by Bethany Knox
“You’re coming too?”
“Yes, I am. I’ll be there, don’t worry.”
I wanted to snap that I was not worried, but we both knew it wasn’t true so I didn’t say it. Wait a minute, a private jet waiting outside, that was the one I’d seen, it didn’t look big enough to fly to across the USA let alone to Europe.
“Ethan, you’re not serious, that thing outside is too small to take us to Europe. We need a proper plane, that’s a toy.”
He didn’t answer me, we both looked as a guy came into the room wearing the usual pilot’s uniform, black trousers, white shirt with epaulettes and gold bands on them, Ray-Ban aviator shades tucked into the top pocket. He didn’t look much older than me. Oh, shit.
“We’re all set to go, the aircraft is fueled up and ready when you are. Flight plan is filed for Greece, as soon as you get on board I will get clearance from the tower and we can go.”
Oh, my God, I thought, it is really happening. As if in a dream I walked out of the building and across the concrete to where the aircraft was waiting. A sleek, small airplane was waiting for us, it said ‘Learjet’ on the side. I followed Dad up the stairs and into the cabin. It was much smaller than a normal schedule airliner.
“Are you sure this is big enough to cross the Atlantic and fly all the way to Greece?” I asked him. It seemed even smaller on the inside than on the outside.
“Sure it is, this is the Learjet Challenger. We’ll fly over to Portugal and land in Lisbon to refuel. Then it’s straight on to Greece.”
“Oh, ok then.” As usual I had to just accept what other people threw at me. I just hoped that if they ran out of gas half way across they had some kind of inflatable life craft on board. I went and sat down, there were ten large, very luxurious seats, I felt like a movie star, at least if I was going to die in this thing I’d do it in style. The cabin attendant came and checked my safety belt, she was a pretty young woman, about five years older than me. She was dark haired, dark eyes, pale skin, a thought struck me.
“Are you, er, well, one of the…?”
“Amstrydae?” she asked with a bright smile, her eyes were twinkling, she seemed pretty friendly. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Right. I’m not being rude, Ma’am, but I took you for about twenty years old or so, I guess you’re a bit older than that.”
“Just a little,” she said.
“How old are you?”
“Well, I once made coffee for General Robert E Lee.”
“Right. What about the pilot?”
“No, he’s much younger than me.”
“I thought so.”
“Yes, he learned to fly the year after Orville and Wright invented the airplane.”
“I shouldn’t have asked, I guess.”
“No, that’s perfectly alright, any questions you have just to ask away.”
I was suddenly reminded of an old film I’d seen once where they were especially nice to someone just before they were about to kill them. I tried to remember how the film ended.
She continued down the small cabin, checking that the passengers were all comfortable. This was not a commercial flight with all of the usual noise and people shuffling for space. She closed the door, sat down and the aircraft engines started. We taxied out to the runway, then with a roar the engines went to full speed and the Learjet sped along the runway and lifted off. At least I was on my way to Greece, getting there might be another matter. Megan was sitting opposite me.
“I imagine you’ve got a lot more questions,” she said. “I know I would have, you’ve been thrown in right at the deep end.”
“Tell me about these Medusan dudes,” I said to her. “I mean, I’ve only met a couple of them, the Ryans, that researcher, Olivia, I guess. What are they like, what do I need to watch for?”
“Most of them come from the area of the Middle East, although a few look more European, like the Ryans. You’ve heard of the epic battles for Troy, thousands of years ago, almost before written records were around? Long before even any of the great religions of the world existed?”
I nodded. “You mean like Helen of Troy, stuff like that?”
“Exactly. King Priam and most of his nobles were Medusans, they always hated us Amstrydae.”
“I thought you were Ardethan.”
She smiled. “We are, but the Ardethans are part of the Amstrydae, we just don’t have all of their special powers. But we’re one and the same.”
“Will I ever have special powers?”
