Ghasts VII

Previous day brought one hell of a crazy event. No one would have thought that people could rise from the dead, but something like this happened, and not just once. Obviously, for this to not cause a commotion, situation was kept only for a limited group of people, who had to be directly involved. Nevertheless, everyone in the camp noticed heightened security levels.

Kate continued observation of one of the affected bodies, hoping a proper contact could be reached. Sadly, no matter how hard she tried, that person seemed to no longer have a conscience as if it was not a proper human being - rather than that, a shell with no mind. Over and over again, the risen did not react to a word doctor Warner said, although whenever approached, they would run into the direction of the observer. It was as if the body was driven solely by instinct.

While this phenomenon caused them a lot of scare initially, Kate could not help but feel somehow fascinated by how the body she considered dead was now able to move around all fine despite all the tests she made in line with modern medicine confirming this person to be deceased. Whatever it was, it denied everything she knew.

Doctor Warner really wanted to do more precise tests in order to learn about the patient's state. The problem was the aggression of that person, who seemed ready to attack anyone who came anywhere in the reach. Obviously, she had access to meds that should be capable of locking people's movement, however, not knowing details about the person's state could as well lead to their death. Of course, in accordance to medical studies and procedures, Kate declared this patient already dead, and given emergency protocols granting doctors more freedom in this expedition, she had the right for taking extreme measures - despite that, doctor Warner's personal beliefs made her feel reluctant about making that decision.

Instead of taking this kind of step, Kate chose to further monitor the situation for now, and pushed her idea about sending an investigation team to one of the obelisks. In the end, others - though not eagerly - agreed to the plan.

As a result, a small crew, including Martin and Rashid, headed outside the camp.

Johnson knew such mission would require a technical team and someone to guard them. Since he did not want to risk his close coworkers lives, and due to the fact they were to keep recent events in a smaller circle, Martin decided to volunteer for technical support. Still, his plan did not work out well, because Julian had to join them. It was even much more unusual situation given both him and Rashid were there, and Johnson knew really well how much the two of them nagged at each other.

Then again, he was actually more surprised about Rashid tagging along. He even asked the scientist specialized in plants why did he join.

- Isn't that obvious? - the elderly man looked at him, surprised as much as Johnson - We have no idea what we are dealing with. Sure, it may be some kind of pathoge, bacteria or virus, but what about the origin? There's a lot of unknown plants on this planet, and any of them can be the source. My expertise may be useful here.

Hearing the answer, Martin could not help but agree - he obviously did not consider that part, focusing too much about the devices they were supposed to use for scanning the area.

With that cleared out, they headed towards the closest obelisk, and the one which the affected scientists visited first. Before the people died, Johnson did not pay much attention to this peculiar structure, only considering it to be a certain wonder, something like Stonehenge back on Earth, though he never saw the latter in person.

The thought of Stonehenge came out from how similar in shape the obelisks in both structures were, because the color and material were completely different - the obelisk seemed to be black at first glance, but upon closer inspection a blueish reflection could be noticed, certainly not something expected from a stone, much more similar to metal. Martin was no longer surprised, given that he had a chance to see trees with trunks made of metallic substance.

- Ok, so where do we start? - Julian asked as they approached the area with a brawler fully loaded with equipment - How much closer are we getting?

- I don't want to take risks, so we will stay outside the circle - Johnson answered, pointing into the direction of unnaturally shaped ground.

- Unless the lady back in the camp says otherwise - Rashid pointed out - we may need to adjust the plan.

Militarymen already made some rounds in the area, so they had some basic scans of the surroundings, including alien structures, even though only visuals and heat signatures. When comparing all the obelisks they have seen so far, a common point was the circle shape around the monolith, visibly below the ground level, as if someone intentionally dug it.

- So, what do you think it is? - Julian seemed to be the most curious guy in their current team - Regular shape within a circular structure, some kind of transmitter?

- That could be the case - one of the scientists who joined them nodded - Then again, there are numerous devices which rely on similar structures. With what we see, there is not enough information to say anything for sure.

- Well, we are here to check that out, right? - Martin smiled despite still being sceptical about this idea - I guess we can ready up. Make sure you are all geared up before we go out.

- I've already checked twice - said Rashid.

