Parker's Folly (39 page)

Moving slowly beneath the cap and only five kilometers shy of the central stalk, there was still no indication from the satellite where to dock—not a radio beacon, not a blinking light. Jack was as puzzled by the lack of response as the rest of the crew, but had to make a decision anyway. “Helm, head for the gap between the plates. Decelerate to dead slow before moving between them.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” responded Bobby. Outside the ship's transparent nose the gap was growing larger with each passing second, while the bulk of the satellite's cap loomed overhead. Creeping toward the gap between the plates, the space between the two flat surfaces suddenly lit with a dim blue-green light. Jack shifted to the edge of his seat. “I think that might be a welcoming sign. Edge her in slowly, Mr. Danner. Mr. Vincent be ready on the rail guns, gunner's mates scan for targets. Await my order to fire.”

Out of the side of his mouth, Bobby whispered to his friend. “First a probe droid and now the Death Star, I think I know this movie.” Without any visible reaction, Billy Ray whispered back, “Death Mushroom, pardner, totally different thing.”

The space ahead was mostly uncluttered, flat parallel plains above and below. Closer to the central column there were shapes sticking up from the lower surface, like mounds of hay only with smooth surfaces. From above, similar shapes hung down for maybe five meters—stunted metallic stalactites mirrored by stalagmites on the floor. In the distance directly ahead there was what might be a doorway in the side of the main stalk.

The ship cleared the outer boundary and was now completely between the parallel surfaces of the plates. The ship settled toward the lower plate a bit and bobbled while Bobby fought the controls. “Captain! A weak gravity gradient just switched on. Should I counteract it?”

“Feels like an indication for us to land here, Mr. Danner. Lower the landing struts and ease her onto the deck.”

“Aye Sir.” A thin sheen of perspiration had formed on Bobby's forehead, a single bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. With intense concentration, he lowered the ship to the flat surface below, coming to rest with barely a quiver. His hands remained on the controls, ready to catapult the ship back out into space.

The Captain looked around the bridge. Finding all in order he relaxed slightly, discovering that he was holding his breath.
Well, we have definitely arrived somewhere. I guess its time for phase 2.
Over the PA he announced, “Attention all hands, we have landed on the alien satellite. Remain at your action stations and be alert for trouble.”

“Cargo Hold, Bridge. Lt. Curtis, ready the boarding party.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” came Gretchen's reply, the faintest hint of anxiety contending with excitement in her voice. The last time, they were investigating an alien presence on the Moon, practically humanity's own back yard. This time they were on the aliens' turf and they were the trespassers.

Lt. Curtis' boarding party comprised the entire Marine squad, less corpsman White, plus Bear, JT, Yuki and Ivan. Before the last altercation, Col. Kondratov was to be a full participant in any future extravehicular activity. Accordingly, a suit of space armor had been fabricated for him. After discussing the matter with the Captain, it was decided to allow him on the expedition, in armor but without weapons. The Captain had called it one last chance at redemption.

As they set out for the central column and its hoped for way into the core, the boarding party left the Chief and two of the crew, Hitch and Jacobs, standing guard and to act as a relief force if needed. The two spacers were armed and encased in the new space armor. The Chief, who might have to pilot a skiff to aid the boarding party's exfiltration, wore a standard spacesuit, the gauntlets of an armored suit being unsuited for such precision work.

Rajiv had really wanted to go on the mission but the Captain refused to allow the entire science team to venture off the ship into what was most likely hostile territory. What Jack had not added was that, given Rajiv's detailed knowledge of the ship's technology, he could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands.

The local gravity was about 1/8 of Earth normal, which soon had the boarders moving with a combined hopping, skating motion, reminiscent of the first astronauts on the Moon. Moving across the flat surface, it became clear that the haystacks and other intrusions lay in straight lines on either side of the doorway's central axis, leaving the path to the satellite's core unobstructed.  They formed radial “hedgerows” that divided the dock area into individual landing bays. As the party closed on the central spire, after crossing a distance of around 800 meters, they could see that what appeared to be a door was in fact an open archway leading to the satellite's interior.

