Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Box Set

Table of contents-3

Chapter 4

An hour later I was sitting in anofficer’s chair with Captain Liddle beside me and stared into ascreen which held wriggly white and black lines. But at least itdidn’t hum. Finally, it cleared up and I was surprised at the faceon the screen. Danton A. Anson, vice president of the Federation,waslooking back at me. A distinguished man, he had short white hairanda white goatee. Astonishing clarity in the blue eyes. He had areputation for honesty and, for once, the reputation was correct.Anson did not play fast and loose with the truth.

“Major Ryvenbark. I’ve heard ofyou. It’s good to meet you, so to speak.”

“Good to meet you, Mr. VicePresident. I assume you know where I am and what our missionis.”

“Your mission is to scout the planetSandeling and gather information about the planet and what may havehappened to it.”

“Yes, we had a couple of odd eventsoccur on the planet. Well, not really on the planet; about threemiles below the planet’s surface to be exact. We proceeded on thismission with very little information and I was wondering if theFederation knew a little more than it let on. I want to know whatI’mdealing with.”

“So do we, major, and that’s whyyou’re there. The solar system you’re in is out of the way butit’s not exactly remote. We have satellites, listening devices andtelescopes in that area of space. We haven’t had a chance toexplore it yet, but there are indications there was a civilizationonSandeling. Obviously, the planet had a livable atmosphere. We couldeven say it was a pleasant location. Then one day…” He snappedhis fingers. “Nothing. Civilization disappeared. And the planetbecame one vast ice cube. Naturally, we were curious.”

“Naturally.”

“The Federation doesn’t have agreat deal of information about Sandeling. There didn’t seem to bemany building on the surface. Most of the inhabitants may havelivedunderground for some reason. There were no sign of large cities.Butwe believe there was a civilization there. That’s the extent of ourknowledge, or the extent of our guesswork.”

“But you sent us, or rather you askedBelen to send us, not a science team.”

He nodded. “Yes, we did, major. Weare on friendly terms with Ms. Morganthal. She has often helped usand we have occasionally done her a favor. We thought theincredibleanomalies on Sandeling might be an alien attack. If so, then ascientific team couldn’t deal with it.” He smiled. “That’swhy we sent our best men: Logan Ryvenbark and his Raiders.”

I don’t think I smiled back. Lips mayhave twitched thought.

“At my age, Mr. Vice President, I amimmune to flattery, but I will tell my Raiders that you thinkhighlyof them.”

“Yes, we do. Our information wastentative, so we decided it might be best to simply tell you andyoursquad to keep alert and aware. We don’t know what we’re dealingwith. Could be important. Could be nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. What couldchange the planet’s atmosphere that drastically and that quickly?And why isn’t the sun melting the ice?”

“Very good questions, major. I hopeyou will help us answer them.”

“So you would not know anything aboutflexible walls and the humming colors?”

He gave me a blank look. “I have noidea of what you’re talking about.”

I sighed. I don’t like dealing withbureaucrats, even if they are honest. Yes, technically, VicePresident Anson wasn’t a bureaucrat but…

“OK, Mr. Vice President. Knowing theodds now I will not pull my squad out but I want a couple ofFederation ships here, just in case. I don’t know what I’mdealing with and I want some firepower behind me.”

“I understand. The ships will besent.”

“I don’t want any conflicts orbureaucratic turf battles either. I want command.”

He took a bit longer to reply, butfinally he nodded his head. “I will agree to that, with the usualexceptions. Safety of the ship and crew, things like that. Thecaptain will have authority to refuse your orders if he thinks thecommand is reckless or dangerous."

I nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll belooking for the ships. Is theValiant available?”

“I believe so.”

“I know the captain, RamseyMacDonald. He’s a good man and a man I trust.”

“If theValiant is availableit will be one of the ships we send.”

“Thank you. Have a good day, Mr. VicePresident.”

Chapter 5

When the shuttle settled down on theice just ten yards from the entrance, it was still cold onSandeling.Nothing had changed on the landscape. The ice structures lookedlikedaggers stabbing the cold heart of the planet. The howl of the windhad changed into a more subdued sound, almost like a song, but asongyou might hear at a funeral. I put on my goggles and thanked theshuttle pilot.