“You? Well, you are Amstrydae, you are The Carrier. Yes, you will be very powerful, Claire, when you’re older.”
“I don’t feel powerful right now.”
She smiled. “Give it time.”
Yeah, I wasn’t sure how much time I had left. At least I’d learned to swim when I was younger.
I felt like a piece of driftwood thrown around in a storm. As well as that, I was doubtful about the ‘becoming powerful’ bit. Could it be that they had made a huge mistake? Anything was possible. A little part of me wanted there to be a mistake, to be able to go home, to Mom, back to school where all I had to put up with was boring classes and dumb kids who got off on bullying me. At least they didn’t usually try to kidnap and rape me, at least, so far.
“You were telling me about these Medusans.”
“Oh yes, as I said, they originated in the Middle East. We attacked Troy when they kidnapped our queen, they wanted to exchange her for knowledge of our innermost secrets. We had no choice but to lay siege, we could not give up either our queen or our secrets. Eventually the city was destroyed in the final battle.
“So was she a Carrier?”
“No, she wasn’t, but she had other powers and knowledge that they wanted.”
“How do I recognize a Medusan?” I continued. At last I was learning something about this strange world that I had been drawn into. “I guess they’re kind of Arab in appearance, are they?”
“It’s true that most of them are, yes, just like most of us are European in appearance, but some of our people have darker skin, some are even black. Some of the Medusans look European, so it is not easy. But as your powers develop, you’ll get a feel for it. The most obvious way is that you will smell them. Then there are their eyes, of course, have you noticed that they seem to smolder and burn with an evil intensity?”
“Yes, I have.” I thought of Ben Ryan. Yes, he had the eyes. I shivered as I thought of their burning intensity.
When I looked out, we were flying over the Atlantic, out of sight of land. I had never been to Europe before and I wondered if I would ever see the USA again.
“You must be exhausted after all that’s happened,” Megan said. “Would you like to try and sleep, I could call the flight attendant and she’ll get you a pillow and a blanket and recline your seat.”
“Thanks, that would be good.”
She helped me get comfortable and soon I was dreaming about swarthy warriors chasing me along dark tunnels, hordes of soldiers attacking the walls of a massive city while I watched from the top of the highest tower. Then I saw Mom’s face and I sensed the warmth of my familiar old life, of being home with her, but then her face turned into the mad, staring expression of Father Ryan. He was shouting at me, trying to push me over a ledge into a steep drop down a mountainside, then Ethan came to me and held my hand.
“Claire, it’s ok, you’re safe.”
“Stay with me, Ethan.”
“I will, Claire, always.”
I awoke refreshed and checked the time, I had been asleep for almost five hours. Dawn was starting to show itself in the sky. Obviously, we were still flying so we hadn’t run out of fuel. The flight attendant came along to me smiling, how could she look so good after a night without sleep?
“Would you like coffee, juice, some breakfast?”
“Just coffee would be good.”
She brought the coffee and I sipped it. Dad came along and sat with me.
“We’re nearly in Portugal, in fact
,” he looked out of the window, “we are in Portugal, we just crossed the coast. We’ll be landing soon to refuel.”
“Do we get off the plane?”
“No, Claire, we won’t be on the ground that long. Besides, your visa is waiting for us in Greece, we don’t want to have to answer any awkward questions here.”
Soon, I heard the engines reduce power, the wheels went down and we touched down in Lisbon, capital of Portugal. Through the window, I saw a gas tanker arrive and two guys got out, connected a hose and started pumping fuel. One of the them looked up briefly, I could swear he looked straight at me, even through the thick window of the aircraft. His eyes, I wasn’t sure, but then the sun came out from behind a cloud, I could swear that they flashed brightly. I shuddered, was I seeing Medusans everywhere, kind of ‘reds under the bed’? I was probably mistaken so I put it out of my mind. Shortly, the hoses were disconnected, the fuel tanker drove away, the engines started and we were once again on the way. I watched out of the window as we crossed the country of Portugal, then we were over Spain, out over the ocean again, this time we flew over the Mediterranean heading for Italy on the direct route to Greece.
