Alliance, p.4
Alliance, page 4
Breakfast over, they joined the rest of the team and base crew in the central meeting room again. Captain Osaki strode purposefully across the room to the screen-wall and fired up the systems. The screens sprang into life with the now familiar picture of The Cube sitting in its small crater on the planet’s surface.
“Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. I hope you all had a good night’s sleep. Today has the potential to be very interesting. Earth Command will be linked into everything that we do today, so watch your language when on the comms please.”
A ripple of quiet laughter went around the assembled company, breaking the tension as Osaki had intended.
“The plan for this morning is to go as far as McDonald has already done, but then to see what happens if we try to move the ‘lever’ or whatever it is. A containment field will be set up around The Cube and only those members of the team who are integral to the task in hand will be within the field. Myself, Ensign MacDonald, Theo Newsome and Lizzie Stevens, along with two of the base logistics personnel will be the first to take things further.”
Osaki looked directly at Theo and Lizzie and registered the surprise on their faces. They certainly hadn’t anticipated being in the first cohort, or even being allowed to get anywhere near The Cube. Captain Osaki grinned.
“Bet that was a surprise.”
He chuckled.
“You are the best that the Naval Space Academy has produced for many years. Your skills will be invaluable and that’s partly the reason you were included in this mission. For the benefit of everyone else here, Theo Newsome was the top cadet over all four years of his training. He is probably the most highly skilled person here as regards the new developments that have been made recently in the use of remote telemetry and neural networks. The four youngsters here from Earth have all been given the latest neural implants that allow remote control of the gadgets that you can see on the tables at the back of the room. Let me introduce Theo and his team to you, something I really should have done last evening. If you four would come up to the front please?”
They rose as one from their seats and walked forward. Captain Osaki detailed their training and skills that would hopefully prove invaluable. They felt slightly embarrassed being talked about in such glowing terms, especially as they knew that some of the personnel there had far more space experience than they had.
“I hope that the two of you who are not on the initial team are not too disappointed. You will be needed I’m sure, but we thought that putting all four of you in danger from the outset might not be good planning.”
That was the first time that anyone had used the word ‘danger’ and all those in the room realised that, although anticipation was high, no-one could be sure of the outcome of what they were going to try. They were, after all, probably dealing with an alien object. No telling what defence mechanisms there were to trap the unwary.
Captain Osaki continued to explain the agenda for the day. The initial team would get suited up and venture out to the planet’s surface whilst the engineering team from the base were setting up the containment field. Once inside the containment bubble, communication between the team and the base would be via Theo and Lizzie’s neural comm implants to ensure that there was no interference from radio signals. It had been noticed that The Cube also seemed to respond slightly to the normal comms that had been used up to now. It was hoped that using the new neural systems would be better.
Once all the briefings and operation details had been carried out, and copies stored on the neural networks of Theo, Lizzie, Chris and Mike, everyone involved in the surface team proceeded to the air-locks and suited-up. There was silence as the technicians checked all the seals on the light-weight suits that would protect them from the hostile atmosphere of the planet. Theo and Lizzie checked their implants were working correctly and mentally linked into the base communication systems that had been recently upgraded to enable the new neural network to operate efficiently.
Theo sent a neural message through to the base control centre without speaking out loud. The reply came back immediately, indicating that things were working so far, including the live feed of what Theo and Lizzie were actually seeing. Much better than the normal head mounted cameras that could be prone to interference. This was new technology and this was the first time that it had been used on a live operation. It was reassuring to know that everyone who needed to be was in the loop. The training for the new neural nets had been very thorough so that only the main thoughts of Theo and Lizzie were relayed back and to each other. Theo had no idea how the scientists who developed the new system had enabled this dampening effect to happen, but he was certainly grateful that they had so that not everything he was thinking was experienced by everyone else in the loop.
A thumbs-up from the technician in charge of the suiting-up team was returned by the surface team and the airlocks were opened. Six suited figures strode out towards The Cube where the containment field had already been set up. They could see the shimmering dome that the field had produced for several metres around and above The Cube. As they approached, the field quickly opened from the top of the half sphere until it was about half a metre from the surface. They stepped over it and it closed up again around them.
“No going back now,” said Theo out loud.
He felt Lizzie smile behind her visor, rather than seeing her face. The neural network was certainly sensitive.
Everything that might happen was being recorded in 3D and could be seen back in the command centre as well as back on Earth, although there was a few minutes delay before those on Earth would see and hear what was happening. Despite all the scientific advance of the last few hundred years there was no way at the moment of things being seen as they actually happened. There had been talk of possibly using the new neural technology to speed up communications across the vastness of space, but that was still being worked on.
