The 11th Planet, chapter 4

He landed on soft, almost moist sand. What the ...? His momentary fear gave way to awe as he looked at his surroundings. The section of rock which had given way, had pivoted back into its original position on the low ceiling. The sand he knelt on was the floor of a small alcove which branched off at a ninety-degree angle from a wide tunnel. The wall opposite the alcove was studded with egg-shaped protuberances.

The surroundings were lighted, although he couldn’t see how that was so, since there was only the narrow two-inch high opening to let in light. Regardless of that fact, the whole area was well-lit, as if there were a window right overhead. The area was also dry, clean, and colorful. The alcove was a golden sandstone color, the tunnel was pale blue in both directions, and the wall with the protuberances was a glistening wine color.

The entire effect was man-made looking rather than natural. But how could that be? He stood up and glanced out the opening -- it reminded him of bunkers he’d read about on far-away Old Earth. After a bit he shook his head and decided to go partway down the tunnel to see what he would find.

He took the left tunnel and strode about ten steps before coming upon another alcove / opening / protruding wall set-up. He looked everything over, then stepped up to the narrow, external opening. At first he wasn’t sure what he was seeing -- far, far away he could just barely make out a pile of rocks with another skimmer sitting in front of it. Was someone else out exploring? His tracking/detection equipment should have alerted him. And oddly enough the skimmer was orange with an electric blue stripe, just like his. That was an eerie coincidence.

He walked the ten feet back to the original alcove and looked outside. This time he couldn’t see it. Oh sure, his skimmer was sitting right outside where he’d left it, but even though there was another rock pile far away, there was no second skimmer. He walked back down the ten feet to the second alcove and looked out again. Yep -- there it was. What the hell?

Just then an utterly mad idea began to form. No. No, it couldn’t be. He had only taken about ten steps from one alcove to the other, much fewer than if he went outside and walked to where the unidentified skimmer sat. It couldn’t be his skimmer -- it was just too far away. And ten steps in place of a couple of thousand didn’t make sense.

He went back once again to the original location, took his nocs and observed his skimmer close-up -- a nick where he’d dented it last year, a stain where some elic bushes had rubbed against the side. Then he walked to the second location and used his nocs to observe the mystery skimmer.

Damn! They were one and the same. The thought made him break out in a sweat. What kind of technology could move a man great distances with few steps? He didn’t know whether to be frightened or excited, but he was definitely going to keep this news to himself.

Suddenly he heard a sound. He froze ... listened ... then heard it again -- a pinging sound. He waited about thirty seconds, then heard it again a few more times. Quickly he walked back to ‘home base’ as he decided to think of the original alcove, and looked out the narrow ‘window.’

There was a dark cloud on the horizon which hadn’t been there just a few minutes ago. The ping sounded again and he noticed a small pebble bounce off the rock pile. Oh my god -- a dust storm? The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he thought about that possibility. He heard yet another ping and realized if he brought the skimmer in as close to the pile as he could, he just might be able to salvage it.

After hesitating briefly, wondering how he was going to get out of his base camp, he simply reached up to the opening and gently grasped it. It smoothly pivoted downward, creating a rough staircase which he ascended. He brought the skimmer as close as he could into the center of the crescent shape, then grabbed his backpack and duffle before going back down the ramp into the safety of the alcove. Dust storm, stone storm -- they were both to be avoided.

Tiny pebbles and small rocks started pinging with greater frequency, and finally one of them bounced through the opening. Moments later Mark watched in awe as a window-shade type of super-fine filament slowly but steadily drew down to completely cover the opening. He could see vaguely through it, but there were no more rocks zinging through. The same filament slowly spread out to cover his skimmer.

Within minutes the pinging began to rain non-stop and soon approached the loudness of a thundering falls. Oh my god, he thought as he slowly sank to the floor. If I’d been caught out in that .... He left the thought unfinished. When the noise began to get on his nerves, he walked into the tunnel and discovered, much to his delight, that the sound was almost completely blocked.

What is this place he wondered as he leaned against the rock and slid to sit cross-legged on the floor. Are there mysterious beings living in here somewhere? Am I in danger? He sat in thought, going through numerous possibilities and running scenarios until he finally realized he was tired and was never going to just figure it out. He stood up and went back to base to grab a blanket. It still sounded furious outside, and he mentally thanked the universe for showing him a safe place to wait out the storm.

He walked back down the tunnel, laid down with his head on his duffle, wrapped up in his blanket, and fell asleep.