Chapter 1

HY-742 had seasons, and so far it was hard to tell which one they were currently experiencing. According to the charts, the temperature had been on the rise along with humidity. Outdoor activities became more sparse, and Kim had to figure out how to keep the students occupied.

It was one of those late afternoons at module C where Jessica Fernstein and her husband Mark were setting up a cook out, more like an improvised picnic under the central canopy. The rain would fall within a few openings to allow watering of plants and fruit-bearing trees. Smells of grilled pepperoni and tofu filled the yard, mixed with bright chatting and children's laughter as they ran around playing.

"Thank goodness for this accelerated growth hormone," Jessica said, turning around the vegetables on the grill.

"We would be cooking something different if not. Maybe Hydrian stuff."

"Seems we could only make bad coffee out of those plants."

They had tried pseudo-butternuts that were so bitter they couldn't be used for anything edible.

"And we used to pour soy sauce on everything back home," she said, ironic. "What would I give for some good old cabbage now."

She smiled as she used a table knife to sample a tofu pad for tasting.

"Thanks for letting us have this party," said Jessica after chewing the soft protein-filled steak. "The rain was really bringing us down."

"It certainly isn't helping. And you're welcome."

"I try not to think about home –Earth, too often. We left that crowded place for good reasons, and I don't feel that we should concern ourselves with what's going on there anymore."

There was a ruckus coming from Module A. The Colonial Marines emerged from the doors in their casual attire, half military fatigues, half civilian t-shirts or sports shoes. They all seemed like they had just taken a shower. Adams was carrying a high backpack. Everyone watched them arrive, cheering for them and offering them drinks or seats. Jessica was smiling with a heavy look in her eye.

"It's strange that you would feel so detached from Earth already."

"Maybe it's strange," she answered thoughtfully, "or I just keep my priorities focused differently. My family is here, Kim. They're all that matters to me now."

"That's nice."

She really meant it, and envied Fernstein for the extra dedication that she sometimes felt she lacked, despite loving her work. Having kept herself away from having a family to focus entirely on her mission now somehow made her incomplete compared to women like Jessica.

The chatting was getting really loud now with the soldiers becoming the center of the attention. Gina came to greet Kim and Jessica.

"This rain ain't going anywhere, is it?"

"I'm afraid we're in the beginning of a tropical summer, Lieutenant."

"Please," she smiled shyly. "Gina."

Jessica grabbed a plastic plate to serve the salad rice with her grilled vegan meal.

"Here you go, Gina."

"Oh, thank you so much, ma'am."

They had food processors in their barracks, but Kim knew how bland-tasting was the mixture it produced and couldn't blame them for wanting to join the cook-out. Soon, they were all around the grill, discussing recipes and spices, exchanging old childhood stories... Kim watched from the sidelines, taking it all in as if she'd have to type a report about them in the morning.

The drinks were all organically enhanced with aromatics, fruit-derived and sometimes sparkly. They had no alcohol and maybe it wouldn't be long before someone started distilling anything they could find that contained sugar. She just hoped it wouldn't be from Hydrian vegetables.

Soon after everyone ate, Vick pulled out a wooden instrument from his bag. A six-stringed guitar, it seemed, kept in pristine condition. Kim hadn't seen one in decades... Music on Earth had been conservative enough to sustain through the global war and it wasn't rare to find amateur musicians among pro-environmentalists and anti-Weyland activists. Judging from Adams' ease with chord-switching and right-hand skill, he had to have been one of them. His buddies wooed him and roughly patted him in the back.

"Okay, settle down, girls. That was just an intro." Vick tentatively struck a chord and turned to his impromptu audience. "None of you have a single idea what's going on, do you?"

Even Kim chuckled, arms folded she was eager to hear him perform. There was something about musicians that made everyone suddenly become intensely docile and happy. He seemed to search his thoughts for a second then began to play a mellow tune, and sung over it. His voice was soothing and aerial, the lyrics told about loneliness, finding a way through life, all that soul-searching stuff that wasn't directed to anyone in particular.

