Silas Theroux’s ship entered orbit around an alien world located on the outer rim of the Milky Way. It had been a long journey to get to this sector of space, but the prospect of finding new xenotech was too good to pass up.

“Hold on, everyone,” he told his crew. Silas dipped his ship through the planet’s atmosphere and they began their descent. Crimson clouds whipped past the windshield. The hull began to rattle as gravity drew the small ship downward. Silas’ wife Jenna sat to his left, clutching a safety harness as her chair rumbled beneath her. Their navigator Maddie Prasad frantically flipped on the stabilizing rockets. After several moments of bone-jarring turbulence, the cruiser leveled off onto a northbound jet stream.

“We’re in the clear,” Ty Yamamoto said through the comms. “Although you’re going to want to set her down real soon, captain. Starting to feel like a sauna in this engine room.”

“Almost there, Ty. I promise to take things easier here on out.”

They skimmed through the air for an hour until they reached their designated coordinates. Maddie was the first one to spot the three stone spires poking out above the horizon.

“Woah. Those things are massive,” she said with her mouth agape.

The spires were in the shape of gigantic helixes, rising several hundred feet into the air. They were much too tall to have occurred naturally. Some advanced alien race must have placed them there. That meant there was a good chance xenotech would be nearby and this trip was worthwhile. Silas grinned to himself as he guided his cruiser toward the spires.

Once they landed, Silas was the first one to exit from the ship’s hatch. Jenna stumbled along behind him.

“Was it necessary to fly so fast?” Jenna asked him as they disembarked. “It’s not like this tomb is going anywhere.” She set her hand against the side of the cruiser, attempting to stave off nausea. Silas’ wife could barely handle impulse speed.

“We don’t know how many people that drunk frigate driver talked to before us. It’s only a matter of time before the story leaks out to the rest of the xenoarchaeology community. I want to get ahold of whatever lies within that tomb before somebody else beats us to the punch.”

“I think we might already be too late for that, boss.” Ty pointed to a ship off in the distance. It was a Durado twinjet with a flaming skull emblem painted on its mast.

“Damn that Rigsby,” Silas seethed.

He felt his temples flush red at the thought of Arcturo Rigsby beating him to this discovery. They’d been friends once, but those days were long gone.

“This doesn’t have to get ugly, sweetheart. You can just go over there and agree to work together on this dig.”

That was one way to resolve the situation, but Silas doubted that Rigsby would be open to it. He’d want the glory all to himself. Bringing back advanced alien technology to Earth was incredibly prestigious and there was no way his rival would want to share in the credit.

“I’d love to bury the hatchet with Rigsby, but you know how he is.”

“Just try, for me.” Jenna gave him her patented doe-eyed stare. He acquiesced to her with a sigh.

“Alright. In the meantime, why don’t you help the crew set up base camp?” Jenna nodded before heading off with their engineer.

Silas walked toward Rigsby’s ship on the opposite side of the three helix spires. The frigate driver told him the entrance to the underground tomb was located between the monoliths. Sure enough, that’s where Silas found a circular metal panel embedded into the ground. It remained sealed, so he was sure Rigsby hadn’t been inside of it yet. Maybe there was hope of cooperating afterall.

“Didn’t think a second-rate navigator like you would be able to find this world.” The voice sounded like crushed gravel across Silas’ ear drums.

“I didn’t come here for a pissing contest, Rigsby.”

“Good, because you’d lose.”

The hostility between them was palpable, but he refused to stoop down to his rival’s level. Working together simply made more sense than competing. As much as he hated speaking to Rigsby, he’d made a promise to Jenna. He swallowed his pride and attempted to extend an olive branch.

“I assume that frigate driver told you the same story he told me. Instead of us both racing into that tomb to find whatever’s inside, maybe we could pool our resources.”

“Not in the business of giving away my trade secrets. Especially to a backstabbing hack like yourself.”

His animosity stemmed from something deeper. Silas didn’t want to drudge up the past, but Rigsby’s mocking tone had a way of pushing his buttons.

