Prisoner of the Amulet

CHAPTER 2

Personal journal of geologist Sanomis Ti'nullaim, Ganiwarthal's exploratory mission on planet Dorull

-Entry 151-

Three weeks have passed since I transferred to Shteint. And still, we are idly sitting docked on Ganiwarthal. I really don't know what the hold up is all about, but I assume some of my scientist colleagues are to be blamed. Most likely due to having problems with all of the simultaneous demands for transfers of their equipment and research. I did the deed on my own, and still had the time to set up my lab. Twice.

I even answered Lieutenant Zharn's invitation. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the variety of entertainment on the promenade. Especially the holodeck facilities, which besides the standard training programs, also have a rather large catalogue of leisure programs. Lieutenant even showed me some of his work. I must say, for someone who claims to have learned the skill in his spare time, they were surprisingly well made. Vagyr appears to have the knowledge of someone who completed the specialization. And he probably knows even more so, because he had to learn it by himself.

***

Cavern in which Sanomis stumbled that morning, gave him the answers to the questions he was pondering about, for the past few weeks. And at the same time, gave him the excellent opportunity to collect a handful of various samples. Besides the rocky formations of limestone and granite, and the deposits of coal, iron, bauxite, silver and gold ores, the cave was abundant in clusters of colorful crystals and gemstones. For whatever reason, this spot was some sort of intersection of veins.

Sanomis never heard, let alone seen of such a thing. He wondered if his mother ever stumbled on something similar. Or any of her colleagues, geologists, with which she collaborated on planets all over the known universe. He wished he could ask for her advice right now. He'd love to hear her opinion about this place. Only trouble was, he had no idea where she was. Nor how to contact her. Last time Sanomis saw his mother was on the day of his graduation. And even then, she could not stay for long. She was heading on yet another mission.

Sanomis could only hope he would have an opportunity to show her this discovery. If this phenomenon even turns out to be a discovery. First he would have to present this to the chief explorer of the Dorull mission, Nharsia Santlev. Without her approval, any further exploration will stop immediately. And that was a reason to thoroughly catalogue every sample and document the entire process. Starting with the discovery of this cave. And Sanomis did just that, not sparing the details.

One detail particularly drew his attention, giving him an answer to the question on whether he was the first to discover this anomaly. He wasn't. Some humanoids, probably dwarves, most definitely visited this amazing place in the past. There was no doubt in that. How else would he explain the rather large pile of rocks, completely barricading one barely visible tunnel. This was not a natural collapse. Someone made a serious effort to close this passage. And Sanomis couldn't wait to find out why.

So he did, as soon as he secured the samples inside the designated compartments of his backpack. He proceeded by touching his right temple, booting up his processing unit. And then followed the contours of his cheek, to enable the virtual visor. Sanomis blinked twice, adjusting his eyes to the display. It was a necessity, seeing as the option menu, with every crucial program and subroutines loaded at that exact moment.

Besides universal addons, designed to keep vards safe and secured, Sanomis also had numerous programs installed specifically for his geological needs. Most of which he upgraded, or even made himself. He scrolled over the list, enabling the most needed ones. First the visual enhancer, followed by spectral analyzer, geochemical analyzer, and molecular and biochemical detector.