by P R Glazier
Chapter 36. The Sea of Beadreas
Nar’Allia lay awake on her cot in her cabin. Much thought was going round and round within her head. Currently she found herself wondering at JDC’s apparent willingness to fire upon his own people. For her own race to do such a thing would have been unthinkable, such an act would be a deep affront to the T’Iea race, so much so that it would an impossible thing to do. But then she thought, but hadn’t they done that? What about the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, evil they may be and far removed from the ideals she was used to within T’Iea culture, but still T’Iea none the less. Then this was exactly the conundrum that the T’Iea faced. All through the ages, they had struggled with the fact that a faction of the T’Iea peoples had turned to evil ways, what had caused this was unknown to all but the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran themselves. But even then the T’Iea still hold out hope that the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran would return to them, they would reunite as a people. Even now some held the view that the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran could be saved, be redeemed, even after all this time of division.
She found herself leaving her cabin and wandering into the control room, other than JDC sitting as he always did at the controls of the craft, there was no other in the room.
JDC glanced up at her as she entered and nodded a greeting, she smiled in response.
She gravitated to where JDC sat and stood looking over the Pnook shoulder at the illuminated console at which he concentrated.
There was a period of silence, but eventually JDC said. “I’m trying to work out the intricacies of this panel,” he muttered under his breath as if half to himself and half to his audience. “I’m pretty sure that from here the army of Startmektoken can be controlled or programmed to undertake certain tasks. The method of control is complex though; originally the crew of this craft must have had a tactician officer briefed in the intricacies of the Startmektoken and the way in which they would have been deployed in any eventuality. Apart from just deploying them, it would seem that first they must be told what it is they must do. Like any other army I suppose, each soldier is trained intensively how to react to certain circumstances, how to use the weapons he has, but most of all be disciplined enough to follow orders without question. So it is with the Startmektoken. I am sure they know how to fight, but they also must have orders to follow, orders that will ensure they accomplish whatever task or military goal it is that their masters wish to see done.
Nar’Allia drew up a stool and sat by JDC’s side, as she had done before. There appeared to be several rows of lights within an outline that roughly reminded her of the shape of the hull of the leviathan, a plan of at least the part of the machine that housed the Startmektoken as they had been shown. There were several these scattered over the console, she was certain that these must represent the decks on which the Startmektoken were housed in their sarcophagi. JDC prodded these areas with a finger, as he did so the light illuminated and went out under each second touch of his finger.
At that moment Amndo walked in, he came to stand between Nar’Allia and JDC. He scrutinised the console that they had been looking at.
JDC carried on speaking. “I believe that you can select each Startmektoken soldier individually or any number of them at a time and programme a requirement into them, this keypad seems to hold the key to the programming itself, but the meaning of each key I don’t yet understand unfortunately for it is in a language that has been lost along with the race of men that first built these machines.” He looked a little frustrated as he said, “gah, if we cannot figure out how to programme them then they are virtually useless.”
Nar’Allia had to agree the symbols on each key were beyond her knowledge and experience.
But then Amndo said something that surprised them all. “The language, it is not that of the humans, it is an ancient form of my language, it is the language of the keepers.” He frowned. Then he bent closer to look at the various symbols.
“What do you know of these metal soldiers Amndo?”
“I believe they were a creation of man originally. Used in the war that raged across the world. We now know of course that they originate from within the Silo’s in the Rust desert. But long ago someone adapted them.”
“The other deceiver that the old A’kath spoke of?”
“Yes, I believe that is a fare assumption Nar’Allia.”
“But he also mentioned that the T’Iea were also there in the Silo, he said that one of my people had saved him. Then there is strong evidence that Pnook had also been present.”
“I think Nar’Allia that all the elder races had some involvement, you remember the Ognod skulls in the tunnel through the Mountains of Mornost? But I do not know what those involvements were, only that it was not all to the good of the world, of that I am sure. I must tell you something I do know, something that shames my race. The soldiers, the Startmektoken they aren’t just unthinking machines, they aren’t just constructions of metal without thought. They each have a biological brain and central nervous system stolen from a human host. I am convinced that for this reason they can follow orders given them but also they can adapt by thought to the individual situation they face. They can make decisions make adjustments to ensure that their goals are successfully accomplished.”
