Divine Deception: The Will Traveller Chronicals (22 page)

“Back inside” The
man urged, pushing his wife and children back into the house.

Just then, a much
concentrated sunbeam was re-directed by one of the convex mirrors.
It would have fried my six companions had I not deflected it
harmlessly into the sky. It was enough for the man.

“Come in Lord
Robert” He called, his curiosity replacing the resentment “I will
call the leaders” He agreed and walked over to a white panel on the
main room’s wall, it had an old style ringer and he wound it
several times, a light came on.

“What is happening
up there Belou?” An old voice demanded.

“It’s Lord Robert
Sir. But he says he’s only come to explore and won’t harm us” My
new host informed the man, voice still unsure.

“Explore what?”
The voice asked dryly “More ways to take from us what is ours?” I
stepped forward and spoke at the panel.

“What has been is
past, I cannot explain, or return those who have been taken from
you” I said firmly “But I bear testimony that it shall never be
that way again” I added with obvious certainty.

“What testimony do
you speak of?” The old man’s voice queried.

“I could have
thrown that fire ball into the city, or reflected your sun beam
back upon you” I pointed out “I do not say this not to threaten
you” I continued “Only to show you that I have such powers as you
cannot defeat” I told the voice “I simply wish to speak with you
Sir” I said plainly.

“What benefit to
our people can there be from such a talk?” He asked gruffly.

“Knowledge good
Sir. The greatest of all powers. That which you need to know I can
tell you” I replied, adding “In return, I ask only that you tell me
of your people” There was silence for a while.

“You may enter
Lord Robert” The old man eventually replied.

I sent the young
guardsmen back to the T.T.V. and intended to go in with Davis,
Richards and Zoran, but the Sentorian leaders chose very
determinedly to stay with the troops.

“This could be a
trap” Commander Richards warned “And I’m not as invulnerable as you
Lord Robert” He added. Belou fetched himself a dark blue full
length cape which fluttered behind him as he led Zoran and I down
the maze-like steps, in-between the pathways, till we were outside
the massive wooden doorway of the city. Expecting the huge edifice
to move, I was quite surprised when a normal sized door which was
built into it opened.

Two guards, in
shining silver body armour, took their places on either side of the
door. The tall thin old man who came out between them had to be
eighty plus, yet he stood ram-rod straight and did not hesitate to
look me directly in the eyes.

“So you would have
us believe that the New Worlders have had a change of heart Lord
Robert?”. His voice was strong and clear, and, combined with his
very elaborately embroidered long robes, almost waist long grey
hair and clear blue piercing eyes, he left one in no doubt that he
was a man of considerable importance. Not a person to be taken
lightly.

“What do you seek
in my city?” He asked flatly, then waited impatiently for my
answer.

“May I know to
whom I speak?” I asked politely. Zoran and I remained where we
stood, which was some distance from the old man, who now looked
extremely puzzled.

“You do not
remember me?” He asked disbelievingly.

“He said he didn’t
remember ever being here Rama Karak” Belou answered for me. The old
man laughed heartily.

“So that’s it hey,
you forget, so we forgive and you get to feel good about yourselves
again?” His voice cynical and sarcastic.

“I know of no way
to ever feel good about what my family and I have done” I answered
as humbly as I could “It would seem that I did indeed share in
their sickening debauchery” I admitted to him.

“However, many
remarkable events have occurred and, though I am Lord Robert of the
Supreme Family, I am in no way he that you once knew Rama Karak” I
kept humility in my tone and returned his powerful gaze. As we
stood there in silence, perhaps for as long as two minutes, I
became aware of people all around us, they formed a semi-circle
behind us, about a hundred metres back. It was time to impress.
Generating the golden dust aura around me, I floated about two
metres off the ground. The crowd gasped, the two guards pointed
their spears at me and the two mirrored discs began to turn towards
me.

“Rama Karak” My
voice boomed out “You and your people have much anger and fear
because of what has gone before. Such feelings, however justified,
begat no good. They are like acid to the soul” My voice reached not
only the hundred assembled.

