The Jumper slid out of the Gate, coasting a dozen meters by inertia before its engines emerged from their hidden nacelles. The ship accelerated, simultaneously enveloping itself in a cloaking field.
Invisible to all, undetectable by sensors, the Jumper shot upward so that the people on board would have a wide field of view.
"And..." Ihaar fell silent, peering at the readings on his laptop. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just as dead, destroyed, and deserted as the Recon Drone showed us."
Before the mission, an unmanned probe had gone ahead for reconnaissance. And the footage it transmitted, including the scan results, didn't inspire much optimism.
"These guys clearly didn't get lucky," said Alvar, who was manning the navigator's station. "The Wraiths ground their civilization to dust."
"If, of course, the Wraiths did it," I corrected, steering the ship away from the burnt-out ruins.
"And who else is capable of such cruelty?" Teyla quietly asked. The girl, like the engineer, sat in the second row of seats in the cockpit, staring at the bleak landscape of a post-apocalyptic present.
I didn't answer her question. We had no proof the Ancients had done this... Besides, the sight of a dead city not destroyed to its foundations didn't quite match the power of Ancient weaponry.
They'd have been more likely to wipe the single city off the face of the planet rather than leave hundreds of kilometers of ruins behind.
According to the Recon Drone that had arrived on Salumai a week ago and had been continuously surveying the skies ever since, searching for signs of life, energy, or anything that deviated from the criteria of a dead world, the planet had only one major settlement.
We called it the Capital for identification purposes.
And it was clearly not built by a civilization of farmers.
The main part of the Capital, while consisting of numerous buildings ranging from one to three or five stories in height, also had plenty of what could be called "skyscrapers" reaching a couple hundred meters.
Occupying territory within a radius of three hundred kilometers from the gates, the city presented the most obvious post-apocalyptic landscapes. Burned-out buildings stripped of their windows, destroyed walls, streets pockmarked with blast craters, mangled highway interchanges and maglev train guides, collapsed bridges — some destroyed by precision strikes, others fallen apart from age.
This had been an extremely advanced society, centuries ahead of Earth, maybe more. And Salumai no longer existed.
The reconnaissance drone hadn't detected any launch pads, spaceports, or massive planetary defense turrets. However advanced they might have been, space clearly hadn't been a priority for them. There weren't even traces of orbital debris that could have been left from destroyed space stations or anything similar. Though space is a vast thing, and another group would handle scanning the orbit.
The capital of the planet Salumai.
"Jumper-2, any new data?" I asked the second ship. Their task was to reach orbit, deploy several more powerful satellites for surface scanning, and obtain detailed information.
After all, the reconnaissance drone wasn't designed to be a perfect observation tool. Even with the best will in the world, the scanners we needed couldn't fit into its small hull.
So we had to first assess the situation roughly. And only after confirming the absence of danger would we launch full reconnaissance groups. Powerful scanning satellites over the planet — that was our advantage in getting more information in a short time.
They were built directly using Ancient technologies, and the scanning equipment there was Ancient. More powerful than what was in the jumpers. So the information obtained from them would be very useful if there was an underground city somewhere or something we couldn't detect from the atmosphere. After all, the jumper also had its technological limits.
We were primarily interested in the most unusual traces — energy, life signals, isolated hidden structures. Logically, that's where we'd find the most interesting things.
And if we didn't find anything, we'd have to leave the second jumper here for a more thorough reconnaissance.
"No, Mikhail," the pilot of the second ship replied. "There are no traces of battle in orbit, but we've only just started working. We're deploying observation satellites. If anything shows up, we'll report separately."
"Understood," I agreed, sending the ship flying toward the outskirts of the Capital. Logically, if the local inhabitants had any kind of production, it should have been moved outside the populated area. Warehouses, military bases, and so on were also better placed away from civilians.
In my opinion. What considerations this race was guided by would remain a mystery for a very long time — at least until the first discoveries.