Nar’Allia was shocked by what Amndo had just said, so many reasons for her feeling of abhorrence at this thought. Had the elder races resorted to this lowest form of horror? Recovering body parts to reuse for some long forgotten purpose. She said as much to Amndo, but the keeper remained quiet.
JDC then explained that this was not necessarily the case; he suspected that technology in the obvious sense of the word had quite obviously advanced to enable the design and construction of this machine and the Startmektoken. But he also suspected that biological technologies had also advanced and it was probably quite within the scope of that technology to enable the artificial growth of such biological parts specifically for use in the Startmektoken. In fact this was an advantage for each could be tailored to enhance such features as would be useful in a soldier.
Nar’Allia was stunned at his words. The thought that someone had the ability to grow a brain and enhance it to be more efficient at fighting was beyond her imagination. All the warning bells were going off in her head. Perhaps they had something here in their possession that went far beyond their initial fears. She found she had more and more reasons to wish that they had never discovered this machine. Then something struck her. She covered her mouth in shock. “What if that is the real reason why the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran wanted the Leviathan, not for the power of the machine itself, but for the potential biological technology you just spoke of.”
JDC just smiled at her and nodded, his mind was obviously elsewhere for he returned his gaze to the keyboards in front of him.
Nar’Allia still looking at the Pnook wanted to ask another question. “JDC, I would like to ask you something, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to of course but something is bothering me.”
“Ummm, sure,” was the reply, said in a nonchalant way as if automatically without much thought to the consequence.
Nar’Allia sighed, she knew she didn’t have his attention but she tried anyway to voice the question that was in her mind. “You ….. ,” here she paused, her mind struggling to find the right words to ask what was on her mind. “I mean, when the Pnook patrol attacked us, you seemed more than willing to retaliate, to attack them.”
JDC just made an “uhum” sound in reply, but continued to prod buttons quite randomly it seemed to Nar’Allia.
Not put off she tried again, “I mean you seemed quite willing to attack your own people.”
Again JDC didn’t look up, he just nodded slowly and carried on concentrating on the keys in front of him.
A little frustrated Nar’Allia said in a somewhat raised voice, “attack them without remorse it seemed to me, even as if you wanted to in some way. Almost exact a revenge upon them.”
What came next took Nar’Allia
completely by surprise.
“So? What of it, you would want to attack them to if you had suffered at their hands, what do you know, HA! You have had a comfortable life, you have never wanted for anything; you have not been shunned by your people, cast out and exiled. You have not had your friends turn their backs on you; you have not been extradited and ignored as if you were already dead to their eyes and hearts. Have you? HAVE YOU!” JDC stared into her eyes a horrid expression of hate marring his normally docile and jolly features.
Taken aback and completely off guard Nar’Allia replied, “no, errr, I mean no.” She spoke with a shaking voice, she got off the stool and unwittingly took a few steps back staring all the while into JDC’s flaming eyes. She did not like what she saw, those eyes were the eyes of hate, not just an instantaneous hatred born of the moment, but a deeper emotion, one that has festered and grown and eaten away at the person it was devouring slowly. She wondered what to do; to feed his anger was obviously the wrong thing to do. She wanted to leave the room, but at the same time try and make amends, try and alleviate the pain that JDC was obviously feeling, for hatred in her mind was as painful to her being as any physical hurt.
But to her great relief, JDC’s eyes dimmed and the expression upon his features relaxed into normality, the old JDC seemed to return, Nar’Allia let out her breath as if she finally thought that any action on her part would no longer risk further provocation or offence.
JDC lifted both hands to his face and drew them down over suddenly tired looking features and sighed, “I’m sorry Nar’Allia, please forgive me, I was trying to concentrate, I feel frustrated at not being able to make head nor tail of this programming thing and I’m quite tired, my anger at being disturbed must have overflowed, I’m sorry I should not have taken such offence to your words.”
“It’s alright JDC, I am sorry too, if I had half a notion I should have left you in privacy and not started to ask such questions.”
She smiled and made her way to the door of the bridge, she was about to walk through when JDC said, “Nar’Allia. Please, let me tell you a tale, an explanation if you will hear it. Something I have guarded and kept secret for too long I fear.”
