‘Why do the trust me so much?’ She asked, finally putting her thoughts into words. ‘Adam is the worst. He would sail that ship straight into a rock if he thought that I wanted it. This isn’t like the island, there doesn’t seem to be anything here to get ships out.’
‘They must have got out somehow.’
‘Perhaps they never came here in sailing ships.’
Paul had to agree that some other form of transport would have been needed to bring in the amount of metal needed to build the tower.
‘What about the mooring rings?’
‘Perhaps they are a trap to lure ships in.’ Lynella replied, ending the discussion.
They returned to the room and started work. Entering the network, they found it to be as basic as the room. There were no junctions or diversions which might lead to a machine to get them out, just a simple pathway up to the ring and the mechanism that worked it and down to the base of the pylon. Further on downwards it came to another portal like the one at the island.
There had been little peace on the ship and no privacy, so they had had no chance to discuss or even think about the presence they had found in the network. Now they felt unprepared, guilty that they had not realised that they would face the same choice again. This time, however, they were trapped and, however unlikely, they could only hope that some form of rescue could be found if they went through.
They stopped to examine the portal feeling hopelessly blind, not knowing what to look for and not even sure about how to see. Paul tried to rationalise how he could search, but this was like a dream, it seemed to show him what it wanted him to see not what he wanted to look at, all he saw was black amorphous void.
The presence was calling again, a sort of welcome, far louder than before.
‘God is calling us’. Lynella said.
‘Is it God or is it a devil?’
Lynella gave him no reply but called out. ‘Can you rescue our ship?’
‘Why does it need rescuing?’ The reply was quite clear, not expressed as concepts or feeling, clearly spoken as words.
‘It seems that your God can talk to us quite clearly now.’ Paul remarked, wondering if he could be overheard when saying it. ‘It’s lucky he speaks our language.’
Despite having been told about how they existed on earth, he knew that Lynella was still dubious about the concept of different languages, so his cynicism was lost on her. She quickly explained the problem and was told that, without any doubt, the presence could rescue them.
‘You have said that you could rescue us, but will you?’ Paul shouted out.
‘You must make me a promise.’
‘We shall promise to worship you and obey you.’ Lynella cut in before Paul had a chance to reply.
‘Sounds like the devil if it’s asking for deals.’ Paul remarked.
‘Why do you keep talking about the devil?’ Lynella asked. ‘God asks for promises too’.
‘It’s just that he seems to have been pretty active on this planet. You surely don’t blame God for the mess you are in?’
‘No – we blame the ancient Mages and their pride.’
Just then the reply came. To Paul the tone seemed to have changed, as if getting a reply addressed to a God had made it talk like a God.
‘And what about the other one who is with you? Will he also promise to obey me?’
Paul tried to rationalise. He was almost certain that this God was a fraud and had only just realised that Lynella thought that it was a God, and decided to take advantage of it. He had no idea where this might lead – he knew plenty of stories of fraudulent religions which continued totally undiminished, and even strangely assisted, by the advances of science. His profound scepticism was however just edged with a lingering doubt. He could not produce any convincing arguments to prove that this was not a God. If it was a benign God of the type found in modern religions that was fine; but what about some of the malevolent ones from ancient religions or even the devil.
He knew that he had found a real sixth sense which enabled him to sense and do things in a way that had apparently never been known before. He also knew that most religions were based on the idea that true followers could communicate with the God in some special way, which did not involve any of the five human senses. When somebody claimed to have seen God, it was assumed that they had not actually seen with their eyes, so possibly they had been using the sense that he had now found. He remembered colleague who had claimed to have seen God. He had found the comment about as interesting as if they had said that they had seen a stray dog, and about as credible as if they had said that they had seen a dinosaur. Had he been too quick to judge them? Was he now seeing what they had already seen?
‘Will he promise?’ The question came again. To confuse him even more, the presence now sounded female. He saw no rational reason why that should affect his dilemma, but he did wonder if a female God would really have put up with being called ‘father’ for three thousand years. Finally, he had a strategy.
‘I have faith in the God of the Christian religion.’ He said
‘All true Gods are the one God.’
This answer meant nothing to him, but he decided to give his promise. At one level his argument was trivial. If, as he suspected, the presence was lying and was not his God then his promise had no weight. At another level, he convinced himself that any being with enough power to hurt him would have no need to conceal their identity. The other possibility that this really was his God did occur to him briefly; but he remembered promising to obey during endless church services as a child, so this promise would then be nothing new.
They were being called through the portal. The presence was giving detailed instructions on how to check for traps.
‘Can’t you find them for us?’ Paul asked casually, making Lynella draw back in fear.
‘I could but I am telling you to do it.’ This reply struck Paul as rather un-God-like, but he realised that remarking on it would cause pointless offence to Lynella.