The six in the team inside the field nodded to each other and Ensign McDonald stepped forward and extended her arm towards the object sitting quietly in front of them. As soon as her fingers touched The Cube the familiar green and blue hues began fanning out across the surface. She squatted down and, as she reached further into the swirling colours, they sank down to the surface level and the mace-like lever, if that’s what it was, became clear again.
Now that Theo and the others were close to The Cube, they could see the markings on the top of the mace. As McDonald closed her hand around it, they began to glow, as did the shaft that extended into the still swirling colours at its base. Then something happened that no-one expected.
A hologram-like area of light was projected from one of the markings onto the swirling colours and a figure appeared dressed in lavish robes. A deep bass voice echoed in their consciousness and they inwardly heard it say something that sounded vaguely familiar, but was not a known Earth language. After a few minutes that seemed far longer, the voice stopped and the hologram disappeared.
Captain Osaki checked that those back at the base had received everything that had just happened. The Artificial Intelligence that provided support to the Earth Command began to analyse whatever the hologram figure had said. Although it was not a language immediately familiar to anyone from Earth, there was a rhythm and cadence that sounded like an old Earth language from the earliest records that were known. The team waited as the AI tried to make sense of what had been heard. It was only realised later that the race that had recorded the message had included a symbolic notation in the background files that could be used by the AI to begin a translation. It could then be refined using universal algorithms. There was a mathematical foundation to known Earth languages and this alien language used the same rules in its structure.
Several minutes later the AI indicated that it had successfully linked the notation with the alien spoken language and was able to translate it into standard English. Everyone listened carefully as the message was relayed into their communication systems.
“I am a high governor of the Tressillian Race. You have activated our control beacon system in the galaxy we know as Perhallian 10 in the year 4562 of our calendar. Our remote systems must have recognised that you are an intelligent race, intelligent enough to access our technology. We welcome you to our outpost station. We are a peaceful race that seeks to establish contact with any intelligences across the Universe. If your intentions are also peaceful, we would seek to establish communications with you. If your intentions are that of conquest and domination, as we have found with at least one other race, then be warned that we have the technology to oppose you. The communication beacon that you have accessed leads to one of our relay stations below this planet’s surface. It is one of many that the Tressillian Race has sited across many worlds in our search for other intelligences. Use our technology wisely and you will benefit from it. Be warned – it can sense the intentions of any intelligence using it and will take steps to ensure our safety. If we sense that you are seeking peaceful contacts you will be able to access the relay station connected to this device. Grasp the top of the column that provided this message and push down. Welcome again. We await your presence amongst us.”
There was a pause before Captain Osaki spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I think I can safely say that we are not alone in the Universe.”
The silence from everyone on the planet and listening back on Earth seemed interminable as the enormity of what they had just witnessed sunk in. They had seen and heard something put there by a race whose abilities were probably far superior to the human race.
“There were going to be some interesting changes,” said Theo, almost to himself.
Captain Osaki laughed.
“That’s one way of putting it,” he said.
5. Going Deeper
Yasudo Osaki briefly discussed the next step with those back at the base. The decision was unanimous. Everyone had come this far. Not to proceed now would leave too many questions unanswered. The next step would now be taken following the instructions of the alien hologram message.
Theo, as one of the main enhanced neural net users, would be the one to carry out the task. Glancing at the others who were arrayed around The Cube, he moved forward. Now that the hologram had activated, the colours that had been pulsing around the base of what they now knew to be the Tressillian relay station had gone and had been replaced by a silver square through which the control column descended. Theo reached out and tentatively put his hand on the top of the column. With a glance at the captain, who nodded, he gently began to apply pressure. The column slowly sank away from his hand and the silver square began to rise silently until it stopped around three metres from the ground to reveal what looked like an empty box with a shimmering doorway facing Theo. He couldn’t help comparing it to an elevator such as those that speedily carried workers up and down the exteriors of office blocks back on Earth. He wasn’t entirely wrong as it turned out.
Theo stretched out his right hand and the shimmering doorway drew back like a curtain. He turned to face the captain who nodded for him to step across the threshold. Whoever the Tressillians were, they were obviously tall and slim if the dimensions of the box were anything to go by. He stepped tentatively into the box… and disappeared!
There was an audible gasp over the comms system that was even felt by Lizzie through her neural net implant. Before anyone could speak Theo’s voice could be heard.
“That was interesting. I appear to be in a space that might be directly under the position of The Cube according to my telemetrics, but I can’t be sure as there is some interference. Are you receiving my audio stream? I don’t know how I got here from up there, but it was instantaneous. I am in a space at the side of a cube that seems to be the partner of the one on the surface, but smaller, so I guess that the Tressillians have some kind of matter transport. Anyway, I’m all in one piece. Would anyone care to join me? If it will work again, just step into the elevator and press for the basement.”
