by Drew Wagar
On the shaderight side of the river, cliffs were rising, higher and higher the further inland they voyaged. They looked stark and unforgiving, a dark heavy-looking rock, devoid of green or any other plant life.
Not quite what Coran thought to find I think. A ruined city, a slaughter. We knew that our people had a violent end, but to be cut down mercilessly – men, women and children? These witches must have been evil and if they are real as it would seem and they had powers sufficient to overwhelm all this technology …
Meru puffed out his cheeks. Based on what the wild old man had spoken about, they’d been searching for the caves for interminable stretches, trying to find a way up the river. They’d discovered it to be a delta, with many tributaries. Most were unnavigable, requiring them to back track time and again to try another route.
And why were those old men so scared of Mel? Just because she was a woman? There were no youngsters there … could they be a lone pack of men who survived the witches’ attack years ago?
Meru swallowed. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. It seemed bizarre that he felt scared; the weather was fine, the river calm, yet somehow all around, he felt a fear upon the land.
Annoyed with himself he shook his head and resumed looking ahead of the ship.
The estuary was bending around to the shaderight ahead and widening slightly. Meru looked through the ’scope and with a twinge of excitement saw what they were looking for.
‘Finally. The crazy man was right about that, at least,’ he muttered to himself.
Ahead the rocky cliffs had split, a cave could be seen, its entrance open to the water. It was wide and proud. As they approached Meru could see it was a cavern, hewn from the rock by some untold machinery, metal fixtures guarded the sides, rusted and broken as before.
Meru ran astern, calling Coran and Mel’s attention to it. Coran took the Mobilis wide and then turned it back towards the cavern, approaching it straight on.
‘Fitch?’ Coran called.
‘All set, Captain,’ came the coarse voice.
The crew were armed with the rifles once again as Coran slowly directly the Mobilis forward.
‘Now, let’s see what our strange fellow meant when he talked of ghosts,’ Coran murmured.
Lacaille’s light faded overhead as the ship moved into the cavern. Coran triggered the ’tricity lights and beams of illumination flooded the darkness.
A quay was set at right angles to the entrance. Coran swung the Mobilis around and brought the ship alongside. Daf and Creg ran fore and aft to secure the vessel to the obvious mooring points.
There was little to be seen. The quay was dirty, with signs of fire from long ago. Dirt, dust and debris littered the floor. A narrow tunnel in the rock led away from the quay, disappearing into the darkness. There was nothing else to see.
‘Daf and Creg …’
‘Mind the ship, Captain,’ both men said in unison.
Coran nodded. ‘The rest of you with me.’
Meru followed Fitch and Mel as they disembarked and made their way across the quay. Fitch had brought two strange glass and metal boxes with handles on the top. As Meru watched he cranked one and then the other, being rewarded by a bright light glowing from within them. Coran took one, stepping forward towards the dark tunnel. Mel followed with Meru behind her, Fitch took up the rear with the other lightglass.
The tunnel was narrow, with barely room for two men to pass each other. It was stuffy and cold inside, the floor uneven with broken rock and scattered gravel. They had walked for just a short time when Coran stopped abruptly.
‘More evil from the past,’ he said softly.
Meru peered past him. A skeleton lay full length on the floor, its body picked clean and its bones bright in the light from the lightglasses. It lay on its back, its arms held up with its hands clamped around its head as if suffering from some excruciating pain.
Further on they found another one, this time propped up against the wall, hands locked in a similar position.
‘I don’t like this,’ Mel said. ‘No injuries, no weapons. They couldn’t have just died …’
‘Courage,’ Coran said. ‘Let’s see where this tunnel takes us.’
It wasn’t long before they found out. The tunnel abruptly widened into a small cave. A large metal door was set across from them, opposite the tunnel entrance, the rest of the room was empty, save for the crowd of bones that lay strewn around the door. This time they were not clean and white, but blackened and burnt, dismembered and strewn about the place.
