The Yellow Rover, page 17
“Hots. H-O-T-S.” Hartwell said.
“Hots? What the hell does that even mean?” Ono asked.
“Head of the snake. I mean, he’s the only reason we’re able to keep going in the first place. Am I wrong?”
Such a strange name, but Hartwell did have a point. They would have been lost without bringing an android along for this ride.
“Okay. Which one of those awful names do you like, duplicate?” Biancuzzo asked.
“I like Hots.”
Ono scoffed, sucking on her teeth.
“Then Hots it is. Now—time for us to get to work.”
“Sounds good. But how are we supposed to get inside this place—that doesn’t involve us blowing up the front door?” Ono asked.
“Good question. Anyone?” Biancuzzo said.
“Maybe this is a way.”
Sarker pointed to a hexagonal pattern board that was to the right of the entrance as she approached it.
“That is the first time I am seeing that.” Hots said.
“It must not have revealed itself until you activated the biodome—almost like a module preamble.”
“I’m sorry, a what?” Hartwell said.
“A module preamble. Basically, a lead-in or precursor. ‘B’ can’t happen without ‘A’ happening first.” Yuliya chimed in. “Do you get it?”
“Yeah.” Hartwell nodded.
Sarker turned her attention back to Hots.
“What exactly did you do again?”
“I pushed all of the profiles in.”
“Sounds like a good place to start.” Yuliya said.
The two technicians began pushing all of the profiles in like Hots had done. Once they were all pushed in, they took a step back.
“So what now?” Ono asked.
“I guess we wait.”
They stood there waiting for at least a few minutes.
“Something tells me that didn’t work. Perhaps we should try something different, no?” Biancuzzo said.
Sarker pressed one of the hexagonal profiles, which brought it back to its original configuration. She pressed another one, which did the same.
“Yeah. Unlike that—” she pointed to the podium. “I’m guessing this one has a specific pattern—almost like a pass-word. So—this might take us a while.”
Biancuzzo sighed. That was just about the last thing he wanted to hear. With the Yellow Rover long gone, it would be up to them to figure out how to get inside this place. And using their weapons to do so would be the definition of a last resort. All he could do now was hope that Sarker and Yuliya had the wherewithal to be able to decode this ancient alien technology.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“A clean exit sir. The StarForgers are away.”
Cayo swiveled the co-pilot’s seat around as Sanhueza stood over the command post.
“Excellent. Now it’s our turn. Take us in Seneca.”
“Yes captain.”
He felt the ship accelerate beneath his feet as he tapped the post display, bringing up its ship-wide intercom.
“Attention Yellow Rovers. Our descent into Zurara is imminent. Please begin making your preparations now. Captain Sanhueza out.”
He turned off the display and walked to his captain’s perch. He stood at its base, just taking a moment to enjoy this magnificent view. This radiant, evergreen planet was just as awesome as he could have ever imagined. At long last, he was going to make history. He climbed up into the perch and sat down. He began securing the harnesses around his waist and chest.
Cayo swiveled its seat around for a second time.
“Sir. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather change into your spacesuit? Planetary entry has been known to be tumultuous on the human body.”
“Appreciate your concern, Cayo. But I’ll be fine. Sadly, I tend to breathe through my mouth, which would only fog up my helmet. And I wanna see this.”
“As you wish.”
Cayo turned back to the front. Sanhueza watched as the Yellow Rover continued to accelerate. Its trajectory began to trend downward as the ship was approaching the planet’s exosphere. He leaned his head back and shut his eyes. Just trying to stay relaxed.
“Prepare for planetary entry.” Seneca said.
Sanhueza’s eyes shot open. He wiped a bit of drool from his chin. He had inexplicably fallen asleep and yet they still hadn’t entered the planet. The length of time it took to travel through space was maddening.
Thank God for the androids.
Seneca pushed the reins forward as Cayo did the same with a lever that sat between them. There was a brief moment of incredible darkness unlike any he had ever seen before. Almost as if they were crossing over into another dimension.
The mission control violently trembled as he could feel every bit of the Yellow Rover shaking. The androids were seemingly unaffected by this movement, while he on the other hand, was regretting not putting on his spacesuit like Cayo had forewarned him. Planetary entry was yet another aspect of cosmic travel that he had yet to experience.
“Wow. Is it always like this?”
Neither android responded to his question. They were too busy keeping the ship steady against the elements of the planet. He slid his hands under his backside and pressed his head back against the headrest. At this point, he would have to ride out the turbulence.
Why didn’t I listen to the damn robot? Argh, this is gonna be rough.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The Loading Bay shook every few seconds as the Alpha and Bravo teams were all geared up and going through their last-minute preparations before they would be departing the Yellow Rover for the first time. Delly was down on one knee, rummaging through her backpack. She had inadvertently forgotten to remove the uno deck and leave it inside her locker with the rest of her personal effects.
“Shit.”
The loading bay shook again as she nearly fell back onto her butt.
“Whoa. Feels like we’re getting close.” Demboba said.
That was an understatement.
