Silent Shapes of Mist and Stone Page 3

artificial structures, such as the foundations of cities," Contadino said.

  "This is odd," Gantulga said. He had wandered to the next nearest object.

  "What? Are its details the same as this one?" Zoltan asked.

  "Yes, but I'm referring to something else. The ground around here is gravelly. And there are trails leading away from them."

  Zoltan and Tao walked around to the other side of one of the objects.

  "He's right. Each one has a trail behind it, as if they've been pushed along the ground," Tao said.

  "I want to follow one and see where it leads," Zoltan said.

  "I don't want you guys to wander too far from the skiff. You need to be able to get back quickly in an emergency," Kovacs said.

  "What kind of emergency do you expect?" Gantulga asked.

  "I don't know. But these statues were an unfactored variable. Our initial assessment of this world was incorrect in that respect. Now I feel as if we should expect anything."

  "We won't follow it all the way if it seems too far," Zoltan said. Kovacs and Feher watched Zoltan's helmet feed as he walked downhill, along the furrow in the gravel. His microphone picked up the sounds of Gantulga and Tao as they followed in parallel on the other side. Another rhythm underlay their footfalls.

  "Zoltan, I can hear the waves," Kovacs said.

  "Yep. There it is." He gestured. The trail had led down to a dark beach, dark water and small waves.

  Gantulga looked along the shoreline. "I think every statue has a trail, and they all lead to the water."

  "How do you know that?" Zoltan asked. "I can see some other grooves in the sand, but it's hard to tell where they go. Still too misty."

  "Alright guys, I want you to pick up another trail at the water and see if you can follow it back to a statue," Kovacs said.

  "Shouldn't we walk along the beach some more?" Zoltan said. "We just got here. I'd like to see more of the shore."

  "No. Do as I say."

  "Fine." They picked up another trail and walked back uphill, away from the water. After a few minutes, they reached another of the identical objects.

  "Well, Gantulga's theory was right. So what does that mean?" Zoltan asked.

  "I think we should go back to the skiff now," Gantulga said.

  "Why? We just got here," Zoltan said.

  "I don't think these are statues," Gantulga said. "We should definitely go back."

  "What makes you say that?" Tao asked.

  "Well, they're not stone. The surface feels like plastic, or hard rubber."

  "'Feels?' Did you touch one?" Tao asked.

  "Yeah."

  "What? Gantulga touched one with his bare hand? When?" Kovacs asked.

  "Just now, apparently," Zoltan said.

  "I didn't authorize that, Gantulga," Kovacs said. "You're not supposed to touch anything."

  Gantulga was already turned away from Tao and Zoltan, walking toward the skiff. "And it's cold," he said.

  "What?" Feher said. "Zoltan, take a snapshot of the statue in infrared."

  "So what if it's cold? Isn't that what you expect of a statue?" Zoltan asked.

  Feher pointed to the infrared photograph on his terminal. "Look at that," he said to Kovacs. "These objects are significantly colder than the surrounding air."

  "So? Doesn't the temperature depend on the material properties?" Contadino asked.

  "To an extent, yes. But these look like active heat sinks."

  "Active?" Tao said on the comm. He and Zoltan had begun to follow Gantulga back to the ship.

  "Yes. I think there's an endothermic reaction occurring inside these objects." The comm line was silent for a few moments.

  "They're alive?" Tao said. Gantulga grunted.

  "What was that sound?" Kovacs asked.

  "Gantulga," Zoltan said. "Gantulga, are you alright?"

  "No, I feel strange. Dizzy."

  "Why don't you stop a moment so we can catch up?" Tao said.

  "Okay." He waited, and when the others were alongside, they continued together.

  "Do you need help walking?" Tao asked.

  "No. I feel a little better."

  "Are you sure? Because a fall in this gravity would not be good," Tao said.

  "Yes, I'm fine."

  When they were in sight of the skiff, Kovacs said, "I want Gantulga and Tao to start decompressing immediately. Zoltan, you can wait outside or come in through the secondary airlock."

  "Well, I guess I'll have to go through the small one. I'm not standing out here alone for that long." He stood and waited for Tao and Gantulga to climb into the airlock.

  Tao waved to him before sliding the outer hatch shut. Gantulga peered over his shoulder, out the porthole, and saw Zoltan begin to walk to the other side of the vessel.

  "Do you know how to open the other hatch?" Gantulga asked over the comm.

  "Yes, I'm familiar with all the skiff's systems—even the ones I never thought I'd use," Zoltan said.

