The Lazarus War: Artefact by Jamie Sawyer Page B

was big . The feed was poor quality and low-colour, but the ruin appeared to be a matte black. No, not black: deeper than that . It was a yawning absence; absorbing light.
    “This is from a spy-probe. We’ve only managed to obtain a handful of images of the site, as the weather patterns on Helios III are so unpredictable.”
    The image stuttered and then disappeared. It doesn’t want to be recorded , I thought to myself. I wasn’t quite sure where the thought had come from. It doesn’t want to be remembered .
    “The visuals are less interesting than the audio,” Cole went on. “Whatever that thing is, it’s broadcasting a signal of immense significance. The signal is repeated constantly, and does not vary.”
    Jostin tapped his data-slate. “We’ve heard it from several star systems away. A very strong signal.”
    “Something not Krell, you understand,” Evers added. “And not human, either.”
    “This is a scientific find of immense consequence,” Olsen said. “Something else in the universe. We are calling it the Artefact. From the limited evidence we have available it appears that it is constructed from non-biological materials.”
    “Ergo, the Krell could not have made it,” Evers said.
    I watched as the image played back again. The Krell were the undisputed masters of bio-technology, and had taken that art to an absurd degree. Whereas we manufactured our technology, they grew it. From a knife to a starship, they could develop a biological reproduction – a species capable of infinite development, infinite mutation. They would have no need for an enormous deep-space transmitter.
    “Even more interesting is the effect that it has on the Krell,” Cole said. He leant forward now, into the holo-image. His face was suddenly painted with light, with numbers and data-flows, from the projector. “Do you think of the Krell as a religious species, Captain? Do you think that they worship, that they aspire, like us?”
    “Not from what I have seen,” I answered, without pause.
    “Perhaps this will change your mind.”
    The image appeared again and I watched as it looped. The desert around the structure seemed to be moving. Then I realised that it wasn’t the desert moving: those were Krell xeno-types, clawing and scratching at the sand dunes to reach the ruin. Millions of them. Irregular encampments of Krell starships pocked the mountainside; twisted biomechanical structures littered the desert.
    “This site is a pilgrimage for the Krell. They appear hopelessly drawn to the Artefact. We’ve never seen behaviour like this before. This could prove instrumental to the war effort.”
    “Imagine if that could be harnessed,” Jostin muttered, absently tapping a finger on the console. “ Weaponised .”
    Maybe they had a point here. I had seen – and killed – thousands of Krell, on over a hundred worlds. I’d never seen them drawn to something like this before. Moths to the flame .
    The military applications of such a device were obvious.
    Jostin and Evers exchanged smiles; pleased that a grunt like me was impressed with their findings.
    “Have we studied the site?” I asked.
    Cole gave a wry smile. “Indeed we have. From a distance at first, then, five years ago, we established an on-world facility. Manned with the best personnel we could muster.”
    “Assisted by corporate backing, a team of researchers was inserted into the field,” Evers picked up, “with the mission statement of studying the Artefact. Led by Dr Jarvis Kellerman, a renowned xeno-biologist with Alliance military approval.”
    A wall-screen behind Evers lit up, showing Kellerman’s smiling face. Cast against the backdrop of a green forest, maybe Earth or Mars, posed as though for a press-release. Pertinent data on the man flashed alongside his image:
    DR JARVIS KELLERMAN
    GENDER : MALE ( NATURAL )
    DATE OF BIRTH : 03/01/2219
    PLACE OF BIRTH : NEW CHICAGO, LUNA
    NATIONALITY : UNITED AMERICAS ( FULL ALLIANCE CITIZENSHIP )
    SECURITY