"I don't have his vision," Zins said, "but I share at least one dream." He turned his gaze to the sky. "I want to know what's out beyond that second veil. I want to know what fell out of the sky, and why. I just want…"
He trailed off again, but they all understood.
"Let's get some food, and divide the work into shifts," Lyones said. "If we leave Slyphie out there by herself too long she's going to come in swinging an Imperium pipe."
They headed for the kitchen then, Zins handing out orders to his people for the unloading of their cargo, while Myklos and Termac conferred on the workers they had, their skills and abilities, and how best to split the labor. Before much time had passed, the machines were thrumming, gears spinning, and the first shift, worn out from a long day of travel and stress, had dropped off to sleep.
Zins stood outside the complex, staring at the road to Urv, and waiting to grow sleepy.
"Don't take too long, Frankes," he said softly. "It's time for us to get to work."
Chapter Sixteen
When Euphrankes and Ozymandes reached the front steps of The Council building, there was a large gathering waiting for them. High Councilor Cumby stood on the step, flanked by Illana and three other members of The Council. Arranged in a semi-circle around them was a group of priests. They were in full regalia, and as soon as they were close enough to make out faces and expressions, Euphrankes saw that they were in a state of high agitation.
Ozymandes dropped back a little. Euphrankes, in turn, stepped up. He understood the young priest's trepidation. They might have just saved the city, but Ozymandes had been a part of an attack on the High Priest, and he'd committed several acts of outright blasphemy in the eyes of The Temple in very short succession. There was no way to know how this was going to play out.
"Euphrankes," Cumby called out. "I assume your presence means that, once again, things are under control?"
Euphrankes passed the priests and climbed the steps to stand closer to Cumby. Somehow it felt more comfortable.
"There was a broken gauge," he said. "Luckily, Ozymandes," he turned and nodded to his companion, "was able to guide me to a spare. We managed to temporarily shut off pressure to the gauge, replace it, and then restore the pumps to normal operation. As far as we can determine, there has been no permanent damage to the system."
"Blasphemy!" a voice in the back of the group of priests burst out.
High Councilor Cumby winced at the outburst, and then turned to the gathered priests. He lowered his head for a moment, gathered his thoughts, and then began to speak.
"These last few days," he said, "have brought us to demanding times. Things are changing at a pace that our people are, frankly, just not equipped to cope with. Our rituals and our beliefs have kept us safe and happy for years, decades – for more time, in fact, than we have records of or comprehension of. It has made us complacent. I believe that the veils were put in place to protect us. It is what I was taught as a child, and it is what I have taught my own children.
"I no longer believe, however," he raised his eyes and swept them across the gathered priests, "that the veils were intended to make us into weak-kneed children. We have spent so much energy fighting our nature – the desire, and the ability to improve things, to grow and learn.
"I am an old man. When I was young, I could do many things that are beyond me now. I was faster, and I was stronger. I hope I am now wiser, but wisdom alone is not always enough. The city – the pumps – the veils – they are not so different from you and I. They are aging, and, like myself, they are weakening. It's just a very slow process."
"They are our salvation," one of the priests said, stepping forward. "They are not for us to understand – but to be thankful for."
"What kind of caring, intelligent protector," Cumby asked the man, "would put us in a decaying cage to die of entropy? I once knew a man – a great man. He spent long hours telling me things I'm only now beginning to understand."
He turned to Euphrankes and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"That man was your father. He told me that he believed the veils were not just for our protection. He believed they were our challenge. They bought us the time to evolve, and learn, to find ways to survive on our own wits and by our own talents. They were put in place to give us a chance, and we need to embrace that chance, rather than shying away from it in fear."
"The rituals have kept us all alive," the priest said. "The Temple has always guarded the pumps, and performed the rituals."
"I am not suggesting that it should be otherwise," Cumby said. "The pumps need to be maintained, and your order has been performing that service for Urv since time immemorial. I would not presume to change it."
"It is already changed," the man said. "You have imprisoned Myril. That one," he turned and pointed directly at Ozymandes, "has broken his vows, desecrated the pumps, and allowed an outsider access to things that even we are not meant to see."
Euphrankes stepped forward. Cumby looked as though he'd try to silence him, and then thought better of it.
"What Ozymandes showed me," Euphrankes said, "had to have been placed in that cabinet by your order. There has been no other with a key, or access, in all the years of the lives of the eldest in Urv. Somewhere along the line, something has happened to obscure things. You have the key to a locker that holds the schematics and manuals for those pumps. I'll tell you what I think, and then you can do as you see fit.
"I think somewhere along the way someone delved too deeply into the workings of those machines. Someone had those parts, and those books, and went too far, trying to repair something, or change something, and it went wrong. Instead of learning from that mistake, whoever was in charge took the coward’s way out. They locked it all away and made it taboo. They hid the only parts you have to keep those pumps creating air into the next generation, and they took any chance you – or any of us – ever have of replicating the technology and improving our lot.
"They did it to protect us – to protect you from making similar errors – but it was wrong. We would not have been given minds to think and the ability to improve ourselves just so there would be a convenient thing to hold over our heads and make us miserable as we watch the mechanisms that should keep our children safe, and alive, crumble slowly to dust. That's not the legacy we want to leave. At least, it's not the legacy that I want to leave."
