I was truly intrigued about the path my friend had chosen, or had it been chosen for him? My own life had lead me down a path I never knew existed as a secret agent trying to save my own people. Perhaps in that there was some similarity.
“What do you say of going back there tonight, Robert?” Tulos suddenly asked.
“Let's go!” As we turned to leave I thought I could feel his Pemanu's eyes burning into our backs, especially mine.
As we left I felt a sadness to be away from the comforting, deep lull of the gonging bells. I also had a question on my mind.
“Who is he, Tulos?”
“He is one of the prefects of the new temple in Syzygy. One with fragments of lost spiritual knowledge of the past that we'd thought gone forever.”
“Oh. He seemed a little strange to me.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“I once thought so too when I'd heard he was a renegade priest of the Order of Ancus on the Mothership.”
“Really?” I asked in dismay.
“Yes. I disapproved of such a one becoming a self-styled prefect of the Order of Jannis. But,” he sighed heavily, “who am I to judge? All here who came to this planet after the battle on the Mothership are renegades of various sorts, myself included. No loyalists would approve of or accept me as I am now. We have rebelled against the so-called natural order of things. We really are no different from him and others like him. This is a new world and I tried to apply thinking from the old order onto him. It was unfair.” To this I had nothing to say.
“However,” Tulos said suddenly, “I will say this. Pemanu has certain. . .ideas. . . that to me are not truly in line with the earliest precepts of the Jannisii. Though I do not dispute him openly, that mention about accepting all ideas that the order has allowed in is not one I subscribe to. Whatever he may say. Some ideas that have entered over time have served to confuse and taint the original precepts of peace. They are. . .alien. . .ideas.”
“I see,” I said quietly. Secretly I was glad Tulos had his own mind on the matter.
Tulos opened a channel on the comlink and sent a message to Genevieve and Rychik that we were headed back to Ophir.
“But what about fuel?” She countered. “We need to conserve as much as we can, Tulos.”
“I have a few extra credits I can use. We will not need to refuel using our extra stored fuel tanks,” he said.
“Alright then. I'll see you guys when I see you.”
“How's Will's brain coming along?” I asked. There was a pause.
“Still working on it,” she said.
We went to a fueling station and had the speeder fueled plus we bought an extra small tank to store in the back, under the carrier. Afterward, we were well outside the city limits traveling west once again. Tulos had settled the speeder into cruise mode. We flew over the red sands, rocks and in the distance I thought I caught a glimpse of a creature leaping down from a plateau of rock a mile off to the right. It looked like a huge harbeast. Unconsciously, I placed my hand upon my lasergun holster. Tulos must have seen it as well, as he veered off slightly to the left.
It was high afternoon when Tulos broke the silence.
“Perhaps because you do not know him you feel this way. I can understand. There was a time you did not know me or Rychik either. He is very old, Pemanu. Strong and powerful for his age.” I listened with unease.
“Can he wield the sword then?” I asked suddenly. Tulos gave me a curious look.
“You seem to be quite interested in these arcane things. Why does it matter to you?”
“Well,” I really couldn't verbalize it. “I don't know, Tulos, to be honest. I have no evidence for what I think of him.”
“Do you think that because he was once of a different order that he cannot be trusted?”
“Considering what I've learned of . . .Ancus. . .that's part of it. I do realize that people change their minds and positions on things though.” I almost forget that these names were holy names to the Eruatians. I didn't want to carelessly use them and offend.
“Where did you learn about Ancus?” Tulos was very surprised.
“I was on some business on the Earth moon. I ran into someone who had some knowledge of him.” He seemed even more surprised. So surprised that he slowed the speeder down and brought it to a halt.
“No one outside of our own peoples know about him.”
“The first time I'd heard the name was back home on Earth in conversation between Abor and someone else. At the time I had no idea what he was talking about, or who he was talking about. It was just a throwaway comment in passing when he mentioned the name. Then I heard it again.” I hesitated. Tulos's was expression was intense. He waited for me to continue. I felt my throat grow dry. I hoped I wasn't treading on dangerous ground.
“I found an alien on the Earth moon who actually worshiped Ancus. I found a blevdas with his image there in it.”
“How did you know it was his image?”
“From what I'd learned of him, I guessed it.”
“Those who see him who are not of the order or of the path do not live to tell of it.” He turned slowly forward as if he had just been stunned by a broad slap.
“I guess things have changed. Look, I didn't mean to offend, Tulos. It was by sheer accident that I stumbled upon all of this.” I preferred not to mention that the person who told me was of an extinct Erautian race of beings.