  "Good." Gantulga sat on the side bench. "Perhaps wearing a pressure suit would have been better, after all. I'm starting to miss that muscular augmentation."

  Tao smiled and sat on the opposite bench. "Tired?"

  "Not really. I'm ...." Gantulga trailed off and stared at the deck.

  "You're what?"

  "I'm, uh .... Mmph. Oh, shit." Gantulga doubled over and rolled off the bench, collapsing at Tao's feet, shivering. His body began to thrash wildly.

  "Medical emergency!" Tao shouted. He tore open his med-kit and got on his knees next to Gantulga, pulling out a jet injector and loading a cartridge.

  "We can't open the airlock until your decompression is complete," Kovacs said. She and the others watched them on the airlock camera feed.

  "I know!" Tao struggled to hold Gantulga down while injecting medicine into his neck. After a moment the thrashing ceased.

  Zoltan was on the other side of the skiff at a circular airlock hatch. "What the hell was all that noise?" he asked as he opened the hatch.

  "Doctor, what's his status? Is he dead?" Kovacs asked.

  "No, he's fine. He had an epileptic seizure. Vitals are returning to normal."

  "Does he have epilepsy?" Kovacs asked.

  "No. People can have these types of seizures without having epilepsy. My guess is that there was an environmental trigger," Tao said.

  On her terminal, Kovacs pulled up the camera monitor for the interior of the secondary airlock. Zoltan was trying to fit comfortably inside before he closed the outer hatch.

  "Zoltan, don't cycle your airlock yet," she said. "We need to figure out what happened to Gantulga before we can let you in."

  "What? Why?"

  "You might bring some sort of contaminant into the ship."

  "Professor Kovacs, I'm not sure that's necessary," Tao said. "I would like to point out that I didn't have a suit, and I feel fine."

  "With all due respect, doctor, you have no idea what we're up against. Maybe it's a virus that only affects certain people," Kovacs said.

  Tao opened Gantulga's eyelids. "Gantulga, can you hear me?"

  "Mmmm?"

  "How are you feeling?"

  "Fine," he mumbled. "What happened?"

  "You had a seizure. Listen, it's very important you tell me if you did anything against protocol out there. Did you lift your breathing mask, even just for a moment?"

  "Mask? Lift? No."

  "Listen, I need you to think. Did you do anything that might expose you to some chemical in the environment?"

  "Yes, you fool, he did," Feher said. "He touched one of the statues, remember? He could have absorbed a toxin through the skin."

  "Of course ...." Tao drew a blood sample from Gantulga and packed it back into his kit.

  "Doctor, leave the blood sample in the airlock and get out with Gantulga," Kovacs said. "We'
ll cycle the airlock quickly and analyze the sample."

  "Okay." Tao helped Gantulga to his feet.

  "And what the hell am I supposed to do?" Zoltan asked.

  "Sit tight," Kovacs said. "You have plenty of air left."

  "And what if the sample doesn't show anything? You're going to leave me out here to die?"

  "Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's just evaluate each situation when we come to it," Kovacs said.

  Tao and Gantulga waited just outside the outer hatch while the airlock cycled. Feher opened the inner hatch and retrieved the sample with gloved hands. Kovacs watched as he inserted it into a molecular analyzer.

  After a few minutes, Feher lifted his head from the terminal. "The blood appears normal, except for a small amount of one type of foreign molecule." He pointed to the screen for Kovacs to read. "Identified as 'catapletoxin.' I've never heard of it, but the computer says it's synthetic."

  "Catapletoxin?" Gantulga said. "I know it well. Global Unity Shock Troopers sometimes use it in a type of non-lethal stun weapon. In small doses, it causes complete paralysis for one or two minutes. In higher doses, it can cause violent seizures. It's manufactured by the military; not available to civilians."

  "How did it get into Gantulga's bloodstream?" Kovacs asked.

  "Although it's synthetic on Earth, it might be manufactured naturally on this planet. It would support my hypothesis that the statues are biological. They may secrete this substance in their outer skin as a defense mechanism," Feher said.

  "Can we come in now?" Zoltan asked.

  "Yes, everyone come inside," Kovacs said. To Feher, she said, "Defense mechanism? Does this mean there are predators out there we have to worry about?"

  "Not necessarily. Actually, I rather doubt it. The oxygen content of the air is just too low to support large animal life," Feher said. "It's more likely that secretion of this toxin is a vestigial feature." Feher paused and stared at the bulkhead