Gateways 07_ What Lay Beyond - Diane Carey [122]
They moved slowly, listening and hearing nothing. The pictures stopped after a bit and instead, tablets with alien script appeared. Picard took out the tricorder and recorded them for later analysis although he suspected there would be matches for other cultures. Turquoise, violet, olive, and cinnamon-colored circles all converged down one hallway so Picard chose to follow them. He was rewarded with the hall opening up to a large chamber.
In the center was a familiar control panel, one he first saw on a world countless light-years away.
This was the gateway control room.
It seemed large enough to open quite a number of gateways and it suddenly occurred to Picard that the pictures outside were recommended locales. The Iconians had stayed here long enough to send their people on vacations, forcing him to revise his notion that they were chased here by whatever race firebombed their homeworld. Still, everything was open to interpretation and he realized now was not the time for it.
“What does that do, Picard?”
“When it worked, Chanik, it could help people find their way to other locations. It’s very old equipment and I doubt it functions anymore.” In reality, he knew it would have to work to send him home and there was little doubt that the equipment still functioned. Compared with the gateway on Iconia, this was a much newer model, so if the original worked, so too would this one.
Picard studied the chamber carefully, looking for some place the Master Resonator might be housed. The walls seemed smooth and there were no other halls leading to the space. With the torch held high, Picard checked every inch of the walls, taking his time to watch shadows play against joints where floor and ceiling met wall.
He then meticulously studied the console itself, but found no hidden panels or hatches. It grew frustrating, as Picard knew he had found his goal but the ultimate object eluded his grasp.
Chanik, growing bored standing in the same space, had been wandering in and out of the chamber, using the hallway as a place to run. At one point, Picard watched him with a sad smile. So full of energy and eager to help, but everything was beyond his grasp. However, Picard watched a little more and saw something catch the youth’s eye. Chanik walked along the hallway with his torch and looked closely at a section, just before the hall opened into the chamber. He placed his tiny hand on a section of wall and pushed, revealing a doorway mostly hidden in the shadows.
Picard quickly stepped over to him, and together, their torches dancing together above them, they peered into the newly discovered room. The air was stale and musty to Picard but that wasn’t important. What was vital, though, was the rack set against the far wall. On it was the Master Resonator he was sure of it.
What confused him at first, though, was that there were fourteen of them, identical to one another in size and shape. The Resonator was larger than Picard’s fists together, but flat and copper-colored. On top were four keys: two amber, one brown, and one a deeper shade of brown. He stepped toward them and touched one, feeling the cool metal. Picking it up, he found that it felt light, and as he turned it over, saw indentations that at first puzzled him.
“Is this it?”
“I think so, Chanik. I just didn’t expect to find so many.”
“Maybe they were being careful in case one broke.”
“Maybe,” Picard agreed halfheartedly, but he doubted it. To date, he had never encountered spare parts of any sort. The Iconians, it seemed, built things to last. Which meant all fourteen Resonators were meant to be used.
“Merde,” he muttered to himself.
Christine Vale had seen plenty