A Cold Stopover

 

The lights of Sanctuary were beautiful. Karis thought about the haul they'd just finished, the long time away. They were home now, or the nearest thing to home they had. He wondered if his bot had missed him. Jenna came up and and embraced him, flirty as always. It was her nature. 

Sanctuary was immense, a testament to man's prowess, bigger than some worlds. A space station, the largest built, a place some residents never left. The Radiance- his ship- was impressive, but it was dwarfed in size by the space station. He could go anywhere, but he always returned here. 

He thought about the haul they'd just completed as he waited for permission to dock. 

Arcangel was cold. The blue and white planet looked cold from orbit and the reality on the ground was, if anything, worse. They were here on a hastily assembled mission to drop some personnel and supplies. Arcangel was a nothing planet- or had been, until a Gate had been discovered. And more than that. They'd found a base of the Ancients, also... abandoned, machines still running, as always. So now Paxus had assembled a base here. Huge, ready to exploit whatever secrets they could glean from the Ancients. 

It wasn't uncommon to find a Gate... well, it was, but it was even rarer to find an Ancients ruin. Apparently this one ran for miles under the ice. That wasn't common knowledge, but he heard things. Even odder was the rumor that they'd found... something else. Some thing that denoted that others had been here. Another race? Starfaring people that they hadn't encountered? Rumors were flying. 

The place was immense- huge, circular, with multiple levels, concentric domes built one atop the other. It was impressive, flying in- they had swooped down from a frigid sky, setting down in a cold docking bay, a circular opening in the blue and white structure. There were regional governors' bases smaller than this. 

Offloading took a while, and he had time to see the place. Jenna came with him, he had people to handle the offloading. This base was restricted, many didn't even know it existed- Gates were a need to know proposition, and most didn't need to know. Everything was top quality. They had lunch in an atrium- three levels, with flowering plants and fountains, rock gardens. Outside, through tinted windows, he could see a herd of something- they almost looked like mammoths- trekking up a slope. Mountains rose in the far distance, and somewhere out there was a Gate. 

"It's amazing, isn't it? asked Jenna. He realized he'd been silent for a while. 

"Yes," he replied. "To think that none of this would be here without the chance discovery of a Gate." He realized he should keep his voice low. "Or an Ancient ruin. Although scuttlebutt is it isn't so ruined."

"Ooh, really? What's the scoop?"

"Well, I hear that they found evidence of others. Somebody's been here already... and not the originals. Vanguard Corporation has been building this for how many years... most don't know."

"So cold here," Jenna replied, "but if you're going to be here at least they have the amenities."

Later they were walking the outer ring, a long corridor that circled the complex. To their right were windows looking out upon the frigid landscape, although they were far up- on the other side were offices or whatever- sometimes labs. Everyone here was businesslike. They did find, up a long escalator, a waterpark and other facilites for recreation. The tropical ambience was a shock after the cold and clinical feel of the rest of the complex. They were able to enjoy a holo theater as well. 

They were there less than twenty four hours. Secrecy was high- they even had to doctor their logs to delete mention of Arcangel. 

Need to know. 

As they blasted out of orbit Jenna grinned wistfully. 

"One down. How amny to go?"

He smiled.