Episode Thirteen

[Velociryx]

{author's note: ::gulp:: For the first time since I began writing these, I'm nervous about your reactions to this one....this shines a bright light on a number of areas which had been speculative til now....::cringing:: don't hurt me....;-)}

Episode XIII: Revelations Abounding

Gayle stepped from the shadows and smiled at them. Both men stood motionless. Speechless. Hearts constricting in their chests as they took her in.

*How?*....was the question that sprang to both of their minds, and Gayle’s smile broadened. “My two heroes....you came.” There was something in her voice that wasn’t quite right. The tone and pitch were hers, but....it was different somehow. Hollow? That wasn’t quite the word, but it was close. Either way, it was Gayle, and it was wonderful.

Velociryx still seemed unable to speak, and it was Kevin who found his voice first. “Gayle...but you were...how....”

She stepped completely out of the Monolith and took one of his hands, slipping her other hand into Velociryx’s, then drew them together in a hug, even taking a moment to run her fingers lightly over the tiny quivering mass in the crook of Velociryx’s other arm. It shivered in what could only have been delight. “Thank you so much for taking care of me....bringing me here was the best thing you could have done!” She kissed Velociryx on the cheek and then backed up a bit to look at them. “There’s so much to tell, and I promise I’ll answer every question you’ve got....there’s a lot we have to do.” She was nearly bursting with excitement, and it was infectious, even as it was strange and surreal.

She tugged gently and took a step back, and they followed her.

Another two steps, and they were inside the Monolith.

As soon as they stepped into the chamber, there was a brief rush of air. Kevin glanced back once and saw that the Monolith was sealed again. No matter, they were with Gayle and she’d never....

Her eyes changed as they were looking at her. They blacked over completely, and her face grew several shades paler.

It was such a sudden, dramatic change that Kevin found himself taking a step back. Velociryx half-crouched and growled as he ratcheted his Psi-Talents up. Whatever it was....

“We must now have a truthsaying between us.” The voice that came from Gayle’s mouth was deeper and even more hollow than before. It almost sounded like multiple voices, fused into one. “This body before you is not the woman, Gayle McGinnes. At least not as you know her.....that being, EarthGayle has....left us.”

“But....” Kevin began, tears springing to his eyes again.

Gayle, or the thing that *looked* like Gayle held up a hand, and then caressed Kevin’s cheek. “We scanned many images from EarthGayle as they faded from her. Much of her personality we have been able to preserve, but to complete her, we need your help. And yours, Velociryx.”

Velociryx peered suspiciously at the strange-eyed, beautiful creature before them, still saying nothing.

Suddenly, the color returned to Gayle’s face, and her eyes reverted to their normal, warm brown shade. “Please trust me....and them....you know I’d never do anything to hurt either of you.” She waved her arms about expansively, and it drew Kevin’s attention to something he had not noticed before. The Monolith was big...perhaps twenty feet or more across, but the chamber they were now in was....cavernous. In fact, he could not see to the other end of it. It seemed to go on forever. *That* thought put a tickle in his stomach.

“What is this place?” Kevin asked finally.

“The Builders have long since gone, but their wisdom still resides here....intact. Encased in these structures.”

“The Monoliths....there have been all sorts of reports of them having strange powers....repairing damaged flesh, bone and equipment....”

Gayle nodded. “And more....so much more....I will show you.”

“Not yet.” Velociryx said quietly. It was the first time he’d spoken since setting foot in the Monolith.

Gayle stepped toward him, and his eyes narrowed, taking on the look of a hunter.

“You....no longer trust me?” She looked hurt.

“You are not Gayle.” He said stiffly. “You are not the woman I left here....this wasn’t....”

She smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek. He started to flinch and back away from her hand, but fought the impulse after only a tiny twitch. He held still.

Such a warm, soft *alive* hand. Wonderful.

“It is true I am not the same person you left here before the Monolith. You left me as a corpse....but look at what they’ve been able to do for me!”

He started to say something else, but she put two of her fingers to his lips. “Shhh....just as you are no less Human because of the Cybernetic Implants you carry with you, I am no less human because of how they re-made me.....we are the same, Velociryx....please believe me....please trust me....*please*.

There was a sadness in her eyes. An almost pleading quality to her gaze.

It melted away his resistance.

“Gayle.” He whispered.

And she smiled.

“I thought I’d never see you again....I thought....”

“I know....Even then, Planet was speaking to you....working through you....that’s why we’re all together now. There are big things in the works, and if the Landing is to survive, we need to get busy.” She held out her hands, reaching toward the tiny creature in Velociryx’s arms. “And we’ll start with this little guy right here.”
***

She dropped the mass of writhing creatures into a nutrient bath and made a few minor adjustments at the alien control panel next to it.

