Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3) (16 page)

“Archaeological?” Anna repeated. “What sites are being investigated?”

“That information is classified.”

“What xenobiological projects are being pursued?”

“That information is classified.”

“Okay,
never mind,” Anna said, refocusing her thoughts. “Does this facility have an exit to the moon’s surface?”

A red path was drawn on the map, originating from the red dot to another place on the map at the far end.

“Thank you. One last question. Where are the Altiki that run this facility?”

“The members of the research teams have returned home. They visit the facility every four makrenal for a period of fifteen damal.”

”Makrenal? Damal? What do those mean?”

“They are time increments used by the Altiki.”

“How long are they? Minutes? Hours?”

“Please define minutes. Please define hours.”

Anna frowned, trying to figure how to best define the terms to the computer. After a few seconds, she sighed, knowing that teaching the computer precise time increments would be difficult at best. “We’ll deal with that later. How soon are they expected back?”

“Expected time of arrival is three damal, fourteen glasal from now.”

Anna's mind raced with renewed urgency after hearing the amount of time remaining unti
l the Altiki's arrival. If the Altikis’ attitude was much like she had seen before, their discovery of the colony would be disastrous.

The question of how long a damal was still lingered in her mind. It might help to know exactly how long she would have to wait until their arrival. How could she figure it out, though, when their systems didn’t know the concept of minutes or hours of Earth time? If she had something to use as a basis for comparison, converting the time increments would make it a lot easier.

As the computer prompted her to make another selection, an idea finally struck her.

“How many damal does it take for this moon to revolve around its’ parent planet?”

“This moon completes one orbital rotation in approximately one three point five six damal.”

“Thank you.” Anna smiled as she activated her wristcomp’s screen. Her fingers flew across the holographic interface, performing the steps to complete the calculation.

“If the moon takes almost fourteen damal to orbit the gas giant, which is also twenty-nine point seven nine days,” she mumbled while she typed. “Then, one damal should equal…”

Pressing the final button, she grinned as she read the results aloud, “Two point two days. And, they’re arriving in three damal? That’s almost…” Her voice trailed off as she completed the calculations in her head and came to a startling conclusion. “Oh, shit!”

“Thank you, computer,” she announced as she switched her wristcomp screen off. “I need to leave now.”

Anna bolted from the stool, causing the hologram to shut down. She stopped in her tracks when the beam from her flashlight highlighted something hovering in the air near the top of the door. Anna swept the beam of light back toward the object and stopped when it came into view. It was a metallic object floating about two meters off the floor and directly between her and the exit. It did not make any noise or have any apparent function. She did not recall seeing anything above the entrance when she came in, but then she had no need to look upwards when she had entered the room.

She moved her hand toward her pistol, but stopped mere millimeters from the grip. If this mysterious orb intended to kill her, it would have done so by now. She lowered her hand away from the weapon with an obvious gesture, keeping her eyes locked on the sphere. Was it a light fixture of some sort, or a component to an automated system? Perhaps a passive security system? With so many questions zipping through her mind, her arm remained tense, ready to grab her pistol if something went awry. Regardless of its intentions, she knew she had to return to the group and lead them back to the surface.

Previous encounters with Altiki technology meant she knew something of their capabilities. The best thing to do was avoid direct confrontation, if at all possible.

After watching it for the better part of a minute and observing no action, Anna swallowed her initial fear and walked toward and under the sphere, turning to keep her attention on it.

When Anna’s back touched the wall, she moved her free hand to her wristcomp and activated the communicator. The door opened, and Anna stepped backward into the corridor. A few seconds later after the door closed, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glanced down both directions of the hallway, and set off at a jog back the way she had come.

Anna made it only a few meters down the hall, when the sound of metal sliding on metal reached her ears. She swung about to see the sphere float through the door from which she emerged and pivot toward her.

Anna’s heart leaped into her throat. She bolted for the way back into the caves, not daring to look behind her despite the temptation to do so. The fact that the sphere moved silently did nothing to reassure her.

