Last Flight For Craggy (24 page)

'Hoping I go
bang and take this thing with me?'

Potts said,
'Get it to your place. Commander Forbes and I will be right behind
you.'

'At a
considerable distance, no doubt. So comforting. Come on. It'll be
nice to face oblivion together.'

'Any ideas?'
Forbes asked.

Hellicoyle
stared at the thing. 'All I can tell you guys is, this has been
buried for millions of years. Other than that, your guess is as
good as mine.'

Potts said,
'I'm encouraged that it hasn't exploded. But if that's millions of
years old, I'm a fruitcake.'

The object of
their interest was standing on Hellicoyle's bench, glowing and
giving a whole new meaning to the word strange. It was roughly the
shape and size of a rugby ball. It had a pulsing, glowing interior,
and a mesh of gold encompassing a golden exterior.

Potts said, 'Is
it just me, or is that thing glowing brighter than when we first
saw it?'

'Hard to say,'
said Hellicoyle.

Potts said,
'It's a bit late to give this thing due respect. Leave it where it
is and we'll come back in the morning.'

Mining had been
allowed to continue, the “cave” was to be avoided and everyone down
there was to keep a watch for any other strange things. Shamini
Singh made himself responsible to look for anything unusual, ready
to call a halt to mining activity in the event of something else
turning up. It didn't.

Hellicoyle was
in for a surprise when he returned to his laboratory to examine the
artefact the following morning. Having no idea what was going to
happen, he had banned his assistants from going anywhere near it.
He keyed the security code on the door to keep everyone out. Then
he was stopped in his tracks when he turned around.

The golden
“egg” with the intricate filigree gold casing was glowing brighter
and small, delicate blobs of various colours were swimming about in
the viscous liquid inside.

'Computer,
record.'

'COMPUTER
RECORDING.'

'Time. Seven
thirty Friday morning, Mars Base Time. The artefact was found
eighteen hours ago, buried at the end of the mine, seven miles in,
two miles below the surface. It was discovered in a small cave at
the side of the main mine. The cave, although not a natural one, is
not simply a cave. It is too perfect to be called that, but for
want of a better word I will refer to it as such. It was made in
the surrounding basalt, part of the extensive lava flow from
Olympus Mons.

it was found
accidentally by the mining activity adjacent to it, when a small
breach was opened, exposing the interior of the cave. To create the
cave with such precision would require phenomenal heat and control,
not a technology we ourselves possess. We can only speculate at
this time as to whom or what created both the cave and the
artefact.'

Hellicoyle sat
and stared at the glowing globe. From a drawer in the battered
desk, he took out an old fashioned magnifying glass with a chrome
plated handle. 'The artistry in this detail is superb. Whether the
filigree has more than a decorative function, or has some kind of
symbolic meaning, will probably never be known.'

Off the bench
he picked up his chemaltron analyser, made an adjustment to the
default setting and touched the tip to the filigree decoration.

'Pure gold. The
translucent large egg shaped shell inside the filigree is made
from... silicon, with a glass like feel and appearance. The
interior appears to be of some sort of liquid which is emitting a
moving golden light source inside it, and I can see small globules
of many colours floating around in the liquid. The artefact is
glowing brighter than before, perhaps being triggered by being
brought out into the light.'

Hellicoyle
concentrated on the three cornered base. 'Again, pure gold. Also
intricate in design. The metalwork is scratch and blemish free.
Clearly, this object was actually made by the hands of a highly
intelligent, artistic individual. And yet, I'm drawn to the
assumption that it is far more than some fancy ornament. Quite
possibly the creature who made this would be laughing hysterically
at my woefully inadequate attempts to define this thing. I'm
hungry. Don't record that, computer. I need some sustenance for my
brain to function correctly.'

Hellicoyle took
his plate to sit with Dixon Cragg.

'Is it me,
Craggy, but is this fish off?'

'I heard a
rumour it's supposed to be curried fish. I mean, there's an
oxymoron if ever there was one. I heard there was a bit of
excitement at the deep mine yesterday.'

'Exciting
enough to shut it down for a day.'

'Wow. And is it
millions of years old like they said?'