“Any time, major,” he said. “Iwon’t take off until you’re safely inside.”

Lt. Alvarez met me when the door slidopen.

“Status is unchanged, major. We’vehad one more wall wailing since you left. Nothing more.”

“Get the multi-color treatment too?”

“Yes. But nothing ominous,” shesaid.

“Good. I hope that continues. Ireally like that phrase. But nothing ominous.”

I joined Cajun and the Panther as theystood in a doorway to a cavern. The walls stood solid and didn’tmove. A hum resonated in the chamber, but it diminished until youcould hardly hear it. The color of the hour was a light purple, butit faded as I watched it.

“Figure out what this is?” I said.

“Not conclusively, major,” Panthersaid. “I can give you a guess, but only a guess.”

“Better than nothing.”

He walked into the chamber and tappedthe rocky wall. “This is not rock as we know it. It’s a materialbut, as you noticed, it’s flexible. It’s meant to be acamouflage, disguising this chamber. Hidden behind these wallsthereare, I suspect, extremely sophisticated Artificial Intelligencemachines that are doing their job.”

“And what exactly is the job of theAIs?”

“I’m not sure. The sounds, themovements you see is the machine trying to accomplish something,butI’m not sure what. The AIs certainly know.”

“If they are AIs, could wecommunicate with them?”

“We might be able to. I’m workingon that. I have a tentative theory about this planet.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“The inhabitants here were veryadvanced, possibly even more advanced in science than we are andtheyknew they were facing a great danger. They had at least some timetoreact. And this…” He swept his hand around to indicate thecaverns and tunnels. “…is part of their defense. Maybe somehowtheir escape route.”

“If it’s an escape route, where didthey go? Another ten miles into the planet?”

“Possibly.”

“If they were as advanced as we are,did they have space ships? Or transport ships that could take themtoother planets?”

“Perhaps. But I don’t think that’sthe answer. I think the answer lies here, with these machines.”

“When you figure it out, let me bethe first to know.”

“We have one bit of information foryou, major,” Cajun said. “These tunnels and caverns areunderneath the entire planet, from pole to pole. Apparently they’vebeen here for some time.”

I took a last look at the cavern. “Isuppose we just have to wait and see what the AIs are up to. Keepworking on that communication thing.”

“I will,” Panther said.

Chapter 6

One of the drawbacks of being acommanding officer, even in an elite military unit, is there is agreat deal of paperwork, or computer work. I had asked the fewscientific personnel we had to send me e-mail reports of anyinformation gained about the planet. Rarely have I given an orderthat was so rapidly obeyed. We had set up our computercommunicationsquickly so there were still a few bugs in our system. I had to readfuzzy white letters on a puke green screen. At times the screenfadedinto an even uglier puke green and covered the letters. I had towaitabout a minute for the screen to refocus.

The most interesting fact covered inthe report was that the air in Sandeling had a toxin in it — a mostpeculiar toxin. Scientists could not readily identify it. At onetimeit might have been deadly to humans, but somehow it had beenmodified.‘Although it remaineddangerous, at least to other life forms, it wasn’t toxic tohumans,’ Panther wrote. He couldn’t explain how it had beenmodified. But he said the substance wasn’t natural. Either theinhabitants of Sandeling had created it – although that wasdoubtful since it would have killed them upon being released – oraliens created it.

I looked up when I heard the loudhumming. I ran down the corridor. Blue lights flashed from adoorway.Cajun and the Panther were standing just inside. The walls flexedandthe lights became an even more intense blue. A shadow appeared,thenblinked away. I frowned. It looked like the same old show.

Then a shadow changed and became ahuman figure. He wore a bronze one-piece outfit. The blue flashesgave his face a weird glow. But the figure didn’t have anysubstance yet. Akin to a hologram. Bits and pieces of himdisappeared, then popped again into view. When the face solidified,he looked human. Except the skin was reddish. For a moment hebecamesolid. He raised his armed and waved.

Then vanished.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I’m guessing he’s one of theinhabitants of the planet.”

“Where is he coming from? Fromanother location on the planet? From space? From a ship?”

Panther shrugged.

