Chapter 483

The Retreat

An hour after breakfast, Jeff rapped on the General’s office door and went on in. Stopping in front of Whitworth’s big desk, the Colonel snapped to attention. “Colonel Matthews reporting as ordered, Sir!”

“Make us a fresh pot of coffee and sit your smart ass down. I’m not in the mood,” Whitworth grumbled, but Jeff saw the quirk of a smile at the corner of the General’s mouth.

Jeff chuckled and set about making the coffee. While he worked, the General took a cigar from his desk drawer and began preparing his smoke.

Jeff, not above poking the bear even in his den, said as he sat down, “What’s the matter? Didn’t get any this morning?”

“Nor last night as you damn well know,” Whitworth growled after puffing his cigar alight.

“When are they due back?” the other asked with a grin.

“Tonight,” Whitworth replied after blowing a smoke ring. “And I’m too damn old to be jerking off, so they better get their asses back here before bedtime. With as many wives as you have, I don’t suppose you’ve happened upon the downside to this enhancement business?”

Jeff knew what he was talking about. “They have threatened to cut me off a time or two, but fortunately for me, by bedtime they had relented and I didn’t have to go without.”

Whitworth continued reading something on his computer screen until the coffee finished and Jeff put a cup in front of his commanding officer.

Whitworth typed a few words, sat back and tried his coffee. Then, with an “ummm” of pleasure, he caught Jeff’s eye. “I took your suggestion and had the AI instruct the cameras to enter the area we talked about. The Sergeant says it took them several attempts before they managed to find a route past the heavy hide, but once past, they easily negotiated the huge crack in the ice wall.”

“And did they find a pile of hides our lovers were using for a bed?” the Prime asked with a grin, almost certain there were none.

Whitworth let out a sigh. “Hell, I almost wish they had. I only watched the first few moments of the vid before calling you, but even so, I can see problems ahead.”

“And they are?” Jeff prompted when the General didn’t go on.

“Well, the main one is what the hell am I going to do. Shit, see for yourself,” he said as he picked up the remote and restarted the video.

Jeff sat quietly for a couple of minutes while the cameras found their way under the heavy skin. After maneuvering past it, and with their size, clearing the crack itself was like driving down a super highway, but then they entered what Jasmine had been referring to as the column area. Jeff sat bolt upright, his coffee forgotten as the high definition video played on the big screen showing the vista past the crack. The alien technology represented by the cameras was capable of almost true color in total darkness, but there was little color in the column area other than inside the columns themselves, and there wasn’t much of that within the spectrum of light visible to the human eye. There was, though, an eerie pulsing that showed up in a wavelength Jasmine’s equipment was not capable of detecting.

The two cameras slowly moved forward, their views now showing as a split screen on the monitor.

“What the hell is this place?” Jeff wondered aloud after the cameras had slowly moved forward for a couple of minutes. They had obviously been programmed to investigate, because one would wait as the other drifted over to closely approach column after column, sometimes circling the column, the view changing as the camera obviously used an array of its sensors to examine the technology represented by the columns. When it was finished, it would return to its partner and they would both continue along the original path. As the two men continued to watch, Jeff glanced at the information bar at the bottom of each half of the screen. “They’re both a little more than a hundred meters in and there still doesn’t seem to be any lessening of the number of those column things. Shit, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the place, either. Some of those things are no bigger than my arm, yet some must be at least a couple of meters in diameter, and there doesn’t seem to be any specific spacing between them. Some are packed closely together; others spaced widely apart, and the ceiling appears to be the same as the floor.”

One of the cameras stopped and rotated its view upward. “Over twenty meters in height, at least at that particular place,” Whitworth said as he also checked the numbers on the screen.

They continued to watch, but there seemed to be nothing but the varying columns, seemingly scattered randomly about the area.