Nar’Allia returned to where JDC sat and once more took up the offered stool by his side.
JDC pressed a couple of buttons and the majority of the lights on the console dimmed and went out. He sighed then took in a deep breath and began. “Many, many years ago I did live with the Pnook, my people. But not here in the Rust Desert, I’m talking about before the exodus, before they left our original home. I speak of the old Pnook city in Dahl’Ambronis. Mechno Babaptruek it was called this ancient city of the Pnook. I was born there. It was a place of science, the science of the Pnook of old for my people had lived there for many ages of this world. Discovery was in all our hearts, the Pnook delighted in pure discovery.” But then with a scowl he said, “a notion of pure, science without the perverted exploitation and commercial constraints that now seems to infest Scienocropolis.” His eyes glazed over a little as he remained deep in thought. He seemed to be fighting some internal turmoil; something had to be fought down, put back in a hidden place within him before he continued. “You should have seen it Narny, a shining beacon of learning, discovery and invention, yet in complete harmony with the sciences and with nature. The city was built in a special place, a place where the natural energy of the world was very close to the surface, in fact it leaked through the worlds crust. There was a time it was said that the energy poured forth like a fountain, it burst forth uncontrolled and chaotic. I believe that the Pnook lived in that city built there to ensure control over this energy flow. Many scientists and others would call this energy gravity, it is the natural energy that all masses possess. But it is a weak energy, mostly it is undetected, that is until it accumulates within large masses like the world on which we live. The greater the mass, the greater the gravitational energy. But this is not a secret, all know of this phenomenon, it is a natural form of energy after all, not something created in secret. You, that is the T’Iea would call this energy the arcane. Your people are greatly skilled in the manipulation and use of this powerful resource for the T’Iea out of all the elder races have a deeper understanding and closer affiliation with the natural world.
The city of Mechno Babaptruek was built around a phenomenally large vent in the world’s surface where much arcane energy spewed out. The Pnook used their technology to first tame and then control the wild flow of arcane energy and the city was built there to monitor and protect the flow of energy with the long-term view of shutting it off altogether and putting the world back into normality once again. Well in those days many T’Iea scholars travelled to Mechno Babaptruek from Ter’Hadsnefel specifically to study the arcane energy being emitted there below the Pnook city. It was a great time for science. The discoveries we made, they were incredible, with the help of the T’Iea we started to understand the balance between the scientific and the natural world, if you forgive me drawing a divide between the two, for in reality no such divide exists. They are in harmony you know Nar’Allia, each replenishing the other, running in parallel paths, obeying the same rules. The basic rules that govern everything, not only here on this world but the rules that govern the entire universe. The rules that cannot be unmade, or changed in any way, the basic complex laws that everything has to abide by.
It was while investigating these things that we came across a strange thing. We found that this source of arcane energy was not in fact a natural phenomenon, someone had created this great rend in the world to access tremendous amounts of arcane energy. In trying to identify these separate pieces of the puzzle, we stumbled across a new hidden form of the arcane energy. It seemed to originate from deeper within the world and directly beneath the city, down deep within the worlds core. Its nature was completely different, somewhat alien to anything that originated on this world. Once we were aware of its existence we looked for it more closely, eventually we even managed to isolate this energy, we were conducting various experiments. Then unexplained things started to happen, machines malfunctioned, people started disappearing. The T’Iea academics in the city started to suspect that the Rift as we called the flow of arcane energy had an intelligence associated with it, or deep within it. They claimed to be able to communicate with this intelligence. But we thought they were mistaken for we just detected this new phenomenon as a benign form of pure energy, nothing more.
It was around this time that the Ognods attacked, my experiments were placed to one side for we needed all able men and women to take up arms and fight to protect the city and our very lives. I fought and watched my people die in the battles that raged. We had weapons for defence, but my people are not great warriors, never have been, never will be. For all our many discoveries we could not hold back the shear unbreakable wave of force that was the Ognod onslaught.
But the war was going against us, steadily the Ognods overcame the outer defences of the city, one by one the gates fell and we were forced to retreat behind the next line of defence. Eventually because it seemed hopeless for us and that we could never win this war, I helped make the final decision to leave the city and seek refuge across the Trad Ocean. I like the others I conferred with, tried to save our people. I feared if we had not fled, the Ognods would have erased us from the earth. But before we could achieve this I argued with many, for others would not entertain a retreat, they would not run from the enemy, even though it meant our utter destruction.”