Although, they couldn’t see where they were, they hadn’t been experiencing this kind of turbulence since their voyage began. This could only be from the planet. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder as she turned to see it was Roko.
“I’ll see you on the other side?”
She rose to her feet to face him.
“You better. Or I’ll kick your ass.”
The two soldiers triple-slapped hands before ending it with a double-fist pump. She spied a wink from him before he turned away to get inside the Bravo team WaftMar. It was hard for her not to feel some kind of way about them being on separate ships. They were practically inseparable since day one.
“Moore! Hey Moore!”
She turned towards the Alpha team WaftMar. She looked inside. Sarracino had already taken a position in the back row, while Demboba, Leon and Kalayjian were still getting themselves situated.
“Somebody called me?”
“Yeah. You got flight experience, right?” Zepeda said from the cockpit.
“Sure do.”
“Well then get your pretty ass up here. I could use the company.”
Delly smiled. “Be right there.”
She hurried to her backpack and closed it up. She swung it over her shoulder, taking one last look at the Bravo team WaftMar. Roko was saluting her. She returned his gesture with a smirk before grabbing her shotgun and primary weapon and entering the Alpha team WaftMar. She made her way towards the cockpit where Zepeda appeared to be checking the ship’s diagnostics.
“Hey, where should I store my stuff?” She asked.
“I don’t care. Just as long as it’s not in the way.”
Not very helpful was Zepeda, but she did have bigger things to worry about than Delly’s feelings. She placed her heavy-duty weapons on the deck of the cockpit on the inside before stuffing her backpack on top of them.
“When’s the last time you’ve flown one of these?”
Delly turned to Zepeda.
“Never.”
“I thought you said you knew how to fly.”
“Yeah. StarForgers. Why? Is that a problem?”
Zepeda scoffed and shook her head. Apparently, it was.
“Just get comfortable. I’ll handle everything myself.”
Zepeda resumed her diagnostic check as Delly began securing her harness. Without Roko by her side, her first real live mission seemed like it was going to be a baptism by fire.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Biancuzzo and the rest of the team stood behind Sarker and Yuliya, while the two technicians continued fiddling with the hexagonal pattern keyboard that resided to the side of the moon base entrance. Every time they came up with a profile pattern they were stymied. None worked. The pieces would push in for a few minutes, before gradually pushing back out. That door was still not opening.
“Oh my God, this is ridiculous.” Ono said. “At this rate, we’ll never get inside.”
“I mean, you can’t be surprised the aliens aren’t allowing us to just waltz in and swipe their shit without giving us a little resistance, now can you?” Hartwell chimed in.
“Man’s got a point. But still—there has to be a way. There just has to.”
Biancuzzo was speaking too himself just as much as he was speaking to his team. He had done everything in his power to remain calm and collected, however, impatience was beginning to grow stronger within him. While they appeared to be safe within this transparent biodome, they still had zero understanding for how it worked nor how long it would last in its present form. If the biodome retracted, only Hots and the StarForgers would have remained where they were, while the humans would have been floating out into the aether.
Sarker stopped pushing in the profiles and turned back to the rest of the team.
“Maybe it’s a different kind of pattern. And that’s why we can’t get in.” She said.
“Kalene, I feel like we’ve tried every type of combination this thing allows. What else could it possibly be?” Yuliya said. “The only other thing I can think of is that each profile has to be pushed in a precise order. And the mathematical odds on us figuring that out are—”
“Terrible?” Ono asked.
“I was gonna say infinitesimal, but we’d just be splitting hairs now.”
“Okay, hold on a second.” Sarker pointed back to the pattern board. “We know these are hexagons. But what if the answer to our problem was another shape entirely?”
“I’ll say it, if no one else will. I’m lost.” Ono remarked.
Hartwell nodded in agreement. Sarker and Yuliya really needed to work on conveying these abstract concepts in a way that the rest of them could easily understand. Biancuzzo thought for a moment. When the drone was deployed over the moon base, one of the first things he noticed was a triangle hourglass emblem on the LZ.
“A triangle.” He said.
“What?”
Now Yuliya was confused by his response.
“Try to make a triangle using those hexagons.”
Yuliya turned to Sarker, who shrugged her shoulders. It was worth a shot, even though neither one seemed to think Biancuzzo’s idea was worth a hill of beans judging by their body language. Yuliya pushed in the hexagon profiles in such a way that they made a triangle. None of the pieces pushed out, but the entrance still didn’t open.
“Welp, so much for that.” Ono said.
“Any other ideas, Lieutenant?” Sarker asked.
Biancuzzo moved closer to the pattern board, just trying to see what Yuliya had done. She had made a triangle with the hexagons, but it was in the center of the board.
“Let me try.”
Sarker and Yuliya stepped aside, allowing him a chance to take a crack at it. He pushed a few profiles in, along the edges as the board reset to its original form. He took a deep breath and pushed in a profile at the very bottom. He then pushed in a second profile, repeating the process until he had made a perfect triangle from the bottom up. He then moved to the top of the board and began the process of making an inverted triangle next. He pushed in the apex piece of the inverted triangle last as it looked as if the two triangles were linked together like an hourglass.
