The Fire Crystal (13 page)

“Seems like we’ve swapped one tomb for another,” Tom said.

J
ust keep moving forwards! Amber replied.

She had noticed that the walls didn’t look exactly black now - there was a slight glow. The others had noticed it also, but didn’t dare speak. All three pushed ahead, their backs aching, heads banging against the ceiling and ears still ringing. Calvan started to wonder what would happen if his helmet cracked. They could actually make out some detail in the tunnel wall now. There was an arrow and some symbols painted on it! As
they rounded a slight bend the gloom gave way to light, and there was the end of the tunnel bathed in a warm glow.

The three of them pushed on until they reached a sealed hatch. There was a click, as
it automatically opened. They scrambled into a small chamber with seats along either side. There was an identical hatch on the opposite wall. The door closed behind them, and they heard a click as it latched again.

“This is an airlock,” Amber decided.

A light above the far hatch glowed red. “It’s filling with clean air I think,” Amber told them.

As if on cue, a light changed to green, and they heard the latch click on the
other hatch. Amber checked the air with her meter. It was clean and pure. She gave the others a thumbs-up, and they all removed their helmets, and clambered through eager to move on.

They were in a long hall, bigger than any of them had ever seen. There were three rows of oblong enclosures nearly head height, and running the length of the floor end to end. Alongside these were walkways
- avenues lined with small trees.

“Look! These are
n’t ordinary trees,” Amber said. The leaves of each tree were radiating a soft white light that illuminated the whole space.

At the far end the
space opened into a forest. In any other place this would seem strange, but here it was a picture of perfection. Amber had the feeling that everything in this place was there for a purpose.

They walked slowly along the central walkway. The enclosures were smooth, featureless and seemed to be made of a material unknown to them. Tom rapped it with his knuckles. It seemed very hard, and was in perfect condition without a scratch or blemish visible.

“There’s not even any dust on the surface,” he remarked.

Amber had been taking readings with a device from her pack. “This whole
area is a computer room I think. It must be way-beyond the power of anything we have; the data rate it’s just off the scale.”

She
added. “One thing I am sure of, it knows we are here and probably has learned more about us already than we know about ourselves.”

“Is it dangerous?” Calvan asked.

“I don’t think so,” Amber answered. “If it wanted to harm us then it probably would have done so by now, so don’t worry.”

They finally reached the end of the hall, and then got their biggest surprise. The forest was
n’t real. It was just a clever holographic image.

“I can see through it now,” Tom said, “We’ve reached a wall
, and this is the end of the building.”

“But why is the place so empty?”
Calvan asked, remembering a story that he’d heard as a child. It was known as the ‘Mystery of the Marie Celeste’, a sailing ship in perfect condition, but with all the crew missing. It was creepy.

“Maybe the computer looks after itself
, and doesn’t need any help,” Amber said.

There was a door in the end wall. It was plain and smooth, just like the rows of enclosures
they had walked past. Amber removed an analyzer from her pack, and passed it over the door.

“This material is almost indestructible,” she said.
“My guess is that it’s self-healing, so it would be near impossible to damage it.”

The door slid open onto a vast space beyond. All of them felt as if they had abruptly discovered another world, and just stood and stared in wonder.

“Unless anyone has a better idea, let's go in,” Calvan suggested.

The door slid closed behind them. Tom said loudly “Maybe it's a trap.”

“No. As Amber said why bother to go to all this trouble?” Calvan answered.

“Right again
, I guess Calvan,” Amber said with admiration.

In the center of this space was a small lake
, within a large clear space surrounded by vegetation.

The ground rose on one side of the clearing in a gentle slope, and continued onwards into a range of hills that eventually faded into the distance.
There was a river that started somewhere in the hills, and twisted downwards, finally crossing the clearing as a narrow stream of water. It flowed across some rocks, and into the lake. Ripples radiated outwards onto the surface.

“I think the lake is real,” Amber said
“but can you notice something odd about the distant view?” There’s no horizon, the scene gradually fades out.”

She took something from her backpack, and pointed it at the
dome of blue sky. “We’re more than two hundred meters underground. I think most of this is all a clever computer projection.”

Calvan was reminded of a trip he once took to a planetarium with his parents. When the main lights went out
, and the projectors came on it all seemed so real, and just like taking a perfect tour of the Solar System. That was clever - but this was something else again.

As they spoke something moved on the background of hills. It was threading downwards, and moving among the rocks.
As it began to move closer they could make out a figure now, and saw that it was a man jumping from rock to rock. He slowly drew closer, finally walking through the clearing and rounding the lake.

Tom said, “I hope whoever this is will be friendly”

The man was smiling, and held up an arm palm towards them. He was small and sprightly, and looked ancient. He appeared to have an aura of wisdom and kindness, so much so that even before he spoke they all felt strangely at ease, almost as if an old friend had arrived. The man waved his arm in a sweep towards the grass. It was an obvious gesture for them to sit down, and exchange introductions.

Amber
murmured to Tom. “He probably knows all about us already.”

They exchanged greetings
, and explained who they were. He told them in a friendly tone “My name is Jalwath.”

Calvin asked. “So how did you get here?”

