Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff (ed) by Guardsmen of Tomorrow

Author:Guardsmen of Tomorrow
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-09-12T00:10:50+00:00

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They emerged from the nebula into a portion of space that Roz had only been to briefly, during her last encounter with the Ba-am-as. This time, like last, she didn't have any time to explore. She had to fulfill her mission.

She couldn't articulate to her staff anymore why she felt she had to fulfill this bizarre quest. She had a hope, one she hardly expressed even to herself, that she would find something that would allow her to get some kind of revenge on Galland--or, at least, that would restore her good name.

Since the aliens who had informed Galland of the planet hadn't bothered to name it, and since it was uncharted--at least by the Alliance--Roz's crew had taken to calling it "Xanadu." They all giggled when they said it, and then looked at her sideways, as if afraid she would get the joke. She didn't, and she really didn't care.

The route they had been given took them into a new solar system. Most of the planets were not marked on the map. The exploration urge hit her again, but she ignored it.

She headed for Xanadu, hoping against hope she would find something she could use.

Xanadu turned out to be an Earth-type planet with oceans and six continents--three habitable to humans.

The atmosphere had enough oxygen to sustain human life, which was not a surprise, given the makeup of the planet itself.

Roz had studied her chart enough to know that the creatures she was seeking lived on the small third continent. It reminded her of Australia, where she had been on her one trip to Earth at the age of fifteen.

From space, it had looked like an island, but she knew that the land mass itself was vast.

She had her senior staff review the alien interviews-- with all the blackouts--hoping for a clue to what she was seeking. She also had the computer scan the surface, looking for signs of a space-faring civilization.

It found nothing on the surface so, in a moment of frustration, Ethan asked it to scan below the surface.

There the computer found catacombs that went on forever--all of them carved out of rock and supported by metal beams: not anything that would have occurred naturally.

It took three days to locate an entrance to the catacombs. Then Roz plotted the away missions, breaking protocol again and deciding to go herself. She wasn't going to orbit the damn planet waiting for news. If there was something below that she could use--or even if there wasn't--she wanted to see for herself.

The fact that her crew was even on this mission was her fault; the least she could do was shoulder all of the responsibility herself.

She went down in the first shuttle, along with ten crew members. Ethan stayed on board, protesting the entire time. Roz took Ivy, Gina, two other security officers, Tom and two of his most scientifically minded engineers, and a medical officer handpicked by Belle.

Despite the atmosphere readings, Roz insisted they all wear environmental suits. She

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