Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 43 - Company

Aron had spent four hours after lunch opening up the cat E.V.A. suit, working out its systems and taking measurements. He found it mildly surprising that the cat helmet also featured a display projected on the inside of its visor, but was considerably more surprised when he discovered that the legs were around forty-centimetres shorter on the inside than they were on the outside.

Further investigation revealed an exoskeleton system from the waistline down to powerful actuators below where the cat creature's feet would rest. The mechanism was very slim and brilliantly integrated into the structure of the suit. Weirdly, he could not find any matching assistance in the upper half. It appeared that the cat E.V.A. suit would assist mobility but nothing more.

It had only taken a few minutes to work out how to switch the suit on, causing the exterior lights and visor display to activate, but he still had not got the leg mechanism to work. Just moving the feet positions from the inside did nothing. His assumption that pressure sensors would drive the mechanism was wrong.

He had successfully detached the life-support pack from the back of the suit and placed it on the end of the trestle table when the communication system in the laboratory bonged for his attention.

"Can you meet me by the remaining buggy?" came Ekono's deep voice.

"Sure. Why?"

"Megan wants me to take you to the crystal hologram room."

"That seems...unlikely," he chuckled.

"Isa's team have not returned," said Ekono, almost worryingly calmly.

"When were they due back?"

"One and a half hours ago."

"That's not good. Why me? Megan said I'm not going on any expeditions for a while!"

"It could just be that something is wrong with their buggy or they are having difficulty opening one of the doors in this place. In either case, your expertise may be invaluable."

* * *

"This is the one," Aron announced as they pulled up at the door to the crystal hologram room.

"The door is already open!" replied Ekono, dropping neatly off the buggy the moment it stopped. Holding his sidearm ready, he jogged to the edge of the door and peered inside.

Aron switched off the two-seater buggy and joined him as quickly as he could. For this expedition, he had been issued with one of the L.E.O. handguns, complete with armour-piercing ammunition. The more serious weapon made him feel a strange combination of more secure yet more at risk.

"I can see the lights from our other buggy in there, but no activity," Ekono reported.

"I've got a data connection on the radio to L.E.O. Cohen but his bio-sensor data is blank. There's no connection to Isa or Margaux at all!"

"Okay, moving into the room," Ekono announced. "Stay behind me. Be ready to leave immediately if I say so."

"Will do," Aron replied, trying his best to sound business-like, hoping that would hide his nerves.

Ekono advanced quickly into the mostly dark chamber, sweeping his suit lights around quickly to establish what was present. Aron followed directly behind him at first but then veered off towards the four-seater buggy parked at forty-five degrees to the wall to the right of the doorway. He realised immediately that it was oddly positioned; too close to the wall to be able to reach the doorway without reversing first.

As he got closer, he discovered that the passenger-side headlamp, the one nearest the wall was damaged and only emitting a fraction of the light it should. That was when the crushing realisation hit him that the buggy was not parked. It had crashed into the wall, apparently caving in the left wing before coming to a halt.