We flew over the huge island land mass of Sardinia, back over the ocean and then we sighted land again, it was the coast of Italy as expected. I felt a sense of dread, we were nearing our destination and whatever terrors it may hold for me. The engines slowed, the wheels locked down and we touched down on Greek soil, at Athens International airport. The marshaller directed the Learjet to a quiet spot almost a mile away from the main terminal. The engines died but nothing happened, nobody stirred. We waited for a few minutes, then I heard a thump and we started moving again towards the open hangar doors. When the tractor had towed us inside the doors slid shut and finally the cabin door was opened. Ulysses led the way and I followed down the steps and for the first time put my feet on Greek soil. There was a uniformed official standing at the foot of the steps with a document in his hand. As I got to him he put up a hand to stop me.
“Claire Winter, Miss Claire Winter from the United States of America?”
“Yes, that’s me,” I replied.
He made a note on the document and handed me a slip of paper. “This is your visa, welcome to Greece. You may proceed.”
I was amazed, I’d just flown into the country on an aircraft from the United States, without a passport. If I’d been going the other way US Immigration would have me figured for a terrorist and Homeland Security would lock me up and throw away the key. They led me out of the hangar and we got into a Mercedes limousine with blackened windows. I thought that these people were not short of cash, they always seemed to have expensive wheels handy with blacked-out rear windows. We drove for two hours until I could see the sea and a harbor in front of us. The car stopped by a fishing boat and we got out. Ulysses called across to the guy standing on the boat, greeting him like a long lost friend. He called back and we were invited to go aboard. We walked down the gangplank, which was immediately pulled away. The boat’s engine started, the ropes were cast-off and we put to sea. After another three hours, I saw a smudge of land growing larger on the horizon. It was my first sight of Andros.
There was a harbor in front of us and I assumed that we’d land there, but the boat turned away from it.
“We’re landing somewhere more quiet and secure,” Ulysses explained, coming up to stand next to me. “While we were in the air the offer to talk was made to the other side, they’re already gathering here, the meeting is all arranged.”
I shivered. “Do I need to actually be there?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. You are the big prize, The Carrier. Without you, they will suspect that something’s wrong and they may not turn up. But we will protect you, don’t worry.”
Of course not, firebombed out of a nightclub, chased halfway across the world, pursued by weirdoes and dodgy priests, what was there to be worried about?
We rounded the island and the boat headed into a small cove. There was a narrow wooden dock that they tied the boat up to and I stepped ashore. We were on Andros. I began to see the signs of the earthquake, ruined houses, roads torn up, telephone poles lying at drunken angles, their cables trailing in the dust. We walked quickly along a narrow path and through an opening in the rock, Ulysses explained that we were now in the tunnel system that burrowed under the island.
We seemed to walk for miles in the dark, once again Megan kind of steered me from the back. Several times I tripped on stones littered on the uneven rock pathway, each time, she grabbed me before I could fall. After about an hour the tunnel came to an end, there didn’t seem to be any way to go any further, I assumed they had taken a wrong turn. But Ulysses put his hand in a tiny hole in the rock and with a grating sound, a whole section of the wall slid aside to reveal an opening. We went through and the rock doorway slid back into place. Then the lights came on and I was able to see where we were. It was a huge room, with a high ceiling, that seemed to be almost twenty feet high. The room itself was about fifty feet long and maybe thirty feet wide, it looked like a meeting hall or even a church. I couldn’t see Mom’s Presbyterians holding any services down here though. Megan saw me looking open mouthed.
“It used to be a temple of the cult of Mithras, dating to long before the birth of Jesus Christ and the start of Christianity. The altar at the end,” she pointed to a large, stone table at the opposite end of the room, “used to be used for sacrificing bulls to their God, Mithras.”