In the space of 30 seconds Theo was joined by Yasudo, Lizzie and one of the technicians. The space had been carved out of the rocks with great precision and around the walls were more examples of the signs that they had seen on the top of the control column. Presumably they were the written language of the Tressillians. Theo took in a sweep of the room to relay what he was seeing directly back to the AI at the base to see if it could come up with any meaningful translation based on what it now knew through analysing the hologram message.
The centre of the space was taken up with another cube, just as Theo had said, but smaller than the one on the surface. It too pulsed with colours, this time reds and blues, when it was touched. Captain Osaki took in the space and its contents as he looked around and then checked with the base on the next move. All agreed that Theo should be the one to find out what happened when he tried to push into the cube as had been done with larger cube on the surface.
“I hope this is not going to be like one of those nested Russian Dolls that many people collect,” said Lizzie, breaking the tension again as Yasudo had done in the briefing room that morning. Theo could sense both her apprehension and also anticipation through his neural implant.
As his hand entered this cube the colours subsided as they had previously on the surface to reveal a plinth. On the top of the plinth was what seemed to be some form of helmet. Its surface was covered in the same symbols that were on the walls of the space they occupied. It shone in the artificial light that seemed to be coming from everywhere but with no discernible source. It was surrounded by a shimmering force field.
He caught sight of Lizzie from the corner of his eye. She was removing her helmet as if she was back in the airlock at the base. Captain Yasudo moved to stop her, then realised that his helmet instrumentation was showing that the atmosphere in the space was now breathable. That had not been the case when they had first entered. The achievements of the Tressillians were becoming even more impressive if they could provide the correct atmosphere. All the team removed their helmets and set them down on a bench that rimmed the circular room. Along with the plinth there was nothing else apart from the structure that each had used to enter the space.
“What do we do now?” asked Yasudo, half to himself.
“Can we scan this helmet or whatever it is?”
He motioned to the technician who stepped forward with his array of hand-held scanning devices and proceeded to walk around the plinth, changing his method of scanning after two circuits. After several minutes they could all see that he had found nothing, or to be more precise, the scanners were having no effect on whatever it was at all.
“Either this field that’s surrounding it won’t let my scanners through, or it’s made of nothing that we have ever come across before. Probably both,” said the technician.
Yasudo grunted in exasperation, adding, “I suppose that was to be expected, considering what we have found out so far about the Tressillians. Have you been able to pick up anything via your neural implants either of you?” he continued, looking up at Theo and Lizzie.
They both shook their heads slowly, but Lizzie then replied, “There might be a faint glimmer of something, as there was on the surface when we first approached The Master Cube. Are you getting it, Theo?”
Theo concentrated hard on the helmet and as he did so the force field surrounding it suddenly flashed and disappeared.
“Wow.”
He blurted out, “Now I’m getting something.”
It was obvious that Lizzie was also getting something as she stood transfixed, staring at the helmet in wonder.
“It’s asking us to link with it, or at least that’s the message I seem to be getting from it,” Lizzie said after around thirty seconds had passed.
Theo was apparently also getting the same information.
“Are you receiving anything through your comms, or is it just us two?” he asked Yasudo.
Captain Osaki confirmed that they were the only two of the team getting anything at all from the helmet.
“Can you describe what you are getting?” he asked.
“Not really,” said Theo. “It’s just a wordless message that is pretty obvious – ’Pick me up and put me on your head.’ Seems to be the thing going around in my brain at the moment… and it’s coming in through the neural implant very forcefully.”
“Nothing we have seen and heard so far would lead me to believe that anything untoward will happen if you do as it seems to be asking you to do,” came a voice from back at the base.
They all recognised the voice of Vice-Admiral Clarke who had been obviously following the events of the past hour along with the rest of the base crew.
“Have you been able to observe everything that has happened so far?” asked Captain Osaki.
“I wasn’t sure that our comms would reach you from down here, assuming that we are under The Cube.”
“We haven’t missed a second, although we did wonder where Lieutenant Newsome had gone when he stepped into the box on the surface. Furthermore, if you are under The Cube, we can’t actually register you there, but we are getting signals of a group situated on the equator of the planet. Seems like the Tressillian’s transportation expertise is more extensive than it first appeared to be.”
The team in the space, wherever it was, looked at each other in bewilderment.
“What the…” said Theo, remembering in time that his audience was not just the few in the space with him.
“That’s some transportation system if the base scans are correct.”
Lizzie took the words out of his mouth before he could say what they were all thinking.
“I hope the transport works in reverse. It’s a long walk from the equator back to the base. That’s always presuming we are on the same planet still. Nothing would surprise me at the moment. We are still getting the strong feeling that we are being told to put the helmet on, Captain Osaki,” she continued.
“OK, it’s about time one of you answered the request,” came the voice of the vice-admiral again. Take a deep breath everyone!”