My unique auto
voice also reached every home and every person in the massive stone
city

“I have come to
tell you that the days of terror and tyranny are over” The voice
declared with more confidence than I felt “A truly new world
emerges as I speak. All over this planet, once isolated
civilisations are re-discovering that, in peaceful unity lies
ultimate strength. The fraudulent Divinity of the Supreme One has
finally been exposed” That brought startled looks to many faces,
including Rama Karak “What is now called the New World will soon be
a dozen or so vibrant and free thinking independent Nations,
looking for trading and peace keeping alliances” I told them “Will
you not allow me to tell you of this planet’s glorious future?” I
asked Rama Karak.

“Would you deny
the people of your city the right to participate in it?” I asked
the ancient leader. Oddly enough, the old man was more affected by
my words than the rest of his people.

“I have always
believed it was a fraud, you have just confirmed it, but then what
is this?” He pointed up at me. Allowing my aura to dissipate, I
came gently back to earth, just two metres in front of him, the
guards dutifully re-directed their spear like weapons.

“They are of no
use against one such as him” Rama Karak scoffed, as he waved the
guards off. They turned to re-enter the city. As they did, one
tripped, accidentally discharging his weapon.

The fifty thousand
volt arcing bolt of electricity that shot out of the spear’s tip
would have instantly barbequed the old leader, had I not managed to
catch it before it reached him and return it’s energy to the safely
of the earth.

“Ha, now I owe you
my life as well Lord Robert” He laughed, relief obvious in his
voice.

“You are of the
Supreme House, but you are not?” Rama Karak was understandably
confused. After a moment’s more thought, he bowed from the waist,
everyone immediately did the same.

“I would be
honoured if you and your colleague would care to join my Council
and I, Lord Robert” I nodded my assent and he led the way through
the city’s huge sandstone defences into a small cobble-stoned
courtyard, there we stopped briefly. While Rama Karak called for
various colleagues to join us in the meeting hall.

I looked around at
what was a perfect Inca movie set, except these weren’t Inca
Indians, they were clearly descendant of the Asian sub continental
India. Both the men and women wore colourful tunic tops, under
which the men wore Roman style or off the shoulder robes, while the
women, mostly teenage or in their twenties, wore a simple, floor
length sari wrap. When his six colleagues joined us, Rama Karak led
the way into an unadorned room which contained only a huge table
and a dozen chairs. There was a murmur of dissent when their high
priest, as Rama Karak turned out to be, gave me his slightly larger
chair, at the head of the table, then sat Zoran to my right and
himself on my left. He looked sternly at each of them, the youngest
of the six, perhaps forty, the oldest, a man in his late
sixties.

“My friends” He
began “You have not seen what I have witnessed, not heard the words
of this man, if indeed that is what he is. He honours us with his
presence” Rama Karak told them, not realising that they had heard
me, and yet they were still unimpressed.

“You are actually
Lord Robert of the Supreme Family” An old Councilor challenged.

“I am” I Replied.
Then the Councilor turned angrily to his leader.

“You yourself have
often cursed the lie of their Divine right” He challenged him “Yet
now you say this one is a God?”

The old man’s
attitude was clearly held by all except their leader.

“You will
understand when you hear him” Rama Karak assured.

“We have heard
him” One other Councillor confirmed to the surprised leader “But
what can we learn from the lips of one who deceives?” The Councilor
asked. Rama Karak held up his hands “You all heard him speak? Yet
he spoke softly to me at the gate. Do you not see?” He looked
around at his colleagues “I have seen him deflect our sunbeams
without any shield, and draw a fireball from the earth” He told
them, still they remained unconvinced.

“A few new tricks
Rama Karak” The oldest Councillor scolded the high priest “This is
no God” He turned back to look at me with undisguised anger, about
to speak. I decided to act.

“You will speak
with respect to those who guide your spirit” My voice was very
close to deafening. Then I put on my golden aura and levitated the
six doubters to about a metre over their chairs. “Decide men of
Karak” I boomed at them, adding “Your future rests in your hands”.
Fear wasn’t what I wanted to generate, but sometimes it is the path
to gain acceptance, and, eventually, I hoped, enthusiasm for a new
and brighter future. Though still innately hostile, Rama Karak’s
council told me of the Supreme House’s many, many visits, over the
last hundred years or so, after I returned them to the ground. It’s
no surprise that they were angry. After eradicating the native
populations to the South, the Supreme Family just came and went as
they pleased, taking the most beautiful of the women as concubines,
killing all resistors.

