by Lee Watts
As a group of twenty or so natives ascended the steps of the ziggurat toward the pirates, Jaiden moved to draw his weapon.
"Hardly a way to win new friends, Mr. Suchet?" Sosimo said quietly.
Keeping his eyes on the approaching group, Jaiden removed his hand from the pistol and went to refasten the strap holding it in place.
"I wouldn't go that far," Sosimo added. "No need to be unprepared."
Reaching the platform at the top, the aliens came to a halt. In a mix of colors, heights and facial structures, they were unlike any other people Sosimo had encountered in all his travels. Typically, people of such an isolated civilization had nearly identical features. These people's clothes showed an advanced level of skill in weaving, and their shoes evidenced these were not wholly primitive people. The group gawked at the newcomers. One of the younger boys reached out a hand to touch Shen Mei's sleeve, but immediately after making contact quickly withdrew his arm.
"I guess I'll start the introductions," Sosimo told his companions. "I am Captain Sosimo Degare Fauntleroy LaRouche the Fourth."
Upon hearing this, the group just stared at him in confusion. This, however, was the typical reaction of most people after hearing LaRouche say his name... or really say much of anything. "Do you understand me?"
The aliens looked at each other, then mumbled to one another, but neither Sosimo nor those with him could pick out any of the words. Sosimo was about to try and say something else when the crowd suddenly grew silent and parted. They were making way for an older man who used a tall walking stick to aid him.
"This must be their chief," Sosimo reasoned. "Now we're getting somewhere."
"O sm Pryrtr, giofr pg pit Ta Zurs. Wmf pit vpmeinoyu. Stra upi yjr Flt Kiiper?"
Sosimo, Mei, and Jaiden all exchanged glances.
"Uh...I think he's talking to you, Captain."
"Hold on," Mei asserted as she adjusted the device held by a strap over one of her shoulders. "Get him to say something else, Captain. The translation matrix needs more to work with."
"Um, okay. Have any of you seen a big vault with piles of valuables in it? If so, I have a claim on that."
The older man spoke a few lines again.
"Did you catch that, Mei?"
"It's coming through now. He said they are the Zurs and are you at fault."
Sosimo rolled his eyes.
"I'm here two minutes, and already they're saying something is my fault."
As the alien man started talking about something else, Sosimo and Jaiden looked to Mei as she read off the machine's translation.
"It's rough, Captain. The translator doesn't have much to go on, but I think he repeated basically the same thing. It seems to be a question. 'Are you the keeping fault?' What do you think he means?"
"How should I know?" Sosimo shrugged with a playful huff.
"Wait a second," Jaiden interrupted. "Keeping fault, sounds a lot like keeper vault or Vault Keeper doesn't it?"
Sosimo's eyes sparkled at the possibility.
"You're right," Mei responded as she built on the idea. "They might be asking if you are the Vault Keeper."
Before they could continue, the alien leader spoke again. As the translation came across the tiny screen, Mei read it.
"It's still not perfect, but each time they talk, the machine learns more about their language. He said something about servants of the albinos."
"He could mean the Ramillie," Sosimo deduced. "They're white skinned. Think about it, the Vault Keeper hid things here from the Ramillie. I bet it's become a legend or maybe even a religious belief to these people that one day either the Vault Keeper would return or the Ramillie."
"So, you think we're fulfilling one of their prophecies?" Jaiden asked.
"I guess we are," Sosimo answered. "I am a descendent of the vault keepers, and have returned."
Again, the alien man addressed them. Sosimo and Jaiden looked to Mei for what he meant.
"Uh-oh," she mumbled.
"I thought we already had a discussion about saying that," Sosimo chided.
"Sorry, Captain, but this time I think it is an uh-oh. See, he just asked if we will now take them to the stars. They see you as a messiah figure, Captain. I think he expects you to take them all to Paradise."
"Uh-oh," Sosimo groaned. "There's nothing in the legend about the Vault Keeper taking people to Paradise. Where'd they get such an idea?"
