The Trilisk Ruins Part 4

"That is not an optimum skirmish formation," Two transmitted.

"I'm aware of that."

One came limping through the undergrowth. A huge orange ball dominated the lower part of its left leg. Joe carefully knelt to examine the thing.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?"

"A primitive hexaped with a thick exoskeleton," summarized One.

Joe reached out to try to pry the creature off.

"I suggest extreme caution, sir. The creature has manipulators with an extremely high mechanical advantage," said One. The robot showed Joe its hand. One of the metal fingers had been removed, leaving a small stub of twisted metal.

Joe s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand back.

"We'll shoot it off once we've reached the site and made sure there's no one there already," he said. "Catalog it and warn me if we near any other ones like it."

"Yes, sir."

Two eventually stumbled through the forest and joined them. Joe took the lead, weaving back and forth through the vegetation, searching for the easiest path. He could tell by referencing the satellite data that they were almost at the location of the power anomaly.

Joe slowed the column, stopping every minute or so to listen. The group crept along until Joe could see a ruined building ahead. The structure was dark gray and covered with vines. A gaping hole beckoned in the side of the building.

"One, move in and investigate the interior," Joe ordered.

He hooked up with the Series Seven's optical receptors and got a view of the inside in his mind's eye. Dust covered a series of chest-high pieces of inexplicable equipment. The devices could have been anything. It might take a detailed examination and a year of work from a Trilisk expert to figure out their function, if they ever did figure it out. In any case, it was certain that they were ancient; Joe ignored them.

A huge cylinder opened into the room from the floor. It seemed like the only other interesting feature. Joe and Two moved through the hole in the building's exterior.

Joe took a look at the inside for himself. At one time it may have been a high tech facility, but it didn't look like much now. Joe realized that the fresh footprints they were leaving in the dust would warn any smugglers away.

"Two, clean up our trail. I don't want it so obvious that we came through this way."

"Acknowledged," said Two. It s.h.i.+fted foliage and ruined pieces of equipment to cover up the footprints. It smoothed over the remaining tracks, backing up towards Joe.

Joe watched the process until he was satisfied. Then he spoke quietly into his link.

"This is Lieutenant Hartlet. I'm investigating a local ruin site with subterranean components. I may be out of reception for a short time."

Joe linked out from the satellite network and gave some more orders.

"One, move into that tube and tell me if there's anything in there."

The Series Seven clumsily climbed into the aperture. The tube was taller than the robot. One moved deeper inside until it was no longer visible.

"The tunnel is descending and spiraling to the right," One reported. "I am continuing forward."

"Keep us posted. We're coming in behind you," Joe said. He motioned Two forward and followed it into the odd tunnel. The inside was dirty, but the tunnel walls were intact.

"I have reached the end," One reported.

"s.h.i.+t. Dead end?"

"There is an anomaly."

"Did you find the power source?" Joe asked. He linked in to take a look at what the robot was seeing. The tunnel was blocked by a narrow circular rim with a dead black center.

Joe couldn't tell what it was. He jogged down to the spot with Two.

"Can you detect anything beyond that circular... thing?" Joe demanded.

Two moved slightly forward, turning its head side to side. "There is nothing there," it announced.

"Nothing beyond the opening?"

"I detect nothing, sir," the robot said.

Joe didn't feel comfortable with the entrance. He decided not to risk it. He would send the robots in first.

"One and Two, move forward and take up positions beyond the... beyond the circular frame ahead."

The robots stalked forward, their rifles cradled in cold metal hands. They moved into the blackness. Joe blinked. It was as if the robots had stepped beyond a black curtain. They were not visible.

"One and Two, are you in position?"

No answer came. Joe transmitted again, trying to reach the robots without luck. His link refused to acknowledge their mental interfaces.

"s.h.i.+t. What the h.e.l.l..."

He paced nervously.

One emerged from the blackness.

"One. Are you functioning? Is Two okay in there?"

"Affirmative. I returned to investigate a communications dysfunction. I did not read the presence of your link once moving beyond the barrier."

"Describe what's beyond the portal," Joe commanded.

"There is a concrete corridor with a white tile floor and standard lighting. The corridor extendsa""

"Wait. You said *standard' lighting. Explain."

"The lighting is provided by long LED filaments, commonly referred to as glow rods," One replied. "An a.n.a.lysis of wavelength and intensity reveals that the illumination falls very close to the Terran average for such fixtures. Hence the term standard."

Joe frowned. That couldn't be right. Humans hadn't built any installations here. The two UNSF bases were it. Unless smugglers had actually discovered it first and built a base... the thought alarmed him.

