The Animus Gate (Book One of The Animus Trilogy) Read online

  ✽✽✽

  No one knew why telegates appeared to connect arbitrarily. Rather than being sent to the next closest gate, you could be flung hundreds of light years further away. The designers of this extraordinary technology were unavailable for comment, having gone extinct eons ago. But it was a reminder that not all artifacts of past civilizations would be found in dusty ruins.

  The Menelaus brought Darius to the heavy cruiser Murchadha, which ferried him through two telegates across 50 light-years. They ended up at the Abernathy orbital shipyard where the boat was due for a retrofit. He then waited there for three days while the frigate Adebayo finished repairs. It scooped him up and took him 75 light-years coreward to a Lagrange point outpost in the Guanyin system, where he was transferred to the corvette Amenhotep. Which was a stealth ship.

  He still had no idea what his op entailed. His only orders were to be at the Guanyin system on a certain day, to meet a certain team of specialists. Whoever had issued this assignment didn’t want to leave much of a trail, and they didn’t want him to blab. Such was the nature of covert activity.

  To matters even more interesting, Guanyin was contested territory. Here, the empire was fighting over several planets with the Kri, a feathery species of humanoid that resembled a turtle.

  But now his briefing in the sole meeting room on the Amenhotep was finally here. Maybe he would get some answers.

  Three other troopers sat around another off-white plasteel table. Notably, they had no ranks or name tags on their suits. One was tall, fair-skinned, and red-bearded; another was stocky and dusky; and the woman was dark-skinned with her hair in tight braids. They were all wearing spec ops combat armor. And they glanced at him indifferently.

  The tall one said, “Have a seat, private, we’re about to begin.”

  “Yessir.”

  The man’s smile did not reach his eyes. “You can call me Ragnar. I’m the team leader. The gentleman to my left is Ollie, and the lady here is Akanna.”

  “Lady, my ass,” said Ollie.

  Akanna smiled sweetly. “Keep talking, and I’ll shoot it off.”

  Ignoring the banter, Ragnar said, “All right, everyone. Please authenticate with the holo screen in front of you, then we'll go over the mission brief.”

  Darius did as told, and a holo projection appeared over the table.

  “This is the planet of Hephaestus,” said Ragnar. “80 percent Earth gravity. 50 percent Earth mass. 7-hour days. The air is non-toxic but not breathable. Atmospheric pressure is nominal. Conditions are sub-arctic, with overnight temperatures dipping below negative 50 C. Hostile wildlife is expected to be minimal. We will be venturing into the base of this mountain here.” He magnified the holo image until the entrance to a cave took up the whole table.

  “Sir, what about hostile people life?” asked Ollie.

  “The Kri appear to be unaware of the location’s historical significance,” said Ragnar. “Intel division believes that the aliens are here to position themselves closer to the Selphiri system, which has considerable rare metal deposits in multiple asteroid belts. Hephaestus is the least inhospitable planet in this system, making it a natural stepping stone. But we have been told to expect minimal resistance.”

  “What’s the historical significance, sir?” asked Akanna.

  “Imperial archeologists recently cross-referenced a number of ancient star maps recovered in several ruins in a radius of 60 light-years around Guanyin,” said Ragnar, “and several of them appeared to attach a special significance to this system. Hephaestus is the only planet here that is known to have ever harbored life, so the empire sent scouts to clandestinely survey the surface of this planet. Upon further inspection of the terrain, imperial geologists determined that this mountain may be artificial.”

  “That can’t be, “said Ollie. “Sir, that thing is like...ten times the size of the Egyptian pyramids.”

  Ragnar looked across the table to Darius. “Private Bakari? Any insights?”

  “I believe it, sir.”

  “Are you kiddin’ me?” asked Ollie. “Based on what?”

  Darius shrugged. “I don’t know if you’re cleared for that.”

  “He’s not,” said Ragnar. “I’m not sure if I even am. Continuing on...We will arrive over Hephaestus at 0400 hours, and we take the dropship Ikonos down to the surface to investigate. The transport has been fitted for stealth. Once on the ground, we will attempt to gain access to the interior of the structure—if there is a structure within—and then we will secure the area for a team of scientists to come later. That is assuming command determines the target to be of strategic significance to the empire.”

