by Dan Worth
‘Something like that. We’d be the only bipedal race possessing those physical proportions around at that time with interstellar capabilities.’
‘We’re a long way from Arkari space here though,’ said Steven.
‘Yes we are, but in the past there were periods when exploration beyond our own systems was much more common. Maybe one such expedition came here and became immortalised in the Dendratha religion. Imagine it: You’ve just figured out how to build such modern things as aqueducts and self supporting stone arches, when a load of strange creatures forty thousand years more advanced than you appear out of the sky in a huge flying ship.’
‘Something of a culture shock,’ said Steven
‘Exactly, and just the sort of thing that gets interpreted as divine intervention,’ said Rekkid. ‘Not that that has ever happened on Earth of course… just a joke,’ he said and grinned weakly.
Steven looked at him oddly, before responding. ‘Are you sure those images are of a species alien to this planet?’ he said. ‘I mean, couldn’t the Dendratha have just made them up? Religious imagery on Earth often contains monsters, demons and other fantastical creatures.’
‘Yes they do,’ replied Rekkid. ‘But in all cases they bear a passing physiological resemblance to existing species on the planet. Demons from Human myths and religious texts are, after all, humanoid - albeit humanoids with bats’ wings attached. No, I’ve seen this sort of thing before; consistent imagery of wholly alien life forms more often than not points to off-world influence being interpreted as divine acts or visitation.’
Katherine was still pondering the tapestry. ‘It begs the question though,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘If those are Arkari or some other species, then who are they fighting?’
‘Who knows?’ said Rekkid. ‘Maybe the idea of Maran’s angels fighting evil spirits or whatever is just a story, nothing more and I am wrong about my people coming here. There is no record of any interstellar conflict in this volume of space at that time.’
‘Yes, well. We ourselves know only too well that wars can be forgotten, don’t we?’
‘I admit that you have me there Katherine.’
‘It seems that there’s much more to Maranos than first appears doesn’t it?’ she said. ‘Ancient alien artefacts and now this; something very odd has happened to this planet during its lifetime. I wonder what else we’ll uncover?’
‘I wonder,’ replied Rekkid. ‘Perhaps if we look for other clues in the temple - other imagery perhaps? I wonder if we can look at a copy of that holy book of theirs?’
‘The Book of Maran?’ said Steven. Rekkid grunted in agreement. ‘There are copies on the lecterns at the end of each of the transepts, can you two read it?’
‘Rekkid can,’ said Katherine. ‘Can’t you Rekkid?’
‘Yes, yes I can. Just a moment. He fumbled in his satchel for a data-pad and having found it he walked across the floor of the temple with Katherine and Steven trailing in his wake. He strode across the great space under the central tower to a great gilt lectern fashioned into the shape of a fierce scaly creature. It held a copy of the Book of Maran aloft with its upper sets of muscled limbs.
Rekkid stepped up to the lectern and peered at the antique volume that lay open in front of him. Its covers were wooden and cracked with age, but were carved exquisitely and inlaid with gems and precious metals. The pages were made from the delicately flayed and tanned hides of some unknown animal species, the ornate lettering and illustrations painstakingly inked in by hand. Rekkid produced a delicate Arkari-made manipulator tool shaped like a bulky pen that allowed him to lift and turn the pages using a gentle force-field. He was reluctant to touch the fragile volume and risk damaging it with his skin’s secretions. He activated his data-pad also, using it to display a dictionary of the Dendratha language. Holding it in one hand and the manipulator in the other he studied the Book. Katherine and Steven watched him silently, knowing that they should not disturb his concentration. Oddly, no-one sought to challenge Rekkid as to what he was doing, indeed several passing clergy merely smiled when they saw Rekkid’s look of concentration and went on their way. It was quite some time before Rekkid located the passage he wanted. He beckoned to Katherine and Steven that they should come and look for themselves.
