Land Of The Gods

by Abhishek .

  Shanbhag was taken to another room with a torus-shaped ring. It was at least ten feet in diameter and resembled a doughnut with wires growing out of its body. A resounding drone filled the cavernous metallic room. He was bodily dragged by the three men to where Baldr stood with his men.

  “Doctor. You must know that we need you. Our society is on the verge of collapse and people like you are required. I am sorry but you will be sent to Asr-Gawa, another dimension. It exists right here, right now but it is just beyond our reach. This device,” he says, pointing at the torus, “will take you there. As soon as the people over there understand that you are a scientist, you will earn your place in our society.”

  “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Shanbhag yelled. “Do you take me for a fool? Leave me. Leave me at once!” He tried to shove the men around him but they stood their ground like walls. Shanbhag was certain that this was some kind of cult or militant group that had captured him.

  “I can understand your incredulity but believe you me, you will get to know everything once you are in Asr-Gawa. Switch on the teleporter.”

  A man behind him walked over to a control panel and flicked scores of switches. Shanbhag was brought up to the torus which he now believed to be some kind of torture machine. Mentally, he bade farewell to Ram and the world but something about the ‘teleporter’ kept nagging him. A time dilation in the Chronoscale and a teleporter....

  Just then, the drone increased in volume and drowned out any kind of sound. Shanbhag was suddenly lifted off the ground and thrown straight into the torus. He screamed but over the din; he couldn’t hear his own voice. Shanbhag closed his eyes and exactly at that moment, a dark and swirling sphere materialised and he was sucked into it. His travel experience through the distorted tube-inside-a-tube had been identical to Ram’s. Shanbhag had screamed, cried, twisted and bent until he was engulfed in white light. He fell down on a cold metal floor and didn’t feel much thereafter.

  * * *

  Heimdallr woke up with a start. It was vibrating. His forehead was drenched in cold sweat. He had dreamed again about his dead sister. He had loved her dearly and her loss had left a deep wound on Heimdallr, a wound that was salted by the sight of his sister’s husband. Heimdallr wiped the sweat and pushed away the rippling bedclothes. He sat on the edge of his floating bed and checked the wristband that had partly unfastened as he went to bed. This wristband had become a part of all the sentinels who had qualified for the post of ‘Heimdallr, the gatekeeper’. From childhood, he had become accustomed to the title and almost forgotten his real name.

  This device showed its owner the state of the teleporter, the latest updates, a record of its activation in the past and the time left before the next maintenance shift. Normally, the notification panel displayed information on the use of the teleporter: the time it was activated, the amount of energy it had used and sent to the designated dimension and the citizen who had used it. This time, the panel displayed multiple messages in red, all which read:

  UNAUTHORISED ACTIVATION OF

  TELEPORTER | CITIZENSHIP OF

  TRAVELLER NOT CONFIRMED

  Kapittel 47

  Mathias’s story

  Off the northern coast of Egypt

  March 15, 2017, Wednesday, 0630 hours EET

  Lifana spoke fluent Asurian and, surprisingly, her English was well-structured as well, but laced with a soft Scandinavian accent. Baldr had used a remote translator to communicate with us when Ram and I were in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve but Lifana here knew perfect English even though she couldn’t wave off the Germanic accent. “How do you speak English?” Vivek asked her.

  “My senior taught me English. He had spent most of his life here in Mandagaar and we exchanged languages with each other. I taught him Asurian while he taught me this Mandaa language.”

  “Does your senior have a name?” I asked her, thinking that it must have been an Earthman.

  She did not seem comfortable in confiding in us. “Umm... you both needed to discuss something, no?”

  Vivek turned to me. “Yes. Let’s go back to the cockpit. This place is too gloomy.”

  Once we were back in the cockpit, Lifana went over to the windshield and gazed at the dark blue Mediterranean ocean, a few large container ships dotting the water’s surface and the distinct strip of land at the far horizon.

