Chapter 13

After leaving the databank, Regin waited in the shadows of a building a little further down the street. He wanted to see if the strangers followed him out or not. He waited for a good half hour but here was no sign of them. Guess it's just my twitchy nerves, he thought to himself. He pushed off the wall and set off down the street, back to his hotel. Going up to his room he checked everything carefully. It appeared that his room was untouched, much to his relief. He spread his map out on the floor, that being the largest flat surface for him and studied his notes and plottings.

He looked up from the plans only when he found it hard to see and was surprised to see that the shadows were growing as the sun shifted to the other side of the building. He hastily gathered his things together and galloped down the stairs. Some negotiations with his landlord secured him a land hopper, small, not very fast, but good enough for his purpose. He brought some rations, packed and was soon on his way.

He reached a destination, cut through on foot and stood for a moment looking at the dense underbrush. No, he wasn't about to go scrabbling through all that, besides he didn't have the gear to do so. No, if Orac was to be found it, wouldn't still be out in the open, no matter how much it was covered with growth. He shook his head, he'ld try the next point and once he had exhausted those options he would consider coming back. He made his way back to the ship and looked at the darkening sky. He'ld make camp here and head off first thing in the morning.

As dawn broke it found Regin finishing packing up his camp and setting off. His next two stops were a waste, though he spent the time checking, so by the time he reached the third stop he was weary and frustrated, and darkness was already beginning to fall.

As he set up camp, he cursed silently. What a waste of a day, he muttered. Hope tomorrow will be better.

The next morning he scanned the area and began to feel hopeful. The scanner indicated that a large structure had been here, perhaps pockets of the underground chambers still remained. There were strong metal readings showing. A further walk in the area showed what appeared to be extensive cave-ins over time. Well, at least it looks more promising than the others, he thought, gathering his gear together and setting off.

Here might be a good place to start. He looked at the ground and then the scanner. About one metre, perhaps a little more, to dig. He shrugged out of his jacket and began. Pretty soon he shed his shirt as well in the heat. He wiped his brow and sipped some water and continued. He then dropped a small explosive charge in the hole and heard the pop as it went off and waited. When no further sounds emerged he picked up the long metal rod and prodded. A few hard thumps and he nearly lost his balance and fell in the hole, as the resistance literally crumbled. He gained his balance and peered down seeing the darkness of the hole below him. Okay, now we're getting somewhere, he thought.

He anchored himself with rope and pulley and lowered himself down, shining the light around as he went. Soon his feet touched the bottom. He shivered as he looked around. Should have put the shirt back on, he thought absently, taking note of his surrounds. This wasn't an extremely large chamber, obviously there had been a number of corridors leading from it to other parts of the base. Part of this room was filled with rubble, a console all but crushed under a large boulder.

He walked around carefully, there were bones on the floor, after this long thankfully nothing more. Quite a lot of bones, he thought, looking at them all, the majority crowded in the middle section. At least 15, judging from the skulls he could see. Must have been some massacre, he thought grimly. He walked to two skeletons lying side by side, finger bones almost touching. Lovers, he wondered. Scraps of decaying cloth was visible on all the figures, the Federation uniforms surviving the best. Best material used for the services, he thought to himself, will survive years. Pity the same can't be said for the men in them. He knelt next to the two that had caught his eye. Tarnished studs steadfastedly clung to cloth draped still on one, dark cracked leather clung to the torso of the other. Poor buggers, Regin thought, beginning to stand when something else caught his eye.

Through the ribcage, sitting on the spine, was an object, rectangular, clear, with a button on the top. What..? Regin reached for it, jumping slightly as his hand brushed against the bones. He withdrew the object and looked at it, then down at the body before him. What the hell happened here, he wondered. For the object to be where he had found it, it must have been inside the person before him. What was he doing walking around with this stuck in him? Must have been important, Regin considered. Really important. He tucked it in his trouser pocket.

He suddenly noticed how chilled he was feeling. The sweat on his body from his earlier exertions had cooled completely and left his skin raised with goosebumps. Time to go back up, he thought. Still plenty more to do. He thought he would spend the time with excavating around this area. It's a likely spot to find his elusive Orac if ever there was one. He attached his rope and pulled up to the top.

The sunlight was bright after his eyes adjusting to the darkness below. He picked up his shirt and jacket, but didn't bother putting them on yet and began to walk back to his camp. He rounded some trees and came face to face with four people, who stopped as suddenly as he did. Two guns were immediately trained on him, and Regin cursed his carelessness for not being armed, whilst in the back of his mind was the thought, The man's as fast on the draw as her.

For before him were his two strangers, now accompanied by two more, and they most definitely had him at the disadvantage.

Zev continued to scan the area as they drew closer. "I think we should set down here." he said. "We can take the cart the rest of the way. I'm not sure how stable the ground is."

"Okay." and Kerran made the necessary adjustments to set them down.

Calan and Veril packed the cart and they all piled on and set off. They stopped for a moment as Zev studied the scanners and map.

"That way must be the main base," he said, pointing in front of them. "but the scanners are also picking up something over that way, very faint."

"Which first?" Calan asked.

"Main base." Kerran said. "We can come back for the other."

"Main base it is." Calan said, driving.

They stopped the cart and piled out shrugging on packs and following Zev. "The forest has encroached in this area over the years." he was saying. "I imagine more of this had originally been cleared as part of the base. There are small pockets in the rocks which could be remains of rooms."

They walked the area, getting a lay of the land while Zev continued to plot and plan. As they rounded some trees they came face to face with the stranger from town, shirt off, glistening body shining in the sun.