This elderly African had a full F-suit on from the very moment he went inside the brawler, including the helmet. It was quite an unusual thing for the rest who all were wearing their own F-suits, but none of them was in a full gear.

Full gear meant all pieces were put on and connected - while it was granting the best protection in such setting, some of them affected senses, especially touch, and breathing was definitely harder. Aside from that, based on the model and applied accessories, it could weigh a lot.

Following Kate's instructions, each of F-suits deployed for this mission had additional appliances for biological safety and breathing filters. Moreover, Martin put on the version including radiation shield, and most of crewmates around made the same decision.

After everyone confirmed their readiness, they went outside.

- Okay, so what do we start with? - Julian asked, opening the cargo container.

- We are going with original plan, so let's start with air absorber - Johnson was given ownership over technical details, so orders came from him - It needs time to do in-depth analysis. Next, we will use drones to pick up plant samples, Rashid will take care of selecting what's needed - the African reacted to Martin's words by nodding - When that's in progress, I will need your help with setting up probe for EMF measurements, Jules.

- Shouldn't we do that before Rashid launches drones though? - Julian looked unconvinced.

- You've got a point here. Rashid, you heard the guy, wait for our signal before starting, okay?

The older man shrugged.

- Whatever, as long as we manage to return before it gets dark.

Martin and Julian proceeded to set the three diodes. Once that was ready, scientists accompanying them could proceed with analysis.

- That's interesting indeed - one of scientists, a guy named Jean showed them a complex graph - Compared to the area outside of obelisk's inner circle, its surroundings have a completely different spectrum, and frequency fluctuations are intense. Oscillations seem to be regular, so - fortunately - we should be able to predict windows when staying within is safe for both our equipment and us, but I suggest utmost caution.

- Oh, no worries here, we have no intention to go closer unless it's necessary - Johnson said that straightforwardly - We've already lost enough people.

Jean nodded, and returned to work on the data. At the same time, Rashid sent first drones into the circle, hunting for the plants.

- So, what's next? - asked Julian as he sat on the ground - Any more tasks?

- First of all, I don't think sitting just anywhere is a good idea - Martin pointed out at what his colleague did just a moment before - And about our additional tasks, we have one, but using reflection seismology needs to wait until EMF measurements are done. For now, we just assist others.

Air absorber was operating at full output for over one hour, and in that time, Rashid managed to obtain fifteen pieces of different plants growing within the inner circle encompassing the obelisk. It was around then, when scientists concluded the planned analysis.

- So, can we proceed with EMF measurements? - Johnson asked Jean - Can we dismantle the probe now?

Jean shook his head.

- I get you need to proceed with the plan, but I would like to ask for more time to look into the spectrum - he said - While we may already have some basis for understanding the processes happening around the obelisk, there is an unusual noise we registered that throws us off.

Martin looked at Rashid after listening to Jean.

- We have a certain mission to take care of here - Rashid joined the talk - To be honest, I don't see any reason for us to investigate this noise you mention. Unless you think this may be the reason for people falling sick, then I'm fine with you spending more time on that.

Jean scratched his beard, thinking about something.

- Well, this noise is related to oscillation between electric and magnetic fields, and it's a common knowledge electromagnetic radiation affects human tissues. Doesn't it mean we also should consider that for our current mission?

Rashid gave it a bit of deliberation.

- It was not considered by our head doctor, and I've completely forgotten about the fact, to be fair - the African scientist seemed really concerned - It does sound like something we should also check, but shouldn't our field suits protect us from such factors?

- You are technically right - Jean agree - That is, if F-suit's system is fully operational. If, for any reason, system went offline, or a person was not wearing the full setup, there would be no protection.

Martin was not really specialist in terms of human health, but basing on the conversation he just witnessed, it seemed like the representatives making a council for the camp missed an important detail.

- Still, first time I ever hear about people dying because of that in such a short amount of time, and with no traces whatsoever - Rashid pointed out - Usually, it would result in cancer cells first, and that could be cured with proper treatment. Though, since we are indeed on a completely new planet, with so many unknowns, we cannot leave without checking such a clue. I need about two hours to be done, and then you can do your job. Unless your team has something to deal with after that, Martin?

Johnson shook his head.

- I don't think that should be the problem. Two hours is enough for reflection seismology and scans.

- Okay, great, so it sounds like plan - Jean looked actually happy, even excited - Thank you very much.