Rebecca had collected their luggage, and now joined her husband to take a look at the stone herself. ‘Fine by me.’ She rose into the air and glided in the direction indicated.
‘This sure beats the hell out of walking.’ Noah rose up also and willed himself after his wife. ‘Why didn’t we try this ages ago?’
Rebecca turned and shrugged. ‘Sometimes one needs to be removed from one’s environment before trying new things … we need change and challenges in order to exert ourselves, and thus, we learn and grow.’
As they made their way over the rubble-strewn canyon floor, Noah began to wonder how everyone else was doing on their quests. Had Brian and his wrecking crew landed safely on Nugia? Had the Dragon found his wife? Was Tory still alive? How was their good Governess holding out on Kila? His wondering only brought him sorrow, for he felt this was a hoot compared to what everybody else must be going through.
Seeing the sadness on her husband’s face Rebecca distracted him. ‘We’re doing well,’ she encouraged. ‘Look.’ She pointed up ahead to where the canyon took a sharp curve. ‘Has the image in the stone changed?’
Noah raised the stone to view its flat surface, which displayed the entrance to a dark cavern. ‘Yep,’ Noah confirmed, and Rebecca gave a cheer.
‘We’re getting closer, I can feel it.’ She took off ahead of him, eager to see if what the stone showed was around the bend.
When Noah heard his wife’s excited squeal he knew that they were on the right track.
Random traces of iridescent mineral deposits continued into the dark cavern and so their guiding stone lit the way very efficiently. Once they were inside the entrance, the image on the stone changed again to show a large, flat disc, fashioned from the same material as the crystal rock Noah held, set in the middle of a golden floor.
‘Oh my,’ Noah said, delighted at what lay in store. Up ahead the cavern widened out into a perfectly rounded chamber.
‘This is a bit too neat to be a natural formation,’ commented Rebecca when she moved into it.
It was obvious that the chamber must have once had a perfectly domed roof, but a good half of it had fallen away and now covered the floor in dust and rubble.
Noah came to stand on a level area, suspecting the disc he sought was now buried. As he brushed dirt away from the floor beneath his feet he found gold. ‘Ah-huh,’ he grunted, annoyed at the inconvenience of having to clear the rubble. ‘Here, hold this will you?’ Noah handed their guiding crystal to his wife.
‘What are you going to do?’ She smiled, intrigued, as he held up a finger to beg her patience.
Noah turned to face the trouble spot, getting a feel for the task at hand. When he had a clear image in his mind, he closed his eyes and held his hands out in front of him. Noah took a deep breath, parted his arms wide and imagined the dirt and rubble dispersing.
Rebecca gasped when the mounds of rubble began to shift aside, exposing a round disc embossed with ancient hieroglyphs and pictographs. This treasure almost seemed alive as the glowing iridescent substance from which it was made played on the eyes.
Noah was tickled pink with himself and, turning to catch what his wife thought of this achievement, he found her gazing at him in shock.
‘I saw Myrddin do it in one of Tory’s chronicles, so I thought I’d give it a bash,’ he explained. The next thing he knew he was being kissed.
‘I just adore you at times, Noah Purcell,’ Rebecca explained, then walked over to investigate the find.
It wasn’t often that Noah felt genuinely proud of himself. ‘I have to admit, I’ve even surprised myself this trip.’ Noah floated upwards to get an aerial perspective.
‘It says here that no Nefilim can advance beyond this chamber,’ Rebecca relayed the ancient text as she deciphered it from the disc.
‘Of course they can’t,’ Noah scoffed. ‘It’s a dead end.’
‘Shh! Listen,’ Rebecca urged and read on. ‘Only a human, Enki’s appointed one, can turn the key that unlocks the door to the secrets stored herein. The —’ She was distracted from her reading as she noticed the light ebbing from the crystal she held. ‘What’s happened to the power?’
Noah hastily looked his techo-rock over. As soon as he regained possession of it, the glow began to regain its intensity.
‘You’re in resonance with it,’ Rebecca realised. ‘It draws its power from you … you must be Enki’s appointed.’
