Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Ancients

Sevenday 32, Day 4

A driana was eager for the day’s adventure. Delicate muscles were pleasantly tender from the night’s activities and there was nothing like fresh clothes to make camping a joy rather than a trial.

Bran was waiting outside the DOP-C, his pack on his shoulders. “Ready?”

Adding sunshades to protect her eyes, she nodded. “Where is Blue?”

A white blur darted from the heather with her muzzle open in a doggy smile. Adriana smiled at Bran. “I guess we are ready.”

With a deft motion, he sealed the DOP-C and they set out for the pack den. Within fifty paces, it became clear that Blue had another destination. Instead of northwest, they were heading almost due west toward the mountains.

Bran slowed. “Adriana?”

Matching his pace, she checked the topography map. “It appears safe enough. Almost flat with no fissures or other hazards. The grassland eventually gives way to an arid region and then there are some rocky slopes and the mountains.”

“What of the Star Bred terriers?”

Halting, she compared their position to the pack den. “If we stay in this direction we can loop back toward the den at midday. There will be more than sufficient bells to set monitors and trackers before dark.”

Twenty paces ahead, Blue barked.

Bran chuckled. “She is a determined little thing.”

“Terrier character trait,” Adriana replied. “Clever, willful, and loyal.”

Bran gave her a quick kiss. “Well that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

Bran strode away, following Blue. “Why the terriers are drawn to you. Like to like.”

Laughing, she followed, pleased more by his teasing than the compliment. The taciturn free-trader of a year gone was turning out to be charming as well as attractive.

A period later, the plains ended in a shallow ledge that dropped half a dozen feet to an arid area of scrub and stones. Blue veered north, following the ledge.

Adriana frowned at the topography map and made a note. “This is the challenge of high-altitude surveys. This ledge was invisible.”

“One of the reasons we do the low-altitude grid maps before allowing ground teams,” Bran said. “If it were not for Blue, it would have been easy to step out into empty space. I do not relish a sprained or broken ankle.”

Frowning at the device, she projected Blue’s path. “This is interesting. I think she is bringing us behind the pack den.”

Bran peered at the device. “The geologists have not made notes.”

“A tangle of stone at the edge of a forest?” She shrugged. “Not really noteworthy.”

He scanned the area beyond the ledge. “Maybe a dried riverbed. I wonder if this area is prone to flash flooding?”

“That scrub looks more than a season old, but it is barren in the center. Maybe the water only rises this high on occasion.” She turned her attention to following Blue. “If there are flash floods, this ledge probably marks the maximum depth.”

“Sinead’s stealth.” Bran had not moved, the distant viewer focused on the mountain range. “The forest is anomalous, but mayhap.” He pivoted toward the south then took a deep breath. “It has the markers.”

He dropped the viewer, excitement radiating from him. “We need to return to the DOP-C and contact Nickolas.”

“Why? What it is it?”

“I cannot be certain; it could be.” He gestured toward the mountains. “Nickolas probably caught a glimpse when he was bringing our repair equipment.”

She snatched at his forearm. “You are making no sense. What do you think is in that old riverbed?”

He cupped her face with his free hand. “The markers are here. Plains, a long stretch without vegetation. Mountains. The forest is odd, but the plains are huge.”

A Nightingale tutorial flashed through her memory. The ultimate goal of Bright Star. The most valuable and scarce substance in the galaxy. Eight centuries since the last deposit was discovered. “Vistrite?”

***

The sleek scarlet flyer skimmed the mountains and descended to the riverbed, its flight path curving south until it disappeared. Even with the distance-viewer, Bran could not keep it in sight. “What does the topography show? How far does this arid strip run?”

Adriana was quiet for a moment, adjusting the device. “One-hundred-twenty miles. It ends at the mouth of that bay. The one that feeds the river down to Socraide’s ocean.”

“Luck of the First Warrior.”

“What say you?”

