“There’s gravity here,” Robbins announced with newfound authority. “I can feel it.”
“Yes.” Through the faceplate of his helmet Brink’s expression was a mix of awe and puzzlement. “But there shouldn’t be. Certainly not this much. It is very strange. I am starting to feel quite myself, yet we continue to descend at the same speed. If it is gravity returning, it is not gravity as we know it.”
“There’s more than one kind of gravity?” Low wondered aloud.
“It would seem so. Either that, or we are being affected by forces of which we have no knowledge and cannot yet identify.”
“So long as we don’t fall.” Low kept his attention on the bottom of the shaft. His boots had now dropped below his waist and he was descending in a normal position, feet first. A glance to one side showed that Robbins and Brink were similarly aligned.
Tilting back his head, he saw the dark circlet that was the top of the shaft continuing to recede. If the unnatural condition could not be reversed, they were going to have trouble retracing their path.
He had no time to contemplate possible alternatives because at that moment the shaft opened out into a huge chamber. Clearly not a consequence of their explosive efforts, it boasted gently curving walls and a domed roof. In places the walls were covered with more of the distinctive inscriptions, in others they bulged with fluid, free-form shapes. The ceiling and floor were likewise decorated.
Gently their feet made contact with the floor.
“Not terrestrial gravity,” Brink commented. “Barely Lunarian, and nowhere near as strong as Mars.”
“I thought artificial gravity was a mathematical impossibility,” Robbins commented innocently.
Low looked at her in surprise. She’d done some homework.
“Nothing that can be propagated as a wave is impossible to reproduce,” Brink stated matter-of-factly, as if he were discussing something as simple as the pulley or the wheel instead of an effect beyond the ability of human science to duplicate.
“That’s reassuring,” observed Low dryly as he studied their surroundings. “I think I can safely say that we’ve found another artifact.”
Brink studied the seamless floor. There was no sign of a seal, joint, rivet, screw, or other fastening or connection point. The entire floor might as well have been poured out whole and entire.
“I am wondering how much of the asteroid is asteroid and how much artifact? This chamber is large enough to hold several football fields. Has the bolidal material accumulated on its surface, or is the encrustation intentional? How does one ascribe motivation to creatures we cannot even envision?”
Bouncing like hurdlers, they took stock of their surroundings. Light came not from fixtures but from the building material itself. Low checked his gauges. All remained on null. They were being illuminated by radiation that, according to his suit instrumentation, didn’t radiate. As far as he was concerned, that was a phenomenon that ranked right up there with artificial gravity.
“I think we’ve done pretty well for a half hour’s hunting.” He turned to Brink. “We’d better try to figure out a way back. It’ll be interesting to see if our suits can generate enough thrust to push us back up that shaft.” With a wave of one arm he encompassed the expansive chamber. “There’s too much here to try to inspect on one EVA anyway. This is a job for a properly equipped, long-term expedition. We came here as demolition specialists, remember?”
“Just another five minutes, Commander,” Brink pleaded. The scientist’s face was alight with the joy of discovery.
Robbins backed him up. “Come on, Boston. What’s five minutes? We might find more plates, or something else not nailed down that we can take back with us.”
Brink smiled at her. “Thank you, Maggie. As a representative of the international scientific community, I find your unconditional support refreshing.”
“You’re welcome.” Her eyes were shining as she scrutinized their stunning surroundings. “This is just like the Yucatan all over again, only without the snakes and the bugs.”
“Or air, water, and food,” a reluctant Low felt compelled to add. He looked back over a shoulder. The location of the escape shaft was now well behind them.
“To think that someone built this.” Brink was thinking aloud. “Look at these walls, with their folds and ripples. Are they the result of some alien aesthetic at work, or do they perform functions we cannot imagine. I see nothing resembling a switch, button or control as we would conceive of it.”
“And the light,” Robbins added. “It just comes right out of the metal.”
Low indicated the floor over which they were bouncing. “I’m not sure this is metal, Maggie. It looks more like a high-grade ceramic, or plastic of some kind.”
“I believe there is something of interest directly ahead.” Brink continued to lead the way.
Low checked his suit gauge. They had ample air remaining—provided they could make it back up the shaft on the first try. He tried to contact Borden, but the material of which the chamber was composed effectively blocked his transmission. He tried to envision the scene on the shuttle, with Borden and Miles likewise unable to make contact with the EVA party. Ken was going to need all his vaunted sense of humor to cope with the temporary lapse in communications.
What must be happening down at Mission Control he didn’t try to imagine.
All the rage and frustration would subside the instant the absent explorers reported their findings. Sheer bliss would replace fury as soon as they held up the first inscribed plate.
“Two minutes,” he announced. “Come on, Ludger. There’s more here than we could explore if we’d brought a year’s worth of air with us. Remember, excitement makes the body use air faster.”
“Then I am surprised to be still breathing.” Brink’s reply brought forth an appreciative laugh from Robbins. For some reason he couldn’t explain, this had the effect of irritating Low.
“You can’t breathe dreams, Ludger,” he added curtly.
“I know, I know, Commander. Believe me, I have tried.” He took another long leap toward the prominent stalagmitelike structure that lay directly ahead. “Let me examine this one prominence and then I promise you we can start back.”
“All right.” Low followed, moving more easily in his suit than either of his companions.
The metal swirl thrust up from the floor like a sharp dimple in the surface of a balloon. Stolid and featureless, it was as much an enigma as everything else they’d seen. Low leaped high for a look at the summit, while Brink and Robbins explored the base. As he drifted down from his jump, Robbins’s ebullient squeal echoed in his ears.
“Commander! I mean, Boston … come and look at this!”
Low responded before he hit the floor. “What is it? More plates?”
“Not exactly, Commander.” As usual, Brink remained in quiet control of his emotions. “You will know when you see for yourself.”
The scientist was not lying.
One side of the pedestal, or column, was marred by multiple depressions. They were much deeper than the inscriptions that covered other parts of the chamber. All four were circular, shallow, and approximately a yard in diameter.
“The four plates.” Robbins wore the expression of one who had just uncovered an alien Rosetta stone. “They’d fit these holes exactly.”
“Maggie is correct.” Brink smiled through his faceplate at Low. “What do you suppose might happen, Commander, if we were to place them in these empty receptacles?”
“Probably nothing.” Low bent to study the depressions. Like the rest of the column, or for that matter the floor and ceiling, they were utterly featureless. “Maybe this is a giant alien dishwasher and they’ll pop back out all nice and shiny. Or maybe they’re the components of a giant bomb and we’ll all be blown to Kingdom come.” He shot a look at Brink. “I don’t think it’s a very good idea.”
“Come, now, Commander,” Brink chided him. “Doubtless this object has been drifting through interstellar space for eons. Whatever purpose its makers intended, I doubt that of a bomb was foremost in their minds. Besides, who would design a weapon that had to be armed from the inside out? I suspect you are correct in your evaluation. Most likely nothing will happen anyway.”
“Let’s try, Boston.” Robbins was insistent. “If nothing happens, we can still take the plates back to the ship.”
“Well, Commander?” Brink was staring expectantly. “Are you game?”
“Is that a scientific proposal?” Low considered. Using the plates meant returning to the top of the shaft where they’d been left. It would give him a chance to find out how effective their suit thrusters would be against the artificial gravity. The experiment would make things close, air wise, but if they moved fast, they could manage it.
“You get two,” he told Brink decisively, “and I’ll bring the others.”
“What about me?” Robbins protested.
Low hesitated, then unhooked her. “You stay here and make sure the aliens don’t run off with the holes.”