“Jenna was never interested in you. Why can’t you just let her go?”

“I’m completely over her. If she wants a lying sack of shit, then she married the right guy. That doesn’t change the fact that you went behind my back to land the Scion moon dig.”

“They chose me. It’s not my fault they passed over your application.”

“I’m sure you had nothing to do with it. The same way I had nothing to do with your little shakedown on Theta-Nine.”

Local authorities had apprehended Silas during his previous dig, citing a load of bureaucratic bullshit as to why he couldn’t take his xenotech off world. Silas had paid exorbitant fines and still wound up having months of research confiscated. He always suspected Rigsby was involved somehow.

“You’re pathetic. How could you sabotage my project like that? The xenotech I found there could have revolutionized medicine for all of mankind.”

“I’d rather die a few years younger than hear people praise you for your discovery.”

Silas shook his head in disgust. There was no reasoning with Rigsby because he had all the maturity of a child. Mending this friendship was pointless, so Silas headed back to his ship in a silent rage. If Rigsby wanted to learn who was the better excavator, he was in for a harsh lesson.

Jenna and the crew were nearly done unloading all of the gear when Silas returned to the ship.

“What did he say?” Jenna asked.

Silas was too furious to respond. It angered him just thinking about how he’d once considered Rigsby a friend. Scoring the treasure in this tomb before him would be sweet justice.

“Don’t let him get to you, Silas. You need to be the bigger man.”

“Have the crew suit up and ready to crack that tomb in an hour. No way I’m letting him beat us inside.”

***

Silas dropped down through the metal hatch and landed with a thud. He turned on his IonTorch and found himself in a cavernous room with smooth, curved walls all around him. It was dome-shaped with several triangular tunnels feeding into it and the entrance hatch at the top. Most of the walls were covered in glyphs and markings; alien languages that he couldn’t comprehend.

His heart raced as he tried to take it all in. This place was ancient. Easily several millennia old by his guess. His scanner readings were off the charts, a sign that carbon dating couldn’t accurately measure the tomb’s age. Silas’ skin tingled with excitement. If this place were truly that old, this would be the discovery of a lifetime. He was seeing things that no other human had ever laid eyes on. A shiver went down his spine as he moved closer to the dome’s black walls. They seemed to be made of a material that resembled obsidian.

“Wow. Wasn’t expecting this,” Ty said as he slid down a rope to join Silas. Light from his IonTorch bounced off the walls, refracting a spectrum of colors throughout the space.

“Whatever alien race built this place must have been extremely advanced. The material they used to construct this tomb has remained intact for tens of thousands of years.”

Jenna dropped down into the tomb next, followed by Maddie.

“These pictographs on the wall are fascinating,” Jenna said. “They appear to have been inscribed when this place was built, judging by how they’re carved over the tunnels’ entrances. But then these other inscriptions were added on later. Some of them look like they were scrawled on with sharp objects.”

“So you’re saying there were other explorers here before us? That doesn’t make sense.

That metal hatch was sealed tight.”

“And I thank you for opening it,” Rigsby said, dropping down into the cavernous room with his crew. “Saved me the trouble. I can’t imagine how much fuel you used to break through.”

“That’s why you’ll never amount to anything, Rigsby. You’re not willing to get your hands dirty.”

“I prefer working smarter, not harder.” Rigsby turned his attention to Jenna and smiled. “A pleasure to see you again, Miss Jenna.”

“Hello Arcturo,” she replied, dryly. “This is a huge tomb. My scanners show tunnels going deep down into the planet’s core. We might be spending months exploring this place independently, so why not just work together?”

“If it were just you, I’d happily join forces. But I’d rather die than share in this discovery with your husband.”

“You’re an idiot, Rigsby,” Silas said.

“And you’ll be a footnote in the history books when they write about the things I find here.” He motioned over to his five other crew members and they left through the closest tunnel.

“We need to get down there too,” Silas said. “We can’t allow that asshole to get a head start on us.”