‘Now, let’s not get too excited,’ Noah insisted. ‘Durak discovered and opened one of Enki’s Creation Stations … it seems more likely that the Dragon is Enki’s appointed.’
‘You don’t know that Durak ever gained access,’ Rebecca pointed out. ‘And why has the stone led you here, if you are not the one? Why does it glow for you and not for me?’
‘Let’s find out.’ Noah rose up into the air once more and glided into the centre of the large disk he’d exposed.
‘Have you found something?’ Rebecca came to kneel beside him.
They discovered a smooth round section, with a hunk taken out of the centre. To the uninformed person it would appear as if the work had met with a nasty accident that had chipped a great chunk out of the centrepiece.
‘I do believe I might be onto something here.’ Noah held the rock with its flat surface upward and placed it into the missing section. The crystal filled the empty space perfectly, leaving only a narrow finger-width crevice down either side it. ‘Only the appointed one can turn the key, did you say?’
Noah looked at his wife, who gave a nod of anticipation. Let it be me, he besought the universe, and with a flick of his wrist the whole centrepiece rotated forty-five degrees and light began shooting out of every etching on the huge disc.
It’s a passage to the Otherworld. As Noah realised this, he embraced Rebecca, and was swept with her into the next realm of existence.
Hawk had been such a polite host these past few days that Tory hadn’t suspected he might be harbouring a personal interest in her. This wouldn’t have been a concern, had she herself not been repressing an inexplicable feeling of closeness to Hawk since first they’d met. This affinity went beyond the mere gratitude she felt for his charity and kindness.
‘Well,’ she announced, upon shutting herself into Hawk’s cabin where she could be alone a moment. ‘At least I seem to have lost my need to be close to him, for the moment.’
She dreaded their next meeting. With no memory of previous intimate relationships, she may as well have been a teenage virgin. All she felt was this overwhelming desire welling within her lower chakras, which rose to her heart centre and there accumulated. This stored energy exploded every time Hawk came to mind, and each explosion felt as if it burnt a hole in her chest, and sent a rising heat up to her crown.
‘It’s so hot.’ She put her hands in the washbasin, where they were sprayed with water, and then ran her fingers through the little hair she had. Her image in the mirror made her cringe; she didn’t like this butch appearance at all. ‘I’d much prefer to be a Falcon. They look far more majestic. How can it be that my kind are Chosen? And what does that mean, anyway, to be one of the “Chosen”?’ Perhaps it had something to do with the strange sensation she’d experienced whilst fighting Crow? Could that be part of the supernatural hocus pocus Crow had referred to earlier? Having pondered these issues, Tory’s mind returned to the only mystery she really cared about — Hawk. She stared hard at her reflection, imagining how fine she would look with long quills and white plumage on her head, and a set of matching wings.
Her imagination impressed her greatly, as in the mirror a metamorphosis took place. Quills sprouted from her scalp, and large wings extended forth from between her shoulder blades.
Tory smiled, rather fancying herself as one of Hawk’s kind. Her appearance as shown in the mirror made her feeling of affinity to the captain seem a befitting reality. ‘What a shame it’s only an illusion,’ she muttered under her breath.
‘The things you get up to in here.’ Hawk made his
presence known.
He’d been coming to apologise for the uncomfortable situation Crow had created, when he witnessed the transformation in Tory take place. But as she looked at him the illusion faded away.
‘Why should you want to be anything but what you are?’ Hawk asked, hoping it had something to do with him.
He hadn’t had much experience with women in his twenty-seven years of life. He had been with a couple of whores and had a few one-night stands — nothing that could really be construed as a relationship. Thus, he wasn’t too good at reading women and knew next to nothing about romancing one. He did know that it was against the law for any mortal to even consider a relationship with an immortal. But then, he was an outlaw and honour bound to break such laws. Not that a close relationship was in the offing at present. Swan was so mysterious and amazing that Hawk felt he’d be happy to just get inside her head for a bit.
‘You saw that?’ Tory queried. ‘I thought I was just imagining things, truly.’ She smiled.
