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Avalon, Part Three; Chapter Eight: The Ring
Posted By: Triad<m.eelkema@student.tudelft.nl>
Date: 10 November 2005, 10:44 am
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Avalon; Part Three: Circulos Vitiosus
Chapter Eight: The Ring
1015 hours, September 22 2502 (military calendar), frigate The Flying Dutchman, Avalon nebula
"Wha…what is that, Miss Smith?" Steven gasped. There was no answer. The XO seemed to be hypnotized with her eyes fixed firmly on the ring. "Lieutenant-Commander Smith, are you with us?"
"What? Ehhh…" The harsh tone of Steven's voice broke the spell holding Christine, and she focussed on her view-screen again. "Sorry, Commander. It's just that…this thing; it isn't like anything I've ever seen before."
"I don't think anyone has ever witnessed something like this. But can you tell me anything about it yet?"
"Yes, sir. The object is approximately ten thousand kilometres in diameter, three-hundred kilometres wide and twenty-two point three clicks thick. It's fixed on a Lagrange-point between the planet and its moon. I can't say much more about it before we make a fly-by and get a better reading from our sensors."
"Lieutenant Trucker, you heard the lady. Move her in for a closer look."
As the Flying Dutchman enclosed the distance to the ring the crew could see large geometric engravings on its metallic outer surface. It reminded Steven of the enormous markings left in the Atacama-desert on Earth by the Nazca-indians. This rectilinear calligraphy, however, was many times bigger than those mysterious patterns left in the Chilean sand. The officers on the bridge could also distinguish large circular markings differing from the other shapes and lines. These circles were no part of the ornamental channels running across the ring's hull, but were clearly placed at regular intervals. Yet, their purpose remained a mystery.
What Steven and his crew saw on the inside of the imperial ring was even more puzzling. It looked as if there existed an earth-like world on the inside, complete with all the different climatic zones and an active atmosphere. A rich and colourful palette of various landscapes such as deserts, temperate zones, jungles, tundra's and even polar zones could be discerned, all of them intermittently interrupted by deep blue oceans and occasionally covered by thick dark storm clouds or even swirling hurricanes. Steven had seen countless colony-planets, but none showed so much similarity with earth as the inside of this artificial construct.
The Commander still couldn't quite grasp what he was seeing. "Unbelievable. Are you reading all this, Miss Smith?" Steven asked.
"Yes, Commander. The metal on the outer side is an unknown alloy. Whoever made this, they weren't human."
"Have you located the Halcyon yet?"
"Negative, sir. If she's anywhere in this nebula, my guess is she's on that ring. I'll need a moment to survey the entire inner surface."
It took the XO five whole minutes to let the Dutchman's advanced scanning-array do its job and view the gigantic alien construct in every possible way. On a normal UNSC-mission five minutes went by in a heartbeat. However, to Steven these three hundred seconds felt like an eternity, stretched out by the utter silence on his bridge.
When Christine was finished with the analysis she almost couldn't believe what she was reading. "Sir, this…this is blowing my mind, pardon the expression. There's no sign of the Halcyon, and I'm not picking up any signs of intelligent life on the surface. But there are structures all over the ring made out of the same alloy as the outer hull. Most of the structures seem to be vents of some sort. Others look more like hatches."
Steven frowned. "Those exhausts, are they venting anything?"
"No, sir. But I am getting faint readings of thousands of fusion cores below them distributed equally over the entire construct. The combined output of all those generators is larger than the energy-consumption of most of the inner colonies put together." Christine's voice was trembling slightly from the combination of excitement and amazement she felt in her gut. "Why would anyone need such an output?"
"Beats me." Steven examined the data for himself on his personal view-screen. "This is odd. The entire ring is spinning, but it isn't rotating fast enough to explain the gravitational acceleration on the surface."
"Artificial gravity?" Christine wondered. "Maybe that's the reason for having those fusion cores."
"Then why are they only running at a fraction of their capacity? The current power-levels are more like a pilot-light." Steven shook his head. "No, this goes beyond our comprehension. Maybe Pellerin can give some insight."
The moment Steven mentioned his name Pellerin appeared on his pedestal, stamping with one of his hooves. "Thank you for requesting my assistance, Commander. I've been eager to dissertate on this object from the moment it came in sensor-range."
"What are your findings?"
"Lieutenant-Commander Smith was right when she speculated on artificial gravity. I'm reading peculiar Shaw-Fujikawa-distortions along the surface which could result in creating localized gravity-wells."
"Are these distortions similar to the anomalies in the outer layer of the nebula?"
"Negative, Commander. Those are of a different nature, one which even I can't grasp. As for the purpose of the cores and the vents, I'm afraid I can't give an explanation either." Pellerin seemed to be thinking for a moment as he scratched his chin. "I think I've found a location where the Halcyon might have put down."
"Have you found a wreck?" Steven asked worriedly.
"No, sir. But I have found a section of surface riddled with those hatches Lieutenant-Commander Smith mentioned. Some of them are big enough for the Halcyon to pass through."
"Are you telling me Captain deVries found a way to open one of those doors and flew through?"
"Correct, Commander. I've scanned the rest of this system with a fine toothcomb, so to speak. There's absolutely no wreckage to be found. Besides, there's still a very faint path of emission-particles leading up to the ring. I'm even reading a second distinct trail."
Steven was baffled. "Another ship? Try to identify the signature."
"Unable to comply, sir. Manmade engines can not even make such a trail."
Steven closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as his troubled head was beginning to hurt. The shear multitude of surprises coming his way was taking its toll on his ability to comprehend the avalanche of information he was receiving. "Miss Smith, what's the composition of the atmosphere? Can it support human life?"
"It's virtually earth-like, Commander. Even the temperature shows the same variety as that on earth. It can easily support us."
"Then I'm sending you on an excursion, if you don't mind."
A smile of excitement was instantly created on Christine's face. "Of course I don't, sir. I'll begin preparing immediately."
"Good. Take Ensign McBain and a couple more Navy-men with you in two of the Pelicans. Land near one of those hatches and check it out. I'll send Major Morris and one of his platoons to escort you. If all's clear, then you're dismissed, Commander."
To be continued
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