Page 93 of Pets in Space 10

Okay, he didn’t know if there had been no access or awareness.

It appeared that the event that had cracked walls and done damage in the facility had opened up this access point.

He activated his suit light and shone it around.

There was a rubble fall behind them, so it was possible this was part of a corridor or tunnel.

He couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t look as if any attempt had been made to clear that rubble.

He checked the sensor again. It was definitely getting stronger now that they were underground. He leaned close to the stone but could see no reason there would be light in here. It could be that the stone itself had some inherent ability to capture light or reflect it?

And — he could breathe so there was oxygen. It could be coming in from the hole, but the air coming up the stairs wasn’t as nasty as he’d expected.

Harold didn’t ask if it should go down. It knew they needed to go down. It had the same sensor data Miles did. And he didn’t see T'Korrin, so the bird was probably hopping its way down, too.

Harold squeezed through the first serious rock fall and vanished from sight.

With a glance and a shrug, Lira followed him. Miles didn’t protest. It felt right for him to bring up the rear. He thought about pulling a weapon, but Lira hadn’t. It was a new kind of peer pressure. He felt the urge to hum again in a heavy silence broken only by the sound of their footsteps.

He paused several times to study the rocks exposed by the quake.

There was definitely a distinct difference between the unnatural and natural rocks.

And he was fairly sure it was the unnatural rocks giving off the glow.

He pocketed a sample of each, in hopes of being able to examine them better at some point.

The steps wound around and around, the descent steep.

At one point Harold hefted some rocks to the side to make a better path for them.

And then the stairs ended with a startling abruptness at a small platform.

Was it a platform? The space was circular, the edges different from the walls of the stairwell.

T'Korrin stood near an edge, peering down, so Miles joined the bird and pointed his light down into a steep canyon or crevasse. No way to be sure from this vantage point. He’d guess it was about six feet across to the solid wall rising to some unknown height and unknown depth.

His suit registered heat rising from it.

He backed carefully away and turned around. He saw Harold approach what looked to be a wall that looked different in texture and design. Another unnatural something?

Harold reached it and something slid back.

It was a door.

Harold looked at him without turning its body. It was pretty freaky. “It is a lift.”

Lira made it to Harold’s side before Miles got past his shock. She leaned in and studied the lift.

“No wonder my father thought there was an alien civilization down here.”

Alien. It was weird to realize he was also an alien here. If she only knew…

“This signal, this sensor,” she said now, “is it down here somewhere?”

“I think so,” Miles said, beating Harold to the answer. Harold had also been programmed to tell the truth. Hopefully the AI sentience was taking the edge off that.

Harold held out an arm, and Miles—and Lira—could see a small screen with a blinking dot on it.

“We are still above it.” Harold stepped into the lift.

Miles gave a sigh and followed them in. T'Korrin had managed to zip in without him noticing. He studied the interior, but there wasn’t a lot to see.

What struck him the most, however, was that this lift was remarkably like the Garradian lifts at the outpost. Other than the persistent sensor, it was the first physical indication that the Garradians had been here at some point.

At least he was in the right place, just at the wrong time for avoiding first contact.

As was the case with the Garradian lifts he’d ridden before, the trip was fast and silent. It felt like they hadn’t moved at all when the door opened again, but he could tell there was a pressure difference.

They were definitely deeper underground. And there were more signs of the event that had disrupted the upper level. He itched to check out the rocks tumbled across the chamber floor.

This place felt less Garradian-made. There were signs of rough-hewn stone and the floor surface was uneven. The smell of a salt flat was a lot stronger. They were close to the source.

He glanced at Lira.

“Do you work with your father?” he asked, to distract her from the questions he felt were forming in her eyes and might possibly spill out her mouth.

His question appeared to jolt her out of her thoughts.

“Um, no. I’m an archeologist.”

Had his suit translated that correctly?

“You study the past,” he said. She was a scientist, too. Scientists were taught to notice things.

She paused. The bird gave a derisive squawk.

“That is the definition of being an archeologist. Mostly.” She paused. “You study the past as well.”

