Page 252 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

“Huh? What?” Leeson said absentmindedly. He was looking at a view screen on a terminal they had
managed to make active. From what he could make out; Hylon functioned both as an agrarian
centre and a Commerce hub for the other artificial worlds in the system. Two of the other worlds
were devoted to manufacturing; one more world for methane breathers was devoted to genetic
developments. The rest of the planets were divided into four for recreational; two were assigned for
educational purposes, and two were “storage”
“It seems the greater the intellect the greater the need for play” he mused “Midas will like this one
of the Manufacturing worlds; Ger’t’hav, is a machine world. No biologicals just intelligent machines”
he added
“I read that report they sent about the Island state they were exploring. I’m beginning to think
something like a domino effect happened in the control systems. If we get the Endeavour to scan the
planet’s entire surface, I’m betting we’ll find more nodes in the Polaron Grid have blown up. That
could have sent the entire population fleeing underground. It’s like what happened on Baraxis early
in its expansion phase. A population reliant on localised technology globally connected… It almost
led to a similar situation to Terra’s Economy Wars. If we hadn’t shifted from Polaron to Cold Fusion
generation our grids would have failed and we would have been thrown back to the Stone Age. I
think this abandonment of the surface is down to the complacency that comes from stable systems.
When they fail…” Tuulk reminded T’luha of her people’s history.
“Valid point Tuulk; Leeson, the rest of you we need to find out what’s down on the lowest levels. But
we must be methodical…” she was interrupted by the sound of something scuttling around in a
nearby corridor. They cautiously moved to the source of the sound. What they found couldn’t have

been more of a surprise. A small being about one and a
quarter metres in height was hiding from them behind a
mesh screen. It appeared to bear characteristics in
common with several distinct species; the same bony
ridges of the Eloi, facial features similar to Humans, with
skin like that of the Ulahri, its eyes were similar in
construction to the Ulahri, but were shaped more like
those of Humans. It had a ridge of hair that extended down
the back of the head; neck and almost to the base of its
spine. Its arms were spindly and ended in a hand with four
fingers that seemed to terminate in bulbous pads like those
at the end of the fingers of the Flutvarn. It looked almost
child-like. Though it was obviously an adult male; and it
was completely naked save for a pair of simple sandals and
what can only be described as a tool belt with pouches. It
seemed more curious than afraid. The team members
squatted down and let the being approach of its own accord. It did so with a jerky wobble to its gait.
If sniffed each of them in turn. Then it ran back behind the screen to retrieve something. It came
over to T’luha and offered her the object. It was a
glowing sphere of a crystalline substance. The small
alien seemed insistent that she take the orb. T’luha
carefully took the glowing ball from the alien’s hand
and he smiled. Then he ran back to the area behind the
mesh screen. It was now that the team realised that
there was a door behind the screen and it led to a well-
lit corridor. The alien beckoned them to follow. They
followed the small figure down the corridor to a pair of
huge doors. He did some kind of gesture in front of a
similar glowing orb that was mounted on a bracket
beside the doors. These slid back into hidden recesses.