He moved up to the black area and tested it with his hand. It seemed harmless.

"Follow me through," he said.

Joe moved quickly through the blackfield and joined Two on the other side. One stepped through beside him. He stared at the walls, floor, and ceiling as he walked forward. He felt no doubt that this was a human habitation. It could have been one of a million corridors that Joe had seen in his lifetime. Everything, from the square tile floor, the height of the ceiling, and the long tube lights, was familiar.

"Follow me," Joe said.

Chapter Five.

Telisa looked at her packs of equipment in the cargo bay. The four crew members had a.s.sembled to prepare for the hike to the odd power source they had detected. A small subset of the equipment would have to be selected; there was too much for them to carry it all.

"So we just have to decide what to bring," she said.

"Well, all the cold weather gear is out. It won't be getting cold here for a long time, even at night," Thomas said.

"Okay, that makes it a little easier," Telisa said. "How much food?"

"It'll take a day to get there. I'd say a ten-day pack would be fine. What do you think, Magnus?"

Magnus nodded. "A ten-day pack should do. We can carry less water. There will be sources of water out there that we can use in a pinch."

Telisa a.s.sembled a food pack for ten days. She then considered the remaining packs.

"The terrain isn't mountainous. Climbing gear stays," she noted.

Jack nodded. "Yes. I'll take some light digging stuff. Since the s.p.a.ce force is looking for us we should wear the active camo suits."

"Okay, you've got digging stuff, I'll take some cutters and a little explosive, in case we have to let ourselves in," Thomas said.

Telisa put on a camo suit over her ordinary jumpsuit. Jack and Thomas did the same. The camo suits s.h.i.+fted color moodily, trying to emulate the drab gray of the deck and the flat black of their equipment packs. Telisa knew from reading the manual of her camo suit that they broke up the wearer's heat signature as well, directing any radiant heat straight down into the ground. The suits would make them much harder to spot in an aerial or orbital scan.

She looked at Magnus expectantly. "You're not wearing one?"

"Momma Veer already took care of that," Thomas said.

Magnus nodded. His suit slowly turned gray and black like the other camo suits. Telisa a.s.sumed he had turned it on using his link by sending a message to microprocessors in the skinsuit.

Telisa linked up with the s.h.i.+p's computer and looked up the phrase "Momma Veer." She had heard soldiers say that before, but she never bothered to learn exactly what it meant. The information came through from the s.h.i.+p's cache, feeding a visual report back into her brain. Apparently soldiers were occasionally supplied with Veer Industries equipment when the government ran short of its own supplies. Oddly enough, the Veer equipment had often proved superior to government issue, and the soldiers used the nickname "Momma Veer" for the company that provided for them when the UNSF could not.

She looked up the price for the famous Veer military skinsuits. At around 2000 ESC, it was a very expensive piece of equipment. Her eyebrows rose.

"For that much money, it ought to, I guess," she said.

"Worth every penny," Magnus said, patting the material over his chest.

Telisa hefted her primary pack over her shoulder and had a second bag of food concentrate. The others carried similar loads. She saw that Magnus had insisted on carrying the ma.s.sive slug thrower as well. Telisa had her stunner and a pair of good long knives. Just in case. She smiled to herself. It wasn't long ago she had thought Magnus odd for carrying weapons; now she had three herself. Apparently being a smuggler hunted by the UNSF could change your att.i.tude pretty fast. Or maybe it was the training. She'd used knives many times in simulated combat now so she felt vulnerable without them.

"I don't feel like I could carry a whole lot of stuff back," Telisa said. "I guess we'll have less food and water to carry by then, though."

"If we hadn't been detected, we could have made better arrangements," Thomas explained. "As it is, we'll just have to play mule. Trilisk artifacts are so valuable on the black market that we could still carry enough to make us rich several times over if we find the right spot."

Jack looked grim. "But I'm willing to write this one off if we have to. If we make it out alive, then we can try again."

Telisa was glad to see that even Jack wasn't so greedy as to insist that they stay until they were rich no matter what. She walked with the others to the exit.

The loading ramp was extended from the belly of the s.h.i.+p, and everyone sauntered out onto the forest floor, absorbing the alien forest scenery. The plant life looked spiny, like species in arid areas on Earth, but they grew in a jungle-like density. They saw a wide variety of plants but only a few creatures. The animals appeared to be crabs or snails that moved slowly through the trees. The s.h.i.+p had cleared a small area of the forest, felling trees and blackening a spot in the lush green wilderness.

"Wow, look at that," Thomas said and pointed.

