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First Encounter The vault encompassing 32I-4P was dead silent, except for the hum of the fluorescant lights, and the beating of Carbun DeMaro's heart. Carbun sat in an uncomfortable chair slightly left of center in the windowed observatory, watching nervously the waiting soldiers below him, all at ease and waiting, while he and other techs were making final preperations. This was to be the first manned trip through the portal, at least, the first under UNIS control. In previous trials, the team had sent small objects (including a newly commisioned remote databot) over the anomalous raised platform, watched them disappear, and in the case of the 'bot, return again, apparently unharmed. They had analysed, re-analysed, hypothesized, theorized... all of the data pointed to another, Earth-like world. Carbun wasn't sure how it all worked out: all he knew was that the information before him couldn't be a glitch. An atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen, with a significantly lesser amount of gaseous oxides. It couldn't be Earth, the air was too clean. Gravity, just slightly less than Earth's own at 9.71 metres per second squared, pointed to the theory of a new world... flora samples, however, were astoundingly similar to Earth's. Infact, without the previous information, one could assume that the portal led to a pleasant grassy meadow on some Alpine slope. Carbun glanced over at his superior, rubbing his hands nervously, aware that all of them were about to make history. He was a lowly tech, consigned to lesser tasks, stuck with the hard plastic chair in the corner. But he was here, in the 32I-4P control room, and he could be famous. His superior spoke into the microphone to address the assembled soldiers in the main room, "Ah, Alpha Team, we'll be ready to go in five. Please stand back for power-up," in fluent Intraworld. It took an insane amount of energy to get the portal working. Carbun had watched it start up a number of times before, and it always made his hair stand up--literally. When the portal had first been unearthed and started, it had been with the aid of an artifact; they were still trying to figure out how it had worked. Some time later the artifact had gone missing, but that couldn't stop the UNIS. They had determined that the portal could be activated with the aid of strong electro-magnetic impulses. Now the portal, covered with what appeared to be an empty door-frame, began to glow faintly. The frame began to spin about, clockwise, its sides in alignment with the circumference of the circular pad of ground. Carbun could imagine the strong forces gliding between the two prongs of the frame, though they were ofcourse invisible. More than one of the soldiers below shifted uncomfortably as the currents in the main room flowed. Carbun was glad that he was witnessing this event from the control room, unlike a few of his team who were out on the floor. The pentacle shape on the portal blossomed with an unexplainable light, amazing in its radiance and mystery. The sergant barked a command and his squad came to attention. Carbun allowed a smile to cross his pale lips: everything was going according to plan. The pentacle dimmed to a pleasant glow, and now the tech's superior brought the microphone online. "You're good to go, Alpha Team. Feel free to move out." Carbun watched as the squad began their transport. First went the sergant, then his men. One, two, three... ***** Next |