Mel and Meru turned away from the sight. Bodies upon bodies, people cornered in the darkness and then burnt alive? Meru felt bile rise in his throat and couldn’t stop himself this time. He was sick, leaning against the wall as he heaved. He spat out the worst of it as Mel steadied him.
‘I don’t think we should be here,’ he whispered. ‘These witches, if that’s what they are. This was no war … they just slaughter and burn. Perhaps running and hiding like our ancestors did was the right thing!’
‘I hear you,’ Mel said. ‘But Coran knows what he’s doing.’
‘Does he?’ Meru argued. ‘None of us have seen these witches, only what they were once capable of doing. If they could do all this rounds ago, what might they be able to–’
‘Meru,’ Coran called. ‘What do you make of this?’
Meru spat out the vile taste and then straightened. Mel patted him on the back as he made his way across the room.
Coran had carefully picked his way to the door. It was clearly locked, with a large metal wheel placed in its centre. The wheel spun in either direction, but as Meru watched Coran turning it, he could see that it wasn’t connected to any mechanism within.
On closer inspection Meru could see a series of small metal buttons set above the wheel each with numbers etched into them, with a lever to the right of them that could be moved up and down. Coran pressed them and Meru saw them click in sequence. Coran pulled the lever down, but nothing happened.
His curiosity piqued, Meru looked closely at them.
‘Some kind of lock would be my guess,’ he said.
Coran nodded. ‘I’d agree. But how to open it?’
‘Do you think we should?’
Coran looked at him, his face sharp and angular in the glow from the lightglass.
‘Don’t you?’
Meru waved his hand at the bodies at their feet. ‘All this death. These witches and their strange powers, maybe we should let the past lie undisturbed. Our ancestors were destroyed … we might be too!’
‘Meru this is long in the past …’
‘We shouldn’t be here. All this death …’ Meru said, backing away.
‘Coran,’ Mel said. ‘Meru’s right. We’ve seen what these witches did. The technology didn’t stop them, death by agony or fire is what destroyed our people long in the past despite everything they had. We are but a few and we are dealing in things we do not know or understand …’
‘Belay that talk!’ Coran said in a hoarse whisper. ‘These people, our ancestors died to guard a secret. We dare not turn back now, not when we’re so close. Have courage and their sacrifice will not have been in vain. We must open this door!’
Meru looked uncertainly at Mel. She held up her hands indicating that he should stay calm. Meru took some deep breaths. Fitch looked on from the other side of the room, unperturbed as always.
Coran spun the wheel again, jabbing at the buttons and moving the handle up and down with no result. He tried various combinations of moves and turns, but none had any effect. He kicked the door in frustration. The impact echoed for a moment and then left them in gloomy silence.
‘It’s a dead end,’ Mel said. ‘We can’t open it, it’s locked. It’s over, Coran. We found out enough. We found the witches were real, that the danger is real.’ She raised her voice. ‘Let us return with that knowledge at least! It can’t be unlocked …’
Something crackled above them. The four of them started, backing
towards the centre of the room in alarm. There was a brief hiss and then a voice spoke. It was deep and authoritative, seeming to come from all around them.
‘Ghosts!’ Mel whispered. Coran waved at her to be quiet.
‘Entry to this facility is restricted to authorised personnel only. Please enter your access code. Frequency forty eight point seven megahertz.’
The voice faded.
The crew of the Mobilis looked at each other, their faces pale in the gloom.
Meru’s face suddenly brightened.
‘The man in the city. He said that … Ack Sesh Kood … Access Code!’
‘A password!’ Coran said, his eyes bright with excitement. ‘Forty eight seven!’
Coran raced to the door and quickly pressed the three numbers in. He pulled the handle down, spinning the wheel. His face fell, the wheel spun impotently in either direction.
‘Wasn’t going to be that, was it!’ Fitch said with a laugh. ‘Our ancestors weren’t stupid. They wouldn’t announce the password for all to hear.’
