“Repair this damage,” the alien king said slowly. “Show the people that you care about them and give them laws and government. Advised is democracy. After all, it is the people you are attempting to govern. Let them raise their voices.”
Uther noticed how at times, Pellinore’s speech came more naturally than at others. He wondered if the context had something to do with it or if the explanation would be entirely alien.
“I will need ambassadors, of course,” he said. “Would you mind at all?”
The alien shook his head and a sort of smile touched his thin lips. He moved a little ahead to inspect a human speed bike that he found fascinating. This left Uther alone with Igrain once more.
“Igrain, I understand your grief right now. I cannot comprehend it, but I understand it.” He faced her and took her hand. “I beg you to please take solace with me. Don’t waste away in weeping. Please, come to my settlement and leave Lothian.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Lot can manage it.”
“But what of your suspicions of him? Mab told me. I must know the truth.”
“We can look into it later. When I have established a court.” He waved the argument away then knelt before her. “Igrain, I do love you, but I don’t want to rush you. For now, just come back with me and let me help you bear your sorrow. Put off being a soldier for a time. Come back with me? Help me rule.”
Something inside of her squirmed and she said the word “yes” before she could even stop herself. She frowned in wonder at her own words and touched her lips, wondering if they had uttered the reply. She dropped her hand and looked down at him.
“Yes, I will,” she said.
13
Mapping the Land
The suns of Camelot rose and set many times before Uther made any move forward in his plan. Instead, he contrived a plan that would ease him into the seat of power. With Merlin and Pellinore at his side, he assumed he’d win the people over and lead them into the future he so desired. With his nearest enemy dead, Uther thought he had no other threats to address and on the first day of his campaign, he set out with his small posse to find Excalibur and bring it back to his base. He was no fool and knew the best first step would be to gather a militia. A machine-like Excalibur would inspire more willing soldiers. They needed a defense immediately.
“What are beyond those mountains?” Ector asked Pellinore who knew every name of every living thing and geographical location on Camelot. “I’ve not been there yet.”
“The terra fish you would call them, I believe,” Pellinore said in his melodious voice.
“And why would we call them that?” Uther asked. They were crossing the terrain in an open hover craft, surveying as they went. Pellinore had been studying Camelot long before they landed and showed eagerness to meet the creatures he had been studying and show them all he knew.
Pellinore looked confused. “Because on the land, these fish swim, of course.”
“I want to see them,” Igrain put in softly. She had become more placid since she learned of her pregnancy. She thought the child belonged Galois. Now she sat robed in scarlet and gold on a dais of cushions recently fashioned by seamstresses who had set up in the streets of the castle.
“It seems my people have spread out over the course of the weeks,” Uther said as he inspected the glass tablet in his hands and the millions of life forms milling about the country side. “A man named Ban du Lac lives there and has already built a home.”
“Is that wrong of him?” Ector asked, keeping his eyes on the train as he flew over a purple marsh.
“No, but we haven’t written laws for homesteading or settling yet.” Uther slipped the tablet back into his pack. “These things need to be taken into consideration.”
“Perhaps sooner, rather than later?” Merlin asked. “I see a transport has touched down recently as well. From a tiny star called…” he frowned as he read the name over and over. “I cannot make it out.” He held out his little screen for Pellinore to read.
“Call it Benwick,” Pellinore said as he studied the name. “That will be easiest for you. They are a wonderful race all involved with music. They usually sing, in their way, to communicate. Their throats are like golden clocking-bards.”
“Mockingbirds,” Merlin mumbled in correction as the humans chuckled at the mistranslation.
“Too many alike words your language has, I think.” Pellinore clasped his hands behind his back and raised his head high to hide his embarrassment. Uther could see none on his face though.
“Merlin, make a note to send a party to Ban and his Benwick acquaintances. And send word back to that man we made judge to send a draft out for law-men.”