According to Chaya's stories, the Salumai were human. It was probably one of the races created by the Ancients. But neither in Atlantis's database nor anywhere else had we found any detailed description of this race, their technologies, or their achievements.
Just a short, meaningless note next to the gate address: "Human race. First contact established. Further interaction deemed unpromising."
The knowledge of this universe suggested that the Ancients left such laconic records not because brevity was the soul of wit. For example, the database had the address of Asurans. And the note: "Work completed, complex abandoned." But in reality...
"Judging by the ruins, the Salumai were a very advanced civilization," Teyla said.
"I agree," Alvar said. "Not every race can build buildings several hundred stories high out of concrete and stone. Mikhail, do they do that on Earth?"
Here was something else interesting about the inhabitants of Salumai.
"On my Earth, tall buildings are preferably built from metal structures," I recalled. "It's faster and more efficient."
"Who told you that?" Ihaar's voice chimed in. "Most of the Ancients' outposts and even the buildings on Atlantis, for example, were built using a composite method."
"How's that?" Alvar asked.
"When you have Concrete-811, why waste mountains of metal on building a structure when you can just cast it the good old-fashioned way?" the engineer said, as if answering. "Concrete-811 can be made from practically the dirt under your feet — the main thing is to irradiate it properly. Then it becomes lighter than metal, stronger, and more durable. Moisture, mold, corrosion — none of it bothers it."
"It looks like the inhabitants of Salumai built from the same material," Teyla noted as we flew past another destroyed high-rise.
The building was striking not so much for its height and architectural similarity to Earth, but for how much it resembled the infamous monolithic high-rises back home. Concrete slabs, walls, cladding... Of course, rebar stuck out here and there from the destroyed walls, but... On Earth, they definitely wouldn't have built a building that tall out of concrete.
Though I had no doubt that the word "concrete" in Ihaar's vocabulary meant exactly the same thing as on Earth.
I'd seen the thickness of the buildings on Atlantis, built from a material resembling reinforced concrete. No thicker than a palm, but you could only destroy it if you really tried with a large-caliber cannon. Or something similar. Good material. Ihaar was right, and I, thinking about how to replace it throughout the whole city — no. Stronger than metal, slightly lighter... I had to admit, the Ancients weren't idiots when they built with it.
However, it still wasn't clear why only metal was used on ships, while the city-ship used both metal and concrete. The Ancients I had available explained in unison — those were the construction standards set by the Lantians.
Only Chaya tried to convey something like the fact that the infamous Concrete-811 had a density and other physical properties that made it virtually indestructible for millennia. It also didn't let air or moisture through, shielded against a significant portion of known radiation, and so on... In short, a thing for the ages. I just wasn't smart enough to understand all the material's advantages. It was good to be a representative of a lesser race — the Lantians said it had to be done this way, black is black, white is white, you salute, live your life, be happy, don't ask questions...
"Looks like we're just wasting time here," Alvar said. "Don't you have anything else to do besides dragging us around other planets?"
"I do, but not as much as I'd like," I admitted. "But right now, I'm the only one with the Ancient Gene who can both pilot a jumper and isn't too busy."
"We should have put Ihaar at the controls," Alvar said, glancing at the senior engineer.
He tore himself away from his observations and grimaced.
"Yeah, go ahead, make fun of me," he said. "Yes, my gene isn't strong enough to pilot the ship and keep it constantly active. So what? You can't do it either!"
"I commanded a battleship," Alvar reminded him with a chuckle. "Unforgettable feeling..."
"Could you stop measuring your piloting skills?" I asked. "We're still one team and all that..."
"Ihaar just thinks we're judging him for his scattered attention," Teyla chimed in. "Seliza said that's why he can't concentrate on piloting or keeping his equipment constantly active..."
"Well, thanks!" and from his voice, it was clear he wasn't at all grateful to Teyla for saying that. "It's written right there in our infirmary: 'Tell everyone about your comrade's problem you overheard'! And anyway, I can pilot, I just don't like it! In any kind of trouble, the pilot almost always dies first!"