Coran nodded. ‘You’re right. Too obvious. The voice, maybe it can tell us more …’ Coran looked up and spoke loudly. ‘How do we open this door?’
There was no answer.
Meru thought it through. ‘Mel, what was the last thing you said?’
‘I was saying we should return home …’
‘After that.’
‘I don’t know. I think I said the door couldn’t be unlocked …
The crackle and the hiss, followed by the voice.
‘Entry to this facility is restricted to authorised personnel only. Please enter your access code. Frequency forty eight point seven megahertz.’
Coran looked at Meru, who grinned. ‘Unlock!’
‘Entry to this facility is restricted to authorised personnel only. Please enter your access code. Frequency forty eight point seven megahertz.’
The voice was silent again.
‘So what does frequency forty eight point seven mean …?’ Mel asked.
‘It’s the mega hurts that bothers me,’ Fitch quipped from the side.
‘No idea,’ Coran said. ‘But that’s the clue. The door must have been locked to prevent the witches entering. The answer must be here somewhere, some piece of technology …’
They looked around, but the room was empty save for the burnt remains of their ancestors from long ago. Coran stomped around in frustration.
Something slipped free from one of the skeletons, Meru saw a reflection of metal in the dim light.
He went to pick it up. It was indeed metal. He rubbed at it.
‘Look at this! Bring some light …’
The others crowded around him. The metal object was attached to a chain, worn around the unfortunate victims neck. It was covered in black soot, but as Meru rubbed it further it shone brightly. It was a triangle, the same isosceles triangle they had seen before.
‘The witch’s mark,’ Coran said. ‘But why would one of our people be wearing it?’
‘I don’t think they were,’ Meru said. ‘Look, there are more of them. Nearly half of those who died here are wearing them …’
‘Something happened to our people and witches alike?’ Mel said, a frown creasing her face.
‘Looks that way …’ Coran admitted. ‘Burnt to death together? How does that make sense?’
Meru looked at the sad collection of blackened skeletons.
‘They were all huddled against the door, none of them could open it. But there is no ash, no remnants of wood, coal or oil. It’s as if they were …’
‘Baked in an oven,’ Mel finished for him, looking nervously around the room.
Coran gave the door a final push but it remained locked firm.
‘Nothing to be gained by staying here,’ he finally admitted. ‘Let’s head back to the ship.’
They were once again subdued when they returned to the Mobilis, not speaking above a whisper. Daf and Creg reported that all was quiet at the quay.
‘What now?’ Mel asked.
‘Onwards,’ Coran said. ‘I hoped to learn more here, but Nireus is our destination. We will proceed up the coast and see what else we can learn about our past.’
‘Is it not worth returning home to tell them of what we have learned?’ Mel asked.
Coran turned around. ‘And what have we learned? Our ancestors were killed, or burnt by … what? Witches? All we have are stories, we don’t know if they still exist. That’s hardly any more than the legends we already have! The secrets are here, we must find them.’
Mel looked uncertainly at Meru. Coran looked from one to another.
‘Come my friends. This is just the beginning. We are unlocking our past. So far, what we have found has been melancholy and disturbing, I agree. But we must discover what happened, we owe our ancestors that. By whatever sacrifice they undertook we prevailed, we survived! They died that we might live.’
Meru sighed, but then nodded.
‘We should find out what they did and what happened to them.’
Coran looked to Mel.
‘Mel?’
The engineer looked unhappy, but nodded too. ‘I know you’re right. It scares me. Our past is shrouded in death and destruction. We should be careful.’
‘Don’t be worrying, I intend to be.’
‘And when we find Nireus and enough answers then we turn for home?’
‘We will.’
Mel nodded again. ‘Then let’s go and get it over with.’
Coran looked to Fitch. ‘And what says our cook?’