  “Are all Asurians so crazy?” Vivek whispered to me with a thin smile. We were far enough for her to not overhear us.

  “Perhaps. She doesn’t seem to be mad anymore. Her name is Lifana and we had a small chat up there in the shrine. It’s just that she is a total stranger to our world and got flustered when she found herself here. I don’t know about the other Asurians but if my parents are truly Asurians, I hope they are different from the lot.” I smiled back.

  “Alright. Now that we have almost reached Alexandria, could you explain the verse to me once again? I... just need to be convinced a little more.”

  I walked over to my backpack and retrieved Mrs Dawson’s diary. I brought it to Vivek after finding the verse I had been searching for.

  “Remember? We had tried to decode this verse after coming back from the biosphere reserve in India?” I pointed at the verse.

  “Yes. We could hardly understand it then.”

  “I have since then thought a lot about this. Ram is much better at this than me. I have tried to think like him.”

  The First family can be reached through a window,

  Where the rainbow guides the way

  On top of the world,

  Only on the fateful day,

  For those who can move the egg-shaped rock,

  Only when you make hay.

  “The first line essentially means the same as before: Odin and his family can be reached through a portal, yes?”

  Vivek nodded in agreement.

  “Good. The second line has a different meaning. Earlier, we thought that the ‘rainbow’ meant the rainbow bridge or Bifrost bridge in Asr-Gawa. Besides that, what is thin, tall with a bulbous head and has a small, little rainbow emblem?”

  “Bor’s staff!” Vivek exclaimed. “It glowed strangely when the bindpath was opened. Do you think this staff will lead us to our destination?”

  I nodded. Whatever we were doing here, whatever we figured out was based on assumptions. Those assumptions had led us to this corner of the world.

  “Fine,” I said, resuming my analysis. “Now ‘on top of the world’ was previously interpreted as the highest point on Earth which is Mount Everest. However, during the time period Bor came to Earth, we were in the prehistoric times, 2000 to 3000 BC. At that time, if he was called Noah or Gilgamesh, he must have obviously come to the Gulf region. We also read about him planting life in Asia Minor and Africa, remember? So, the highest point in that region was Mount Ararat. But why would he build it in a mountain? Why couldn’t he build it in the tallest man-made structure?”

  “That is why you think that the teleporter should be here in Egypt?” Vivek scratched the stubble of beard on his chin in contemplation.

  “Precisely! The pyramid of Khufu was the tallest man-made structure at that time. Firstly, why would he build a teleporter in the middle of nowhere in Asia Minor? Secondly, why would the Egyptians build such a large tomb? For all we know, those structures could be concealing the large teleporter! But there is a difficulty here. The pyramids have been excavated thoroughly over the years and they weren’t big enough. They needed something larger to house the teleporter.” My eyes glimmered in anticipation. “Equally tall or taller, and more likely to be called Top of the World. The pyramids were meant to have space inside and below. Whereas a lighthouse was meant to be remain tall and have space at the top. At that time, the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria was supposed to be 300 cubits high. Depending on the actual measurement of cubits which is debatable, that could be between 450 to 600 ft high, much taller than the Pyramid! So, the lighthouse of Alexandria could have been taller than the pyramids!

 
“Well, the pyramids still exist but it has been long since the lighthouse was destroyed. Most of the information we have on the lighthouse is based on speculation and some crumbly and blemished manuscripts which have survived the test of time.”

  A small pause ensued.

  “I do understand and yet it seems nothing less than a presumption.” Vivek raised his eyes towards me, rubbing the bruise on his forehead.

  “Moreover the foundations of the lighthouse were supposed to have been laid deep below the surface of the sea which made it even taller than it appeared above the surface of the water! This is where we need to go, Vivek! It is larger than the pyramids and odd in the sense that it used to have a very broad and thick structure,” I insisted.

  Vivek looked at me with concerned eyes.