"I don't know," Mei responded. "But the last Vault Keeper was here a thousand years ago. Imagine how the story of a visitor from the stars could change over that much time."
"Can we use that machine to talk to them?" Sosimo asked.
"We can try, but the translation will be just as bad or maybe worse on what they hear," Mei answered.
"Let's give it a try. We'll start with something simple. Punch in, I am of the lineage of the Vault Keeper. Take me to the Vault where the riches of ages are stowed."
"I'll try," Mei muttered without much confidence then input the words to the device. Finished, she activated the voice feature. The aliens did a slight recoil as sounds emanated from the strange box the female visitor was holding. When it ended, the aliens looked at each other in confusion.
"I hope we didn't just insult someone's mother," Jaiden commented.
"I don't think so," Sosimo replied. "Trust me, I've insulted a lot of people's mothers, and that's not the look they get. No, I think they're trying to figure out what we meant by whatever came out of that machine."
With a confused look, the lead alien spoke again, and Mei read his words.
"He asked why we seek aged grass that is mowed."
"Maybe we should try something simpler," Sosimo suggested. "Try this, take us to The Vault."
His first mate input the words and when the machine spoke this time a look of understanding came across the faces of the aliens. The lead man did a slight bow, uttered something and gestured for them to follow.
"Now we're getting somewhere," Sosimo gleamed with a greedy smile.
With the lead alien guiding the way, the three visitors followed him down the steps of the ziggurat with the rest of the aliens following. The group behind them mumbled excitedly as they progressed through the village. More people joined the group as they progressed. By the time they reached the far side of the town, Jaiden guessed nearly half the city was tagging along.
Rock formations reaching from the ground to hundreds of meters above them lined the gigantic tunnel where they walked. It reminded Jaiden of the mighty columns in the royal hall of the Theeran palace, but these, natural columns, were hundreds of times larger. As they rounded the immense base of one of the stone pillars they caught sight of a pair of double doors. Jaiden whistled softly in amazement upon first gazing at the gigantic doorway.
"That has to be at least sixty meters tall," he gaped in awe.
As with the outer entrance where they landed the shuttle, this passageway was part of the rock face of the planet itself with ornate carvings of alien words and statues of people chiseled in one contiguous, masterful edifice.
Coming to a stop, the head alien man gazed up at the doors and announced something. Sosimo didn't need to ask Mei what he meant. He knew, and he knew his life's goal lay just beyond those gargantuan doors.
"There's a lever on the side, Captain," Mei pointed out. "I guess that's how we get in?"
Sosimo stood gazing at the doors silently for a moment as he contemplated it before answering.
"Nope," he at last decided.
Jaiden was confused.
"What," he asked in disbelief. "But The Vault is right behind that door. There's got to be a way inside."
"Oh, there's a way inside," the pirate captain assured him. "But it's not by pulling that lever."
"It's not?" Jaiden asked in confusion.
"No."
"Then what is?"
"A trap," Sosimo explained. "There's no way the Vault Keeper, who went to so much trouble to keep the location of The Vault secret, is going to allow someone to walt
z right in and take what he so carefully preserved. Besides, that lever is metal, and nothing else around here is. My guess is the Vault Keeper added this little security measure to the already existing structure. Pull that lever, and it's death for sure. I bet there's a secondary entrance around close. Look around. See if you can find another opening."
Jaiden and Mei nodded and began examining the rocky walls. The assembled aliens looked at them in puzzlement. After a minute or so, Jaiden called out.
"I think I've found something, Captain."
Sosimo and Mei came over to him and saw behind a boulder was a simple opening leading to a small tunnel. At the mouth of the entrance were no grand statues, no carved symbols or decorations of any type.
"Excellent," Sosimo nodded with a smile. Then turned and walked inside the cavern. None of the aliens would accompany them. Clearly, they believed entering The Vault was forbidden. Rounding the first corner, light became practically non-existent, so Sosimo tapped a control on his artificial wrist causing a light to emanate from one of the fingertips. They went on for about thirty seconds before coming to a thick metal door with a panel to the side.