The party halted in front of the opening, 10 meters wide and as high in the middle. The Marines formed a perimeter facing outward while the officers and scientists conferred. The Captain and Dr. Gupta joined the discussion from the ship.

“It looks like this whole structure is left open to space. There are no provisions for maintaining any kind of atmosphere that I can see,” Gretchen reported. Other than the lights and gravity coming on when the ship entered the dock, there were no signs of life. The whole place had a spooky, alien feel.

The landing dock was obviously capable of handling craft significantly larger than Folly. If the satellite was a refueling station, as the ship's computer had surmised, there must be a way to get the fuel on board visiting ships. “From the readings we are getting on the ship's sensors, the source of the antimatter generated radiation is inside the central spine and up toward the cap,” Rajiv explained.

“Agreed,” said JT. Out of long habit, he continued to scan the perimeter while the discussion continued. “Yuki and I were taking readings on the way and we came to the same conclusion. I'm also wondering if, given the size of this place, there isn't another ship or two resting in some other part of the dock.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Mr. Taylor,” the Captain concurred. “It would be good to check if we are alone.”

Always itching to be on the move, Bear offered a suggestion. “Why don't some of us take a look around the dock while the rest go inside looking for the antimatter fuel station?”

“I was thinking the same thing, Lt. Bear,” was Gretchen's quick reply. “Bear, JT, why don't you take three of the Marines and do a walk-about? Find out if there are any other interesting vehicles parked here.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant.”

“Gunny, send three of your people with Lt. Bear. And we'd better leave a couple here to watch the entrance—wouldn't want to be surprised when we come back out.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” The Gunny turned toward the nearest Marines. As far as she was concerned, this may be a high pucker factor mission but it beat being stuck on board the ship. “Feldman, Reagan, Sanchez, go with Lt. Bear. Sizemore, you and Washington hold the fort here—and keep your eyes open. Davis, Kwan, you're with me.”

“OK people, let's move out,” Gretchen told the group. “Inside squad shift to frequency net two. Bear, call if you find work.” Lt. Bear growled his assent, rose on all fours and rambled away from the opening.

Bear's detachment moved off to the left, starting a clockwise circuit of the dock space with Bear himself on point, followed by JT and the three nervous Marines. Lt. Curtis motioned for her unit to move into the opening. Davis took point, followed by the Gunny, then the Lieutenant, Dr. Saito and Col. Kondratov, with Kwan bringing up the rear.

Sizemore and Washington found themselves alone. The Corporal couldn't decide which was worse, standing around waiting for someone to shoot at you, or going looking for someone to shoot at you. Either way, this place gave him the willies. “You OK, Washington?”

“Yeah, Corp,” came Washington's reply. “I just got a bad feeling about this place.”

Following PFC Davis, Lt. Curtis' party moved down the arched passageway. For reasons unknown, the passageway was unlit, though a light in the distance could be seen. Using their suits' IR illumination they managed to skirt several large, rectangular pits in the floor of the passageway. A hundred meters down the dark hallway they came to another open doorway, light streaming through from the chamber beyond. Stepping out of the passageway, the squad emerged onto a platform clinging to the side of the satellite's hollow core.

The view that greeted them was on a scale generally reserved for natural wonders—Angel Falls, the Grand Canyon, and other works that challenge human imagination. The central shaft was as wide as the distance they had traveled from the ship to the outer door. The Folly could easily have sailed up the shaft and turned around without coming close to its walls. Lit with the same pallid blue-green light, the cylindrical chamber extended to infinity both above and below. A trick of lighting and perspective, Lt. Curtis knew the ceiling could only extend for four kilometers overhead, while the bottomless pit beneath them might well extend the full thirty five kilometers before emptying into open space.

“Certainly not the place for someone with acrophobia,” Ivan remarked. He was no longer as on edge as he had been around Lt. Bear. He was, after all, a cosmonaut, and he was in his element exploring the strange alien space station.

“No, I would say not,” Yuki replied. Having spent several months on board the ISS with the Russian officer, he was still willing to converse with Ivan. Gretchen limited her conversation to giving orders. As for the Marines, they avoided casual conversation with officers, especially Russian officers who were on the CO's shit list.

