Stargate Hastings
Chapter Seventeen: Heliopolis
Stargate Chamber, Heliopolis.
When he had arrived Martin Turner had heard a crash but had not been able to tell where it had came from. It was his first time through the Stargate and although he had followed the instructions, that Donald McCain had revealed in his report, he had still made a slight stumble as he rematerialized on this end. He made a guess, that the hole in the ground that he found, directly across from the Stargate. Was the origin of the sound he had heard and when he could not find the pedestal he would need to get home. He figured that the hole, was its former resting place. He carefully looked down through the opening in the floor and could see that wherever he was, the building he was in was built on the edge of a cliff and he could make out waves crashing against the shore below.
He did not believe the Stargate would share the same fate, as the pedestal had but he was not an expert on these things. His job was to ensure there was nobody around, then report in. With no pedestal to make the connection back to earth, his report would have to be before the gate disengaged. Once he had sent his report and was told to stand by. He made a quick scan of his surroundings and quickly concluded that the place was definitely abandoned. He did not want to move away from the gate in case it closed down, so he kept brushing his hand through the strange vertical, not pool of water.
When he received the call to continue his mission and that a way home would arrive in three hours, he moved away from the gate and as he had suspected, the gate shutdown almost immediately after he had. Although the pedestal had fallen, he did not suspect that the place would fall down on him. The Stargate activating, even with the special stone platform that it sat upon, back on earth, still made the room shake to a certain extent. Martin suspected that was what had caused the pedestal to fall through the floor. There was also a large stone that had fallen near the hole, that could also have played a role in its fate.
He had three hours to explore, so he set off to see what he could find. There was a passage way to the left hand side of the Stargate, as he looked toward it and decided, that looked like as good a place as any to start with. Apart from the Stargate itself, he had not seen anything that looked like advanced technology. That did not mean that there was none here to find but apart from the impressive architecture, the place did not look like it housed any great, store house of knowledge.
After twenty minutes of searching, he only found more ruins. He had gotten a better view of the world he was on, through his binoculars. In one direction there was nothing but ocean, with waves that were higher than any he would expect to see on earth. In the opposite direction there was just baron land. He thought that he could make out ruined buildings in the distance but they could have just as easily been rock formations, they were that far away, he could barely make them out. So he headed back towards the Stargate chamber, safe in the knowledge that he was alone, at least for now.
When he made it back, he headed through the doorway that was situated between the Stargate and the hole that had once been the pedestal. He walked down a winding corridor, before reaching a flight of steps. They led down into a circular room. That on closer inspection had flat walls, that only gave the impression that it was circular. In the centre of the room there was a raised platform. Sat upon that platform, was what Martin was certain he was looking for.
He had seen the pedestal many times and what he saw now, looked the same but without the control panel and the symbols that would be needed, to activate the Stargate. The large orange button, that you would press when all the symbols had been inputted was there. Only it looked different somehow, made of stronger materials but still of the same aesthetic style. There were four sets of steps that led up to the device and when he looked around, he noticed strange alien writing on the walls. Each was in line with one of the sets of steps and each was in a unique language.
He had been briefed on what this place was supposed to have been and concluded that it was indeed, a meeting place for four different races. He only recognised one of the languages and then only because he had seen similar symbols back on earth. Martin's father would read the Viking sagas to him and his brother Jacob, when they were children and on the cover of the book that he would read from, were the stones called runes. The symbols on those runes, were identical to the ones he saw now.
One looked similar to Arabic but only slightly, another that seemed to consist of different shaped blocks and finally one consisting of right angled arrows, that were facing in different corners and had spots in varying numbers. The last one reminded him of dominoes for some reason, even though the only resemblance to them, were the spots. He had no idea what any of the languages meant. All of the people training to go through the Stargate, must have some basic understanding of this kind of thing but there were experts, who would study it all in detail.