Velociryx went to it and studied it, wracking his Cybernetic Brain to attempt to come up with some kind of translation....trying, ultimately in vain, to decipher the alien language.

“Who were the Builders?” Kevin asked her. He had the cam-unit on his wrist-comm activated, and was documenting everything in the chamber. No doubt, it would be the most exciting footage at the Landing when they returned.

“The Builders were like us....they came here from afar to colonize this world....and like our Lady Deirdre, they were interested in integrating themselves as much as they could with the life-systems of Planet.”

“What happened to them?”

Gayle shook her head. “I don’t know that....I know a good bit about them, but everything I know comes from their version of the “Datalinks.” Whatever happened to them, it must have developed quickly because there’s no mention of any trouble at all. One day, the entries just....stop.”

“When? How far back?”

“My best guess would be something close to a million and a half years ago.”

That silenced the room for a long time.

Velociryx went over to the nutrient bath. Already, he could see that the creature was taking on more mass. Growing, literally right before his eyes. “I wonder why we haven’t found any ruined cities? If the Monoliths are any indication of their construction skills, you would think....”

She shook her head. “No....the Builders weren’t like that. These *are* their cities. From the outside, the Monoliths appear small, but they warp space somehow....I don’t understand it exactly, but trust me, these chambers go on practically forever....you could fit tens of thousands of people inside just one of these things.

“Then why don’t we start colonizing them? Hey, we go public with this knowledge and it would....”

“No....the Monoliths are strange devices....it’s almost like they’re self-aware....they only reveal as much about themselves as they deem it necessary. They’re landmarks, supercomputers, and cities, all rolled into one.

“Amazing.” Kevin said quietly. “Absolutely amazing.”

“And....” She added with a smile. “They’ve even got a zoo....this one does, anyway, and I’m sure the others do as well.”

“A zoo? You’re kidding? I mean, we’ve all heard that there *are* other lifeforms on Planet, and the word is that the University has actually captured a few odd creatures, but....

She nodded and held out her hands, taking Kevin’s and Vel’s. “Come on....I’ll show you!”

And they wandered deeper into the Monolith.
***

“....of course, Chiron does not have anything *close* to the bio-diversity the Earth has, and another interesting thing I’ve found out since I’ve been here is that Planet’s evolutionary path is the same every time. Sometimes the branches are in different locations, but the end result is always the same. What that end result is, I have no idea, because none of the records are complete, but apparently the Builders were not the first alien civilization to arrive here, either.”

All of that information made Kevin’s head spin.

“Hold on just a minute....what do you mean “the evolutionary path is the same every time.”?

“Exactly that. There’s no telling how many times life has evolved and then vanished without a trace on Chiron. The only constants seem to be the Fungus and the Worms. I’ve found references to both going back six iterations.”

Kevin was stunned. The time scale that encompassed was....unbelievable. “Six iterations?....Did you say *six*?”

“Yes. Apparently, the Builders came across an alien satellite that monitored the happenings on Chiron for millennia.”

“But it never recorded the ‘final event’?”

“No....apparently whatever it is, it always occurs when Hercules makes its closest approach, and it blinds the satellite during that period. All we get is static....it’d still be up there now, actually, but we destroyed it without even realizing.”

“We did? How?”

“The Unity....When it broke up, some of the debris took out the satellite. That’s the very last satellite image, pieces of the ship flying toward the camera....then nothing.”

Too much information. It made him dizzy. But it made sense. Who the Hell would have even thought to check for anything orbiting Chiron? And even if the proximity alarms went off (which they surely must have), no one would have noticed with everything else that was happening on the doomed ship.

Still, to discover that they were not the first had been a big enough thing, but to discover that they were not even the second? That was huge beyond describing.

His mind jumped backwards and he picked up her other thread. “Something confuses me about what you said earlier....Chiron following the same evolutionary path....”

She read him. A thing she had been so good at....before. It put his mind at ease as she launched off again.

“Right!” She said, cutting him off in her excitement. “That’s the most amazing thing....sometimes the “supporting creatures” might take different forms, but all the elements are there, all the time.....for example, this time it’s Rock Beetles, last time though, it was Rock....bats, for lack of a better word.”

Kevin and Velociryx looked at each other, mystified, and she laughed. “You guys have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

They both shook their heads and she grabbed their hands. “Come on then, I’ll show you the zoo and maybe things will start making more sense.”

And they went with her, more amazed by the second.



[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited June 28, 1999).]