6Date: Unknown
Location: Mars, Site 3
Above the stone and boulder strewn landscape, a corporate shuttle streaks across the Martian sky. The shuttle turns as it nears the clearing around an archeological site, a temporary colony of domed buildings was adjacent to the runway leading away from the dusty landing zone. Descent thrusters fire, landing gears whine as they sprout from compartments and dust is thrown away from the craft. The shuttle lands, two of the site's archeologists pulled up in a rover truck, a wind storm battered sand against their domed environment suits. The sealed shuttle door clanks, venting gas before it opened. Dr. Rupert Nexson steps down from the ramp.
"Welcome to our excavation, Rupert" says Dr. Morgan.
"Thank you, Bruce. I presume this is Dr. Vadell" Nexson observes.
"You may call me Linda, I've heard so much about your work. It's an honour meeting you, Dr. Nexson" she replies.
"Yes. Now, my oversight is required for an experiment scheduled on Deimos, may we proceed to the site? " Nexson presses.
"I understand, Doctor. Please step into the rover" Bruce replies.
They climb inside the truck, driving through the colony and toward the distant excavation. They stop at the edge of the site,and step out of the vehicle. They pass other members of the archeology team methodically clearing layers of Martian sediment and towards an entrance which was covered by a domed structure. The archeologists unlock the dome and step inside, within we're some shelves holding tools and another door leading beneath the surface.
A cold wind blows from within the buried cavern, an electrical lift was set above a deep opening in the ground. The four UAC members descend the lift, it seemed to go at least seven stories down. When they reached the landing at the bottom they found themselves in a large chamber, several tall stone doorways led in different directions. The archways were artfully carved with many images of the alien's culture, each column depicts a story from their long history. Five different streaks of coloured tape stretched off into the darkness.
"Considering the age of the site, the structure is in remarkable condition, but please be mindful of the possibility of falling debris. We'll be following the gold tape trail" Says Vadell.
They followed the gold line through the middle archway through a hieroglyph strewn passage. They were soon led to a massive chamber glowing with the light from excavation lamps, finely carved stone walls and massive columns surrounds them.
Before them were tall control stations etched with alien characters, newly placed step-ladders sat at their base. Nexson walked toward a dusty apparatus sitting at the back of the chamber, examining the area's most minute details as he did. The object was almost three stories high, it had a rounded convergence at the top. The sloped casing had a large hole, its centre held a circular coiled cavity.
They walked further, ancient tablets stood behind the wide stone columns. The slabs and the carvings were massive.
"What can you tell me about this discovery?" asks Nexson.
"We performed a full analysis on the apparatus, we think it's a teleporter" Bruce explains, Nexson was unmoved.
"A very impressive find, doctors" he says as he walks toward the left-hand tablets, the lines of hieroglyphics flew through Nexson's mind, translating them on the fly. Nexson approaches Linda Vadell.
"Has your team translated the tablets?" he asks.
"Not all of the tablets have been translated but we have deciphered a few, she replies, this tablet describes how the teleporter works, the method of its construction, a list of the trips that were made and where they went, but this tablet..." she paused as she approaches one of the left-hand slabs, this one describes a ceremonial ritual that is to be performed while the portal is running a specific mode of operation, it seems that this way our ancient friends could develop the ability to make a psychic scan of the extra-dimensional planes" Linda says proudly, pointing at the hieroglyphs.
"Isn't this amazing, sir?" Bruce asks, turning to face Nexson.
"Yes, this is quite consequential, Nexson replies, give me a moment to report this" he pulls his PDA from a pocket and steps away to place the call.
Bruce and Linda wait silently as Rupert whispers into the receiver and a hushed voice is overheard. He ends the brief conversation and steps back over to the pair of archeologists.
"This type of discovery must be handled by our specialists from now on. Is the rest of your team aware of this discovery?" he asks.
"Well, of course they are" Linda replies.
"That could be problematic" Nexson replies.
"Hold on, this is our discovery. We don't want to hand it over to anyone" Dr. Morgan argues.
"This tablet that depicts the ancient rituals can only be seen, studied and handled by our specialists. If you or anyone else in your team say anything about what you've found here, it's going to create problems for everyone, myself included" Rupert threatens, you'll be rewarded for your work but if you care about your careers, then you should keep quiet. I understand this may be unfair but I'll have my own neck to worry about if protocols aren't followed" he explains.
He flips through screens on his PDA, and begins scanning the area with a beam of glowing light emitting from the device.
"I can't believe you're doing this, humanity deserves to see this discovery" Linda protests.
"Hadn't either of you reviewed the employment contracts you signed prior to beginning the assignment? It clearly outlines this scenario" Rupert explains with a sneer.
"If we had reviewed everything in those contracts then I would still be reading through it right now and this discovery would still be buried under tons of sediment" Dr. Morgan rages.
"We can't win, Bruce. Just let it go" Linda says in a troubled tone.
"Let's get out of here" Dr. Morgan bitterly replies as his angered tone reverberates through the chamber.
The pair of archeologists move toward the exit. Rupert stays behind, closely studying the find. He eventually walks back and rides the elevator. He steps out of the dome and returns to his shuttle, his ship rolls along the runway and flies away as another shuttle with an assessment team from the UAC's Paranormal Division approached for a descent.