"What you say makes sense," Ozymandes said, stepping forward. He blushed, and it was obvious he had struggled hard with his own feelings to gain the courage to speak. "I have often wondered why there would be a forbidden place – but a place that every single priest in The Temple had full access to. I thought it was a test of our faith. Now I think it was a safety precaution. Those parts were stacked very carefully, and the manuals – once the cabinet was open – were in plain sight, so it was obvious what they were."
"You have betrayed a sacred trust," the older priest said, stepping forward.
The man's face was angry, and Ozymandes stepped back, just a bit. Then he stood his ground and straightened.
"It is very possible that we are only having this conversation, brother, because I opened that cabinet. It is also possible that it is our own pig-headedness, and yes, I include myself in this, that has brought us to this point in the first place. Do you really believe, Brandin," he stepped closer, looking the older priest in the eye, "that it was the right thing for High Priest Myril to do, smashing at the pumps with a piece of pipe? Did he come to you for council? Did he summon The Council and meditate over this problem?
"It is our sacred duty to protect the pumps. The veils are our responsibility. We are what stands between the city, the people, even The Council, and oblivion. We have taken vows to be those protectors. We did not take vows to destroy what we are set to protect. At least – I did not. Myril set himself above The Protectors."
"He was High Priest," Brandin said. "We are sworn to follow."
"Who will you follow now?" Ozymandes asked?
Th
ey all turned then, not to Brandin, or to Ozymandes, or even Euphrankes. The gathered priests turned to High Councilor Cumby, and the question was bright in their eyes. The old man seemed shrunken, as if he'd felt for the first time the great weight of the responsibility resting on his shoulders.
"Ozymandes is too young," he said, "and despite the good that has come of it, I would not replace a High Priest with one who has broken his vows. For whatever reason. It sets a precedent that I do not care for. Brandin, you are too set in your ways. I sense that you would be too much like Myril, and I will not put Urv into hands that might harm her."
"What of Cyril?" Brandin asked. "He is not the oldest of us, but he has been longest in service to The Temple."
A slender, gray haired man stepped forward. He met Cumby's eyes directly.
"What say you, Cyril?" Cumby asked. "Are you ready to lead The Temple into a new future?"
"I have been servicing those pumps," the old priest said, "since I was thirteen years old. I know more about them, I believe, than any standing here. I have studied them when no one watched, and I knew what was in that forbidden cabinet. I have crawled in and around every bit of technology the priesthood controls, and I am not the only one. Had I known of Myril's plan, I would have stopped him – gently."
There were murmurs among the gathered priests. Some nodded their heads and smiled at Cyril's words, others muttered and shifted from foot to foot.
Cyril turned to them. "You are bright, intelligent men," he said. "You are dedicated in ways the average citizen of Urv will never understand. You need to understand that we lead by example. We understand things so that we can protect them. We protect them because we understand better than anyone else."
He turned back to Cumby.
"I will lead, if you will back me," he said. "I will also do what I can to help you with Myril, and hopefully bring him around, in time. One thing only I ask."
"What?" Cumby asked, as shocked and surprised as most of the gathered priests.
"That one," Cyril said, pointing at Ozymandes. "We cannot trust him in The Temple. I believe he is honest, but he is also curious, and there are those who might resent him. I ask that he be removed from Temple service."
"But," Ozymandes said, "The priesthood is all I know…"
"That's not entirely true," Euphrankes said. Cyril waved him to silence.
"I am not asking that you leave the priesthood," the old man said. "I believe that Euphrankes is planning a journey – a journey beyond the veils. If there is any place I can imagine where spiritual guidance would be a boon – it is on such a journey. I ask that, as representative of The Temple, you accompany this man when he departs Urv."
They all stood in silence a moment, and then Cumby smiled.
"I believe," he said, "that we have a new High Priest in Urv. It seems, Euphrankes, that you also have a new Chaplain for the Tangent. Is this acceptable?"
"Of course," Euphrankes said. "And I'd like to note; this is what comes of asking how things can get stranger."
Then Euphrankes brow furrowed.
"What about the…cargo we brought in?" he asked. "In all the excitement, I completely forgot about them."
"I will speak to Cyril about them after you have gone," Cumby said. "Every effort will be made to discover details. I will see that you know as soon as we do. I would ask you to stay for the ceremonies, but under the circumstances, I believe it would be better if you got on the road."
Euphrankes nodded. "I will be interested to know…" His words trailed off. "I only wish…" Again, he was unable to continue.
"No one can fix all of the problems of Urv single handedly," Cumby said. "You are not responsible. No one is responsible, though there might be a sort of community blame to share. If we'd embraced certain…changes…sooner…"
"Thank you," Euphrankes said. He held out his hand, and Cumby shook it. "We will talk again soon. I believe we have some years to catch up on."
Cumby nodded, but didn't speak. The priests, and everyone else who'd gathered, stared, confused, and impatient.
"Well then," Euphrankes said. "If there are no more emergencies, I suppose we should be on our way."
