Under the Surface
By Ewan
Murdoch
Edition 2005-01-16
“For to seek truth away from GOD, is to seek madness
and eternal Damnation!”
Reverend Cardov was giving one of his fiercest sermons that Anton had heard in a while.
“For those
that fall mentally ill are spared the wrath of God, Giver of Life, but for
those who SEEK OUT Madness, there is no Salvation!”
Cardov’s voice thundered like the
Was it an omen
that the Reverend would choose this particular topic for his sermon today, when
Anton had chosen to show up to a mass for the first time in three weeks? Could
the Inquisition know? Surely it was a coincidence, but Anton was uneasy. And the sermon was taking too long. Maybe that was what was making Anton
uneasy. If the sermon didn’t end soon,
then he would be late for his meeting with Professor Rutland. And
The professor had sounded nervous. That alone had almost made Anton cancel his planned attendance of today mass, but it had been burning in his conscious for the past week and if he put it off any further, then he probably would go mad.
He would have to leave early. It was taking too long. He looked around him, trying to see the nearest exit from the Cathedral. He was surrounded by people, all enthralled by the words of the Reverend. They were all staring up at the balcony at the head of the Cathedral, from which Reverend Cardov’s voice carried clearly and menacingly all the way to the back of the huge cathedral. The acoustics of the chamber were impressive, though it helped that not one of the eight thousand worshipers made a sound.
Anton stood on his toes to see above the mass and was only able to make out one exit which he had any reasonable chance of being able to get too. He began to make his way slowly through the crowd, trying not to draw attention to himself. He didn’t need to try hard, since no one paid him any attention. However that had the disadvantage of hindering his progress through the mass.
“For to deny Dogma, is to invite evil into your soul, to invite the torturer into your soul to share your thoughts for the rest of time!”
Anton stopped in his tracks. Could the Reverend have meant those words for him? He turned to look towards the Reverend, who was far off above the crowd, his voice dominating the cathedral. Anton could tell the Reverend wasn’t looking at him. He thought of what his son Caleb had told him, that the Reverends voice was amplified and processed in order to sound powerful and authorative. Could that be true? Anton turned and continued his path to the nearest exit, careful not to attract anyone’s attention. He would attend tomorrow’s mass instead. He was already late.
Anton could make out a Church Templar who was posted by the exit as he got closer. He ground his teeth, damning his bad luck. But there was no other exit which he would easily be able to reach now. He had no choice but to pass the Templar. He gently withdrew his pocket Dogma handbook from his cloak, partly for the view of the Templar and partly to comfort his own nervousness. He felt reassured with the book in his hand and he held it to his chest as he pressed on through the mass towards the exit.
Anton praised
himself for leaving early before the end of the mass. It would have taken him a quarter of an hour
just to leave the Cathedral had he waited till the end of the sermon when
everyone would have been leaving at the same time. The Templar at the door gave him what seemed
like a suspicious look for leaving early, and Anton nervously quickened his
stride out into the well-lit corridors of the city of
Once in the light of the city, Anton was able to compose himself as he made his way to the transport tube. The light was what had brought Anton and his son to Tharus. Tharus had more electric power than any other city, partly thanks to Professor Rutland. He had figured out a way to divert the Artery River close to the molten magma of God, thereby making possible the huge fringe power stations that provided power to a quarter of the cities on this side of God. It was the transfer of heat from the molten rock core around God to the freezing cold rivers that laced through the rock that provided energy for the cities of Humanity.
Tharus was a
It had come as a shock to Anton when he was a young boy to find out that water from the surrounding rock, that had never felt the warmth of God, could be harnessed for the good of people. The water flowed through the rock and some rivers strayed close to the warmth of God, the thin layer of rock above the magma which surrounded God, where people lived. The temperature difference between the hot magma and the cold river drove the huge power generators that powered most of civilization. Once the heat had been transferred to the water, the water flowed back out and returned to the dark cold universe of rock from which it came.
