Far and beyond

How strong can faith be?

- It's obvious what we have to do. We have to pull it out and fix this. We have to get power back to the people of Nebograd. And to the mines. - Mike was pragmatic all of a sudden. Like a switch had been flipped, his previously anxious voice had been turned into one full with confidence. 

- What? Are you crazy? We have no idea what this object is. What is it even made of? We might damage the cable even more. - Steph had suddenly turned into the cautious one. He was not ready for what he had just seen. He did not believe that they had really found aliens. Until now.

- Well, we are here. We have to do something. I'm gonna start recording this for mission control. Something tells me they'll want to see what had happened. - Mike already had his backpack on the snow and had started to pull out all kinds of tools and gadgets that he figured would help him do what he had intended. He came across one of the drones they were carrying. - Hey, remember when Viki told us to carry these so we can do aerial surveillance. How did she think it would be of any use in an environment like this? Alright. I am turning on recording now for real, anything you want to say off camera? No? Startin in 3, 2, 1. On.

Steph was just standing over Mike not saying anything. He was examining the scene. Something wasn't right. There was more than just the mere spear jagged into the cable. There were other modifications done to it. The spear seemed to be just used to carve an way to the conductors. The outer shell of the cable had been made of several layers of nanocarbon sheets and fused with a polymer similar to rubber. It was meant to be flexible but strong, able to be an electrical isolator but also able to disperse the heat that such strong current inevitably produced. It was meant to be able to be ran over with a truck and not even show a scratch. Something had to be extremely sharp and extreme strength would have to be used to pierce that. It was not clear what the tip of the spear was exactly made of. It seemed some kind of black rock. It reminded Steph of obsidian. If it was, then they knew what they were doing. Obsidian has very high resistance so it would not conduct electricity, making it safe for the handler to use if the threat of death by electric shock is a possibility. Would obsidian be able through the protection was another story. If it was obsidian to begin with. And there was another thing that bothered him. If this was done by some kind of spear wilding aliens, how did they know what they need to use for the job? Did they know what they were doing and were doing it consciously? Or were they just some savages that got lucky with their choice of tools? But the biggest mystery came when he took a better look. Mike was still trying to get all of his tools in order when Steph bent down to take a closer look. The thin conducting carbon nanotube strands that made the conductor had also been cut and rearranged. They seem to have be done in a strange way. He could not see exactly what had been done because of the bad conditions but he knew that taking out the spear would not be the only thing they needed to do. He took a knee next to Mike. Took off his backpack. He took out another pair of gloves from a side pocket and showed them to Mike. They were significantly thinner than the ones they were wearing at the moment and made of a rubbery material. "We would need these." were the only words out of his mouth. When Mike asked why he pointed towards the inside of the cable. Mike came closer and after a few seconds of looking at the pointed out area he shook his head in confusion.

- You don't think they did this on purpose do you? - said Mike.

- Well, look around. Do you see the tip of the spear? It looks like an isolator to me. Also, do you see any burn victims near you? This doesn't seem like an accident to me Mike. - Even though the words said were coherent and and the sentence was well constructed, the tone in which it was said gave out a panicky feeling. Steph did not know what to think or how to feel.

- Well, accident or not, lets fix this f*****g mess and get out of the snow. We can debate about it later. - Mike found no objection from Steph and they got down to business.

As the men hastily worked to get the spear out and repair the cable they found themselves needing to do much more than what they initially expected. First of all, it took the full combined strength of both men to get the spear out. Secondly, the strands of nanotubes needed to be cut and refused in an appropriate order. Usually, in cases like this, the manuals recommends to cut the section where the damages have occurred and fuse a different section instead of it. However, that was rarely what had actually been done in the field. Carrying a 840 MV cable was a heavy task, especially when you didn't know you need it. Most often the problems were with various connectors, fuses or isolators. Neither Steph nor Mike expected to have to repair the cable. Still, once the impromptu repair has been done, they glued a new layer of casing on top of it. It took them about twenty five minutes to fix everything and gather their gear. After that Mike called mission control at headquarters to tell them that the issue has been fixed and the cable is good to go. He intentionally left out the part where he explains what's wrong with it. In a couple of moments they heard a buzzing noise and the color of the casing turned from almost black to a shiny dark blue to indicate that current is flowing. The only thing that was left was for the two men to walk back to the hypertrain station and go home. Steph wanted to call Monsa but he knew that he shouldn't call her when she's on a mission like this. The phone calls were being recorded to prevent any sensitive data from being leaked. Or to minimize the spread at least. Also, she was probably traveling and with colleagues. She would like to leave a good, professional impression and this would not help the cause. 