“Monsignor Lucius.” Bran lowered the viewer. It would be at least a quarter period before Nickolas returned. “Not only did he originate Bright Star and the discovery of the first new system in two centuries, but he has also discovered the first vistrite deposit in eight.”

“That assumes this is vistrite.”

“It would explain the Star Bred terriers. Or at least that we found them here.”

Adriana glanced down at Blue. Sprawled in the grass, she lifted her head under Adriana’s regard. “True enough. Vistrite was as important to the ancients as it is to us.”

A dark speck appeared against the horizon. Bran lifted the viewer, and it became a scarlet dot. “Nickolas.”

Adriana inhaled sharply. The dot grew into the sleek flyer. It passed them before it ascended and executed a perfect barrel roll. Bran whooshed out a cheer echoed by Adriana. “Vistrite! We have found Vistrite!”

Sevenday 32, Day 6

Adriana sipped tea, enjoying the morning cool and the quiet of the camp that had been set up to accommodate the geologists. In the day and half since Nickolas confirmed the vistrite deposit, her camping expedition with Bran had morphed into a full geological survey of the arid strip of land running toward the bay. Within a bell of Nickolas’ flight, Bran had flown them to the ledge, a hundred meters south of the Star Bred terrier woods. Another DOP-C had landed with the lead geologist, two of her assistants, and a militia guard. Nickolas had brought a second guard before using the flyer to ferry the geologists from one end of the riverbed to the other. He returned the next day and continued the effort before returning to the Nightingale .

In between the two DOP-Cs, they had erected a tent with seating and camp cookers. The sides were raised to catch the breeze but would drop to enclose the tent in inclement weather. At the early bell, Adriana was alone with Blue, enjoying the view of the mountains.

The arrival of so many additional crew members meant a loss of privacy. Sleeping next to Bran lacked its former intimacy, what with a geologist snoring in the second bed. Nor had she retained Bran’s undivided attention.

Before the geologists arrived, Bran assisted her with the monitors at the pack area. Once the new arrivals had made camp, Bran’s duty was to the vistrite. But he had not ignored the requirements of her duty, assigning her a militia guard. Accompanied by the guard, she had managed to implant Blue’s pack with trackers and collect enough samples to keep zoology and botany occupied for a sevenday.

For truth, in the past sevenday, Bran had proven more supportive and committed to her than Evander had managed in seven years. Despite his misgivings, Bran had supported her exploration after the crash. He defended her accidental acquisition of Blue to Captain Raleigh. He even let Adriana’s pet nestle in his favorite throw. Without the need to protect Blue, he might not have invited them to his quarters that night, and they might never have shared the revelations that made their growing intimacy possible. Adriana joined the Nightingale to run away from failure, but what she had found was even more wonderful than vistrite.

Bran emerged from the DOP-C, his eyes brightening at the sight of tea and a morning meal waiting for him. They would have a few minutes alone before the rest of the camp woke. He nodded at the monitor device in her hand as he lifted his cup. “Anything of note?”

“Blue’s pack appears to claim a twenty-mile area from the ledge to a few meters beyond where she found me that first night.”

“Is that important?”

“Interesting. Had we crashed a mile further east, we might not have met Blue.”

He reached down to pet the dog. “Monsignor Lucius is not the only one with Luck of the First.”

She nodded. “Without Blue and that snake, we might yet be seeking our saboteurs.”

All humor fled; he straightened, his hands reaching for her. “Without Blue, that snake might have been your death. I will protect her with all I have.”

His intense expression and embrace were as clear as if it were spoken; he referred to Adriana as well as Blue. Taking a deep breath, she let her emotions show on her face. “Without Blue, I might still be more focused on the First System than the Thirteenth. Where we came from rather than where we are.”

His eyes lit up. “Where we are is a bit crowded. I will be glad to get back to the Nightingale where I can have you to myself.”

