The Belt - Complete Series, page 39
“How recent?”
“A few months, maybe. Hard to say.” He stood up and scanned the area. “My guess is that one person, or maybe two, came in from over there somewhere.” He pointed off into the gloom of the cavern. “They moved across these rocks, down to this sandy patch, and over to the edge of the pond. You can see here that they spent some time moving around.” Spinner pointed to a confused, trampled area. “Then moved off again, back the same way.”
“Maybe they were getting water?” said Cyrus.
“Possibly,” said Steph. “If so, then this might be okay to drink.”
Scott considered Spinner’s analysis of the footprints for a moment, then moved out of the sandy area and up onto a low, rocky outcrop. He scanned the gloom with his helmet light.
“See anything?” said Cyrus.
“Not really. Just more cave.” Scott stepped down and rejoined the others. “Okay, we could keep going on the path we came in on, follow it around to that exit over there, and see where it leads us.” He pointed off to the opposite side of the cavern. “Or we could try to follow these footprints and see if it leads to another way out.”
“Well, if there’s someone else here, wouldn’t they be worth finding?” said Steph.
“That depends,” said Spinner.
“On what?” said Steph.
“On whether they want to be found.”
“It doesn’t matter if they do or they don’t. I think it’s still our best chance of finding a way out.” Scott turned toward the blackness at the far end of the cave. “So, if they came in from over there, then that’s where we have to go.”
They all stood in silence for a moment, looking into the darkness, their thoughts only broken by the sound of the robotic mule as it clattered its way over beside them.
Scott turned around to look at it. “Well, it looks like we’re all here, so let’s get going. The sooner we find this person, the sooner we get out of here.”
They moved off into the darkness, sweeping their lights across the way ahead. Soon they began to make out the walls and roof of the cavern as it narrowed. The path became flat and sandy, and here and there they picked up the impressions of disturbances in the dust. The route they found themselves on now had a clear pattern beaten into it. People had passed this way before, but how long ago was hard to tell.
The cavern narrowed further and became a long, winding tunnel. Natural—not made by human hands, but by the forces of nature. The base and sides were smooth and curved, with clearly visible layers of sediment laid down over the eons. Scott reckoned that it must have been an underground river at some point in the very distant past.
They found more signs of human activity: numbers and letters scratched on the walls and the rock. Not words, as such. More like codes or identifying marks perhaps made a long time ago by those who worked the mines here—or were they more recent? Again, it was hard to tell. Yet apart from the clear footprints at the edge of the lake in the first cave, they had seen little else in the way of hard evidence that someone was occupying this cave system. Still, there were hints and clues here and there: the beaten path, the markings on the walls, disturbances in the soil that were clearly made by human activity.
They made slow progress, mostly because they all concentrated on trying to penetrate the darkness to search for clues, sweeping their helmet lights around, trying to pick out something that could give them hope that they might find a way out.
Their progress was further hampered by Spinner, who had grown more detached and sullen, and now seldom spoke. He would lag behind, as if each step required a Herculean effort on his part. Sometimes he would simply stop and stare at the ground, lost in his grief and emotional trauma. Scott, for his part, could not bring himself to play the tough leader and kick Spinner’s ass to get him moving again. He had lost his friend, whose broken and battered body now lay dead at the mouth of the mine, so Scott just didn’t have it in him to compound the miner’s misery. Instead, it was left to Dr. Rayman’s more practiced bedside manner to coax Spinner out of his paralysis and continue on with the search.
They had moved along in this torturous stop-start manner for some time when the tunnel finally widened and opened out into yet another vast cavern. So big that their helmet lights were barely able to perceive its depth in the darkness. The air changed, too, becoming cooler and less stale, and there was a hint of something vaguely botanical.
Scott found himself taking deep, satisfying breaths. “The air feels fresh here,” he said as he took another deep breath. “Could be coming in from outside somewhere. What’s the radiation level like, Steph?”
She checked her monitor, tapping on some icons to perform a detailed analysis. “Virtually nonexistent.”
“Is that not a bit strange?” said Scott. “This air must be coming from outside the cave system, which means we should be seeing a rise in radiation levels.”
Cyrus stood in front and scanned the cave from left to right. He raised a hand to signal them to stop moving. “Everyone, wait up.”
“What is it?” Scott whispered.
“People—lots of them. I count fifteen, maybe twenty.”
Scott moved his helmet light across the cavern, but he could see nothing but stalagmites. He noticed that Steph and Spinner were doing the same. “I can’t see anyone,” he whispered again.
“They’re hiding in the darkness, but I see them. I’m detecting their heat signatures on infrared. Also…they’re armed.”
“Shit.” Scott delicately unclipped the plasma pistol strapped to his right thigh. The others did the same. “What are they doing, Cyrus?”
“Nothing at the moment. Just waiting. I don’t think they realize we can see them. And I don’t think they’re security personnel.”
“How come?” Scott flicked the safety off on his weapon.
“Their weapons are ancient ballistic guns.”
“Seriously? Gunpowder?”
“As far as I can tell.”