I pointed to the cavern before us. “Howmany of these structures are underneath the earth?”

“So many we haven’t bothered tocount them, major,” Cajun said.

I flicked my mic on and called Rab.

“Yes sir.”

“I want a man or woman standing guardon every cavern in the area. I also want reports on any unusualevents, say like a humanoid popping up and then disappearingagain.”

Chapter 7

Three hours later I had seven sightingsof “unusual” occurrences in the caverns. Although in three of thesightings only a shadow of a man appeared — a dark form with armsand legs, but too fuzzy to reveal any features. He or she hadlittlesubstance at all. Just a shadow falling across the hard ground. Intwo of the sightings the shadow, very briefly, solidified andlooked— at least for about three seconds — like a man. Or, as might bethe case, an inhabitant of Sandeling. In the other two sightingstheobject that briefly appeared didn’t look human. It didn’t looklike anything. Just a dark blob.

The technicians on the squad who werestudying the phenomenon said that if I wanted definitiveconclusionswithin a few hours’ time I was being impatient and unrealistic. Itmight take days, weeks, months or even years to determine what wasgoing on.

I was reminded that there are somealien artifacts on other worlds that humans have studied fordecadeswithout coming to a conclusion on what they were made for or whatfunction they perform. Which was true, but didn’t help the currentsituation.

The Panther said his theory wassomebody – he assumed the native population of Sandeling – wastrying to communicate with us. Although where the native populationwas located remained a mystery. We had scanned and rescanned theplanet and our computers told us there was no life on the ice –besides Ryvenbark’s Raiders. TheIntrepid had scanned thesolar system and assured me there was no other life form on the sixplanets circling the sun. There were also no friendly or alienspaceships nearby. However, Capt. Liddel said the Federation haddispatched two ships that should arrive within three days.

So where was the Sandeling population?

TheEisenhower and theValiantcarried loads of scientists who would tackle the problem once theyarrived. The Federation’s view was we had pacified the planet, soit was now safe for the scientific community. I wasn’t so sure. Ihad requested two dozen backup security people from theIntrepidand Captain Liddel had agreed.

I had just stuck a cigar in my mouthwhen Rab came in and saluted.

“Any news?” I asked.

“No, sir. Everything is quiet. Wehave every cavern in the region staked out. Right now we’re seeinga few flashing lights and nothing else. Every soldier is on redalert.”

“Good.” I sighed. “I’m from theSouth. I don’t like icy climates. No native of Florida should besurrounded by ice.”

I walked to my desk and pulled open adrawer.

“Want a drink?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

I pulled a bottle of Ancient Age fromthe drawer, then grabbed two glasses and set them on my desk. Ipoured until both glasses were half-full. Rab grabbed one andswallowed half the bourbon.

“At times I wonder why I picked thisprofession,” I said.

“Maybe it’s the great pensionplan.”

“But on the plus side, I met Astrid,so I don’t regret it. But it does get frustrating at times.”

Rab had eased down into a chair. “Youknow we’ve been in freezing climates and have fought intemperatures over a hundred degree. Been in forests and been indeserts. Do you realize we’ve never been sent to an island withtropical temperatures and bathing beauties?”

“Which Astrid would say is a verygood thing.”

Rab drank the rest of his drink.“Waiting is always tough.”

“Yes, it’s preferable to beshooting somebody. At least that’s not boring.”

“And we’re very good at it. We haveto be or we’d be dead.”

“But I’m sure they would have givenus a good eulogy.”

“Yes, I want dozens of women cryingat my funeral. I think that would be a nice send-off.”

“I would say I only want one at mine,but Astrid has informed me she has to die first. She doesn’t wantto be here without me, which I think is rather sweet.”

“I have two ex-wives who said they’dmuch prefer to be without me,” Rab said.

I sipped some of the bourbon. “Youthink we could ever adjust to what is called a ‘normal’ life?”

“No.”

“Well, it might take a littlepractice, but we might be able to slide into it.”

Rab shook his head. “We’re used toliving close to the edge. But that’s only one aspect of our lives.We’re used to achieving difficult goals and we’re used to doingjobs that are important. Often we achieve great things. Could youlaythat down and open a business? Could you sit around and collectcoins?”