“Yeah, ok,” I replied. “They don’t still use it, do they?”
“Why, are you a vegetarian?” a voice said. Ethan had come up behind me.
“What? No, I’m not, but it’s just that…” I saw his smile.
“You’re yanking my chain, aren’t you?”
“Yes, of course I am, I’m sorry. They haven’t done any sacrifices for hundreds of years, in fact, as far as I know there are no Mithrans anymore.”
“Thank Christ for that,” I said, meaning it.
“Yes, we do have Christ to thank for that, lots of Mithrans left the cult and became Christians.”
I thought that it was easier on the poor bulls since Jesus converted them. It was also a good argument for becoming vegetarian, should I consider that, I thought? Save the planet, live on nuts and vegetables! Yuck.
Dad and Megan came over to me. “Claire, shall we show you to your room? They’ve put aside a bedroom for you to use while you’re here, you might like a shower and freshen up.”
“Thanks, yeah, I’d like that.”
I felt really important, a room reserved just for me? Wow! Megan took me to the end of the big room and through a doorway into a short passage, one of the doors off it was to my room. I went in and she left me to check it out. It was quite small, with a tiny bathroom at one side. I had a single bed and a closet, a pity I didn’t have any clothes to put in it. I opened it and there was a long, flowing dress inside, it looked about my size, I imagined it was for me to wear. There were also sandals and a pile of new underwear. They seemed to have prepared everything for me. There was a knock on the door and Megan came back with a jug of iced water and a glass. She saw me looking in the closet.
“It’s for you to wear, Claire, I expect you’ll be more comfortable if you change after your shower.”
I thanked her, she put down the jug and glass and left. Then I spent a good half hour in the shower, letting the hot water steam all of the worries and woes out of my body. That was one hell of a trip, it must have been half way across the word, aircraft, cars, boats, tunnels. Unbelievable! I dried off and put on the new clothing, it did feel good. I looked in the full-length mirror on the closet door, the swirling ethnic dress was cut more like a ceremonial robe, I felt it made me look like some ancient priestess. All I needed was my hair to be put up and decorated with jewelry to complete the effect. But deep down I still wished I was at home in my narrow jeans, black t-shirt and Converse, listening to some decent music.
Then I went back out into the ma
in room. They were all seated on folding chairs in a circle at one end of the room. Dad looked up.
“You look wonderful, honey, the dress looks good.”
“As long as you don’t sacrifice me I don’t mind,” I said.
He didn’t smile and it occurred to me that what they were doing came very close to exactly that. They invited me to sit on one of the chairs and I joined them.
“We’re all set for tomorrow,” Ulysses said. “The meeting is set for midday, all of the signs suggest that most of the Medusans will be present, though not every single one of them. We won’t get them all, but if we can deal with the vast majority of them that should be enough. We can deal with the others later.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. You just need to sit there, say nothing, do nothing.”
So it was to be just like it was back at school. But I didn’t say anything to them.
“You’re the prize they are negotiating for and they will just want to see you. We’ll do the rest.”
“Have you managed to get the radioactive stuff into position, you haven’t had much time?” I asked him.
“Not yet, but it’s due to arrive in the night. We will be ready for them.”
Well ok, that would be fine then, but I wished he had sounded a bit more confident.
We spent the evening sitting around, talking, at one stage Megan took me on an exploration of the surrounding tunnels and I saw the secret caves and pathways of the Amstrydae, exactly as they had been for hundreds and thousands of years. We went back to the meeting room and they told me more of the tales and lore of the people that I was destined to become fully a part of. Megan sat on one side of me, Ethan on the other. I wished he could put his arm around me or hold my hand, but I guessed he may have been embarrassed with all of those people there. I wouldn’t have been, though. I had a question that I was burning to ask them, had been on my mind, since they had first started telling me about their organization.
“Megan, will I live for a long time? I mean, longer than normal?”