“Well. Times have certainly changed,” he finally said. I breathed a sigh of relief just in time to sense a shadow cross over the dome of our speeder's top shield. It was the great harbeast. He was bounding toward us and landed on top of the speeder's dome in a single, powerful leap, snarling at his prey inside. I yelled in shock. Tulos jerked in surprise at the creature's stealth but quickly lifted the speeder. Under the beast's weight however it struggled to move. The har-beast's long and threatening claws scratched and drew long strips of paint and plexiglass from the hood and sides of the vehicle. It snarled ferociously and its open jaw, full of fearsome white fangs covered nearly one fifth of the dome as it danced on top trying to get at what it probably thought was an easy meal. The speeder toppled and nearly turned over completely on its side from the beast's weight as it slipped from the top of the speeder. Tulos struggled to move it away. It jumped up and rammed the speeder, forcing it to spin half way around. Tulos changed gears and thrusted forward on the steering, quickening our pace at top speed. I could hear the howl of its engines against the howl of the creature as we raced away from it. It bounded toward us in a few strides but Tulos out ran it and I could hear its fearful roaring as we sped away.
“Jannis save us.” Tulos murmured. “That's what we deserve for even mentioning his name without being acolytes of his,” he said reprovingly. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or to himself. I turned to look back. I could see our ravenous, felinish-looking friend, now a pale dot moving against the red sand, yowling at the sun and at his lost meal, far behind us.
“Remind me not to mention that name again,” I said.
“It's just that no one, no human I know has taken the time to know these sacred things of our ways and beliefs.”
“Believe me Tulos, I didn't go looking for it. It sort of fell in my lap.” Okay, that was only halfway true.
“No. No, actually it is a good thing. In the early days when he was alive he never believed in obscuring knowledge from seekers. Anyone could be a seeker in those days. The only requirement was that your heart was pure and upright from hatred, ambition and the wish to harm others with the knowledge you acquired. If anything, I should apologize. Before, I would never have considered the idea of a human having any interest or the ability to follow his sacred path. If two species, with all our civilizations combined are going to live together in the same system then we must understand the others' philosophical beliefs.”
“You don't have to apologize Tulos. And I agree. We all have much to learn from each other.” We were silent for the rest o
f the trip. Not a hard, awkward silence, nor an uneasy silence but a comfortable silence in the company of deep thinking friends who'd known and respected each other. I hadn't known him long but I getting to know him and felt an essence from him that told me that Tulos was a loyal and honorable person. The kind of person one needed in tough times. Or any time.
And now I was searching for another friend. I wondered what life looked like for Sworda. Had he changed now that he was becoming a famed spiritual guru throughout Ophir and Syzygy?
12
We reached Ophir after sunset the next day, taking some time to hide our speeder in a small cave in a shallow crater, taking turns on the watch the night before. I took a few more moisture pills to stave off thirst and dryness. (Sworda's metallurgy friend sharing his knowledge is a secret)
The city from the towering cliffs of the Valles Marineris looked like a massive soft web of light filaments, the patterns of lights taking on the look of a tiny web of connected galaxies. They were spread out far ahead over the valley floor as far as I could see and the lights eventually trailed off where the building of the city ceased. It was growing fast. One day it might take over a third of the length of the canyon system. Or the entire Valles Marineris.
Tulos parked the vehicle near the cliff on a lonely looking vehicle lift station after having his identi-card scanned.
“They have indenti-cards here now?” I asked, looking at the card with dismay.
“Here in Ophir, yes. Especially if you're not traveling in an official capacity like we were last time. They are based on your thumb prints and optical identification. The last thing we want is to have it over run with loyalist spies. I don't like it much myself but Syzygy is too free-wheeling and unguarded for the tastes of many separatists. A price we pay for security.” The security mech used a retina-scanner to scan Tulos's eye, and mine and then waved us through. Tulos got back in and we were taken down. Ships were flying in or out, passing by ahead in an endless traffic stream.
Reaching the ground, finally, we went into a local dynashan to ask questions and get information. After an hour and a meal of some type of potted meat rolled in layers of thin, crispy fried, sandy tasting dough with a green sauce, some florescent colored strips of vegetable and tall glasses of ice water for which I was grateful, we got an answer. We already knew where he was located but Tulos wanted exact directions.
“Ah. Karulu-Ri. You seek the great temple in the Labryinth of Night,” said our server.
“We do,” said Tulos.
“It is three days from here, the western-most edge of the valley system. North of Syria Planum.” Once we received exact directions and programmed these into the navigator, we relaxed with our meal, and found a decent place to sleep – the dynashan also offered beds - and the next morning we were off to the “labryinth of night”. It took us a day of travel through the city and once outside of Ophir proper, two days of swift speeder travel to finally get to the temple.
Karulu-Ri was massive indeed. Noctis was a maze of various canyons that sprawled out in different directions but once we got to Noctis we recognized it from the descriptions given by the server. It was full of wide grabens and horsts. Within the steep walls of the valley the temple stood built on a large flat graben with two steep horsts on either side. The front of it was rock and metal but that seemed a facade for its true size lay within and behind this alien crafted metal and rock front. The canyon walls made up its interior. It dwarfed the temple in Syzygy.
I could hear the low, rythmic hum of gongs and chanting inside. It was twilight now as we parked the speeder and walked the rest of the way to the front steps. Two large, flat metal gongs hung on either side of the temple doors which were wide open.
“I don't mean to drag you all the way out here, Tulos, but I wanted to see what my friend is up to, how he's doing. It looks like he really has taken a new path.”
“It's not a hardship in any way. In fact, I meant to come out here again someday. I have my own path I wish to take. I believe it starts here.”
