Orion instinctively took his medallion from under the light, durable fabric of his jacket. He fingered it for a few seconds then gazed fully on it in the light of the projector. It was still there – the feeling of hope, the connection to an alien ship far above, in the asteroid belt. The Antarion. He hoped they were aware of them, entombed as they were between two mechanic fields and a scrap metal barge.
But there was still an exit: the way they had entered. They could return. The Elen Tron would be waiting for them. Orion looked to his left at their only other source of light – a haze of artificial luminescence between jagged metal. He had a chance to retreat – they had a chance to call this off and let the aliens deal with it – allow Destiny to make of their world what it would. Orion replaced his pendant and drew in a deep breath. Destiny, Arthur had told them, is a choice.
"What does the reference number mean," Jenna asked? "JT-16. We've never seen a reference number on a projection before."
"I don't know," Celli responded, "it could be a passage or a gate or something."
Orion activated the searchbeam strapped to his forearm. It penetrated only twenty meters into the field, being obstructed by debris. The others watched with him, observing what they could of their eerie surroundings. Orion took the first step. They began gingerly picking their way through the lost museum of ancient technology, feeling that at any moment something might spring out at them from behind an engine or a transport or a droid. Nothing did. There was no indication of life. They were alone here.
After fifteen mec-tah Celli stopped dead and called in a stage whisper. "Look!" Her searchbeam was trained on a door to the right. The door was set into a small structure just three meters square, and on the door was painted in white: 'JT-23'. They stood, staring at it in silence. Water dripped from somewhere above and splashed rhythmically onto the roof of the structure then made its way down the metal frame where a reddish-brown streak attested to its many years of regularity.
"It's a sub-level access door," Fel said.
"Below this level?" Jenna hoped it wasn't true.
Fel nodded. "Not whole levels like this one, but service tunnels and things like that." They all hoped they would not be required to descend further underground. "So," Fel continued, "we just follow the trail till we find number sixteen. It should be straight ahead; that's what the projector showed." It seemed simple, but the further they went from their exit the more claustrophobic they felt. The deeper they plunged into the forgotten underbelly of the com zone the more dream-like the Antarious seemed. They hadn't perceived it yet, but it was already taking a toll on them.
***
After more than an hour of searching they found the door they were looking for. They could make out the faded 'JT-16' in white paint on the front.
"Look!" Celli said, directing her beam to the floor at the corner of the building. They all saw it clearly – "Footprints! Somebody's been here recently."
"Yea, but where did they go?" asked Orion. "I only see two footprints."
Celli was already looking for clues. "Up there," she said pointing to the burned-out frame of an old transport, "he climbed up there and... then jumped to that one over there. Then he probably took that service conveyer, he must have it working, he could be at the docks in ten mec-tah." Orion had to admire Celli's logic.
"So, do you think these are the Chiefs?" Fel asked.
"I really don't think it could be anyone else," Orion hoped, "but this is our next position so..."
"Let's do it," Jenna said, eager to move ahead. She sensed her primal fears beginning to constrict her will. "Either we trust the projection or we don't."
Fel took the lead this time. He reached for the handle which turned easily. "They must use this quite often. I wonder how many points of entry they have?"
There was a stairway which led further underground in a square pattern. They shone their beams into the darkness below but couldn't detect the bottom.
Without a word they began descending, slowly at first, then more quickly as they found their rhythm. A minute later they found themselves at a dead end, deep underground. The stairs ended for no apparent reason. They searched the walls. Nothing.
"Well," Orion's voice echoed through the stairwell, "I guess we missed something. This has to be the right entrance," he looked around at the others. Maybe there was a door we missed on the way down."
They started slowly back up the stairs searching the walls for clues. Two minutes later they found what they were looking for. It was a small service door which looked as if it were designed for a child's playhouse. Fel automatically activated the projector. There was no new reading.
"Only one way to find out," Orion muttered. He turned the handle and pushed the door inwards. They felt a draught blow towards them bringing with it an earthy mineral smell. Orion aimed his searchbeam and saw the outlines of a small room mostly filled with medium sized pipes which ran through vertically, from ceiling to floor. There were ancient monitoring panels with dials and levers. He saw the skeletal remains of a small animal in one corner. Probably a hiebra-luren.
He crouched through the small opening, searching for an exit. "There's a way through over here," he called back in a whisper. He began walking slowly through the narrow tunnel while the others climbed in. After a few meters it opened up into a large service passage leading in two directions.
"Well, this is a little better," Fel said hopefully, "let's see what we got now." He activated the projector. "Positive direction!" he smiled, exhaling with relief. They gazed in unison at the hologram which indicated a right turn. They began their walk through the serviceway in higher spirits.
"I think we have to go quite a way," Fel said; "probably to the edge of the field, from what I can tell." After walking down the decaying passageway for over twenty minutes it made a curve to the left. Before them was a high wall made of mineral panels. They observed it with irritation. Fel shook his head, "It has to be further." He activated the hologram again to confirm. It clearly showed the path continuing for at least three hundred meters to their fourth position.
"Maybe there's a secret door," Celli offered, "let's look around."
Their search was fruitless.
