The Clones of Mawcett (6 page)

The_Clones_of_Mawcett

Chapter Three

~ June 13th, 2269 ~

On Mawcett, the eleven archeologists paralyzed by the beam in the newly discovered underground facility, had fully recovered. Keewatin, the site's chief laborer supervisor, had cautiously entered the facility after a general alarm was raised in the camp by the laborers who'd witnessed the event. He'd found the eleven scientists on the floor, unconscious, in the center of the circular chamber. There was no sign of the reported transparent wall, nor any indication of lingering gas, but the crushed body of the laborer who'd rushed to aid the scientists was there. He'd tried to leap off, back the way he'd come, but the wall rose too swiftly. He was dead.

'Oh-gee' stretchers were sent for, so that the bodies of the comatose victims and the dead laborer could be brought to the surface. The scientists were conveyed to the first aid shelter, where eleven cots had been hastily erected in the too-small space, while the body of the laborer was temporarily interred in a quickly emptied food freezer.

No medical doctors were in residence at the camp, but a woman trained in emergency medical treatment monitored the condition of the scientists carefully. Their vital signs slowly returned to normal. After several hours they simply appeared to be sleeping. One by one, they awoke, claiming to have no memory of the event. By lunchtime all averred to feel fine, with no apparent residual effects from the experience. They were escorted to their usual tables in the mess shelter so their bodies could be provided with the sustenance they had missed while unconscious.

“I have absolutely no memory of being paralyzed, or anything else,” Doctor Peterson announced to the others.

“Nor I,” Doctor Ramilo responded, “but we must accept that it happened, since everyone in the camp was witness to our being removed from the underground complex. I'd remember coming up here if I'd been conscious.”

“It must have happened as Keewatin says,” Doctor Huften said. “We certainly can't deny that one of our laborers was killed trying to help us; poor man. But what was the purpose of the paralyzing beam? And perhaps even more importantly, what was in the gas that reportedly filled the enclosure? Did we inhale it, or was the purpose of the paralyzing beam to insure that we didn't inhale? If so, was it merely intended to coat our bodies?”

“The beam may have been intended to prevent exactly what happened to our laborer,” Doctor Vlashsku said. “By paralyzing victims at the onset, they're prevented from panicking and trying to get out while the wall is rising. It's unfortunate that our man was outside the wall's perimeter when the process began. We must go back down there as soon as possible, but this time we'll avoid the center of the room. We must determine the purpose of the complex, and what has been done to us.”

Mixed feeling regarding a next visit underground kept the scientists on the surface until the following day. They spent most of the afternoon speculating on possibilities, but in the absence of empirical information, no conclusions could be reached.

As before, Doctor Peterson led the way into the below-ground complex. The air quality measurement instruments provided better readings below surface than on the pollution-free planet above, owing mostly to the almost complete absence of plant pollens in the facility. An unseen air filtration system had to be hard at work.

Before entering the circular chamber, Doctor Peterson forewarned the others by saying, “We now know, for a fact, that this complex has a functioning energy source and is able to respond to some kind of stimuli. I caution you against touching anything. We are down here to observe only, until we know what we're up against. Touch nothing! Nor should you wave your light torches around, as Anthony did yesterday, because the light may trigger sensors in the room. Also, do not congregate in groups like before. Don't even lean against the walls. And above all, don't stand where the wall is reputed to have risen up from the floor.”

“I resent your implication that my light torch caused the problem,” Doctor Ramilo said furiously. “There's absolutely no proof that I am responsible for what happened to us.”

“Oh, Anthony,” Doctor Huften said, “calm down. It was only speculation that your torch may have activated a light sensor. You're not being indicted. Edward is only warning us to be careful, and not take the chance that a torch could have caused the problem.”

“Quite right, Barbara,” Doctor Peterson said. “Quite right. Now if everyone is ready, let's enter.”

Despite his warning about congregating, the others stayed close to Doctor Peterson at first, as if they feared to stray very far from his dominant personality. But upon entering the chamber, they were immediately drawn to the wall of gauges, and spread out to stare at the banks of flickering lights and fluctuating symbols.

“What's happened here?” Doctor Vlashsku said, his skin color slowly alternating between dull red and orange. Another Nordakian would know that the display meant he was experiencing fear.

“Something quite significant, apparently,” Doctor Huften replied.

“Could this be related to what happened to us?” Doctor Ramilo asked nobody in particular.

“It must be,” Doctor Peterson said. “Nothing was registering on these instruments yesterday.”

“Whatever can it mean?” Doctor Vlashsku asked, his skin color flashing ever faster.

“I have no idea, Dakshiku,” Doctor Peterson said. “Just remain calm. Everybody remain calm. We'll monitor this wall around the clock and try to determine what's being measured by noting any changes.”

“Around the clock?” Doctor Huften questioned in surprise.

“Yes. I feel sure that this is important. We'll all take turns, throughout the day, monitoring the gauges. Keewatin, and one of his more reliable dig supervisors, will be responsible for the nighttime monitoring.”

“There is something dangerously wrong here, Edward,” Doctor Vlashsku said. “We must call in the authorities.”