Here was another demonstration of why the Ancients preferred to deal with fairly advanced races — even their physiology didn't always stably accept the Ancient Gene and other manipulations. On the Aurora's crew, for example, there were plenty of ordinary crew members whose gene was so weak it was barely detectable by equipment. Not to mention those in whom it had stopped working over time.
Just like that, a dominant gene became recessive... Strange are your works, Ancient genetics...
"Did you deal with those sitters on Taranis?" Alvar asked me.
The people on Taranis who had staged a sit-in hunger strike at the outpost were dispersed by the Ermen, Kirik, and the Athosians upon the Hippaforalkus's arrival. They were, of course, very unhappy with what happened, but Alvar had unequivocally reminded them — they could actually be killed on the spot for violating the perimeter boundary.
Naturally, no one was going to kill anyone. It was obvious that we had certain breaches of obligation on our side. After all, the outpost had been without a single person for two weeks...
But that wasn't the biggest problem.
"Partly," I said, not embellishing the events. "I met with them while the drone was on reconnaissance. And guess what — it turns out they're not traders at all, as they previously claimed."
"Supporters of Chancellor Leikos?" Alvar asked.
"You catch on fast," I acknowledged. "That gray-haired bastard and his hangers-on want to get as far away as possible. And the Taranians themselves, according to Norana Pyro, don't care at all about planets beyond the gates."
"And what do you intend to do?" Teyla asked.
"Letting them go would be a huge mistake," the Ermen advised. "They know the outpost's layout, the location of the villages, the planet's resources. If they fall into the hands of our enemies, that information would be very, very useful. But not to us."
"Yeah, I thought about that."
"And if you hold them against their will, they'll vent their dissatisfaction on others," the Athosian woman added her thoughts. "Little by little, they could gain more supporters and organize a rebellion."
"I thought about that too."
"And what did you decide?" Alvar pressed.
"Nothing yet," I admitted. "When we get back from this mission, I need to stop by Norana's and get more information from her."
"Or a candlelit dinner," Jensen smirked. "We all remember the stories about how much she wants to unite..."
"Well, or I'll send you to negotiate," I offered another option.
"And who's against it?" Alvar didn't even blink. "She's a bit dim, sure, but cute..."
"Is appearance all that matters to you?" Teyla stood up for the entire female gender.
"No," Jensen replied. "I'd also like her to be a good homemaker, a battle comrade, not throw tantrums, and not waste time on nonsense."
"Then take a closer look at Teyla," Ihaar advised, tearing himself away from his computer and walking over to the ship's control panel. "I've detected energy traces."
"Now it's getting interesting," I perked up. "Direction?"
"One hundred seven kilometers west of the city, a mountain range," Ihaar pointed to a blinking dot on the holographic display that appeared. The jumper banked and began to move away. "Judging by everything, the rock here is quite dense, the formation blocks signals and radiation. I don't think this can be detected from orbit..."
"We'll check that now," I declared, activating the communication channel with the second ship. "Do you have anything?"
"No, Mikhail. No signals from the surface."
"But we have something. Sending telemetry. We're heading out for reconnaissance. We'll report if we change location. If we don't make contact at the scheduled time — call in a team from Atlantis."
Reconnaissance teams operating on other planets had to report to Atlantis every few hours by Lantean time. Report news, progress, and so on. If the check-in time was missed, a search group led by Kirik would be dispatched from Atlantis. Unlike Alvar, he wasn't just a fighter who became a fugitive a few years ago. He was a former hunter-tracker who had developed his stealth and pursuit skills over many years.
That's why he was on the reserve team, not the main one.
"Data received, Mikhail. Cross-referencing with the satellites... No, we don't detect any energy traces, just the general background radiation. Elevated compared to the rest of the area, but nothing more."
"Could you be wrong?" I asked Ihaar.
