Alpha 1472 (15 page)

“
Sir, we have discovered at least one inner chamber to this cave. It has got about a thousand more containers inside. We reckon that if these guys have been bringing one a year then there must be at least one more chamber here. There is no way we are going to be able to record all of them in the time that we have. What do you suggest?”

Daniels thought for a while. This was an eventuality he was not prepared for. He told them to stand by; he would contact the home world for further instructions. They acknowledged
this and sat on the ledge to rest for a while. After a short while they decided that they should try to save a little time later by investigating the new cave. They decided to do this in ten minute shifts to enable one of them to remain in contact with the ship. JD took the first shift and entered into the caves.

Once again he picked his way through the debris and went into the second cave. Taking out his hammer he started to knock at the exposed walls. There was not a lot of wall to knock at in this chamber the containers were lined up leaving only an aisle between them. Being in the cave alone was eerie. He knew that Watkins was just outside, but he felt alone and vulnerable.  The back wall was lit from the bright glow of his torch and he was intently aware of the complete blackness behind him. Despite his uneasiness he continued to tap at the walls. Before long he had located a second change in tone of the wall indicating yet another possible chamber. Armed with this discovery he returned to his compatriot.

As he drew nearer to the entrance the static cleared in his earcom and he became party to the conversation that was now taking place between Matthew and the ship. He interrupted the conversation,

“Sorry to butt in sir but it seems that there may be another room further back”

The conversation came to a halt while Daniels pondered this latest revelation. About thirty seconds had passed before he spoke again. He asked how long they would estimate it would take them to catalogue one of the containers. They discussed the mechanics of removing the lids, taking out the documents, photographing them and replacing them into the containers and decided that each one would take between fifteen to twenty minutes. The captain said that the top brass had decided that this was unacceptable. It had been agreed that they were to break open, by whatever means necessary, sample batches from across the range of containers. This would give them a sporadic documentation across the ages. The rest of the containers were to be left intact. This was going to be a very, very long night and they figured that if they could solicit help from the men below they could catalogue much more than would be possible on their own, so, they descended the cliff face once again to talk to the men.

Firstly they explained the explosions that were heard. Secondly, and more importantly, they tried to illicit their help to catalogue the contents of the cave.
The men listened to their request and then flat down refused their assistance. The refusal was not from any malicious intent. It was simply that their laws forbade them to enter the sacred place. The only people who were allowed to enter the cave were the elders and their entourages. Both JD and Watkins spent ten minutes pleading with the men but they were adamant that they were not going to go against their laws. It soon became apparent that no amount of begging or pleading was about to change their minds. Having accepted the situation, they began to make their way back to the cave.

The first task was to blast their way through the newly discovered entrance. This presented a problem because the containers were stacked near to and either side of the place they needed to clear. What they decided to do was to use two lower impact charges placed centrally at the top and the bottom of the area. The charges would be set to explode at a two second interval hopefully sending a shockwave through the rock and minimise the spread of the detonation. They set the charges and retreated to the safety of the other chamber.
This time it was less of a shock to the system. The charges went off as planned and they returned to survey the damage. On their return they noticed that six of the containers nearest to the door had been damaged and that the entrance to the next chamber was now open. This room was about the same size as the second and was packed much the same. They made their way to the back wall. Their intention was to check to see if this was the final room. As they approached they saw something written on the wall. As they dusted away the fine layer of debris that had collected on the wall over the centuries they slowly revealed the writing. It read. In this place are the journals of the crew of Alpha flight 106. We have through the years tried to complete our mission to the best of our ability. We hope that whoever finds these documents makes good use of them. May God live within us for ever. At the bottom of the inscription were the signatures of the three original crewmen. Malcolm Keogh, Garry Parr and Balvinder Hasar.

As they read this legend, they both held a feeling of pride and although they never knew the men personally they could not help but wonder what had become of their ancestral compatriots
and what their lives must have been like. JD lifted his camera and took a photograph of the wall. After a few moments of quiet contemplation JD looked at Watkins and took a deep breath through his nose and held for a few seconds. When he exhaled he said that it was time to get to work, Watkins agreed and they began to formulate a plan of action.

By this time
they calculated that they had 30 hours left to complete their task and return to the ship. They had already worked out that they could complete one container every fifteen minutes, so they decided to divide the two inner chambers into 120 equal parts and take one vase at each of these points thus giving them an average cross section of records across two millennia. This was the best that they could achieve given the time constraints they were working against.

While the two crewmen were busy marking out their plan of action the captain was equally busy on board the ship. He had decided to contact the
home world with the news that their objective had been reached and that given the time constraints of the mission, it had been decided to take a chronological sample across the millennia to digitise and transmit back home. What everyone had realised was that one hundred and twenty or so samples across two and a half thousand years of information would not be nearly enough to give an accurate cross section across the two millenniums since the records began. At best, they would get a snapshot of life every eighty five years or so. In effect they would see the social advancements of a society after the event and not as an ongoing documentary.

Captain Daniels had been liaising with his commanding officers to reorganise the entire
mission brief to accommodate the collection of as much of the information as possible. When the new schedule had been agreed and passed, Daniels had the task of telling JD and Watkins their new orders. He was not looking forward to this.

