CHAPTER 7: CONTACT AND CONFRONTATION
     
     
          The camera hovered among the cryogenic chambers in search of
     anything out of the ordinary.  The lift behaving like it did
     brought on a feeling of being watched, little did they know this
     was quite true.
          
          Steve and Robert boarded the lift platform, which had risen
     like before, and they descended to the gallery below.  The rest
     of the scientists stayed on the upper floor, for they had an
     uneasy feeling, a feeling they were right to have.  Steve hopped
     off the lift before it reached the ground, went over to the
     nearest row of cells and pressed the end panel to reveal the
     hidden occupants of the mist shrouded chambers.  The polished
     windows shimmered and the silvery lustre rippled away.  What they
     saw next left them gaping in utter astonishment, they had found
     the aliens!  They were strange creatures which were impossible to
     classify as one species.  One looked like a humanoid lizard with
     two, many faceted silver eyes.  Another was a horizontal-mouthed,
     beast-like creature with scaly skin and four arms.  
          
          Rounding a corner, the camera was suddenly struck down in a
     shower of sparks by an unseen foe.  
     
          "What the hell happened to our camera?" Captain Freeman
     shouted. 
          "It seems to have been hit by something sir," came Grey's
     reply.  
     
          The robot's screen showed bursts of static and occasional
     glimpses of its surroundings from its new vantage point on the
     floor.  
     
          "Robert, Steve, something's happened to the camera," Freeman
     spoke urgently into the intercom, "I'll give you directions and
     you try and see what went wrong."  He pressed another button and
     spoke once more, "Rick go down there, but stay by the lift and
     keep the monitor turned on."
          
          The group watching the monitor screen were just as 
     astonished as Steve and Robert were.  Cautiously they stepped
     onto the lift once more and Rick touched the control globes.  
     
          Robert and Steve hurried in the direction of the damaged 
     camera, a feeling of uneasiness creeping over them.  Following
     close behind and making sure it was undetected, flew the alien
     disc.
     
          "Look at these creatures," said Dan as he pressed the panel
     which cleared the chamber windows on another block, "I wonder if
     there are any left alive somewhere." 
          "We'll have to wait and see," said Clara who was examining a
     leathery-skinned, skeletal creature, "Imagine the
     things we could learn!"  
          "Look," said Rick.
     
          He was watching the monitor, their absent team members had
     reached the camera and were bending over it.
     
          The alien's surveillance disc hovered silently, watching
     unseen over the two men's work.  
     
          "I don't think we can fix it," said Robert into his
     communicator.
     
          Just then a muffled, shuffling sound was heard.
     
          "What's that?" Steve asked.
          "I don't know, but it seems to be coming this way," Robert  
     replied, "lets get out of sight."
     
          They moved into one of the passages between the cryo-units
     and waited as the sound drew nearer.  The surveillance disc
     hovered out of its hiding spot as a ferocious, ape-like cat
     creature, covered with a glassy exoskeleton, jumped into the
     passage and let out a roar.  It was accompanied by a tall, hulky,
     leathery-skinned, being with a downward sloping, crescent mouth
     and an elongated skull adorned with spikes.  As Robert and Steve
     slowly retreated, it stretched out its hand and flexed it's three
     long, rigid fingers and made a gurgling sound.  In response, the
     cat-creature pounced at the two men who started running in fear. 
          
          Watching their predicament on the wall screens, Captain
     Freeman dashed for the communication panel.  
     
          "Rick are you seeing this?  I want you to go and help them,
     but be extremely careful.  See if you can lure the aliens away."
     
          Rick and the rest of the group got up and followed Freeman's
     directions as fast as they could, leaving the monitor behind by
     the lift.  
     
          Steve and Robert had taken up defensive positions leaning
     against the sides of two of the cryonic chambers, aiming
     emergency flares across the gap between the two banks.  They were
     hoping the aliens were fearful of fire and would retreat leaving
     them unharmed.
     
          "They don't look like the sort of creatures capable of
     building this place," said Steve.
          "Perhaps they're not..."
     
          They silenced themselves as the familiar scraping sound came
     again, accompanied by the howls of the strange beasts.  Soon they
     were upon them, lighting their flares they thrust them into the
     alien's faces.  The large one let out a howl of fear and stumbled
     backward, its companion hissing and keeping its ground.  
     
          "How long do these flares last?" Robert asked.
          "Not too long, we'd better make a run for it and get back to
     the lift."
     
          As soon as they said this, the surveillance disc hovered
     into view.  The aliens turned around and the tall one was hit in
     the chest by the disc's laser beam, the cat-like one was hit in
     the shoulder. Howling with pain the two fled from the disc as
     fast as they could.
     
          The pair safe from danger now confronted the disc, their
     companions rounding the corner.
          "What happened?" asked an out of breath Rick.
          "This thing just saved us from those creatures." replied
     Steve. 
     
          They stood looking up at the hovering disc and awaited its
     next move.  It made a grating electronic noise, its probes
     twitched and it turned and slowly hovered down the corridor.  
     
          "Should we follow it?" asked Dan in a hushed tone.
          "I think that's what it wants," replied Rick.
     
                             ************************