He was not sure if it was a good idea but someone would have to see if it still did anything or was dangerous even. So he stepped in closer to the device and tentatively touched the orange button. When it came to life, in a magical light show the like he could never have imagined possible. Martin almost jumped out of his skin. What was floating in mid air before his eyes, meant absolutely nothing to him. He only knew, that it was what he had been sent here for. His job was reconnaissance and that meant he just had to find this stuff and more importantly, stay alive long enough to report it. Mr Hastings would send others, that would study it in greater detail.
He spent the rest of his time getting a good idea, of just how big the building he was in, actually was and it was comparable in size to the mansion and the underground facility that housed the Stargate beneath it. He found what looked to be living quarters, that had long since been lived in. Any other technology had been stripped from the building, as far as he could tell. When it was getting close to the time that earth would be making the connection, he headed back to the Stargate chamber and awaited his rescue.
When the Stargate started to spin, his earlier suspicion was confirmed. The room he was in started shaking like crazy, until the whoosh of energy settled down and became a shimmering pool of energy once more. Everything became calm again and he sent his report. A few minutes later, his elder brother Jacob appeared without a single change to his stride. Which was lucky, given the fact that good old uncle Bishop, came tumbling out of the Stargate behind him. With Jacob just being able to catch him, before he fell flat on his face.
A gurney with equipment that would be needed to get home, came through shortly after that. Martin helped his brother clear everything out of the way and then ushered the people that followed and the equipment that they bought through with them, to areas he knew would have the space to store it all. It took them a good fifteen minutes to get all of the equipment through, that the builders would need.
Once everything was in its temporary place, he gave his report on the tremors that had occurred during the Stargates activation. Marcus Hastings had understood him and declared that the platform was indeed damaged and instead of negating the vibrations that were caused by the Stargate, they were amplifying them. The builders did not like people getting in their way. So he showed Bishop, his brother and the man that he had seen with Mr Hastings up on the command deck, when he was waiting to receive the order to depart, down to the pedestal room he had found.
He asked his brother to do the honours and press the magical button. The sight of both him and Joseph Hammond jumping back in the same fashion he had, gave his ego a little stroke. Bishop however, had not made any reaction at all and was simply staring up in fascination at the spectacle, that was now floating around the room. He then said to no one in particular, "I have found heaven and I did not have to die to get here". With a look on his face, that was full of wonder and awe.
Jacob asked him, "Yes uncle Bishop but what is it precisely?".
Bishop started laughing, like the madman that his hair made him look like and then replied, "I have absolutely no idea but if it takes me the rest of my life, I will one day". He then just started walking around the room, staring up from different angles. "Now what could these things represent. They are definitely some kind of language but like none I have seen before". Bishop's eyes then moved to the four different languages, that were represented on the walls. He was looking from one to the other.
He then walked over to the wall that had the runes depicted on it and said, "This one is most definitely similar to Nordic runes". He then walked over to the Arabic like language and said, "This one has similarities with Arabic but only in its style and the others, I have never seen anything like those but all four are completely different". He then just stood there as if in deep thought.
After a moment, he started thinking out loud. "When these races first encountered each other, unless they had some kind of technology that could translate for them. They would have had no way of communicating with each other". He was pacing around the room in deep thought, as he mused over the conundrum he was faced with. "Maybe this is a device, for exactly that purpose but what could they actually mean?" He asked himself and not the three absolutely clueless men, who were with him in the room.
Except one of the men was not completely clueless after all. Joseph Hammond continued his train of thought. "They would have had to use something that was common knowledge to all four races, if indeed this is a way for them to communicate". He then asked Bishop, "What would they all know, that they could use as a frame of reference, in order to develop a form of universal translation".
It was as if a light had been suddenly shined on the mystery, that was floating before his eyes. He looked to the young men that were with them and said, "I like him". He then turned to Joseph Hammond and said, "You sir are a genius, well I am the genius but you my friend, have been the inspiration for that genius to unfold". He walked up to him and shook his hand, as he declared, "They must have had a common frame of reference, genius, absolute genius. The universe Mr Hammond, that was there common frame of reference".
Bishop walked around the room looking up at the floating shapes and realised what they must be. "I cannot be certain but I believe that each one of these strange looking objects, are representations of the building blocks that make up the universe. As I said I cannot be certain but what else could they use, that they could each understand?".