“Wait a second. I think I know what this is.” Jenna pointed to a section of the wall where thousands of diamond-shaped markings were inscribed. She pulled out her tablet and a holographic overlay projected across it. “This is a star map. Based on the placement of these astral bodies, whoever built this place was signifying a specific date… roughly thirty-five thousand years from now.”

“What happens then?” Maddie asked.

“Maybe that’s when the tomb’s descendents return to this world,” Ty suggested.

“We can worry about that later. Right now, we have xenotech to find. You’re with me, Ty. You two ladies can head down that tunnel on the far left.”

“I think we should work on the translation of this,” Jenna said. “It might help us figure out where things are located inside of this tomb. I think this one might be the base language for ancient Toblak. I’d have to run it through my Rosetta analyzer to be sure.”

“Alright, you and Maddie can work on that. We’ll radio you if we find anything.”

Silas strapped his pack tight against his back and headed deep into the unknown with Ty.

***

The triangular tunnel rose high above Silas’ head. The original inhabitants could have been as tall as elephants based on the height of the sloping ceilings. The more pressing question was why they had chosen to abandon such an elaborately built structure. Perhaps he would find the answers at the planet’s core. Maybe his scanners were wrong and the inhabitants were still here, carving out their existence deep underground.

The walkway sloped downward, snaking its way deeper and deeper below the surface. The tunnel walls were made of the same black obsidian as the dome where they had entered, but didn’t have any glyphs or symbols on them. It all began to look the same after a while and Silas was getting impatient.

“How about we use our gravboots and speed things up a little?”

“You’re the xenoarchaeologist. I thought you’d want to study these tunnels more carefully,” Ty said.

“We didn’t fly across the galaxy to look at tunnels. There’s something down there and I’m anxious to find out what it is.”

Silas and Ty activated their gravboots and rose several centimeters off the ground. They then glided through the tunnel like skaters on ice. Silas’ heart was racing as they blazed deeper into the tomb.

“What’s that?” Silas said, pointing up ahead.

“Dead end.”

They came to a stop in front of a blockade that seemed to be made of some sort of plaster. It definitely wasn’t the same black obsidian as the hallway. Jagged shapes were drawn across the face of the barrier.

“It looks like this was constructed much more recently. It’s not as smooth and polished. Definitely not the handiwork of the original builders.”

“You think looters put this here?”

“I don’t know why they would, but clearly they were trying to tell us something.”

Silas squinted at the jagged shapes scrawled into the plaster wall. It was odd that a tomb raider would go to the trouble of constructing it so far into the tunnel. There was only one reason he could think of as to why it was here.

“Maybe they found something down there, but didn’t have the resources to get it out. It might have been too large or heavy for them to move. This was their method of preventing other thieves from getting to it.”

Ty snapped a photo of the plaster wall as Silas pulled out his spectral drill.

“Shouldn’t we show this to Jenna first? She might be able to translate it.”

Silas shook his head. “No time for that. We keep going or risk Rigsby getting down there first.”

The two men used their handheld drills to slowly chip away at the wall. It was extremely dense and difficult to carve. Hours passed before they were able to break through.

“Finally,” Ty said as he slumped down next to the opening they had created.

The two men peaked through to the other side and saw the tunnel went much further down without  any end in sight. Worst of all, it smelled like rancid meat. Ty’s face soured as the smell hit his nostrils.

“Let’s go,” Silas insisted.

“I know you really want to one up Rigsby, but you’re going to burn yourself out at this pace. We haven’t eaten in hours and I’m exhausted from all that drilling.”

“Just a little further. We’re close. I can feel it.”

Silas hopped through to the other side. Ty followed after him. The stench was thick and their eyes began to water. They immediately found a meter-long object resting against the plaster wall. It was smooth and in the shape of a helix.

“What is that?”

“I’m not sure, but it looks just like those three monoliths surrounding the entrance of this tomb. It might be xenotech.” Silas examined it closely and tried to figure out how to activate the unusual device. There was no power switch. No levers to flip. It didn’t resemble anything he’d ever seen before.