Warmth flooded her at the promise, and she found herself smiling. “I will need to forage for Blue before we leave. Do you think Captain Raleigh will allow her to run in the hydroponic garden? She will need the exercise, and I cannot think of another area where she will not be in the way.”

“I am certain he will agree, but you can ask him yourself. He will be here by midday.”

The captain’s short, coded alert to headquarters reached the beaconed expanse within a half day of Nickolas’ flight. By last eve, the Nightingale command crew had been inundated with requests for data. The geologists would have a preliminary assessment ready by midday, and the captain wished to inspect the site in person before responding.

“That will give me sufficient bells to set a monitor on the ledge side of the pack’s den.”

“I will accompany you.”

***

Bran regretted how quickly they made the trek to the stones. Between the DOP-C’s new location and the lack of sample equipment, it was not even a half period before they reached their destination.

Adriana stared up at the pile of rocks. “Odd, it did not seem so tall from the other side.”

“The pool probably hides some of the height,” he replied. “Where do you want to place the monitor?”

She looked north and then toward the vistrite deposit where a lone geologist was planting a marker. “The terriers do not seem to go past the ledge, but they do range both north and south.” She turned back to the tumble of rocks. “It we set it between those two stones, near the top, it will get visuals in one hundred twenty degrees.”

“Is that enough?”

“It must be. When I return, I can bring more monitors and cover the full range.” She shrugged out of her pack. “This will not be difficult. The rocks are almost stairs.”

Bran watched her clamber up, followed by Blue. The little terrier was insatiably curious and committed to following Adriana wherever she went. Bran looked more closely at the rocks. On the far side of the rocks, where the den and pool were located, the stones were covered with moss and lichen. Here, exposed to the wind, the rocks were scoured clean—save for a few resilient weeds sprouting in cracks that had filled with dirt. He gave the nearest weed an experimental tug. It pulled free, carrying away dirt and revealing surprisingly sharp edges.

Adriana dropped next to him. “What are you looking at?”

“Does this edge seem unnatural to you?”

She followed his gesture, peering at the gap left by the weed. “Could have whatever tumbled these rocks sheered an edge?”

“Mayhap.” He turned back toward the deposit where the geologist was climbing into a survey cart. Unlike the zoologists and botanists who covered relatively narrow sections of terrain at a time, the geologists could range for miles. The lightweight carts collapsed to fit in the passenger space of a flyer. Before the DOP-Cs, it had required half of the flyers to drop a geological team on the planet’s surface. Raising his arm, Bran gave a shout. The man looked up but did not turn. Bran waved and shouted again, this time catching the geologist’s attention. “We will ask an expert.”

Leaving the cart at the base of the ledge, the geologist used the seat as a step and, with a hand up from Bran, joined them by the rocks. “What can I do for you, Commander?”

“What do you think of these stones? Are they natural?”

The man’s lips twisted in amusement, but he obediently turned to examine the rocks. His smile fading, he ran his fingers over a surface. Expression intent, he replaced his sunshades with geologist goggles. Bracing his hand on the stones, he moved from one side to another and then lifted his head, examining the higher rocks. “Mulan’s mercy.”

“What say you?”

The man turned, lifting the goggles. “Commander, this is crevasse stone.”

“There is vistrite under these rocks?” It defied everything Bran knew about vistrite deposits.

“No. These stones were quarried. Pulled from the deposit and dumped here.” He gestured toward the marker he had set. “I may even know where. The deposit is closer to the surface there than anywhere else.”

Adriana looked at the marker. “Why does that make you think this stone was quarried there?”

“We only have the records from Desperation Crevasse to go on, but from surface to the first crystals was between fifty and sixty meters. Down by the camp it is that depth, and at our other sample sites all the way to end. Here it is not more than five meters. I was about to trace the length of the shallow section when the commander shouted.”

“Why dump the stones here?”

He shrugged. “We must put the stone somewhere. And it is ideal for building. In Crevasse City, almost every building uses it. Some of those have foundations that predate the Anarchy.”