Katherine stepped up to the lectern and was awestruck. The book was a work of incredible artistic beauty. The right hand page contained dense ornate lettering which she herself could not read, whereas the left was taken up entirely by an illustration. It was hand painted in a style that was much more realistic than the cruder religious iconography that they had studied on the tapestries. It showed in incredible detail one of the angels of Maran, spear of light in one hand, shield in the other and surrounded by an aura of brilliance. Though the proportions and detail were slightly incorrect, as was the addition of luminescent wings, it was unmistakably an Arkari: A humanoid figure with a birdlike chest, thin graceful limbs and seven fingers on each hand, smooth light brown features with binocular eyes but lacking a nose and with a ridge of chitinous plates that ran down the middle of the cranium. Rekkid began to read haltingly from the text.
‘A thousand years after the creation of the world, a simple man, a caravan driver by the name of Qizila was beset by storms whilst crossing the great desert. In his haste to find shelter he did chance upon a cave and hid within to shield himself and his beasts from the tempest. It was a most blessed event. Deep inside the cave he found the guardian of our world, Maran, bound within the rock by bonds of evil. Maran spoke to the frightened Qizila saying ‘Do not be afraid my child. For you are to be my Prophet and shall go forth and tell of my coming, and all shall rejoice in my name and that of my siblings who shine upon this world.’ Qizila was filled with wonder and fell at Maran’s feet, praising him greatly.’
Rekkid consulted his datapad a while before continuing. ‘It was then that evil did trick Maran. When Qizila returned to his home he did spread the word of Maran’s coming to his people, but alas they did not heed his tidings. As a gesture of his power Maran parted the waves of the Circle Sea with a pillar of light many khemral across, and all were struck with wonder. But evil lurked at the bottom of the sea. As Maran parted the waves a great beast, huge and powerful and black, rose from the watery depths where it had lain since the beginning of the world. A multitude of demons rode upon its back, and it spat flame and death from its many mouths.
Maran called to his host of angels, who appeared from the heavens in chariots of silver. They were tall and noble and walked upon two legs with graceful movements. They were clad in shining armour and bore crests upon their heads. In their hands they carried lance of holy light and magical shields and they fought the damned hordes. Many angels were struck down and their chariots fell from the sky, but they fought for Maran with ever greater zeal. Eventually, pierced by many lances, the great beast was slain and its demons with it.
Maran had won a mighty victory, and he now he spoke to his prophet. ‘I shall return to the earth,’ he said. ‘For that is where the evil dwelleth. I shall remain there to protect you, and with my two siblings Irrin and Irrinil to watch over you, you shall know no fear. With that his host returned to the heavens, and he to the ground where he remaineth evermore.’ Rekkid stopped reading and turned to the others. ‘I think,’ he said, ‘that we need to find out just what the hell went on here.’
‘Agreed,’ said Katherine. ‘We saw from the log that the Arkari were here in this system a million years ago at the end of the civil war, but they must have come back more recently for some reason.’
‘It certainly seems so, I wonder why?’
‘You know something else just occurred to me. Do you suppose that there’s any link between the two sun gods and the presence of the rings?’
‘It’s possible I suppose,’ said Rekkid. ‘But sun gods are fairly common after all, they would probably have been ascribed some sort of religious meaning one way or another at some time. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder what all
of this means? What were my people doing here ten thousand years ago? What was it that they fought?’
‘If it’s anything more than just a story,’ said Katherine. ‘If I were you I’d maintain a healthy dose of scepticism.’
‘You think a space battle or some other conflict occurred here Rekkid?’ said Steven.
‘Something like that,’ replied Rekkid. ‘The text mentioned “chariots of silver” descending from heaven. That could mean star-ships or landing craft I suppose, although Katherine’s right, it could all just be a fairy story. But there’s just something here on Maranos that we aren’t seeing. I can feel it.’
‘I wonder why you haven’t been mobbed by believers yet Rekkid,’ said Steven with some amusement.
‘Why would I be?’ Rekkid answered. ‘I am, after all, quite clearly as mortal as they.’
