“Someone read way too many pulp adventure stories when they were younger.” Lysa paused as they reached the shield. She ran a scan. “Wow… this energy…”
“What’s special about it?”
“The fact it’s probably been on forever?” Lysa turned to him. “I’m only using a little hyperbole there. I mean, based on these readings, it seems to have an unlimited wealth of power. I wonder…” She made some adjustments. “Aha! It’s geothermal. That’s how it continues.”
“That makes sense. Talk about renewable energy.”
“Yeah. Hmm.” Lysa picked up a rock and tossed it at the shield. It bounced off. “Okay, so it’ll reflect that. Um…” She rummaged around the area until she found a stick. She prepared to poke it but Kyle grabbed her hand. “What?”
“What if that zaps you?”
“I was going to toss it. See what it does to organic material?”
“Oh.” Kyle cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. Carry on.”
“Uh huh.” Lysa grinned, tossing the wood at the shield. It passed through to the other side, causing the surface to warble. “Interesting reaction.”
“That seems weird. Why would that work?”
“Not sure.” Lysa tapped at her computer. “I’m creating a simulation. Find out what will happen if we… you know… decided to walk through it.”
“That seems really insanely dangerous.”
“Hence the simulation.” Lysa directed him toward the ship. “Get the lights ready. I don’t think we’re getting through this shield…” The ground shook, interrupting her. She swayed. Kyle grabbed her, dragging her away from the shield. “What the hell?” She pointed. “Look! Look at the barrier specifically!”
Kyle squinted then took two steps back as the warble effect dissipated. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how prominent it had been. Heat poured off of it but with it gone, the chill of late afternoon fell over them. It hadn’t even dawned on him that it shouldn’t have been so warm down there.
“Did it just go down?” Kyle leaned to look at her computer. He had no idea what he saw. “Why? What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Lysa picked up another rock, tossing it ahead. It skipped across the ground, well beyond where the barrier had been. “But it’s gone.”
“Is there still power readings from inside?”
“Yeah, works fine. My guess is that some sensor detected us. The process may have taken a few minutes to bring the thing down. There’s no immediate danger of the place being destroyed by the rocks. That’s another possibility. Regardless.” Lysa smirked. “I say we get our asses in there.”
“One problem,” Kyle said, “what if the shield turns back on?”
“There must be a terminal in there.” Lysa shrugged. “We’ll shut it off.”
“How’re you so confident you’ll figure it out?”
“If you’re too worried, bring the survival pack. We’ll get it. I promise.”
Kyle considered the structure for a long moment in silence. He agreed with her. It was the right choice to get in there. That’s why they took the journey in the first place. Are instincts or paranoia holding me back? He couldn’t tell. I can’t hold us up because of irrational fear. No. It’s time to step inside.
“Let’s do it.” Kyle plunged forward without waiting, hurrying toward the engravings. He wanted imagery of them, a video but all that could wait. The first thing they needed to do was see inside, discover whatever wonder might be waiting for them. He set his computer to scan for anomalies, in the hopes it might discover any pitfalls or potential booby traps.
“Whoa!” Lysa rushed to catch up. “Leave a girl behind, eh? Come on!”
“You know how I am when I get nervous,” Kyle said. “I gotta move.”
“Yeah, I know. We should be good through the entrance. Topographical map shows the wall directly in front of his blocks direct view of whatever’s inside. However, we can go left or right to get around it. Then there should be a pretty big chamber. According to this, it’s easily large enough for the ship to comfortably park in the center.”
“Maybe a communal hall,” Kyle said, “or an audience chamber. Something for their leadership caste to get together with others. Maybe even a temple.”
“I hope there’s religious significance. Theology can tell us a lot about the culture. Depending on what sort of documentation we find… and what we can translate. Deciphering their writing will probably take years if there’s no codex or lexicon.” Lysa continued staring at the computer screen as they drew close to the entrance proper. “No anomalies yet.”
“Me neither.” Kyle drew a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s make history.”
They paced around to the left, rounding the wall. Embossed symbols took up the floor, not in squares but freeform, as if the entire thing had been a stoneworker’s mural. The walls held bizarre designs, squiggly figures with dots here and there. Kyle got a serpentine feel, as if the reptiles had been important or at least an inspiration.
As they rounded the way into the chamber proper, they stopped before the entrance. The hall stretched back a hundred yards with an eighty foot high ceiling. Pillars lined the path directly ahead of them but to either side, built in benches lined area. Otherwise, it appeared to be empty. No pottery, no equipment… nothing.
“Those benches are around our size,” Lysa pointed out. “If they’re for sitting and not to put your foot on, then they might have been around our height.”
The far side of the room remained in shadow. Kyle gestured. “We should check that side out. See if there are passages or entryways that might take us further into the complex. Or if this is it.”
And if it is, we’ll have to document every square inch. There must be something here. Though I guess the structure itself is enough to
