Wednesday, October 15
Silicon Dreams: Part 6—The Bucket
As the agents approached the ship, a klaxon blared out.
“Warning, warning!” said a calm electronic voice. “Magnetometer readings rising.”
A single entry ramp opened from the bottom center of the craft. The craft rises slightly to allow the small steps to lower. Mist spilled out of the entrance, glowing with a yellow light.
“Let me know what’s inside there,” said Guppy. “I’m not going in.”
Hammer sighed. “Guppy, we could really use your help in there.”
Guppy crossed his arms. “You remember what happened last time. I’m not going in.” He hesitated. “For your own safety.”
Hammer frowned and stepped inside, with Jim-Bean and Archive close behind.
Inside was a low-ceiling interior made of a soft red-brown adobe-like material. It was carefully and ergonomically shaped. The ceilings were gracefully arched and the corridors serpentine and smooth. The floors were made of a shiny black material which under close scrutiny was covered in tiny green and purple writing. Every square foot of the ceiling was covered in tiny sigils.
“You seen one of these before?” asked Jim-Bean.
“Yeah,” said Hammer. “It looked exactly like this. In fact, I’m starting to think this is the same one.”
They passed through a peculiar tunnel with patterned walls. It was clear the ship was much larger on the outside than on the inside. Corridors wound more than thirty feet and opened into large rooms that were somehow all jammed with in the tiny craft.
“How could you even tell?” asked Jim-Bean. “Maybe everything they make looks the same?”
They made their way to what looked like an engine room. A row of inert boxes were about knee high. In the center of the room were strange symbols. A single platform flanked by flimsy bars acted as an elevator of sorts to the next level up.
“Guppy!” shouted Hammer. “Get in here!”
Guppy sounded very far away. A few seconds later he jogged in, his gaze intently focused on Hammer only. “They’re trying to blow the door.”
“Concentrate on the ship for a moment,” said Hammer. “What does this look like?”
Guppy hesitated, then started looking around at what passed for the ship’s engine. He ran his cistron over a few mechanisms. “This is an N-fusion drive,” he said. “It uses hydrogen as fuel, scooping it up as it goes along.”
“So it’s safe to say humans didn’t build this?” asked Jim-Bean.
“No humans I know,” said Guppy. “It normally takes one million degrees to power something like this.” He was starting to talk faster, overcoming his fear. “Plus, this craft isn’t capable of interstellar speed.”
“So where did it come from?” asked Hammer.
“A bigger ship,” said Guppy.
They took the elevator up.
There were panels on one wall lit by silhouettes of different creatures; some recognizable, others utterly alien in appearance. In one corner was a glass tube with what looks like a frozen armadillo. Another was a similarly shaped human-sized chamber, although it was not currently occupied.
Guppy’s eyes turned to slits. “I remember that chamber.”
“What’s it for—“ began Jim-Bean, but Hammer cut him off with a shake of his head. “Oh, right.” [MORE]
Labels: d20 modern
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