Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World (4 page)

The first night on Eon went off without a
hitch. The following morning, for lack of a better term, came, and
the crew and scientists rose from sleeping bags to check the
readings. Mickelson and Nicholson gave their reports.

“
The soil samples are mainly composed
of Iron and Carbon. Dating puts them at roughly three, billion
years old. There was no radiation, but they do have an unusually
high pH,” Mickelson explained.

“
They are highly magnetized and
ionized, stunting any growth in their vicinity. The mystery is why?
What could be deposited beneath the ground,” Nicholson added,
inquisitively.

He was a scrawny, tall man with short, blonde
hair. Swain cocked an eye at him as an idea presented itself.

“
I read that when flying saucers land
on Earth they can scorch the ground, and leave it magnetized,
subduing any growth. It’s plausible that there isn’t anything
beneath the soil, but that in fact, a circular ship landed at some
point in time, leaving the ground in its current state,” Swain
said, matter-of-factly.

O’Hara looked at him. He searched his man’s
face and body language for any sign that he was joking. He was
not.

“
A saucer. A flying saucer landed,”
O’Hara jeered.

“
Well…I’m saying I read that it
was...look, I’m just saying that we made it here. It’s possible
that other races found their way here, too.”

“
Well, ain’t that somethin’,” Martinez
cut in. “I think Swain’s gone out of his God damned
mind.”

“
I agree with Martinez,” O’Hara
announced. “We can’t speculate. We’re here to get results. Most
likely, there’s some sort of deposit beneath the soil. We’ll begin
digging today. The first thing we do is pack up camp and move
closer to the dig site. Since there’s no radiation we can camp
right on top of it.” As an afterthought, O’Hara added, “Flying
saucer.”

They all chuckled, but Swain was a good
sport. He frowned and shrugged in resignation. After that, they ate
their breakfast, did their business, inventoried their supplies,
packed up, and began the mile hike.

“
Why did we set up everything just to
move? I mean, we knew we would move at some point, right,” Zakowski
complained.

“
Cut the crap. Zak you’ll be fine,”
Martinez answered.

“
We knew we’d move, but we didn’t know
how soon, ya’ dumb ass,” Fitzpatrick said.

“
Had the tests not yielded great
results we might have had to stay away until the dig site was
cleansed,” Chadwick replied as he rubbed his short, red hair, which
was matted to one side from sleep.

They arrived at the dig site and
re-established camp. Unable to use any sort of digging rover, or
any of their test equipment due to the magnetism, they unpacked
their shovels and dug away by hand. That time, Becker complained
about grunt work, followed by Zakowski, who claimed he was getting
blisters, and lastly, DeReaux said he hated sweating, unless it was
between sheets. The captain told them to shut up and dig. The
remainder of the day went by with little vulgarity, and by 19:00
hours, they found something.

Chadwick, Levine, and Royce were dusting away
the dirt from what looked like a metal deposit. They used spades
first, to clear dirt away, but when the object appeared to have a
geometric shape, they locked eyes, and ran to retrieve
archeological brushes. Soon, they had a conical cylinder uncovered.
Swain looked proud of his initial suggestion. He wasn’t quite
right, but they had something.

“
It looks like a probe,” Chadwick
commented.

Swain went down to the item and kindly pushed
the scientists aside, except Levine who was a mechanical engineer.
They exchanged glances then looked at O’Hara. Levine was a nerdy,
older woman. Her long, black hair was pulled back, and her bright,
blue eyes were really just contacts. While none of them were tanned
because they had never been under direct sunlight, she was
especially pasty. O’Hara approached with a worried look on his
face.

“
What,” he asked.

“
Well, Sir,” Swain began. “It’s not a
probe. Not one of ours, anyway. I’ve reviewed all the designs
extensively, even improved some of them. This is something else.
I’d wager it’s a beacon of some sort.”

O’Hara was pensive. “One of our beacons.”