Hellicoyle
shrugged. 'All the rock around it certainly is. And I don't see how
the cave and object got in there other than being buried in the
lava. Care to see it?'

'I've a couple
of hours. Lets go.'

The majority of
the buildings were linked by clear tunnels to allow access without
the need to suit up. Hellicoyle led the way to the geology
department, then into his lab.

'Jeez. Isn't
that a work of art,' said an astounded Cragg.

'Interesting.
It's changed from a golden light to a blue light.'

Cragg stared at
the egg shaped globe. 'It's almost like it's alive.'

'I couldn't
rule it out,' admitted Hellicoyle. 'Would you think it had a
function? Other than decorative?'

'I wouldn't
care to speculate. No clues at the place it was found?'

'No. Just a
very neat...'

'Neat
what?'

'Come on,' said
Hellicoyle. 'I'd value your opinion.'

Hellicoyle put
a call through to Shamini Singh for his permission to enter the
mine. Singh said he'd personally escort the geologist safely to
where the article was found. Twenty minutes later, Singh dropped
Cragg and Hellicoyle off and waited to escort them back out of the
mine. The loose rock had been removed to reveal the break into the
strange chamber.

'And that thing
was in here?' Cragg asked.

'Sitting right
here. On this plinth.'

'Hmm. So the
lava didn't cover and bury it.'

'What?' gasped
Hellicoyle. 'How else could it have happened?'

Cragg said,
'The bloke who made this room cut it out well after this lava was
cold and old.'

'Craggy. This
stuff is as hard as stuff gets. To get this far in would have been
a hell of a job.'

'Well, how was
it discovered?'

'According to
Shamini, the mole was widening the mine and it was running along
the side wall when a small rockfall halted the operation. When they
were trying to move the rubble, they found they had cracked the
lava here. Then they could see inside the chamber.'

This puzzled
Cragg. 'I thought you said this stuff was real hard?'

'It is. We are
mining under the basalt, not through it. Hit something hard with
enough force, it will probably shatter. This did, looking at these
large pieces that broke off. This is what, six inches thick? Eight
at most. A decent sledgehammer could get through at this
point.'

Cragg picked a
few of the lava pieces and held them against the hole as if fitting
a jigsaw puzzle. 'There's enough pieces to fill the hole.'

'We did some of
the damage so we could get inside.'

'Felix. I think
your theory is all off. If it were accidentally swallowed up during
an eruption, who made the chamber? He sure wasn't trapped in molten
rock, thinking, “Oh dear me. I'll just make myself a cool little
room and wait here.” He cut his way in well after it had cooled
off. He cut his way in, made a chamber and a plinth, left the big
egg thingy, and he buggered off.'

'But it was
sealed in here. We broke the wall with the mole.'

'Yeah,' said
Cragg. 'The wall the bloke made, after he put the egg inside. This
is my take on it. That gold thing is hugely valuable for some
reason and I suspect more than just the gold value. He makes the
chamber, puts the thingy inside, goes outside again and melts the
lava back over the hole.'

Hellicoyle
slapped his own forehead. 'Of course. I mean, if he could melt the
chamber out of the lava, he could melt over the hole. Which
explains why it is so thin here.'

'Correct,' said
Cragg. 'Which means he could have hidden the thingy any time
between now and millions of years ago.'

'This is a real
mystery. But thanks to you, we're one step closer to solving
it.'

'Glad I could
help.'

Potts and
Forbes met with Hellicoyle in his lab. 'Well, that sure narrows it
down a bit,' said Mars Commander Potts. 'Only a million year window
of possibility.'

'I err...'
Hellicoyle was still feeling a little foolish for being so adamant
that the find was at least as old as the lava flow. 'I suppose,
come to think of it, it doesn't look that old. But unless you know
something I don't, Man didn't get here until twenty thirty nine.
And to the best of my knowledge, this mine has only been going for
the last four years. The mine is too well supervised and monitored
for anyone living here to have done it, plus the fact we only
reached that point two days ago.'

Forbes said,
'It isn't totally impossible to have sneaked in in the last few
weeks.'

