The edge of the plain dropped off to conceal the ocean waves. Martin was perched on a hogback that stretched around the southern and eastern edge of the plain. The plain was edged with woods and fallen stone rubble at the base of the hogback. The riverbed lay off to the east, and then passed along the northern boundary, and out of sight.
In the center of the plain stood a structure. The structure was one that Martin had not expect and certainly not in such good condition. Several dozen stone columns placed in a circle. A lintel stone bridged between adjacent columns. Judging by the height of the people moving about at the base, the stones appeared to be forty or fifty feet tall and the circle a hundred feet across. All the stones, columns and lintels were precisely placed.
From this distance of a mile or so it appeared that the grassland covered the otherwise featureless site. The nearest tree stood about a mile from the henge. A line of people spaced many yards apart marched to and from the henge carrying what appeared to be bundles of sticks and brush.
On the far side of the plain there was a group of people strung out along the tree line as though they were waiting for a parade.
Martin; Can you detect any people hidden by the trees below us?
ANGL: Yes. They seem to be spread out along the tree line; fewer than on the far side. It seems that we can safely descend this side another hundred yards.
Over the next three hours Martin made his way down through the jutting stone slabs; ancient layers long ago heaved up to make dramatic slivers and flakes pointing to the sky. It would have been difficult or impossible for Martin to walk and watch for people perched above on the wedges of rock. ANGL on the other hand could detect and discern life forms in any direction and at any time. When Martin got within about a two hundred feet of the nearest group of people he decided to call it a day and prepared to settle in for the evening. He still had a couple of days to play.
ANGL muttered through a mission checklist to make sure that everything had been accounted and recorded. Martin reminded him that this mission wasn’t going to end back at the Lab. ANGL reminded Martin that if they had to return to the lab for strategic reasons it would not hurt to bring back some data as a gift to salve the natives. Ok mark one up for the Bot. Martin settled down to eat or as he called it “nurse the nozzle.”
After preparing a sleeping area and inflating a sleeping pad, Martin climbed a nearby pinnacle to observe the evening ceremonies. He wasn’t expecting a Forth of July display but they hadn’t gathered like this for nothing. With the sun dropping beneath the flat ocean horizon and the light of day fading fast, Martin felt relatively safe from discovery on this perch. The last reddish rays of the setting sun lit the pink under side of the high clouds. Red sky tonight sailor’s delight, went through Martin’s head. The henge stood silhouetted by a crimson sun set glow. The air was dead calm. Martin could hear an occasional voice and the chirp of a child’s laughter crackle through the cool moist evening air. Strands of dense fog penciled the muted coastline patiently waiting to own the night. Even Martin could feel the expectation that filled the air. Something was about to happen.
Martin initiated vision augmentation to see if I could see what was taking place at the henge. He could make out two or three people working at the center of the henge. Inside it appeared that an immense pyre of wood and branches were being carefully placed. The columns obstructed a clear view of their activities.
About three quarters of a mile radius from the henge stood a line of people. They encircled the henge. Inside of that circle another circle was forming. This one contained about three hundred people and they stood about two hundred feet from the henge. Fifty or sixty feet inside that circle stood another concentric row of people about sixty feet apart.
ANGL: An ignition source has been detected within the henge.
The three people within the henge walked out and joined the inner circle. Everyone faced the henge.
The high wispy cirrus gave way to the Milky Way arching the entire sky. The flicker from within the henge grew to tongues of flame licking high above the henge. Streaks of various color laced the growing flames.
ANGL: Various ores have been added to the fuel mass; copper, Thallium, phosphates, some Lithium compounds, Calcium, Manganese among others.
Martin; Where do they get that stuff?
ANGL: Some of it may be local but some must be brought in from elsewhere. The manganese and lithium must be brought from a great distance.
The color show quickly gave way to a roaring orange pillar of flame leaping skyward in an ever-heightening spiral.
ANGL: A resonance is building.
Martin; Where is it coming from?
ANGL: The resonance is building between the flame mass and the column surfaces. A portion of the thermal shock wave is emanating from the flame surface and rebounding off of the stone columns. The return pressure wave is creating an amplified flame pulse that radiates outward in another pressure wave. The cycle is self perpetuating; amplifying to the level of a discernible pulse. If it enters the infrasound range before it decays it will become a health concern to those standing in the circles. As the fuel mass reduces in size the sound will drop in amplitude and become undetectable.
Martin; Am I safe up here?
ANGL: Yes. You may feel it but the energy level at this distance will be inconsequential.
Martin; Could it injure them badly?
ANGL: Yes. They probably have experience and know how much they can take.
Martin; What does it do to them?
ANGL: The lowest sounds the human ear can detect are about eighteen to twenty hertz. The average resonant frequency of human organs is about seven to ten hertz. Enough energy in that range of frequency can dislodge the internal organs from their supporting tissue and bruise them. If the person didn’t die from the experience they may still require several weeks to heal and recover.
As Martin watched the fire the sound rumbled across the plains and moaned a weird echo off the hills. The immense flame coalesced into a tight spiral that rocket into the sky above the henge. Within minutes the tones pitch dropped to the inaudible. I would have guessed that it was over except the light from the fire continued to pulse noticeably. The pulsing light became mesmerizing.
ANGL: Watch the children.
One at a time the children would slump to the ground, sit down or lay down. The adults with raised arms as though worshipping. They showed little concern for the children.
Martin could feel the pulsing of the energy wave through his clothing. It was as if an earthquake was moving the ground.
ANGL: Can you feel the seismic wave in the soil? It will be felt for many miles. This may be more than just a religious ritual.
Martin; Yeah. What else could it be?
ANGL: Miles from this fire an observer can see the pulsing glow and reflection off the lower clouds.
Martin; How far away?
ANGL: Maybe as far as sixty miles if there is no background lighting. It may just be the alert signal; a dial tone of sorts. It is possible to use the seismic wave as a carrier wave. By injecting low energy air pulses into the base of the fire, a signal can be amplified or modulated.
Martin; By low energy do you mean like the beating of a drum? I can hear drums.
ANGL: Yes or even vocal vibrations. It may not result in a discernible sound in immediate area. The sound may be resonating something that can be felt. The human touch can be trained to discern a large number of intelligible patterns. There is a detectable pattern that may in fact be that signal.
Martin; How sensitive would they need to be?
ANGL: Tactile and audio acuity can be very highly trained. Some auto mechanics have been known to possess the ablity to differentiate between dozens of internal combustion engines sizes and types by sound and feel alone. They could differentiate engine cylinder count and firing orders; as many as 80 different beat frequency signature
s could be identified. This population is probably more sensitive than that.
Martin; Ok. So maybe they are communicating?
ANGL: Yes. There are more than a thousand known henge sites in the British Isles. Several hundred of those could be candidates for this type of communication.
Martin; Is there anything else you’d like me to know?
ANGL: ? ? ? ? Would you like to know about the possibility of signal injection into the Aurora Borealis?
Martin: I can’t wait. First I gotta get some sleep, okay?
As Martin left his perch, he glanced back at the spiral column of flame reaching far above the henge.
ANGL: Its flame column is traveling upward at nearly one hundred miles per hour.
Martin: In the morning!
* * * * *
Chapter 26 - Terah
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
Albert Einstein