Subj: [ffml] [MW] Scratching the Surface
Date: 99-11-29 01:57:03 EST
From: magus@cyberverse.com (Daniel Polcari)
Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com
To: ffml@onelist.com
How annoyingly full of rocks the soil of this world is! E'ris could not make a single
strike with his shovel without hearing the distinctive twang which meant he had struck
yet another piece of Labradorite Feldspar. Were he a rock shop owner, this would not be
so bad.. But he was now an archaeologist. He was not even sure why he had chosen to
begin digging here... Tyrmagest had indicated enormous magnetic responses in several
other areas before. These responses meant that there was Iron in large quantities below...
This, however, was easily the smallest such site he'd ever encountered. Again and again
clods of dirt passed over his shoulder as, with the Armor's aid, he quite easily chewed
away at the dirt and loose rocks.
Not enough progress for the time I'm spending.. Too difficult.. Not close enough. He
was getting nowhere. As if struck from above with the idea stick, he threw down his
shovel and began to walk around, shifting the loose topsoil with his boot. Before
the sun began to set, he found what he was looking for. A dull, hollow-sounding thud
accompanying a metal crash.
An access hatch.. It could have been an emergency exit to some long-lost facility,
a ventilation shaft, or any other manner of crawlway. He tried for several minutes to
find an opening, but it was clear that due to aeons of disuse, the hatch had rusted
shut far beyond repair. No wonder nobody had come across it before. The hatch was set
in a 3-foot square steel panel whose edge was lined with rock to prevent the topsoil
around it from washing away in heavy rains. Upon closer inspection, he found that
gossamer-thin wires wrought from some corrosion-proof metal had been lain in a network
in the surrounding soil like taproots of some long-dead tree which simply refuse to
become part of the mulch. These no doubt held the dirt in its place. How far their
coverage spread was a fact he did not care about enough to research. Concentrating
for a moment, his right leg began to hum with a pale green aura. He delivered a kick
to the hinge side of the thick, rusted panel with frightening speed. Several motes
of light danced off the panel following a thunderous cracking sound, and it was
airborne. He did not look to see where it landed, but rather leapt into the small
hole without even a look inside.
His feet met, several seconds later, with ancient iron grille flooring which
proceeded immediately to give way due to its extended degree of decay. After
landing painfully on his left hip, this time on sturdier steel diamond-plate,
he stopped to look around. It was little more than a scaffolding of stairs set in
a cavern carved out of the ground which, after 20 feet or so, became solid limestone.
He could not see the shaft's bottom. Due to the terrible condition of the metal, he
decided against trying the stairs and risking another fall. Almost by intuition, off to
the shaft's side he spotted what appeared to be a bundle of the wires he saw running
through the soil above. Perhaps they had some function beyond holding the ground.
Whatever their intended function, the fact that they ran down along the wall in
a rather thick bunch meant that their new function would be rappelling rope. If
they'd survived the elements for this long, no doubt they'd hold him up well
enough to permit his descent. And so he began...
It would be an hour or so before he reached what could be reasonably called the
bottom of the shaft. The dot of light which the shaft had let in became too distant
to see halfway through his descent, so he could not say whether the shaft continued
on down, but the cable had come to an end and his feet were touching metal, but it
was thick metal.. not a scaffolding. He clenched his fist and from within a pulsating
green light emerged, coating the fueling post, the Hydrogen Tanks, and the lone ICBM
which sat solemnly upon its concrete blast pad, it's stainless steel sides showing
him his reflection.
+----------------------+
| Daniel Steven Polcari|
| magus@cyberverse.com |
| Nemesis^ on IRC |
+----------------------+
--------------------
How annoyingly full of rocks the soil of this world is! E'ris
could not make a single
strike with his shovel without hearing the distinctive twang
which meant he had struck
yet another piece of Labradorite Feldspar. Were he a rock shop
owner, this would not be
so bad.. But he was now an archaeologist. He was not even sure
why he had chosen to
begin digging here... Tyrmagest had indicated enormous
magnetic responses in several
other areas before. These responses meant that there was Iron
in large quantities below...
This, however, was easily the smallest such site he'd ever
encountered. Again and again
clods of dirt passed over his shoulder as, with the Armor's
aid, he quite easily chewed
away at the dirt and loose rocks.
Not enough progress for the time I'm spending.. Too
difficult.. Not close enough. He
was getting nowhere. As if struck from above with the idea
stick, he threw down his
shovel and began to walk around, shifting the loose topsoil
with his boot. Before
the sun began to set, he found what he was looking for. A
dull, hollow-sounding thud
accompanying a metal crash.
An access hatch.. It could have been an emergency exit to some
long-lost facility,
a ventilation shaft, or any other manner of crawlway. He tried
for several minutes to
find an opening, but it was clear that due to aeons of disuse,
the hatch had rusted
shut far beyond repair. No wonder nobody had come across it
before. The hatch was set
in a 3-foot square steel panel whose edge was lined with rock
to prevent the topsoil
around it from washing away in heavy rains. Upon closer
inspection, he found that
gossamer-thin wires wrought from some corrosion-proof metal
had been lain in a network
in the surrounding soil like taproots of some long-dead tree
which simply refuse to
become part of the mulch. These no doubt held the dirt in its
place. How far their
coverage spread was a fact he did not care about enough to
research. Concentrating
for a moment, his right leg began to hum with a pale green
aura. He delivered a kick
to the hinge side of the thick, rusted panel with frightening
speed. Several motes
of light danced off the panel following a thunderous cracking
sound, and it was
airborne. He did not look to see where it landed, but rather
leapt into the small
hole without even a look inside.
His feet met, several seconds later, with ancient iron grille
flooring which
proceeded immediately to give way due to its extended degree
of decay. After
landing painfully on his left hip, this time on sturdier steel
diamond-plate,
he stopped to look around. It was little more than a
scaffolding of stairs set in
a cavern carved out of the ground which, after 20 feet or so,
became solid limestone.
He could not see the shaft's bottom. Due to the terrible
condition of the metal, he
decided against trying the stairs and risking another fall.
Almost by intuition, off to
the shaft's side he spotted what appeared to be a bundle of
the wires he saw running
through the soil above. Perhaps they had some function beyond
holding the ground.
Whatever their intended function, the fact that they ran down
along the wall in
a rather thick bunch meant that their new function would be
rappelling rope. If
they'd survived the elements for this long, no doubt they'd
hold him up well
enough to permit his descent. And so he began...
It would be an hour or so before he reached what could be
reasonably called the
bottom of the shaft. The dot of light which the shaft had let
in became too distant
to see halfway through his descent, so he could not say
whether the shaft continued
on down, but the cable had come to an end and his feet were
touching metal, but it
was thick metal.. not a scaffolding. He clenched his fist and
from within a pulsating
green light emerged, coating the fueling post, the Hydrogen
Tanks, and the lone ICBM
which sat solemnly upon its concrete blast pad, it's stainless
steel sides showing
him his reflection.
+----------------------+
| Daniel Steven Polcari|
|
magus@cyberverse.com |
|
Nemesis^ on IRC
|
+----------------------+