It was nearly three weeks before they could plan to head for Xenon. One thing led to another and they couldn't afford to pass up the work. Veril had her gems, which she had willingly offered to share with the others, but Kerran had firmly told her to keep them.
"Hang on to them for later. There may come a time when we will desperately need them, and I would rather know we had some reserves." So the gems were stored safely and they sought further paying jobs. Zev had come to them with nothing. Nothing except the location of the base – Xenon.
"Why Xenon?" Kerran has asked Zev one time.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Marta had said something about one of the other crew coming from there. Her name was Soolin."
"So where were they before that?" Veril called across.
"I'm not sure. I found a name mentioned, Terminus, but nothing is registered at the co-ordinates given. It was somewhere there that the Liberator was apparently destroyed."
"Oh yes. I remember now. Terminus was an artificial planet - man- made. I wonder what happened to it?"
"Who knows?" Kerran said with a shrug, dismissing it. "So, from Terminus they went to Xenon. I wonder how they got another ship to do that? I've never heard mention that they had another ship."
"Nor I." said Veril "Perhaps it was already on the planet?"
Kerran frowned in irritation. "There are so many questions we don't have answers for! It's just so frustrating!"
"But we are getting closer." Veril put in positively. "We know much more than we all did when we first began this search."
"I guess." Kerran agreed grudgingly. "It's just so slow!"
"Well, we're on our way now." Zev said from his seat. "Perhaps on Xenon we'll get some more answers. I hope so"
Their flight to Xenon was quiet and they checked carefully before landing. "What do we know of the place? Any native population?"
"There is on the far side of the planet. Not large, and apparently only barely technologically advanced."
"Doesn't sound like they would have had much to do with Avon and the others." Kerran said, studying the read-out before leaning back and looking at the other two. "So. What now? Any ideas on how to find the base?"
Zev scratched his jaw, thoughtfully. "From what Marta said, she had heard that their base was actually underground, but they would have to have had entrances on the surface at various points. Not to mention some place for their ship to land. It's no good having a hidden base if the ship is out in the open for all to see."
"True." Kerran agreed.
"We can also assume that they wouldn't have wanted to be close to any population already here." Veril put in.
"So the best place to start looking would be on this side of the planet."
"If the ship had to be hidden there would have to have been some way for them to fly straight into their base. There could have been some sort of natural formation as a shield." Zev put in.
"Like what?" Kerran queried.
"Caves?" Veril said. "Cliffs?"
Kerran pursed her lips in thought. "Sounds good. Do we go out and try?" she asked them both. They looked at each other.
"May as well get started." Zev said, standing.
"Oh, here. Take these." Kerran said, tossing a small object to each of them.
"What are they?" Veril asked.
"They're survey scanners." Kerran explained. "They can read the mineral content and spaciality in the soil. They're not very powerful, only having a depth reading of about 2000 feet, but it might be enough for us to pick something up. Hopefully, the entrances. It's all I've got."
"It'll do." Zev said. "Let's go."
They left the ship, sealing it behind them and going armed, not knowing what they might meet. They carefully separated the area before them, each going their separate ways to search before meeting back at a designated point, then separating to try again. There were a couple of false reports but for the most part they had no luck. As darkness fell, they returned to the ship disheartened.
It was Veril who brought them out of their morose thoughts. "We can hardly expect to find the base straight away. It's a big planet and we're only guessing. We'll try again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. And we'll keep going till we do find it, because by then we're bound to do so."
Kerran half-smiled at her friend. "You're right. We're being foolish to think it was all going to be right where we stopped, waiting for us. In the past 20 years anything could have happened as well. It could be extensively damaged, caved in, and just sheer vegetation growth could be hiding the entrances. We'll start in another section tomorrow."
So that was the way the next few days went. They still had to bolster their spirits each evening because it was disheartening, but they were determined that having come this far they would not give up. Not yet. By the fifth day though they thought they may have found something. Veril discovered the remains of what appeared to be a small bunker, possibly a door. The scanner registered only solid rock for some distance from it in all directions and then to the east what appeared to be a passage. It was too late to follow this discovery up but it was with a much lighter heart they all went to sleep.
First thing in the morning they returned to the area with the necessary equipment. The few weeks before arriving they had purchased what equipment they thought they might need. Now they could only hope that they had. They set the drill rig up and it soon began, after testing the ground for stability.