In fact, the rivers were required for more than just power. Without the rivers to transport mined rock away from the cities, it wouldn’t be possible to dig new tunnels and excavate space for the cities. And it was from the cold waters that air was extracted. And without air, there would be no people. The cities air was continuously recycled, but it was from the rivers that it originally came. Dark and cold though they were, the rivers were a gift from God to people.
It was this relationship that had turned Anton to geology as a child, for few people other than the holy could be of as much benefit to people as a geologist. For it was the geologists that found new places amongst the rock of the universe in which people could live. It was a difficult job finding parts of the universe that had a river nearby, yet still be close enough to God to avoid madness amongst the population. If you were lucky, you may find a cavity in the universe. An area that was already empty and didn’t need excavating. Most of the major cities had started out as natural cavities. These were also a gift from God, waiting to be found. And those who found them, were revered.
The shops in the
Cathedral square were opening as he walked past, preparing for the days
commerce. Some people were already
about, though the streets wouldn’t get busy until after the daily Cathedral
mass. The lights from the cavern roof
beamed into the square which was located at the end of the two kilometer wide
cavern that was central Tharus. The
cavern itself was slightly spherical with the
Anton didn’t break his stride as he crossed the square to the transport tube. Tharus had been built early on with transport tubes in mind, so one never had to walk far in the city. Anton would only have a short walk from the transport tube near Professor Rutland abode to the actual abode. Anton hoped he would not have to wait long for a tube.
Professor Rutland was a great geologist, who had found three cavities, and several rivers. Some of these cavities were beginning to be populated. Future generations would praise his name. And Anton was on his way to meet him. It would be an honor. But he was late. And he was nervous. For Professor Rutland had definitely sounded nervous when he had spoken to him on his telephone, asking Anton to meet him.
The professor had wanted to discuss the results from the new gravitometer that Anton and his student Marcus had built. Anton was proud of the new gravitometer which both he and Marcus had been busy putting together for the past six months, but had been upset that it wasn’t yet working properly. Professor Rutland had taken an interest in the project when Anton had first told him about it three months ago. The new gravitometer should be an order of magnitude more sensitive than the current gravitometers and would be a major breakthrough for geology, but it still had some teething problems that needed to be solved.
He had kept the project more or less secret from the rest of the geology society since he hadn’t been sure whether his theories on gravitometrics would be correct. So he had set out to make a new gravitometer to test his theories. If his theories were correct then it would be a big step forward in gravitometric physics. But they would be controversial and most likely not go down well with the academic society.
Anton had already tested the how the academic society would receive his ideas with a paper that he had published some years ago, which had laid down the foundations for his new theories. The response he had received from the scientific community had not been encouraging and he had been ridiculed by much of the geological society. Professor Rutland had been one of the people who had found the work interesting, if incomplete. Anton had vowed not to make the same mistake again. Next time he presented his theory he would have data to back it up. And the new gravitometer would do just that.
Anton stepped into the transport tube and sat down in the closest seat. He fished his phone out of his coat and held it to his mouth:
“Roger Rutland,” he said in a quite voice. The telephone AI connected him to the professor’s phone.
“Roger Rutland’s phone is engaged,” replied the pleasant automated voice at the end of the line.
“Take a message. Tell him I’m late and will be there in about ten minutes.”
“Message understood and forwarded,” came the instantaneous reply.
“Thank you. That will be all”. Anton put his phone back in his pocket and continued his trail of thought, waiting for his stop. Anton began to think of what he would say to Professor Rutland about the test results he had sent to the professor. Professor Rutland was the only person so far to have seen the test results other than Anton and Marcus.
Upon putting in the last screws in the new instrument, Anton had left the device on overnight, in the lab, to test its accuracy by seeing how well it would be able to detect the cavities of Tharus city, which surrounded the lab. This was a good test, since the cavities in which the city was built were very well mapped. When he had returned to the lab the next day he had been pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of his invention and had sent the results to Professor Rutland. However, after he had examined the results properly, Anton had been disappointed to find that while the device was accurate for the surroundings around the city, the results from far off were wildly inaccurate. The device had predicted a huge cavity ten kilometers up. Ten kilometers further away from the warmth of God.
