Chapter 7
Loxus - Sylor, as the others knew him - examined the wall in a room down one of the corridors leading off from the central chamber like spokes on a wheel. The science teams had made the most of being temporarily stranded in the underground tunnels, and split up to explore the ancient ruins, each group taking a MACO escort for safety.
He had ended up paired with the Andorian archaeologist Chalmos and his mate, the soldier Threv. Although he generally paid no attention to such trivial matters, Loxus couldn't help notice a tension between the two Andorsu. While the silence was refreshing, he found himself wondering what had happened between them on the surface.
Most of his attention, however, was focused on the ruins, as was that of Chalmos.
The underground chambers were well-preserved due to being vacuum-sealed, but still inevitably worn with age - though not as much as they would have been without the seal. Straight line patterns covered the walls in seemingly random angles, not entirely unlike circuitry. One of the Humans had said it looked like something called 'art deco.'
There were several flat, black panels of a glossier material on the walls and surfaces, which looked like they might be control interfaces or monitors. Long since depowered, of course, and no power source or means of activation had been detected. They had all agreed on scanners - and eyeballs - only for now, to preserve as much as possible, so further examination of any remaining technology would have to wait.
The circular icon, which adorned the large seal above, was also found in abundance throughout the chambers below. Loxus had felt a strong sense of recognition when he had first seen the symbol on the covering seal, but he had been unable to place it.
Many of the rooms off the corridors were blocked off by long-ago cave-ins, but Loxus, Chalmos and Threv had found an open space with lots of writing on one wall and on a central table. The young archaeologist had massively cheered up at the discovery, and so had the Romulan linguist, although his Vulcan cover identity meant that he had to keep his elation concealed. He would have responded with more dignity regardless, of course.
They now studied the writings under the light of their lanterns and handheld flashlights, while Threv stood solemnly at the entrance.
"This may have been some sort of… records room," said Chalmos, standing close to one of the inscribed walls while making constant notes on a padd. "If those panels are computers of some kind, they may have lost power, hence why they wrote everything down."
Loxus held his flashlight over a patch of writing on the table. The script was pictographic, composed of angled lines and dots. He suddenly realised where he had seen it, and the ubiquitous circle symbol, before.
As a young languages student, he had learned of several long-extinct cultures on worlds near the rimward Outmarches - the borders of Romulan territory. Worlds such as Dewa III and Iccobar. Despite each civilization collapsing before developing space travel, they all had striking similarities in their written languages as well as their mythologies.
Each described demonic figures, who could appear out of thin air, wreaking havoc on the natives.
It was an anthropological mystery that had baffled the greatest minds in the Romulan Star Empire for decades. There had long been speculations about ancient visitors to these worlds; could the 'demons' of Draco legend be responsible?
The air underground was close, and thus warmer than the polar wasteland above, but Loxus still felt a chill through his bones as he contemplated the ramifications. Naturally, he would keep his prior knowledge of the subject to himself.
Still scrutinising the writings, Chalmos spoke up again, pointing to a section of the wall. "I think this says 'change the world.'" His hand moved further down the text. "And this, 'failure.'"
Loxus concealed his surprise that the Andorian could understand the language. As far as he knew, no Coalition race had travelled to the far side of Romulan space, where the related worlds in question were located.
"You have translated the writings?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Parts of it," Chalmos said. "It's similar to a written language on Zibal Three." He grinned in amazement, his antennae twitching. "Which raises all kinds of questions. Much of early Zibalian history is lost; maybe whoever built these chambers visited them long ago too."
"Indeed," Loxus said. He hadn't considered that these ancient beings may have also influenced other worlds within Coalition territory. He may not be able to keep much about them secret after all.
Chalmos' translation was slightly inaccurate, however. Loxus, having studied more examples of similar languages, knew that the first block of text was more closely interpreted as 'modify environment,' possibly meaning some sort of terraforming. The second block, by his estimation, was actually, 'unable to resolve.'
As if confirming the former guess, Chalmos said, "The Draco say that, according to their tales, Berengaria was much warmer millennia ago, that the animal life was more diverse and robust. Could 'change the world' refer to some sort of deliberate ecosphere alteration? Like terraforming?"
"We should refrain from speculation until we have more data," said Loxus, hoping to curtail the young Andorian's enthusiasm.
Undeterred, Chalmos went back to examining the text. "I can identify a few other pictograms. Here, 'abandon'..."
'Forced to abandon,' Loxus was able to silently translate further.
"'Close area'..." Chalmos continued.
'Preserve site,' Loxus again mentally corrected.
"'Never return'."
'No further interference.'
"It's as if they changed the environment for the worse," Chalmos surmised, "then left the planet to fend for itself, sealing and preserving their base of operations."
Loxus thought this a reasonable assumption based on the erroneous information gathered. There was another block which he was able to roughly decipher as 'incomplete correction.' It was more likely that this ancient race had attempted some sort of terraforming project on Berengaria VII, it had taken a turn for the worse, the local flora and fauna were harmed, the aliens had made an effort to remedy this (possibly accounting for the alleged changes in the Draco and other native lifeforms) but ultimately decided not to interfere further and departed.
He saw no reason to inform the others of this interpretation.
"As I said before," he told Chalmos, keeping his voice toneless, "it would be best not to allow our imaginations to inform our analysis."
Chalmos rolled his eyes. "That's no fun." He smirked and looked to Threv instinctively, before catching himself and looking away again quickly. The other Andorian fidgeted awkwardly.
"One thing I don't get though," said Chalmos. He pointed upwards. "That hatch up top was magnetically sealed from the inside, right? And we've seen no other way out of these chambers… Even if there was, it would likely be sealed from inside too… And there's no remains to be found, no bones, no ashes… So how did they get out?"
Loxus cocked his head in thought. It was an excellent point. "It is possible these beings were non-humanoid and left no physical remains. Such as a gelatinous lifeform. Or they may simply have possessed transporter technology capable of penetrating the magnetic interference."
Chalmos frowned, not convinced. "Maybe… But the chambers were also vacuum-sealed too, and that hatch didn't have anything like an airlock or vent… So where did all the air go?"
Loxus had no answer for that.
"Studying these writings further may reveal such answers," was all he could say.
Chalmos was now staring at the lowest block of text. "Well… I think I know what they called themselves, at least…"
"Oh?" Loxus made his way over, curious about the name of these mysterious beings. He studied the relevant text, still recalling what he had learned all those years ago.
"It'll take a team of archaeologists and linguists to decipher all of this, of course," said Chalmos. "But, I think this part here is almost like a signature at the end… 'We of the Icon.' Must refer to this symbol that's everywhere."
He tapped at one such circle symbol nearby.
Loxus nodded in agreement, but he knew that, once again, Chalmos had misinterpreted the pictogram. It was less of a descriptive relationship and more of a demonym.
Not 'We of the Icon' but 'Iconians.'