"Let's see if that old LaRouche charm still works," the pirate boasted with a roguish grin to his compatriots and pressed his organic hand to the plate. A lavender beam glided across the panel. Scan complete, the door clanked and slowly ratcheted upward. Cautiously, Sosimo looked at the surroundings before proceeding. Not detecting anything, he stepped forward into the chamber. As soon as he entered a siren began to sound. On the side of the wall behind him was a panel that started flashing a brilliant red and emitting an unpleasant repeating buzz. A pad with ten buttons was below the blinking light.
"The security system must have activated," Jaiden figured.
Both the flashing light and buzz began to quicken their pace.
"It must be on a countdown," Mei deduced. "Ten symbols… probably numbers zero through nine."
"Does the legend say anything about a number code," Jaiden asked in controlled anxiety.
"Nope," Sosimo answered.
The tension was mounting, and in a few more moments the alarms would become a solid stream of light and sound.
"What'll we do?" Jaiden asked while forcing himself not to panic.
Sosimo thought about it for a moment while he looked at the panel before answering.
"Um.... nothing."
"NOTHING?!"
"Yes, nothing. Let me ask you something, Mr. Suchet. It's not as if there is a police force here. So, if you had a secret security system would you draw attention to it by adding a siren and bright flashing light?"
"...No."
"Neither would I. These things are to specifically draw your attention to it. My guess is no matter what code you type in it will activate some rather nasty trap."
Mei was concerned.
"But what if your guess is wrong?"
With the lights and buzz about to become steady, Sosimo turned to her calmly and answered.
"We're about to find out."
Reaching the constant point, the buzz increased in volume and the brightness of the light intensified. Adrenalin surged through Jaiden's body, and he had to force himself not to run away. His heart was beating so quickly he thought it might explode. Frantically looking around the room, he tried to get a warning where the death ray, or poison gas, or whatever was about to get them would come from. Then all was still. The buzz fell silent, and warning light extinguished. Everyone froze and held their breath for a pair of heartbeats, but there was nothing.
"See, nothing-" Sosimo's voice cracked, but he quickly cleared his throat. "Nothing to worry about."
Jaiden, calming down, noticed the metallic control panel and plates fastening the flashing lights to the wall were also of metallic and so probably another addition by the Vault Keeper.
Turning around they beheld the magnificence of the rotunda. To Sosimo it was practically a religious experience. An immensely large circular room with a domed ceiling decorated with gold and paintings, there was an elevated round platform in the center. The platform itself was comprised of three discs each slightly smaller than the one below, which gave a stair effect. It had a ramp on the side facing the massive, closed double doors they were on the other side of earlier. On the opposite side of the room was a wide stone pedestal with a slightly inclined top. Beyond that, in the back of the room, was a staircase of about twenty steps leading up to a somewhat larger than average door. Evenly spaced about the uppermost portion of the platform were six gargantuan pillars that extended up fifty meters where they splayed into massive arches that reached outward to the sides of the room. Light shown from the underneath side of the arches bathing the room in an almost golden glow. About the sides of the room were twelve semicircular indentions. Each was at least five meters deep and three times as high. These were all divided by fluted columns. Inside each indention was an enormous statue. Each seemed carved of an identical, ivory-type material. On the pedestal of each sculpture was one large symbol with several smaller ones below.
Sosimo stood there, drinking in the grandeur of the room. For so many years he fantasized about the splendor of The Vault. The magnificence of the rotunda exceeded even his expectations. There was the rotunda to examine and whatever lay beyond the far door to explore. He was sure there were rooms and rooms each housing a fortune beyond his wildest dreams. Since Mei and Jaiden were present, he fought down the urge to laugh in joyous, wild abandon. Stepping forward, he moved toward the center platform. He figured the grandest prize was whatever was there.