***

Adriana hastened to keep pace with Raleigh, Bran, and the lead geologist as they walked the twelve meters along the ancients’ excavation.

Bracing hands on hips, Raleigh stared south toward the far end of the deposit. “Why so short? Why here?”

Bran followed the captain’s gaze. “They cannot have intended a settlement?”

Confused, Adriana asked, “Why not? There is plenty of game. Fresh water in the woods.”

The master geologist shook her head. “Those woods are part of the reason. Even thirteen hundred years ago they were extensive. At the other end of the deposit there is naught but plains and a freshwater bay. A far better location for a stellar transport site and the city that will grow up around the crevasse.”

Adriana glanced back at the stones marking the pack den. A city would not be good for the terriers.

Raleigh frowned at the marker. “They must have had a reason.”

Adriana half closed her eyes, trying to imagine the area thirteen hundred years ago. Or more. “We keep dating the ancients’ last days on this planet to the start of the Anarchy. But there is no foundation for that. Ancients’ artifacts dating back two millennia were found on Rimon Deuce. Scholars suspect they existed centuries before that.”

“You think this trench is two thousand years old?”

“Or more.” She looked down at her feet. “I recall the visuals from the Rimon Deuce site. It was fascinating. The remnants of buildings were found six and seven meters down. Buried by time.”

Raleigh turned to the geologist. “Could Adriana have the answer? They dug to the deposit for samples?”

“Mayhap,” she replied, drawing out the word. Her gaze went to the ledge and then the mountains. “We are at the tip of the crevasse. From this point, the deposit separates. Another five meters and there is a ten-foot gap between the two seams. Within a mile there is a five-hundred-meter gap. The gap reaches four miles at the halfway mark before narrowing to connect again at one-hundred-three miles.”

“That still does not answer why not excavate at the other end, near the bay?”

“Cyclops slop.” Bran slammed a fist into his palm. “Of course.”

Ignoring the geologist’s gasp at Bran’s vulgarity, Raleigh snorted. “What?”

Bran grinned at his friend and partner. “Opportunity canyon on Redemption. The river is long gone; only the lake remains.”

Raleigh laughed. “Two thousand years or more.”

The geologist frowned. “I do not understand.”

Neither did Adriana and she was glad the other woman asked.

“Opportunity is a massive canyon cut by a river at some point in the distant past. The river is gone, but it retains a lake at its far end. One that was once much bigger.”

Of course. Adriana had had half the answer. While time had buried the ancients’ excavation, it had also altered the topography at the far end of the deposit. During the ancients’ time, that bay could have covered part of the seam.

The geologist’s eyes widened. “I should have thought . . . The ancients’ terraforming was far beyond ours. If the other end of the vistrite seam was under water, they would have found a way to reveal it.”

Raleigh nodded. “They probably left, intending to return when the vistrite was fully exposed.”

Anger lit Adriana’s heart. “And left their dogs behind.”

Bran squeezed her shoulder. “Not necessarily. If Blooded Dagger needed to wait to settle Deuce, the cartouche would leave an outpost. In the ancients’ time, while the planet was terraforming, they would need supplies.”

Adriana’s anger faded, replaced by compassion. “The Anarchy took hold and there were no more supply transports. The ancients were unable to adapt, but the terriers fared better.”

“It seems the most likely explanation.”

Raleigh turned to the geologist. “What think you? Relocate to the other end?”

“That is where excavation needs to start.” Hands on her hips, the woman faced south, oozing satisfaction. “The third-largest crevasse in the Thirteen Systems. Longer than Desperation Crevasse by three miles. The Nightingale ’s bonus will be outstanding.”

Sevenday 32, Day 7

Bran could feel excitement rushing through every member of the command crew. Even those not on duty had gathered on the bridge to hear the Bright Star governors’ response to the vistrite discovery.

Raleigh rose from his chair, slate in hand. “Bran, if you please.”

