Caves of Judgment
Kevin Gong
The harsh winds of the alien surface whistled through my legs. Reddish flashes of
the fading sun crept past the horizon. I bent down to rest from the wind and the
hike. I brushed bits of rock and dust together with the arms of my spacesuit. The
red sunset concealed their real color, but I could still see a hint of their true green
color.
I stood up and tested the radio again. "Interstellar one, this is interstellar two.
Do you read me?" Static. I tried again "Repeat. Interstellar one, this is interstellar
two. Do you read me?" Still nothing but static. "Bill, you out there?"
I knew I shouldn't worry. The hills hampered the effectiveness of the radios. I'd
reach him after I reached the top, if he could still respond.
I looked back at my shuttle, now covered with reddish-green dust. I turned around
and continued on toward the hills. The force of the planet's strong gravity dragged
my feet over the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
I suddenly realized I hadn't bothered to look at the alien sky. Straining my head
and body back as far as my spine would allow, I looked up. God that was beautiful.
The planet's two moons embraced a fifth of the sky. A reddish tint gave the atmosphere a calm look. Through the scattered dust, the stars lay shining through, waiting
to dominate the sky. I stood there, letting myself be awed by its vastness.
Crackle. My radio came to life, jerking me back into reality.
"Interstellar two, this is interstellar one, do you read me?" a familiar voice droned.
"I read you, Bill, but your signal's a little weak. Where the hell have you been?"
"I've just been exploring."
"Well, you're supposed to. But you were supposed to report back to the shuttle an
hour ago."
"I was going to, but I knew you'd find me. When I reached the top of the hills, I
saw a bunch of caves. That's where I am now. I'm right at the entrance to the first
cave."
"Hold on a sec." I scrambled up to the top of the hill and saw the caves. A wave
of holling hills stretched as far as the eye could see. Directly ahead of me was
a large opening in the hill. Smaller, similar ones spread out to the right of it.
On its left, however, lay the monotonous scenery of hill after hill after hill.
"I see you, Bill" I said, waving toward the small figure in the cave. "What does
it look like in there?"
Static played over the radio silence. "Well...its the same as the outside - barren
and dusty - as far as I can tell, but I can't see that far in. I think I'll go in
a little and take a look."
"Why don't you wait for me to join you? I can get there in about 30 minutes."
Bill didn't like the idea. "Oh, I'm itching to find what's inside. I can start in
slowly. You can catch up to me."
As the sun finally sank beneath the hills, I began to notice the darkness, "I suppose.
But if you find anything, don't go in any further. And keep your radio open. You
got enough charge for your searchlight?"
"Yeah. It'll last at least two hours. Well, see ya in a while." Click. He broke
the connection. I slipped the heavy bag off my shoulders and sat down. I curled
my knees inward, embracing my arms around them.
The chill of the night crept through my light, temperature-resistant suit. The helmet
on my head felt like a ton, but it kept my head warm. It also kept me alive.
Still sitting, I looked at the sky once again. This time, the reddish glow had given
way to a majestic black filled with the bright dots of stars. Somewhere out there,
I thought, was home. I thought back to when we had first left. Bill and I had been
given a farewell party worthy of Gods. They had said, "Don't return until you encounter
alien intelligence or a planet suitable for human life." Well, 5 years and 9 star
systems later we hadn't found a thing. It was fun, though. Bill and I stopped at
every planet just to explore.
A gust of wind rattled the contents of my bag and I knew I should continue.
Refreshed from the rest, I slung the bag over my shoulder and marched on toward the
cave.
As I neared the cave I could hear the effects of the wind blowing past the cave.
It gave me a hollow, empty feeling. Suddenly, as I entered the cave, the sound stopped.
It was if I had entered a different room and closed the door behind me.
I took the hand searchlight out of my bag and switched it on. The cave stretched
upward and upward to the ceiling fifty feet above me. The walls looked rough and
moist. I took off my right glove and touched a wall to check. It was as dry as
the dust outside.
Crackle. I heard the familiar sound of static. "...you read me? Repeat -"
"I hear you, Bill. I just got in the cave."