“This is our colony, and its people originally came from Earth,” he said. “It’s a very comfortable place now, and each generation has made its mark.

“
So how old is this place?” Amber asked.

“Our ancestors started it around nine thousand years ago.” Jalwath replied. “It started to become uncomfortable on Earth, and we moved out here.
”

Amber glanced at Calvan, remembering his despair in the cave. She smiled, and said under he breath. “He’s just answered a question for you. The warming on Earth was not the end, just a new beginning.”

Jalwath seemed to read Calvan’s mind. “We have not given up on Earth, it will become a sanctuary. We will rebuild all that perished.”

Calvan smiled and simply said, “thank you.”

“It’s something we all want badly,” Jalwath said with understanding.

He already seemed to know what they were doing there, and didn’t ask any more questions. Now he was looking at them with concern.

“First I have some very important news for you, and then a message - for your people,” he declared. “But before we begin, try some of this. You have travelled a long way and have known danger. You can’t do all that without feeling hungry.”

Yes it was true thought Calvan. With all that excitement, none of them realized just how hungry. They’d only expected to leave their craft for a short while!

The man waved a hand, and as if by magic, some objects appeared on the grass. There were also containers of clear liquid. Calvan was reminded of his trek across the burning desert with Tom. It seemed so long ago now, as he recalled the dream of a long cool glass of lemonade.

“Don’t worry it won’t poison you.” Jalwath laughed - but in such a kindly way that they were all reassured.

“If they wanted to get rid of us there would be easier ways than this, so drink it,” Amber said under her breath to Calvan.

Then she picked up one of the objects and turned it around in her hand. It looked like a fruit, but also unlike any she had seen before. She took a bite. The other two needed no further encouragement to join the party.

The food was delicious. Calvan tried to think of what it reminded him of, without success. It was definitely vegetarian, and not that different to what he was familiar with.

“Tastes like pineapple
,” he declared.

Everyone laughed including the kindly old man. “We grow those here,” he said to Calvan’s surprise. “There are some things that can’t be improved on.” They all laughed again.

They were enjoying themselves so much in the company of this old man. He reminded Tom of his own grandfather, in fact uncannily so. What he didn’t realize was that he reminded them
all
of their own grandfathers. Amber wondered if he was real, or a projection made by the computer.

He seemed to read her mind “I should tell you that I
am
a projection, but you mustn’t think of me like that. You could say that I am the image that our computer wants you to see, but in another way I am real enough; and certainly sincere in my intentions.”

Finally they had finished. There was nothing left to eat.

“Now let's get on with the story children,” Jalwath said as if talking to his own grandchildren.

No one took offense, just the opposite. In fact, it was reassuring.

“We are your own future,” he began. “The people who built all of this came not just from Earth, but also from your home, Tom and Amber-Two Stars. They joined forces you see.”

“Why were they so friendly to each other?” Tom asked
, remembering the Zaarks.

“
Why not? There’s plenty for everyone out there.” He waved his arm, as if gesturing beyond the sky. “So finally, everyone comes to know that war serves no purpose.”

“I would dearly like you to meet some of our people that live in the next dome, but you carry enough germs to wipe them all out, and there is not enough time for naturalization.”
Jalwath was afraid that he may cause offense, but they were all mature enough to understand what he had meant. He continued the story.

“I realize how you got here. Long ago we learned not to tamper with the future. We have had to ban time travel.” He paused. “It’s actually the most dangerous thing in the entire
universe, and we have made mistakes that must never happen again. Now we have learned to live in the moment, and meet the future one-day at a time. If we were to continue traveling through time, then eventually anything that could happen probably would; we would all just vanish.”

“I can understand there would be problems,” but would it really be that bad.” Amber
asked.

“If we allowed to enter our own past, then yes it would,” he
answered. It is the single most dangerous thing that we know, and would destroy
everything.
If you tamper with the past then you don’t just change the future - it may no longer exist.”

“You have to realize,” Jalwath
continued, “even the Zaark problem would have faded with the passage of time, and as for the runaway warming effect on Earth? It can be fixed within twenty thousand years. That’s if we have the
time
.”

“So what can we do?” Tom and Amber asked together.

“You must go back to Two Stars, and pass this message on to the Elders. In fact we are only here now because you
got back
in your machine, and made them heed the warning.
Without that,” he paused for several seconds, and looked at each of them in turn, “none of this could have happened.”

“How can that be? We
’re here now!” Amber said. She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it again from this wise man.

“Don’t try and understand it, believe this truth that I tell you,” Jalwath
said solemnly.

But Amber did understand in her own way. ‘Cause and Effect’ she had called it, and had worried about it when they build the time machine.

Now she must get back, and tell the Elders of her own time that they were right. They were against this project in the first place, and had only agreed reluctantly. It should be easy to explain that the project must be abandoned.

She told Jalwath this, and he seemed very pleased. “Your wisdom takes me by surprise my dear. “

“No my wisdom, that of our Elders” she replied.

Jalwath interrupted her thoughts. “For the first time in ages
, I have the thought that we will succeed.”

They rested, and relaxed, but not for long. Amber had made them both aware of their mission, and it’s importance. Calvan had grasped the facts easily she thought, and even Tom had stopped asking questions.