Authors: Mark Henrikson
Chapter 56: Disassemble
Hastelloy stood on
the Nile river bank as he watched the speedboat approach. The midday sun had returned to its full intensity with the ash cloud now gone. The sun’s reflection off the glassy surface of the water made Hastelloy place a hand over his eyes to serve as a visor and relax his squinting brow. As he bent his arm, sweat poured off his elbow joint; the sun and heat were positively scorching.
Upriver, a small but powerful boat propelled a chain of ten large flotillas. The scene resembled a tug boat pushing a string of barges up river. The ships took an almost parallel course to the shore, which allowed the entire line of ships to bottom out at the same time.
The captain quickly surveyed the contents of the containers; most had metallic panels and support beams in them. Rimming the perimeter of the container ships were most of the males in their ‘exiled tribe.’ Hastelloy was simply amazed how quickly the dismantling and transportation of the Lazarus’ parts went.
The last container carried the crown jewel of the move. The glowing blue orb of the Nexus was unmistakable. The sphere floated above a metal cube that was three feet tall, wide and deep. It was amazing to Hastelloy that such a powerful fusion reactor was contained in such a small space. Protruding outward from the power box in one direction was a seven foot long, four foot wide seamless metal tube with a Plexiglas top - the regeneration chamber. Loosely attached on the other side of the cube, with exposed wires protruding in every direction, was a sensor array with a medium sized display panel. The makeshift work looked like a two year old tore apart an electrical appliance and tried to put it back together.
“Good thing Tomal isn’t here to see this,” Hastelloy commented to Gallono as the commander jumped down from piloting the speedboat. “Seeing the ship disassembled like this would make him cry, but I’m pretty sure the amateur patch job you did on the sensor array would induce a comma.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Gallono joked.
“Seriously. You have loose wires running every which way. The dish looks like it’s held together with baling wire, and I won’t even go near the power hookup to the Nexus. It’s like you’re trying to give Tomal a heart attack.”
Gallono beamed with pride at the description. “You noticed that did you. Hmm, you might think I did it on purpose or something. Just promise me I get to be there when he does finally see it.”
“We’re going to be stuck on this planet a long time, commander. The two of you will have to kiss and make up eventually.”
“If you say so,” Gallono responded dismissively. Clearly, he wanted the subject changed.
“Were you able to get everything out or do we need to make one last trip?” Hastelloy asked.
“We put everything of value onboard the boats.” Gallono reached behind his back and pulled out the metal plaque that bore the registry and name of the ship. The naming plaque had been displayed prominently on the bridge just outside the captain’s office. The inscription below the ship’s name read ‘Life from death; victory from defeat.’
Gallono looked at the small panel for a few moments with regret in his eyes, and then handed it over to his captain. “It may not feel like it right now, but I’m convinced you have us well on our way to victory in this struggle. A victory snatched away from the jaws of defeat. You know that, right?”
Had Hastelloy been alone he might have allowed himself a few moments of self pity. Having the naming plate of his once proud ship handed to him was a crippling emotional moment. It also served as a reminder of the lengths he was willing to go to accomplish his mission. Hastelloy casually took the name plate from Gallono and set it carelessly on top of the Nexus.
“We’ll find a good place for it,” Hastelloy said. “What about the components that couldn’t be reused?”
“I rigged all the concussion grenades we found in the armory to detonate by remote. The explosion literally blew the whole island off the face of the planet. Nothing will ever be found to show we were there.”
“And what about the workers on the boat, what did they see?” Hastelloy asked.
Gallono let out a soft laugh. “To their eyes it probably looked like the ocean got angry, rose up, and swallowed the island whole. Some of them looked upset to see the pile of sand disappear. I think they got kind of attached to the place.”
“What makes you say that?”
“For starters, they named it. They called it the island of Atlantis,” Gallono said.
“Hmm, an island with advanced technology that suddenly sinks beneath the sea. I have a feeling that will be a legend that gets passed down for generations to come. It’s unfortunate, but no real harm done. Good job, commander,” Hastelloy commended.
“Now we need to move this scrap over to Tonwen’s worksite. Be sure to break down the speedboat and barges as well. We’re going to need all the metal we can get to make this work. We’ll even use that naming plate if it comes down to it,” Hastelloy ordered.
Three hours of hard labor for the exiles spent carrying heavy metal panels into one of the six large buildings in the village passed without any fanfare. Hastelloy let loose a guttural grunt as he heaved one last metal panel up to top off a waist high stack of identical panels. With his labors complete, Hastelloy looked toward the center of the building. There Tonwen sat on the dirt floor staring at page after page of complex diagrams and equations strewn about. Hastelloy walked over to see what progress had been made so far.
