A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [144]
“Louis believed this was some sort of travel system, a ‘transportal’ that could be activated for instantaneous jumps across vast distances. The equations in Margaret’s report showed that the Klikiss machinery had some way of punching a doorway through the fabric of the universe, creating a shortcut where the distance variable goes to zero.”
“Sounds impossible. Of course, so does the Ildiran stardrive…and so does the existence of intelligent aliens living at the cores of gas giants, I suppose.”
Davlin looked at the frame of symbols around the trapezoid, hundreds and hundreds of tiles, each one with a unique marking—like a destination code. During the voyage to Rheindic Co, Davlin had memorized reports of known Klikiss archaeological sites. Counterparts of this strange stone window occurred in almost every ruined city, though many of the coordinate tiles had been damaged either by time or by intentional sabotage. This one on Rheindic Co seemed completely intact.
And if the Colicos report was correct, the ten-thousand-year-old Klikiss machinery was also intact and continued to function. The Colicos team had already reactivated it. That in itself—such a long-standing energy source—would be a boon to Hansa industries. But he suspected it was only the beginning of the wonders they would find here.
He saw where Louis had added a new generator cell to the mechanism. The Hansa powerpack had dropped into standby mode long ago, but Davlin easily brought it back on-line. “Somebody did all the work for us. It’s still operational—” The battery hummed, and the Klikiss technology began to vibrate, gently throbbing.
“Watch what you’re doing, Davlin. No telling what you might damage.”
“Or activate.” He scrutinized the portal wall to see if anything had changed. A thrill like electricity raced along his spine as he saw the remarkable difference. “Look! The handprint is gone.”
The blank stone shimmered faintly, still showing an opaque tan-gray wall, but the rust-colored bloodstain had vanished.
Rlinda’s eyes widened with surprise. “If this is a transportation system, a network that allows travel from planet to planet without stardrives, just think of the ramifications! It could put my Voracious Curiosity out of business.”
Davlin made another observation. “Such a discovery would be sufficient motive for murder, if someone wanted to prevent its widespread use. For instance, Roamers intent on preserving the demand for the ekti they provide.” He narrowed his eyes. “But who knew about it? If Margaret hadn’t even sent her report, how could anyone learn what they’d discovered?”
“The Klikiss robots were here,” Rlinda pointed out; then she looked nervously behind her. “What if they decided to keep the secret of their creators from being revealed?”
“Makes as much sense as anything,” Davlin said. “I’m glad we don’t have any robot ‘helpers’ like the Colicoses did.”
He stepped forward to touch one of the coordinate tiles. The powerful thrumming grew louder. The stone window suddenly shimmered and activated, and the artificial lights Rlinda had strung inside the chamber dimmed. Then an image focused on the trapezoidal stone surface as if a doorway had opened.
“Incredible,” Davlin said. “Maybe Margaret went…through. ”
Rlinda put her hands on her wide hips. “Should I point out that you don’t know what you’re doing—or would that only make you more determined to investigate this thing?”
Ignoring her, he edged closer to the throbbing wall. He had always been a risk taker; it was a requirement for fulfilling his role as a spy and for acquiring expertise in esoteric subjects.
“I wonder how it…” he mumbled, extending a finger to feel a tingle in the field. As soon as he touched the image, Davlin’s chest lurched. His mind spun as if it were detached from his skull and rotating at high speed on a spindle.
Stumbling, he dropped to his knees on soft sandy ground in front of a collapsed wall. The temperature had plummeted by at least thirty degrees, and overhead the sky—the open sky—was a swirl of magenta and lavender with