Immortal Coil - Jeffrey Lang [41]
Soong took all these things in with a glance and the fact that he could recognize the objects indicated that these long-dead beings must have shared some basic biological and psychological traits with humans. Of course, Soong thought. They built humanoid androids. It was a trivial observation, one that barely needed voicing even to himself, but thinking about it meant he could put off the more difficult question of what to make of the contents of the room.
First and foremost, there was The Machine, which dominated the room and left no doubt in Soong’s mind that it was the primary reason for the heavily armored doors. Soong’s intuitive ability to analyze technology quickly grasped that this device must be a duplicating machine, like the one Vaslovik had referred to earlier. Either that, or something very near to it.
But, as amazing as this discovery was, it paled in comparison to the other, to the reality of The Body.
It lay facedown in the center of the floor, perfectly illuminated by an overhead light, almost like this room was center stage of a dramatic presentation and this was the single object where the audience was meant to focus its attention. It certainly had Soong’s attention. It was quite a contrast to the body they had found on the rock shelf. That one had been exposed to the elements, petrified into something very like the stone where it had lain for who knew how long.
But not so with this body. This copper-skinned individual was perfectly preserved. Soong could easily imagine him standing up, brushing himself off, and saying, “Pardon me …”
… If not for the large hole in the center of its back.
“That must have hurt,” Graves muttered.
Vaslovik glared at him. “Anyone have anything useful to say? Any ideas about what might have killed it?”
Soong was tempted to say, “The big hole,” but confined himself to saying, “Some kind of energy weapon. Look at how smooth the edges are.”
“Good observation, Noonien.”
Soong couldn’t stop himself from asking: “But how was it shot if it was alone inside a locked room?”
Surprisingly, Graves was the one to assume the voice of reason. “Shooter might have transported out. Or, maybe it wasn’t shot in the room at all, but merely died here.”
Vaslovik was studying the scene intently, apparently trying to reconstruct events from half a million years ago. “If it fell face first, then it was facing the large appartatus when it expired. It may have come here to repair itself, but collapsed before it reached the mechanism… .”
“We may never know for certain,” Graves said. He activated his tricorder. “We should take readings before we disturb anything.”
Vaslovik nodded. “Excellent point, Ira. We have no idea how fragile any of this is. It could all crumble into dust any moment.”
The whine of tricorders echoed strangely in the enclosed space, but the familiar sounds helped Soong shake off some of his anxiety. When they were sure they had taken enough readings, Soong and Graves entered the room and approached The Machine. While they scanned it, Vaslovik examined the corpse. It did not, as he had feared, crumble into dust.
“Well?” Vaslovik asked after a time. “Will it work?”
Graves and Soong exchanged glances. They each had been expecting someone to ask the question. Finally, Soong said, “Possibly. If there’s an energy source. Whoever built this made it to last. It’s just that …” He hesitated.
“What?”
“What are you proposing?” Soong asked.
Vaslovik sighed. “I’m proposing that we help our friend here to get where he was trying to go. If he revives, he’ll be able to answer a lot of questions. And if he doesn’t …” He shrugged. “We’ll probably learn a lot in the process. If nothing else, we can take some baseline readings, see what this thing might be capable of.”
Again, Graves and Soong looked at each other. Vaslovik was so good at making crazy ideas sound reasonable. Graves smiled apologetically