“You might have better luck with your tools at base camp. Why don’t we head back now?” Ty asked while trying to block the rancid smell from his nostrils.

As much as Silas wanted to press forward, the awful stench made it difficult.

“Alright, we’ll come back early tomorrow morning.”

“Preferably with some breathing masks,” Ty said before heading back up to the surface.

***

That night on the ship, Silas shared his findings with Jenna and Maddie. Their tests showed that the meter-long helix was some sort of organic material from an unknown alien species. An interesting discovery, but not the xenotech he’d hoped for.

They then showed Silas what they’d been working on. They had pictures of every glyph and pictograph in the dome. Their Rosetta analyzer finished processing the data, but the results weren’t very promising.

“‘Cursed’. That’s all I was able to translate,” Jenna said.

“You checked all of those other random scrawlings on the wall too?”

“Yeah, but they aren’t from any languages in the database. That one on the bottom right was the only one we were able to decipher and we had to use modified ancient Tudek to figure that one out.”

“It did feel really strange down there,” Ty said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this place were cursed.”

“There is no curse. Probably just some superstitious mumbo jumbo to scare off looters.”

“Then why’s it written down so many times in so many different languages?” Ty asked.

“We aren’t sure what those other messages say. For all we know, Jenna could have gotten the translation wrong. Modified ancient Tudek isn’t the easiest language to decipher.”

“It’s entirely possible that I’m mistranslating the message, but I still don’t think we should go further until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“No. We can’t let this slow us down,” Silas said. “You’re being far too cautious, Jenna.”

“Maybe she has a point. There’s a reason this place was sealed off,” Ty said.

“I have a hypothesis,” Maddie said as she pulled up a hologram of the local star system.

“You figured out what the star map was for?”

“Like Jenna said earlier, it corresponds to a specific date when those planets and stars are in that particular position. I was able to pinpoint it to 34,690 years from now. My best guess is that it’s the reason why this underground structure was built. They figured out when their nearest star would be going supernova and constructed this place to protect themselves from it.”

“So you don’t think it’s a tomb at all?”

“No, I think it was a supernova fallout shelter.”

“All the more reason to think that there’s xenotech down there for the taking. If this was to be their underground home after such a cataclysmic event, then they’d fill it with all their necessities. Methods for energy production, medicine, and food. The combined knowledge of an entire alien race might be waiting for us in those tunnels.”

Silas’ impassioned speech was enough to get the other crew members on board with his plan. Even Jenna reluctantly agreed to keep venturing further. They settled down for the night, eager to learn what secrets they’d discover the following day.

***

The next morning, Silas woke up ill. He was stiff and his skin felt like it was on fire. He pushed himself up into a sitting position but that only intensified the pain. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he went into a violent coughing fit.

“What’s wrong, Silas?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t know. My whole body aches.”

“You’re sick. There must have been something that infected you while you were down there yesterday. I’m going to check on Ty.”

Silas writhed in pain as his wife left their cabin. He couldn’t get sick at a time like this. He had to beat Rigsby to that xenotech. If he could slip himself into an augmented power suit and inject himself with enough morphine, he’d still be able to explore the tunnels today.

“He’s sick too,” Jenna said. “You two were definitely exposed to something down there.”

“We can’t let this stop us. Inject me with some painkillers.”

“You’re in no condition to explore the tunnels. Just lie down and let me take care of you.” Jenna set him against a pillow and put the back of her hand to his forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“We have to go.”

“I’m going to get some medical supplies. Don’t move.”

Jenna left Silas alone in the room. All he could do was think about the lost civilization that had once been here. They had grown and flourished into a race capable of astounding accomplishments. If Maddie’s hypothesis proved true, they had built this structure to withstand a supernova. What other amazing feats had they achieved? His imagination ran wild with possibilities. He simply needed to get off this bed and into those tunnels.

Silas pushed his body to the edge of the mattress and sat up. Streams of blood came pouring from his nostrils. This illness was more serious than he’d originally thought. He wiped the blood away with a tissue and lay back down. Jenna would be back soon with medicine. He would try again once she returned. He checked his watch and began to wonder what was keeping her. It was taking her far longer it should have.