This would normally have been a very positive result that would have warranted celebrations throughout the geology department if it hadn’t been for two things. One was the distance from God. It was borderline whether people would be able to live that far from God. Further studies by the Church would be required to determine this. However, the big party stopper was the fact that the device was measuring an infinitely large cavity. It never ended, like the rock of the universe suddenly stopped and there was nothing beyond it. It was a scientific fact that the universe was made of rock and continued on away from the warmth of God forever.
It was undoubtedly these results that the professor wanted to talk about. As far as Anton was concerned, there was nothing to talk about. It was most likely a bug in the software that Marcus should easily be able to fix. He was probably in the lab doing that right now. If the fault it wasn’t in the software, they would dismantle the device and find what was causing the error. There was no point in discussing the results of a faulty instrument.
A few minutes later, Anton reached his stop and left the transport tube. The professor lived in one of the complexes which were tunneled out of the rock, in the same way as almost all humans lived. Very few people had the privilege of actually living in a building in a cavity. In Tharus, only a few thousand people lived in the cavern while the other two hundred thousand people lived in the tunnels that had been dug out, deep around the cavern. The tunnels weren’t as open and pleasant as the cavern, but the lighting in the tunnels was bright and comforting compared to other cities. Professor Rutland must have been having an interesting phone conversation since he still hadn’t acknowledged Anton’s message when Anton was approaching the final corner towards the professor’s abode.
Anton rounded the corner and almost tripped with fear as Professor Rutland’s entrance came into view. Standing in front of the professors door were two Church enforcers, dressed in the menacing uniform of the Inquisition! And they had seen him!
Anton was stunned, frozen in mid-stride for what seemed like an age. But there was no turning back now. If he turned back it would look suspicious. It was not wise to make an Inquisition enforcer suspicious. Not that it would help. Anton hadn’t been to mass for three weeks. The two enforcers at the professor’s door probably knew who he was and why he was here. But he had nothing to fear. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t broken the rules of Dogma.
Nervously he put
his foot forward and continued his path along the tunnel, however instead of
continuing his original intended path towards professor
Professor Rutland stumbled out into the tunnel, followed by the Inquisitor who had pushed him.
“This is all a big mistake!” the Professor said in a frail voice as he regained his balance and attempted to straighten his ruffled clothes. Professor Rutland was an old man in his eighties, with a great mane of white hair and a thick well-trimmed beard.
“That remains to be seen, and you will be compensated if it is,” replied the Inquisitor who Anton couldn’t quite make out since the Inquisitor was standing in the doorway.
“But until then you are suspected of breaking the rules of Dogma. Gag him!”
A third enforcer emerged from professor
Anton didn’t know what to do next. Apparently the professor had had a good reason to be nervous when he had spoken to him. But what was the Inquisition concerned about? Why had they detained Professor Rutland? Because of the results from the gravitometer? Surely that was nothing that would concern the Inquisition. They were simply false results. It must be something else. What could the professor have been involved in? And why had he wanted to see Anton?
A couple of minutes after they had left, Anton began to walk back to the transport tube. He would go to the lab to see if Marcus had made any progress fixing the gravitometer. He thought of the Inquisition and Professor Rutland’s plight as he made his way back to the transport tube.
Marcus was at his computer when Anton bounded into the lab twenty minutes later. The gravitometer was on the desk connected to the computer. Marcus turned to the see the source of the noise that had disturbed the quiet lab.
“Marcus! Something terrible has happened!” Anton exclaimed as he came to a standstill in front of Marcus. Marcus was sitting casually at the computer chair wearing the dark silvery skin-tight outfit that he liked to wear at the lab. Marcus was a fit man in his early thirties and the tight clothes matched the no fuss way at which he applied himself to his work. Much like his clothing, he never left any loose ends in anything that he did. Marcus was one of the most brilliant, if not the most brilliant mind that Anton had ever worked with. Anton regarded himself lucky that Marcus had chosen geology as his career and had chosen Anton as his research supervisor. Marcus was finished with his research but had stayed on under Anton in order to help him finish the new gravitometer. He was a quiet and handsome man who often got lost in his thoughts, as he obviously had been before Anton had burst into the room. Marcus opened his mouth to reply but didn’t get any further before Anton proceeded.
