Gaian Pyramids I

They left at dawn, two Gaian days later. The crew consisted of total of twenty people - seven from mililitary staff, seven researches, four tech specialists, John and Connor.

This many people were needed owing to amount of the equipment to operate. Given they took two half-loaded brawlers and three Savages, it meant five people were already involved in handling vehicles.

The group might have had only several dozen kilometers in front of them, but the route was not easy, especially for brawlers, which - though well adjusted to uneven terrain - could not compare to savages in terms of maneuverability. After all, no one could expect a wheel-based vehicle to climb a vertical wall which was an easy action for a bipedal MTS.

Seeing how slow they were to pass subsequent sections of their route, Marlow could not help but regret not having flying units at their disposal right now. Such machines were among the equipment of numerous transporters, but John's crew was unlucky enough to not have any functional ones in the stock.

Initially, they were hoping to meet such units over time as they find other groups. However, over several Earth weeks they spent on the New Gaia's surface, major and his companions were yet to meet other passengers of Future.

Marlow spent a lot of time wondering about the reasons why is it so hard to get in touch with others. Obviously, electromagnetism present on the planet was a known problem sure to cause communication interference, making things much harder with transporters scattered around the globe - still, he was worried that other groups might not have as much luck as his current group had.

John was concerned about all the people he got to know since joining the project. In the base he was stationed at the moment, there was only a small group of those he spent some time with. So far, considering people he met before departing Earth were Keira, Ryan, Manuela and Glitter.

Thinking back to the moment of landing on the surface, he found it hard to believe he is now able to travel in quite a comfort through the grounds of this unexplored planet, without being attacked by humongous creatures considering him to be just a snack.

As the group kept pushing towards their goal, passing all these kilometers, several times they spotted creatures lying down and gathering the heat from the suns, completely ignoring the presence of heavy equipment - vehicles seemed to not interest them in the slightest right now. The reason why - from what the researchers managed to infer so far - was that majority of predators preferred night hunt. That fact seemed to be directly bound to day and night cycle on the planet, where both were much longer than on Earth, and animals simply adjusted to this kind of routine.

While the creatures seemed calm and not paying attention to the group, it did not mean they were completely safe and could relax fully. Neverhteless, atmosphere they felt was no longer tense, and some of them even seemed to enjoy their time.

- Now, that these don't hunt, they even have some charm - said Keira, pointing at Gaian Tiger's silhouette, walking lazily by the edge of the steppe they were passing right now - You can rarely see such a clean nature back on Earth.

- If this was the thing I would have to see back on Earth, I'd rather have our home planet stay as it is - stated John - I don't want to fight for my life on daily basis.

Miss Evergate was one of those who joined this small expedition as a volunteer, but Marlow was not convinced that a person specialized at translations of ancient languages would be an added value for the team they brought. However, by continuing to claim she is sure to be useful should they come upon pieces of local writing, Keira managed to get her way, even though John felt it was not about finding about alien language - rather, she just seemed bored and probably wanted to leave the camp to get a breather.

Hopefully, he was wrong and that was not the case - otherwise, it would have been a huge problem since they were not going into the field as tourists. If someone participates in scouting mission due to other reasons, they may end up hindering other people's work, especially those on guard duty. Still, once again, he could misunderstand the situation, and there was indeed a chance to find some work for her, but somehow he was unable to drop these thoughts.

Aside from Keira, other people felt well-suited for this mission in Marlow's opinion. Connor was present as a chief of science and research team, while John was there both as a scientist and a soldier, therefore he was basically overseeing the military staff, including three guys major was familiar with: Winston, Szarak and Wilkowski. Soldiers were selected based on recommendations - Ryan McRae specifically chose those three because of the time they spent with Marlow, and to colonel trust was most important right now - technically, Keira could also be included in the list, though she volunteered.

Terrain's shape and plant formations in this region were both highly diversified. Their group's camp was located in northern hemisphere, about nine thousand kilometers from megacity's external walls. Taking into account the data they had about the abandoned alien installation, specifically its diameter, it meant the were in the central section of the northern hempisphere.

Obviously, calculations they had were quite rough, made with basic equipment. If that was the case, with the amount of data gathered about the planet until now, they were supposed to be within the range of the globe that had the same climate as Earth's temperate climate. However, based on observations major made over the time spent away from the camp so far made him infer they were within the tropical climate's range. In the off-chance original calculations were wrong, which was a possible scenario due to magnetic interference, the camp was located closer to the south, meaning they had about half the original distance more to cover - thirteen thousand kilometers - in order to reach the megacity's walls. Hopefully, he or climate data was wrong.

Regardless of where they actually ended up, it was without a doubt that the climate in these parts was pretty much what one would expect from Earth's tropical climate. Of course, plants were nothing alike and the pedosphere was made of different materials. Even after several weeks worth of looking at these, John still did not manage to adjust to the sight of bright, black or completely white leaves so different from what one can see on Earth.