Telisa looked into the forest where he indicated. She saw that a thickset tree with a bare trunk and a wide, spiky crown supported an identical tree on top of it. The roots of the piggybacking tree intertwined with the crown of its supporter.

"There are several of them doing that," Magnus said. "They must be getting some kind of compet.i.tive advantage."

"Maybe the crown collects water. It's very wide," Telisa said. "The tree on top sends water down to its own roots, and the extra heads down to the tree below it. They deprive water from those below."

"Or maybe the top one even helps feed the one supporting it, who knows?" Thomas said. "The supported ones probably get more sunlight."

Jack nodded. "Well, if you're this fascinated by the d.a.m.n trees, I can't wait to see you guys when we find the ruins."

"They won't spot this mess from orbit?" Telisa asked, looking back at the damage their landing had caused.

"Got it covered," Thomas said. "Looks the same from down here, but I have us cloaked from above. Our equipment should fool any but the most sophisticated sensors. If they don't have a scouting vessel in orbit, we should be hidden for now. Well, unless some scientist just happens to have a specialized satellite for some experiment that can notice an anomaly."

Telisa didn't comment on that. Apparently there were risks everywhere that she hadn't realized they would have to be taking. It must be part of the routine for an interplanetary artifact smuggler. She looked around the landing site again, wondering if there were predators out there. She hoped the noise and destruction of the landing had scared any bigger creatures away.

The group moved into the forest. Telisa looked over her shoulder at the s.h.i.+p before the view became blocked by vegetation. The fat ovoid shape had settled just below the surrounding treetops. She wondered if it would still be there when they got back. What would happen if they became marooned on the planet? Would they be able to survive? Would it be worth living in such a desolate place? She checked her link and realized the nearby s.h.i.+p and her companions' link chips were the only devices broadcasting services here. The planet was truly empty wilderness.

Thomas indicated the direction and then Magnus took the lead. Telisa asked for a link from Thomas and got it. Now she could see a map of the surrounding landscape in her mind's eye, with the destination clearly marked. They fell into a line behind Magnus with Telisa in the rear.

"Stay alert," Magnus said over his link. "The flora and fauna are largely unknown. If we get in over our heads there won't be anyone to save us."

Telisa acknowledged the message and dug out her stunner. She attached it to the webbing on her belt. Normally the webbing held onto the stunner firmly, but if she touched the weapon with her hand, it weakened so that she could tear the stunner away easily. Then the separated fibers would intertwine again as good as new. She scanned the surrounding vegetation, searching for anything that might be dangerous.

Looking at the native trees made Telisa itch. Their trunks were covered in so many tiny spines they almost looked hairy. The spiny leaves added to their greenish s.h.a.ggy appearance. She saw now that most of the spines were soft, liquid-filled leaves, but a few of the plants did have truly sharp spikes like a cactus. She saw three more of the piggybacking trees, this time arranged with two specimens leaning together on the bottom to support another on their heads.

The spines didn't seem to inhibit the native lifeforms' ability to make their homes in the trees. Telisa saw a large variety of mollusk-like creatures climbing around. Many sported extra protection of some sort, mostly flat plates of armor or complete spherical sh.e.l.ls. Telisa got a good look at one hanging from a nearby limb. The creature was a round ball with holes placed randomly around it, from which tiny green legs poked out and retracted as needed. Telisa committed some images of the trees and the creatures to her link memory.

The hike continued. When Telisa began to sweat she opened the vents in her camo suit. Her every stride pumped air over her torso and sent it down to vents at her feet. Despite the added cooling, she felt the strain of walking on the uneven ground, pus.h.i.+ng through the heavy foliage.

The hours went by quickly while Telisa occupied herself with making her way through the alien ecosphere. She saw several more odd local creatures but nothing larger than a small dog. They broke for a light lunch at midday, with the alien sun blazing down directly overhead. The trees afforded some protection, their spines blocking a great deal of the light. Still, the humid forest seemed like the inside of an oven during the middle of the day. Telisa drank a lot of water. She wondered if they should have taken the trip during the night, but the thought of trying to make their way in the darkness with all sorts of odd creatures creeping about was not pleasant either.

As soon as they had eaten and rested for half an hour, they returned to the trek with a vengeance. Telisa had time to think about how close she really was to discovering new Trilisk artifacts. At one time the Trilisks had actually lived upon this planet and created installations or even cities. A race more advanced than mankind, yet strangely absent from the current galactic stage. What had happened to them? What could have possibly caused their civilization to be destroyed? These questions and more drove her forward.