Through the portal they came to the junction with the main highway of the network. It was as if they had come from a dark tunnel to see the vast open plane reaching out in either direction from them. In one direction they could sense the presence; feeling that it was watching them while they could see nothing but the faint line of a horizon, where the unknown material below them met the glowing void above them. To either side the black void was still there but, had the matter not had complicated overtones, Paul would have described their emerging at as a seemingly religious experience.
With revelation came fear. If they ventured out across the plane would they ever find their way back? Might they even reach a point where they did not want to go back. The presence anticipated this.
‘Just come towards me a short distance. You will find the mechanism, without difficulty, and without losing sight of your portal. You need not join the souls of the dead.’
They moved slowly and nervously. Not knowing how they were controlling their movement, they were somehow able to glide across the bright surface and soon, as expected, they found another small portal set into the ground.
Again, the presence knew where they were.
‘Open the portal in the same way as you opened the other one and you will find the mechanism immediately behind it.’
They soon saw how the mechanism worked. A large ring had been set in the sea bed a short distance north of the tower and this could be used to pull the ring set in the hull of the ship and drag them free. The mechanism was more complex than the winch and cable at the island, but the problem was the same – it required somebody to remain in the pylon to operate it.
‘We should ask the God to see what we can do.’ Paul remarked.
The God sounded surprised to be asked the question and asked ‘Why can’t you transport to the next pylon? It has a safe mooring – you are at the only one in quicksand. You could pick them up there.’
When asked what transporting was, she did not reply in words, but
sent an image. Paul and Lynella recoiled in surprise to suddenly find themselves seeing a picture rather than understanding words. Paul kept trying to rationalise – he knew that he had not been hearing the words as sound and that they were somehow being sent to him down a network so, if it could send words, why not images as well. He was, however, now struggling not to see religion because the image showed a person above the surface of the sea. Their arms were outstretched and their whole body was surrounded with a glowing halo of light. The image was easily recognisable – this was an angel. He rationalised again – it was not a halo it was a ring. But what was a halo? Were religious people supposed to believe that they existed literally; or were they just a convention used by painters to help people understand who was who in their pictures?
The God went on to give them some advice on what to do. Lynella would have to remain and then Paul would have to contact her from the next pylon when they arrived, so he could help her fly over. She then directed them to a cupboard set against the wall. They withdrew from the network and went over to look. Inside it they found a ring which seemed to be set in a sort of cloak woven from fine golden threads. Taking it out of the cupboard Lynella set it on the floor and cautiously stepped into the ring. Lifting it up she managed to get the cloak over her shoulders where it hung, held out by the ring like a tent looking cumbersome and faintly ridiculous.
‘I think your God has a sense of humour.’ Paul observed. ‘You are hardly going to fly across the sea in that.’
Almost as he said it she started to put some energy into the ring. It lifted slightly and the cloak below it formed into a glowing cocoon around her body, moulding to it and forming a translucent glowing sphere.
Seeing an angel Paul stepped back in amazement. Her feet were no longer on the floor and she looked down on him, smiling at first and then laughing as she saw his shock.
They replaced it carefully in the cupboard.
‘I may be able to make myself look like an angel, but do you think that I can really drag a whole ship through quicksand?’
Paul gave no reply, but they both knew that the mechanism had been built to be used by mages who had been trained for years and had enough combined power to build the pylon. They had no proof that it could be used by one mage on their own – just an assurance from a God.
13
Stepping back out into the sunlight from the lift, they found the crew experimenting with the raft to see if it could be used to move across the shifting sand. It was only being done in a casual fashion, almost as a game. Everybody assumed that Lynella would rescue them.
Night came, and the crew slept. Adam only felt the need to set a minimal watch in such a deserted place. Before they went to sleep they could hear the sand scraping the hull as it flowed up past it. Adam had said that it was good because it would clean the barnacles off, but Paul had visions of the planks being ground away until the sand came through; and swallowed the ship and everybody in it.
The morning came and Lynella stepped off the ship alone and went back into the pylon. The wind was from the South, blowing the ship in the direction they wanted to go, so Paul asked Adam to get the crew to set as much sail as they could without risking turning the ship over as it sat in the sand.
After some time, they began to feel pulses of force, making the timbers around the great ring at the base of the hull creak as they took up the strain. The pulses came every few seconds, gradually increasing in strength but the ship held fast. Soon they died back.
Paul tried to picture Lynella at the top of the pylon. She had got past the trap and found the mechanism but had not been strong enough. She would know that the ship had not moved but what else would she do? Had she already collapsed? What if she became too exhausted to get back through the portal?
The wind was rising, and the ship started leaning dangerously. ‘It may drive waves right across here.’ Adam said. ‘It could be dangerous if we started to move about this close to the pylon.’ His look almost described a scene with the ship being driven against the tower in the foaming water and destroyed. ‘We must take in some sail or the mast will break. It’s not like setting sail with the boat in water.’ Almost as soon as he had said this the pulses came again. They were more erratic this time, some weak and some strong. Sometimes almost a minute with none at all.