They stood back in breathless anticipation, trying not to build their hopes up but unable to not be excited. It didn't take long for the machinery to break into open space and withdraw. They stared down the dark hole silently.
Kerran let out her breath loudly and turned to gather up some cabling. "Let's do it. I'll go first."
"Why you?" Zev wanted to know.
She grinned at him. "Because if I need to get up quickly I'd rather you were on this end of the rope pulling." He grinned back.
They secured one end of the cable to the machinery whist Kerran wrapped the other around her, tying it to a harness. She took up a torch and approached the edge.
"Here!" Veril thrust something in front of her. Kerran recognised a compact oxygen mask. She looked up at Veril's slightly concern face. "Remember, Zukan let some air borne virus out. We don't know for certain if it's gone."
Kerran acknowledged that and thankfully accepted the mask, fastening it firmly. She took one last look at her two friends and then indicated they were to lower her down. Her feet gripped the rock as her torch shone down into the darkness. She wasn't certain how far she had to go. She should have checked. Too late now. Then her torch picked up solid rock below her and her feet slipped into empty air. She swung for a moment until she could shift her balance and reach her feet towards the ground. Once they had touched, she gave two yanks on the rope to let the others know to cease lowering the rope.
She shone the torch around. She was definitely in a passage, natural looking at first glance, but then she picked out the light fittings high in the wall. To her right, the passage was blocked. That way lead to the damaged door that Veril had found. No way past there. To her left, the corridor stretched on as far as her light could reach. She pondered for a moment and then undid the rope. She began to walk, having to consciously slow her breathing which had sped up with excitement.
She carefully navigated the passage. It hadn't completely escaped unscathed whatever had blocked the other end. There were large cracks down the walls, parts of the ceiling had fallen down, she had to clamber over partly blocked areas, even digging to clear the way and worried she would bring the roof down on her, but she passed unharmed.
She finally reached what appeared to be more of a man-made area. The walls were now crumpled metal; pieces of what could have been furniture lay scattered and broken about. Her curiosity burned and she madly desired to go on but she knew the others would be getting concerned. They had just as much right to be here as herself. So she reluctantly turned and retraced her steps. She tied the rope back on and gave three tugs. They were obviously worried about her because she had to grab the rope quickly with both hands as she shot into the air, swinging wildly and almost braining herself on the side of the hole. Zev was certainly strong enough, she thought with a smile.
When she came closer to the top she found herself blinded by the sunlight. Hands gripped her and hauled her over the lip and away from the edge. Kerran blinked her eyes to adjust them. She took note of where the sun was and was surprised to see it on the far side of the sky. She had been down there much longer than she had realised. No wonder they were worried. And they were – both faces peering at her with frowns and pursed lips. She removed the mask and took a deep breath of fresh air.
"Sorry," she said by way of apology, to forestall the scolding she could see she was about to get. "I had no idea how much time had gone by. The passageway continued on and seems to reach what could have been living quarters. Once I reached there I came back."
"You should have waited and not gone on your own. It could have been dangerous." Zev said, scowling.
"I was careful. I'm not stupid." she replied tartly. His brows drew down further.
"It doesn't matter now." Veril put in quickly to hold off the argument. "Can we all go back there?"
"Yes. The way seems fairly safe. My scanner didn't indicate any ground movement so it seems to be stable. We'd have to take down some portable lights to set up. It's too difficult to look around properly with just torches."
"Well, we'll leave it for tonight." Veril said practically. "Tomorrow we'll take the lights down and begin again."
"But.." Zev began.
"No." Veril said firmly. "We've found it, we know where to come, it's not going anywhere. And if we're to be wandering around a damaged underground base, I would rather be doing it fully refreshed."
Zev reluctantly agreed and they returned to the ship, although none of them truly slept well from the excitement.
The next day they returned and all descended into the darkness, lugging the equipment they had lowered first. Finally they reached the larger area where Kerran had stopped the day before. They set up the power packs and then the lights. The illumination showed a large area. Next they had the air analysed and once a clear rating came back, removed their masks. The air still had a musty, stale smell from being almost completely sealed, but obviously enough fresh air had been able to penetrate over the years still for the oxygen levels to be adequate.
"Well," Zev said, looking about him. "What now?"
Veril, too, looked around. "Why don't we try and do here first? See what it all is and then move on. That way we shouldn't miss anything."