“
No, Sir,” Swain replied. “Not one of
our beacons. Let’s get this thing completely out of the ground.
Levine and I can get a better understanding of what we have. We
can’t bring it aboard the
Phoenix
like this, anyway; it
could fricassee our systems.”

Imes, Martinez and Chadwick helped. Within
two hours the object was removed. It was unbelievably light. The
men and women stood marveling at the shiny device. It was a conical
pyramid, less than two feet high and six inches at the base. There
were several, tiny panels along its structure, but no buttons, or
screws, or any visible method of holding the smooth panels in
place.

“
What is this,” Mickelson asked as he
ran his dirty hands along the object.

“
We should take scrapings and run
tests,” Nicholson suggested.

“
Swain? Levine? Your call,” O’Hara said
as he looked them over.

The two exchanged a glance and shrugged.

“
I say, yes,” she replied.

“
I second that,” Swain
crowed.

“
Go for it, guys, but for God’s sake,
be careful,” the captain answered.

Mickelson and Nicholson took their scrapings
before dragging their trunks away from the dig site. Zakowski,
Becker, DeReaux, and Fitzpatrick accompanied the two. Swain,
Levine, Chadwick, Nandesrikahl, Imes, and Royce stayed behind to
see what knowledge there was to garner from the beacon. The rest of
the crew took watch shifts.

O’Hara figured it best to send Martinez to
help Swain in case the beacon was really some kind of weapon. He
then pondered whether or not to contact Admiral Lay. They had found
something, but he didn’t know what yet, and there was little sense
in bothering the admiral with half-assed assertions.
Besides, he
said to transmit once we have results,
he thought. O’Hara
decided to wait, if anxiously.

Pacing about the camp, hearing everyone’s
speculations, it took all his concentration to keep from jumping
the gun. He kept rubbing his face, trying to stay calm and wait for
conclusive results. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and it was
itching. Thoughts of sleep crossed his mind; he was tired, but his
mind ran rampant.
Mickelson and Nicholson should have their
results before long. Swain and the techies will have something,
too
.

Requiring a little alone time, O’Hara found a
large rock under a tree, sat against it, and closed his eyes.
Essentially, he had succeeded at his mission, which was great news,
and the only thing left to do was get the beacon aboard the
Phoenix
. If there was a way to do so safely, it was Swain’s
and Levine’s job to figure it out.
I mean, no way it’s alien
tech, right?
He fell asleep shortly after.

O’Hara awoke to some sort of ruckus.
Nicholson wasn’t able to contain himself. He and Chadwick, the two
chemists, had found something, and the goofy man was in a knot.
Mickelson was laughing, but was equally distraught.

“
Captain,” they exclaimed in unison.
“We have results, Captain.”

O’Hara rubbed his eyes. He had to pee.

“
What do we have?” he
grumbled.

Nicholson hopped in place, saying, “We have
Element-115.”

He said it like it meant something. “What is
Element-115,” O’Hara asked.

“
Element-115 is the most stable element
in the universe. We’ve tried extensively to create it synthetically
since before we traveled from Earth and formed the colonies,”
Nicholson explained.

“
Why create it,” O’Hara probed
further.

“
It doesn’t occur naturally on Earth,
or the Sol system for that matter, and we’ve never found any
deposits. Whatever this beacon thing is...well...what it isn’t, is
anything Human,” Nicholson choked.

Holy crap. Swain was right then. Some other
race came and left a beacon?

“
Let’s not make conjectures yet, let’s
see what the others found and go from there,” O’Hara said while
attempting to maintain his composure.

He went off to do his business. By the time
he returned, the entire camp was in an uproar. Apparently, feeling
that a celebration was in order, Martinez produced the alcohol he
had smuggled in his pack. The captain wanted to stop the party, but
decided to let it go. He just wished his man had had better
judgment.

“
Holy friggin’ crap! We came, we saw,
we conquered! Fuckin’ Swain was right, man! We got genew-ine alien
tech... Sir,” Martinez realized where he was and in whose company,
quickly snapping to attention.