Gretchen stood for a minute, gauntleted hands on armored hips. Once over the spectacle of the giant tunnel in front of them, a quick examination of their surroundings showed but two ways to proceed: to the left a ramp spiraled upward along the tunnel wall, and to the right a similar ramp spiraled downward. “Dr. Saito, you said that the antimatter apparatus was most likely up toward the collector cap?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. The indications were quite clear.”

“Then we proceed up the ramp to the left.” Gretchen signaled the Gunny to move out. PFC Davis turned and moved onto the ramp and nearly toppled over.

“What's wrong, Two Can?” the Gunny asked, quickly moving forward to steady the Marine. “Whoa!” GySgt Rodriguez exclaimed. “There is something messed up with the gravity here!”

The Lieutenant moved gingerly forward and found that the local gravity field did shift where the ramp met the platform. Evidently the aliens built their gravity generators so that down was normal to the surface they resided in. Meaning that the ramp, which was fairly steep, inclined about 20 degrees when viewed from the platform, was flat to someone standing on it.
Well, at least we don't have to hump up the slope in this heavy armor.

“There is a transition where the ramp meets the platform as the downward direction changes. Just be careful when walking through it. And be careful of the edge, looks like E.T. isn't into guardrails either. Come on, let's move.”

Col. Kondratov stepped from one surface to the next without missing a beat. “Yes, as you said Lieutenant, the direction of down changes. Interesting but not dangerous if you are expecting it.”

With the Russian cosmonaut dismissing any danger out of hand, the rest of the party put on brave faces, quickly moved onto the ramp and continued on their way. Gretchen hoped that any other surprises that lay ahead would be as easily over come as this one, but somehow she doubted that would be the case.

Keeping the outer wall of the central spire to their right, Lt. Bear's party had moved about a third the way around the circular landing bay. So far, they had sighted nothing of interest. Just scattered clusters of bumps and protruding mounds sticking up from the deck below and hanging down from the roof above. The three Marines had relaxed a bit and were settling into a steady pace.

“This all looks like more of the same,” JT commented, more to break the silence than anything else. Bear, who was not used to chatty conversation while out hunting, only grunted. He rounded a particularly large metal haystack and froze in place.

Seeing Bear freeze, JT held up a clenched fist, a signal to the Marines behind him to also stop moving. Using only the short distance suit-to-suit com channel, Bear said, “Looks like we got another one of those probe ships setting on the deck 100 meters from here.”

“Is there any movement around the ship?”

“No, wait.” Bear suddenly backed up, bumping into JT and almost knocking him over. “Damn it! Watch out,” JT swore.

“Sorry, some kind of centipede looking thing came out of the door just ahead. Take a look.”

“OK, move out of the way.” JT reached for a tab on his belt and then pulled. Out came a thin black fiber-optic cable which he carefully guided around the corner of the haystack. On the heads up display in his helmet, the former Green Beret watched as a multilegged something sped across the deck with a rippling motion. It was headed directly for the probe ship.

The ship resting on the dock floor was a twin of the one they had destroyed less than two days before. The front was a tapered spire that flared into a fat cylindrical midsection. On the other end of the main body was a second tapering cone, longer than the nose section, the craft measuring maybe 40 meters overall. At its tip there was a small circular opening, possibly an exhaust port. Where the aft cone met the cylinder there was an another opening, a rectangular hatch.

As the centipede neared the probe ship more moving shapes appeared from inside the vessel, emerging from the open rectangle. Round bodies with six long legs. Leaving the optical cable in place, JT slid back and turned to face his companions. “Shit! We got spiders.”

They followed the spiraling ramp a quarter of a turn around the satellite's hollow core, rising more than 370 meters up the shaft. There they came to another section of horizontal ramp, with another of the annoying changes in local gravity. A short way along the new section there were a series of long rectangular openings in the gently curving shaft wall, each 3.5 meters high and 10 meters long. Lit from within, the openings looked like the open storefronts in a shopping mall.