CHAPTER 1: The Lifeless World
Marduk closed the final records of the completed assignment and opened the return course. It had been a few hours since the ship left the Federation research center. The systems they would pass through on the way to the main base had already been surveyed. The navigation officer monitored the course while the team in the research section checked the surrounding scans as part of their routine duties. They were not expected to stop for another investigation.
While verifying the transfer of data from the research center, Marduk noticed a small change on the map in front of him. The course line had shifted toward the outer edge of the system they were approaching. He left his work and turned toward the navigation section.
“What prompted the correction?” he asked.
“We’re maintaining our passing distance. We would have come too close to the fourth planet’s gravitational field,” the navigation officer replied.
Marduk enlarged the system map. The planets around a small, old star appeared on the screen. Surface temperatures on the three planets nearest the star were unsuitable for settlement. The outer two planets were frozen. Beside the fourth world, between them, was an old classification marker: lifeless.
He opened the planet’s file. Its atmospheric composition could not support unprotected human life. Earlier scans had shown no liquid water on the surface. Broad plains and rocky regions were clearly visible in the images attached to the file. Marduk checked the mission dates of the ships that had compiled the record. The world had been examined remotely several times, but no one had landed on its surface.
The summary of the latest survey stated that no evidence of plant, animal, or microscopic life had been found. No valuable resource warranting a settlement had been identified either. Marduk moved on to the detailed measurements. These were the results of remote observations. They were not based on surface samples. Before closing the file, he looked once more at the date of the last visit.
“Keep the data from this pass with the old scan,” he said.
The research officer brought the file onto his own screen. As the ship passed near the planet, the automatic scan began. Atmospheric measurements, surface temperatures, and the first images arrived in sequence. The officer placed the new values beside the old records. There was no immediately noticeable difference between them.
“The atmospheric readings are within the previous range. No distinct energy source is visible in the area of our pass,” he said.
Marduk followed the data without looking up. The scan still covered only a limited part of the planet. The initial results showed no exposed water surface and no sign of operating vehicles or communications. As the officer was about to prepare the routine record of their pass, a marker appeared over the surface image.
The automatic scan paused with an alert calling for a closer examination of that area.
Marduk moved in front of the main screen. It showed a broad plain in the northern hemisphere. At first, nothing was distinguishable except lines on the ground. But some of the lines intersected at regular intervals, while others ran side by side along a long curve.
“Enlarge the image. Open the unprocessed version beside it,” he said.
The research officer brought up both images. Marduk first looked at the unprocessed recording. The regular lines were there too. As the image grew, the dark areas between them resolved into separate structures. Marduk brought his finger toward the screen and traced one of the lines. The road passed between the structures and reached a broad open space.
“Reduce our passing speed,” he said.
As the navigation officer carried out the order, the other officers in the research section returned to their screens. Marduk pointed to the open space in the center.
“Let’s get a detailed view of this first. Then map the boundaries of the settlement.”
The new image revealed the buildings around the square. Several large structures stood close together. Farther out, smaller buildings lined the roads. Their floors and arrangement suggested homes. In the part of the plain considered empty stood an orderly city extending outward from its center.
Marduk reopened the planet’s file. He moved the surface image he had just examined beside the main screen. He used the rocky rise at the edge of the plain to locate the same area. There were no structures in the old image.
“Open the other passes too,” he said.
The officers arranged the old scans chronologically. The image taken by the first research ship hundreds of thousands of years earlier covered a broad area. Later records had narrower fields of view. Marduk had them check the area covered by each image. They set aside the records that did not show the section containing the city. In those that remained, the plain appeared empty.
An officer overlaid the new image on the latest old one. The outlines of roads and buildings appeared over the flat ground in the earlier recording.
“There’s no settlement visible here in the last scan either,” he said.
“Is the image detailed enough to establish that?” Marduk asked.
The officer checked the scale and enlarged the rocky area beside the plain. Large outcrops were clearly distinguishable in the old recording.
“We would have seen a settlement this size,” he replied.
Marduk noted the dates. The empty old images did not yet tell them when the city had been built. There was only a difference between the last recording and today’s pass that needed investigation. Before that, they had to make sure they were comparing images of the right world.
“Verify the location independently of the images,” he said. “Check the star, the orbit, and the surface landmarks separately.”