He blinked. “And the present.”

“But rocks.”

“Rocks and other things.” He knew there were other things that he did, but something about her seemed to be messing with his head.

“A geologist,” Harold said, “studies the structure, composition and history of a planet.”

“Those other things, yes,” Miles said. So, there was an upside to having a robot sidekick. If Harold was the sidekick? What if he was the sidekick? “And we check out geologic sensors.”

It felt like he should remind her of that. She gave him a tiny smile. He really hoped he wasn’t the sidekick. Sidekicks never got to kiss the girl.

That thought made him blink twice. When had kissing the girl entered into his thoughts? Well, he was a guy, he reminded himself.

***

Why had she smiled at him? He was so odd and yet, kind of sweet.

Harold? She’d never figure that thing out.

It was so unsettling. It almost sounded like a human and its movements were pretty smooth and coordinated, but it was a robot.

A robotic human. She’d have taken time to dig more into its presence, but she was getting really worried about her father.

Had he really made his way down into the place?

And even worse, was he right about everything?

It was not something one really wanted from a parent, no matter how much one loved them.

If they were right about something this big, then perhaps they were right about all the other things they’d been told.

And that was almost too much to deal with right now.

“How could he come down here, if he is down here,” she amended. “Anything could happen to him.”

As if to prove her point for her, T'Korrin gave his warning squawk followed by the tremor. It rumbled them and the ground and sent more debris cascading down. They also got dusted pretty thoroughly from above.

“That was longer and more intense than the last one,” Harold said.

It didn’t sound too concerned. It was possible it was less destructible than a human being.

“Are you alright?” Miles took her elbow and gave her a worried look, even though she’d ridden the tremor better than he had.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Well, I’m not fine. Not in the sense of being fine with all this, but I’m not injured or anything.”

“That’s probably all you can hope for at the moment,” Miles said.

T'Korrin made a sound that seemed like agreement.

The follow-on shocks slowly subsided, giving her a chance to look around.

What light there was, came from the open door of that lift.

The upper passage had been moderately lit, which was odd, now that she was in this place. Where had that light originated from?

This place definitely felt more primitive and creepy. She didn’t know exactly how far underground they were, and she didn’t actually want to know. It wouldn’t help.

Miles and Harold were also looking around. Miles took a hammer with a pointed end out of a pocket in his suit and carefully chipped at the wall until a piece fell into his hand. Then he took it back to the light to study it.

She’d never seen anyone look at rocks as if they held the secrets of the universe. She almost wished he’d look at her like that. Not that she had any secrets or anything. She tried to focus on something else. She was deep underground. Her father was missing. And that sensor thing was pinging.

It was not the moment to ponder the cute guy or wonder what it would be like to have his attention. Her gaze shifted to Harold. Then back to Miles. It was kind of funny.

They were similar in height. They both had arms and legs. Heads. And, of course, torsos. Yet they couldn’t have been more different. Human and metal. They were an odd couple. And Miles had a slight accent she didn’t recognize. She frowned at that thought. She didn’t recognize it.

“Where are you from?” she asked, trying to make the question sound casual.

Their reaction wasn’t casual. Harold actually managed to look alarmed.

“Um,” Miles began.

“We are from the Glan region,” Harold said.

She gave it a look.

“Glan?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Your accent isn’t right.”

“Did Harold say Glan? I think it meant…” Dr. Walker’s voice trailed off. “Not Glan,” he finally finished.

“I thought Glan was sufficiently remote,” Harold said. “I am surprised you’ve been there.”

“I’m an archeologist,” she pointed out. “Remote is where most of the digs happen.”

“Right. I should have thought of that.”

Harold’s comment was almost an apology.

“Look,” Miles said, “it doesn’t matter where we are from. What matters is that something is happening to your planet.” He moved his hands as he spoke, as if that would help her understand.

My planet?

“The sensor.” He had a point. But why didn’t he want her to know where they came from?

“The sensor,” he agreed.

“But you’re not looking for the sensor. You’re looking at rocks,” she pointed out.