The cameras continued, and the one that seemed to be programmed to investigate the columns would swerve aside to approach a column that had somehow attracted its attention. After the first few close approaches, the process speeded up as the camera would approach a column, the near-transparent pillar filling the screen as the tiny investigator slowly circled, sometimes rising up to the ceiling while keeping its nose almost against the column. There were some hints of colors that tended to shift on occasion as if there were something moving in some of the columns, but there appeared to be little, if any, difference in what was detected, whether it was near the ceiling, floor or otherwise.

As a result of the cameras’ sensors, there was technical information flashing across the bottom of the screen: density, thickness of the column the camera was examining, refractive index and so on. A lot of material to be studied, but still they had no real idea of the purpose of the columns or the odd room that was being revealed on the screen. Jeff had the feeling that the floors and ceiling, and maybe the walls to a certain depth, were composed of frozen water, but, somehow, it didn’t appear to be ice as we know it.

Eventually, they came to a wall. “Well, now we know how big the place is,” Whitworth started before Jeff pointed to the crack.

“Sir, it seems odd that there is a crack on the other side as well, and it sure looks identical to...” His expression changed, as did his voice. “Shit, Sir, that’s the same crack. See that double jagged point halfway down?” he asked, pointing. “No way could nature duplicate that so perfectly on the exact opposite side of that chamber. The cameras are back where they started from. They must have traveled in a circle, but ... with their technology, I can’t see how that could happen.” After a moment while Whitworth continued to curse, Jeff said, “Well, at least we know how far they traveled...” his voice trailing off. After a slight pause, “Oh, shit,” as he pointed to the Total Distance indicator.

Whitworth saw it at about the same time. “Fuck,” he grumbled. “What the hell is that?” Then said louder, “Isn’t that the infinity sign? The damn technology has fucking packed up on us. I told the Sergeant that we wanted to measure whatever was on the other side of the crack. Size of the area; length width and so on. That would generally mean that the cameras would go straight across to establish the width of the chamber before doing the same thing at ninety degrees to their path of travel, but instead, they made a fucking circle while both distance indicators show...”

Jeff let out a sigh, then strangely, a smile crept across his lips. “They didn’t circle, Sir. Look at the screen, the crack is directly in front of them and the wall is perpendicular to the view. They didn’t parallel a wall, or approach from the arc of a circle; they came straight back to the original wall.”

“But that’s ... impossible,” Whitworth ground out. “I took note of their direction while this was going on, and that one camera didn’t vary off course to investigate, and the one that investigated came back to the first one before they both continued on each time. You’re right; they didn’t travel in a circle.”

“Unusual,” Jeff said.

And at the exact same time, the General said, “Impossible.”

They grinned at each other before Whitworth groaned. “Dammit. What the fuck is going on?”

Jeff was intrigued. “Let’s run the vid again. This time, we really pay attention.”

An hour later, there was one very agitated General and one very intrigued Colonel. The General glared at the screen as he said, “Three hundred meters and change and they’re suddenly back at their starting point with an infinity sign showing for distance traveled. No arc as they swung around, just a total reversal of direction between one frame and the next. It’s as if they just spun on their axes and were back where they started, but facing the entrance crack instead of facing away from it. We should have had an accurate measurement of the distance traveled, but instead, we have that fucking infinity sign. What the fuck happened?”

Jeff had a grin on his face as he responded. “No wonder those two were hiding the place from the cameras. They knew that a research team would be sent as soon as we realized what was behind that crack.” Turning to stare at his General, the Prime continued, “This has to be one hell of a find, but ... what about Morales and the anthropologist? Sir, we can’t just throw them out of his home. We just can’t. The man has worked his ass off to make that place secure. Besides, throwing him out at the start of winter would be a death sentence.”

Whitworth was up and pacing. “Dammit. Somehow I have to discover the purpose of that place. I’m wondering if it is still doing whatever the hell it was designed to do. Shit, it’s for damn sure that something is working in there; it fucking sent the cameras right back where they started, but if I send a research team in there...”