‘But the pictures…’
‘Display a flying, glowing being and I generally do neither. Besides, these people have known of the existence of aliens for some decades now. We arouse interest yes, as we saw on the way here, but it’s nothing more than the gawping of slack jawed yokels, if you’ll pardon the expression. They know we aren’t gods, but I’m guessing that they haven’t put two and two together yet.’
‘You mean, even though you look like one of their religious figures they assume that you can’t be because the scriptures don’t say anything about aliens.’
‘Yes, pretty much. Interesting what religion can do to even otherwise rational minds isn’t it?’
‘You think this is really the place to debate this? We should get going,’ said Katherine. ‘Kukadis and Makallis will be waiting for us.’
‘Wouldn’t want to annoy Kukadis any more by making him wait,’ replied Rekkid dryly. He took a photo of the open book then packed away his things. The three of them left the lectern and went to locate the entrance to the temple’s undercroft.
They found it eventually, a well worn stone ramp that wound down into the foundations. It brought them to the low ceilinged, barrel-vaulted warren of chambers that lay down there. The undercroft was lit by oil lamps, whose guttering flames provided a flickering gloom rather than proper illumination. Wandering through the ill lit maze they saw monks at study and prayer in spartan cells. Others shuffled to and fro on unknown errands and some regarded them with both interest and perhaps suspicion.
After becoming lost and asking for directions they eventually found Kukadis and Makallis standing impatiently in front of a wall of cracked and crumbling plaster. The material had fallen away in places revealing a second layer underneath that had cracked from floor to ceiling from the shifted weight of the building above. A row of regular characters could be seen inscribed faintly on the recently revealed surface.
Katherine guessed that this chamber they were now standing in was directly under the centre of the temple; it was circular with a slightly domed ceiling and enclosed by squat pillars that took the weight of the altar above. Kukadis heard the alien sound of their footfalls and turned to face them.
‘Ah, I see you’ve finally deigned to grace us with your presence? Tell me, did you find anything else in our temple to scorn, Professor Cor?’ he asked icily.
‘It was most interesting, thank you,’ replied Rekkid smoothly. ‘This must be Priest Makallis? Your Grace, I thank you for letting us visit your temple, our stay has been most enlightening.’
Makallis was old. His crimson robes hung upon a body bent and wizened with age. His skin was wrinkled and seemed paper thin, his eyes were rheumy yet still bright with intelligence. He regarded Rekkid with suspicion, yet remained polite.
‘Professor Cor,’ he began with laboured breaths. ‘Master Kukadis here seems displeased at your presence. I for one do not trust off-worlders such as you. Perhaps my age has made me suspicious of change but in my opinion, your coming here can pose nothing but a problem for us simpler folk.’ He coughed slightly. ‘However, it was Ekrino who requested your presence and he has a strong voice in our faith. I am grooming him as my successor. He may be radical by our standards but perhaps our faith needs to change with the times. Hence, I will allow this.’
‘Thank you your Grace.’
‘Hmm. You are an expert on ancient writings are you not Professor?’
‘Yes, that’s correct. I gather you wanted me to investigate this wall inscription?’
‘Indeed. I’m afraid it predates our earliest surviving records by some years. Our faith’s early history was… somewhat turbulent shall we say? Many of our documents were lost to heretics, pillagers and the like.’
‘I had no idea the history of the Dendratha was anything other than peaceful.’
‘Hah! Sadly not so, my friend. Anyway, we wondered if you might be able to tell us something about this wall.’
‘Ekrino said that an earth tremor dislodged the plaster.’
‘Yes, that’s correct. The frieze that covered this wall was almost as old as the temple, from just before the first sacking. Alas it is no more.’
Rekkid stepped up to the wall and peered at the lines of faint characters. They had been applied by hand in paint that had once been black but had faded to a pale brown over the millennia. He couldn’t make any sense of them. Though they bore some superficial resemblance to contemporary Dendratha script they were indecipherable. Rekkid shook his head.
‘I’m sorry, but without any reference material this is impossible.’
‘You can’t tell us anything?’ said Kukadis scornfully. ‘I thought you were an expert?’
