from under that rock fall. How do we handle this, Major Tell Morrath?’
‘This is Major Tell Morrath. We need the assistance of the correct experts, sir.’ Thankfully, I knew exactly who to call on in this situation. ‘Are Rono Kipkibor and Cassandra 2 listening to this?’
‘This is Rono,’ said a familiar voice. ‘Cassandra 2 are in the volunteer queue.’
‘This is Major Tell Morrath. Captain Eklund and I were injured by a magnetic hazard at an old research laboratory on Eden Dig Site. I believe your team went in there to deal with it, working without sleds or lift beams, so you’re probably the best experts in this situation. I saw light from the floodlights outside as the roof caved in, so we have an opening in the tunnel roof.’
‘This is Rono. If the opening is big enough, we can set up a block and tackle and use ropes to lower people down to you. They may be able to move the rubble aside by hand. If necessary, we can shift larger rocks using ropes and some of the harnesses we normally use for stasis boxes.’
‘This is Major Tell Morrath. Given my current limited view of events, I’d better leave you to organize this, Rono.’
‘This is Commander Tell Dramis. Major Weldon and myself have suited up, and are ready to be lowered down and follow instructions on moving rubble.’
There was a brief argument, with Drago taking the view that the Military should take any and all risks in the universe, and Rono pointing out the archaeologists on dig teams did this sort of thing all the time. The Colonel stepped in and ruled in Drago’s favour, since archaeologists didn’t usually work in tunnels dug by aliens. I stayed out of the argument since I had my own problems. I’d been fine when I came out of impact suit blackout, but now I was starting to panic.
For the next forty-five minutes, Cassandra 2 worked somewhere above me, setting up ropes and pulleys. They sent vid bees down to examine the rock fall, and then lowered down Drago and Marlise. Most of the rubble could be shifted aside by hand easily enough. A couple of large boulders were lifted out in harnesses.
I spent the time fighting my own private war in the darkness. I’d been buried on dig sites lots of times, but it had never been like this. I’d always had a deep inner belief that I couldn’t possibly die because I was only 18.
Now I had the memory of my suit torturing me on Eden Dig Site, and the grim knowledge that I wasn’t invincible, indestructible and immortal. Teenagers could die. Joth had died. Fian and I could die too. Was that what my impact suit phobia was really about? Had it been an excuse to avoid taking risks that might kill me?
I tried telling myself I was a nardle. My suit had just saved me from injury or death in the cave-in, and was my friend not my enemy. Fian and I weren’t going to die here. We were only under a thin layer of rocks, with rescuers already working to get us out.
That didn’t help one little bit, so I lay there, concentrating on just one thing. Keep quiet. I mustn’t say a word, or make a sound, because if I did then I might start screaming. A few times, someone asked a question on the broadcast channel that was clearly aimed at me, but Fian answered them all. He must have guessed I was in trouble after I didn’t reply to the first question, and was saving my neck again the way he always did.
It seemed like a lifetime before I could suddenly see light, and an impact suit clad figure bending over me. It was a Military suit, with a rope harness clipped around it.
‘Just a couple more minutes, Jarra,’ said Drago’s voice. ‘We’ll free you first, and then Fian.’
Most of me was still buried, still trapped, but I could see and I could move one arm, and for some nardle reason that was enough. My panic vanished, like a chimera running from sunlight. If it wasn’t for the rocks still holding me down, I’d have hugged Drago Tell Dramis right then. Chaos take it, I’d have hugged a Cassandrian skunk at that moment.
‘Nice of you to drop in, Drago,’ I said, inadequately.
Time had been crawling by, but now it suddenly accelerated. I seemed to be free within seconds, and helping to dig out Fian.
‘Well, that was interesting,’ he said, when he was able to sit up. ‘Jarra’s usually buried by herself.’
‘You wanted us to be in things together, Fian.’