He stumbled backwards, pulling his primary weapon off of his shoulder as the entrance to the moon base began to open. Hots and Hartwell also had their weapons drawn.
“Holy shit. It worked.” Ono said.
The excitement from opening the base was short-lived as Biancuzzo was now worried about what they might have un-leashed. It was pitch black inside from what he could tell.
“Hots.”
“Yes Lieutenant.”
“You take the lead.”
“Yes sir.”
The android entered alone. It activated its flashlight and began to sweep the area to make sure they were not walking into a booby-trap. Biancuzzo felt a nudge against him. He turned to see it was Sarker.
“One day, you’re gonna have to explain how exactly you did that.
“It’s an hourglass. Two triangles. I noticed it on the LZ before we landed.”
“Oh, that is right.” Ono said.
“Jesus, Lieutenant.” Hartwell said. “Is there anything you don’t do?”
“Windows. I don’t do windows.” He snickered.
A few moments later, Hots re-emerged from the base with its sidearm lowered.
“Room secure.”
“Alright. Flashlights on. Let’s do what we came to do, people.”
Biancuzzo activated his suit flashlight as the other four followed his lead. Hots turned around and re-entered first as the rest followed the android inside. He took one last look at the StarForgers behind them. They were still docked.
He entered the base and began looking around an area not already covered by the other five flashlights. He tracked the walls closest to the entrance. He stopped when he noticed another hexagonal pattern board. He took three steps back to get a better look at it.
“Hey! I just found another hexagonal board.” He said.
“You think that controls the power?” Sarker asked.
“You’re asking the wrong guy I’m afraid. Still, I’d rather we comb every inch of this area first, before we start fiddling around with stuff we don’t understand.”
“Agreed.”
Everyone resumed searching the dark room, hoping that something safe and simple might reveal itself to aid them in their exploration.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Sanhueza’s skull remained pressed against the headrest as the Yellow Rover continued its descent through the clouds. The turbulence was becoming overwhelming as he could barely keep his eyes open. His vision was blurring.
“How much more of this shit, Seneca?”
“Almost there sir. Stay with us.”
He could hear the sound of his teeth rattling as he took a deep breath. His lungs were getting a serious workout.
Please God, just get me through this.
The turbulence through the clouds went on for what felt like an eternity as the ship withstood the planet’s elemental onslaught. The lights of the mission control grew brighter to compensate for the diminishing light outside. Sanhueza was slowly losing consciousness as he couldn’t get his head to stop spinning.
And then, almost as if he were in a dream, the turbulence that had decimated his equilibrium was gone—having been replaced by an unexpected peace. He opened his eyes and noticed the ship was starting to level off. The sky was a dark grey—it was raining heavily.
“We are beneath the clouds sir.” Seneca said.
Sanhueza relaxed his shoulders. He placed his hand over his heart, continuing to breathe in and out.
“Sir?”
“I heard you. Open a channel to the WaftMars so they can hear me.”
“Yes sir. The channel’s been opened.”
“Attention. This is your captain speaking. Alpha team. Bravo team. Prepare to depart.”
He covered his mouth as he could feel the regurgitation trying to fight its way through his esophagus. He swallowed it and shook his head. Planetary entry without a spacesuit was a painful lesson that he had learned the hard way.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The Bravo WaftMar cockpit shook as Roubideaux smirked. The planetary turbulence the Yellow Rover was experiencing had to be hellacious for them to vibrate in this manner. After all, the two aerial transports were still secured to the loading bay floor. She flipped a switch on the navigational controls to see if there were any issues, but every system was green.
She looked into the cabin to see Sikosek and Jonsdottir sitting in their own row, while Roko and Meneghini were separate. They all seemed like they were holding on for dear life as she scoffed. She felt a tap on her arm from Flintroy.
“Is it always like this?” He asked.
“This? This is nothing. You should’ve seen our flights to Prisca. You’d shit your britches; I kid you not.”
“Thanks for the visual.”
Roubideaux opened the communication channel to the Alpha WaftMar.
“Ime, how you doing over there?” She asked.
“What do you mean, how am I doing? This is nothing. We’ve experienced way worse than this. Have you already forgotten?” Zepeda responded.
Roubideaux turned to Flintroy and gestured.
“I was just checking.”
Flintroy shook his head. He probably couldn’t wrap his mind around how they could be so casual about this. While Roubideaux and Zepeda didn’t do it all the time, those Prisca missions were bad, bad and worse. Low visibility, swirling winds and a surprising amount of high mountain ranges that were powerful enough to breach the Rover hulls.
Although her experience flying to and from Prisca was primarily as a navigator, there were some occasions where she was permitted to pilot the birds. But that never happened in lower atmosphere—neither of the main pilots were ever comfortable enough to bestow that challenge upon her.
Those trips in general were strange. When they landed at the mining colony, she was forbidden from leaving the ship and interacting with any of the miners until they were back on board the Rover Base. It was almost like the powers that be running things considered those men to be prisoners and they didn’t believe they would know how to act when in the presence of a woman.