In their ear pieces they heard the captain “This is Daniels are you receiving me, over” he waited for the reply but the two men were at the far side of the chambers and were just finishing marking out where they were going to take the samples from.
When they had completed the task they decided to go back to the entrance for a breath of fresh air before they began to open the jars. As they were approaching the daylight the signal from the ship became clear in their ears. “…cieving me, over.

JD made the reply and said that they had to find a way to communicate while they were deep inside the rooms. They all agreed to work on the problem, then
, Daniels began to drop the bombshell.

“Taking the timescale of thi
s planet into account we have 14 days before we have to make our departure and I am sorry to tell you guys that it has been decided to change the mission parameters to allow you to stay at your present location to facilitate the collection of as much information as possible”. They looked at each other and instantly they could sense the feelings that the other was experiencing. The instant they heard the news, JD slapped his hand to his forehead, turned towards the wall and out of frustration he kicked at the softer sandstone which dislodged a sizable chunk of rock that flew out of cave and fell down to where the guardians were still waiting. They knew that apart from this task they had effectively been cut from the mission and that they were now nothing more than librarians.

“You are going to need the help of your new friends. I know that they will not be able to assist in the caves but you will need provisions while you are there and if you can persuade them to supply you that would be one problem you won’t have to deal with. What we need is for you to collate as much of the information as you can. If you finish beforehand, great but if not just get as much as you possible can. I know you are both disappointed by this but this is the core of the entire mission, our world needs this information and you two are it now. I will of course be here for whatever you need. So, sorry but orders a
re orders. I will talk to you later. Daniels out.”

The two men stood there for a while in total disbelief. JD slowly started to shake his head from side to side. He was frustrated and wanted to shout and swear. And although he knew that Daniels was not to blame he needed someone to direct his anger towards. He wanted to curse but he was
acutely aware that anything he said could be heard through the earpieces. Watkins could see his frustration and reached out to offer him comfort, JD shrugged off his attempt and stormed back into the cave where he knew that he could not be heard by the captain…. Then he cursed.

After he had relieved himself of his inner anger and had managed to compose his thoughts and resign himself to the situation he and Watkins started back to talk to the men below.

When they returned there were only two of the three men there, they asked as to his whereabouts and were told that he had been dispatched to inform the elders of their arrival. They though nothing of this and began to ask if they would hopefully help with the provisions situation for the next two weeks. After much discussion it was agreed that they would help but there was something in the conversation that made JD and Watkins feel that there was more not being said than was being said. For now, however, this was the best that they could hope for. At least they would be fed while they worked. The next two weeks would be gruelling, all work and no rest. At least the sleep inhibiter would allow them to utilise the maximum work hours available to them.

Agreements made, the two men started back up the cliff face to begin their task.

The day started much the same as the previous one with one inescapable difference. Everyone was busying themselves with the preparations for the coming shore expeditions. The crew were obviously confused by the absence of JD and Watkins, all of them wanted to know where they were but none were to willing to ask the question. Although they were eager to find out, they were all prepared to wait to hear officially from the captain. Hatch’s voice came over the intercom to announce that it was time for the morning brief. Whatever was happening came to an immediate halt and they made their way to the cockpit to attend the meeting.

They were all seated when the captain appeared at the door of his quarters. From here he could hear the muffled sound of the conversations taking place among the crew. He interlaced his fingers and cupped them over his head which he tilted back, and although it would appear that he was looking at the roof of the corridor, he was in fact looking into space, considering how much of the present situation he should reveal to the crew. He knew that his orders were strictly need to know, but he trusted al
l of his crew and felt a certain amount of unease about not revealing to them the true nature of the mission. He breathed a deep sigh, and decided that at this moment it would probably be a wiser course to follow his orders and keep them in the dark for now. Collecting himself he entered the cockpit. He bid good morning to the assembled gathering and took his seat. He took a few seconds to prepare himself then he began to address his crew.

“W
ell...you have all obviously noticed that John and Matthew are not with us this morning. In fact, as you are all aware, they are not even on board. The fact of the matter is that they have been sent on a highly sensitive mission unfortunately, at this time, I am not at liberty to discuss with you the nature of what is happening but you need to know that this is not my decision it is the directive from home and for now, I would appreciate it if you could just accept that this is a necessary step and if at some point in the future I can reveal more to you, rest assured, that I will.”

Having delivered this news he felt almost as if he had, by his restrictions on divulging any information, betrayed his loyal crew. It was an irrational feeling because the people who sat before him were professionals who knew that the captain’s orders were final.
He handed the meeting over to Hatch, who would outline the daily schedule to the others.

“Mary we would like you to go back to the same place that you went yesterday but this time
, take Anne with you.”

Anne acknowledged the selection with a gentle nod and a whispered thank you. Inside she was buzzing. Although they had only been here for a short time, the fact that others had already been ashore and she had been confined to the shuttle only able to observe via the screens, had made the waiting all the more anxious. But now she was to go and experience this new planet for herself.