The navigation officer transferred the ship’s position to the system map. The star’s location matched the record. The planet’s orbit was where it was expected to be as well. The officer in the research section matched the mountain ranges around the plain with the old images. He pointed in turn to a fork in a ridge, a long depression, and the rocky area to the north.
“We haven’t opened the wrong planet’s file,” he said.
Marduk examined the matches himself. He brought the city image back to the foreground. The directions of the roads and the distribution of structures were clearer now. The settlement stood on the same plain shown in the records.
“Now concentrate the motion and life scans on this area,” he said.
The broad results of the initial scan were not enough. The officer narrowed the survey area to the city’s boundaries. The central square, residential districts, and outer roads were scanned in turn. Marduk had the image timestamps displayed side by side. Nothing appeared to move in the square, at the intersections, or in the open spaces between buildings.
“No vehicle movement,” the officer said. “I can’t distinguish any definite heat source from the buildings either.”
“Signs of life?” Marduk asked.
“None we can confirm from this distance.”
Marduk had the result recorded in those words. Orbital measurements did not let them see inside every room. Receiving no signal on the first pass did not prove that every system on the planet was shut down either. He would not draw a firm conclusion about the city’s condition without a closer examination.
He turned to the communications officer and asked him to widen the monitoring range. While the officer checked the surrounding frequencies, images of the city continued to arrive. Most of the buildings were standing. No major debris was visible on the roads. A bridge connecting the two sides of a passage was still in place as well.
Marduk had the area around the bridge enlarged. He could not see the widespread destruction that might be expected after a major attack. But intact structures did not explain why the people had left. After looking at the empty road in the image for a while, he turned to the research officer.
“Open the settlement records. Don’t search only by the planet’s name. Check the system and coordinates too.”
A direct connection was established to the Federation archive. As Marduk opened the mission list on his screen, the officer searched for settlement authorizations. The research ships sent to the system were listed. Each mission’s description and route were checked. Every visit shown in the files had been a brief orbital survey.
Marduk went into the details of the first mission. There was no record of a surface landing. The measurements in the second file had also been taken remotely. The research officer checked the others. None showed any work related to establishing a settlement.
“No results in the authorized settlement list,” the officer said. “I haven’t found a preparatory mission either.”
“Check the other mission records we can access,” Marduk said.
When the search was complete, no file explained the city. Marduk saved the results list with the images. They had found no connection in the archive. It was too early to say anything beyond that.
One of the structures in the city center was enlarged on the screen. Its broad entrance and surrounding open space suggested that it had been designed for public use. The research officer compared its dimensions with those of nearby homes.
“Some of the proportions are close to Federation settlements,” he said.
Marduk pointed to a smaller structure on a side street.
“Resemblance alone isn’t enough. We can’t identify who it belongs to from its outward shape.”
The officer saved the comparison as a separate note. Marduk went to the communications section. No transmission had been received from the city. Monitoring directed at the planet continued. He requested a connection to the main base and prepared the initial notification.
He attached the location, old scans, and new images. He reported that a large settlement had been found on a world classified as lifeless, and that the current scans had detected no movement or confirmed signs of life. He also stated that the mission records they could access contained no information explaining the city’s establishment. He requested that arrivals and departures in the system be monitored while the investigation continued.
After sending the notification, he turned to the navigation officer.
“Cancel the return course. We’re entering orbit.”
The officer prepared the new course. As the engines engaged, the image of the city on the screen slowly changed. Instead of continuing its pass, the ship headed for a position where it would remain around the planet. The research team also moved away from its passing-scan procedures and began preparing for a detailed investigation.
Marduk had the central square and outer roads displayed in the same image. They examined the open areas around the city in preparation for landing. They needed to choose a suitable point before approaching the structures. The current atmospheric measurements were transferred to the surface preparations. Marduk asked for the protective equipment to be checked against those data.
“The ship will continue scanning,” he said. “The surface team will come with me. We’ll check the latest images again before landing.”
While preparations continued, Marduk opened the old and new records side by side one last time. The same plain was empty in the old image. The new one showed roads, homes, and large buildings. The city had certainly been built. He did not yet know who had lived there, how long they had stayed, or why they had left.
He closed the screen and left the command section to join the surface team. They would begin their initial examination outside the city, then move among the structures.
