The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (6 page)

Carank said, “So, the planet is about the same size as Advranki 3.”  He thought for a moment and continued, “Actually, both the sun and moon are similar in size to the Earth and its moon.”

Lorano corrected him, “Technically, this planet is about 1% smaller than the Earth and its moon is about 5% smaller than the Earth’s moon.”

Carank responded, “Proving my point that they are about the same size.”

…The planet has an atmosphere that is 77% nitrogen, 22% oxygen, 1% argon, and the rest are trace elements.  It has an atmosphere and an ocean of liquid water…

Lorano said, “Well, that is great news.  The atmosphere is in the breathable range by all species.  We have actually found a habitable planet.”

Carank said, “We should land and walk around.  We will be the first beings to step on this planet.”

Lorano: “I agree.  However, we don’t have the equipment to perform a full evaluation of the air, water, and soil.  What if there are microbes that kill us the moment we breathe the air.”

Carank responded, “Good point.  However, we have pilot flight suits aboard.  We can wear them while we are on the surface.”

Lorano continued / interrupted, “Yes.  We could collect samples and evaluate them when we return to Waylon.  Or, if we are lucky, perhaps we will be able to locate a lab on Solaria and perform the analysis there.”

Carank said, “Well, do we have any equipment on board that we could use to analyze anything?”

“Of course we have…”  Lorano started speaking, but his voice trailed off mid-sentence.  Lorano remembered that he hadn’t packed any technical equipment.  Further, they had only discussed what to bring to Solaria.  He hadn’t until this very moment thought about what he would need to investigate a planet.

Lorano continued, “Actually, I have no idea what we have on board.  Weren’t you responsible for packing the technical equipment?”

Carank refused to answer the question.  Instead he said, “Let’s search the ship.  I will take the front half, you take the back.”

They separated and Lorano went directly to engineering.  He searched for some piece of portable or even semi-portable piece of equipment that could be detached and taken to the planet.  He could use a portable scanner or possibly even something to collect samples.

Lorano found nothing in engineering, so he searched all 5 cabins.  The first two were completely empty.  The third was his room and was bereft of anything useful.  He checked Carank’s room and found nothing helpful.  He searched the last room and found a cosmetic kit. 

Once again, the item he needed was in the last place he looked.  However, he went ahead and inspected one additional room just so it wouldn’t be in the last place he looked.  It was important to go above and beyond sometimes.

Lorano yelled “Jackpot” and returned to find Carank.

Carank was returning and Lorano met him at the control room.  Lorano held up the cosmetics kit and said, “We can dump the make-up and wash the vials.  They can hold the water and soil samples at least.  I don’t think they are air-tight, so we won’t be able to collect an air sample.”

Lorano noticed that Carank was carrying something, so he asked, “What did you find.”

Carank held it up for inspection and replied, “It’s a Model 542.26.19 label maker.”

“Impressive; we will be the first beings to discover and properly label a new planet,” said Lorano.  He overstressed the word ‘and’.

Carank responded, “Well, I was hoping for a Model 345.22.14 diagnostic computer, but this is what I found.  Who knows, it may come in handy.”

Lorano’s retort was interrupted by the computer.

…An artificial structure has been detected on the surface…

Carank: “Computer, show the camera image of the structure on the main monitor.”

The computer showed a large structure.  It was difficult to see clearly because the ship’s cameras were partially blocked by the planet’s cloud cover.

Lorano approached the monitor and squinted, trying to find the object.  He highlighted and enlarged an area, but it was still unable to get a clear enough image to determine the object.  He tried a different path.  “Computer, create a visual image based on the results of the scan.”

The computer built a model based on the scans and displayed it on the main monitor.  Both Carank and Lorano looked at the image.  Lorano started to speak, but Carank beat him to it.

Carank said, “Okay, so we aren’t the first beings to find this planet.”

Lorano responded, “I see your power of observation is as astute as your intellect.”

Carank ignored the insult and said, “Okay, you are supposed to be one of the smartest Altians alive.  Why don’t you explain why there is an Altian energy pyramid on an undiscovered planet?”

Lorano responded, “Altian inspired certainly.  However, it will require closer inspection to determine whether or not it is actually an Altian pyramid.”

Carank said, “Look, the scan shows the pyramid is roughly 4,000 years old.  Who else could have built it?”

Lorano responded, “Humans built pyramids on Earth about the same time.”

“Are you suggesting that Humans somehow managed to travel through hyperspace 4,000 years ago, randomly built a pyramid here, and then returned to Earth?  I think that is extremely implausible,” responded Carank.

Lorano: “No.  I am not suggesting that Humans built it.  I am just stating that there may be another answer and we shouldn’t, we shouldn’t…What was that Earth saying you were so fond of, we shouldn’t leap over the ending?”

Carank responded, “I think it was jump past the conclusion.”

Lorano continued without acknowledging the clarification, “Pyramids are fairly common design elements.  A civilization could have arisen here and then died off, leaving this pyramid as the only proof of their existence.”

They impatiently waited the remaining 1 ½ hours for the ship to complete the full rotation of the planet.  The scan showed that there were several vast forests on the planet and that they were populated with wildlife – though nothing larger than a fox.  There was no evidence of an intelligent, native species.  At this point the pyramid was the only thing of interest to the scientists.

Lorano guided the corvette through the atmosphere and down toward a large plain area.  The plain was relatively close to the pyramid and could function as a landing site.  The ride down was shaky, due more to Lorano’s poor piloting skills than the planet’s atmosphere.