“Tonwen, tell me we have enough metal to make it there,” Hastelloy said while looking over the science officer’s shoulder. There were enough torches lit in the building so it was probably visible from space. The effect was dulled somewhat by the countless stacks of metal plates used to make up the hull of Hastelloy’s ship that seemed to absorb the light rays.
Sprawled out in front of the lieutenant were a series of dizzyingly diff
icult mathematical formulas. Hastelloy saw elements of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and even some differential equations. “Would it help at all with the math if I had Valnor and Gallono bring over their fingers and toes?”
Tonwen sat back and ferociously rubbed his temples. “I do not think that will be necessary, though I do wish I had paid more attention in the academy when we were working these equations out long hand. I am acutely aware now that I have grown lazy over the years by allowing computers to do all the work.”
“How does it look?” Hastelloy asked, all joking now gone from his voice. “Will we need to move closer to the city, or can we make it stretch from where we are now?”
“I may have forgotten to carry a one here or there, but I am virtually certain we have enough material to make it to the rock formation you have targeted.”
“Your virtual certainty is more than enough for me, let’s get started.”
Tonwen let out a heavy sigh and then stood up. Without a word, he picked up his disruptor rifle and walked to the far side of the room where makeshift scaffolding stood. He climbed to the top and pointed the disruptor straight down at a stack of metal plating. Hastelloy mentally crossed his fingers as Tonwen opened fire.
The energy beam hit the stack of metal, and at first it appeared that nothing was happening. Soon the hull plates began radiating heat and glow bright yellow, then electric white. The heat intensified to the point Hastelloy could barely stand being in the room, and then he noticed the glowing tower of metal was shrinking. The stack dissolved into the floor and vanished from view, like a sinking ship disappearing beneath the ocean waves.
Tonwen continued firing, non stop, for another ten minutes until the energy beam sputtered and abruptly stopped. The science officer calmly
climbed down from the scaffolding. When he reached the ground he took a moment to wipe the sweat off his face and neck. Then he removed the power pack from the disruptor rifle and replacing it with one that was fully charged.
The two officers tentatively inched to the rim of the hole Tonwen just dug to have a look. The cavity was about 6 feet in diameter and was lined with a thin layer of metal.
When Hastelloy looked over the rim, he was amazed to see it was already about a hundred feet deep and coated all the way down with a seamless layer of metal, which still glowed white hot at the bottom.
Tonwen wasted no time looking down the hole. He casually walked over to the nearest stack of metal and began throwing the pieces down the hole, resulting in a thunderous clatter way down at the tube’s bottom. Hastelloy took the hint and did likewise until the entire stack vanished underground.
Tonwen wiped the sweat from his brow once more before he walked up to the edge of the hole and opened fire once more. Just as before, the metal grew to a hot glow and then began to push further downward into the ground.
“Replace, refill, repeat, is it really that simple?” Hastelloy asked over the hum of the disruptor firing.
“Simple? There is nothing simple about retuning this disruptor to fire at the exact frequency to simultaneously bore a hole in the rock and liquefy the metal at a rate to coat the sides to a thickness of a quarter inch,” Tonwen said as if he were taking great offense to the oversimplification of his efforts.
“I guess not, but you certainly make it look easy,” Hastelloy commended. “I’ll have Gallono and Valnor come in here to help speed things along. I want to get this done and get the exiles moving again. Pharaoh isn’t going to like hearing
that the people he banished to die in the desert have taken up residence only three miles away. How long do you need to reach the target?”
“We have enough material to go three hundred feet down before needing to turn the tunnel and head for the rock formation,” Tonwen said. “It should only take a day to reach the target, and another day to hollow out the chamber. Once that is completed you can move on while Gallono, Valnor, and I finish the interior construction.”
“Excellent. I don’t know what I would do without you,” Hastelloy commended as he patted the science officer on the back before making his way to the exit door. “I need to pay Tomal a visit, so keep at it. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Patiently, Hastelloy waited
among the reeds in the river. His adrenaline level rose as he sensed his opportunity to swim to the next cluster of vegetation. A set of guards moved out of view to his left several minutes ago and were now well out of range to spot his movements. Hastelloy took one stroke toward his destination but immediately stopped when he heard two men talking as they approached from his right side. He cursed under his breath.
Hastelloy grabbed the broken reed he used as a breathing tube, put it in his mouth and reluctantly lowered his head below the water’s surface once more.
There he stayed; counting his blessings this pair of guards didn’t stop right next to his location to have a long talk about the meaning of life like the last set of guards. Finally, the voices trailed off into the distance, and Hastelloy returned to the surface.
He looked over at the sun, which now hung low in the western horizon. He almost yelled out in frustration with the realization that he spent half his day in the water. Swimming back across the river took no time at all. The difficulty came when he neared the city perimeter.
