Chapter 13 Retreat and Regroup
“Alta, can you hear me?” Between the drone of the engine, swooshing of the blades and wind noise, Adams wasn't sure anyone could hear him on the com-link while he was in flight.
“Yes John, loud and clear.” came Alta's voice to the commanders relief. “We are still moving and I can see mountains ahead getting closer. Aunt Sheila is fine and Robby is, well, I don't know.”
“OK,” the commander said, “we are going to track you as long as we can but if we lose the signal, you'll see that on your com-link, the small green signal light will go amber and then red. Green is good, amber means maybe and red is no signal.”
He waited for Alta to acknowledge and then continued. “Wallace will keep you on visual using the satellites as long as possible. No matter where they take you, I'll find you, I'll get you.”
“I know you will. Don't do anything stupid though and let me help. I'll learn as much about them as I can and get that information to you.” Alta's voice was raised to deal with wind noise issues she had, but she was calm and clearly rational.
Dugan had piped into the com on a different channel and asked “Commander, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
Adams was heeding Flapjack's warning to keep Dugan distant but he did need the helicopters under Dugan's command, so some cooperation, or at least the appearance of cooperation was necessary. “Colonel, we believe we have an alien presence on Barnard's. I know only slightly more than you do and must keep that classified until I am relieved by Commodore Savorkian. That does not change my orders however and I still plan to carry them out. I require your cooperation and will tell you as much as I am permitted by my orders.” Well, that was tongue in cheek but it sounded entirely reasonable and Adams was sure Dugan would accept the explanation.
“All right” Dugan came back, “I just hope you know what you are doing.” Adams did not answer but thought to himself, I hope I do too.
…
The capsule that enclosed Alta was fabricated by the robots using some kind of thin sheet material, apparently some form of plastic. The sides of the capsule were open, and the front, top and rear were transparent. Alta was seated comfortably in a deep contoured seat formed from the material. The wind noise however, was unnerving as the robot whisked the capsule within inches of the rim floor and scarcely a half meter from the edge. She could see Sheila in an identical capsule just a few meters behind her. Though not very clearly, she could make out Robby right behind Sheila. Behind Robby was a swirling cloud of dust and small debris raised by the wake of the speeding robots.
Alta had no idea how fast they were traveling but if she looked at the ground passing below for more than just a few seconds, she began to feel a wave of nausea. She could see that Sheila's long auburn hair was blowing wildly and hiding her face. While she could not hear the words, she could see that Sheila was screaming and suddenly the capsules slowed to about half speed. Sheila's hair was still blowing, but not as wildly and not in her face The wind noise was much more tolerable.
The mountains ahead were not high but were very rugged looking. Alta had to keep in mind it was all relative and she had no idea how fast they were going, how high the mountains were or how much time had passed since this journey had started.
As they drew closer to the mountains, Alta could not help but notice how well the robots controlled the fashioned capsules, gliding over irregularities in the landscape such as the arroyos and gullies along the canyon rim. Small rocks that would trip a walking man had no effect on the hovering robots and the loads they towed. While Alta had been watching the canyon to the right, the mountains seemed to pop into close proximity. The robot turned the capsule slightly to the left, maintaining a constant distance from the rocks now rising to the right. A scant few seconds later, the capsules turned sharply right and into a solid wall of rock rising straight up from the narrowing canyon floor.
…
The com-link chirped again, this time with Wallace. “They went into a mountainside sir and we lost visual. We can't see any kind of opening or door, just rock. Alta is still answering however and we are tracking her signal.”
“Well done Larry. Track them as long as you can.” said the commander, trying to speak above the engine that was now decreasing rpms as it approached the space port. “Have the ward room and plenty of coffee ready for a meeting in about an hour. I have to stop by Doc Renfro but will be at the ship shortly.”
“Aye aye sir. Consider that coffee fresh, brewed and ready” Wallace responded with an eager and cheerful voice. The commander could appreciate his effort to compensate for what otherwise was a miserable failure at Auric Canyon. Adams smiled, confident that his exec would restore a sense of optimism to the mission.
…
Dr. Renfro has just completed his examination and met with Adams, Martin and