When he started thinking about the Gaian plants, he remembered that Gaian flora could not be classified by the same standards as its counterpart on Earth - apparently, botanists who followed that approach were unable to find the relationships between the Gaian plants the way it was possible on Earth.

While the amount of knowledge they had about the planet's ecosystem was limited, Marlow already managed to gather some interesting facts showing how this world was different from Earth. As an example, composition of local trees' trunks was closer to rocks as they contained a large quantity of elements usually found in stones. Moreover, during investigation performed by botanists, a number of unknown elements was found, and they were still finding more even now.

Ryan seemed to be especially interested into the progress made by botanists, because of a variety of purposes Gaian trees could be used for - not only as a conventional fuel, but also as a valuable industrial resource for high tech production. Some could say it was pretty much the same thing as in case of Earth trees in the past. However, Gaian counterparts offered much more, owing to how the trunks structure was organized - external layer was made of bark reinforced with various metals, while deeper parts were gradually becoming softer and closer to what was known on Earth as wood.

Aside from difference in composition, Gaian flora, same as its fauna, was much bigger than humanity's home planet. Ideal example were local ferns, so far the plant closest to its Earth counterpart, or to prehistoric ones at least, because of the similarities in size, shape and look. According to botanists, gathered samples had over ninety percent compatibility with known fern fossils. Some of them even claimed that Gaia might have been something similar to prehistoric Earth from the times dinosaurs were still alive. Major had no reason to argue with these theories - after all, he had a really close encounter Gaian fauna, even too close.

As John was focused on thinking about discoveries made in terms of local nature, they entered one of the forests located on the way to their destination. If he was the one to decide on the route, he would rather not choose this one, because gigantic trees were perfect place for dangerous animals to hide. Besides, there were also chances of coming upon remaining technology left by intelligent life forms originating from the megacity.

Of course, they had three savages, which were basically built to fight in exactly this kind of environment, but it did not mean they had to deliberately look for a way to test the machines' capabilities.

Obviously, even though Marlow was not the one to make the final decision, he did bring this matter to colonel McRae. Discussion concerning the route they should take was quite long - the problem was that passing around the forest would be equal to add on about fifty kilometers to the distance they had to pass. It was all due to the river passing through the steppe, which size was too much for their current equipment to safely pass.

The overall terrain shape and climate in these parts were something they could hardly understand at this point. Without a doubt, everyone in Future's crew knew they were not on Earth and could not expect it to have exactly the same conditions as humanity's cradle, however, it did not mean changing your long-term way of thinking and understanding the surrounding world was easy. Even scientists, for whom it was an exceptional experience, adjusting was not that easy.

In their current squad they had two people who were to these parts before and marked all spotted, problematic sectors on the map. Basing on that data, they were leading them through the relatively safest route. Still, even with previous checks, passing through the forest was challenging, not only due to logistics.

With numerous rock formations covering the ground, combined with thick plants, they had to move as if doing a slalom. Once again, MTS SVG had no bigger issues since the pilots were able to easily pass through the uneven terrain, but it was not the case for brawlers. Despite being the most mobile vehicle used by Earth Army, drivers struggled with passing through some of the sectors. In several spots, they had to employ savages to help the brawlers in getting through natural blockades.

All the obstacles on the way caused seemingly short route for the kind of equipment they used to be passed in over three hours. Though, it did not mean the group reached the very spot they were interested in - the plan was to reach a zone located approximately two kilometers from the pyramid. Reason for setting up at such a distance from their target was security - they did not want to bring precious vehicles too close in order to avoid damage, and savages' sensors could easily monitor situation in two kilometers radius.

They had to proceed swiftly. Despite leaving at dawn, spending three hours on the travel meant the group had maximum of fifteen hours since they wanted to avoid returning after dusk, and setting up a camp away from their current base was not a safe scenario - colonel prohibited them from taking unnecessary risks after all.

To be as efficient as possible, they decided to split into three groups, positioning them in a triangle shape - two groups southwest and southeast, and one in the north from their target. Each group had one savage as a guard, while brawlers were stationed north and south, with southern one awaiting in-between the two groups.

John stayed in southwestern part, having Connor and Keira by his side, and being ready to assist the second group working in south.

The first goal they had to take care of was preparation of the detailed area map, including both three-dimensional image of objects above the ground and cross-section of ground layers. That was the reason why they needed three groups - this was a minimum to properly scan the area and gather enough data to get a detailed view.

Role of each group was to set up devices in three points separated by the same distance, allowing for the most precise readings they could get. At least, that was what they hoped for since the equipment prepared for the expedition was originally designed for use on Earth.

Creating a graphical model was not a problem, because it required regular recorders based on standard visuals, relying solely on quick terrain scan, but precise measurement of ground layers was a different matter.

Unfortunately, the latter relied on electromagnetic method. Procedure required drilling holes in several sections and inserting transmitters emitting pulses of various frequencies. Pulses of such kind were strong enough to travel long distances, even up to a few dozens kilometers, and considered the most effective for measuring large areas in short amount of time.

Still, in case of this region, it was not obvious this would end up in success - magnetic interference around the pyramid could easily break the process.