"And did I get half my brain shot out so I couldn't read scanner data?" the Ancient asked, pointing to the pulsing signal on the monitor. "If anyone made a mistake, it was the jumper's scanners. But they're working perfectly — I checked before takeoff. We probably caught the signal only because we're close and because we have Ancient sensors."
"Either we're wrong, or our orbital scanners aren't as good as we thought," I noted, peering at the approaching cliffs. "Either way, we'll find out what's what soon enough."
* * *
As soon as we crossed over the lifeless stone ridges forming something like a valley, the latter opened up in all its glory.
"Unexpected," Alvar said, peering at the valley ahead of us, overgrown with shrubs and trees.
From here, the mountain slopes were already covered with vegetation; small streams running down the slopes were visible, flowing into a fairly large lake in the center of the natural formation. Quite decent vegetation for a planet whose surface was more suited for shooting post-apocalyptic movies.
We flew in a circle inside the formation, examining an object clearly built by intelligent hands. A small complex of destroyed buildings connected to a dam that blocked one side of the lake. Slowing the ship, I saw a substantial flow of water streaming through the dam's sluices. And it flowed into a huge chasm at the bottom of the formation.
Estimating our route, I realized that this might be where the river originated that began at the foot of the mountains we had crossed.
"A hydroelectric power station," Ihaar identified. "Quite primitive, of course, for an advanced civilization."
"Is that our energy source?" I asked. Could it be that the destroyed generating object had attracted our sensors' attention?
"No," Ihaar shook his head. "The source is significantly below the surface level. A hundred meters or close to it. Obviously, there are catacombs here..."
"Which," I changed the scanning mode but still didn't find anything indicating underground structures, "we can't see. The jumper is certain that besides the above-ground part and a couple of levels down, there's nothing here."
"I know," Ihaar replied, puzzled. "That's what's strange... Either our sensors are being jammed by the local radiation, or the underground object is shielded. Shields, radiation, or just dense walls — we won't know until we go down."
"This structure doesn't look safe," Alvar said.
"I agree," Teyla supported. "Are you sure it's worth exploring this complex?"
The complex on Salumai.
"If something can hide from our sensors, then that technology needs to be studied," Ihaar replied categorically. "The complex even looks very old — maybe it's thousands of years old. Who knows, maybe the hydroelectric station is just a cover for something more interesting and large-scale?"
"We're going on reconnaissance," I decided, lowering the jumper onto a suitably sized lawn in front of the complex. The ground looked quite solid; it was unlikely the ship would collapse into the maw of the nearest abyss.
While my companions armed themselves, I informed Chaya and the second jumper about our discovery.
"We can see you from orbit," the latter reported. "We have news too, Mikhail. At the equidistant point" that was the Lagrange point in the Ancients' scientific language — "we found debris of a space object. Not built by Wraiths, the construction is clearly human. Judging by the presence of stellar radiation collectors" meaning solar panels — "it was some kind of station. Thoroughly destroyed, not a single intact compartment. We're studying the debris; we might find something interesting."
"Understood," I acknowledged. "Chaya, give us a few hours to figure everything out. Then we'll get back in touch."
"Understood," the Proculucian woman replied. "Kirik and the rescue team will be on standby. But I wouldn't advise taking too many risks..."
And this woman had suggested I blow up planets! "The spirit of adventure has left us!"
"But it's worth studying this object," Ihaar interrupted our conversation. "I analyzed the radiation traces. It's slightly above normal and won't cause harm, but the rock here is quite dense. And that indicates..."
."..deposits of nacahdah," the Ancient woman understood instantly. "That sounds promising."
"I think the complex is either part of nacahdah mining shafts or was created to conceal them," Ihaar developed his thought. "Either way, if we don't find any knowledge about the locals' genetic experiments on the planet, an additional energy source won't hurt us. Or at least a place where we can mine nacahdah."
"Or it could be one of its unstable isotopes," Chaya countered. "And those are dangerous as energy sources."