JDC then fell silent for a few minutes, some deep thought mulling over in his mind. In the end he drew a deep breath and breathed out slowly with a heartfelt sigh. “To my utter dismay my fiercest opponent was my own son. He was young and full of the vigour of his youth, he believed the enemy could be stopped; he wanted to stay and fight. Well in the end we did fight, him and I, father and son. I still remember the look of rage in his eyes, the look of pure hate that he felt for me, his own father. A madness had come upon him, he was no long
er the man I knew him to be. I remember him, my own son, knocking me to the floor, raising his weapon to my head, I remember the look of hatred in his eyes, at that moment I truly thought I would prefer to die, I did not want to face what my own son had become. But the click that should have sent me to the Maker, was just a sound in my ear, nothing followed, the weapon did not fire, I saw a chance, I struck out at him in unbelievable anger, we struggled and fought. He ran at me once more and in our struggle, he tripped and fell, his head hit the corner of a metal table and I remember the blood spattered as his head hit the floor, I remember the redness of it tainting his blond hair. I remember the blank stare of those blue eyes. Such bright blue, full of life and vitality, but now dimming, closing. In horror I ran to him I remember the stillness of his form laying there.
I remember being dragged away, by whom I cannot remember. I was locked in a small cell for days, for weeks. I remember the sounds of battle, the noise of death around me, yet I remained in my cell untouched by events as they unfolded. Then one day I awoke to utter silence. I thought I was dead, yet I knew I still lived upon the earth. One wall of my prison had been partly weakened in the fighting and I was able to slowly and laboriously break through. I had my freedom, but I had this dread feeling within me for what I would find. It took me hours to climb out from my confinement, utter destruction was all around me, and when I at last felt the warm sun upon me after so long, I despaired, for the fare city, our city that once had stood so proud, a symbol of gnomish achievement was gone. Mechno Babaptruek's towers were smashed its splendour gone in an instant, the city raised to the ground the great boulevards vanished, erased from the earth’s surface.
All that remained was just a pile of broken rubble and twisted metal as far as the eye could see. The Ognods strength proved far beyond anything we had ever expected; it was almost as if some great force drove them on with unbelievable energy. Then I saw it. There in the centre of the city, or where the centre had been once. There was a great rend in the earth. It was only a metre or so wide, but something was issuing from that rend, some power, an energy. It was the Rift, it had been exposed and freed once again. I stared in disbelief, had the Ognods destroyed the containment coils that held the Rift in check? I went to see. But as I approached I could see several people standing there already, taller than Pnook they were, T’Iea in fact. I recognised some of them as the T’Iea mages that had been working with me on the experiments before the war raged upon us. I started to walk towards them for they were my friends and I rejoiced in having someone whom I could talk with. But before I could get there I was forced to hide, for across the other side of my friends two great forms strode. Giants of men, Ognods! I was going to shout a warning, but something stopped me, I ducked down behind the remains of a wall and watched as the two Ognods approached my T’Iea friends and saluted towards them. I was speechless. The T’Iea seemed to give the two Ognods some orders and the great giants walked off once more.
I ran from the city, a great fear gripped me, a foreboding that something had been unleashed upon the world, something that should not be there.
Nar’Allia was too shocked for words to say anything; she just looked at the Pnook who gazed at the deck beneath his feet deep in thought, perhaps reliving the trials of which he spoke.
Nar’Allia and JDC remained there in silence for several minutes before JDC said, “Jorma Dak Cronos.”
Nar’Allia looked at him questioningly, she said the words in her mind, what could they mean? Then she thought, Jorma – J, Dak – D, Cronos – C, she uttered the three letters, “JDC”.
“Yes, JDC. My name is …… was Jorma Dak Cronos. I was a high ranking official in the old Pnook court, in fact I had the ear of the king himself,” he laughed, “but look at me know.” Here he held out his arms by his sides as if to reveal something to her, something that perhaps she had not seen before.
“But what happened?” What led you to this life you now lead?” Nar’Allia asked.