”Professor Rutland has been taken by the Inquisition! I saw it with my own eyes. I think it might be connected to the false results I sent him!”
Marcus raised his eyebrows and was about to speak before Anton continued.
“Have you found the fault with the gravitometer?” said Anton as he rushed over to the gravitometer to see any changes that Marcus might have made. The gravitometer looked like a small barrel sitting upright on the desk with a set of wires for power and the computer connection. He couldn’t see any differences from when he had looked at it last.
Marcus didn’t appear to react, but merely continued trying to get a word in.
“Anton, there is something we need to talk about that’s rather important,” Marcus said in his relaxed and confident manner. Unlike Anton, Marcus wasn’t the type of person to be concerned get easily flustered by tales of the Inquisition. On the other hand, he didn’t have a son who was a law enforcer like Anton had. Marcus hadn’t heard the tales of Inquisitor brutality that Anton had heard over the dinner table when dining with his son and his son’s girlfriend.
“There’s nothing actually wrong with the gravitometer. I don’t know how to say this but…”
Marcus was cut off in mid sentence by a knock at the door. They both turned.
Anton’s blood ran cold as he saw an Inquisitor make his way through the door closely followed by an Inquisition enforcer. It was the same Inquisitor who had detained the Professor! He must have made his way straight to the lab after delivering Professor Rutland to the detention center. The Inquisitor stepped into the center of the room. He was a tall and skinny man, possibly in his late sixties or early seventies. His skin was an unnatural grey, a trait common amongst the older Inquisitors as were his wet red bloodshot eyes that made it look difficult to look into them. The normally tight-fitting pitch-black uniform of the Inquisitors hung loosely from his frail frame. However, his will had more strength than his body would ever need. Surprised by the intrusion by the Inquisition, Marcus backed up against the computer, accidentally hitting the power reset button. His composed face was suddenly white with fear. Anton could only imagine that his own face was in a similar condition. He could almost feel the physical sensation of his blood collecting in his feet.
“Good Day, Marcus Xandu,” the Inquisitor said in a rasping voice, worn from years of interrogation. Marcus was speechless. The room was so quiet that Anton could hear the whirring sound of the computer as it tried to remember what it was doing prior to being reset. The Inquisitor turned his attention to Anton. “And good day, Anton Segali.”
“Good day, Inquisitor ah…” Anton pulled himself together and checked the name on the Inquisitors badge, “…Rike”.
Inquisitor Rike walked up next to Anton and gave a cursory glance at the new gravitometer. He turned to look Anton in the eyes.
“I had the pleasure recently of meeting your son, Caleb. A very competent young man. You must be very proud.” Anton nodded slightly but couldn’t hold his gaze. The Inquisitor continued: “I imagine that competence runs in the family, no?”
“Er…ah. . .” Anton closed his mouth as he realized the Inquisitor Rike hadn’t meant for the question to be answered. However, it would not be long before the Inquisitor asked questions he did want answered.
The computer had now finished its self-diagnoses after being restarted. Inquisitor Rike continued towards the computer and paused, ignoring Marcus who sat in the chair in front of it. Inquisitor Rike began to remove something from his breast pocket.
“It has come to my attention that work is progressing here to subvert Dogma!” he said as he turned around to reveal a data cartridge in his hand. “I’ve acquired this data from Professor Rutland, a colleague of yours Anton!”
Anton gasped.
”The Professor has confessed that he acquired the data from you, Anton,” the Inquisitor continued. “Data from the new machine you’ve designed to further the causes of Madness and Evil!”
Sweat began to run down Anton’s brow. What was the Inquisitor implying? Was Anton being suspected of subversion?
“It’s a mistake. We’ve just. . .” began Anton before Marcus stepped in and cut him off.
“That can’t be true since we have had no correspondence with Professor Rutland lately,” Marcus said with a quivering voice.
Anton was stunned by Marcus’ lie to the Inquisitor! Was Marcus’ lying intentionally or had he merely forgotten? Inquisitor Rike spun around to face Marcus. Anton had to act quickly in order to avert disaster. Lying to an Inquisitor was a hopelessly stupid thing to do!
