Minx Ep. 06: Three Worlds

"To remind you that our scans did not detect any creatures dangerous to us on the surface or on the island. However, we were not able to scan the entire ocean to its depths. There may be dangerous sea creatures awaiting us below."

"You heard that, Aphrodite?" Minx said aloud to her sentient ship.

"Of course," came the reply.

"They have been quiet for the last several hours," noted Dragon. "In fact, they haven't really been very vocal the entire time we've been on this planet."

"I heard that, too," responded the vessel. "Look, Hephaestus and I are having fun doing our own exploration. If you get into trouble call us and we'll come. For now, can you two meat bags give as a little privacy? Arachne's World was far harder on us than it was on the two of you, and we've been enjoying our vacation."

"Understood." Dragon responded, then shook his head in dismay.

Minx raised an eyebrow at him. "Aphrodite was through a lot, and Hephaestus had to wait outside of Arachne's World and do nothing but wait the entire time we were inside. Let them have their fun."

"It's not that," he replied. "Dealing with free A.I. has its good side and bad side, and it's much like dealing with you, Minx. With others of your kind I could dominate, deciding on what course everyone was taking, however with you I have to negotiate, to ask, to beg. It's..."

"...annoying?" she offered.

"...intriguing. So different from hyperman society, so much less dangerous but with so much more risk." He dunked his head under the water and looked about. Satisfied, he stood up straight again. "Ready?"

She grabbed his arm to get his attention. "Have you really given up on conquering the galaxy?"

"Yes. Though, other hypermen would think it proof of my weakness and seek to exterminate me for my lack of ambition."

"I...appreciate the change, Dragon. It makes you more normal-seeming, although I still know you're a mental and physical giant among my people. You no longer seem like some dastardly, super-intelligent, alien villain intent on overthrowing galactic civilization. Thank you."

"It was for you as much as it was for me, Minx. You were never going to fit into a typical hyperman relationship, nor were you ever going to accept being queen of the galaxy. Adaptability is an evolutionary advantage. I've adapted...much like you seem to do when confronted with any new challenge."

"A compliment, too!" she smiled warmly. "You really have poured on the charm, haven't you?"

"Ready?" he asked again.

She wanted to answer 'for anything' to his question but instead just nodded her head. The two disappeared beneath the waves.

The water was clear, free of floating debris and sediment that she had experienced on Earth. It struck her that the waves were actually small relative to those of Earth's seas and oceans, and there was little trace of any underwater currents. If she closed her eyes she might easily have imagined she was merely submerged in a large swimming pool.

They followed the structure out at least one hundred and thirty metres from the island where it suddenly truncated in a smooth, vertical surface. Both of them were perplexed by the purpose behind the long tunnel. It made sense that it was some type of airlock system, perhaps for submersible machines yet there had been no way in.

From there they dived down, reaching the underwater slope of the island at over one hundred metres down. Dragon's hand-light revealed that at this depth the island was entirely a construction, with massive stone bricks divided by seams a hair could not be pushed into. Everything was covered in a layer of muddy silt, yet the signs of intelligent design were clear. They began to circle the island but after an hour without finding an egress they stopped.

The two used hand gestures to discuss their options, then continued following the slope down in the belief that the beings who had built the structure had provided entry at a depth which harmful rays from their sun would not have been able to reach as the star swelled and emitted more dangerous radiation.

The pressure grew, though Minx found her mobility and breathing had not been affected. The two swam gracefully down, blowing bubbles out of their noses occasionally as they scrutinized the undersea slope. The water grew darker, until she could see a bright pinpoint glow everywhere about them. Dragon's hand-light revealed no fish or fish-like creatures, though small sea plants and dead, white corals were observed.

At two hundred metres Dragon paused their descent. His hand gestures revealed his concern for Minx's safety. She waved his concerns away and continued diving, confident that she could go much deeper.

The lack of animal life worried Minx. Did it mean that predators and other animals were in hiding? Or, had the seeders of this world simply not added any deep-water creatures? Could animals evolve to stand up to immense pressures of deep-sea life in a few thousand years? She did not know. The distant glowing lights suggested there were some animals about, though she thought it possible that chemical reactions might account for what she was seeing. Or perhaps, the thought suddenly worried her, the pressure was affecting her eyes or brain and she merely though she saw flashes?