Jessica wasn't at the grill anymore, she had gone beside her husband and they were holding each other. He would let her rest her head on his shoulder as they listened to the bittersweet melodies. Kim was suddenly made aware of every couple that were formed in the gathering, and suddenly she couldn't find that many single non-hugging people around. Deciding that they only aggravated her feelings, she kept watching Vick getting more comfortable, more confident and he played with an enthusiasm she hadn't suspected. He looked at Martin who was improvising a percussion kit with sticks on the guitar bag laid over his lap. They smiled at each other and he sung a brightly joyful chorus, apparently making a song mix, a medley with something else. This one, Irina and Leo knew its lyrics and they sung along. It was so heartwarming and beautiful to hear. Leo even did the harmonics.

Kim smiled like an idiot, feeling all her worries lift off her chest as she was tapping her foot to the beat, nodding simultaneously. Vick and her made eye contact for a few seconds and he smiled back at her, blushing slightly. He broke the gaze to finish with an interlude. Everyone was clapping at this point and it was hard to notice anything else; even the children were involved despite it not being as fascinating as imaginary space crafts and aliens. Listening to this was so much better than the rainfall.

When the night had come there was only the fluorescent floor lamps to help them navigate between the shrubberies. Any more lighting would have created pollution for star gazers, something which she had insisted not be done for this particular module design. But with the bad weather, they weren't getting any help from the stars that night. People decided to go home and finish their conversations where it was warmer.

Kim had wished for Jonas to come and enjoy the evening with her. She had spent more time looking out than chatting and socializing because he wasn't there. She stayed last to help clean up, Corporal Adams came to her when everyone was gone and he made sure nobody was watching when he stayed to talk.

"Is everything alright, Kim?"

"Absolutely. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's the polite thing to say," he replied with a shrug. "You look out for us and we have to do the same for you."

She was despite herself made aware of his charming innocence and how the lack of light didn't affect his handsomeness. Kim tried to stay busy, wiping the table with a wash cloth.

"Can't complain... That was a nice thing you did, with the guitar and your voice."

"Thanks, doing my best to keep good music alive in these parts of the galaxy."

"I'm glad you're among us then." She let the moment pass and the silence sink in. "Do you mean to tell me something specific?"

His blue eyes wandered for a moment before he replied.

"Yes. I want you to know that, if you want to, you're always welcome over in the barracks for a drink."

"That's nice of you. Thanks."

"Really," he insisted, "I know you don't give a shit about that kind of stuff but I'd really like you to. You don't seem all that happy, lately so at least it could take your mind off your troubles."

Feeling embarrassed, she tried to come up with a scientific explanation as to why not feeling all that excited about being on an extra-solar planet was normal after two months. Vick sat against a table with his hands in his pockets.

"I also want to ask you a personal question."

"Go ahead."

"You know the mission is never gonna be over, we'll always be assigned to our roles, I'll always be in charge of security. But that's actually an open-ended question for those who want to try something different. To answer that question, we're directed towards you for guidance."

"You'd be interested in reorienting?"

"I'll be honest, there are lots of things that I don't know and I want to be useful any way I can. Assembling the base and working with people like Stevens is great but, I feel like I could be doing more."

"We'll never run out of work if that's what you worry about. You're already a promising rock star, you could teach music to the kids."

He chuckled and smiled with embarrassment.

"I could give it a shot."

Kim gave him a gentle pat on the hand.

"It'd be great for morale."

A mood lift was what she had needed. Vick nodded with a smile and gave her arm a squeeze as he moved away to leave.

"Well it's time to hit the sack. We should talk more in the future." He winked, and walked away.

When she came back to her quarters they were still in the works, the furniture was minimalistic despite the space planned in the module that she shared with Makarand and Jonas. The management module. With her work as a geologist she had the choice to take leave of her functions as a supervisor if she so wished. Anybody with the required skills and working experience could take over.

