Exigency by Siemsen Michael

Author:Siemsen, Michael [Siemsen, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: space station, alien civilization, interstellar, alien planet, evacuation, first contact
Publisher: Fantome Publishing
Published: 2014-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

In the “holding” room, Angela gazed upward, fascinated by the door.

An hour earlier, upon arriving at the end of a long subterranean hall, they perceived a sloped stone wall that, if climbed up, would lead only to smacking one’s head on the jagged rock ceiling. It wasn’t a wall, though, but a rectangular slab of granite, anchored at its middle to the bedrock on both sides. Scaling the 45 surface—bound by tentacles, and with a few other escorts—the top end of the slab had gradually dropped while the end behind them rose, like a trapdoor for a giant snail. Revealed below, a small, bowl-shaped cave with a shallow puddle at its bottom. Their captors released them and scurried out before the massive gate sealed Tom and Angela in the dark.

Now, Tom lay cradled in the curvature of the wall, scratching an itchy head as Angela studied the “door” through various optics. Their helmets lay on the ground beside the puddle.

“I can’t find any records of this exact design,” Angela marveled. “Of course, the idea of a gate rotating on a single axle has been around forever, but the concept of body weight as the powering force … I mean, in this application, I suppose it’s sort of the obvious, sole option, based upon the cave’s purpose. You know, this is the kind of stuff you see in history and wonder how the hell people missed the connections. A Threck engineer doesn’t just glance at this thing and go ‘hey, whoa, our cart wheels are stupid!’ and introduce a proper wheel and axle.” She glanced back at the quiet Tom. “Are you still moping?”

“It’s not moping when your life is in actual danger. In such cases, it’s called ‘appropriate distress.’”

She splashed through the puddle and flopped down next to him, slapping his knee. “Moping.”

He looked at her through thermag, her smiling face a mix of blues and whites. “I seriously don’t get how you’re so upbeat right now, appreciating the engineering of our jail cell. They could just leave us to die in here. Move on with city life. Dissect our corpses when they get around to it. That’s not some pessimistic worst-case scenario. It’s highly probable. I screwed us.”

“And that’s the real issue here, I think.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. “Somebody feels like a big fat failure. All your anxiety came to fruition. You communicated ineffectively. And damn, not only are you effed, but the chick you’re totally in love with is, too. Funereal, truly.”

“Sorry, are you trying to make me feel better?”

She pushed out her lower lip and furrowed her brow. “Aw, am I making you sadder?” She sunk lower, incorporating an utterly maddening baby talk. “Does da widdle guy need mawmaw to make him feew bedder?” Tom pressed his lips together, shaking his head as he battled a creeping smile. “I’m sawwy, my widdle schnookie ookie wookems.”

“Oh man, I’m going to flick you in the eye so hard.”

“Don’t care. Made you smile. Listen to me now. I’m optimistic for several reasons.

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