She stopped and grabbed Dragon by the arm. His depth monitor read two hundred and eighty-four metres. She turned off his hand-light, allowed their eyes to adjust to the darkness and waited for the light flashes to appear. After she turned on his hand-light again, she used hand gestures to inquire if he'd seen the lights. He nodded. Then, he paused and stared back at the stones they'd been following down.

Dragon turned off his hand-light. After a few seconds, Minx could see some faint lights deeper below, shining steadily though dimly...and in a perfect line. She grabbed Dragon's shoulder excitedly.

Her companion turned his hand-light back on and stared at her in alarm. She motioned that she was fine and pointed in the direction of the line of lights deep below them. Dragon shook his head and signaled to her that the lights were at least another seventy metres downslope. He motioned for them to return to the surface.

She knew he was concerned about the effects of the pressure upon her, yet she felt fine. It was true the water resisted her movements more than she was used to, it was taking more effort to keep her nose filling with water, and there was a constant pressure upon her midsection, as if she were at the bottom of a pile of people. She was confident she could endure more and shook her head at him.

Dragon adamantly pointed to the surface. Minx reached out and closed her hand over his pointing finger, then flipped and dived deeper, heading in the direction she thought the lights waited.

A flash of light behind her showed Dragon following her, behind but a little to her left. He was not trying to stop her. They continued down, eventually reaching a muddy ledge on which the lights had been placed. Minx reached down and pushed some debris and mud from a light. It now shone very brightly, almost blindingly so, despite the dark cloud floating about it. The light came from a small globe which sat upon the stone.

They looked at each other and Dragon turned off his hand-light one more time. Their eyes followed the line of lights to a large, smooth, deep green, metallic portal which stood before them. Minx's first thought was that some ominous ancient leviathan of the depths must have been imprisoned here eons earlier. She shook the thought from her head and then followed Dragon to what looked to be a square panel of some type.

The hyperman was able to open the panel and as it swung aside she could see bubbles rise from the cavity beneath. Dragon traced some metal tubes with a finger, trying to decipher the workings they'd found until, at last, he reached in to the cavity and removed a fingernail-sized square. A computer chip, thought Minx?

To their right the portal slowly slid into a groove in the ground. Water flooded the opening behind it, pulling the two of them with it and into a chamber. Dragon grabbed at Minx's arm, but she shook him off and fought her way through the current until she'd reached another panel similar to the one they'd found outside. She examined its edges, searching for a way to pry it off but finding none.

Dragon reached past her and rested his hand on a silvery metal ball embedded in the wall beside the panel. He rolled it one way, then the other and the outer portal began to close. Once the entrance was sealed the two looked about the chamber for an exit. The chamber was dome-like, made of the same deep green metal as the portal, and at the very top, some five metres above them, was a grey metal disc. They swam up to it. Dragon tried to push it open but could not budge it.

Minx gently pushed him aside, then grabbed the edges of the disc and rotated it first trying clockwise but it resisted her efforts. Counter-clockwise rotation proved successful and the disc soon popped back out of Minx's reach. A chamber above them suddenly lit up from absolute darkness. The glowing spheres they'd seen outside the base appeared to be the source of the internal lighting system as well.

Dragon squeezed through the opening then helped Minx up. He lifted her easily and set her on her feet on a smooth stone surface. They removed their scuba pills and took deep breaths.

"Smells stale, but breathable," noted Dragon.

"A working ventilation system but the lights were off?" asked Minx.

"Perhaps some systems are automated? When a visitor is detected those system come on? I can feel a slight breeze, and there is a door over that way, in the direction of the island."

"What weird creatures would set up three types of door controls at one entrance?"

Dragon paused. "That's a very good question. I've seen nothing like it before."

"Do you think the door will open automatically as we approach it?" Minx wondered aloud.

"Hopefully."

They drew close, and once they were within a metre, as Dragon was reaching out to touch the surface of the featureless oval, it swung aside. The hinge mechanism suggested it could have swung in either direction. He paused in thought.

"Jitters?" Minx teased.