I heard him laugh in response, and indulged myself by gripping his hand for a moment. Since we were both in impact suits, there was no warmth of human skin against skin, but the gesture was still comforting. I forced myself to be practical after that. ‘What’s left of the roof can’t be too stable. We’d better move from here.’
As we walked along the passageway, there was the hum of a private channel opening, and Colonel Torrek’s voice spoke. ‘Jarra, Fian, I’m talking to you on a private channel, and we’ve arranged a slight problem with the vid bee link so no one else can hear us. I’d like a situation check. Are you in a fit state to continue with this?’
‘I’m fine, sir,’ I said.
‘Yes, sir,’ said Fian.
‘You’re sure, Jarra? Medical reported adrenalin readings from your suit hit orbit level for a while back there. I made sure Commander Tell Dramis and Major Weldon were the ones who dug you out, so if you’ve hit your limit, they can take over. No one need know it was for any other reason than injuries from the cave-in.’
Colonel Torrek was handing me the chance to run away and keep my dignity. I could do that, turn my back on being Military and an archaeologist, and find myself a nice safe life where I’d never be afraid again. Nuke that! I wasn’t running away from one of the most dramatic moments in history.
‘Thank you, sir. That’s not necessary. I’m no Tellon Blaze, so I got a bit scared for a moment back there, but I’m fine now and I want to continue.’
‘Everyone has their moments when they get scared, Jarra. Forgive me for interfering. As I said before, I’m very aware that I drafted you into the Military.’
The hum vanished as the Colonel closed the private channel. I guessed the problems with the vid link were suddenly cured at the same moment.
‘We’ve brought spare lights, sensors and hover belts,’ said Drago. ‘Your lookups should have survived the cave-in, since they’re designed to be shock proof.’
‘What happened to our equipment cases?’ Fian looked around. ‘Oh, you’ve got them.’
‘The cases weren’t damaged,’ said Marlise.
We sorted out our lights and hover belts, then Drago and Marlise wished us luck, went back to clip their harnesses to two dangling ropes, and were lifted upwards through the hole. Fian and I moved on down the tunnel, warily checking the state of the roof. Two replacement vid bees trailed after us, the original ones still buried somewhere under the rockfall.
‘The tunnel seems quite solid again,’ I said.
We reached the next black door, and Fian set up another of his pyramids. This time we were prepared for the glowing patterns to appear.
‘Pi,’ said Leveque, almost instantly. ‘Well, actually they’ve doubled the value of pi, so their formulae would be correspondingly different. Sending you the answer sequence now, Captain Eklund.’
Fian entered the next symbols in the sequence, the door opened, and we moved on towards where a third door awaited us.
‘The doors seem to be equally spaced,’ said Leveque. ‘We can expect two more after this one.’
‘There’s another line of white crystals,’ I said. ‘It seems to be glowing very faintly now. Perhaps it’s a failed lighting system.’
‘Or possibly it’s working,’ said Leveque, ‘and the aliens are nocturnal and require low lighting levels.’
Door three was another mathematical test. Door four took the experts longer to work out, and Fian had to make two attempts to get the sequence right. Leveque’s team seemed to have been happily predicting possible mathematical sequences, and this one took them by surprise because it wasn’t just based on physics, but something quite obscure as well. Door five was faster again, and something to do with chemical elements.
I was feeling pretty powered as the fifth door opened. Our position was now directly under the alien sphere. Whatever we’d come to find, would surely be in here. I stepped through the door into a circular chamber. The walls had the usual white crystal line, and in the centre of the room was a pillar, triangular rather than round, and made of the same black glass as the doors.
‘We power it up?’ Fian’s voice sounded oddly breathless.
‘We don’t know how the sphere may respond,’ I said. ‘Do we have a fighter shift in orbit?’
‘They’ve already pulled back to the portals, Major,’ said Leveque. ‘Earth Africa solar array is on standby. You can go ahead.’
Fian did the pyramid thing, and scrolling symbols appeared on the side of the column closest to us. I blinked,