“Well the Pnook did flee, they did desert the city as I suggested, after all there was no city left to come back to. They left me there though, left me for dead. But old JDC was still alive and he followed them across the Trad to the Rust Desert. Do you know how they welcomed me? They shunned me a second time, called me murderer, called me traitor, blamed me for their plight, they hated me for not dying along with the city. My son’s supporters now had the ear of the king it seemed and they had no place for me in their plans so they managed to persuade the king to have me tried for my son’s murder. The king was a shadow of his former self, he had given up. The flight from the Pnook city had taken a toll on him, like so many. The strong amongst them took up the rule, the strong amounted to those who harboured hatred, such a powerful emotion took hold of them and they seemed at the time to be the strength that the Pnook needed to save them. So the people followed them and shunned the king and all those that fell into despair along with him. The king was either happy to go along with it, or no longer cared. Eventually, the new powers rose up with the support of the people, for they offered what the king no longer could. They professed stability, a solution, a fix for the Pnook’s woes, so the king was overthrown in a revolt, bloodless luckily for the Pnook would not have survived a civil war at that time. We, the last supporters of the King, found ourselves sentenced, found guilty, the king and I along with the king’s only son, a poor youth who had an affliction of the mind, the three of us were imprisoned, tried for treason and eventually cast out into the desert, banished from the new city as it was being planned, left to die.”
Nar’Allia remained quiet for a few minutes, but she was desperate to know more, “what happened then, you obviously survived, what became of the Pnook king and his son?”
“JDC buried his face in his hands before replying. “Well we roamed the desert for days, maybe weeks; all the while the king was slipping away from us. His son always had a strange affliction, a madness of the mind that kept him strangely remote from the world and he didn’t suffer as did his father. Eventually the king died a broken husk of a person. We, well I, buried him in the sands, no stone or marker for his grave. He lies there still lost in death as he ended up in life. Ironically, later that same day a party of human travellers, nomads, found us and took us to their encampment. They saved us and treated us as one of their own and taught us how to survive in the desert and much more. So it was, the king’s son and I became like them, adept at living in the desert, so that is what we did.”
“Where is the king’s son now?”
JDC looked at Nar’Allia, he shrugged. “He took the land train when I umm, became detained in Port Town.”
Nar’Allia remembered the discussions they had in Port Town when JDC waved all charges against the Ocean Belle and her captain. Things started to dawn in her mind. “So, by the Maker, the old Pnook king’s son, that was your partner Citac!”
JDC smiled, “yes Nar’Allia, the very same, I often wonder what has become of him, but even though he had strange ways he still remained a competent youth, I hope all is well with him for he is guardian and heir to the Pnook throne, whether he knows it or not.” At this JDC scowled, “so you see Nar’Allia, I have no real love for my people. They deserted me; cast me and the king out to die. They cared not for us. They would not look upon either Citac or myself with any kindness or compassion. Citac is the true heir to the throne, but following so many years a new dynasty has no doubt risen in Scienocropolis, one that would possibly wish to keep our existences a secret if they suspected that we still lived. I even fabricated a story to try and stop any suspicions growing around us. I told people who asked that Citac came with the land train and I did not know his history. The youth could not deny the story, I doubt he was even aware of his heritage, and in one way he did come with the land train, for when we came by the machine, Citac seemed to awake from his strange world of dreams and proved a competent mechanic and understood much about the workings of the machine. It is a shame he is not with us now, for I am sure he
would be able to unlock all of the secrets of this machine just as capably as he did with the land train.”
Nar’Allia felt saddened for JDC, all the trials he had been through, the life he now led. Suddenly she had a thought, perhaps if JDC went back there to the place perhaps where he had been most happy? So she suggested, “I think I would like to see the place where the ancient city of the Pnook’s once stood, we are headed to the eastern coast of Dahl’Ambronis, I’m sure that a small deviation from our route wouldn’t take much, why don’t we go there, to the old Pnook city and take a look?”
In response JDC gave her a quizzical look, well milady, if you so wish. I’m not sure how much may be left, even if we can find it at all.” He leant further back into his chair and clasped both his hands behind his head, “but it’s as good a place as any to head for, although I do doubt there is really anything left to see even for your T’Iea eyes.”