At last, they were at the foot of the mountain. Ector piloted the craft as far up the side it would go and they had to do the rest on foot. Soon they would build mountain craft that could handle the steep slopes of Camelot’s mountains. The Avalonians were hard at work teaching the earthlings how to handle and craft their mechanisms to conquer the land faster.
The march wasn’t far and a general gasp came from the audience when they saw Excalibur buried up to its waist in the mountain, charred and wounded.
Pellinore stuttered and sighed in his own language’s expressions before he said, “I have heard long stories of the wonders of Avalon!”
“Long have you heard stories,” Merlin corrected. “It is what we are known for.”
“But where is this Avalon?” Ector asked. “I’ve taken a lot of astronomy classes and it’s never on the maps.”
“Avalon hides,” Igrain said as she moaned and sat down after looking at the monster. “The planet cannot often be found except by the ones who may communicate with it.”
She at once wished she hadn’t spoken that secret. Uther’s eyes immediately lit up with greed and desire. The Avalon technology would be his ultimate war machine if he could harness even a fraction of its power. And to know the location of the planet? He tried to not say intergalactic reign even to himself.
“Merlin knows where Avalon is,” Uther joked. “You’d tell me if I asked, right?”
When Merlin didn’t reply, Uther’s face fell and he quickly changed subjects. “I want to take Excalibur back to Pendragon.”
“What?” Igrain said suddenly, slight disgust in the corner of her lips. “You named the city after yourself?”
“I am in charge right now. And if it wasn’t me, then it would have been Constans, or my father.
“Now,” he reached out and touched Excalibur’s finger to active it and attempt to break it out of the rock. He held his hand there, hoping the machine would recognize his DNA. Nothing happened.
“What’s wrong with this thing, Merlin?” he said and slapped it. “Why won’t it ignite? It had battery and fuel when I left it.”
The party waited in silence as he tried again. When that didn’t work, Uther pulled himself up onto the mecha and touched the cockpit windshield. He pressed his hand there and willed it to open. It didn’t move or glow or even hum.
“Merlin?” Uther growled. “You said we had a psychic communication. A blood binding or whatever. Why doesn’t it work?”
Merlin opened and closed his mouth twice before he answered. What he had to say would not come easily in the present audience. “Perhaps your genes are too diluted.”
“What?”
“From the, um,” he had never been so flustered before and it was partly humorous. “From the healing, of course. From your battle wounds. Your DNA is not pure.”
Seeing where Merlin meant to go with that, he backed down. “I see, but surely the Avalonian genes will not interfere?”
Merlin shook his head. “It was made for a Pendragon. Not a being of Avalon. It is simply our technology.”
“Ah!” Pellinore exclaimed, the leaves on his hair and body spinning. “I know this. When another life is in existence that is more pshychonetically compatible, the machine will sometimes reprogram itself to synch with only that one person�
��s emitted brain patterns, canceling out the other previous match.”
Uther felt himself almost throw up with fright at that. Only one new existence in the whole world had a Pendragon’s DNA and perhaps even remotely close mental patterns: the baby in Igrain’s womb.
Ector adjusted the goggles on his head. “I’m sorry, but what are you talking about? Is this something our new military needs to know about?”
“Must be out of fuel!” Uther added quickly as he leapt down. “Never mind Excalibur, there are other fine mecha back at the castle. And we have other things to do.” He helped Igrain up and back down the mountain to the transport.
“What will you do now, Uther?” Pellinor asked as they zoomed through a gap in the purple mountains to the other side. The space between the mountains cooled quickly and the sound amplified against the sides, echoing back and forth in a storm of sound.
“I need all of Camelot to be united,” Uther began. “I will make laws, a government…”
“But how?” The alien’s strange strands of hair flapped in the wind and sounded like autumn leaves rustling.
“I will have an army. And I have your aid and you can help me gather outer planets.” A mysterious smile broke his face. “If you must know, I will take the stone circle where the D.R.U.I.Ds meet. When I have that, I will have my own D.R.U.I.Ds reprogram it to send out telecommunication to them.”