Inside I saw soft light from large glow globes hanging in mid-air near the ceiling. There was a large hall built as a wide ring and just below it was a natural looking amphitheater leading far down to a stone platform. Again there was a copper ball, even bigger than the one in Syzygy with the ring and light filaments and pictographic images around its surface, the powerful yet soothing gongs and chants and this time I thought I heard deep, resonant bells sounding from somewhere beneath the floors. It was simplicity at its most bare, but awe-inspiring. Hundreds of acolytes were sitting and meditating. A white robed Glia prefect came to greet us.
“Welcome. Are you seekers?” He asked looking at us curiously.
“We are friends of Sworda. Robert here wishes to see his friend. It has been a very long time.” The precept bowed to us. He smiled warmly.
“Yes. The one who points toward the way of Jannis. I will see if he is able to see you. Follow me.” With that we followed behind him down halls, long steps away from the main room to inner chambers still being built or occupied. We went to a large lift which took us up so far I don't know how long it took us to reach the top floor within the canyon rock. But as we stopped there was a wide stone walkway that dropped off into unimaginable depths below and before us another cave-like room. He led us there and bade us wait outside. A few moments later Sworda came out. He immediately smiled, glad to see us.
“My friend! You have come back!”
“Sworda, so much has changed!” I had also noticed that there was no longer any trace of his braided beard.
“And you, Tulos. I am glad to see you again. The way of the sword is open to you my friend, if only you would believe in yourself. But come, come inside! Thank you Resar for bringing them to see me!” Resar bowed and left quietly.
“Tulos! I know you have been seeking the path but are. . .you, too, wanting to become a seeker, Robert?”
“No, actually. I've come back to Mars for a different reason. I was just wondering how you were doing out here, Sworda. That hive wire you gave me, it was a mighty, mighty gift.”
“Excuse me. I think I would go to one of your meditation chambers,” said Tulos.
“Of course,” Sworda nodded. Tulos left us alone to talk.
“The mission to Europa, then. I might have known. If you could figure out how to use that wire for the cuase of the Alliance, I am most glad for you. And grateful, my friend. Come, sit down.” He guided me to a stone chair and poured ice water and threw in a pinch of salt.
“So, I'm curious, Sworda. When did all this happen? I never took you for a religious leader.”
“Leader? No, no. I would not say that. Only someone who has found the early path. I encourage others. That is really what I do.” He got up and put his hands behind his back, pacing the chamber.
“Robert, I found something that has fired my soul. This fire had been burning there long before I'd met you. I know it seems odd to you and very sudden but like many things on Mars it was a long time simmering before you see it rise to the surface. When Tulos showed me the gristone sword that you gifted to him from the gorgon ship it eventually awakened something in me. And there was something my brother had kept hidden for a time. He'd kept the secret to himself until a few months after you left. He found disks in the wreck of the gorgon. At the time we could not translate the information but one from our tribe who had been living in an outpost east of Syzygy heard about the building work of Ophir. He visited our home in Dorwe at Gruwdal's request. They had been in communication for some time, it seems. As it turned out, he was one of the last known apprentices to the last great metallurgists of sacred objects on our homeworld. He could read and interpret these ancient writings on the disks that Gruwdal had in his possession! So, I gathered many of the community on Dorwe and in other places who are talented in metalcraft to try and build another gristone sword under his tutelage. They learned much from him.”
“Do you think it can be done? Without natural gristone?”
“Yes. It will take much time but with this man's knowledge it can be done. Learning the nuances and the elements of the stone and metal to fuse together can work. It would be a different sword with different resonances because the raw materials are different on Mars than on Eraut. But we do have a piece of gristone taken from Tulos's sword, secretly. He generously donated a fractional piece of it to our scientists and to the best metallurgists for study.”
“That's fascinating, Sworda. How did this city come to be built so quickly? It seemed like I was gone and then boom, there it was.”
“Well, actually, it was a long time in the making, Robert.” He sat down in a chair in front of me. “We've been planning this for many years. We have the means to build quickly and we've put our all into making this a great, advanced and secure place. But it won't mean much without direction and greater purpose. Syzygy served a great purpose but it is too wild and perilous these days. Besides, Syzygy was never the true home for us separatists anyway. We'd always had our eyes upon a greater prize, a place of deep culture and spirituality, a place we can defend and be proud of.”
“It's a beautiful place. I hope to come back here some day.” I was quiet for a moment, taking a deep drink of water, then: “Sworda, do you know someone named Pemanu?”
“Pemanu? I know of him. He's a new follower of the path. He's risen quite quickly too. He's donated many files and ancient disks to the growing library we have here. Some people have donated priceless information. Ball disks of sacred texts, artifacts, fragments of knowledge of the original sayings of Jannis and other things long lost or thought long lost. Many think I am some sort of great mystic. I do admit I have been delving to the spiritual side of life lately but most of my work here has been encouragement for others nearly on the path to the order to stay on that path and also finding those who can decipher the fragments of texts we are acquiring. Pemanu has been a great support to me.”
Mission: Attack on Europa Page 12