  “You may be right. But I don’t think I have the tenacity to go back to Mount Ararat if this doesn’t turn out to be correct,” he pointed a finger at me and smiled tiredly.

  “Where are we going?” Lifana asked while staring at the landscape of and around Alexandria, Egypt.

  “We need to go into the city but before everything, we need to park this small little flying artifact.” Vivek replied while flying the ark at a good distance from the city. He needed to make sure that they weren’t visible and at the same time, they didn’t fly too far away from the city. “You better sit down, Lifana. Mathias. I shall require your assistance.”

  I walked over to Vivek and grabbed the joystick while Vivek held the throttle with his left hand and trained his finger on a button with his right hand.

  “Just fly around the city. Fly over that bay over there and keep turning right,” Vivek commanded.

  I banked the ark slowly left and flew into a crescent shaped bay. We were at a good height and people down below wouldn’t be able to recognise Noah’s ark flying over their heads.

  Vivek and I searched for a deserted area where no one would be able to see our ark. From this high up, we could spot the web like tributaries of Nile’s Mediterranean mouth through a sandy haze. However, thousands of years of agriculture had turned this fertile delta of the river Nile into a sprawling expanse of civilisation and greenery. Within every few kilometers there were clumps of townships and farming communities. Every patch of land was cultivated and nowhere did we find enough empty space.

  Slowly, I turned the ark further right and flew over the Nile’s tributaries and the highway while keeping Alexandria to our right.

  “We are well inland but I don’t think we will find parking space here,” murmured Vivek.

  “Parking space? You people want to go to that city, no?” Lifana asked.

  “Yup. Can you find some space where we can keep this ship?” I asked her.

  “Well, there seems to be a lot of space under us.”

  “No, no. Some place where people won’t see us if we land?” Vivek looked back at her. Lifana was looking out of the windshield intently. This world was new to her and she seemed to be enthralled by it’s looks. I did not know how Asr-Gawa’s landscape would be like but I guessed that it would be quite different.

  “I don’t think so. If you want to land surreptitiously, I declare that we go towards that area,” she pointed at the vast expanse of desert far away. “We will most definitely find accomodation over there.” Her occasional choice of large words made me wonder whether she had memorised them from some alien Asurian-to-English Dictionary

  “I agree. Mathias, go towards the desert but go slow. If there is place over here, we do not want to miss it.” Vivek motioned towards the desert.

  “But wouldn’t that be too far away from Alexandria?” I was doubtful as to how we would make our way into the city.

  “We have no choice. Just keep going.”

  Our keen eyes searched the ancient green landscape. However, the houses were mostly monochromatic. They lacked colour and lustre and each one of them was of some shade of brown or red. Down below, we crossed an airstrip and numerous villages. Gradually, the fields started clearing out as the desert crept into the fertile land like desolate fingers. Long plumes of smoke rose up from some places and from demolished buildings.

  “There is a civil war going on in Egypt now! We completely forgot about it!” I exclaimed.

  “I know, Mathias. God knows how we will get inside the city, let alone search for a teleporter! The war is the fiercest in Cairo and the western part of the Nile delta. The problem is that we are in the Western part of the delta. If we can get out of here, we should be relatively fine if we reach Alexandria,” Vivek thought aloud.

  When we passed the highway, I started a slow descent. The desert had encompassed all the land up till the horizon. As the wall of sand came towards us, trepidation gripped me from inside.

  “Good. This is a good place to land. Now on the count of three, you will nosedive into the desert. Make sure to strike the surface at a gentle angle and not perpendicularly. I will slowly decrease the speed of the thrusters and increase the rotation of the drill so that it can be as smooth as possible.”

  “How do you know so much about landing?” I asked him, surprised at the efficiency of his orders.

  “I... I used to play flight simulator very often when I worked at ISRO. That was my only pastime. No TV. No social media. I used to kill my time either by studying particle physics or playing flight simulator,” he grinned.

