapidly illuminated, beneath the morning sky, as the sun
elevated.

Dexter observed the sun reflect from the
sea, in sparkling shapes.

He started eating his morning ration of
food, as he stood at the edge of the entrance.

As he turned, the
machine
’
s
shield sprang open, at lightning speed, and Basinger instantly
leapt out of it.

“
My god!
”
he yelled, panting, and staggering
sideways.
“
Close it, and change the
destination!
”

Dexter swiftly ran to where he was, and he
managed to close the shield on the other machine, before Basinger
could get to it. Then he changed it to another destination.

“
There are worse dangers at the other
side of the world than in your wildest fantasies!
”

“
What happened?
”
Burrell asked
loudly.

Basinger held his side, and he took in a
lungful of air, calming himself.

“
Once I got through the entrance, I
found that it was a small structure, in the middle of a
swamp
–
the
strangest swamp I have ever seen
–

“
I was attempting to locate where it
was
–
and
why nothing resembled anything I had seen
–
but I got lost ...! It was buried,
and the exit was too small, and hidden away! The stench of gases,
stuck in my lungs ... I was going in circles, and I could not find
it ...

“
Then the land that I was on, next to
some water ditches, lifted, and I saw everything shifting up
...!

“
A head, almost double my height,
appeared from beneath the water! The thing threw me out of its way,
and in the water!

“
After a long slog through the swamp,
I climbed up a hill, and I saw the shape of where the structure
was! Yet, as I rushed back, the sky rapidly darkened, and I heard
some of the most ghastly, goddam sounds. I don
’
t know what some of the
things, beasts, were, but hundreds of them started appearing
everywhere!
”

Dexter listened, horrified that the world
was inhabited by monsters, beyond his imagination.

“
Surely that cannot be
correct!
”
Burrell replied dazed.
“
Why have we not seen any beasts
–
the
size
that you
described?
”

“
The same reason that you
didn
’
t get
lions and elephants on other continents, or on
islands!
”

“
Are you sure that you did not travel
in time?
”
Selina asked.

“
I am sure ...! The information
machine gave me facts, which told me that it is not a time machine!
We will just have to check the destinations better, and, perhaps,
draw a map of where we can go!
”

The destination controls made many shades of
soil appear on the screen, and then a view of a gap, going out of
the ground, emerged.

Basinger grabbed the pole, and he pushed it
into it. Then Dexter watched some rocks fall away, revealing a
valley, from the side of a hill.

“
It must be near
here,
”
Selina declared,
“
as the sun is almost in the same position as
here! Let
’
s
try to get through, to try it?
”

“
We may not be able to get
back!
”
Dexter answered.
“
If it is buried in something
–
we would have to
dig it up! We have to do this right
–
this machine could be dangerous
...!
”

He swiftly began to activate the controls.
Most of the views were now dark, and he tried to see if they were
in structures. For some time, they just stared at the screen, as he
rhythmically pressed the controls.

A blur of light appeared, which was
underwater, and something about it grabbed his attention
–
it somehow
seemed familiar
–
for some reason. He could not identify it, and he saw
Selina
’
s
antics
–
signaling to him to move on
–
and he proceeded at a slow pace.
Some hot desert places appeared on it, and they were not worth
investigating.

Halfway through them, the others grew tired
of standing at it, and they left to get some food. Dexter then put
the underwater view back on the screen. It was as though he were
seeing something he had dreamt.

He thought of every underwater place he had
recently seen, and he froze, in shock, and he barely breathed.

A strange shiver went through him, and he
swiftly changed the destination, to where it had been. He
desperately wanted to inform them where he believed it was, but
they would not believe it. He barely believed that it was
possible.

He then realized that it did not make sense.
The view on the screen had to be only reminding him of the bottom
of the pool, outside the cave tunnel, at the top of the cliff.
However, he was sure that he had seen something there, in the
depths of it, even though he had not noticed that it had been a
machine.

What had been there, at the island, and in
the pool, and why did he sense that it had saved them?