Read Online Deep Space Dead by Edward Chilvers - Free Book Online
Authors: Edward Chilvers
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“I’m getting some odd readings coming from that group of caves over there.” She pointed downwards. Wal craned his neck and looked below towards a rocky patch of ground snaking down from some of the highlands that appeared indistinguishable from the rest of the terrain.
“What kind of readings?” He asked her.
“Something that sends the instruments haywire,” she replied. “Something we haven’t seen before.”
“What could it be?” Asked the ranger captain, his interest piqued.
“No way of telling without going down there,” replied the geologist. “Although I know for a fact dark matter provides irregular readings.
“If so then we’re rich,” laughed Wal. “Dark matter is the mother load as far as resources go. And if you’re right and we relay it back to the Confederation I doubt they’ll take eight years to get over here.”
“Let’s not get above ourselves, it may be nothing,” said Bel, her tone matter of fact. “But we need to investigate it all the same.”
“Are you sure about that?” Said Wal, uncertainly. “Orders are we’re not to undertake any deep investigation. I’ll have to run it past the Admiral.”
“The Admiral will say no,” muttered Bel contemptuously. “She’ll put it down to a dodgy reading and tell us to carry on starring at the ground. But I think we’re on to something here, Wal. This computer system is top notch. If it sees something it doesn’t understand that means something. I’m not going to miss out on this whilst Bratten Jorg muscles in on behalf of the engineers and claims all the glory for herself. And what if they send Jak back here instead of you? Do you really want him claiming all the glory for discovering dark matter?”
This swung it for Wal. He thought quickly. “I suppose if it could be dressed up as a geological necessity,” he said hopefully.
“Easily,” replied Fratia Bel with confidence, and she smiled.
“We have stopped for the day outside a group of caves. Spirits are good but everybody is very tired. Geology Officer Fratia Bel has decided to take the opportunity to take some measurements. She is also going to collect some rock samples in order to confirm their geological makeup and get an idea of conditions for possible mining. The cave entrance is thirty feet high by ten feet wide, more a crack in the earth really.”
The terrain was harsh and forbidding, for they seemed to be in the middle of a volcano range. The thermometer monitoring the outside temperature read forty degrees Celsius. Wal and his rangers stripped down to their shorts and vests in preparation for the heat outside. The rovers hovered a few feet in the air in their resting position as Wal and the others climbed out. The stench of sulphur was almost unbearable and the heat reached up from the ground to assault their skin. Within seconds everyone was sweating profusely. Fratia Bel approached the cave entrance and shone the flashlight into the darkness. “Interesting,” she mused.
“Look over here,” said Wal. He was standing a few metres away to the side of the cave entrance. “It is almost as if the ground has been stamped down by living feet.”
Fratia Bel came over and regarded the hard earth sceptically. “We’re near a fault line,” she said knowledgeably. “Volcanic activity in this area as well. Pressures in the earth, wind, that sort of thing might all explain it. Dark matter might explain it as well. Gravity doesn’t usually behave itself whenever that stuff is around.”
Up ahead there came a strange rumbling sound. Wal noticed lava that had dried but still looked quite fresh to him before looking doubtfully upwards towards the volcano that loomed overhead.
“Don’t worry,” laughed Bel, as though reading his mind. “It isn’t going to blow, not in twelve hours anyway.”
“Come along then,” muttered Wal. “If I’d known it was going to be like this I’d have given the whole thing a miss. Still, we might as well
“What kind of readings?” He asked her.
“Something that sends the instruments haywire,” she replied. “Something we haven’t seen before.”
“What could it be?” Asked the ranger captain, his interest piqued.
“No way of telling without going down there,” replied the geologist. “Although I know for a fact dark matter provides irregular readings.
“If so then we’re rich,” laughed Wal. “Dark matter is the mother load as far as resources go. And if you’re right and we relay it back to the Confederation I doubt they’ll take eight years to get over here.”
“Let’s not get above ourselves, it may be nothing,” said Bel, her tone matter of fact. “But we need to investigate it all the same.”
“Are you sure about that?” Said Wal, uncertainly. “Orders are we’re not to undertake any deep investigation. I’ll have to run it past the Admiral.”
“The Admiral will say no,” muttered Bel contemptuously. “She’ll put it down to a dodgy reading and tell us to carry on starring at the ground. But I think we’re on to something here, Wal. This computer system is top notch. If it sees something it doesn’t understand that means something. I’m not going to miss out on this whilst Bratten Jorg muscles in on behalf of the engineers and claims all the glory for herself. And what if they send Jak back here instead of you? Do you really want him claiming all the glory for discovering dark matter?”
This swung it for Wal. He thought quickly. “I suppose if it could be dressed up as a geological necessity,” he said hopefully.
“Easily,” replied Fratia Bel with confidence, and she smiled.
“We have stopped for the day outside a group of caves. Spirits are good but everybody is very tired. Geology Officer Fratia Bel has decided to take the opportunity to take some measurements. She is also going to collect some rock samples in order to confirm their geological makeup and get an idea of conditions for possible mining. The cave entrance is thirty feet high by ten feet wide, more a crack in the earth really.”
The terrain was harsh and forbidding, for they seemed to be in the middle of a volcano range. The thermometer monitoring the outside temperature read forty degrees Celsius. Wal and his rangers stripped down to their shorts and vests in preparation for the heat outside. The rovers hovered a few feet in the air in their resting position as Wal and the others climbed out. The stench of sulphur was almost unbearable and the heat reached up from the ground to assault their skin. Within seconds everyone was sweating profusely. Fratia Bel approached the cave entrance and shone the flashlight into the darkness. “Interesting,” she mused.
“Look over here,” said Wal. He was standing a few metres away to the side of the cave entrance. “It is almost as if the ground has been stamped down by living feet.”
Fratia Bel came over and regarded the hard earth sceptically. “We’re near a fault line,” she said knowledgeably. “Volcanic activity in this area as well. Pressures in the earth, wind, that sort of thing might all explain it. Dark matter might explain it as well. Gravity doesn’t usually behave itself whenever that stuff is around.”
Up ahead there came a strange rumbling sound. Wal noticed lava that had dried but still looked quite fresh to him before looking doubtfully upwards towards the volcano that loomed overhead.
“Don’t worry,” laughed Bel, as though reading his mind. “It isn’t going to blow, not in twelve hours anyway.”
“Come along then,” muttered Wal. “If I’d known it was going to be like this I’d have given the whole thing a miss. Still, we might as well
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