After spending several days analyzing the hidden installation a preliminary understanding had been formed of its purpose.
"The difficulties we've had with our equipment are due to a dampening field generated in this installation." Smyke presented pointing to an diagram of the ancient impact crater that housed the installation they had explored.
"We where able to determine it's power source." the diagram shifted, showing colorful lines stretching trough the crater." There appears to be a geothermal powertap below the crater. It supplies the whole installation with power."
"That is ingenious, how long has it been active?" The Captain asked.
"As far as we can determine about 4000 years. It is showing signs of age though." Smyke switched the presentation again.
"We managed to identify a number of logs showing the commissioning of the installation up to our arrival." colored lines scrolled over the screen.
"When we arrived we triggered an automated response. The strength of the dampening field was increased at least by a factor of ten."
"That explains the problems with our scanners and communication." Joe stated.
"In part yes, but it also shows the age of the installation. As far as we can tell the dampening field should have made scanning completely impossible and prevented our equipment from working at all." that earned him puzzled looks all around.
"The field would have been so strong to interrupt the systems of a pod shortly after entering the atmosphere. We should have never been able to land safely in the first place."
"Ok, but what is the purpose of this field? To hide something? And what?" The Captain asked.
"That is the part where it becomes a bit tricky. From what we can tell the purpose is to hide the installation at the bottom of the crater. But there is a catch." Rick stated excitedly.
"The planet is covered with an ocean. The only noticeable landmark is this crater. It draws attention to it like nothing else. It is a lousy hiding spot." Rick explained.
"Maybe a case of hiding in plain side?" The Captain asked.
"That could be the case, yes. But from what we determined this would not work in this case. We came up with two feasible options. Option one is that this installation was built long before the ware happened and it needed to be hidden after the fact. Option two is that this whole installation and the station is a decoy."
"A decoy? For what?"
"As this crater draws attention it would make sense to plant a decoy in the middle of it. Add the sensor scrambler to it and it would only raise suspicion further. Judging by the damage to the home planet of the squids we assume that the attackers would not waste any time investigating and just nuke the site from orbit. The amount of firepower necessary to obliterate the station would make sure that an on-site investigation would be impossible."
"That makes sense. But a decoy is there to distract from something. You think there is another station on this planet?"
"We think so, yes. With the technology demonstrated here it would be pretty easy to hide a station on the floor of the ocean. Hiding it with this kind of sensor dampener would make it pretty much impossible to find."
"And what of option one?"
"That would make sense on first glance only. The effort to install this technology is not to be underestimated. It covers a significant portion of the crater wall. It would be much easier to build another station and hide that one."
"It would leave something for an enemy to find though, that makes sense." The Captain agreed. "Alright I'm sold. Can you deactivate the system?"
Dr. Schmitz stepped up.
"We believe so, yes. What we found is not only part of the generator system distributed through the wall of the crater it is also a control matrix. From the schematics we identified there are several of these chambers distributed inside the crater wall. Each one has a control matrix that can control and disable the whole system."
"That seems like an oversight in terms of security." The Captain said.
"Yes. But if our theories are correct the squids never assumed that anybody would land and be able to tamper with the system itself. It would also make sense that they might have had the hope that they could disable it themselves at some point in time."
"Sounds plausible. Is it safe to switch it off?"
"We think so, yes. We have no indication that would tell us otherwise. We could be of course."
"Understood. What about the rim of the crater? Is it suitable for human habitation?"
Dr. Schmitz switched diagrams again, showing a detailed analysis of the soil they had done over the last days.
"From what we can tell, yes. Atmospheric levels are stable, mostly due to maritime live. Algae are producing large amounts of oxygen. There are no harmful elements in the air or in the ground that we could find. The soil is not very reach in nutrients so farming would be on the difficult side, but that is nothing that can't be handled with modern fertilizers and hydroponic farms.
Mining is a completely different story." He switched diagrams showing a cut of the crater wall.
