Harmony of matter and energy

The light at the end of the tunnel

While excavating the foundation of the new Taelon reactor in New York, something very unusual is discovered.

If it weren't for the decorations and the fact that the track had sleepers but no rails, he would have thought he was just in an ordinary New York subway station. One of those 1930s subways where everything was still made of granite and old, tarnished metal.

But here there was nothing dingy or even just old looking, instead it was as if the last shift of workers had just left and the station was ready to be unveiled.

The platform was all open, interrupted only by the columns which, together with the false columns on the tunnel walls, formed an arch over the track and a boundary for the various scenes. Those scenes were the reason he and Da'an were here now.

In each alcove was a different image, made up of hundreds of square shiny colored tiles the size of a child's palm. Similar marquetry could be seen in other subway stations, but these were different in what they depicted. They had Taelons on them, without a single doubt.

For example, the painting he was looking at right now was of a Taelon rendered in blues and purples, surrounded by a whitish glow, bending over a stylized bush of roses or similar flowers, fingers outstretched as if he were trying to touch them and yet not. Just the typical way that Taelons explored things around them, as if they could touch the invisible field around them.

In the previous alcove was a shuttle, with the same Taelon probably sitting at the controls. The next one had a representation of him in a swarm for a change, a golden branch in one hand and the other palm up, clutching some sort of golden orb - probably one of the handheld scanners the Taelons used. And on and on it went in a similar vein. In each niche, the Taelon was depicted with something typical of a certain important period in human history, until the last niche, which was the only one that was unfinished, but what little had been created... it was very reminiscent of the mothership.

If the station had indeed been built sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, as it appeared to be at first glance, it seemed to be a sort of prophecy of the arrival of the Taelons on Earth, as well as a depiction of the journey through history of one particular Taelon.

"Ma'el," he said quietly to himself.

No sooner had he spoken the name than he caught a flash of blue eyes as Da'an cast a quick glance at him. He had often forgotten that while Taelons did not have ears as such, their hearing was excellent. So Da'an not only heard him, but by the expression and the glint in his eyes, he thought the same.

"Our Companions are indebted to you for bringing this unique discovery to our attention, Mr. O'Reilly," Da'an turned back to the construction worker in charge of digging the foundation for the new Taelon reactor building, during which they had stumbled upon this strange subway station.

"So it's a matter of..." Shaking his head, O'Reilly looked up at the archway above the platform, which was largely filled with a deep red sky with purple stars, bordered by trees with blue bark and some kind of greenish tentacles for leaves. "Why is this station even here? And how the hell did they know anything about the Companions seventy years ago?"

"Those are very good questions that we would like to know the answer to as well," Da'an replied diplomatically, but firmly and in a tone that did not allow for further discussion on the subject.

However, O'Reilly also gave him an uncertain look before changing the direction of the conversation:

"You haven't seen the strangest thing yet," he said, striding towards the end of the platform.

Da'an followed him, Boone close on both their heels.

"The other three tunnels end after a few meters. One can see the end of them. Only this one stretches out somewhere further," O'Reilly explained what was so interesting about the tunnel he had led them to the mouth of.