Carank, meanwhile, washed the make-up out of the 4 vials from Lexxi’s travel kit.  It was probably a spare kit, but Carank had heard of this particular brand.  The make-up was DNA sequenced to her skin and was very expensive. 

He knew that Lexxi would be angry if she found out that she had lost the kit.  She would be furious, however, if she discovered that it was emptied just so they could use it collect some dirt.  Carank had a plan in place for that eventuality though; he would simply blame Lorano.

Lorano said, “It would be nice to have one of the humans aboard.  I kind of miss them.”

Carank thought, translation – he wanted a pilot for the landing and also wanted a test subject that he could send out on the surface without an environmental suit.  Carank responded, “Yes, I recall how much you enjoy playing chess with them.”

They landed the corvette in a large, relatively clear area about ½ of a kilometer from the pyramid.  The computer had chosen this area for landing because the area was generally flat and had a thick layer of rock just below the surface. 

After landing, they put on flight suits.  These suits had thick material and contained a separate oxygen reserve.  The suits should protect them from any airborne pathogens and any fauna or flora.  Actually, Carank wasn’t entirely sure about the fauna part – he supposed a particularly nasty wild animal could bite through the suit.  At the last moment, Carank grabbed a beam weapon and handed one to Lorano. 

They decided to exit via the connector tube so that they could keep the air in their ship separate from the air on the surface.  Normally, the connector tube is used to connect one ship to another.  When not in use, the tube is stored in a sealed room connecting the inner hull to the outer hull.

Therefore, when two ships want to connect, they both open their outer hull ports.  Then one ship extends its connector tube.  When a solid connection has been established, both ships open their inner hull ports and beings are free to crawl from one ship to the other.

For this landing however, Carank and Lorano left the outer hull closed and opened the inner hull.  They entered the passageway between the hulls and then closed the inner hull.  Then, they opened the outer hull and extended the tube down to the surface.

Carank crawled down through the connector tube and to the surface.  Lorano followed Carank down the passage.  Lorano ordered the ship to retract the tube and seal the outer hull.  He reasoned that he didn’t want anyone or anything climbing up the tube and surprising them when they returned.

Once out, Carank closely inspected the landing area.  Well, he kicked the soil with his boot a few times.  However, the 3
rd
kick revealed a cleanly cut and polished stone just below the surface.  Carank continued kicking the soil until he had cleared an area about the size of his foot. 

Lorano joined Carank.  They both looked at the smooth polished stone.  Lorano jumped up and down a few times, but every spot felt the same to him.

Carank concluded, “The soil is only a few inches deep here and it is covering a large stone base.  The dirt here is newer than the surrounding area.  Clearly, at one time this was either a landing pad or a base for another pyramid.”

Lorano had reached the same conclusion.  He replied, “You assessment appears to be mildly correct.  Take a soil sample here.  However, please note that the soil is technically the same age as the soil in the surrounding area, it has simply been moved by the wind.”

Carank thought of several comebacks, but instead bent down and gathered a sample.  He was careful to collect soil that hadn’t been disturbed by his boot.

Carank said, “How far?  It looks like we are almost standing beside the pyramid.”

Lorano replied, “It’s about ¾ of a kilometer (½ mile) away.  Let’s go.”

They walked in silence until they reached a grove of trees.  They stopped to examine them in detail.  The trees were brown with large green leaves.  They were roughly 5.5 – 7.6 meters (18 – 25’) tall and looked deciduous.  These trees would like right at home in a forest in Advranki 2, Altian 1, or even Earth.

Unfortunately, neither scientist had any formal education in botany.  As a result, they were unable to ascertain any useful information by looking at them; other than the aforementioned fact that they looked like green-leafed trees. 

Carank said, “These trees look exactly like those on Altian 1.  I believe that this entire area must have been terraformed by the Altians thousands of years ago.”

Lorano responded, “All trees have brown bark and green leaves, except those that don’t.  These are no different.”

Carank reluctantly agreed with that assessment.

There were no obstacles of any kind in their path.  Carank thought he saw a hint of stone a few times and imagined that they were walking on an overgrown street.  Either way, they were able to easily walk to the pyramid. 

They reached the base and inspected the portion nearest them.  The pyramid was built from tremendously large stones.  The stones were very cleanly cut and accurately placed against each other.  There was no space between the stones. 

The pyramid was perfectly aligned to the star cluster that contained Altian 1 -3.  Further, its overall construction and shape matched those built on Altian 1.  There was little doubt they were looking at an Altian energy pyramid.

Lorano said, “Computer, remind me of the dimensions of this pyramid.”

…The pyramid has a base of 193 meters (633 feet) and an original height of 116 meters (380 feet).   The pyramid has eroded over time and its current height is only 112 meters (367 feet)…

Carank already knew the answer, but he asked anyway, “Computer, are the dimensions and internal passageways similar to those of an Altian energy pyramid?”

…No Altian pyramid is exactly the same size.  However, this pyramid has a base, height, and internal passageways similar to that of an Altian pyramid…

Carank asked, “Could it have been used to produce electricity?”

…The Altians used piezoelectric power as their main source of energy for over two thousand years.  The electricity was generated by capturing the planet’s vibration through a pyramid type structure, translating that into sound waves, then subsequently translating the sound into electricity…

Great, Carank thought, now even the computer is lecturing.  Carank asked, “Was the time of this structure’s construction in line with the 2,000 year window of Altian usage?”

Lorano said, “Yes, Altians were still using this type of power generation 4,000 years ago, though it was rapidly being phased out of use at that time.”

Carank summarized, “This is an old Altian pyramid.  It is the correct size, has the correct internal passageways, and was constructed when Altians were using pyramids as a source of electricity.”