Pellinor’s black eyes blinked. “You will control their minds?”
Merlin looked up at this, his eyebrows pulled up in mild worry and inquiry.
“To an extent. They are a great commodity and I cannot afford to have them roaming about.”
“And if your people do not agree and some leave the land around castle Pendragon?” Pellinor asked.
“I do not think it will come to that.”
“You mean you hope it does not,” Igrain corrected him. “What if I don’t? Your father said they were to be free.”
“They’re machines, Igrain, not humans,” Uther snapped.
She wanted to argue, but they broke through the dark passageway and came onto the strangest prairie they had ever seen. Tall and thin, the grass smelled salty. Untouched for so long, it grew so high that it reached up to the rails of the of the transport at least two meters from the ground. When touched, it slithered softly through one’s fingers, almost like a firm gelatin but left no residue on their hands, just a subtle salty smell.
Weaving in and out of the ocean of grass were brightly colored, shimmering fish! They dotted the vast green plain like lights on a holiday tree from years past. When their over-large scales caught the sun, they flashed with color.
“I see now!” Ector, cried, smiling joyously at the new discovery.
“How do they swim?” Igrain gasped. “They seem to float.”
Pellinor reached over the edge with his long arms and a fish swam gracefully up to his open palm. “It is like magnets,” he said simply and Uther realized he smiled as he spoke. Pellinor had never struck him as the smiling type. “The grass is one kind and the scales on the fish another. They cannot touch but cannot sit on the ground either.”
“Oh,” Igrain smiled. “I get it.” Happily, like a young girl, she reached over and stroked a fish that bobbed up just as curious about her hand as it was of her. “Are their people here as well?”
Pellinor looked confused. “Are these not living beings?”
“I mean ones that speak our language,” she corrected.
“I do not speak your language,” he said.
“She means intelligent life,” Uther put in.
Pellinor stroked the fish again. “All life is intelligent. You think because it cannot wage war that it has no reasoning capabilities? Or because it looks different? Or it doesn’t have a face like you? If the heart beats, treat it as an equal.”
“Or if the blood flows, do not spill it,” Merlin quoted. “That is an Avalonian proverb.”
“Yes, I know them well. I have studied Avalon in lust, I am afraid.” Pellinor waved the fish away and pointed beyond the horizon. “See how much trust they are? They have no reason to fear you because you are not a predator. Do not give them reason to fear.
“Farther out where the grass is thicker and taller, Igrain, you will find the green people. They are like these fish in that their bodies are covered in rainbow scales that always reflect the grass. Giving them a green color. They have eyes that see in the darkness and a touch of shock.”
“Electricity,” Merlin corrected softly. He had fallen into a deep melancholy and did not participate in the conversation or the glee of petting the fish. “They are charged beings, no doubt, considering how they live. Sir, we should be heading back.”
“Yes, yes,” Uther sighed. “Contact Vivian and tell her I am in need of her expertise later. And let’s go to the circle.”
“Sir, please, I beg you to reconsider,” Merlin said quietly as they zoomed off. “Camelot is large enough for the D.R.U.I.Ds and your people.”
Uther clenched his fists. He didn’t need Merlin challenging him at the beginning of his reign. “Merlin, you are to serve me,” he said in a dangerously low voice so that none of the others could hear him. “I will be king of Camelot. I will rule as I see fit and if you push me, I will do what is necessary to have that. The D.R.U.I.Ds are more powerful than anything we have in our colony ship and if they find that out, we could be exterminated. We came here to live, not fight for our lives. If any D.R.U.I.D wishes to go back to Avalon, they may. You included. Someone will take your place, I am sure.”
