The Hidden City Read online

  Chapter 1 - Preparations

  She was sitting next to one of the ship’s control panels, carefully following the possible routes shown on the display, and noting, from time to time, the numbers that were appearing on the screen. It was her duty to calculate and set the paths that they were traveling, and each time she did that, she didn’t want to be bothered. The fact that she had been named the leader of the mission again made her be as thorough as possible, not missing the slightest chance to make everything perfect. If someone were to call Margaret a perfectionist, that would be generally the case, and she loved every part of being so.

  Their small craft had been stationary for approximately half a day. They had chosen a hidden place this time, mostly for their protection and because they did not want to be disturbed by anyone. They were in orbit of a natural satellite of an uninhabited planet not far from Earth, in the K101v solar system, as it was noted in the galactic map, and they were not going to linger for more than a few hours. The treasure hunters were always one step ahead of them and they didn’t want the relics that they were looking for to fall into the wrong hands. These relics were far too valuable and she knew that their place belonged in a museum. And we’re not talking about any usual museum here, but the Royal Museum of Galactic Relics, located, in the Vatican City, Rome.

  It was the year 3521, and the two 34-year-old Earth citizens were some of the best space archaeologists that the Royal Institute of London had. Their mission was sponsored this time by the Vatican, and the original message that they had received while they were in their London office was rather brief: “Dear Margaret. The relics are invaluable. Be very careful, avoid all unnecessary contact, and make sure you get them intact. Do not hesitate to contact us as soon as you find anything, no matter how insignificant it might seem. And use private secured frequencies at all times.” That’s all. Intrigued by their brief mission communique, Margaret began searching for details about these relics. To her surprise, she found out very few details in the Earth’s Planetary Library. There were some rumors that speculated that the relics had been involved in some sort of ritual in the past, but no one knew more than that. They were looking for 5 metallic pieces, each weighing about 100 grams, that were made out of silver and decorated with precious gems.

  Philip entered the room, with a full cup of dark coffee in his hand, and stopped near Margaret’s chair.

  “I searched the archives for what you have told me, Margaret. It seems that the relics appear in several places throughout the last 100 years period. In each reference, the relics are briefly presented and not much is being said about them. A reference is dated somewhere 80 years ago on Jaspur, in the King’s Palace, then another one, a few solar-systems away on Rishkar, about 46 years ago, then 2 more references in which it is being said that they were on Earth for almost 12 years, in the hands of some apparently rich collectors, to finally arrive at the last reference that is 8 years ago, on Andaria, in the solar system where we want to go. I tried to…”

  Margaret interrupted him quickly.

  “Have you also tried at the Marine Archive? We have to be certain before we leave, Philip,” Margaret said, with a serious look. There was always a special glitter in her green eyes when she was serious about something.

  Philip looked at her a little bit confused.

  “But what can we find there, Maggie? The Marine Archive does not hold many relics, and it is not really a big museum, plus, the Earth began to massively colonize the oceans only 60 years ago. Do you really have the impression that we could find anything of value there?”

  “Well, if they were on Earth for that long, of course, we can! We have to look everywhere, Phil. We don't know where the relics may actually be, and to spend time plotting courses and search dozens of solar systems without looking closely in every Earth museum repository, where they might be in the first place, it’s a total waste of time, don’t you think?”

  Margaret thought for a moment and then said, this time with a calm and more coherent tone.

  “All I am saying is that we need to get in touch with Troy and tell him to personally go to the Archives and find out if any object generally matches our specifications. Andaria may be a location listed only in the documents, just to put those looking for the relics on false traces. Those rich collectors that you mentioned, can easily hide the artifacts this way, with the help of a lot of paperwork, of course, which they probably paid from their own big wallets, and I’m also pretty sure that they also do know how important these relics are to the Vatican Museum right now.”

  Philip scratched his head. He looked at her for a while, not knowing what to say. Margaret was always one step ahead of him when it was about planning their missions, and he had to trust her. But this time, he felt that Earth was definitely not to place to look for.

  “If the last reference is on Andaria,” Philip said, “I say we should definitely look there first. In their capital city, we go directly to the Andarian University, ask around, follow traces, visit old collectors, see antique stores. We have enough galactic credits to stay at any hotel we want, for an unlimited period of time. And if we can't find them, we can at least find the trail that leads to the next location where they might be,” Philip said, with a determined voice. And then, he quickly added. “I’m pretty sure they are not in Marine’s Archives and, to be honest with you, I don’t even get this mission, in the first place. If the Vatican wanted these … items so badly, why didn’t they go look for the relics, themselves? They have plenty of good people that can search far and wide, fast small cruise ships, not to mention many connections. Maybe they just needed someone to fail in this mission, so they can easily blame us for it, while they probably already have them hidden somewhere, making them easily disappear from the eyes of the world.”

  Margaret looked at him with a serious face.