"I know," Ihaar grimaced. "But without a detailed scan, we won't get answers to our questions."
"Are you finished?" I asked. "If not, we'll just wait until you've discussed all your theories."
"Then let's not waste time," Ihaar cheered up.
"I'll be waiting for your reports," Chaya reminded.
"We're moving out," I told the others, breaking the connection with Atlantis. With the jumper available, we could use its internal communication system and talk through the activated gates. Which was quite convenient, given the possibility of not just audio but also video conversations.
You couldn't get that with regular radios from Ermen...
Though it wasn't always necessary. The communication devices from Alvar's homeland also came in handy — especially for communication between group members.
After checking our equipment, supplies in tactical backpacks, and weapons, we set out for the destroyed complex.
Alvar moved at the vanguard, demonstrating that he wasn't just a pilot but a commando well-versed in reconnaissance. The hand signals he used to inform us within line of sight were very similar to those used by special forces on Earth.
I went next, Ihaar behind me. Teyla covered our rear — after all, her skills as a warrior and hunter also made her quite prepared for the dangers of this galaxy.
The search of the building began on the floor where the main entrance was located. Nothing supernatural to be found here — just the remains of once-destroyed furniture and computer equipment. Traces of soot and scorch marks from energy weapons were still visible, never fully faded.
"Strange," Ihaar muttered. "The Wraiths don't use lethal weapons for infantry. But here, it's like everything living was exterminated."
"We don't know yet if it was the Wraiths who did this," I reminded him. "Maybe the locals had a falling out among themselves?"
"Humans fighting humans?" Teyla clarified. "What kind of animals would you have to be to do that?"
"The ways of humanity are inscrutable," I replied diplomatically. I thought that if Earth had an enemy like the Wraiths, we probably would have found better things to do than a couple of World Wars.
Though... it was still unknown which was better — fighting each other, or holing up in burrows waiting for guys who could drain your life to come for you. And drain it in every sense.
"Not Concrete-811, of course, but pretty close to it," Ihaar gave his conclusion when we finished searching the above-ground part of the complex.
The senior engineer had scanned the walls and their debris to figure out the material the buildings were made of. Based on the results, we would decide whether to go lower.
"It's not going to collapse on our heads when we go into the underground, is it?" I asked. As expected, there was practically nothing to find in the above-ground part of the complex — everything within reach had been destroyed. The unknown attackers had smashed everything as if they hated the machinery with fanatical devotion to some other ideals.
The hydroelectric station's generators were destroyed, as were its control mechanisms. The water from the lake simply drained through the broken sluices when the lake level reached a certain mark. Judging by how everything was set up here, the locals had clearly used such a structure before.
If so, there should be plenty of interesting things somewhere on the planet.
"It won't collapse," Ihaar sighed. "Despite the damage, the structure is quite strong. Neither time nor Wraith bombardments caused anything like that..."
"So it was the Wraiths after all?" Teyla asked.
"Yes, and several thousand years ago, most likely during the war with them or a little later," Ihaar said, tossing aside the piece of concrete he'd been studying. "At least this little rock has been lying here since then. I think the locals would have repaired their facility if they'd survived the attack."
"The Wraiths don't destroy civilizations; they prefer to feed on them," I reminded him.
"But they kill those who are dangerous to them," Alvar countered. "Maybe the locals were exactly that kind of people."
"Did you find the passage to the catacombs?" I asked Ihaar.
"It's somewhere in the basement," he shrugged. "Only... There are residual traces of Wraith energy weapons here. The object was probably hit by 'darts' or bombarded from orbit... But if they landed troops, then... There might be a trap there."
"We'll find out," Alvar said, shifting his rifle and heading toward the part of the complex where we'd noticed a passage to the lower levels.
"What if it's all mined?" Ihaar shouted after him.
"Then we need to be more careful," I concluded, following him. "After all, we're on reconnaissance, aren't we?"
"I really don't want this to be my first and last one!" Ihaar declared.