"Sounds good to me." and so they all began. At Kerran's suggestion Veril also began making a map with notations, so as they moved into each room they began to have a good layout of the base. There were three other rooms nearby they could enter, all appearing to be living quarters. Not much of a personal nature remained. Veril found a button while Zev found a female's blue hair accessory. The remaining furniture appeared to have been quite plush but time had degraded it and the rooms had by no means remained completely intact, one having half the ceiling collapsed.
"What caused all this?" Veril had asked.
Kerran had answered. "It looks like explosions."
"But from what? And why?"
Kerran shrugged "I don't know. Maybe that virus thing could only be destroyed by sealing it in. Perhaps that is why they had to leave here. They couldn't neutralise it so they had to find somewhere else."
They were forced to abandon that area after a thorough search and return to the surface to begin scanning again. They knew they had only found one small section and that the base was much larger but they didn't know if any more had survived, as it was quite clear that the damage was extensive.
Their next discovery was small, but important. Kerran's scanner had blipped briefly and she stopped to carefully check again. She contacted the others who brought the drill rig with them.
"What have you found?" Veril asked.
"Something very small." Kerran replied, still checking the readings she was getting. "It's not natural, too high a metal content, and mixed metals at that. The area appears to only be about 6 or 8 feet high and maybe as wide, if that. It's going to be a tight squeeze."
"My turn this time," Zev said. Kerran shrugged her agreement as the drill set to work. Zev lowered himself into the darkness, oxygen mask fixed firmly. Just because the air had checked clear in the other area, it didn't follow that it would here. They were taking no chances. Zev was down for a while and Kerran now understood why the other two had been so concerned by her first lengthy foray. It was difficult to just sit waiting. Finally Zev signalled his willingness to come up and they hauled him to the surface. He appeared with a bag thrown over his shoulder.
"What did you find?" Veril asked eagerly.
Zev opened the bag and began laying pieces out, mostly what appeared to be electronic computer components. "It looked like what was left of a control room. There were plenty of monitors, controls, all of that. Most of it had been turned to slag, molten together from whatever explosion went off. Not to mention being crushed. I managed to get into some of it and pulled these memory and relay circuits out. I don't know if we'll be able to get any of it to work and read it. Don't even know what we might find on it."
Kerran picked one up carefully. "It's worth a try," she said. "We might just be lucky. Anything else?"
Zev shook his head in the negative. "No. It's all too damaged, and no way to get anywhere else from there."
Kerran sighed. It would have been nice if they had a clear passage to follow like the first one. "Oh well, I guess we keep looking and see what else we can find."
So they moved on, after Veril had added the control room to her plan. It took another two days of fruitless searching before they made their next and final discovery. Once again it was Veril who made it. She had been following her idea of the cliffs enabling good cover for a descending ship, so took it upon herself to search there, and finally found something. Zev had lowered her over the edge of part of the cliff and she had kept scanning. From the results, they hypothesised that the entrance had at one time been in the cliff face. The ship went into the cliff itself before descending into some form of landing silo. This was guessed at by the way the rock had fallen in on itself leaving a wide crater in that area, and leading from there was a passage still showing on the scanner. They carefully had to plot where to begin drilling as they weren't certain of the stability of the area after such a massive cave-in, nor did they like the idea of trying to descend down a drilled hole to that depth, but finally they accomplished the task and entered the passageway.
The going was much harder here, obviously the damage being greater from the upheaval of the destruction of the landing area. They ducked under the twisted metal beams that barely supported the remains of the ceiling. Veril was in the front, struggling through a tight opening.
"Over here." The others heard her muffled call. They struggled through, Zev having a harder time being slightly broader than either of the girls. They all had to remain half bent, there being no room to stand upright. Veril was kneeling by something, half perched on some rocks. She glanced up as they came closer and nodded downwards. Zev and Kerran looked where she indicated. There wasn't much there, but actually more than they would have expected. The material had rotted, barely showing the shape of a space suit. The helmet was half crushed by the falling rocks as was the skull beneath. The bones of the skeleton could only be just made out, most being either buried or destroyed.
They all looked at it silently, wondering. Was it one of the rebels, or one of the natives from Betafarl? Was it one of their parents? Neither girl felt inclined to touch the remains, so Zev finally reached out a cautious hand to gently touch some of the material. They could just make out that it was blue and gold, the colours having faded. He then touched the helmet, leaping back with a startled oath as it rolled free. The two girls were no less startled. The rock that had originally crushed it had long since shifted and that slight touch had enabled it to move, taking the broken remains of the skull with it. It was awful in its gruesomeness. Zev then leant forward suddenly, again reaching out a hand and picked up something which glittered briefly in the torchlight. He looked at it a moment, then abruptly turned and struggled back the way they had come.