A short while later, Anna approached the end of the corridor and touched the communicator switch on her wristcomp. As the door opened, she jumped through and continued running toward the cavern. Unable to resist the temptation any longer, she stole a glance over her shoulder. The tunnel behind her was completely dark. Deciding not to take a chance, she pushed herself further down the tunnel.

Anna stumbled a few times along the way but managed to keep her balance and maintain her pace. She saw the rock wall that signaled the end of the straight tunnel. She activated the communicator on her wristcomp and part of the rock wall disappeared. She charged through it and into the tunnel beyond.

Anna halted and pivoted on the ball of her foot to gaze back through the entrance a split second after her gear powered down and plunged her into near darkness. Only the faint blue glow from her shoulder and the cool green hue from the light stick resting on the rocky ground in front of her illuminated the darkness.

The hologram began to return but dropped again. Barely visible, the sphere shot through the mouth of the corridor toward her. An instant later, it dropped to the ground and rolled between her feet, coming to rest against a short stalagmite a couple of meters behind her. In the silence that followed, the holographic wall shimmered back into place.

Anna blinked a few times as she stared at the unpowered orb. She stepped over to the foreign device and picked it up with care. Smooth and cool to the touch, the metal ball – roughly the size of her head – appeared to be inert, apparently affected by the EM field.

“Interesting.” She retrieved the light stick from the ground
and, with the sphere tucked under her arm, retraced her steps back to the main cavern.

* * * * *

A low growl penetrated the air. It originated from the glowing orbs on the far side of the cavern. They blinked again. Despite Jason’s expectations, the creature did not charge.

“Boy.” Cooper’s raspy whisper was like a knife cutting through the silence.

Without taking his eyes away from the unexpected guest, Jason said, “I have a name, you know.”

“Whatever. I can help you, if you get me out of these ropes.”

“Now is not the time to negotiate your…”

“I ain’t negotiating shit!” Cooper, though keeping his voice hushed, threw his words at Jason. “I’m trying to protect our lives. Now, cut me loose!”

The wheels turned in Jason’s mind. He could release Cooper and let him help. But, he could try to reclaim his authority. Or, he could keep him bound. But, they could all die if the unknown creature attacks.

“Cary,” Jason stated in a calm tone. “Cut the sergeant loose.”

“What?” Cary’s voice carried a skeptical tone.

“Cut him loose. Do you want this creature to kill us?”

Cooper told Cary to pull the knife sheathed inside his boot. As the sounds of cutting through the rope began, Jason noticed the glowing spots blink before the slight sound of something rubbing against dirt and stone came from their direction. He watched it while his heart beat hard inside his chest. The sweat on his brow turned cold. “Hurry up, Cary! I think it’s approaching.”

“It is?” Tomomi’s loud, hysterical outburst reverberated throughout the cave. “Oh, god!”

Cooper’s voice broke the silence a brief moment later. “Shut her up.”

“Almost got it.” Jason glanced over his shoulder and saw Cary cutting through the rope until it snapped apart. “Got it!”

Jason turned back and observed that the luminescent eyes had come closer.

Then he rose to his feet, wincing as he moved, and turned to look at the approaching lights. He brought the knife to bear in his left hand.

“Jason, grab Anderson’s dagger. It’s in his right boot.”

Jason nodded, backed up, and knelt next to Anderson’s body, clumsily fishing the blade from its sheath.

“Today, boy!”

Jason grasping the knife seconds later. “Got it!”

He rushed back to Cooper’s side, swallowing his fear, and crouched, brandishing the black-bladed weapon. The shuffling sounds stopped. The three glowing spots rotated partially for a long second before they blinked and disappeared, appearing to sweep aside and retreat into the darkness. The sounds of padded feet against solid stone echoed through the cavern, fading with each passing second.

There was a collective sigh and, much to Jason’s amusement, they all burst into nervous laughter.

“I thought we were done for!” Tomomi breathed.

Cary added with relief, “Me, too!”