‘Expert? Yes. Miracle worker? No. Though I can tell you that from the way the text is laid out that it looks like a verse from one of your holy books.’
Kukadis snorted. ‘That’s all? We knew that already.’
‘I can tell you one other thing.’ said Rekkid
‘What?’
‘There’s something behind this wall.’ He tapped the crumbling stone to demonstrate. There was a hollow knock and some grains fell from the surface.
‘Really?’ said Kukadis, his voice laden with sarcasm. ‘Well, it seems that the archaeological knowledge of the Arkari really is legendary, I’m glad that you came all this way.’
‘Kukadis,’ said Makallis wearily. ‘Cease this hostility, the Professor here is trying to help.’ Kukadis fell silent and glared at Rekkid.
Rekkid continued. ‘The point is,’ he said fingering one of the long cracks, ‘is that Katherine and I could see what is behind this wall if you like, perhaps the inscription was relevant to what lies behind it.’
‘Professor, I’d rather you didn’t dismantle my temple stone by stone if it’s all the same to you,’ said Makallis.
‘No need.’
‘Then how do you propose to go about looking behind the wall?’
‘I’ll show you. Katherine, can you get the ultrasound probe from our kit please?’
Katherine delved into one of the pockets of her bag and produced a device which Rekkid plugged into the back of his portable computer: It was fat electronics module from which protruded a thin, telescopic proboscis tipped with a coating of nanotech ultrasound equipment. Rekkid explained how it worked.
‘We can insert this probe into the crack and get an image of the chamber on the other side using high frequency sound waves.’ The two clergy looked nonplussed. ‘It’s quite a remarkable tool - the Humans based it on a creature that exists on their world that they call a bat. This creature flies at night and emits sound waves that reflect from objects and give it a picture of the world around it despite the absence of any light. We can use the same principle to examine sealed chambers without having to excavate first, it saves a lot of time.’
‘I know nothing of these ‘bats’ Professor Cor,’ said Makallis. ‘But I am familiar with the concept of sound echoes. I shall have to take your word for it, you may proceed.’
Rekkid knelt by the crack and with Katherine’s assistance inserted the long thin probe into the cracked stonework whilst Steven held up a torch for them to see more
clearly in the half light. Once it was inside, they extended the rapier thin proboscis until it registered that its tip had penetrated to the chamber beyond. The two Dendratha watched with interest as Katherine activated the device. There was a barely audible chirp from within the wall, then a three dimensional virtual image of the chamber beyond began to take shape on the screen of Rekkid’s computer.
The chamber was long and irregular, like a natural cave that had been artificially smoothed and hollowed out further. Clearly visible on the screen were niches in the walls two metres or so in length. There were twelve of them dotted around the chamber and though it was hard to tell from the image’s poor resolution, they appeared to contain remains.
Katherine grinned and beckoned for the others to look. ‘I think we’ve found what we came here to look for in the first place,’ she said triumphantly. ‘Twelve bodies buried beneath the centre of the temple? Gentlemen, I think we found the priests.’
‘Then,’ said Makallis. ‘You may proceed with excavating this chamber. Kukadis, you and your students will assist in every way possible. No objections now, this is of supreme importance to our Church, is that clear?’ Kukadis reluctantly agreed. ‘It seems that my suspicions about our visitors were ill-founded. Indeed this day has been blessed by Maran himself! This can only be a good omen. When can you get to work?’
‘Right away,’ replied Rekkid, beaming. He saved a cheery smile for Makallis, who scowled back at him in response.
Chapter 20
Mentith stood at the window of his sanctum and admired the view. He was back in Arkari space after many weeks away and it felt good to be among his own kind for a while without being confined to the cabins of a star-ship. He had returned to his home on the world of Gigarathme that lay in Arkula, one of the core systems of the Navy-governed volume of the Sphere. If anything, it was the Navy’s administrative capital, if such a thing existed. He had stayed with his family for a while, or what remained of it - his long years of service had taken its toll - but he had felt the itch to return to work before long and so had come here to think, study and plan for an uncertain future.