“We were
defenceless then” The youngest Councillor said “Now we can...”.

“We still are
Caleb” The old man cut him off “Lord Robert’s power transcends
technology” He told them “Were he still the malevolent being we
once knew, this city would be dust already” Rama Karak said
seriously. No one spoke.

“Know all of you
that your justifiable anger has been caused by the Supreme Family,
not by the New Worlders” I told them, only to find out that I was
wrong about that too. Sentoria’s leaders had been with my Brothers
and I on these raids. After the massacre, they had attacked one of
their Southern cities every week. They must have been restocking
their newly built houses of pleasure. No wonder Commanders Richards
and Davis didn’t want to come.

As I listened,
without defence, to the endless roll call of tragic abuses, it
seemed that it had a therapeutic effect on the six old men.
Satisfied that I could harm them yet chose not to, which, in
itself, seemed to surprise them, we finally got to where I was able
to ask some questions about their civilisation.

“We have farmed
these lands and those far North of here, in peaceful harmony with
our environment, for over three thousand years” Rama Karak told
me.

“How many cities
like this are there?” I asked the old man. After a moment of
hesitation the High Priest replied

“We are not large
communities Lord Robert, there are only six as large as Karak” He
told me “But there are more than twenty other smaller cities and
pastoral groups scattered as far as a thousand kilometers due North
of here” He answered.

“And what are all
your people known as Rama Karak?” I asked.

“We are Shivites”
He replied proudly and all of them beat their chest with their left
hand, in an automatic salute to their heritage. These people used
light as their primary energy source and were socially advanced,
but otherwise they were fairly low tech.

“And what of the
eradicated natives” I asked “Who were they? Are they all gone? Are
there others?” I asked the oldest Councillor.

“When the white
savages came, they slaughtered all the costal living Mangelese.
That was when they established their Sentoria” The old Councillor
answered “Until the eradication, there were as many as a hundred
thousand living between here and their accursed State” He added
bitterly, this man would, most likely, never be able to forget or
forgive.

“And now?’ I asked
hopefully “Are there any Mangelese left?”.

“Oh yes” Rama
Karak exclaimed “More than a million of them. They are hunter
gatherers and move their villages to new locations every year” He
told me “They were here long before us and there are usually some
of their villages just North of here” He added.

“Any others?” I
asked the ancient looking Shivite leader.

“Only the Tartar”
He replied distastefully “They are the really savage hunter
gatherers, their small tribes are forever at war with each other”
The old leader told me, adding “If they keep it up they will soon
eradicate themselves” Rama Karak briefly smiled.

“Do they bother
your people?” I asked, and the youngest Councilor laughed.

“They are
primitive savages” He told me “Even when compared to the Mangelese,
they can do us no harm” He assured me confidently. After the
meeting, with most of the animosity abated, Zoran and I sat with
the seven men and dined on fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, they
were vegetarian. Zoran explained that we had concocted the Supreme
One story and why we had told it to the New Worlders. He tried to
explain what had happened to me, but, as neither of us were too
sure ourselves, it was more likely confusing for them than helpful.
Having heard what their community most wished for, and that was
better, clean technology, I promised to send a team of New World
technicians to teach them how to achieve it. However, many were
still very unsure.

I knew that they
had already received my greatest gift. The peace they had long
prayed for. Partly to leave a lasting impression and partly to give
my elderly companion’s legs a break from climbing all those steps
again, I floated the two of us back up to the T.T.V. By now there
were over two thousand men, women and children standing all over
the circular valley. None of them waved, all were silent. It would
be some time before these people could finally learn to trust the
spaceship looking craft, or the men that flew in it. I decided to
go further North and see if we could find these much aggrieved
Mangelese. The Sentorian Commanders had been content to let the
crew ask questions and, once again, strongly recommended that we go
back.