Free The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel by Raymond L. Weil Page B

would come the hard part. He still had a suspicion Kazak wasn’t being
totally forthcoming, but only time would tell if he was correct in that assumption.

Chapter Four
     
    Sergeant
Brenda Wilde stood worriedly at the end of the valley within several hundred
meters of where the first buildings to the fabulous city of the Originators
began. Unfortunately, an energy shield prevented her from going any closer. The
energy shield surrounded the entire valley the exploratory team was in and thus
far, they had found no way around it.
    “Still
watching the robots?” asked Melvin Blair, one of the Human scientists with the
group.
    Brenda sighed
and turned around. It had been three weeks since they had found their way into
the Dyson Sphere. The movement she had initially noticed in the city later
turned out to be small robots that seemed to rush about on some type of
intricate schedule. Kelnor had suggested the small robots were probably charged
with the upkeep and repair of the city. The scientists with the group had set
up some instruments and recorded the movement for several days, confirming
there were no living beings. It had been a big disappointment to Brenda.
    “Yes,” she
said turning around to face Blair. “I keep hoping I’ll see someone living on
the other side of this energy shield. That city is so beautiful; it’s nearly incomprehensible
no one lives in it.”
    Blair looked
toward the city, watching as one of the small robots stopped near some plants
that bordered a sidewalk and begin expertly trimming them. When it was finished,
it applied what appeared to be fertilizer and then moved on. “This city’s been
dead for thousands of years, possibly millions. We know of the pathogen that
wiped out the Originators, and if any had survived I’m sure we would have been
contacted by now.”
    “Why do you
say that?” asked Brenda.
    “Kelnor and
Reesa are convinced this energy shield didn’t appear until we set foot inside
the Dyson Sphere. It’s part of some type of automatic protective system
activated when our presence was detected.”
    Brenda turned
back toward the city, seeing a small flying vehicle appear high up in the air
and land on a platform on one of the smaller towers. The first time she saw one
of the flying vehicles, she had hoped it was a sign the Dyson Sphere was still
inhabited. She had later learned the vehicles were only carrying supplies for
the small robots.
    “Let’s get
back to camp,” she said.
    There was no
point in observing the city. Nothing had changed there from the first day they
arrived. Brenda knew that by now her superiors must be furious at the continued
lack of communication from the exploratory team. When they got back, there was
no doubt in Brenda’s mind she would be busted down to the rank of private,
assuming they ever found a way to get back. Even that was beginning to look
extremely doubtful.
    -
    Reesa Jast was
busy arguing with Kelnor at their camp over what needed to be their next move.
They had set up a number of survival huts, which had been in their emergency
supplies. The small huts were of Alton design and were even heated and air
conditioned, though neither were actually needed in the small secluded valley.
    “I still say
we should broadcast a continuous message toward the city,” said Reesa, crossing
her arms defiantly. She was one of those rare Altons who at times showed
considerable emotion. “From the small robots we can see, there must be some
type of control system somewhere. I can’t believe the Originators wouldn’t have
foreseen the situation we find ourselves in. Why else would they have the
energy shield set up to keep us in this valley and prevent us from being able
to reach the city?”
    Kelnor slowly
shook his head. “We must spend more time studying the city with our
instruments. If we provoke a response, there’s no telling what might happen.”
    “Our food supplies
will be gone soon,” Corporal Everett Metz commented. He was standing