  “Now you’re getting more suspicious than I am, Philip. You don't know that, and I don't know either, but what we do know is that it looks like they're not just some 'relics.' I understand that they are of great spiritual importance, and in some circles, it is being said that they have been used for centuries or even millennia in a ritual of some sort, to create a rift in the time-space continuum and connect to a different dimension than ours, something close to a parallel reality, existing in our Universe, but I could not find more than that. And, as you perfectly know, the Vatican people always want to get their hands on such things.” She paused for a moment, noted a few more numbers that appeared on the screen in her notebook, and then she continued. “Some even say they might belong to an extinct and highly evolved race that now exists in an etheric realm,” she said, looking at Philip and raising her left eyebrow, with a mysterious face.

  Philip weighed her words for a few moments and nodded.

  “Well, you’re right. We don't know what they might be, and I can agree with that. This universe is big, far too big for us to know everything. I will just call Troy and ask him to personally go to the Archives, so you can clear your mind off this idea. Did you manage to plan the course of the trip, yet?” he asked her, trying to look over her notes, and putting a hand on her shoulder.

  Margaret’s shoulders were a bit tense. She fidgeted a little in her chair and muttered something, just for her.

  “Not yet.” She reached out and touched a few more settings on the vertical panel. “Now I am re-checking the optimal variable points of the main route. We might have more than enough credits for the trip, but I think we can save some valuable plasma if I manage to set up an optimal route.”

  “I trust you on this one, Maggie. And I know you are always doing your best. Do you want a cup of your favorite coffee, to help you out with your calculations?”

  She looked again on the vertical pan
el, noted a few more numbers, and said briefly.

  “Yes, Phil. I’d love one. I just have to finish here, it took me more than one hour to complete my preliminary routes that are now just … ”

  Suddenly, the proximity alarm sounded with two short beeps. The two looked at each other puzzled; they were not expecting anyone. Then, the proximity alarm sounded again. They turned precipitously and looked at the big screen of the main command panel. Something was there, like a shadow in the darkness, almost visible on the screen.

  “Maggie, what on Earth is that?” Philip asked, staring with utter surprise at the large display. “Computer, light projectors!” he quickly said.

  Margaret was seeing exactly what he saw. A rather large dark gray cubic object, which had a circular and intricate orange symbol in the middle of all of its sides, appeared next to their ship. It had a very fine polished exterior that almost shined in the lights that were projected by their ship, and it was simply stationary, maybe a mile distance away from them.

  “I … I don't know, Philip. We weren’t expecting anyone, at least not here, and especially not now,” Margaret said, and quickly reached the vertical panel next to her, hastily accessing the ship's protection system.

  Philip quickly put his coffee cup on Margaret’s table and in a few acrobatic jumps reached the main control panel, at the front of the ship. He started touching really fast the control buttons, selecting programs, and checking everything he could, while the proximity alarm was still ringing, every two seconds.

  “You can safely stop the proximity alarm while you do that, Phil,” said Margaret after a few long moments. “If that thing wanted to hurt us, by now we were supposed to be dead,” she added, in a calm and realistic voice. She raised from her chair slowly and went closer to the main control panel, standing behind Philip. He turned to Margaret after a few long moments, with a curious face.

  “I tried to detect the type of this ship. It does not exist in our database.”

  Margaret approached the console.

  “Can you see how many people are on board?”

  “Certainly. The interior command area seems to be about … 100 square feet. The air has enough breathable oxygen, and that’s a good sign, but there is no one aboard,” he said, looking back at her in astonishment.

  Margaret was as intrigued as he was.

  “Then how on Earth did this thing get here?” she asked, placing both hands on the console and looking at the dark-gray cube standing in front of their ship as if she was trying to penetrate it with her eyes.

  “Can you run a more detailed scan, maybe this way we can find something about this cubic mystery? Time is of the essence, and the faster we know what we're dealing with, the better," Margaret said.

  Philip touched a few commands on the main panel and the scan began on the ship's large display screen. After waiting almost half a minute and reading carefully all that which the display was showing, they understood that nothing of this object appeared to be known. Well, almost nothing. Aside from the breathable air, the ship’s exterior contained 10% iron, but the rest of the elements were unknown. Neither the dating nor the alloy from which it was made seemed to be common. The scan managed to penetrate the outer armor of the cube and detected a very thin sphere inside the cube, made of an unknown metallic alloy, that rotated continuously and very fast, in the opposite direction with another sphere of the same kind, leaving a space of a few inches between them, in which there was a huge energy field of an unknown nature to their scanners.

  Margaret saw all the scan statistics on the screen, but as far as she knew, she had never seen anything like this, in any of her previous missions.

  “It is indeed alien technology that we do not know of. What on Earth could this be?” Philip said, relaxing on his chair.

  “But ... what if this thing is looking for … us?”

  Philip looked at her in surprise.

