Heaven's Shadow by Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer

Author:Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer [Cassutt, Michael & Goyer, David S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780230760998
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2011-07-15T14:12:50+00:00

It proved surprisingly difficult to reach the structure, which Taj immediately began calling the Temple. “I wish we had the science gear with us,” he said. “We might be able to see what it’s made of. . . .”

“Shit, Taj, we’ll be there in another ten minutes.” This Taj—hypercautious, stodgy, reliant on instruments—was easier to take than the paranoid version on display forty-five minutes earlier. But only slightly.

On approach, the Temple turned out to be larger than Tea had originally judged, and much farther away. For the first time she felt misgivings about her impulsive approach . . . maybe Taj was right. This structure looked old and weathered, but the Destiny and Brahma explorers would have noticed something this big. Zack had originally reported that the interior of Keanu—prior to “sunrise” when the glowworms illuminated—was bare rock. He had not mentioned a three-story ziggurat within five kilometers. And he wasn’t the type to let it slip his mind....

“Why don’t we hold up right here?” Tea said, as they reached the edge of the clearing surrounding the Temple.

“I concur,” Taj said. His thoughts must have paralleled hers, because he moved left along the boundary of the clearing, eyes fixed on the ground.

“How new does it look to you?” Tea said.

Taj picked up a handful of stalks that reminded Tea of reeds . . . if reeds happened to be the color of blood. “They appear to have been chopped off.”

“So this clearing is . . . new?” Tea was relieved, though that implied other dangers.

“As new as everything else, I think.”

Now Taj regarded the Temple itself. “It is more rectangular than pyramidical,” he said.

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

It sounded like a joke to Taj, and he showed his irritation again. “It’s just an observation. Feel free to add your own.”

Architecture was not one of Tea’s specialties. She could tell a skyscraper from a bungalow, sure. She might go so far as to say she could tell Federal style from Art Deco, and she had vague memories of hearing the term Bauhaus. “Taj, to me it just looks like a fucking pile of sand-colored bricks.”

“The same. But resembling a cube. Given the proportions of the gates and ramps . . .”

“Don’t start reading more than you should.”

“I was just wondering . . . a human building that height would have three or four levels. How many does our Temple have?”

“I guess that’s one of the things we’ll have to find out, won’t we?”

They continued around the perimeter, with Tea growing increasingly agitated. “I don’t see any doors or windows.”

“Neither do I.” Taj offered one of his rare smiles. “We must be careful about anthropomorphizing the structure. We call it a temple and look for temple-like openings. It might just be a solid pile of rocks, like a giant cairn or grave marker.”

“Don’t try to cheer me up, okay?” Taj had identified Tea’s biggest concern. Like all of them, she kept slapping familiar names on what she was seeing—ramps, trees, temples—without any real knowledge of what these objects were.

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