"I've never seen anything like it. I wish the specimen was better preserved," Anderson said.
"If this is a builder," said Douglas, "it would explain the height of the roof and the lack of steps. This thing would need ramps to crawl around."
Jane shivered. "It's horrible. Those hands..."
"Now, Jane. There are many aliens with physiologies that resemble that of humans. The Homndruu and Rhyrhans are both mammals, but definitely not of Earth origin. The structure of a Rhyrhan hand even resembles that of a human, at least superficially."
"If someone had shown me this skeleton when I was in school," Douglas said, "I would've thought that they were pulling a prank on me. This thing looks as if several different skeletons were just spliced together."
"It does seem an improbable organism," Anderson agreed. "However, it may seem just as improbable to an alien species that beings descended from arboreal brachiates, such as ourselves, could exist. This being may simply have been descended from a squid-like creature in an oceanic environment, like the Nurgg."
"Doesn't it seem strange that we haven't seen anything like this on the planet? I would expect to find degenerate or ancestral forms. The indigenous fauna seems more Earth-normal than this."
"True, but we have barely explored the surface of this world. We have really seen very little of it. There may be similar forms of life in other parts of the planet."
"I hope not," Jane said. "Is there any reason to assume that this creature is from this world?"
"What do you mean?"
"Could it be an Achenar?"
Anderson thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so. The Homndruu were manipulated by the Achenar; their legends say that the Achenar were tall, winged humanoids. I agree that we shouldn't assume this is a native of this world. It could be alien. It certainly looks different from the examples of life we have seen. We don't have enough data to say conclusively one way or the other. Douglas, I want you to record this thoroughly. We may have a chance to study it later. We may even find better preserved specimens."
"I wish now that Carmine was with us," Douglas said. "She may be able to tell more about it."
"I'm sure there are other things like that around," Jane replied. "If not, she'll have to make do with the recordings."
They explored the rest of the building, but didn't find anything else.
"How much time do we have left before we need to rendezvous with the others, Sergeant?"
"About six hours, sir," McGee replied reluctantly.
"Good, then we still have time to explore another building."
McGee looked at the cloudy sky as they stepped outside and prayed that they wouldn't find anything interesting in the next building. He just wanted out of the city before darkness fell. Not love nor money would keep me here, he thought. I never thought I'd want to be back on the road, but I do – god help me, but I do.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jeroen watched his friends divide up into small groups and enter the demon-haunted ruins. He wanted to call out, to scream at them to turn back, but he didn't. He couldn't. His hand tightened on his sword as the last of them disappeared through the massive stone gate.
"Is there something wrong with them, sir?" asked Rutgers, his guard sergeant. The old sergeant had been with him all of his life and gotten him out of more than one scrape. "Can't they feel the menace of that place?"
"They feel it, Rutgers. They just aren't going to let that stop them. Their leader wants to understand these places. They follow him out of duty."
Rutgers nodded. "I can understand that. We'd do the same for you, sir. They just didn't strike me as having much honor. That's all."
Jeroen smiled reassuringly.
It was important that his men not think that Tebrey's people were crazy, or worse, possessed. He was going to have a hard time keeping them from panicking when Tebrey's people did come back. Such ruins were not to be entered. Secretly, a part of him wished that he could explore the ruins as well, but he didn't want to put his father's men's loyalties to the test. It was best to wait just outside the valley. He would learn soon enough what lurked in the ruins. He hoped he would, anyway. As long as they came back.
"I thought you liked the barbarian, Rutgers."
"I do," he replied. "I like him and that old sergeant with the funny name, but I can't help but wonder what could be so important as to make them risk their souls. I just think that other man, the one who leads them, is crazy. That's all, my lord. He's going to lead them to their doom."
"Luckily, it isn't up to you to worry about it. They know what they're doing. Just as I know what we are doing. We'll wait for them here tonight. Tomorrow will we head back to the road and journey on the capitol, with or without them. Get the men settled down for the night."
"We won't be going after them if they don't come out?"
"No, old friend. Tell the men not to worry. We aren't going any closer to the ruins than this."
"Yes, my lord." The gratitude in his voice was unmistakable. Rutgers was a solid fellow, but he was deeply superstitious. The sergeant saluted and then walked back to the men.
Jeroen stood there looking at the city for a long time as the sun dipped lower in the sky. Occasionally he thought he could see someone moving in the streets, but it was difficult to make out details at that distance.
"Hurry back, my friends," he whispered, then turned and walked into the camp. He was going to have to spend time talking to each of the men, calming them down. He'd have Rutgers break out a ration of whiskey. That would help.
He'd make his a double.
Anderson picked a large, sprawling structure to explore next. The ceiling was again too low, but they had expected that. The main part of the structure was open to the sky and had strangely carved posts arranged in double rows outside a short walled circle twenty meters across. The sandy floor of the circle under the skylight was stained richly with organics.
"Could it be some sort of place of worship?" Jane asked.