"I've seen no signs of security equipment that I'd recognize. That suggests there is none, or that it's invisible to us. Obviously the technology is quite different from any either of us has experience with," he added with a trace of excitement.

"They might not have expected to ever meet anyone else. Or, they're using nanotechnology like you do."

"They don't have nanotech. My probes have been searching for it. The portion of the complex we've seen so far appears sterile. That's not a good sign."

"Maybe they never made it here...they built the base and readied it but then overestimated how much time they had left on their home world?"

"Unlikely, but possible."

They proceeded further into the complex. Doors continued to open before them and every chamber beyond lit up suddenly just before they entered. It was almost an hour before they found a chamber with furnishings, though they could not recognize what any one of them might be for. The entire complex appeared to consist, from what Dragon could tell from his probes, of a central vertical cylinder with a chaotic spiderweb of passages spreading from it, each passage leading to one or more dome-like chambers of varying sizes.

They paused to collect their thoughts when they found what seemed to be a science lab. Dragon examined the mineralogical specimens while Minx examine the many containers of liquid chemicals, some of which had corroded and spilled. She avoided touching the residues.

"Nothing remarkable here, Minx. Some of these minerals are unusual but of no real economic or scientific use that I can discern at this time. Now that we know how to gain entry we'll have to come back and collect samples."

"I can't even guess what most of these chemicals are. I wish we could find a computer station...assuming they had them."

"Wait..." Dragon said suddenly. "My probes have found something."

He headed for the exit with Minx following. They passed down a few passages until they came into a chamber filled with biological specimens. There were sealed containers of various sizes, containing an assortment of creatures of different sizes with many looking slightly familiar to Minx.

"These creatures here appear to be of a similar type to that big one, there," she pointed out.

"I think that big one is the species that created this place..."

"Why do you think that?" She scrutinized the man-sized creature that looked like a cross between an insect, a jellyfish and a turtle.

"Appendages useful for tool manipulation. Sense organs close together and surrounding a bulbous projection from the body...that could be the head. The other specimens appear more animal-like and are definitely not tool users."

The sound of liquid flowing startled both of them. They turned to see two booths emptying of liquid. There had been creatures inside and these remains collapsed to the floor as the glass booths opened.

"That's ominous," observed Minx.

"Minx!" came the frantic call over the subcutaneous transmitter. "Get out of there right now! The automation on the base is active!"

"Aphrodite!" replied Minx as she and Dragon simultaneously turned for the exit.

The door closed in front of them and refused to budge as they approached it. A metallic sound behind them made them turn about, and they watched as the now empty booths came their way. Three-elbowed mechanical arms disengaged from the sides of each tube and reached out for them.

"The door won't open!" shouted Minx, as Dragon looked about for some type of weapon.

"I know," he said.

The door suddenly opened before Minx.

"Get out of there!" shouted Aphrodite.

Dragon shoved Minx through the opening then followed her, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Engage lock, Aphrodite. Is Hephaestus with you?"

"We're in the base, Dragon, causing a ruckus so you can escape. We'll be fine. My lover is firing weapons and taking this place apart! Get out!"

"Your nanoprobes have a map for you, right?" asked Minx.

"Of course, though I'd like to investigate more while our vessels are keeping the A.I. in this complex occupied."

She glared at him.

"I wasn't being serious," he answered defensively. "I damaged my hand-light when I closed that door. I'll lead." He blinked twice. "The A.I. is taking out my probes in some unknown way. We'd better hurry."

"Who knows what other tricks it has up its sleeve? Lead on. I'll be right behind you."

Dragon and Minx ran down corridor after corridor as fast as they could. She was surprised that the route to the exit was different than the one they'd taken to get deeper into the complex. A door on one of the dome rooms opened as she passed but she was moving too fast to see what lay beyond. There was a distant rumble and the stone beneath their feet vibrated.

"What was that Aphrodite?" asked Minx. Dragon grinned as she asked.

"This is private between you and me, Minx. My guy let go one of his big bombs. I'm pretty sure it was nuclear, a fusion bomb. Don't tell Dragon. We might lose communication, Minx."