“No,” Doctor Peterson said quickly, “No authorities. I called in the authorities twenty-five years ago at a dig in eastern Syria near the Iraq border when we started receiving unusual radiation readings. They weren't high enough to be dangerous, but I did as required by our permits and reported the readings. Within two days our excavation permits were rescinded and we were physically removed from the area. When we were allowed back in, we found the site had been practically demolished. They had moved in with bulldozers and heavy earth moving equipment, totally destroying the ancient burial ground that we were attempting to uncover.”

“Why? What had you found?” Doctor Huften asked.

“They told us that we had found the remnants of a small, radioactive meteor. They said that it was removed for our own safety.”

“A meteor?”

“That's what they said, Barbara, but I believe it was something else because they'd never let me or any member of my team see it. Anyway, since then I don't call the authorities unless I know for a fact that there's serious danger.”

“And you don't believe that there's serious danger now?” Doctor Vlashsku asked. “Look what this facility did to us.”

“What did it do, Dakshiku? Other than a terribly tragic accident that led to the death of one of our laborers, we were rendered harmlessly unconscious for a few hours by a fragrant gas. It might have even been our fault. We might have activated some medical process. Perhaps this was an operating room, and we experienced their form of patient anesthesia. It wasn't painful, and we suffered no ill effects.”

“We can't know that yet!” Doctor Huften said. “And what about these instruments?! What are they measuring?”

“That's what we need to determine, Barbara,” Doctor Ramilo said. “And like Edward said, the only way to do that is to monitor them and record all variations.” Although he was twenty years junior to Doctor Peterson, he usually sided with the older man on most issues.

“And what about that?” Doctor Huften asked, gesturing towards the other side of the room.

All eyes turned in the direction she was pointing. The others immediately saw what only Doctor Huften had noticed until then. A miniature green lamp over each of eleven tall cabinet doors built into the wall was shining brightly.

“What does that do to your theory that nothing is amiss, Edward?” Doctor Huften asked.

“It doesn't change a thing, Barbara,” he said, without apparent concern, “except that we have something additional to monitor.”

“Edward, I find your position unsupportable,” Doctor Huften said. “My sixth sense tells me that we have triggered something here that will have serious repercussions for all of us. I pray that you are right, but feel in my heart that you are wrong. And by the time we know for sure, it might be too late to save any of us.” 

* * *

In the days following their departure from Earth, most of the Prometheus' crew drifted into normal shipboard routines. Jenetta worked out in the gym after her duty shift ended each morning, usually running or practicing her kickboxing before retiring to her quarters to sleep. Rising in time to eat dinner with the delegation most evenings, she would excuse herself as soon as possible after the meal to work in her quarters until it was time to report to the bridge for her watch. She had begun to spend what little free time she had studying the history of Nordakia and teaching herself Dakis, the only language used on the planet.

 At the beginning of the fifth week out from Earth, Jenetta's month long intensive study of conversational Dakis had progressed to the point where she could carry on a limited, albeit stilted, conversation. She instructed the computer interface in her quarters to only converse with her in Dakis, to correct her grammar and pronunciations, and offer suggestions when words didn't immediately come to her. Complete immersion in a culture is the quickest way to learn a language, so a holographic projector system, borrowed from the ship's educational center and linked to the computer, provided an image of a Nordakian female. Thereafter she would spend much of her free time in her quarters, conversing with the computer, via the hologram, in an effort to master the basic skills necessary for normal conversation.

As in the past when they were both aboard the same ship, Jenetta kept running into Captain Kanes during her waking hours. He would be in the gym during her two-hour workout each morning and usually fell in beside her as she ran around the track. Conversation was naturally limited during the brisk run. He also tried to keep up with her during her kickboxing practice, but while he had greater upper-body strength, her skill level was clearly higher than his own, so she usually practiced with other work-out opponents. Her position as second officer provided greater opportunities to become friendly with most of the officers on the ship, especially the senior officers and bridge personnel on all shifts, than she'd had as acting XO.

By the time the Prometheus reached Nordakia, Jenetta's months of daily work with the hologram in her quarters had given her a solid conversational fluency in Dakis, and she felt that she had acquired an acceptable knowledge of their history and culture, at least to the extent of the information contained in the ship's computer. As the ship entered orbit around the planet on October 10th, LaSalle made a ship-wide announcement that a delegation representing the royal family would be coming aboard the following day. When Jenetta arrived for her duty shift, LaSalle motioned to her to take the seat next to her. An image of the bright blue, green, and tan planet below them filled the enormous monitor at the front of the Bridge. Very Earth-like in appearance, the planet even circled a G2 Yellow dwarf like Earth's Sun. Two notable differences were that Nordakia was the closest planet to its star and had three small moons.

After briefing Jenetta on the status of the ship, LaSalle said. “Lt. Commander, this will be your last duty watch until after the medal ceremony. You're relieved of all shipboard duties for the duration.”

“But Commander, the medal ceremony isn't scheduled for more than thirty days from now. What am I supposed to do between now and then?”

“I'm sure there are plans for your time; probably tours, state dinners and such. You'll find out soon enough. I'm just passing on the orders that I've received from the Captain.”