A seven-foot high wall ringed the city with a gate house in the middle of each side. The walls served the dual purpose of keeping out enemies and keeping everyone else in. The only vulnerability was the river shore, and Pharaoh clearly saw that weakness and took steps to remedy the situation. There was an almost constant parade of guards patrolling the water’s edge.
Little by little, Hastelloy made his way from one thicket of reeds to the next. At
a maddeningly slow pace, he progressed up the river. Hastelloy looked down at his hands and feared his body was now wrinkled beyond any hope of repair. The damage was not just aesthetic. His body was now hypersensitive to touch. Even the gentle breeze in the evening air caused him discomfort.
For probably the hundredth time, Hastelloy evaluated the prospect of making an all out sprint for the tents that lay about 300 yards away from the shore. Other than the vegetation along the river shore, there was absolutely no cover until he reached the tents. He estimated it would take him about one minute to cover the distance. Hastelloy shook his head to remove the notion from his thoughts. In daylight hours a man sprinting across the flat sands would be easily spotted.
He looked down at his arm to see the brand put there the day he left the city. The scar made him realize that entering the city during the day would do him no good anyway. There wasn’t any hope of blending in with the population as long as he was unable to cover his upper body with a blanket. The city was in the middle of a scorching hot desert, so who in their right mind would walk around with a blanket over their shoulders during the day?
Night time was a different story. Temperatures fell quickly and often dropped to near freezing. Night time would allow him the perfect opportunity to enter the city while covering his branded arm and not raise any suspicions.
Hastelloy quietly swam into the next cluster of reeds and stopped to gain his bearings. He let out a soft sigh when he realized he was within throwing distance of the stone quarry where he spent countless days cutting and hauling the enormous pieces of rock to build the pyramid.
He noticed a new row of logs had been laid. Rather than leading to the pyramid, however, this one was pointed towards a large rock formation that Hastelloy had pointed out to Tomal before leaving the city.
Next, Hastelloy’s eyes spotted a cluster of men standing on a ridge overlooking the quarry. He instantly recognized the two prominent figures as Tomal and the new Pharaoh. Tomal stood with his hand clasped on Pharaoh’s shoulder. With his other hand, the engineer pointed to the rock formation at the end of the log road. The single piece of rock was gigantic. On the eastern side of the formation it rose to a height of 70 feet. Adding to the mass was the fact that it was nearly 250 feet long and 20 feet wide. With a few additions and modifications, the mammoth piece of stone could easily be made into a fitting memorial for the ‘great man’ who built the pyramid.
Hastelloy observed a wide smile extending from ear to ear on Pharaoh’s face. He appeared to like the symbolism of the proposed monument. The size and scope of the project was impressive. Best of all, with the exception of some very large stones that needed to be cut and moved to the base of the eastern side to serve as paws, all the building material was already in place. The artisans simply needed to remove the excess to bring out the head and face of Neferhotep atop the body of a lion. The ferocious creature would protect his creation for all eternity. What was not to like about the design?
Little did Pharaoh know, a separate construction project was already under way involving the very same rock formation. This little project; however, would remain hidden from the knowledge of mankind for thousands of years.
Hastelloy heard footsteps growing near. Another patrol must be approaching he thought. Once again he stuck the reed in his mouth and ducked under the water. Below the water’s surface he could hear splashing. He groaned inwardly at the realization that a family was taking an evening bath in the river. He would need to remain submerged for quite some time. His pruned skin began to ache even more at the prospect, if that was possible. Hastelloy consoled himself with the knowledge that nightfall was approaching quickly and that would be his time to move. Till then he simply had to remain unnoticed.
Eventually the playful family finished their bath and returned to the city. Slowly, Hastelloy rose up out of the water. His eyes had no trouble adjusting to the darkness that had set in with nightfall. A set of guards passed as the family was leaving, so the coast was clear for his ingress into the city. With slow measured steps that were careful not to cause splashes, he made his way onto the sandy shore.
Once his feet hit dry land, he spotted the set of footprints in the sand left by the family and proceeded to follow them. A set of footprints leading from the waters edge to the city would usually be cause for suspicion, but the complex jumble of large and tiny footprints the family left behind was the perfect cover.
Hastelloy’s body trembled uncontrollably from being in the water for so long combined with the falling temperatures. In the first empty tent Hastelloy came across, he grabbed a set of dirty cloths piled in the corner to dry himself off with. Next he grabbed a heavy blanket and threw it over his shoulders. The sudden rush of warmth was a welcome sensation.
Without wasting any more time, Hastelloy made his way toward Tomal’s tent. From a distance he saw the front door was flanked by guards, guards who would recognize Hastelloy’s face even if his brand was concealed. That being the case, he took a long walk around to approach the tent undetected from the rear.