During a meeting, colonel McRae provided them with data they have managed to capture with Savages during previous reconnaissance, exposing irregularities in terrain layers, but none was registered in radius lower than five kilometers from the structure, This clearly showed terrain around the pyramid was affected by some sort of noise.

Presence of MTS SVG meant a lot to the researchers not only because of the security they offered, but also because of built-in functions supporting the terrain inspection, greatly improving the calibration of the transmitters. Owing to that, a bit more than one hour was enough to finalize the setup and have the equipment fully operational. During that time, they have already managed to secure three-dimensional image of the terrain.

- Everyone ready? - Connor was communicating with the other groups via walkie-talkie, which was fine enough to be used in current conditions - Go!

The top of the transmitter's pillar lowered with a swoosh, making a light, metallic sound before the whole pillar changed the color due to increased temperature. Once it returned to its original state, scan's result appeared on the screen.

- Damn it - Cunningham was unhappy with what he saw - It caught only a portion of outer bound. We are lacking data from the area of one point six kilometer from the pyramid. Interference gets much stronger around these four points surrounding the construction.

He transferred the points on the map they preferred beforehand. It turned out that pyramid's walls were pointing precisely at each of four directions - north, south, east and west. What was interesting, the four points were ideally symmetric towards each of the building's corners.

- That's an amazing symmetry - John nodded with respect - It seems this pyramid is much more than meets the eye.

- Do you think we can get closer and check what exactly these points hide? - Connor asked - This kind of symmetry is unreal.

- It's definitely something unusual. Problem is, no one from the crew ever got anywhere closer than that. We need to be cautious. Better put one of the "runners" for work.

Runners were small, and really agile, remote-controlled drones. This was a piece of equipment typically used by researchers for dangerous works - most commonly for investigating old constructions on the verge of collapsing.

These small machines were like ants - small, but durable and capable of carrying weights exceeding their own weight by dozen of times. Tools mounted on these served the purpose of gathering various data, not limited to images or samples.

They sent four of them, each to reach one of the four mysterious points. Once each reached the target, the group learned that four spots were occupied by obelisks - formed into the same shape, large boulders, around thirty meters tall each. They could not spot them before because of gigantic trees' cover.

- Amazing, we have four obelisks with a pyramid in the very centre - doctor Cunningham looked excited - Each is 31,416 meters tall, interesting. And the distance between obelisks is exactly 1570,8 meters. These are unusual numbers for what we usually do, right? Not that we can measure aliens with our own standards, correct?

- Could you repeat these numbers, Connor? - despite being just an onlooker until now, Keira unexpectedly joined the talk.

- As I said, it is 31,416 for the height and 1570,8 for the distance between obelisks - Connor replied to her, curious about her interest in numbers - Why do you ask?

- Can you divide the distance by height, please?

- It's fifty. It gives a round number. It's interesting. What are you thinking, Keira?

- Did you hear about royal cubit?

Both men looked at each other.

- Sure, but I have no idea what does quantum physics...

- It's not about physics! - Keira shooked her head - I mean the royal cubit from the Ancient Egypt. Measure unit.

- Oh, I recall that - Marlow connected the dots - I wouldn't think about that in the first place. It required Pi and Phi. Pi minus Phi squared, so 0,5236 meter. So, if we divide the height of 31,416 by the value of a single cubit. Damn, it gives us sixty cubits of height, and for the distance it would be three thousand cubits. It all matches.

Connor laughed out loud after listening to John's calculations. It took him a while to get his composure back.

- No, sorry. It's just... It's hard to believe we found an Egyptian measure on the planet light years from Earth - he looked at his companions - Do you know what does it mean if this turns out to be true?

- You mean that aliens might have already visitted Earth long time ago? - Keira suggested - Or maybe that people actually original inhabitants of this planet in the past?

Doctor became speechless for a moment, but managed to get his voice back a short while later.

- Actually, I've been thinking about the first one, but the second idea may be true as well. Of course, if it is not just a coincidence.

- Well, such theories were the thing for years now - miss Evergate continued talking - I didn't start working with antiques and translations of ancient languages just because I like old junk. Since childhood I've been wondering how can this be that people in so distant past knew about things that were officially designed hundreds or even thousands of years laters. Something's up...

In this very moment, a loud, cracking sound interrupted their heated conversation. In one moment, they have lost connection with all runners at the same time. Connor quickly went through registered footage and heat signatures, but did not find anything he could use to find the cause.

- Did you see what happened? All runners got disconnected out of sudden - he contacted others via walkie talkie.

- I'm on the lookout all the time and I didn't see anything unusual, unless something happened when I was blinking - they heard voice of Winston, who was observing the area from a small hill - I can see all the small ones are still standing as they did.

- Maybe electromagnetic pulse? - John suggested - That would explain why Karl didn't see anything. Question is whether it was just a signal getting cut or runners becoming toasts.

- They don't move at all, now that I look closely - lieutenant reported a moment later - It seems they stopped functioning.