Draped beneath a dusty, heavy canvas was a large, circular item that was nearly waist high and about ten meters wide. Mei and Jaiden followed him toward the platform to uncover his long-awaited prize. The marble walls made each footfall echo. Reaching the first step, the trio froze as they heard the all too familiar sound of weapons charging. Raising their hands and slowly turning around, they saw Crimson and nearly a dozen Ramillie troops with him. All of their weapons were pointed at Sosimo and his crew. Leading the group was the traitor Crimson. He smiled wickedly as more of the red armored soldiers entered from the tunnel.
"Why so surprised, LaRouche?" Crimson sneered, his voice echoing off the walls. "Didn't you realize I can track my own ship?"
CHAPTER 23
"For I am the LORD, I change not..." – Malachi 3:6
"Crimson," Sosimo seethed. The pirate captain considered drawing his sidearm and shooting his nemesis right then and there. Noting the pack of Ramillie with weapons already trained on him and his companions, he figured he would never get off the shot.
"So, you finally found it," Crimson quipped snidely. "The famed Vault. Turns out you're not crazy after all, guess I lost that bet."
There were now more than twenty Ramillie troops and one hooded figure with the traitor.
"Who are your new friends?" Sosimo asked with eyes locked on the mutineer.
"Oh, just some people I met in The Cloud. Turns out they hate you too. So many people do ya know. So, we made a deal. I'd lead them to The Vault, and they let me go." Turning to the cloaked man beside him, Crimson added, "I've fulfilled my part of the bargain."
Pulling back his hood, the Dridmor Imenand grinned in devilish delight.
Motioning for some of the soldiers to follow him, he moved toward the room's central platform. Transfixed on the concealed object below the cloth covering, he didn't even acknowledge the presence of Sosimo or the two with him. Reaching down, Imenand used both hands to grab tight fistfuls of the cloth and forcefully ripped the dust-laden covering away in a single swipe. Exposed, the dark metal seemed to gleam.
"Finally," the Dridmor said in victory as he beheld the portal that would allow beings of his kind to enter the galaxy in the natural form. "Have this loaded on the ship and prepare for immediate departure."
"What about the rest of The Vault?" asked the Ramillie troop commander.
"None of it matters. Bring the prisoners too."
One of t
he red armored guards grabbed Crimson by the upper arm.
"But," Crimson began in protest, "we had a deal."
Imenand didn't reply or even bother to break his stride.
As the prisoners were herded together, Sosimo turned to his arch-enemy.
"If you thought they would just let you go, then you are amazingly stupid, Crimson."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am-"
"BOYS," interrupted Mei. "We can settle this later."
Both pirates nodded their reluctant agreement like scolded children.
After a moment Sosimo whispered a final, "Are too."
"That's enough," commanded one of the Ramillie soldiers. "Hands on the back of your heads."
With a slight nudge of encouragement from the tip of a Ramillie sub-rifle, Sosimo and the group were ushered back through the tunnel they entered and told to stop just outside of the massive double doors. A half dozen other Ramillie soldiers came walking up, each with portable anti-grav lifters. Knowing they couldn't fit the portal through the side tunnel, the unit commander went up and pulled the level by the twin doors. There was a clank, then a massive trap door in the floor gave way, and ten of the Ramillie plummeted into the dark shaft. They cried out as they fell, but the tunnel was so deep their yells faded to nothing before there was ever the sound of impact.
"Told ya," Sosimo chirped in great self-satisfaction.
A few seconds later the trap door reset and the lever righted itself. Deciding to try something else, one of the remaining troops was ordered back in through the tunnel and was able to open the doors from the inside safely. The dimensional portal was hoisted, and the captives followed it out. The Zurs, clearly intimidated by the legendary albinos, stayed hidden and only watched from inside their homes or from other concealed positions. Ignoring the shuttle Sosimo and company used, they all boarded a Ramillie craft and headed up to the surface.
With the planet falling away behind them as they gained altitude, Sosimo saw three Ramillie cruisers in orbit that were flanking the Fame. He wondered if his crew was alright. Reaching the brig, he was pleased to see Byron and the others still alive. The ships, including the Fame that was now crewed by Ramillie, broke orbit and headed back to The Cloud.