Hellicoyle
said, 'We haven't anything that could have made that chamber. That
required a hell of high heat with amazing control. So. If it wasn't
possible for a human to have done it...'

'Shush,'
whispered Forbes. 'Don't say it out loud. We don't want to start a
panic.'

Hellicoyle
bristled. 'With respect, Sir. Wasn't it decided we have no secrets?
And that it was having secrets that was the biggest problem Earth
had?'

'He's right,'
said Potts. 'A calm, formal statement now will be a whole lot
better than rumours and speculation distracting everyone.'

Forbes nodded.
'I guess so. May as well get it organised.'

It took four
hours to fill Base Three. Forbes and Potts were well aware of the
disruption to the various activities in and around the Bases. Potts
decided to give a simultaneous statement in Marsopia, Mars' second
city. He began at exactly the same moment.

'Some of you
may have heard an artefact has been found in the Deep Mine One. At
a depth from the surface of two miles, and a mine depth of seven
miles. The artefact is at this moment, being shown at a safe
distance by Commander Forbes in Base Three right this minute. You
will all get the opportunity to see it later. If you look at that
holographic projection...that is what was found and to the exact
size. Like you, we have no idea what it is or where it came
from.'

'Is it from
Earth?' Commander of Freighter Training Fawn Dillow asked.

Potts shrugged.
'We have no idea at this stage, Fawn. I promise everyone as we
unravel this, we will keep you all informed. We don't need gossip
and tall tales doing the rounds.'

'Any radiation
coming from it?' someone asked.

'None at the
time of testing. One of our top geologists has done some tests on
it and is continuing to test. It will be kept in a safe until we
are certain it is not dangerous.'

'Is that gold?'
a woman asked.

'Pure gold,'
said Potts.

'Sir,' said a
young man. 'I'm a miner on mine three. Are we safe to continue
working?'

'A very good
question. We need all miners and mine supervisors to proceed with
caution at all times. In the highly unlikely event any more strange
things are found, that area is to be immediately evacuated and you
must call Felix Hellicoyle, the geologist right away. That's all,
everyone. Thank you for your attention and cooperation. Business as
usual, people.'

Still with so
many questions unanswered, everyone shuffled off, a droning noise
of all talking at once hung over them like a following cloud. Only
Fawn Dillow hung back.

'What's your
gut feeling, Tagg? Was it made by a human?'

'I honestly
have no idea,' admitted Potts. 'We can't think how anybody on Mars
could have done it. Perhaps there were a handful of opportunities
for somebody here to have buried it if they were determined enough
and if they'd had a really sophisticated high powered laser to melt
lava and use it to make a chamber like the one it was found in. As
far as we know, we haven't come up with anything like that.'

'Not by a
human, then? An alien?'

'Ah, ah, Fawn.
I didn't say that. I'm sure our scientists will figure it out
eventually.'

'I haven't a
bloody clue about it,' said Hellicoyle.

He had
assembled a full and diverse team around him. Metallurgists,
chemists, engineers, electronics experts and others were
represented. It was Raz Berry, a fellow geologist who offered
something next.

'Felix. Have
you run that retro assimilation program yet?'

'My very next
thing to do.'

Shannon
Palmerston, in charge of Base air quality, asked, 'What does that
do?'

Berry
explained, 'From various sonic and drill testing, analysing the
data, the retro program can give us an idea how what we have on
Mars now and how it was hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of
years ago.'

Ray Needay,
metallurgist, asked, 'Does it take long to run, because I'd love to
see it if at all possible.'

'Okay,' said
Hellicoyle. 'I'll start it up. We'll keep it to a one hour run.
Everybody see okay? Right.'

The holographic
three dimensional image of the landscape covered a work table.

'This is us
right now. Of course, the very top layer is constantly changing
with the storms we get. But, as you can see, we have several lava
layers from the various eruptions, mostly, but not exclusively from
Mons. Fortunately, Mons became fully extinct over one point four
million years ago, although different experts will give wildly
different guestimates varying by millions of years. It was a pretty
busy volcano before that, as we can see. We have at least eleven
layers of lava going down as far as the chamber.'