"The wall of the crater has an average width of 200km on the top and get wider as we get lower. At a depth of 400 meters it is about 800km wide and tapers off into the ground of the ocean. It is in theory possible to mine the crater wall as long as its stability is not compromised. But the majority of the mining activities would have to be conducted under the ocean floor."
"That makes it more difficult but not impossible. What about the climate?"
"This planet has only a very limited axial tilt therefore it has very stable weather. We have analyzed the weather patterns and there are regular rains but no storms. We have monitored the weather on a global scale for several days now and have failed to detect even a single storm.
Which leads to a stable temperature on the rim of about 23°C all time around."
"That sounds about as good as it gets."
"The lack of moon means there are no discernible tides. Which should according to current theory hinder the creation of live. The fact that the ocean is teeming with live would seem these theories need questioning at the least."
"So you're telling me that this planet is suitable for habitation?"
"As far as we can tell today, yes. Keep in mind that with the sensor dampener in place we can only to limited analysis of the planet. Once it has been deactivated we can answer this question with much more certainty."
"That sounds very good. How soon can you switch it off?"
"We have a team standing by close to the installation we explored. Just give the word and we can switch it off. From what we learned it will take several hours for the dampening field to scatter completely though."
"Good. Switch it off." The Captain ordered.
"Understood." Smyke said and left to make the appropriate call.
"Gentlemen. I think its save to say so. Congratulations. It looks like we found the first truly inhabitable planet for earths masses on our mission. Well done."
"Thank you Captain. Adding the debris of the station in orbit of the squid's home planet this system will become a scientific treasure chest." Dr. Schmitz answered excitedly.
"Is there any way to find this hidden station you theorized about?"
"Within our timetable it is possible but highly unlikely. We would need to make very detailed scans of the ocean floor around the whole planet. Something the cubesats are not equipped to perform. The Hermes can scan the ocean floor but it would take at least a month to make such a detailed scan."
"Why so long? We already scanned the whole planet. That took only a couple of hours." Joe asked
"And we did not find any indication of a hidden station. To make sure it exists our scans would need to be a lot more detailed. Including an analysis of ocean streams and heat distribution. It is also possible that this station just does not exist at all."
"That is also true. Let's wait for the dampening field to scatter and see what we can find." The Captain ended the meeting.
"Alright, switching it off." Toni answered after the chief gave the word.
He carefully moved his hand over the markings on the console in front of him. The switch was not immediately recognizable as one. It looked more like an ornate jewel. Toni carefully grabbed it and slowly turned it counter clockwise. As he turned the knob it started to glow. At first there was no noticeable reaction. With the knob turned all the way up it glowed a bright purple.
"It's switched all the way off." Tony stated. "Anything on the scanners?"
"The machines are idling down. Activity is down to 70% and falling." the chief reported.
"Approaching 50%, now."
A visible Shockwave emanated from the large machines simultaneously. The people in the room could not just see it but feel it trough their bodies, down to their bones.
"What was that?"
"Must have hit a resonance with the housing of the machinery. Nothing else. We're good." Tony answered. "They're idling down further, 35% now and falling."
It took only a short couple of minutes for the machines to completely idle down.
"And they're down." Tony finally stated.
As the machines shut off the lightning changed from the subdued white-yellow to a bright light-blue. The team had hovered over the controls the whole time. They anxiously checked the controls for several more minutes, scanning the machines to make sure.
"We're good. Shutdown completed. System is shut down and stable."
Over the course of the next four days the scattering effect slowly dissipated. As it disappeared the scanners on the ground and on the Hermes in orbit started to work with increased performance. After five days the data from the scanners was what it was supposed to be.
The team on the surface was also busy with the newfound working equipment.
"Analysis of the soil is progressing as scheduled. So far it looks very good, we have selected the next two patches for test planting. The first two are progressing nicely but the placement was not ideal as we can tell now." Dr. Schmitz reported.
"Alright. How long until we can start to break up the camp?" The captain answered. Her face clearly visible over the comlink now that the scrambling effect was gone.
"I'd like to stay for at least another week, two if possible. It is a too early to tell, we have just started to analyze the detailed scans. Should take about two days. Depending upon what we find we might need some time to analyze it."
