stronger the longer you stayed in the vicinity of the wall. Eventually, it became so strong that it was impossible to remain there. It crawled at the base of your brain, physical and thoroughly visceral. An unnamed dread of something .
They could feel it now.
“Amazing,” the General said, his flesh gathering into cold goose bumps. His breathing had become shallow. “I found it hard to believe the reports.”
“It gets worse than this, sir,” one of the soldiers said, moving back a step.
The archaeologist moved closer to the wall. He was sweating heavily. Fumbling, he pulled an implement from one of his pockets and picked at the surface of the stone. After a few seconds he interrupted his scratching and paused, seeming to pay attention to something in the air. Then he leaned closer to the wall and placed one ear against the surface. He turned and beckoned.
The General went over and put his ear against the wall. A deep humming sound was audible somewhere behind the rock. The feeling of apprehension was getting stronger. They moved away, putting welcome distance between themselves and the rock face.
The General turned to a sergeant. “Get a team down here with a resonance cutter and get to work on it. Keep me informed. If there are any problems, I want to know. And I don’t want anyone going through there when the wall is breached. As soon as you’ve made it through, call me.”
* * *
A kilometer above, the three locals were still there, but their vigil had entered a familiar and relaxed stage. Reina was rolling a joint from Tommy’s leaf, while Tommy himself lay on his back, hands behind his head as he dozed, smiling, in the warmth of the afternoon sun. Bryce was pushing the cork into a bottle of wine with the handle of a knife.
The Senator, deeply impressed by this capacity for luxury, and warming to the three of them, decides to join in by chewing a few bindoo leaves. They soon have the desired result.
“You seem to have a relaxed attitude towards things,” he says out loud, not caring that they can’t hear him. “You would probably enjoy bindoo,” he smiles dreamily. He offers them a sample from his pouch, and shrugs happily when they ignore him.
* * *
Having passed through the perimeter fence and interrupted Private Dosteyin’s routine, the others arrive at the mouth of the tunnel.
“What is it?” asks Sahrin, who has never seen a cave before.
“It’s a hole,” replies Bark. They move forward, tentatively edging into the mouth of the cave. It looks as though it goes on forever. “It’s a strange thing indeed,” says Bark. A guard standing nearby remains oblivious of their presence.
This is the place that Kali had seen from the ship. The movement in the air that had drawn his attention is barely visible now; like smog over a city, it exists only in the distance.
Even so, they can still sense that there is something going on. There is an energy here that twists like a trapped animal, caught somewhere between the space that the travelers occupy and the local space. Like a sheet of rubber stretched taut and thin, it threatens to tear and reveal the entities they know are here, moving and skittering around like the rats in the ship’s cargo hold.
They enter the cave. Ahead of them, lights strung along the ceiling offer a dimly lit path into the depths. To their right is the entrance to the offices and labs.
“Let’s have a look in here,” says Bark, “before we go any deeper.” The truth is that like all of them, he finds the prospect of going underground daunting. It is a new idea, after all. They are all accustomed to open space, with its fields of clouds and stars and nebulae, and its winds that keep changing everything, over and over again.
They go through the locked door and into the administration area. At the end of the corridor they come to a large room, in which a great number of objects have been laid out on long tables. People, some in white coats and some in uniform,
They could feel it now.
“Amazing,” the General said, his flesh gathering into cold goose bumps. His breathing had become shallow. “I found it hard to believe the reports.”
“It gets worse than this, sir,” one of the soldiers said, moving back a step.
The archaeologist moved closer to the wall. He was sweating heavily. Fumbling, he pulled an implement from one of his pockets and picked at the surface of the stone. After a few seconds he interrupted his scratching and paused, seeming to pay attention to something in the air. Then he leaned closer to the wall and placed one ear against the surface. He turned and beckoned.
The General went over and put his ear against the wall. A deep humming sound was audible somewhere behind the rock. The feeling of apprehension was getting stronger. They moved away, putting welcome distance between themselves and the rock face.
The General turned to a sergeant. “Get a team down here with a resonance cutter and get to work on it. Keep me informed. If there are any problems, I want to know. And I don’t want anyone going through there when the wall is breached. As soon as you’ve made it through, call me.”
* * *
A kilometer above, the three locals were still there, but their vigil had entered a familiar and relaxed stage. Reina was rolling a joint from Tommy’s leaf, while Tommy himself lay on his back, hands behind his head as he dozed, smiling, in the warmth of the afternoon sun. Bryce was pushing the cork into a bottle of wine with the handle of a knife.
The Senator, deeply impressed by this capacity for luxury, and warming to the three of them, decides to join in by chewing a few bindoo leaves. They soon have the desired result.
“You seem to have a relaxed attitude towards things,” he says out loud, not caring that they can’t hear him. “You would probably enjoy bindoo,” he smiles dreamily. He offers them a sample from his pouch, and shrugs happily when they ignore him.
* * *
Having passed through the perimeter fence and interrupted Private Dosteyin’s routine, the others arrive at the mouth of the tunnel.
“What is it?” asks Sahrin, who has never seen a cave before.
“It’s a hole,” replies Bark. They move forward, tentatively edging into the mouth of the cave. It looks as though it goes on forever. “It’s a strange thing indeed,” says Bark. A guard standing nearby remains oblivious of their presence.
This is the place that Kali had seen from the ship. The movement in the air that had drawn his attention is barely visible now; like smog over a city, it exists only in the distance.
Even so, they can still sense that there is something going on. There is an energy here that twists like a trapped animal, caught somewhere between the space that the travelers occupy and the local space. Like a sheet of rubber stretched taut and thin, it threatens to tear and reveal the entities they know are here, moving and skittering around like the rats in the ship’s cargo hold.
They enter the cave. Ahead of them, lights strung along the ceiling offer a dimly lit path into the depths. To their right is the entrance to the offices and labs.
“Let’s have a look in here,” says Bark, “before we go any deeper.” The truth is that like all of them, he finds the prospect of going underground daunting. It is a new idea, after all. They are all accustomed to open space, with its fields of clouds and stars and nebulae, and its winds that keep changing everything, over and over again.
They go through the locked door and into the administration area. At the end of the corridor they come to a large room, in which a great number of objects have been laid out on long tables. People, some in white coats and some in uniform,
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