“Just goes to show you that we need to get out of here.” Cooper turned to the rest of the group, his words carrying a firm tone. “We can’t afford to take another chance like that.”

“But, what about Anna? She will be coming back here to lead us out.” Jason braced himself. It looked like he would have to confront the sergeant.

The sergeant frowned. “She’s a big girl. She can find her own way out.”

“That doesn’t seem fair to her. She’s trying to help us reach the surface.”
Cary said.

“The longer we wait here, the greater the chance that that creature will come back and bring friends,” Cooper said. “We need to get out of here now!”

* * * * *

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Anna’s voice penetrated the darkness.

“Anna!” cried Jason.

“Did you find a way out?” Tomomi asked.

“Yes, I did. Is everyone able to walk?”

Jason and the scientists answered to the affirmative. Cooper’s reply came last but was also positive.

Anna looked him over. “Are you sure? I’m surprised you’re able to stand.”

Cooper waved away her concern. “I’ll be fine. We need to drag Anderson out of here, though. I’m not leaving a man behind, dead or not.”

With
a curt nod to the sergeant, Anna turned to Jason. “Move Anderson onto the stretcher and prepare him to go with us. We’re going to carry the stretcher. Cary, help the good sergeant while we move. Tomomi, I…”

“I don’t need anyone’s help!” Cooper interrupted.

Anna smiled, like a mother to a petulant teenager. “Of course, you don’t. Cary will walk with you, just in case.”

After Anderson was rolled onto the makeshift stretcher, Anna set the metal sphere next to Anderson’s head, earning her a curious look from Jason.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. But if I find out anything new, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know.”

The group departed the cavern a few minutes later, Anna guiding them through the tunnels. They soon reached the bend in the natural passageway that led to the underground facility.

As Anna stopped, Cooper followed suit. “Why are we stopping?”

“Jason, set the stretcher down. I need to do something to allow us to continue.”

Cooper asked, confusion in his voice. “What do you need to do?”

“Reveal the passageway.” She moved toward the far side of the tunnel.

“What’s to reveal? The passageway continues to the right.”

Anna hugged the wall, feeling the stone surface while monitoring her wristcomp. “That’s not the way we’re going.”

“Then, which way are we going?”

A few seconds later, the indicator light on Anna’s wristcomp turned on, and she smiled. Keeping her arm motionless, she reached her other hand over and activated the communicator, causing the wall to dissipate before their eyes.

“What the hell?” Cooper exclaimed as the rest of the group gasped.

Anna grinned, turned to face them, and presented the entrance with a flourish before returning to the stretcher. “Prepare to be amazed!”

Before she grabbed the handles of Anderson’s stretcher, Anna lifted the metal sphere and carried it to Tomomi.

“Tomomi, how are you holding up?”

The scientist took a deep breath, which sounded a bit labored, before answering, “I should be fine as long as we can get back to the colony soon.”

“We will, but I need you to hold onto this. No matter what happens, don’t let go of it.”

Tomomi looked at the dark orb for a couple of seconds before she lifted it out of Anna’s hands, tested its weight, and wrapped her arms around it.

“Will do, Anna.” She gave a hint of a smile.

Anna reclaimed her position carrying Anderson, and they walked through the entrance. As they did so, all of their technological devices returned to life.

“Anna!”

Anna turned her head to catch sight of the orb taking flight from
Tomomi’s grasp and returning to a height just under the tunnel’s ceiling.

“What is that?”
Jason’s voice was tinged with fear.

“Put the stretcher down!” Anna ordered as she lowered her side to the uneven floor. As soon as Anderson was safe on the ground, she turned and located the floating ball, her hand moving to her pistol.

Cooper dropped his hand to his holster but found it empty.

“Where’s my…” His voice trailed off as he caught sight of Cary carrying it.

“Amazing!” Cary whispered as he stared at the floating object.

Seconds passed with everyone watching the sphere, waiting to see what it would do. While Anna, Jason, and the scientists locked their eyes on it, Cooper stealthily circled around Cary, the fingers on his free hand flexing as he stalked closer to his target.