"There's got to be something," she said, feeling frustrated and afraid. "I thought the projector would lead us to it."
"You don't think the projector indication could be wrong, do you?" Orion asked.
Fel remained silently holding the projector in his hand, considering what Orion had said. "The Antarion said we should be able to figure it out without much problem. I just don't get it."
"They're Antarion," Orion quipped, "Their version of 'without much problem' is not like our version of 'without much problem.'"
Celli frowned at Orion and raised her eyebrows.
"Now would be a good time to establish a relay" Orion murmured mostly to himself, but they knew that at this point the Antarion would only help them if they deemed it necessary, and they hadn't come to their aid yet. Maybe they don't see us clearly down here. Maybe there's too much interference.
They all stood staring at the wall in front of them in silence wondering how help would come – if it would come. They could always go back – if all else failed.
"Let's use the detection technique." Jenna suggested.
The others nodded. There wasn't a better option at the moment and none of them had used the technique except in practice. It was becoming more difficult to use the Antarion techniques here; they seemed inadequate and complicated – almost clumsy – not like it was on the Antarious; there it was as natural as breathing. Still, they consented and split up and searched the walls of the tunnel for any hidden doors using a mental sensor technique taught to them by their trainers.
Jenna's breathing had become shallow. She felt panic expanding inside her. "I feel like these walls are going to close in on me." Jenna had spent her whole life in the open air, under the sky; Hanthran and the moons and stars always visible. Being so far underground was taking its toll.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times in an attempt to steady her nerves. "I'm going to try for a relay, we really are trapped here." She hated the fact that she had said it out loud, but she couldn't have helped it. The Four Ophilion stood quietly, hoping that someone would send a relay, something to help them arrive at their next position.
They all felt the oppressive weight of Kypro above them. This far underground, everything the Antarion had told them seemed less likely to be true, and everything they had experienced in the asteroid belt seemed distant, dreamlike. Even their mission seemed less relevant now.
The utter silence of the wide dark corridor was stifling. There was no echo, and their searchbeams illuminated only a small area. The underground seemed to absorb sound and light.
Suddenly, they heard something behind them. They turned in unison, their search-beams all trained on the source of the strange noise. A small hiebra-luren stood frozen in the unexpected brightness. The four Ophilion were as motionless as the luren, their hearts beating wildly.
"It's just a luren," Orion whispered, starting to breathe again. "I thought it was a..." he didn't finish his sentence.
The luren, recovering from its shock, wiggled its whiskers then dashed down the service way toward the dead end, darting past them as they followed it with their search-beams. The luren then stopped and turned to look at them. It stood on its back legs and made a series of squeaks and warbles that sounded like communication.
Orion's dream flashed back to him as well as Arthur's face and he remembered what he had asked him about these subterranean creatures. They watched as the luren repeated the same sounds again; then it scampered the rest of the way to the dead end and disappeared into a hole at the base of the wall.
Orion quickly set off after the luren. The others looked at each other, puzzled, and followed him. They came to the place where the luren had disappeared. Orion bent down and felt around the hole and noticed a line in the wall which they had missed in their former search. Following it with his searchbeam he found a small hidden latch. He fumbled with it for a moment before it gave way. He looked back at the others then pulled on the latch. A door slid out a few centimeters, then stopped. "Maybe there's another latch," he whispered.
Fel searched higher up on the door. "I found one!"
"Let's pull together."
The small door slid half way open and stopped again.
"Enough to get through," Orion said. "Who would have thought... a luren!"
The tunnel they entered was small, like the first one after the room with the pipes and the skeleton. It took them west for two hundred fifty meters and ended at a small door. There was no sign of the luren.
"I sure hope this one opens," Orion said; "these guys keep themselves well hidden." He tried the handle, which turned easily. Bright light flooded the tunnel. Orion quickly shut the door. "Whoa! What was that? I guess this is it!"
"Did you see anyone?" Celli asked.
"No, I didn't see anything."
"Just take a peak," Fel suggested, "see what's out there."
Orion slowly cracked the door open. It took a few seconds for his eye to adjust to the bright light. "It's a service way," he whispered back. "It's well used, but I don't see anybody." He closed the door. "Let's check."
Fel activated the projector. They all huddled around as the hologram sprang to life. The red dots showed a line from their position, down the corridor to the right, then left at the next intersection and ended at what they assumed was a door to a room.
"What's that?" Celli said.
They could see two green dots moving in their direction. They waited.
"Could be people," Fel said.
"They're getting pretty close; what do we do?"
Orion shook his head.
"Just take a look," Fel suggested.
Orion slowly opened the door a crack then slowly closed it again. He placed his finger to his lips. The others remained still. They could hear muffled footsteps passing their position.
"They looked like guards," Orion whispered.
The diagram showed the green dots moving further down the passage and eventually off the projector image. They looked at each other. "This is probably the best time," Celli said, "if they were guards it's unlikely they'll pass our position again soon. We only need a couple of mec-tah to get to our new target."
The others nodded. They were eager to leave the dark tunnels behind and return to some form of civilization. Orion opened the door and they carefully stepped into the corridor. Following the hologram, they made their way towards their target. As they turned left, the two green dots appeared back on the display.