“Rigsby is sick too.” Silas turned to find his wife in the doorway.

“How sick?”

“A whole lot worse for wear than you are. His whole crew is infected with whatever ancient disease was buried underground.”

Silas’ prayers were answered. If he was to be bound to his bed all day, at least his rival would be doing the same. The hunt for xenotech would be put on pause.

“The bad news is that they don’t have an automated med kit either. I’m not sure what we should do, Silas.”

“There was a shipping lane that we passed on our way to this planet. There’s bound to be medical supplies on those long range shipments.”

“I can take the cruiser and head over there,” Maddie said. “ It shouldn’t take me more than two days to fly there and back.”

“Let me come with you,” Silas urged.

“You’re too weak to go anywhere,” Jenna said.

“She’s right. To break through the atmosphere, I’m going to have to push the archon engines pretty hard. In your weakened state, you won’t be able to handle the extra g’s.”

“Let her go, Silas. We’ll stay here,” Jenna said. “It’s the best way to get that medicine quickly.”

Silas relented to his wife’s pleas and allowed Maddie to take the ship. A couple days of rest would do him good, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. They set up cots at their base camp and moved Ty and Silas into the tent. Silas could hear his ship rocket away as he closed his eyes, drifting into a deep slumber.

When he awoke, he stumbled out of the tent to the fire that Jenna had set up next to camp. She was reviewing photos on her tablet.

“What are you doing, Jenna?”

“I’m trying to translate these glyphs. They might tell us what’s making you and Ty sick.”

Silas suddenly remembered, “Ty took a picture.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He took a picture of a dense plaster barricade that we had to break through while we were down there. It had an inscription on it. Maybe you could translate that.”

“You’re just telling me about this now?”

“I’m sorry, honey. I just remembered.”

Jenna obtained Ty’s data file from his suit and pulled up the image. She then fed it to her Rosetta analyzer. No results.

“It was worth a shot,” Silas shrugged.

“Wait. Let me try cleaning it up. You said this plaster wall was really dense, right?”

“Took Ty and I almost ten hours to get through it.”

“So maybe whomever carved into this plaster had trouble doing so. It may have affected the penmanship.” Jenna drew out the symbols with curves and arches where there were points and boxes. Then she ran it through the Rosetta analyzer again.

There was a match.

Silas’ chest tightened as he read the translation:

 

Do not continue further in your quest.

There is no treasure in the heart of this planet.

There is only death.

The contagious fire burns life from within,

And spreads to all who come near.

This underground temple can contain the contagious fire,

But only if it is left undisturbed till the eighth star passes

Turn back now or unleash death on all.

They turned to one another, stunned by the revelation. Jenna sniffled and went to wipe her nose. When she did, Silas noticed the blood on her tissue. They both knew what it meant. Silas looked up at the three helix monoliths and then over to the identical organic sample he’d found behind the plaster wall.

Bones.

The monoliths must have been a warning. They were an alien symbol for death.

“We have to seal this place up again. Seal it up so that nobody else makes the same mistake we did. We can contain this.”

“Absolutely. Then we can inscribe our own warning for anybody that arrives after us.”

A communication chime interrupted their frantic planning session. It was Maddie. They had to warn her. Jenna answered the call and her face appeared on the tablet.

“You can’t come back here, Maddie,” Jenna said.

“But I obtained a med kit from a frigate driver,” she said with a sniffle.

Silas and Jenna watched in horror as blood dripped from their navigator’s nose.

“Did the driver tell you where he was going?” Silas asked.

They watched their navigator wipe the blood from her nose as she nodded.

“Yeah, he told me he was headed back to Earth.”

Silas heart sank. Fear and regret washed over him as he realized the full ramifications of what he’d done. His rivalry with Rigsby had pushed him to make some impetuous decisions and now this contagious fire was out in the universe.

Humankind might be wiped from existence because of his mistake. Silas couldn’t shake the guilt. He should have known better. After all, the writing was on the wall.