“Sir, you can’t do that,” he repeated. “Particularly right now, but there’s no way Morales will ever put up with a bunch of scientists stomping through his things as they go back and forth through what is essentially his house. But, you know they will petition to have him moved, and with good reason. Besides, he has his meat stored in the same area where the crack is. In addition, those wolves are wild. Oh, they’re friendly to Morales and the anthropologist, but I doubt that will extend to a bunch of other people traipsing through their home.”

“So, what the hell am I supposed to do? You of all people know what alien finds have done for us. Our portal is now capable of an accuracy that our techs barely even dreamed of a few years ago. I’ve financed almost all my endeavors with inventions modified from alien technology, not to mention the sale of rare elements and other things of that nature. Hell, we acquired the Ship and Little One from exploration done with the portal. What about our camouflage outfits that render our troops invisible, not to mention the armor or our pulse rifles? The list goes on and on. No telling what will come from the alien technology represented in there,” he finished as he motioned to the picture frozen on the big screen. “I can’t not investigate.”

“And you can’t go back on your word either, Sir. Remember, you promised those prisoners that you would not interfere in their lives. Morales, and now Jasmine, have worked their asses off to have a safe place to live. Both of us think that Morales and Jasmine have fallen in love, and we were both waiting to see what they would do. Are you going to destroy what they have worked so hard for? And ... if given the choice, I very much doubt that Morales would agree to come back to Earth if he had to leave his wolves and maybe even those chickens of his behind.

“And ... as you well know, there are some very unusual happenings going on with Morales and the wolves – the chickens, even. We’ve watched the chickens doing their business only on that little pile that Morales covers with dirt every afternoon. Granted, I don’t know a lot about chickens, but they seem to be one hell of a lot smarter than any chickens I’ve ever heard of. And the wolves ... Their intelligence seems almost on a par with the humans’. You know why Jasmine asked to go there in the first place. She realized that something was going on with their communication. You agreed to let her go and study their communications – unhindered. Once you open this up to the science teams, and the eggheads come in, she’ll probably get kicked out along with him.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit,” the General growled as he stomped over to refill his cup. With that accomplished, he brought the carafe back to his desk, making sure it was within reach of the Colonel. Turning to a cabinet behind him, he pulled out a big piece of coffee cake. “Stole this from the kitchen this morning. Want some?”

“Damn straight,” Jeff returned with a big grin.

A couple of minutes later, snacks and coffee in front of them, the General mumbled past a full mouth. “You’re supposed to be a genius. Tell me how to solve our little problem.”

“I’m no genius. Far from it,” Jeff tried. “Who in the hell told you that?“

“A little birdie,” Whitworth said past a mouthful of coffee cake. “Anyway, you have a team and a whole damn bunch of women who would argue that point. So, use some of those brain cells and give me some fucking suggestions.”

“I’m not smart; just lucky.”

“Same difference,” Whitworth mumbled.

They were quiet for a few minutes as they ate. Finally, Jeff swallowed the last bite of his coffee cake and said, “Sir. One thing the troops can count on: you always keep your word – always. And there’s no way to keep your word and send a research team in there. Those puffed up over-educated types...” His voice trailed off for a minute, to return a moment later. “Well, I suppose they could set up camp somewhere along the path to Morales’ ice cave, but even if you manage to convince them to do that, he would still have to go past their camp to get to his meat, and there would be all their equipment to bring through the area where he lives. From what I’ve heard the two of them saying, the cave between where he and Jasmine stay and the ice cave is generally fairly narrow at best. I wonder if there is even an area suitable for a campsite for a team of scientists. Besides, I suspect you’ll have a bit of a problem when they learn they will have to live like that. Practically speaking, how are they going to get a porta potty in there, let along everything else they’re accustomed to having in their camp?”

The General finally ceased his pacing and plopped down in his seat. “But dammit, there is bound to be some very advanced alien technology in that place, and chances are we’ll be able to adapt at least some part of it for our own use. And, you of all people know about my curiosity. Hell, I want to check out that room so bad I can practically taste it.”