While walking back to the station, away from the ears and eyes of their listeners, Mike felt encouraged to share his feelings with Steph. 

- Hey big man. Are you still mad at me?

- No. I wasn't mad at you Mike. I was just... look, it wasn't in your rights to say that. 

- Yes. I agree. I overstepped the line. I apologize. 

- Yeah, no biggie. It happens. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. 

- Well, I'll try but no promises. 

- Of course. You have commitment issues. - Steph now was showing a slight smile even. The effects of the "job well done" no doubt.

- But, what are we gonna do about this thing? - Asked Mike raising the spear that he was carrying back.

- What is there to say? Someone sabotaged the cable. We'll let Viktoria handle the "why" part. 

- Well, I am not sure about that you see. I wound not want to accuse someone of something like that.

- Something like what Mike? Wasn't it obvious? You're acting like you didn't see the same thing I saw out there. It was clear someone did it on porpoise. The spear wasn't just scratching the surface of that casing. No. It was deep inside of the cable. There was a hole in the casing. God knows how that was done. It wasn't an accident for sure. Someone from the mines, most probably someone from Nebograd did it. Multiple people probably. And they knew what they were doing.

- Well, that's what I mean. What if it wasn't someone from Nebograd? What if...

- What if what Mike? Who else lives out here? Nearest town is half an hour down the mountain with the hypertrain. No one could have carried that spear that long up the mountain. And if they took the train they would be noticed.

- That's what I'm trying to say man. What if it wasn't some one? What if it was some thing?

- Oh God. Are you talking about aliens again? Are you maybe thinking that they are attacking us?

- Think about it man! What if they are testing us. You know, maybe testing our defenses to see how we would react. Maybe they are watching us even as we speak. 

- Listen Mike. Do you know why we are looking for aliens? It is because we don't want to be alone. It is because we are in love with the idea that there is someone out there just waiting to be found. But that is all that it is, an idea! We humans, as a species, are in love with ideas. In love with dreams. We are never satisfied with what we have, we always want more. We always are on the hunt for the next big thing. That's our blessing, and our curse. If we had stopped looking for imaginary friends in the sky and focused on what we have on the ground we would be much happier. We would still have Earth, not just it's corpse. But no. Instead of holding dear the treasure that is in our hands we throw it away in hopes of finding a bigger one somewhere out there. Even if we do find aliens Mike, we would probably get bored of them in a few years, if not months. Every time we find something new out there it's always "Oh, this thing is big news for us" and after a few months no one gives a s**t. So, instead of devoting our time to just live our lives in relative comfort and be satisfied, we always have to be out there. Putting ourselves in danger. Looking for something that we will play with for a while and then discard. Even if it was aliens Mike, who gives a s**t. 

- Is this about Monsa? Are you mad at me for suggesting it was aliens or are you mad at Monsa for going out there and you're just lashing out on me?

- Mike, of course it's about Monsa. I am scared about her. I think about her all the time. Not knowing if she is safe out there... it kills me inside. She could be out there freezing in the cold. She could suffocate because of the air. Aliens is the last thing that I'm afraid of. Even if we find some life forms, it will probably be some kind of cat thing or a weird squid like thing. I am not worried about aliens Mike, I am worried about the real dangers that are out there. - Stephs voice turned from angry to sad in a matter of moments. He didn't want to show this side of himself to Mike but it just burst out of him. - Look, why don't we go to the outpost and take a shower before going home. All this walking has me covered in sweat.

- Hey, whatever you say. And, dude, for what it's worth, I have faith in Monsa. She is a tough girl.

- Yeah, I have faith in her too.