  So, Darius thought, I’m here because you think I might have the key, or be the key, to getting inside.

  “Any questions?” asked Ragnar.

  There was silence. But that didn’t mean there were no questions.

  “Then I expect everyone to report to the Ikonos for the drop at 0500 hours. Dismissed.”

  ✽✽✽

  This time, the dropship made it down to the surface without incident. It landed in the dark of night. As soon as the ramp opened, the temperature gauge on Darius’s visor began to plummet, and an icy wind blew snow into the ship. Between the weather and the darkness, visibility would not be ideal, even with infrared and night vision. But it also meant that the team would be harder to pick up on scanners.

  Ollie took point, and Ragnar brought up the rear. They still had a few klicks to trudge through. Dense foliage and uneven terrain prevented them from parking any closer.

  The team wove through tall tree-like plants that had deep vertical ribs on their trunks. The colors ranged from magenta to orange to yellow, but the leaves were green like usual. Photosynthesis and chlorophyll were common wherever one found life throughout the galaxy. Organic life, at any rate.

  On the way down to the surface, Darius had gotten some time to inspect the team’s gear. Ragnar had a barrel mounted on his right forearm. Likely a backup projectile weapon. Ollie had a scanner cluster mounted on the side of his helmet that was indicative of long-range patrol. Akanna had a bandolier across her chest that appeared to contain different types of rounds, marking her as an infiltration specialist. She also carried a crossbow with a grapple attachment, ideal for scaling walls.

  What you couldn’t see with their suits on were their enhanced spec-ops physiques, or possible biomech upgrades. In the briefing room, they’d worn full jumpsuits, and they didn’t take them off when they slept in their billets. It was safe to assume that all three of them had eye implants, though.

  Hell, for all he knew, he had been embedded with a unit of synths. He wondered how common such a thing was. They usually didn't operate without the direct leadership of an actual person, but his knowledge in this area was limited.

  Either way, he was unlikely to take any one of them in single combat, if it came to that. Their sheer strength and speed would be a vicious combination. If the trio had any ideas about making this planet his grave, his only hope was a surprise attack. And he had no surprises up his sleeves—at least, not any that could handle three of these guys at once.

  They were coming up on the entrance into the mountain now, and there had been no contact with the enemy yet. It was nice to work with people who knew how to check their corners. The cave formation looked completely natural to Darius, but he was no geologist. The mountain, however, did appear to have some planes to it that he hadn’t been apparent in the holo.

  Whether nature had slowly claimed its exterior over the course of eons, or the builders had taken pains to mask the enormous structure, he could not tell. Perhaps no one would ever know for sure.

  But if it had been built by hands instead of tectonics, the scope of the thing was extraordinary. Darius didn’t know if it was literally ten times the size of the Giza pyramids, but it was definitely up there. It wouldn’t stand out from orbit because it was cleverly integrated into a mountain range; the investigators picked up the anomaly only a
fter a sweep by aerial mapper bots.

  They gathered at the mouth of the cave. The wind howled around them. Ragnar nodded to Ollie and Akanna, signaling for them to scout within.

  The duo disappeared into the tunnel, and Ragnar and Darius turned to guard the entrance. Visibility was getting worse. Ollie and Akanna returned a few minutes later.

  She signaled to Ragnar: Area secure.

  Ragnar nodded and signaled for Ollie to take point. Darius and Akanna were ordered to fall in behind.

  The cave was roughly five meters across and 4 meters high. It was strewn with stalagmites and stalactites, and these formations were coated with layers of ice and frost that grew thicker as the team made its way up the tunnel’s slope. Darius’s feet began to crunch through frost as the team climbed further in. One by one, they activated the cleats hidden in their boots, to maintain footing.