"I think maybe a coliseum might be closer. Places of worship tend to have depictions of deities and such. This place is quite utilitarian. I think the low pillars must be seats for creatures like the one whose skeleton we found."
McGee didn't like the sound of that. Coliseums suggested combat to him, and the stains suddenly seemed very sinister.
"There are doorways on the far side."
They walked across the uneven ground toward the archways, avoiding the dark patches of soil. The sun was lower in the sky now, and the temperature was starting to fall. None of them talked about it, but they were all uneasy out here in the middle of the arena. They felt as if they were being watched.
"First arch on the left, Douglas," Anderson said, gesturing as they finally reached the other side. "We may as well do them in order."
The light from Douglas' hand lamp showed a small room with a door on the far side. The far door seemed to be made of a metallic material and was standing just a little bit open. They crossed to stand next to it.
McGee tapped on it with his lamp, and it rang dully. "Could be some kind of bronze alloy, sir."
"I can see that, Sergeant. Make yourself useful and open it," Anderson said.
McGee handed his lamp to Jane and grasped the door with both hands. It squealed and screeched, but finally yielded.
None of them were prepared for what lay within.
"Everyone, come quickly!" Seshadri shouted.
Tebrey drew his pistol and ran. He had told them all not to get out of sight of each other, but they just wandered off in any direction they felt like. He entered the room and slid to a stop. The three scientists were huddled around a small sarcophagus. There were several other sarcophagi in the room, but this one was open.
Within the stone coffin lay a mummified form, tentacled and bizarre. It was similar to the depictions they had found in other buildings, but still disturbing to see in one the flesh, so to speak.
"You have to stop doing that to me," Tebrey said
tiredly.
"Doing what?" Mason asked, not even looking up.
Hunter growled softly from the doorway, reflecting Tebrey's thoughts. No one noticed, however; they were intent upon the alien form before them.
"We can learn more from how a species buries their dead than just about anything else," Seshadri said.
"So what does this one tell you?" Tebrey asked.
"That they venerated their dead. Most societies form some idea about an afterlife. Anyone who cares for the dead enough to make sarcophagi for them must believe that the body is important to the deceased after they are gone. They preserve the body in hopes that the deceased will have a use for it in the afterlife."
"Isn't that projecting a human point of view onto the aliens?" Tebrey asked.
"Yes, but I don't have any other points of view to project," Seshadri said seriously. "I doubt a Rhyrhan would disagree with me, though."
"I see your point, Doctor: ornate sarcophagi suggest respect for the dead. I suppose they would just throw them in a hole, otherwise."
"Hmm." Seshadri was thinking of the skeletons they had found at the beta dig site.
"The physiology is fascinating," Bauval said wonderingly. "Look at the development of the skull and the manipulative digits. They have both hands and tentacular grasping members. The eyes are startling. I've never seen the eyes of a mummy so well preserved."
Mason reached in and tapped on one eye gently with a small tool. "I think they're glass eyes. They're disturbingly human looking."
"They must have felt that the eyes were important. They gave them eyes of glass so that when the real ones collapsed, the dead could still see."
"Didn't one of the ancient peoples of Earth remove the organs and such from the body after death?" asked Tebrey.
"Yes, several different cultures, actually," Seshadri replied absently.
"Are these metallic things tools or weapons?" Mason said.
"Maybe both," said Seshadri. "The harness it's wearing seems to have held some of the objects – the round ones, maybe. We found similar objects in some of the digs at the beta site. We should take a few samples for Hanna and Akira. They may be able to understand them better." He hoped that the two crypto-technology students would be able to tell him a little bit about the function of the things. He had been waiting for a report from Dr. Walsh when they were marooned on the planet. He never had found out what the other scientist may have thought of those artifacts he had recently found.
"You don't think that maybe you should leave them alone?" Tebrey asked.
"Why?"
"Because they could be dangerous."
"I've handled dozens of artifacts like these. I'm sure we'll be fine."
Tebrey sighed, but didn't argue.
"I'd almost swear these hands were human," Bauval said. He pitched his voice low, although out of respect for the dead or fear of waking them, Tebrey didn't know. "I know it's impossible, given the rest of the body, but they are so close. They even have fingerprints."
"Could it be human?" Tebrey asked.
They all turned and stared at him.
"I've seen stranger forms out on the frontier. People sometimes alter their basic body plans in some extreme ways. There could have been some sort of religious significance to the shape, or even sound functional reasons. I could see how a shape like that would be handy in low gravity."
"You realize these have probably been here for over fifteen thousand years?" Seshadri said. "And we have no evidence that they had star travel."
"I realize that, but isn't it one of your pet theories that humans somehow made it off the Earth before the big ice age? I thought you found human remains at the other site that may be that old."
"I did, and it is. I just didn't expect you, of all people, to think it's plausible."
"I'm just keeping an open mind, Doctor."
"Those aren't like the other one," McGee said.
"No," Anderson said, with quiet respect for the dead. "No, they aren't."