Steph slowly moved up beside them. “What do we do?”
“I think—” But Scott’s sentence was cut short by a barrage of bright, incandescent light that burst out from the blackness. He instinctively raised an arm to shield his eyes from the intense brightness. As his brain slowly recalibrated his vision to accommodate the dramatically increased light level, Scott began to see ghostly figures move out from the shadows and surround them on all sides. As his eyes adjusted more, and the figures moved farther into the light, he realized that this was a ragtag group of civilians. Dirty and dusty, thin and gaunt—almost feral. They all carried ancient ballistic weapons, which were deadly nonetheless, and they were all aimed directly at them.
A voice broke out from the throng. “If you want to keep living, then I suggest you stop right there. Nobody move.”
7
SHIN-AU-AV
Scott’s brain frantically tried to assess the threat level. It was clear that this group wasn’t military, so that was something. But that didn’t mean they were friendly, either, judging by the number of weapons aimed at them. He fought off the instinct to raise the plasma pistol he held in his right hand, just in case it might spook some trigger-happy member of this ragtag tribe. Instead he raised his left hand in a gesture of submission—a gesture to indicate that nobody should do anything stupid.
A member of the group slowly emerged from the shadows and stood between two bright floodlights. He was a heavyset, middle-aged man, clean-shaven with tightly cropped hair. Unlike the others, he carried a sophisticated plasma weapon, but still had it slung over his shoulder. On either side of him, two more figures emerged and kept pace; both had ballistic weapons aimed threateningly at Scott and the crew.
The figure stopped a few meters ahead and looked each of them over with a curious eye. “I take it you guys are not from around here?”
Scott took a cautious step forward. “Eh…yeah, we’re a scientific survey team and we’re…eh…lost.”
“Survey teams don't usually shoot down scout drones.”
“That was a mistake,” said Scott. “It wasn’t intentional.”
“Really? Well, just so there are no more mistakes, I want you to—very gently—place all your weapons on the ground and then back away…slowly.”
Scott carefully lowered his pistol to the ground and turned around to ensure that the rest of the crew was also going to comply. The way he saw it, they had no choice but to do what they were asked. Cyrus and Steph were already depositing their weapons on the cave floor, but to Scott’s dismay, he could see Spinner crouched behind the robotic mule, his plasma weapon in hand, ready to fire.
He raised a hand to him. “Spinner, just put it down.”
“No way.” Spinner’s eyes darted this way and that. “I’m staying right here.”
The mood in the cave changed noticeably. Scott could hear people shifting position and more weapons being drawn. He raised his other hand and stepped in front of Spinner. “Take it easy. This isn’t going to help.”
The miner said nothing, just gripping the weapon tighter. Scott started to get the feeling that this was not going to end well. He really didn’t care if Spinner got himself killed in a shootout. Sure, it would be tragic—pointless, even. But he could live with it. However, what he did care about was a stray bullet damaging the quantum device strapped to the mule that Spinner was using as cover.
“Spinner…it’s okay.” Steph moved over and placed a hand on the muzzle of the miner’s weapon. He looked up at her, and slowly the fight leaked out of him. He lowered the weapon and placed it on the ground. There was an audible sigh of relief in the cavern, and the group relaxed a little.
Their leader stepped in closer. “Now if you’d all just move back a few paces, that would be great.”
Scott and the crew did as they were told, and several of the ragtag group moved forward to pick up the weapons. Now that they were disarmed and no longer a threat, Scott ventured a request. “Look, all we need is just to find another way out of here. Can you help us?”
But his request was ignored. Instead he was grabbed on both sides, his arms twisted behind his back, and his wrists tied together with cable. He heard the shouts of protest from the others as they were all subjected to the same treatment. Their helmets were then forcibly removed, and Scott felt the muzzle of a weapon shoved into his back, prodding him to start walking. All the lights suddenly extinguished, and Scott found himself completely disoriented until he began to pick out dim illumination emanating from lights that each of the group seemed to carry.
He started walking, following behind what seem to be a long line of people. Several times he tried to look back and see where the others were, but each time he was poked in the back, and couldn’t find out where they were or how they were holding up.
As they walked, he estimated the size of the group to be upward of twenty members. Their clothes were lightweight and utilitarian, with a lot of belts and pockets. He noticed, too, that they all had face masks or scarves that they used to cover their mouths and noses. He realized that this group must live in these caves, and there were probably a great many more. None of the reconnaissance data that Scott and the team had studied before the mission had given any indication of people living anywhere in the Wasteland. In fact, it was presumed that no humans existed for at least a million square kilometers. Yet here was a population eking out an existence in the caves and mines, safe from radiation, undetected. Were there more groups like this? Or was this just an isolated population?
These and many other questions percolated in Scott’s brain as he made his way along a maze of paths and tunnels, with a helpful prod in the back every now and again from the business end of a ballistic weapon.