"I think he knows," replied Minx. "I wouldn't worry about it. It was just a rumble to us."

"Two hundred metres to go!" announced Dragon just as the lights went out.

The two stopped, grabbing each other's arms as they did. They waited a few seconds for their eyes to adjust but the darkness was absolute, and completely disorienting. There were echoes around them, sounds suggestive of metal moving over or against stone. The floor shook again, a little more strongly than the last time.

"Your hand-light? Your probes...?" suggested Minx.

"All down."

"Haul ass, you two!" shouted Aphrodite. "Stop dilly-dallying! We're evacuating now!"

"The lights are out, Aphrodite," explained Dragon. His voice was calm. "Can you offer any help?"

"He's a little busy but Hephaestus has a complete map of the complex he stole from the A.I. before it realized we were a threat. I'm scanning...Minx turn forty-five degrees to your left and run one hundred metres. That will take you to an eight metre drop off that will deposit you very close to the exit. Instructions to follow."

Minx grabbed Dragon's hand, rotated her position then ran. She was counting under her breath when there was suddenly no floor beneath her feet. The two hit a wall before falling onto a hard, metallic surface. They were still holding hands as they groaned in pain at the sudden impact.

"Are you okay?" asked Dragon.

"Dislocated shoulder."

"The hand I'm holding?"

"Yeah...don't let go!" she shouted as she felt him releasing her hand. "What about you?"

"Broken ankle, I think. I'll manage. Aphrodite?"

"Minx, turn sixty-five degrees to your right...the other right! Then proceed seventeen metres ahead. The exit will be at your feet. Drop down into the water and we'll open the main doors once you've sealed the exit behind you."

Dragon and Minx had begun moving as Aphrodite had been relaying her instructions. Minx could hear her companion limping and gasping every time he put weight on his broken ankle. She counted seventeen metres and then bent down to search for the exit with her free hand.

"Found it!" exclaimed Dragon. "Breather. You first, Minx. Aphrodite, give us three seconds from now and then open the main doors. No argument!"

Minx popped the scuba pill into her mouth then allowed herself to be pulled toward the waiting circle of water. The water level had fallen and, after splashing into the neck-deep liquid, she touched the floor with her feet. She bent her knees and once submerged she reached up and grabbed onto Dragon as he dropped into the water. Dragon then grabbed her and held her tightly. There were muffled noises, including a thump that sent a shockwave through the black water. They could hear the water slosh around the airlock.

Suddenly, light shone through the crack as the portal opened and water thundered past them. Minx could see Dragon gripping the smashed inner panel tightly, his blood mixing with the water that tried to push her back into the complex. She grabbed his arm, pulling herself close enough to the panel to grab it with her good hand.

Eventually the current eased and the two kicked themselves through the opened portal and into the water. Dragon pointed up and Minx nodded vigorously. Injured as they were, the swim to the surface was painful, exhausting and lengthy. A few shockwaves passed through the water around them as they swam. Then, something hard came up under their feet and lifted them through the water faster than they had been swimming. Minx and Dragon collapsed on Aphrodite's hull as she brought them to the surface.

"Rest easy, you two," soothed Aphrodite. "You had us really worried. Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

Chapter 4: Distractions

Minx emerged from her medbed on her ship, took the time to stretch her limbs and spine and then put on a new coverall. She selected a bright red one for no particular reason other than that was what Aphrodite presented to her in the front of the closet. Her shoulder felt good after healing, warm and slightly tingly. Overall, she felt wonderful. Her stomach rumbled as she brushed her long brown hair.

"Is Dragon done healing?" she asked aloud.

"No," responded Aphrodite through her communicator. "He did have a broken ankle, and a hairline fracture in his left femur. As you know, bones take longer to knit together even with the more advanced medbed Hephaestus has. He'll be available in six minutes."

"Okay. I'll guess I'll go be ready for him when he emerges..." said Minx as she left her vessel. Aphrodite barely fit into the hangar aboard Hephaestus. Cables and snaking tubes made the place even more crowded. The two vessels were connected and sharing energy and materials in a way that proclaimed the love between the two A.I.s. After making her way over, under and around the multitude of connections Minx proceeded to where she expected Dragon to be in his medbed.