The room behind the door was only two meters square, but it held drifts of mummified bodies. Many of the corpses had been chained to the walls. Others looked like they had been dragged in and left there, already dead or dying.
The bodies appeared human.
"Okay," Anderson said. "We've all seen this sort of thing before. Douglas, check the closest bodies. They have marks on them that suggest they were wounded before they were carried in here. Jane, come with me and hold the light while I examine the bodies chained to the wall."
McGee took his lamp back from Jane as she moved to assist Anderson. He hadn't seen anything like the mass of bodies in the cell for years. It brought back bad memories of the liberation of Atlonglast. The Nurgg had executed the civilians in job lots. The city streets had been choked with the bloated, rotting corpses of men, women, and children. The children had been the worst. At least the bodies here were so old that they didn't stink. There was just a dry, musty smell in the air, like an old cave.
"I think these were dead when they were brought in here, Doctor," Douglas said. "They have wounds consistent with strikes from bladed weapons. I guess we know what the arena was for."
"That's highly improbable, Douglas. Why would a civilization as advanced as this one was debase themselves with blood sport? And these are human bodies, not alien."
"Sir, we found human bodies in the digs at beta site. Maybe Dr. Seshadri is right."
"First time for everything, I suppose," Anderson said under his breath. "Move the light over a little, Jane. There, do you see that? There is evidence of malnutrition on the bones. It also looks like some of these unfortunates were alive when they were left here."
"You think someone just chained them here and never came back?"
"So it would seem."
"That's horrible!"
"But not uncommon. We have found many live burial sites on Earth."
"You don't believe that humans may have been brought here from Earth fifteen thousand years ago, do you, Doctor?" Douglas asked.
McGee was quite interested in the conversation now. He had never heard any of them suggest that they thought humans may have been brought here in the distant past. They had kept it well-hidden. He wondered if the commander knew any of this. He'd have to remember to ask him. If they'd been keeping something like this a secret, the military was going to be very irritated.
"I keep it as a possibility, Douglas, as I have always said. We have found very little evidence that would suggest that the builders and humans were here at the same time."
"But what about this?"
"What about it? Anyone could have placed these poor people here at any time. It doesn't take very long for a body to mummify. Given the right conditions, it can happen in a few years. These bodies could have been placed here within the last decade by bandits."
"You can't believe that! These bodies are just as old as the other one that we found. Look at them!"
"Douglas, control yourself," Anderson said sternly. "I'm not saying that these are not that old. I'm saying that we have to consider that they may be more recent. If you wish to prove to me that they are as old as you suggest, find some proof. You're never going to become a good scientist if you don't start acting like one."
Chapter Thirty-Six
Despite Tebrey's misgivings, his group worked their way toward the center of the city. Many times they wanted to stop and explore some new building or interesting bit of writing, but Tebrey kept them moving. He wanted to make sure they'd be out of the ruins before dark. The feelings of dread grew ever stronger as they neared the center of the ruins.
I don't want to go any further, Hunter thought to him.
I don't, either, but I think I need to. I think if we don't go and look, it's going to haunt our thoughts. I need to see it.
I'm afraid that it's going to haunt us if we do.
The sun was low in the turbulent sky when they finally reached the open area at the center of the city. Ruined and crumbling towers soar
ed to tens of meters in three concentric rings around what must have once been a majestic plaza. The ground was paved with inlaid stones in a swirling geometric pattern that twisted the eye when they attempted to looked upon it directly. It hurt their minds to stare for too long at the pattern, but that wasn't what drew their attention.
In the center of the plaza stood a statue.
The statue was broken in places and worn by thousands of years of weather, but there was no doubt that it had once dominated the plaza and the surrounding city. It was ten meters high, and no one would ever have mistaken it for human. The carved stone was a mass of tentacles that almost seemed to writhe as they watched. It was covered with eyes, some very human looking, others reptilian, some distinctly insectile, and others that defied explanation. The stature also bore many gaping and screaming mouths, again the most disturbing of them looking distinctly human. It held a large, open book in its arms.
It was like nothing any of them had ever seen before, even in nightmares.
"'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair,'" Tebrey quoted quietly.
Seshadri gave him a speculative glance. "You may not be far from the truth on that one, Commander. This must be the representation of some kind of god, wouldn't you agree, Mason? I'd bet you all any amount of credits you'd care to wager that it wasn't a pleasant god."
"It is terror-invoking," Mason agreed. "But Homndruu have similar reactions to depictions of angels. Could this be like that?"
"They have that reaction because of the Achenar. I know of nothing from Earth mythology that looks like this. Besides, that would only reinforce what I think. The Achenar were not kind to the Homndruu."
"The gorgons were said to be a race of people with heads like writhing snakes," Mason suggested. "It could be a reference."
"I doubt the legends would be related. No, I think this thing was simply a dark god – a nightmare made flesh, so to speak. There were aboriginal groups on Earth that worshiped twisted and deformed beings as gods. This has similarities to the bodies we found, but has been twisted into something else, something worse."
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