The gateway control room, uncharted planet in the halo
‘You have a back door?’ Ed asked, turning to follow Pyriaeus’s gaze.
‘Call me paranoid,’ he said. ‘Because I remained mortal, I always ensured I had a means of escape. Unlike some of my colleagues, I couldn’t just download myself somewhere else if things got a bit dangerous.’
‘Well, why didn’t you use it at the time?’ asked Andy, pointing to the pile of bones.
‘I did, but the whole region was overrun with them. They were coming that way too. I had to backtrack into here again and seal myself in. I only had enough supplies to last a few days in here, so I came to the inevitable conclusion I had to upload myself like some of the others and wait until one or more of them came looking for me.’
‘Only they didn’t,’ said Andy.
‘No, but you did,’ he said, glancing at the pile of bones on the floor again. ‘Eventually.’
Ed walked over to the main console, opened the cabinet beneath and removed the larger data node, secreting it in a suit pocket.
‘Can we open that exit, or do you have to do it?’ Andy asked, while opening the other cabinet and nodding towards the back wall.
Pyriaeus turned and pointed at his skeleton.
‘Under me is a small hatch. Open it and turn the handle. Follow the passageway right to the end. You will find a blank wall. Again, in the floor there’s another similar hatch and handle. It operates a second spiral stairway, a much longer one as it takes you up to the basement of one of the main government buildings.’
‘There are no buildings left,’ said Ed.
‘Then we need to hope it’s not blocked,’ Pyriaeus admitted, ensuring deliberate eye contact with both of them.
Ed and Andy both nodded to recognise they both understood the situation.
He went on to say, ‘I hope they haven’t found your lander either.’
‘Cleo will have kept it safe,’ said Andy, giving Ed an optimistic glance.
‘She would have,’ Ed replied, moving over and bending down to peer into the cabinet that Andy had opened. ‘Are you ready, Pyriaeus?’
‘I am, good luck gentlemen,’ the Ancient replied, his hologram fading away.
Ed removed the two nodes and secured them safely within his suit. Andy picked up one of the bones as he pushed the rest of the skeleton to one side with his boot. The skull, still with some sort of weird helmet attached, rolled away and bumped into the wall with a crack.
‘Oops, sorry,’ muttered Andy, glancing back to where Pyriaeus had been only seconds ago.
Ed stooped down and brushed the dust away from the small hatch with a glove. It was jammed shut, so he stomped on it a couple of times and managed to prise it open with his rifle.
The handle turned clockwise smoothly. At first nothing happened until a deep rumble within the wall caused them to step back. Six of the large stone blocks sank inwards before swinging away like a door. They both brought their rifles up and peered through, reigniting the weapon lights. Sure enough, just as Pyriaeus had promised, a narrow corridor led away into complete darkness.
Squeezing through the small gap, they crouched down and began down the low claustrophobic passage. It went on and on, bullet straight into the black. The air smelt ancient and stale, reminding Ed of castle visits in his childhood.
‘I don’t like this much,’ murmured Andy, close behind him.
‘I agree,’ said Ed, gloomily. ‘I’ve had more enjoyable nightmares.’
‘What do we do if it’s blocked or the staircase fails?’
‘Buggered if I know,’ replied Ed. ‘Perhaps wait and see if the bugs get bored and piss off I suppose.’
‘Hopefully before we suffocate to death.’
‘You really are all gloom and doom today aren’t you?’
‘Of all the recognised outdoor pursuits, potholing is decidedly bottom of my list. After all, you’re already buried.’
The end of the passage appeared suddenly ahead.
This time Ed could see the little hatch, it opened easily and the handle turned, albeit reluctantly. The end wall dropped downwards without warning, causing them both to jump back in surprise.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ exclaimed Andy. ‘Couldn’t he have put a warning sign up or something?’
Ed wasn’t listening, he was already moving forward and shining his light up the curving stairway beyond.
‘You coming or staying to bellyache some more?’ Ed asked.
‘Show me the way, illustrious leader,’ Andy replied, as he pushed up close behind. ‘It’s well past beer o’clock anyway.’
Ed glanced back, putting his finger against his visor in a shushing gesture. He listened first and, once satisfied there were no bugs rattling around just above, he began the climb back towards the surface.
As they climbed, Ed noticed the dust got thicker and thicker, until, as they had done on the descent earlier, they had to scrape the treads clear for each foothold. The dust was extremely powdery and puffed up around them, restricting visibility even more in the darkness.
Finally, after climbing for several minutes a glimmer of light above raised their spirits. Underfoot the dust gradually became gravelly and then lumps of rock increasing in size, before becoming small boulders. They began climbing over ever bigger debris that was now discernible as building detritus.
‘The remains of the government building,’ said Ed, squinting in the half light. ‘Turn your light off, we don’t want to make it easy for them.’
It had got dark while they were underground, but the glimmer of light available piercing the rubble was just enough to see by. When Ed finally scrambled up into clear space, he realised the illumination was from one of the planet’s moons hanging overhead. He watched and noticed it was visibly moving across the sky.
‘We need to get a wriggle on,’ he said. ‘That moon’s going to be over the horizon in minutes and then it’ll be pitch black.’
‘Edward, don’t move,’ said a familiar voice in his ear.
‘Hello, Cleo,’ he replied. ‘Are there bugs about?’
‘Just a few,’ she said.
No sooner had she said it, when the muffled clatter of bug feet in dust reached his ears. His eyes were becoming more accustomed to the low light now and he realised they were actually about four metres above the surface. The building had collapsed and they’d climbed up to the top of the remaining pile. He slowly moved his head to the left as movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention.
‘Oh, shit,’ Andy whispered, as he too witnessed the sea of bugs swarming around below them. ‘They must’ve found the ship, they’re everywhere.’
‘I got it up and out the way,’ said Cleo. ‘Hold fire while I get it over to you. Be ready to jump.’
They did as they were told and kept their heads down. A minute later the sound of antigravs had them scouring the heavens above. They knew Cleo would keep the Cartella cloaked and its shields up until the last minute. Bracing themselves, they both prepared to jump up on top of the rubble as the scream of the motors neared.
The Cartella materialised about fifty metres away on their right-hand side. It began side-slipping in towards them, its airlock powering open. Ed stood and clambered out, closely followed by Andy.
Suddenly, something low and fast zipped past them and hit the ship near the open airlock. Cleo had already dropped the shields to allow them entry, so the projectile pierced the hull and as they looked on in complete shock the Cartella exploded.
Ed could see the expression of horror on Andy’s face and knew his wouldn’t be any different. They had to duck back down as hot debris showered down around them. Due to the lack of oxygen there was no fire, but Ed could feel the heat of the blast as it swept over them. The main hulk of the ship was luckily blown away from them and crashed down amongst the sea of bugs below who instantly began swarming over it.