She sat herself on the large bed with the blanket still packed in its plastic sheathe. A wall section was all holographic display for work purposes or decorative images. At the moment, it was set to a live feed facing the Archimedes. Watching the rain fall on the dark silver fuselage was rather soothing for a grim view. Kim wondered if the grass would change colors with all of this hydration.

Suddenly indulging an impulse, she accessed her workstation from her remote data-access sheet and brought up the security footage from outside Module C. The video had caught a view of the mini concert with everyone gathered around the improvised music band. Hearing the song and Vick's voice again gave her a thrill. There was something special about hearing a person's voice over music, especially when it was sung with talent.

Closing the stream mid-verse, she went back to the live feed outside Module D, switched to the general view of the compound and towards the ship again. There was a flash in the sky above it. She took it for lightning, but there was no crack or sound coming from over her head. Another flash, still not lightning.

Switching to a different angle from a camera place on the other side of the base, facing north, she saw the flash again. This time there was so little light around that she couldn't make any of the source that made that activity, except...

The hole in the ground was filling up with mud from the rain, and she could see the semi-flat surface of the oval shaped object rising up over the surface of the water. The dig was a dozen meters deep, there was no way for the stone to rise up that way unless it floated.

She realized with amazement that the stone was producing electricity. It confirmed all of her speculations.

"Archimedes, this is Tang," she spoke into her wrist communicator. "Is anyone looking at the dig site?"

Waiting a few seconds for a response, the lightning kept on a steady pace. There was no one on the channel, apparently, and she waited further while putting on her biosuit. There was no way she could let this moment pass without first-hand readings. The thermo-environmental weaving in her suit would protect her from surges and shocks.

"Come on, talk to me, people."

Still nothing. She remembered about Vick's comm dysfunction when he was standing on top of the stone. Now, it was right there on the surface and the rain just helped the disruption spread everywhere.

Kim grabbed her helmet and left her chamber to bang on the door next to it. She couldn't go out there alone if only for consideration to her team and Jonas. He'd be worried sick if he found out she was getting near an unstable source of energy. She tried his private link and wasn't surprised to get an immediate reply.

"Still awake?"

"You've got to see this. The stone, it's active."

"What? Where are you..."

"Just about to head out and see it for myself. You can come along if you like."

"Is that a dare?"

Smiling at the implication she grabbed the data sheet in order to keep track of the surveillance while en route to the dig site. The two soldiers guarding the base entrance were sitting at a coffee table playing on their hand-held stations, they looked at her and stood up in unison.

"Ma'am."

"I'll be taking a buggy to the dig site."

"Bad idea in this weather."

"My scanners aren't recording anything, I have to go out there and pick up on things the old fashioned way."

They both looked at each other unsure of what to decide. Kim waved her micro-chipped hand in front of the door panel.

"We'll have to report this to Captain Makarand."

She was already out in the downpour when he finished his sentence, there was no time to waste. Taking one of the all-terrain short distance vehicles she set her navigator up on the dashboard and started the engine. Three bangs hit the fuselage, something she'd never heard before, even when it malfunctioned. Opening the hatch, Jonas was standing there, looking at her with his face all wet.

"The planetary grid," he shouted over the sound of the storm. "The lines cross over each stone, right?"

"That's what I want to find out." She fully opened the hatch for him to climb in, but he just stood outside. "It's active!"

"That's because of the magnetic field." He reached up and she gave him her hand, but he pulled her out instead of joining her. "Don't be stupid, Supervisor."

Resisting, she let go of him and yanked her hand back.

"Do you know something I don't?"

All he gave her was a stern look in response. Kim's heart pinched for a second and she wanted to slap him across his wet face. He was retaining information with no reason other than protecting her. But against what? It made her furious.

As she drove down the valley she pictured the grid in her mind, the lay lines covering the entire planet according to the planetary magnetic field, its "hot spots" and areas where the energy converged into the mass of the surface. If the stones connected to each other that way, intersecting across the continents, then something huge could happen in a matter of minutes. Or days.