"Really? Took you long enough, didn't it? What's the matter, stop to buy some souvenirs
for the folks at home?"
He was always saying things like that.
"No, I just ran into an old friend." I always answered with that, but we still both
laughed.
"Seriously, though, Bill, hurry up! This cave is pretty long. I still can't see
the end and I'm probably already about a mile in."
"I'll try. Just slow down, o.k.?"
"O.k. Bye." Click. He always made it a point to get in the last word.
The cave walls closed in deeper into the cave. Soon the ceiling was just inches above
my head. The sound of my footsteps pounded back and forth between the walls. After
about an hour I stopped to rest. Off in the distance I could hear Bill's footsteps. I yelled. "Bill!" The echoes reverberated in and out a dozen times. I could
barely hear his reply. I couldn't make out the words; just sounds. He shouted out
something and then made a scream. I laughed. We were being just like kids, just
the two of us with a cave all to ourselves yelling back and forth.
I started back on the hike through the cave. Just a few hundred yards later I saw
a light shining ahead. I quickened my pace.
All I could hear now was the pounding of my footsteps and the sound of my breathing.
Pound. Ahhh. Pound. Uhhh. Pound. Ahhh. Pound. Pound.
I neared the light. I came to a large cavern in the cave. I lifted my light and
raised it slowly toward the source of the light. The light was lying in a pile of
rocks - no, it was gold! It was a pile of at least 1000 cubic feet of gold! Then
I noticed something lying in front of the pile. It was Bill. His limp form was punctured
with several shiny, metal rods. He was very dead.
I was shocked and scared at the same time. I crumbled to the ground in a heap and
started to cry. I was now so alone and confused. I played it through my mind a
thousand times in one second - I was alone on an alien planet, totally alone, light
years away from Earth. Alone.
After a few minutes of self-pity, sadness, fright, loneliness, and thought, I raised
my face from my hands and looked around. Bill's mutilated body still lay in front
of me. I worked my light around the cavern and saw what looked like writing toward
the left side of the cavern, away from the gold. I took out a food sack and tossed it
over. Nothing happened. I slowly lifted myself and half-walked, half-crawled over
to the wall. I took out a camera and took snapshots of the entire writings.
Placing the camera back in the bag, I walked back to the cavern entrance. I turned
around and took one last look. The writings were out of view. Only the gold could
be seen. I didn't look at Bill again. I turned around and headed back towards the
cave entrance.
Back on the ship orbiting the planet, I immediately started a computer search for
planet life. I was exhausted, but there was no way I could sleep.
I waited for the computer to search the entire cave and its surroundings. Nothing.
We had never used the computer to search for life. It took the fun out of exploring.
The computer said emphatically, though, 0.00000 % chance of life.
Suddenly I remembered the pictures. I went back to the bag, took out the camera,
dusted off my hands, and took out the film. I fed the cartridge into the computer
and had it process the images.
"Universal translator...working." it displayed on its huge screen. It started to
translate:
IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE, THEN WE JUDGE YOU TO BE POSSIBLY CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING
GALACTIC RELATIONS. WE ARE ON OF THE FIRST INTELLIGENT BEINGS IN THE GALAXY. WE
DID NOT ORIGINATE ON THIS PLANET. THIS IS SIMPLY A MARKER, ONE OF MANY PLACED ON
EVERY HUNDRETH PLANET. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE, THEN YOU MUST HAVE THE DESIRE
TO SEARCH AND A LACK OF GREED FOR ONE OF THE RAREST METALS IN THE UNIVERSE. YOU
MAY BE WORTHY OF JOINING WITH OTHER RACES. FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE 371 STELLAR
SYSTEMS IN YOUR GALAXY WITH INTELLIGENT LIFE...
This is great, I said to myself, half-mockingly. In my mind I knew it was great for
the human race. In my heart, though, I knew I would never really be happy again.
Space travel would never be the same again for me. I had lost something. I had
left my desire to explore, to search, to wonder, back there...in the caves of judgment...
Copyright 1987 by Kevin Gong. Unauthorized duplication,
posting, or publication is strictly prohibited.
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