His Puerto Rican heritage had caused him to
have a full blown beard by then. O’Hara returned the salute and
looked at Swain, who was also well on his way to having a
beard.

“
Swain, what exactly do we know,”
O’Hara demanded.

“
Well, Sir,” Swain began. “What we have
is in fact a beacon. I was able to open it and disrupt its magnetic
output. We’ve been waiting for your permission to begin testing
internal components in order to learn what kind of signal it can
broadcast. Also, if we can utilize our gear in the presence of the
beacon then we should be able to get it aboard the
Phoenix,
and then get it to Presh for real tests.”

“
So, why is Martinez celebrating if we
haven’t found anything yet,” O’Hara grumbled.

“
Nandesrikahl noticed some markings on
the inside of the beacon, and he doesn’t recognize the language.
Also, Nicholson’s findings prove it. There is no Element-115
anywhere we’ve ever been. Someone else made this, and put it here,
and what appears to be a long time ago,” Swain
responded.

Nicholson interjected, “The soil samples
begin showing ionization about four thousand years ago. This beacon
has been here a long time, Sir.”

“
Acknowledged,” O’Hara whispered. The
immensity of the findings seemed unreal. “Run all the tests you can
from here. Once it’s determined that this thing is safe, we’ll pack
up and get back to the
Phoenix
.”

Tests resumed immediately. Swain and Levine
dismantled the beacon while Royce took pictures as each piece was
removed in order to reassemble it later. Royce was barely an adult
with the mind of an ancient and well learned mathematician. He
pulled the camera from one of the many pockets on his khaki vest
and fired away.

Everything was wrapped up by 13:00 hours, and
the crew was ready to break down camp, and hike back to the ship.
An overflowing sense of accomplishment had washed over them. Swain
was possibly gushing more than anyone else. He had been right after
all, sort of, about his aliens theory.

They all arrived at the
Phoenix
in no
time. Before boarding, they paused, Eon’s purple sky calling out to
them one, last time. Then, they finally marched into the loading
zone.

The remaining soldiers greeted the crew upon
entry. Day was exploding with excitement. No one aboard the
Phoenix
knew what had been discovered, but they were glad to
receive everyone unharmed. Captain O’Hara asked the AMS to scan
everyone for contaminants then instructed a scan of the items they
had recovered from Eon. Everything came up roses, so the crew
packed up for more tests.

The techies went to the ship’s lab to file
reports. The rest of the crew hit the showers or mess hall. Day was
anxious to learn about what they found, but O’Hara was hesitant to
leak any information until they had conclusive results. The first
thing to do was file mission reports to Admiral Lay.

“
C’mon,” she begged and jogged in
place. “Report later.”

O’Hara smiled and said, “I’m captain now. I
have to do this right.”

They looked at each other for a second. She
crinkled her round nose then tilted her head in resignation.
Finally, she smiled and let him handle his work.

After completing documentation back in crew
quarters, O’Hara went to find her in the mess hall. He sat next to
her and began relaying the story. When Zak and Marty joined in,
showing vids and pics, they huddled around the table. She was
absolutely riveted, and nearly burst out of her seat when O’Hara
told her about the beacon.

Chapter Three

A day after the discovery of the beacon,
things wound down. Admiral Lay received O’Hara’s mission reports,
but the scientists continued running tests in order to double check
all results. While the captain awaited new orders, he decided to
give Phoenix Crew some free time on Eon.

Day stood out of her chair and tugged at her
gray skirt. She and Roberts smiled at O’Hara, thanking him for the
R and R. He glanced at the two women then at everyone else. They
seemed to be waiting for an extra order.

“
Go get ready, people. I already had
Marty and Zak prep the perimeter. Have fun,” O’Hara said, trying to
hide a smile.

The soldiers joked and laughed about playing
guard duty for the scientists and deckhands, but they were all
pleased, psyched even, to get off the ship and go run around an
actual, living, planet. Day asked if he was joining them.

“
There isn’t anything else to do,” he
replied. “Once we’re finished testing the beacon here, we’ll go to
Presh station, but for now….”