His sudden departure caught Veril and Kerran by surprise. They stared after him and then looked at each other in bewilderment. Veril called out after him but there was no reply except the continued sounds of departure. Kerran shrugged and began to follow, Veril behind. When they reached the surface Zev was no where to be seen. The girls scanned the area.
"Back to the ship?" Kerran guessed.
Veril nodded. "Guess so." So they both trudged back to the freighter.
Sure enough, the ship was unlocked. Zev wasn't in the flight deck, or in the galley. That only left his quarters. Outside his closed door, they paused, looking at each other uncertainly. They had no idea what had happened, what had made Zev flee the cavern and return here. And they didn't know if they had the right to ask. They hadn't known each other that long, could hardly be called friends even. Veril pursed her lips and knocked loudly. There was no answer and Kerran raised an eyebrow. What next?
Veril chewed her lip, glancing at the door. "Can you override it?" she asked Kerran. This time both her eyebrows went up, but she nodded, opening the panel and doing so.
The door slid back and Kerran waved Veril inside first with an ironic smile, which Veril returned. It was dim inside, barely enough light to see by. Zev sat on the edge of his bed, staring at something in his hand. His oxygen mask was still hanging around his neck, his clothes and skin begrimed with dirt. He didn't look up as they cautiously entered. Kerran held out her hands to indicate silently that she didn't know what to do next.
Veril went and carefully sat next to him. "Zev?" she said quietly. No answer, so she tried again, reaching out a hand to touch one of his. "Zev?" This time there was a gulping breath taken and the hand Veril touched spasmed and then opened to clasp hers tightly.
Kerran was startled to see a tear drop from his cheek. He was truly upset about something which moved her to sit on his other side.
"What's wrong, Zev?" Veril asked. "What's happened?'
He was silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath and then spoke brokenly. "Down there. What we found," He stopped, swallowing loudly.
Veril took his hand in both of hers, moving closer. "Yes?" she said softly.
In answer he opened his other hand and showed them what he held. Nestled in the palm of his hand was a silver necklace. "I recognised it," he said brokenly. "Marta had described it. She gave it as a present. I even saw a picture of it once." They waited for him to finish, guessing now the truth. "It was Zeonna's. My mother's." Another tear escaped him and a sob caught in the back of his throat.
Instinctively, kindly Veril wrapped her arms around him and drew his head to her breast, letting him cry. Kerran didn't touch them, but remained where she sat.
One of them had found part of their past.
The next day they returned to the same area. Zev was back to normal after his traumatic discovery yesterday and eager to push on. They gamely struggled onwards through the wreckage, finally arriving in what appeared to have been a sitting area. At least there were the remains of seats and broken and shattered remains of what looked to have been a table and a bench. Zev picked up an object he had kicked and showed an empty bottle. A cupboard door nearby was hanging by one corner. He pulled it off to reveal some broken remains of glasses and other bottles.
"Nothing here." he said to them through his mask.
When they returned to the surface, they sat down for a brief rest. The sun was just beginning to set, the sky streaked with red, orange and pink. It was quite beautiful. Kerran felt let down. She knew that there was little point them remaining any longer, there was nothing more for them here. They had found all they could, all that was left for them to find. Zev had found out the truth about his mother's death - at least as far as the knowledge that she had indeed died here on Xenon. There was no reason for them to stay.
"I guess we should go." Veril finally said sadly.
Kerran looked up at her and nodded. "Guess so."
There was silence again for a time then Zev spoke next. "So where to next?"
Kerran shrugged. "I don't know. I had hoped we'd find a clue here, but all we know is that they left here."
"Well, we're bound to turn up something else." Zev said, stretching and looking up at the setting sun.
"What we really need to do is get some more jobs, start moving around and see if we can pick up any information."
"It would at least keep us occupied." Veril agreed.
"Don't want to go back?" Kerran directed the question to Zev, who snorted in answer.
"Course not. There's nothing for me there. We've still got a long way to go yet."
"True." she acknowledged, then got to her feet. "Better get back and have a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we'll try and put together some sort of plan. We could look at selling this drilling equipment and get some money for that. Gets it out of the way at least."
So they all returned to the ship as dusk settled on Xenon.