They had twisted and turned their way through this subterranean system for what seemed like half an hour when Scott started to see evidence of recent engineering. Ducting and cabling ran along the walls and overhead illumination would activate automatically as they moved. He could also feel the blast of cool, fresh air being dispensed by vents placed periodically in the overhead ducting. It was becoming clear to him that they must have a significant source of energy somewhere to power all this infrastructure. But it was another half hour before they came to the first serious piece of heavy engineering: a three-meter-diameter airlock which terminated a short tunnel they had just entered. Scott recognized this airlock as the same one used on a standard interplanetary cargo transport. They must have scavenged it, disassembled it, and re-engineered it to fit this space.
The outer door cracked open and the first group of fifteen, including Scott, marched in. As they shifted and sorted themselves inside the airlock, Scott caught a glimpse of Cyrus. The two exchanged a glance. Cyrus nodded, and then gestured with his eyes around the airlock. Scott could see that he was impressed with the engineering.
Before the outer door shut, Scott looked back to see Steph with Spinner close beside her. He was also relieved to see the mule, still fully laden, tagging along beside them. The outer door shut, and the airlock began to recycle the air. One by one, the members of the group started removing face masks and scarves, and they all began to noticeably relax. Scott got the impression that whatever lay beyond the inner doors of this airlock served as home to this group, and they eagerly awaited it.
When the inner doors finally opened, Scott was surprised by what he saw. It wasn’t quite what he had been expecting. He had imagined more of the same—dusty tunnels and dark, gloomy caverns—but this was different. The doors opened out onto a sleek, wide, manmade platform. What happened next was even more surprising: it started to descend down a smooth-walled shaft. The descent was short, perhaps fifty meters or so. Finally, another set of well-engineered doors opened to reveal what could only be described as a subterranean city built inside a vast, domed cavern. Scott stood in wonder for a moment and then had to remind himself that he was not in one of the colonies of the outer worlds, but on Earth itself.
From their elevated position on the airlock platform, he could see down and across the floor of a cavern that seemed to go on forever. The entire space, as far as he could tell, was covered in lush, green vegetation. The sides of the cavern sloped upward and were cut into stepped terraces, most of which were also covered in vegetation. But what surprised him the most were the buildings.
All around the upper terraces were structures built from cut stone. They had arched windows and doors, two or three stories tall, all interspersed with domes and turrets. It was clearly the work of some long-lost civilization that had to predate the current occupants by many hundreds—if not thousands—of years.
The cavern floor was also dotted with similar buildings, but these had been augmented by newer structures made with modern materials: plastics, metal, concrete. Above him, the entire space was illuminated by a constellation of lights that seemed to be suspended midway between the floor and the roof of the cavern. There also looked to be hundreds of people living and working in the space. All this Scott took in during the few moments he had been standing on the platform while the rest of the group piled out of the airlock.
Soon he was again being poked in the ribs and moved onward. They took a path along the edge of a terrace for a short distance, past several of the cut-stone buildings. The craftsmanship was superb, with barely a gap between each of the stones. It reminded him of images he had seen of the Inca site Machu Picchu. The ancient age of the stones was further evidenced by the size and number of lichens growing over their surfaces.
They were finally ushered into one of these buildings not far from where they had entered the cavern. From the outside, Scott had assumed it to be small and narrow, but once he entered, he could see that it was just a facade for a much larger space that had been hacked out from the side of the cavern. It seemed to be a barracks of some kind, with stores and equipment stacked here and there. They passed through a number of locked doors until finally he was shoved into an empty stone room along with Cyrus, Steph, and Spinner. One of the group began to untie their wrists while the others kept their weapons trained on them.
Their leader stood in the doorway and, after a few moments, began to speak. “My name is Tugo, and I am the leader of this contingent. Your actions in shooting down that scout drone have caused us problems…so much so that we cannot allow you to go wandering around, either in the cave system or outside.”
“So what, then?” Scott rubbed his wrists. “You’re just going to lock us up here?”
“For the moment, yes. We need to discuss what to do with you.”
“You can’t get away with this. We’re a Belt-sponsored science team—people will be looking for us.”
Tugo ignored him. “I need you all to get out of those EVA suits. You won’t be needing them in here.”
“Why can’t you just help us on our mission?” Scott tried to sound reasonable.
“Hard and all as this may be for you to understand, we are actually helping you. So just do as I say. I will see to it that some food and water is brought in to you later.” He turned and left the room.
Again, Scott was having difficulty gauging the threat level. What did he mean by saying he was “helping” them? At the same time, if they didn’t comply with the request to remove their EVA suits then Scott didn’t doubt violence would ensue. In the end, what choice did they have?
Twenty minutes later, the four of them stood in the middle of the room while all their gear was bundled up and carried out. Fortunately, they still retained the suit’s thermal inner layer, so at least they wouldn’t freeze. Scott lowered himself to the floor. He was exhausted from all the walking and climbing he had been doing over the last few hours. How long has it been since we left the shuttle? He couldn’t tell; he had lost all track of time.
“Ho-ly shit,” said Cyrus as he tried to rub some feeling back into his arms. “What the hell is this place?”
“I think it’s Shin-Au-Av,” said Steph as she sat down on the floor with her back against the wall.