‘I think that with you, imagination and reality are not so far removed.’ Hawk gave expression to his confusion.
‘That’s a good theory,’ she granted. ‘Shall we test it out?’
Hawk started waving his hands about to slow down the proceedings. ‘First, tell me what was going on during your fight with Crow? You weren’t even watching him!’
‘Yes I was,’ Tory informed him. ‘I was just viewing him through my third eye … from outside and above myself.’
‘Wow … really?’ Hawk backed up a step, impressed by her claim. ‘And you can do that at will?’
Tory shrugged, and then nodded. ‘Seems so.’ She began searching the room for a suitable item to experiment on, and settled for a cushion that was on the bed.
‘That’s incredible!’ Hawk exclaimed, far more inspired than Tory was by her talent.
‘Duck!’ Tory prompted, and Hawk did so, whereupon she caught the cushion she’d willed to herself. Then, casting it loose again, she began directing it to different locations in the room. ‘So, as I am the only immortal on board and the best bulletproof shield you have, do you still think I should stay behind on your next raid?’
Hawk fell on his butt, having gone weak in the knees at the display. Tory directed the cushion to a speedy collision with Hawk’s head, but the captain caught it before it made contact.
‘Good reflexes,’ Tory applauded, as she squatted down before him to get her answer. ‘What do you say, Captain … am I pirate material or not?’
‘I’ll tell you what. Teach me some of those audacious moves you used against Crow and you’re on the crew.’
‘Alright.’ Tory nudged his shoulder, pleased that he’d come round. As they sat there smiling, both pleased with the deal they’d struck, Tory began to chuckle.
‘What’s so funny then?’ Hawk asked.
Tory shook her head, unable to wipe the smile from her face. ‘Hard to explain.’ She bit her lip and then decided to have a stab at communicating what was on her mind. ‘All this seems so familiar to me.’
‘All what?’
‘Being stuck in these odd circumstances with you and your crew.’
‘That feels familiar to you?’ Hawk exclaimed, wanting to be sure he had heard her correctly, because if he had, he wasn’t understanding her at all.
‘It’s like I’ve been here before — not here as in a time and space sense — but I’ve known this circumstance before,’ Tory proffered in an attempt to clear up the confusion, but Hawk only appeared more bemused.
‘Sorry Swan, you’ve completely lost me.’ Hawk got to his feet, and Tory rose also.
‘That’s okay,’ Tory shrugged. ‘I’ve lost me too.’
Hawk considered she had a very sweet way about her, as he laughed. ‘Look, what I actually came to see you about, was to apologise for the munitions room.’ Hawk broached the subject a little shyly. ‘Crow is a compulsive shit stirrer, as I’m sure you realise, and I’m sorry if he makes you feel uncomfortable.’
‘Crow doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable,’ Tory informed him matter of factly. She wasn’t too sure of what Hawk was trying to say here. Was this his polite way of denying Crow’s implication?
‘Then why did you leave so abruptly?’ Hawk wondered.
‘I left because Crow was making you feel uncomfortable,’ Tory informed jovially, as she pushed her finger into his chest. ‘Was that not the case?’
Hawk smiled. She was quite correct. ‘Crow’s very existence makes me uncomfortable,’ he confirmed, avoiding her question nicely.
‘He’s not as bad as he makes out.’ Tory’s gaze got lost in the memory of fighting Crow and she smiled fondly.
‘You’re not one of those women who likes abusive men are you?’ Hawk made the question sound like a joke, although he was seriously worried that she might be attracted to his brother.
‘No.’ She served him a cheeky grin to inform: ‘I like gentlemen.’
As she’d earlier referred to him thus, Hawk couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
‘Captain?’ Raven ventured to interrupt them from the open hatchway, ahead of serving Tory a friendly wink. ‘We have a potential target,’ he advised.
14
THE OUTLAW WAY
The Governor’s party set their craft down and disembarked on the night side of the dead moon, Caimah. The reason for their stopover was to avoid their craft being detected approaching Nugia. They would teleport themselves into the heart of the only established city on Nugia, Su. This stunt was possible because Brian had visited the planet before as part of a good relations tour with the members of the Pantheon, Lord Marduk and Maelgwn. On that visit, Lord Marduk’s party had only been introduced to the small, upper class society of the city, and only shown a brief glimpse of the slightly larger working class community.