The crew started up the masts to lower sail but just at the peak of a gust of wind the force pulsed, and the hull moved. It seemed to jump free. Paul thought that Lynella must have sensed that they were moving because the pulses came faster, and they almost skated across the sand crashing into the wall of water around it.
Paul ran into the cabin on the stern deck and lowered the iron bar to hold the cabin door. The crew on deck battened the hatches. They were leaning into the water. The wind was blowing the masts down into the massive whirlpool. Another pulse came, pulling them outwards and upright.
A violent gust caught the sails. The ship heeled over, almost capsizing, but it shot forwards. They were out, rising up on a wave, clear of the whirlpool. Paul could see Adam through the spray, hauling at the tiller bringing them round to face into the wind.
Turning to look over the front of the ship he saw the pylon, the sand bar round its base scarcely visibly as the ship was blown further away. He pictured Lynella in the top of it, possibly still immersed in the network, or maybe just managing to get herself out and lie back in the chair to recover. Above him the sails had lost the wind and were now flapping back and forth as the gale blew across them.
The ship was being driven backwards, away from the line of pylons as the bulk of the stern deck caught the force of the storm. ‘We’re safe now the ship has come head to wind.’ Adam shouted. ‘We can get the sails reefed and get ready to tack. Getting into the shelter of the next pylon will be difficult but we can do it.’
The crew working the sails finally managed to secure them. As the men were climbing down the stays Adam turned the rudder sharply, almost losing control as it dug into the water and threw the stern across. The sails quickly filled, and they started to tack. Soon they went about, turning into the storm and racing back upwind towards the next pylon in the line. They were now well downwind of them, but the ship still faltered as it passed the swirling eddies.
They tacked again and again, slowly gaining distance into the gale towards the dock. Paul could see the stone landing stage with mooring bollards scarcely showing above the waves breaking over it. Soon they came so close that he was sure that he could have touched it if he had been at the rail. They saw that it had a deck all around it, but they were moving so fast they could not stop. Adam appeared unconcerned. The ship swung around one more time to tack but this time it angled well away from the pylon. Suddenly as they came level Adam turned sharply straight towards it. The ship lost way as it tacked and before it could gain speed again it was up against the stonework. With perfect timing, a crewman jumped down with a rope. The ship was moored in the shelter of the pylon. Gusts blew in from either side as the storm swirled around it.
Paul was quickly helped down onto the ledge. Waves breaking onto the opposite side of the landing stage sent streams of water around his feet, but he was sheltered enough to go across to the door.
‘We may have to wait.’ He said. ‘I’m not sure she can get here in this.’
‘We cannot wait.’ Adam said simply. ‘The storm is still rising.’
As he turned he saw crewmen lowering the sails. He knew that he could not let them down.
In the top of the pylon he found a room identical to the last. Feeling almost familiar with the surroundings he soon entered the network and, checking for traps, went out onto the highway. To his relief the presence quickly assured him that Lynella was safe and preparing to move. He asked what he should do.
‘Put all the energy you have into the ring at the top of your pylon. You will sense when she approaches, you must guide her in.’ She said it as if it was such a simple task.
‘How do I do that? I’m not an experien
ce mage. I have no idea how to work mechanisms like that.’
‘You must pray, then I shall help.’ Paul couldn’t help feeling that the reply was a little smug. Was this her way of bringing him into line? He had no choice – he would pray.
He moved back through the portal and back to the top of the pylon, straight on up to the mechanism that worked the ring.
The pathway seemed to end in an incomprehensible mass of different devices most of which were completely unrecognisable to him. He stopped to try to think but he kept imagining the ship below him snatching at its mooring rope in the rising gale. First, he pictured a gust catching it as it swung about and tearing the rope apart, so the ship drifted away into the falling light. Then he pictured a violent eddy of wind spilling off the pylon and driving the ship forward to smash against the landing stage and break up into fragments of floating wreckage while the crew struggled to climb out. Either way, he must hurry, Lynella would be waiting for him, but he had no idea what to do. He was sure that she would have known but she was not with him and could not help.
The presence had told him to pray. Thinking back, he wondered if he had ever prayed before in his life. Surely the act of repeating the words aloud was not real praying – he couldn’t do that anyway in the network and the presence must have known that. Praying must therefore be a personal process more related to asking questions of himself and exploring the limits of the conscious mind rather than reciting demands to and unknown stranger. In desperation he tried to delve into his mind and ask questions of himself. What logic could he see in the array in front of him? How could it be a part of the vast machine that seemed to circle this planet?
He pleaded for answers and, imperceptibly at first, they came. With a start he realised that he was beginning to see. His confidence, or he felt he should call it faith, grew and with it came revelations. Now he could see how to enter the devices and bring them to life. With this came an understanding of the philosophy of the mages: an absolute faith in the ability of their minds to work with what they found in this planet, and step outside the bounds of time and space which had restricted all life that had come before.
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