ABANDON

Chapter 12 -- Untouched

    Back at the transport, soldiers loitered around haphazardly.  Faringoth stood in a tight circle speaking with Callivar and Hausen.  A couple of people were stamping out the spiky mineral formations on the ground, others stood talking.  Jane searched for her brother.  Everyone was wearing the same protection suit, she would have to find him by size, and that familiarity that only siblings know.  But before she had finished scanning the group, Faringoth stepped into the centre.

    "Listen up!  The bad news is we didn't get enough from the birds so we are going to have to sweep the place manually.  The good news is that based on the amount of interference there is definitely something happening here, something connected to the Patta shield.  Unfortunately, no one really knows what we are looking for, so keep your eyes open for anything that could be related.  Something like a transmitter, or collector, or emitter.  Also,"  Faringoth paused here and looked around at the faces surrounding him,  "We are looking for water, medical supplies, tools, and anything else you might find useful.  According to the read out from the birds our best guess is that there was a terraformer here so there must be water.  Water is priority one and because of all the interference you might not see it until you're right on top of it.  And because of the interference, instrumentation may be faulty.  So, don't get lost."   Faringoth articulated the last three words carefully. He scanned the group again. "I'll explain this simple, we go in, have a look around.  Stick with the group.  If I want you somewhere else, I will tell you.  Got it?"

    "Got it." came the dull, unenthusiastic group reply.

    "Are you sleeping?  Come on!"  Faringoth clapped his hands together, "We've got a job to do.  Our survival depends on what we find here. Let's improve our chances."

    Years of blowing dirt had collected around the base of the building. While Jane and her team had been exploring, another team had dug out the door. Two large piles of dirt stood on either side, each topped by a shovel. Faringoth moved through first, followed by Callivar and Hausen.  Then the line stopped.

    "I wonder what they found in there?"  Harris's voice came over the comm.  Jane expected someone to reply, but no one did.

    "The line has totally stopped."  An unknown voice said.

    Harris, who was standing in front of Jane turned around to face the soldier behind her as he slowly clapped his hands.  "Wow!  Brilliant! Really, let's give this guy a hand."

    The soldier stared at him for a second before saying, "The line's moving again."

    Jane was sorely tempted to push Harris back in line.  Harris moved forward but then stopped again causing Jane to almost run into him.  This pattern continued several times more until Jane watched Harris disappear into the blackness beyond the frame of the doorway.  Now it was her turn.  Jane held her breath and stepped through.

    Dust hung heavy in the air in the large room beyond.  It was difficult to see anything because of the lack of light until Jane's helmet light came on. Lined up in five tidy rows was vehicle after vehicle, some identical,but most were different.  They were old but looked in remarkable condition.  All of them were covered in a film of gray dust.

    "Standard equipment."  Jane heard Callivar's voice over the comm.  "Anything you need to get around on a new planet."

    "It's so old.  No one uses this kind of equipment anymore."  Hausen replied. "Bulldozers, backhoes, flatbed trucks, cement trucks.  A tree trimmer and a cherry picker.  Why did they bring those?  Even waste trucks.  Looks like they were planning on a large population."

    "This place is a museum."  Callivar was slowly spinning in a circle. "Just think, no one has been in here in over a hundred years."

    Jane watched a soldier in front of her stop to stare.  "Wow, a Hully."  Then he shone his light to the vehicle next to it.  "And a Koega.  These are worth something you. Hey Callivar, did you see this?"