Keeping a cautious eighty meters distance from the dig, she stepped out with her scanner probe and planted a tripod in the muddy ground. The stone was floating above surface, hit by the rain on its shiny black surface. Smoke was emanating from it. Nothing happened for a good five minutes as she recorded high electro magnetic field readings. Her ears were buzzing and she almost felt nauseated. She decided to let her gear do their job and climbed back in the buggy. It was strangely dark in the habitat and she didn't remember switching off the engines. Pressing the start button, nothing responded. There was no huff of the battery. Whatever was happening, the stone was sucking all the surrounding energy out of the cells. Cussing and swearing, Kim retrieved her probe. Nothing was working. Sniffling under her helmet, she tasted blood in her mouth.

"Shit."

The EMF levels were probably higher than she had ever experienced before, and they were causing all of her symptoms which were side-effects of the proximity of abnormally strong magnetic poles. Slightly panicking, she stepped away from the dig site, turning her stride into a jog. Running down the hill, she tripped and fell, face down in the dirt. She had bit her tongue and sadly she couldn't wipe the blood leaking from her nostrils and on her lips. Kim rolled on her back and, catching her breath, looked up at the sky.

The clouds were shifting rapidly in a circling motion. Short lightning strikes dazzled horizontally in the atmosphere but never producing any sound.

"What the..." she sighed miserably. "Why did we have to land here..."

A bang made her startle and she rolled over to get to her feet and running again. The crackling was simultaneous with a flash meaning that the lightning was in her vicinity. She didn't even dare look over her shoulder, it must have come from the stone.

Using what memory she had of the geographical maps, she went towards a depression in the surface, somewhere there would be shallow caves where she could find shelter. Only after long minutes of walking and feeling with her hands stretched out did she find a deep enough opening under a rock formation. There were no functioning lights in her suit, and she took her helmet off, knowing that the oxygen wasn't being recycled anyway. At least, she wasn't under the showers and there wouldn't be any predators out and about with that weather.

Now her concern was with her gear and in what kind of damage she would find the buggy after the storm, if it ever ended that night, and when she'd be able to crawl out of her hole. Waiting, she rested her head against cold stones behind her, knees propped up in an uncomfortable position. If she'd let Jonas take control and lead her back in the base she'd never have seen the cloud vortex. She would also never have experienced high EMF effects first-hand. She tried her communications system on but failed to get a signal, only static noise came through. She wanted to stand outside in the valley in case someone would be looking for her, but the prospect of being struck by lightning wasn't appealing that night. She calmed herself down and as tired as she was, dozing off was impossible with the constant pouring and the random flashes.

Soon, she heard her name being called in the distance, a faint male voice screaming at least a few hundred meters away. Disoriented, she didn't know what direction the Archimedes was.

"Over here!" she shouted back, coming out of her hiding place and getting wet again. It was really dark and she couldn't see any lights except for the base signals that blinked slowly in the mist. It was really far away, she began to walk. Taking a step in the muddy grass, the ground seemed to shiver and she felt a rumble in her legs, then in her entire body. Earthquake? No, she knew what seismic vibrations felt like after studying the glacier volcano in Iceland. This came from above the surface.

Turning around, she lost her balance at the sight of a disc darker than the stormy sky. It made no sound whatsoever, floating ominously perhaps in low altitude, measuring the size of three cargo ships. Kim had never seen such a craft before. It hovered slowly in her direction, and her instincts told her to run, but her reason asked her to stand still and observe. The craft was now her umbrella as it seemed to make a break. Whoever was flying it perhaps took notice of her. When she saw how it was rotating in the same position, she began to decipher geometrical shapes and lines along the black fuselage. It didn't seem metallic, but of the same carbon-based coating as the stone they had uncovered.

"Kim!"

She could hear Jonas clearly now, but she was mesmerized by the ship right over he head. Its lower structure seemed to change.