  After a few hundred meters, they came to a cavern, and its ceiling was too high for their flashlights to penetrate. It must have been over 100 meters high. A nearly vertical incline began in the middle of this space and disappeared into the shadows above. Its abruptness felt artificial, but the surface of the wall didn't betray any handiwork.

  If there was a ledge to climb up to, they couldn’t see it from here.

  “Breaking radio silence,” said Ragnar. “If anyone’s trying to listen in, there’s no way they’re getting through the mountain on top of us. Team, activate sonar. Let’s map this location and decide our next move.”

  Their suits began to chirp, and Darius’s visor visualized the sound waves as they reverberated around the cavern. It projected a holographic image in front of him, based on the sonic feedback. He rotated and magnified the image with hand gestures to get a better look.

  “Looks like the passage continues at the top of the ledge, boss,” said Ollie.

  “All right then,” said Ragnar. “We expected to do some vertical descent, but this gear can be used to climb up just as easily. Akanna?”

  “Aye, sir.” She unslung her crossbow and attached a loop of smartweave rope to the grappling warhead. She scoped the ledge and said, “Visor indicates that the grapple will reach, sir.”

  “Fire away.”

  The crossbow made a popping sound, and the warhead flew up into the darkness. It was armed with four attitude jets that could dynamically adjust the hook’s trajectory; their staccato pop-pop-pop echoed through the chamber, followed by a distant thump. Akanna pressed a button on the crossbow that would cause the warhead’s spring-loaded hooks to fly out with a bang, hopefully digging into the rock high above. Akanna gave it an initial tug, then two strong pulls. It held.

  “Proceed and secure, Akanna.”

  “Yessir.”

  Darius watched her closely as she made her way up the cliff. She started quickly, and she did not slow down as she climbed onto the ledge. He wasn’t sure if he was capable of doing the same.

  “Akanna?” asked Ragnar.

  “Area is secure, over.”

  “Copy. Ollie, you’re next.”

  “Yessir.” He gave the rope a tug first. It was human nature.

  Akanna chuckled. “You afraid I’m gonna kick this thing back down?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past you, Aki. Coming up now.”

  He made his way up just as quickly as Akanna had.

  Ragnar turned to Darius and nodded. Darius nodded back and grabbed the rope.

  “Bakari is coming up next,” said Ragnar.

  He began his climb. He’d done this plenty of times in the sims, but not half as far as this. If he lost his grip even a quarter of the way up, the only way he was coming back home was if they carried him. He had a magnetized climbing axe mounted below his oxygen tank that he could whip out if he started to fall, but it would be pretty last-ditch.

  On the bright side, no one could see him sweat. So he just picked his way up carefully and tried not to think about the growing space between himself and the ground.

  Before he knew it, he’d made it to the top. He examined the area with his scanner. The ledge was about 15 meters wide, 20 meters tall, and 20 meters deep. So instead of more tunnel, there was a sheer rock wall instead. Darius looked all around the space and saw no more passages.

  “This can’t be it,” he said.

  Ragnar made it onto the ledge and took a look around.

  “Boss,” said Ollie, “did the survey team locate any other entrances?”

  “A few, but they were all caved in,” said Ragnar. “Let’s do another sonar sweep.”

  Their suits chirped again, but there were no more tunnels hidden in the gloom.

  “I’m getting some odd readings from that wall,” said Ollie.

  “Analysis?” asked Ragnar.

  “I don’t know what to make of it, sir. Some kind of...signal reflection. Like the surface is made of metal.”

  “All right,” said Ragnar. “End sweep. Let’s take a closer look at this wall.”

  It looked unusually flat but otherwise unremarkable. However, when they got within a few meters, Darius thought he saw a glint of something.

  He moved to the left, then to the right.

  “Private?” asked Ragnar.

  “Sir, I’m detecting what appears to be...some kind of seam running down the middle of the wall.”

  “Ollie?”

  “I’m seeing it too, sir.”

  “Hmm. Let’s try an old-fashioned tactile inspection, then.”

  They ran their hands along the wall, looking for anything that felt unnatural. It was much taller than they could reach, so they couldn’t inspect even half of it, but a seam was definitely there, roughly in the middle of the platform.