Hastelloy peaked into the tent through a small gap where two pieces of fabric were tied together around a support pole. To his relief, he saw Tomal sitting alone at his table eating dinner. While counting his blessings that something finally went right for a change, Hastelloy unfastened the tie strings enough to allow his body to slip through the gap and into the tent.
Tomal heard the soft commotion. He sprung to his feet and pulled a sword from its resting place on the table and made ready to attack the intruder. His aggressive posture relaxed when he recognized the assailant was actually his captain. Tomal instantly returned the sword to its original position on the table and greeted Hastelloy with a soft whisper.
“It’s good to see a friendly face,” Tomal said.
“You are awfully jumpy for a man in your position. I saw you and Pharaoh earlier today overlooking the new construction project. It seemed to me like you two are best buds again.”
“I trust that man about as far as I can throw him and that isn’t far. That snake will look you square in the eyes and greet you with the warmest smile while one of his guards slips a dagger into your back. I figured now that he has my detailed plans to build the guardian lion, my usefulness is at an end.”
“You can’t let yourself get killed or otherwise removed from this project. I need you to make sure the laborers don’t encroach on the work we’re covertly doing from the inside.”
“Why do you think I have a sword next to me while I eat?” Tomal said with a bit of anger as he glanced toward the blade. “I think we’re safe from the workers getting too close to the chamber whether I am overseeing the project or not. The body of the beast is only going to get larger as we add legs and paws. Most of the chiseling and stone removal will come at the head. It’ll be quite impressive when it’s finished I think.”
“Impressive enough that no one will be tempted to tamper with it for a long, long time I expect,” Hastelloy added.
“I still have reservation about hiding the Nexus inside such a landmark. It will only draw unwanted attention to the hiding place,” Tomal insisted.
“On the contrary, we need the hiding place for the Nexus to be an iconic fixture that people will never want to alter or destroy,” Hastelloy stated. “Civilizations tend to level lackluster monuments over time and reuse the materials. Look around you. These people use stone for all their construction. A large freestanding hunk of rock big enough to hollow out and hide the Nexus inside would be a prime target to cut up and use in building monuments. We need to make sure no one is tempted to do that here.”
“If that’s the case, we should take the easy approach and make the hiding chamber deep underground. I see no reason to have it at surface level and take the chance of it being discovered one day,” Tomal protested.
“I can control, for the most part, what people do on the surface and the outside of the monument. In contrast, I have absolutely no say in what the tectonic plates below the surface of this world do. In our short time on this planet we’ve already observed a massive volcanic eruption, which leads me to believe earthquakes and other destructive acts of nature are fairly common. If I have to assume a risk in hiding the Nexus in a concealed location, I’ll assume the risk I have some measure of control over rather than trusting Mother Nature to be kind and gentle,” Hastelloy instructed.
“Very well, sir. I’ll make sure no one comes within a depth of five feet from the inner chamber you’re hollowing out,” Tomal replied.
Hastelloy noticed Tomal’s face suddenly contort to an expression of concern. “There’s a more immediate problem we need to deal with right now though. Pharaoh is well aware you and the other exiles took up settlement just across the river. He’s not about to let that stand. He probably planned to attack all along, but now it’s personal. You may as well be flashing him with your bare ass from the other side of the river. It’s a direct affront to his authority and he’s moving to correct it.”
“How long do we have until he attacks?” Hastelloy asked.
“Even as we speak, he’s building barges to move his army across the river. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say you have two or three days.”
“Damn,” Hastelloy exclaimed. “The village isn’t a defendable position at all. Even with disruptor rifles I don’t think we can hold it against a direct assault of that magnitude. I’ll need to come up with something else.”
“Why,” Tomal asked with a flat tone bereft of any compassion. “Those exiles have already seen too much. They’ve seen the Lazarus; in fact, they helped disassemble it. They’ve seen our advanced weaponry in action as well as the Nexus. I’m sure all that was a memorable sight not soon forgotten by those people.”
While Tomal talked Hastelloy casually made his way to the hastily created back door.
“The exiles know too much,” Tomal continued. “Pharaoh’s attack will eliminate all of them and remove that liability. Hide Tonwen, Gallono, and Valnor down the shaft to make sure it’s not spotted and allow yourself to be killed in the fighting. The Nexus will regenerate you and all our current complications will be resolved. It’s perfect.”
Hastelloy crouched down and crawled his way to the outside. He turned around to refasten the tie strings and Tomal moved closer to assist from the inside. With the reassembling complete, the two looked at each other through the narrow gap.
“It does present an easy way out doesn’t it?” Hastelloy thoughtfully acknowledged, and then disappeared into the darkness behind him.