Fitch shrugged. ‘Not seen much that gives me pause. Few dead bodies and wild folk? Should take more than that to unsettle us.’ He laughed at the annoyed looks that crossed Meru and Mel’s faces. ‘A bit of courage and a generous measure of Ochren will see us true, I reckon.’
‘Daf, Creg?’
The two big men grunted and shrugged. ‘Give the word, Cap’n.’
‘All aboard then,’ Coran said. ‘Meru, get us a course. I want to be out in the open sea before the sleeping.’
‘Aye, Captain.’
The crew busied themselves for departure. Mayura’s pass wasn’t due for stretches, but Meru had his calculations from before, they would serve until he could take them again. He vaulted up to the bridge, checked the timers and then looked over the rear of the ship at the dark portal that marked the entrance of the passage.
‘Forty eight point seven megahertz,’ he said out loud.
What does it mean? The ancients never did anything without a reason, there must be an answer. Something we haven’t done, something we haven’t used …
His eyes fell on the large squat box bolted to the bulkhead of the bridge. He frowned for a moment.
A dial with numbers …
He walked across to it, looking at the dials with renewed interest. They were marked on a circular dial, numbers around the edge. An indicator pointed at a selected number, Meru could see it currently said twenty four.
Then he saw the lettering.
Mhz.
Megahertz?
He jumped up and leant out of the bridge.
‘Captain! Up here!’
Coran, Mel and Fitch looked up at him from the decks below.
‘What is it lad?’
‘Just get up here. I think I might have an answer to the door!’
Meru had crouched down in front of the box by the time Coran, Mel and Fitch gained the bridge.
‘What?’ Coran demanded.
Meru looked up at him excitedly. ‘You remember the voice?’
‘Forty eight point seven,’ Coran repeated. ‘So?’
‘Megahertz!’ Meru said, pointing triumphantly at the lettering on the box. Coran crouched down beside him to get a better look, with Mel and Fitch peering over their shoulders.
‘So what do we do?’
Meru flipped up the switch, allowing ’tricity to flow into the device. Immediately the bridge filled with the crackling and popping sounds.
�
��This dial,’ Meru said. ‘It has numbers, it’s pointing at twenty four, if we turn it to …’
‘…forty eight point seven,’ Mel whispered.
‘Well do it then,’ Fitch muttered. ‘You’re the master of these bizarre contraptions.’
Meru turned the dial. The noise changed; whistles and hums rolling up and down before a deep repetitive thumping began to emanate from the box.
Just a bit further …
All four of them jolted back as another voice filled the room, caught in the middle of a speech. It was a woman’s voice, with a curious and unfamiliar lilting accent.
‘… you warn them all before it’s too late.’
The voice stopped abruptly, the hiss faint in the background.
‘Make her say it again!’ Coran demanded.
Meru held up his hands. ‘I don’t know how!’
Coran leaned in towards the controls. ‘There must be something …’
He was about to start flipping the switches on the panel when the voice came back. The woman’s voice was sharp-edged, panicked and scared.
‘This is Sandra Morino. It is as we feared. The M2V stellar reports and astrometric measurements from the colonisation scans were flawed. Satellites reported an increased ultraviolet flux. The flare …’ The woman’s voice cracked and they heard hysteria in her tones. ‘The heat wave was far worse than we thought … I had to seal the doors … no choice … the screams …’
After a pause she composed herself. ‘Solarcycle activity remains at an unprecedented high, Lacaille’s brightness is down eighty per cent with more sunspots than we can count. I’ve lost contact with the obelisk, I have no idea whether it is still functioning. I can’t communicate with the staff there. I fear the worst. I’m going to secure this facility just in case I don’t survive. If you find this message the access code is one one two three five eight one three …’
‘The code!’ Coran exclaimed in excitement. The others shushed him to quietness.
‘…I’ll leave this message on repeat. You must get underground, anyone caught in the open won’t survive! The flares will scorch everything. Try to get a message to Viresia, Daine, Nireus, Tierna and Kosh. It’s imperative you warn them all before it’s too late.’