“Marcus, I…” Anton began before he was once again cut off by Marcus, who seemed determined not to let Anton get a word in.
“Inquisitor, how do you know that the data comes from us?” Marcus asked quickly.
Anton winced. One didn’t question an Inquisitor! The direction of enquiry was strictly one way. Inquisitor Rike’s eyes narrowed. Even the motionless enforcer tensed at Marcus’ question.
“Why, that is easy to demonstrate young man. Step aside!” said Inquisitor Rike as he swept Marcus aside and sat himself at the computer, inserting the data cartridge into the computer’s input port.
“You see, the data was transferred over the network and it can be clearly seen from the network address that the data came from here!”
Anton didn’t dare look but his legs drew him towards the computer. Marcus had lied to an Inquisitor and was about to be found out! How could he have been so stupid? It baffled Anton that the brilliant Marcus, the most talented man Anton had ever worked with, could do something so pointless as lying to an Inquisitor. What did they have to hide? It was all a misunderstanding that could be quickly sorted out and Professor Rutland could also be released from custody. Data from the cartridge appeared on the screen.
“Here are the properties of the data sent
to professor
“And here we see the network address for this computer,” Rike stretched his bony finger to point to the relevant numbers and paused. A puzzled look appeared on his face. “What’s going on here?” he said under his breath. Anton leaned forward to get a clear view of the small text on the screen. The enforcer took a few steps toward the group peering at the computer screen, sensing that something was wrong. After a short while Marcus raised his voice:
“Inquisitor. Those numbers don’t match,” he said.
Anton was aghast for what Marcus said was correct! The numbers didn’t match. He could not believe his eyes. After all, this was the computer from which he had sent the data to Professor Rutland. The numbers should have matched. By the way Inquisitor Rike was acting, he also expected that they would.
“I can see that,” said Inquisitor Rike in a quiet voice. Behind his eyes, one could see that his mind was working furiously. The enforcer stepped back with a puzzled look on her face, waiting for the Inquisitor to retake control of the situation. Inquisitor Rike didn’t waste his time.
“No Matter! That’s a small detail we’ll examine later. The data clearly shows that it came from the device you have here. Look!” and with a couple of taps of the keyboard Inquisitor Rike displayed that data from the cartridge onscreen. With a couple more he revealed the damning results of the cavity which couldn’t exist. This was the data that Anton had sent to Professor Rutland before he had found the fault. Inquisitor Rike was pointing at the impossible result of the infinitely large cavity!
“How do you explain this, Marcus?” hissed Rike. Once again Anton opened his mouth to reply. But once again Marcus got the jump on him.
“These results aren’t from our instrument, Inquisitor. These results are clearly from another device.” Marcus pointed towards the registration number displayed on the screen. Anton looked and saw the registration number of their gravitometer.
What was Marcus playing at? For no reason at all he was inventing a string of lies that could get them into a lot of trouble. The Inquisitor looked once at the number Marcus was pointing to on the screen and once at the gravitometer and its registration sticker.
“What is this trick?” Rike snarled angrily. “Anyone can make a new sticker.”
Anton looked at the sticker. The registration number had changed! Marcus was regaining his composure and confidence.
“True,” said Marcus. “But in this case I simply think you’ve got your information mixed up Inquisitor. You can check the online database of the Instrument standards office, if you aren’t convinced. It isn’t as easy to forge,”
The Inquisitor proceeded to do this, logging into the Instrument standards office network, as Marcus walked over to the archive to retrieve the registration papers for the instrument.
Anton had applied for registration before the device had even been finished. The registration papers had been issued two months ago pending validation of the device. Marcus removed the papers from the archive and walked back towards the computer. He gave Anton a cold, hard look and handed the papers to him. Anton took the papers from him and examined them. He realized instantly why Marcus had given them to him for these weren’t the same papers he had received from the instrument standards office two months ago. These felt different. The paper was rougher. He looked up at Marcus. Marcus continued his cold look and shook his head ever so lightly, a movement only Anton would have noticed. It was a clear signal for Anton to keep quiet. Marcus was in control of this situation. And Anton would have to play along with Marcus deception.