  Darius backed up to take another look and almost tripped. “What the...”

  He looked down. There were grooves in the floor.

  Upon closer inspection, the grooves were three straight lines that converged. Another trident, perhaps.

  “Hmm,” he said.

  “Private?”

  “I almost tripped over these lines in the floor, sir.” He hadn’t, but he wasn’t about to tell them about the symbol.

  Ragnar walked over and shone a flashlight on the ground. “Look familiar?”

  “Can’t say that it does. Should it?”

  “We observed something similar at that ruin you came out of on Telamat.”

  “Oh? I hadn’t noticed.”

  Ragnar raised an eyebrow.

  “Boss,” said Akanna, “what’s our plan here?”

  Ragnar inspected the far wall thoughtfully. “Ollie, Akanna,” he said, “stand away from that seam in the wall. Weapons at the ready. Be ready to fire on anything that comes out of there, but only on my command.”

  “Are we expecting company?” asked Ollie.

  “Bakari here is gonna do whatever he did on Telamat to get into those ruins.” He turned to Darius. “Aren’t you.”

  Darius swallowed. “Sure. Sure, I can give it a shot. See what happens.”

  Ragnar nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, private.”

  Darius placed his fingers in the grooves as he had in Baloneth. The floor pulsed.

  “Be aware,” said Darius. “The floor may...move. You should brace yourselves.”

  Darius debated if he should cut his mic while he said the magic words. Or would they not even work unless he piped them to the speaker on his suit? Well, he figured that he could start by deactivating his audio output, then go from there. So he cut his mic, took a deep breath, and said

  “Ku atta kané.”

  They waited.

  Then, as it had in Baloneth, an earthquake-like wave heaved its way across the ledge. Darius was already kneeling, so he wasn’t knocked over, but the other three lost their footing.

  “God’s teeth!” said Ollie.

  “Weapons free!” said Ragnar. Darius hoped he was on the right side of that order.

  The seam on the far wall flashed and split open slightly, revealing a bright light within. With a low grinding noise, the
seam became a gap, and the gap slowly widened to reveal a squared-off corridor. It was some 20 meters wide and perhaps 15 meters tall. Its surfaces were of the same ragged obsidian that Darius had seen underneath Baloneth.

  Lanterns emitting indigo light popped out from the walls. They were spaced about 10 meters apart, and they did not produce much light. It was just enough to let the remaining shadows raise your hackles. In between each one was an inlaid disc of a milky white stone of some kind.

  The corridor went about 50 meters into the mountain and ended in another flat wall. There was a humanoid-sized set of double doors at the far end.

  “Boss,” said Ollie, “I don’t know about this...”

  “Private,” said Ragnar. “Analysis?”

  “I’ve seen this kind of thing before, sir. Believe it or not. But only once, so far. No idea what the threat level might be.”

  “Did you encounter any resistance?”

  “No, sir, the site was abandoned.”

  Ragnar got to his feet and checked his rifle. “Then we will proceed.” He shot a glance at Ollie.

  “Yessir,” said Ollie.

  They advanced slowly, weapons raised. They swept their scopes and flashlights right and left.

  “Never seen anything like it,” muttered Ollie.

  “Stay frosty,” said Ragnar.

  They came to the doors. There were no knobs, buttons, or handles, but one could tell that they were doors. They had the seams.

  “Akanna, open the door.”

  “Yessir.” She gave the double doors a gentle push, and they opened inward on silent hinges. Beyond was an indistinct, dimly lit space.

  “All right, everyone,” said Ragnar. “Ollie and Akanna in front, square formation. Anything moves, you shoot it. Make sure your recorders are on.”

  The team formed up.

  “Advance with caution.”

  They crept into the space beyond. As they did so, tiny white lights in the walls began to glow, very slowly at first. They were dim like the lanterns, and many appeared to be broken.

  They had entered into a smaller corridor, perhaps four meters square. It stretched into the gloom. Its walls were all roughly textured obsidian. Smaller corridors branched off on both sides. Most were caved in. The remainder were unlit.