Both parties halted suddenly, and Kerran automatically reached for her gun, as did Calan. The stranger did not move and a quick glance showed Kerran that he appeared to have no weapon.

Nice body, she thought absently, then blinked her mind back into focus. What was she thinking, but she couldn't help but notice the defined chest, arm and abdomen muscles that showed all too clearly in front of her.

The tableau held, then Kerran began to see the ridiculous side to it. Here they were holding up a half dressed unarmed man in the middle of the forest. And just what were they supposed to do with him now? They didn't even have a reason to hold him, except for him being in exactly the same place they wanted to be.

Kerran gave a sidelong glance to Calan which he returned, and then he slowly lowered his gun and holstered it, Kerran slower to do so and with obvious reluctance. Calan held his now empty hands out to the stranger.

"Sorry, friend, but we weren't expecting to meet anyone and you startled us."

Regin raised an eyebrow but bit back on the scathing comments he could make. Don't antagonise them, he thought, not when they've put the guns away. And they outnumber you, four to one. Let's try to keep on their good side. Regin took a slow step forward, judging reactions.

"You caught me by surprise also. I just didn't have a gun." He could have bit his tongue as the last sentence slipped out. Me and my big mouth! Fortunately the blond man smiled and Regin breathed a sigh of relief. He was let off.

"Precautions only." Calan said, waving the weapons issue aside. From what, or who, Regin thought. "My name's Calan." and he stepped forward, offering his hand.

Regin took it a little cautiously. "Regin." And they shook. Regin then looked beyond Calan at his three companions. Calan followed his gaze and stepped aside to introduce them. "Kerran." to the brown-haired girl, "Veril.", pale blue eyes looked back at him. "Zev.", a scowl set beneath bright red curls. So that was all of them.

"So what are you up to?" Kerran queried, wondering if Regin will tell them.

"Prospecting.' he lied smoothly, not certain he could back this up though and so searched for other things that could provide him a cover story.

"Found anything?" Zev asked.

"No, but the databases said the mining companies had bases dotted around the planet, company house and so on, so I thought maybe one of these would give me something as a lead." There was no use hiding the fact that he had been searching the database, they had seen him there so he had to come up with something that was plausible.

"So you have found something here." Veril said, her voice light.

Regin looked at her and was a little off put by the clearness of her gaze that seemed to see right through him. She pointed at the dirt stains smeared on his body, from hand to chest and even face.

"Uh, just blew a hole into a chamber. Was going to get some more gear and go in and have a look."

"Mind if we come along?"

And with four guns, do I really have a choice to say no, he thought. He took a belligerent stance and looked Calan in the eye. "Why?" he said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zev step forward but Veril halted his approach.

Calan appeared unconcerned by his tone. "We're not here prosecting, Regin. Any mineral claims you find are yours."

"Then what are you looking for?"

"That's personal." Kerran snapped at him. Regin glanced at her. He wasn't going to back down and neither was she.

Calan sighed to himself. Looks like another stubborn one, he thought. "It is personal, Regin. We're looking for lost relatives. We think they could be in one of these bases. We're pretty certain they were on Guada Prime."

This had the ring of truth about it, and with all the upheavals this planet had had, folk coming and going and many of them ending up here permanently in a way they hadn't planned, it wasn't completely surprising that relatives had finally come looking. But still he sensed there was more hidden. But then he was hiding things also, so he would let them have their secrets – for now.

"Okay." he agreed, although he really didn't have a choice and he knew it. However, they would have been more suspicious if he hadn't tried to stand up for his rights and claim. "This way." and he lead them back to his hole.

He went down first, with Calan close behind. When everyone was down they all looked around. With five lights the area was well illuminated though the shadows that were thrown on the walls gave the area an unearthly appearance as though the ghosts of the past were playing out their last moments.

Calan felt quite unnerved here, almost nauseous. Something terrible happened here, even after 20 years the smell of death and fear was still strong. Whatever had happened here affected them somehow of that he was certain.

They all looked around, silent, staring at the bones littering the floor, all in various poses of when death claimed them. They ascended into the light.

"Nothing much there." Regin said, finding himself affected by the stillness of the others. Perhaps their story was more true than he had first accepted.

"There was another area our scanners picked up, to the east. Much smaller. May have been a shuttle port or loading bay. We could check it out before it gets dark."

"Let's go." Regin said, shrugging into his shirt and jacket. Kerran opened her mouth as though to protest his inclusion but then remained silent and so they followed Zev.

After a couple of hours walking, Zev stopped. "This seems to be the edge." pointing and tracing an imaginary line with his finger. Calan and Regin picked up shovels and began to dig steadily, Zev soon joining them.

"That's enough." Veril said, checking the scanner. Charges were set and the soft explosions were muffled under the tree canopy. Calan and Regin anchored two ropes and began to lower themselves into the darkness whilst the others waited. Soon they reappeared.

"Nothing." Calan said, a little breathless. "Most of the area is caved in, barely enough room for the two of us."

Kerran glanced at the sky, mid-afternoon. "Probably not much point starting anything new." she said. "Let's get back to the cart and return to the ship."

"Where's your ship?" Veril asked Regin. He pointed in the opposite direction.

"Just over that ridge." he said.

"No wonder we didn't know you were here." Zev said. "We came from opposite directions."

"Care to join us for dinner?" Calan asked Regin.

Why not, he thought. Beats rations. "Sure." he replied.

"Your ship's closer. I'll come with you, help you pack and we can meet the others at the cart." and the two of them set off.