Joseph then asked, "How are we going to be able to understand what it says, are we even going to be able to decipher it?".
"I do not see why not, it will take time of course but this was designed to be understood. If this is indeed, a translation device of some kind, then in time this will all become clear". Bishop replied.
Just then a young girl came walking down the stairs that led to the room the four men were in. She gave a look to Martin and then headed straight towards Joseph Hammond. "My father asked me to inform you, that he is ready to give you his report, on the structural integrity of the site sir. He is waiting for you in the Stargate chamber sir". She said in the same way, that Joseph had heard everyone address Lord Hastings.
He had assumed that he would just be an observer, not have any command responsibilities but he had been offered the position of the commander of all off world operations. Whatever that entailed, so he politely excused himself from the others and accompanied the girl, who he had heard someone call Samantha, back up the stairs towards the Stargate chamber. George had liked teasing his own two daughters, when boys were hanging around. So to pass the time as they travelled the distance, to their destination. He decided to do the same to the young girl, who had bought him the message, from her father. "So you have an interest in young Martin then?". He asked her.
Samantha was a little taken aback, by the question Mr Hammond had asked her. "No, it is not like that. I just think that he must be very brave, to step into the unknown like that". She did not look or sound embarrassed by the question.
"We all stepped through that thing. I did not see you paying his brother the same attention". He stated.
"Why would I. He already knew that it was safe to step through, his brother did it without knowing what was on the other side and besides have you seen the size of him? Anything that could scare him, would have to be pretty fearsome". She made a scary face as she said the last part.
Joseph laughed Before saying, "It does not matter how big you are young lady, fear can take over any man".
They were nearly at their destination so Samantha said, "Yes that may be so but it would still take something big to scare him". The way she spoke about Martin's elder brother, made Joseph rethink who he believed she was actually interested in. She then pointed to a man stood next to the Stargate, who was inspecting the platform it rested upon. "My father is the man next to the Stargate. It was nice talking to you Mr Hammond". She then headed off to resume whatever duties she was performing, before her father had asked her to fetch him.
Before he reached him, Marcus said, "Good there you are. I have completed my inspection of the structure itself and as far as I can see, if the Stargate stays inactive then this place will stand, for thousands of years to come but have no fear, we will be able to resume use of the Stargate by this time tomorrow, at the latest. The reason I wanted to speak with you, is because I believe the platform that neutralizes the vibrations from the device, was deliberately sabotaged. For what reason I could not say but if I was to hazard a guess. I would say that it was done to eventually bury the gate, after they had left".
George thought about what he had just told him but could not think why anyone would sabotage the gate, when it would be easier to leave behind an explosive device, that could do the job far more efficiently. "May I ask why you are reporting this to me sir? I was under the impression, that I would just be an observer here". Joseph asked Marcus.
"Please do not misunderstand me when I say this but if my cousin has decided, that you are the man to take command of the programme going forward. Then I am afraid that is most likely what will happen". Marcus said in a very matter of fact way.
Joseph was not surprised by what Marcus Hastings had just revealed to him, in fact he had already suspected that his cousin had already taken it as a given, that he would accept the position. He did not even feel slighted by that assumption and why would he. He had served in the American Senate and been in similar situations as this, only he was the one making the assumptions of others. No, he knew all too well, that sometimes a man does not choose his destiny, he has it thrust upon him. "I believe he has good reason to make that assumption sir. I have tried to think of reasons not to take the position but the reasons to accept far outweigh anything I can come up with".
"Excellent, now how would you like to be addressed. We have no real command structure yet, what with there being more scientific personnel, than there were military but that as been rapidly changing since the Stargate was found. So what will it be?". Marcus asked him.
"Sir will suffice for now. I guess we will have to make it up as we go along, for the time being". He was encouraged by the fact, that the person who was in charge of the mission, did not feel threatened by another usurping his position and had freely passed over the responsibility. It showed a dedication to duty, over any personal ambitions or ego. He had served with too many, whose motivations were the other way around. If he was to command these people, it would be easier if he did not have to lock horns with them, over there own perceived self importance.