  “Us? You mean … you and me? What can this object have to do with us, Maggie? We don't even know what it might be, what it is made of, or where it is coming from ... “

  “I have a vague feeling that it has to do with our mission,” murmured Margaret after a few moments. “There are too many parallel rumors, Phil, about the relics we are looking for, and this technology is maybe as old as they are. Maybe someone that knows we’re looking for the relics has come for us...”

  Philip turned in his chair towards the ship's controls and put his hands together behind his head, leaning backward, weighing the situation.

  “I don't know what to say, Maggie. We had a mission to complete. And now we've got this strange thing here doing absolutely nothing, not even scanning us, and leaving us with a dozen unanswered questions on our minds. What do you propose we should do? As far as I know, you are the leader of this mission.”

  Margaret wanted to say something, but Philip stopped her with his hand.

  “No, I shouldn't have asked you. I know for sure what you are going to say ... “

  She still ignored him and said.

  “The only way to find out what we’re dealing with, Phil, especially because so far it was harmless, and as you can see, it doesn't have any type of weapon on board, is to … ”

  Philip nodded.

  “Of course, to go inside and check for ourselves. But what if those who have followed us or put this thing to follow us, actually want us to go inside and look? What if it's a trap?” Philip said with a real and sincere outlook.

  “Those who have followed us?” Margaret asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes! They could have sent this thing here, to get us!” said Philip, who started to be visibly a little bit worried about this new situation.

  Margaret nodded as if she was really following his point of view and said with authority.

  “And suddenly we are being followed. It was just a hypothesis, Phil. And anyway, I’m sure that none of those who are looking for the relics, including us, have technology like that. This is definitely something else. We couldn't even detect how old this thing is, and if you ask me, it seems completely harmless. Maybe it is just an old probe of some sort, wandering around through the Universe, that managed to reach this position in space, discovered us, and came to check us out … “

  Philip remained silent for a few seconds, weighing Margaret’s words.

  “So you say that there’s a chance that it is a harmless probe and that no one is actually following us. I’m sure you say all this out of your immense curiosity to visit this ancient probe of some sort, that is possibly hundreds or even thousands of years old indeed, probably made by an ancient race that doesn’t even exist anymore, just so you can look for unexplored relics on board. I know Maggie, it’s really tempting, but it can also be very dangerous. I think this puts our mission in great danger. Remember, 5 minutes ago it was crucial for us, and now all you want is to visit a ship that we really know nothing about? Our mission has to be our first duty, and then after we complete it...”

  Margaret looked at him with the face she always had when she wanted something and interrupted him.

  “Come on, Phil, it will not take long. We go in, we stay in for 10 minutes, and then we leave. I'm very intrigued by the fact that this thing practically came here as if it was looking for us when no one knew absolutely anything about our present location, and it did absolutely nothing ever since it arrived. You know we can’t miss this opportunity. As a space archaeologist, I must insist that this is our main duty to … “

  Philip saw that there’s no chance to convince her, at least not this time.

  “Okay, okay, Maggie, if that’s what you want. But you have to promise me that we will not stay for more than 10 minutes inside this thing, and leave immediately if we notice any weird stuff going on. This cube could run away with us as fast as it appeared and render our personal transporters useless in a matter of seconds.”

  Margaret put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  “Because this cube hasn't acted in any way since it appear
ed, I think it can maintain this state indefinitely, if … we treat it with respect. And in the end, maybe we can even find something on board that could be of immense value to us or that could even be crucial to our mission if it really has anything to do with it. So, I say we each take a Stunner, just in case someone or something shows up, and see what this cube has for us, inside,” said Margaret with an enigmatic smile on her face.

  Philip had to comply. He couldn’t do anything else in these kinds of situations. When Margaret was so determined, he usually had very little to say. He deactivated the ship's protective shield by pressing a few commands on the control board and got up from his seat. Margaret pulled two Stunners from their sockets in the wall and threw one at Philip. They began fixing their proximity teleporter onto their arms and arming them, just in case they need to immediately jump back on their ship.

  “Are you ready?”

  Philip couldn't say anything because, the next second, a rather bright flash of yellow light flooded the main room of their small cruise ship. After a few intense moments in which they were engulfed in this powerful yellow light, they woke up somewhere they didn't think they would be anytime soon.

  Chapter 2 - The unexpected

  Margaret and Philip had to acknowledge the fact that they were outside, up on a hill, and as far as they saw, they were surrounded by very tall and dense trees. The sun was bright, almost to sunset, and it smelled of fresh forest air. They looked around for a few seconds, trying to apprehend their current situation: at a distance of maybe three or four miles, through the tall trees that were descending the slope, one could see the tops of what appeared to be ancient buildings, built in stone. Other than that, only green lush vegetation everywhere you looked.

  For a few moments, they looked at each other in utter surprise, as neither of them was expecting this. Margaret was the first to lower her weapon.

  “Phil, where are we here? Is this some kind of simulation?”

  Philip scratched his freshly blonde trimmed hair with his Stunner and replied.