SU meant ‘desolate city’, and was the name the Nefilim had given to the remote outpost that, by all accounts, was fast becoming a ghost town. The Leonines had another name for it — SU-AMELU, ‘desolate city of slaves’ — for rumour had it that thousands of their kind were born into slavery in the city, and never saw daylight. Only the few Leonines that excelled themselves as good servants to the Nefilim ever knew there was a world beyond the harsh, dark existence of their brethren. Some members of the Pantheon, who might have a vested interest in the alleged gold mining and slave trade that thrived on Nugia, strongly denied that any major enterprise was taking place on the planet. They claimed this was why they had only ever built one city there, to cater for the Leonines who were exploiting small mineral deposits for the profit of their planet.
The huge, gold mining industry certainly seemed to be a phantom, for Brian had not seen evidence of any major mining ventures taking place around the city. And yet, the palace of Nabu and Teshmit was adorned with a lot more riches than one would expect to find on a remote dustbowl of a planet that was concerned only with mining lesser metals and stones.
It had been a bit of a stretch for Brian to visualise a location in Su that might be devoid of people, so he picked a spot that would be so packed with people no one would notice his party’s sudden appearance — the local marketplace.
Each member of the six-man team assumed the illusion of having a Leonine form, in the hope of blending in with the natives. Robes with large hoods were must-have attire on Nugia, for protection against the strong dust laden winds.
In a crouched position, Brian, Talynn, Neriada, Cadwell, Thais and Rhun first removed their thought-wave neutralisers, then joined hands in a circle and telepathically perceived their Governor’s memory of their destination.
For security reasons, when the Governor’s group materialised in the busy marketplace, Talynn immediately broke away from her teammates to follow at a distance. Thais, too, headed off on his own and would rejoin the team before sunset to report on any local gossip he might manage to dig up. Cadwell and Neriada’s task was to find their party accommodation, for use as a temporary base, where they could assess their
findings in safety. After dark in Su, a strict curfew was enforced by Nabu’s guards, who patrolled the streets and would shoot to kill on sight. Obviously, none of the Governor’s team was deterred by the threat of death, but there was the threat of exposure. Brian thought it best to keep the Chosen’s presence here on Nugia a secret, until such time as it suited them to make themselves known.
The Governor and his Vice made for the slums on the outer reaches of the city, to see if they could gain any hard facts pertaining to mining ventures here.
‘Su sure isn’t much to look at down this end of town,’ Rhun commented quietly to the Governor.
Although there was some beautiful architecture in the centre of the city, the structures on the outskirts of town were very simple, domed dwellings made of mud-brick, which blended into the high rocky walls surrounding the city on three sides. The city had been sited in a naturally formed basin, chosen for protection against the harsh winds and dust storms that plagued the planet for three-quarters of the year. Fortunately, Nugia was just entering its season of mild climate, and thus, conditions were hospitable. Reddish clouds covered the sky overhead, but only a light breeze swept down the baked dirt road upon which they walked.
‘In the harsher weather, they get a lot of rock slides and tumbling debris,’ Brian explained, ‘so these dwellings were formed using organic sedimentation engineering.’
Rhun nodded, understanding this process very well. He’d employed the same means of manipulation of form when constructing an underground base back on Gaia over ninety years ago. It was a simple process, which involved painting an existing earthen or sand structure with a bonding agent. This bonding agent captured flying particles — in this case dust from the windstorms — and cemented them to the structure, reinforcing it year after year. The longer an OSE structure was in existence, the more resilient the fortification became. This building technique had not been perfected on Gaia until the year 2035AD. The Nefilim must have been employing it for much longer, as this city had been founded over a thousand Gaia years ago. The earthen pathways extended up the cliff face and wove through the dwellings, which blended in so well with the natural landscape that it was hard to define where the city ended and the natural rock face began.