Marcus took the papers back and handed them to Rike. The numbers on the registration papers matched those on the instrument and with the numbers on the online instrument database that Rike had accessed. The number on the data from the cartridge that Rike had had with him was different. Rike was speechless as he compared the numbers. Marcus pressed his advantage.
“I can’t quite understand what is so incriminating about this data, Inquisitor”.
Rike paused before explaining.
“Well…After ten kilometers the data shows an infinite emptiness which conflicts with both science and Dogma,” replied Rike in a defeated voice.
Marcus continued:
“Aha… I can see your cause for concern. I suspect that the data you are looking at is from a Forex gravitometric device. They are only accurate to about five kilometers and won’t output any data beyond ten. It is likely that the data logger that was used to compile this data has interpreted the lack of measurements as a cavity”.
Rike looked blank and searched through the online instrument database to find the registration number that was shown on the data from his cartridge. He soon found it.
“It appears you are correct Marcus. The data does indeed belong to a Forex device. One that is no longer in use according to this database. Very strange.”
Rike rose slowly from the chair. His face was an expression of controlled anger and confusion. The enforcer turned and made her way to the exit with the Inquisitor in tow. Anton let out a quiet sigh of relief. Just as Inquisitor Rike reached the door, he spun around to face them, a look of realization on his face.
“But Anton, you do have some data taken from your new gadget don’t you?”
Anton felt his throat constrict with anxiety. Was this the part where he blew Marcus’ elaborate bluff? Or had the information stored in the computer been fudged in the same way as everything else connected to the new gravitometer?
Seeing a new opportunity, Rike enthusiastically strode back to the computer and began tapping away at the keyboard. Rike was remarkably effective for within a few seconds he had found the measurements that were stored on the computer. Anton noted it was a recent file. Not the one he had sent to the Professor. Rike scrolled down to the measurements at ten kilometers. Anton relaxed upon seeing the data displayed. The data was for solid rock that extended out to fifty kilometers, at which point the measurements ended. There wasn’t a single cavity in detectable distance.
Anton understood now. Marcus had fixed the device, then taken new measurements and re-registered the device at the same time erasing all evidence of the initial measurements. But why hadn’t he told Anton? It must have taken all the past three weeks to do this, though Marcus had had plenty of opportunity. Also why had he gone to such lengths to hide the true sequence of events? The Inquisitor would have been satisfied by simply seeing the new results, now that the gravitometer had been fixed. What was Marcus playing at?
By the time Anton emerged from his thoughts the Inquisitor and the enforcer had left. He had barely noticed or acknowledged Rike’s apology. Marcus had gathered his coat and was preparing to leave.
“Well, Anton, that was an unwelcome interruption to our conversation,” he said.
“Marcus! What just happened here? What are you doing?” enquired Anton. Marcus replied as he gathered his bag:
“Anton. I’m not the only one hiding the truth. If you take a look at the history of the great geologists you’ll notice a trend. I’ll try and get in touch with you in the next few days.”
And with those words Marcus opened the door and left the lab, shutting the door behind him. Anton wondered whether it would be worthwhile to follow him. Marcus had always been mysterious in his ways but Anton had learned not to question his brilliance. But Marcus hadn’t answered his question! Gathering his wits, Anton ran towards the door and out into the corridor. Marcus was standing a way down the hall waiting for the elevator.
“Marcus! Wait!” yelled Anton. The elevator doors opened and Marcus turned towards Anton who was running towards him. “Marcus. You haven’t answered my questions!”
“There was never anything wrong with the gravitometer, Anton,” Marcus called out as he stepped into the elevator. “The only thing that ever needed fixing was the truth”.
The doors closed just as Anton reached them.
“Elevator stop!” called Anton. The elevator didn’t respond to his order. It started to move up to the common level.
“Elevator Stop!” he repeated. But it continued up, carrying the secrets that Marcus held with him. Anton clenched is hands to his head in despair and confusion over the past hours events.