This week with Arlene and Jeff:
...Jeff sighed. “Yeah, I know, but if I remember correctly, cave-ins are common, at least in Earth caves and caverns. Some have been declared safe by structural engineers, but many have never been professionally examined. I would think that cave-ins here, as on Earth, could be caused by a number of things,” Jeff said as he frowned. “Water undermining the supporting structure, that same supporting structure shifting due to stress, limestone dissolving and that same supporting structure collapsing. Maybe an earthquake or volcanic activity far underground. On an on, I would think.”
“What I’m worried about is a deliberate act,” the General continued. “Although the primary survey determined the planet to be free of intelligent life, this dimension has an active interstellar presence – multiple space-going races – and there always seems to be those who want to prey on the weaker – as evidenced by the Graex attack a few hours ago. Also, a planet is, by nature, a vast place – lots of real estate in which to hide or just occupy. Our equipment is supposed to detect intelligent life. Still, the surveys weren’t done from orbit, but rather from smaller craft capable of being partially dismantled, sent through the Portal and reassembled on scene. Usually, the wingspan is the kicker.
“Supposedly, the equipment is capable of detecting animal life, and more importantly, it is supposed to be capable of detecting intelligent animal life. Just another of the items we were able to trade from another race that is well-advanced in that type of technology. But… our survey teams have been surprised before when they thought they were alone; although, most of the time, that was because of races capable of space flight which detected our people from orbit. Unfortunately, those races also tend to be aggressive. When they perceive that a group is not sufficiently capable of defending themselves, they tend to attack.
“I think we should be very cautious, indeed, with our approach to the coordinates we received from my research team.”
Having led his fire team on rescue missions more times than he cared to remember, Jeff thoroughly agreed...
Have a goodun;
Roust