They all laughed, and then, slowly, they dispersed, Cyril to lead the priests back to The Temple, Cumby to The Council chambers, and Euphrankes to lead Ozymandes off toward the tracker, still loaded and waiting for them.
When they reached the tracker, Aria called out to them.
"About time," she said. "Let's get out of here. I'm not sure I have a third heroic act in me."
"Fine," Euphrankes said. "But you owe me a wrench."
They climbed into the tracker, and moments later it was rolling slowly toward the road leading to The Outpost. For the first time that day, the streets of Urv were silent.
Chapter Seventeen
Euphrankes made good time on the return trip, as he'd expected. The road remained clear, and though they stopped along the way to perform pressure tests and check air samples, they found no sign of deterioration in the patches. There were no incidents, and they made radio contact with The Outpost two hours out, letting the crews working there know to expect their arrival, and the delivery of the awaited supplies and cargo.
"Where have you been, Frankes?" Zins bellowed through the speaker. "We've been ready for that cargo for almost a full day."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Euphrankes said, "but when we get in, we'll have a drink, and I'll tell you anyway. Short version, the city almost got destroyed a second time after you departed, the city has a new High Priest, and we have a Chaplain," he glanced toward Ozymandes, "or maybe a new pump technician. I haven't decided yet."
"I won't pretend to have any idea what you're talking about," Zins said, "but I'll pour those drinks."
They arrived to find the entire crew of the Axis, plus Euphrankes' people, gathered before the entrance to the road. There were enough of the small transport vehicles for the crew and cargo of the tracker. Euphrankes pulled up just short of the crowd, and stared at them through the tracker's front viewport.
"This is new," he said. "Usually we have to call three or four times to get someone to pick us up."
"It's not every day heroes arrive at The Outpost," Aria said, smiling at him. "I bet they just couldn't stand the idea of waiting any longer to find out what happened after they left."
"I suppose," Euphrankes said. "Still"
Before they were even out of the tracker, several men and women had opened the cargo bay and begun unloading. Bonymede and Lyones pitched in, a bit confused, but happy for the help. It took a surprisingly short amount of time to unload everything they'd brought, and before they knew it, they were on carts and headed back toward the complex. Euphrankes and Aria rode with Zins, and Termac in a cart driven by Slyphie. The others followed in a second and third cart.
"So," Zins said. "I take it that things didn't go smoothly after we left. Was it the patch? Is there a problem?"
"The patch is fine," Euphrankes said. "Let's just say High Priest Myril had a crisis of faith. He decided that the space debris was meant as a punishment. He tried to sabotage the pumps. We barely got there in time, and if Aria here didn't have good aim, he'd have gotten away with it. He broke a gauge, but I was able to replace it with help from our young priest back there," he nodded toward Ozymandes in the second cart. "He knows more than he thinks he does about pumps. High Councilor Cumby got him out of there – wisely I think – before the cries of blasphemy could get too loud."
"And Myril?" Zins asked, interested.
"He's in custody," Euphrankes said. “Cyril is the new High Priest. It sounds a lot like Myril, I know, but trust me, this old guy has been breaking the rules for a very long time, and he's going to be good for that temple. The times are changing fast. I hope, after helping set it all in motion, we're able to keep up."
"Well, we have some surprises for you in that regard," Zins said. "We've been working steadily since we got here. We expected you yesterday, and when you did
n't show, we started working on the Tangent."
Euphrankes started.
"What have you done?" he asked.
"Relax," Zins laughed. "For my own part, I spent the time with Slyphie learning everything I could. The others worked on preparing the inner lining so that, once we get the Imperium processed, we can begin work on the outer membrane."
Euphrankes felt the weariness drain from him in an instant. Every time he thought about the Tangent, he got excited.
"Did Slyphie explain the propulsion?" he asked. "That's my biggest concern. We've done experiments, using the weaker atmosphere between the veils as a guide, but…"
"I have some thoughts," Zins said, "but they can wait. "Let's get this cargo into the work area and arrange a schedule. The patches are our first concern. We need to maintain this new relationship with High Councilor Cumby and the rest of The Council in Urv, and the best way to do that is to get a good supply of the patches back to them so that they can begin opening channels to the other cities. We may not be able to rebuild our world, but I think we have a good shot at repairing it so it can carry us through."
"Of course," Euphrankes said. "Where do we stand on that?"
"With the Freethion you brought, and some of the Imperium, we should have enough to send a tracker load by the end of the week. I had Imperium on board that was never getting where it was headed, so we got a head start on you. I think we can make The Council very happy – apparently for the third time in a very short period. We're still going to need some supplies and support from them as well."
They rode in silence for a few moments more, and pulled up just short of the complex. The cargo passed them, moving around to a larger door. Lyones and Myklos took charge of the cargo, and Euphrankes went with Zins to take a look at the production that had gone on in his absence.
"We made a breakthrough on the mag drive," Zins told him excitedly. "We isolated the magnetic waves, and we managed to concentrate them. Slyphie did most of it, actually. She was able to create a beam about a thousand times as concentrated as you had in your prototype, and it increased the range astronomically."
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