Merlin couldn’t argue. He clenched his lips closed and moved to the back of the ship where Uther would not see his weakness. Tears filled his eyes as the wind lashed against him. What Uther would never know is that D.R.U.I.Ds were not pure Avalonians. They could not go back to Avalon perhaps ever. He called to Vivian in his mind, connecting to the stone circle with his microchip-brain and then to her. His emotions transferred to her and she understood.
Snapping his eyes open, Merlin had an idea. Uther had become part of Avalon too, in a way. Perhaps he too could have those emotions transferred to him and then he would understand. It would have to be through touch though since Uther was not full Avalonian.
“There it is,” Uther announced. “Now, I need a D.R.U.I.D who will do as I say.” He scanned the area teaming with D.R.U.I.Ds. Some stopped to watch as they glided by slowly.
He spotted a rather pretty one who’s eyes were glowing as she mind-linked with the massive computer under the ground, powered by the mysterious stones. “You there!” he called to her.
She stopped and looked up. Her skin glittered white like Merlin’s and Mab’s, but her hair and eyes were black. When Merlin saw her, his alien heart tripled its pace. His voice cracked as he gasped, “By the Mists!” which made Uther give a strange look.
“I need your help with something. What are you called?”
She stood up and walked to the transport. “I am called Nimueh.”
14
This Land is Ours
Uther attacked his plan for Camelot with sweeping grace. With Pellinore’s guidance about how a ruler must behave, he found ways to charm his audience and sway his people to his will. The ease of it came with time. He started with the beautiful D.R.U.I.D called Nimueh.
Uther let her speak first in all their communications and outings. He found that when left to speak first, ones pray became more at ease. “Patient as a tree,” Pellinore said. That coupled with Uther’s natural instinct worked like magic in favor of his politics.
“Tell me what you do,” he said to Nimueh in their first conference.
“I am a gardener,” she replied. “I tend the memorials and the Stones. My family always has.”
“I have an offer for you, beautiful Nimueh,” Uther said as they walked laps around the stone circle. Uther had come alone on this day except for Merlin coming up a few steps behind the other two. He had been grave for some time but Uther tried to ignore it and focus on his imposing pla
n. “I need you to come with me to Pendragon and try out some new technology for me. It’s made for D.R.U.I.Ds and I think will do you some good. If it works out how I think it should, all of your people can have the new upgrade.”
Nimueh was a young looking Avalonian and must have been ignorant to Uther’s plans. “I suppose. I was not natural born like so many of my brothers and sisters,” she said. “I have been around…a very long time.” Her eyes flitted to Merlin. “I remember the first Constantine in fondness. He said I was different and special, set apart from the others. I think I was just his favorite.” Her eyes were large and glimmered in the bright afternoon sun. “I will help out his descendent as though they were him.”
She crossed her arms and hugged herself. “I think I loved Constantine. He was like my father. He made me this way and loved me.”
“He made you?” Merlin spoke for the first time. “When you come to Pendragon, I’d love to run some tests to discover what makes you so different.”
Nimueh pressed her lips together and smiled at Merlin. A small blush lighted her cheeks. “That’s fine with me, Merlin. Anything for Constantine and his kin.”
Nimueh held his gaze. Uther saw playful banter playing at the corner of the young Avalonian’s lips, but it did not get reciprocated by Merlin. He seemed confused, not picking up whatever hidden message she tried to send.
The trio made their way around the strange glowing rocks in the circle to the center. A large stone table rested there with glowing blue runes, shapes, and circles.
“Shall I show you?” Nimueh asked sweetly. Uther gestured for her to proceed. “This is the core.” She poked the center symbol and a three-dimensional orb appeared, flickering in the air like Uther had seen in his hangar and the bridge of their ships. A faint tinkling like the whisper of tiny bells came from it.
“When a being of Avalon is born, the parents connect the child with the Mist so that they may ever be linked through the great network of computers and communication. Anything that gives or receives signals, we can speak to in our minds. I can also hear your speeder.”
A New Home: A Sci-Fi Arthurian Retelling (The Camelot Project Book 1) Page 11