Nodding, Bran configured the communications systems to relay Raleigh’s image and voice to every corner of the Nightingale .

Raleigh lifted his slate. “The Bright Star governors commend the crew of the Nightingale on an accomplishment that will benefit all within the Thirteen Systems.”

Bran could feel his shoulders square with pride.

Raleigh’s teeth flashed in a smile. “They have also confirmed our bonus. In addition to the lump-sum honor payment, we—or our heirs—will receive royalties on the first decade of vistrite extraction.”

It was a warrior’s ransom for the command crew. Enough for lifetime financial security for even the most junior crew member. Lochan was the first to break the silence with a resounding, “Bright Star!”

Bran answered with, “ Nightingale! ”

Soon another fifteen voices joined in, filling the chamber with exuberant thunder. Tapping his console, Bran set it to receive communications and the cheers reached deafening proportions. Raleigh allowed it for a few breaths before signaling silence.

Whatever divisions may have existed when the DOP-C crashed, Bran was certain that the Nightingale crew was fully united.

Raleigh clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin. “We remain behind schedule. It is more imperative than ever that we recover the lost sevendays. It will be difficult. Of our three DOP-Cs, one is assigned to the geology team surveying the crevasse. That will leave the rest of the planet exploratory teams with two DOP-Cs until the flyers complete planetary grid mapping. Bright Star and the Thirteen Systems cannot wait. We cannot mine vistrite without settlers to provide support to the miners. We cannot land settlers without reliable surveys and maps.”

***

Bran reclined in the corner of the sofa, one arm curled around Adriana. Beyond his cabin window the planet was half in shadow, the dark blue smear of the mountain range disappearing into blackness. Pulling her stockinged feet onto the cushions, she settled against his chest. At the other end of the sofa, Blue was slowly blending with the green-and-blue pattern of the throw she had claimed.

Resting his chin on her curls, Bran sought a means to broach his intent. “How long do you think it will take to finish the ground surveys of the plains?”

“No more than a sevenday. With what we sampled from the crash, another two days on the ground should complete the catalog to the extent needed for settler decisions.” She threaded her fingers with his. “I plan to petition the first officer for militia support to set monitors in the forest. It is huge, and, for the moment, not desirable for settlement. Visual records should suffice until we have more opportunity.”

“I think you can rest assured your petition will be granted.” He took a breath. “As named members of the vistrite discovery team, our added honor bonus is astronomical. Combined, we can purchase Blue’s pack territory and whatever buffer zone you consider wise with the proximity to vistrite.”

He felt her stiffen. In the Thirteen Systems, comingling assets was far more intimate than physical congress. It was not a consort alliance, or wedlock, but it was a commitment to a future beyond the next sunrise.

Her fingers squeezed his. “Yes. And, once I have a better understanding of the area, it might serve as a nature retreat. A quiet place when commerce has taken too much from us.”

His heart lifted at that us , even with it spoken so tentatively. He wanted to push but, he had waited this long, he could tread softly a bit longer. “Raleigh expects that instead of allowing the Nightingale to return to Fortuna for resupply, Monsignor Lucius and the other Bright Star governors will accelerate the timetable for allowing supply transports to the Thirteenth system. It may be a half year before we return to the beaconed expanse.”

“I am not surprised. Finding vistrite changes everything. They will need a stellar transport platform for the excavation equipment. Even a small one will take at least a month to assemble once the components arrive.”

“It does not trouble you to remain in the Thirteenth System?”

She half turned, a soft smile curving her lips. “I am more than content where I am.” She looked past him to the dark planet. “It turns out that the Thirteenth System holds far more wonders than I imagined.” She lifted bright eyes. “And by that, I mean you.”

Cupping her chin, he gave voice to his heart’s desire. “You are far more than I ever hoped to find on this journey. As for wonders, none will exceed finding you, but I am eager to explore what else this system holds. With you.”

Her eyes glowing, she placed her hand over his. “Yes.”

The End