"What about the data we have already gathered?"
"That is still perfectly valid and fine. But if we want to settle humans on this planet we have to be more thorough than that. Have you heard about the gropworms on Vega?"
"No, what is that?" The captain asked intrigued.
"When Vega was first settled the colonists started to plant crops best suited for the soil. For a time all was well. But three month into the growth-cycle the crops started dying. They barely managed to identify and find a cure to it before stocks ran out. The initial survey missed to spot a native worm that was attacking the roots of earth-based crops. With the roots damaged the crops could no longer ingest water and minerals and almost died. Although the settlers managed to find a remedy that killed the worms the damage was done. The majority of the settlers was on the verge of starving when the next supply ship arrived.
It took a long while to stabilize the food supply. The shortages have until this day shaped the culture on the planet till this day.
I'd very much like to try and avoid that if possible here."
"I see you point. But you're aware that there is no way we can rule anything like that out with absolute certainty, right?" The captain inquired.
"In science there are no guarantees, I know that. We should still do what we can." Dr. Schmitz defended himself.
"Agreed. Let's give it a week and see what you found so far." The captain ended the call.
Joe had now spent a whole week on the planet. Enjoying the open sky was difficult at first but after some time she came to appreciate it. This night would be something different.
The group met after the end of the shift at the perimeter of the camp. Each had brought a backpack with the equipment they would need.
"Alright guys, all set?" Sarah asked the other five people in the group.
Joe looked around. As the only member of the crew she would have felt a tiny bit out of place at some point of time with the scientists. But not after a week of working closely together. They had managed to form a loose team.
All nodded their agreement and they headed out.
"Always with the walking. Why don't we just take a pod?" Joe asked after the first couple of meters.
"This way you can appreciate a planet." Sarah answered.
"Walking on it and flying over it is something completely different." Rick chimed in.
"I just don't see it. This is just inefficient." Joe answered.
"Just try to enjoy yourself."
Joe just walked on harboring just a small grudge that quickly changed into a small smile.
"I have to admit it. This is beautiful." Joe was exhausted more than she should be but felt very good overall.
The group stood under a small overhang that looked out over the ocean in the distance. As the land was quit flat you could see quit far from a raised viewpoint. The wind was carrying the smell of the ocean.
"Alright. Let's set up camp as long as we have sunlight." Rick suggested.
Joe set down her backpack and took out her tent. The small package was easy to handle. Just loose two clips and throw it where you want it. It unfolded itself and landed upright. No one was expecting strong winds Joe still anchored her tent down. It only took her a couple minutes to get her stuff squared away in her tent.
The scientists used the same equipment from the stores of the Hermes. They managed to arrange their tents in a loose circle.
Joe wondered what to do next as it was her first camping trip.
The others where more skilled and set up the facilities.
As they planned to only spent one night the camp was very basic. Tents arranged around what would normally be a campfire. Around the hill a small latrine was dug that everybody hoped to be able to avoid using.
Instead of a campfire a large lantern was put down in the middle in the camp. After decades of strict environmental laws on earth nobody was even thinking about burning a wood-analogue. Even if there was something to be found. Dialing down the lantern it made a very good imitation of an old fashioned campfire.
After setting up camp they unpacked their rations and ate peacefully while watching the sun set.
"That looks spectacular. You don't see the sunset like this on earth anymore." Sarah said.
"Really? I never managed to see one. But I only had a very short and busy time on earth." Joe answered.
"My parents told me that they used to have sunsets when they where kids. That was before the detonations, of course." Rick ended on a solemn note.
"They say that the skies will be clean enough for sunsets in a couple of years." Sarah mentioned.
"Impressive. Centuries of pollution and radiation cleaned up in a couple of decades. Lets just hope mankind learned something."
"Imagine this landscape in a couple decades. Covered by cities. A small harbor in that bay over there." Rick pointed after distributing beer bottles.
"Fishing boats coming into harbor." Sarah put in.
"Another world for man to ruin."
"I hope not. We should really be better by now."