  “Well, flight simulator will then decide our fate. Lifana, are you buckled up?”

  “There is nothing to hold on to!” She yelled in frustration. “Hold on to the handle bars in the corridor back there. Quick!”

  Lifana ran back to the corridor and nodded when she was braced.

  “Here we go! One, two and three!”

  Instantly, I pushed the joystick forward and the nose of the ark dipped downwards. Vivek and I floated in the air while the ark fell from the sky. With my left hand, I pushed up on the control pad overhead to avoid pulling up on the joystick. Vivek steadied himself in the same way and gradually, slowed down the ark’s thrusters. A second later, he reached out and pressed a button. In response, the colossal drill at the nose started spinning vigorously until it was just a blur.

  “Woah! I don’t like weightlessness! It reminds me of Hatay!” screamed Vivek while we dived into the desert. A shrill scream pierced the air from the corridor behind us. Being suddenly teleported to another dimension and falling headfirst into a desert had scared the Asurian lady to the bone.

  We fell swiftly and the sandy desert rushed towards us. Smaller objects and structures were becoming clearer and larger. Slowly, I pushed the nose of the ark ever so slightly so that it would hit the ground at an angle. Vivek fired up the engines a little more and our craft came crashing into the desert like a meteor and ploughed straight in.

  The jolt flattened Vivek and me into the windshield. My cheek was pressed against the peculiarly strong glass through which saw the ark drilling into the ground. The sunlight was cut off and replaced by blackness and a sense of claustrophobia.

  I pulled up the joystick even further before we went further down into the Earth. At the same time, Vivek slowed down the engines and brought the ark to a halt. The rage of the engines reduced to a gentle hum and that was the only sound there was.

  The ark was plunged in darkness which was almost inky. A few patches of algae made the surroundings barely discernible. Vivek and I were lying on the ground, completely still.

  “I cannot stop marvelling at what you keep dragging me into.” Vivek laughed nervously.

  Lifana walked carefully into the control room. “Can you Mandaas never land properly?”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t think we will need this ark anymore. Let’s climb up to the surface.”

  “Wait!” I said. “Since we are in Egyptian airspace, the authorities must have detected us while airborne.”

  “I suppose... let’s hope not because of the confusion of the civil war going on now.”

  The three of us gathered our belongings. I grabbed Noah’s staff and
Vivek kept the Japanese shield. The ancient tome was very cumbersome, and we thought it better not to carry it along with us. Moreover, we kept it beside Noah’s corpse in a way to thank him for revealing such astounding secrets to us. The world probably wasn’t ready for this yet. When it would, the tome will serve evidence for the former naïveté of mankind. Until then, it shall rest here, unperturbed along with its owner.

  Vivek led us to the back of the ark. There, we found a door which opened to a small balcony. While the sides and the front of the craft were lodged into the earth, the posterior was open to the tunnel made by the ark.

  “Now Lifana, you need to be careful out here. We know that you don’t know the ways of a Mandaa but just tag along. The place we are in could be very dangerous,” Vivek warned Lifana and she nodded tensely with pursed lips. Considering her unsettled situation, her calm demeanour was remarkable.

  Next, we jumped down from the balustrade into the tunnel and walked upwards. Sunlight poured in through the hole which was still at a distance.

  “This civil war happened because of internal unrest, no?” I asked Vivek.

  “Yes, mostly because of internal unrest. Ever since the Egyptian revolution in 2011, the country hasn’t been very organised. They had to reshape the constitution after the military council took over. Due to extreme political pressure, pressure from refugees and the militant coalitions in the Sinai Peninsula, a civil war started in Egypt almost a year back. One group is fighting in the name of the former president of Egypt who was removed from power. However, this group is mainly a militant group fighting for non-secular reasons and the rival group is basically the so called secular government headed by the army chief. The Sinai militants just added fuel to the growing flame between these groups so that the civil war might start. We tread dangerous waters.”