Paw-Prints Of The Gods (47 page)

“Not from what I’ve
seen,” Hestia murmured.

Fornax gave a wry
smile. “Are you one of the archaeologists?” she asked.

“My name is Hestia,”
the girl replied meekly, stroking the electric pet. “I’m a student,
the same as Xuthus and Urania. How did you get here?”

“We’re with Ravana and
her father,” Philyra told her. “That dratted cat is hers.”

Fornax waved for her
to keep quiet. “Can you show us what you found, kid?”

“I forbid it!” snapped
Ininna. She shouldered past Xuthus and squared up to the reporter.
“This is a crime scene. They took our weapons! Official
investigators are on their way from Aram and our orders state
everyone stays here until they arrive.”

“You said that two
days ago,” complained Hestia.

“Since when, Dagan’s
weirdo friends have come and taken over,” added Urania.

“She means the
Dhusarians,” Xuthus explained to a mystified Philyra.

“They’re right. It’s
daft to wait any longer,” Yima said defiantly. “We can’t have
cultists dropping out of nowhere to do what they like. We set the
rules around here!”

“Which is why I’m
here,” Fornax declared. “We’re on the same side, you and I.”

Ininna did not look
convinced. “We are?”

Fornax smiled. “I’m
here for a story. The best news is always a tale of broken
rules.”

* * *

Ravana stayed close to
Govannon as they hurried down the angled passages of the star
chamber. She had wedged the cricket bat back under her belt to
leave her hands free to work her slate, retrieved from her
belongings in the students’ cabin. Behind came Nana, Stripy and
then her father, who carried the plasma cannon. Flickering
biochemical lamplight glinted upon the rivulets of water that ran
down the walls and trickled along the tunnel floor. Ravana touched
the dark masonry with tentative fingers and found it damp and
slightly sticky to the touch. A hot and humid wind wafted up from
below, leaving her drenched in sweat.

“It wasn’t like this
when we explored earlier,” Govannon said warily.

“The well at Arallu
Depot ruptured during a quake,” Quirinus told him. “Your dig is
downstream of a nice new river.”

“This place is
incredible,” murmured Ravana. “Is it really an alien temple?”

“Thraak thraak!”
Nana’s urgent tones echoed eerily within the tunnel.

Ravana shook her head.
“I can’t make out what the translator is showing,” she said,
frustrated. Nana and Stripy had been trying to tell her something
important ever since she had rescued them from the tent, but the
images created by the implant programme verged upon the surreal.
“Don’t you have places to worship your gods or whatever?”

Stripy looked annoyed.
“Fwack fwack!”

Ravana pulled a face.
“Sorry for asking.”

“What did they say?”
asked Quirinus.

“Definitely not a
temple,” she confirmed. “They’re quite bemused by the idea they do
religion. Which is ironic, coming from beings who inspired the
Dhusarian Church.”

“No religion, is it?”
mused Govannon. “I like them more and more. Talking of Dhusarians,
are you sure whoever was in their transport won’t follow us?”

Quirinus grinned. “I
jammed their hatch with a spade. They’re not going anywhere.”

Govannon led them
around a corner and down another slope. Ravana had seen the other
tunnels branching into the darkness and was glad the archaeologist
seemed to know where he was going. She could tell by his muted
sighs that he had yet to recover from the revelation that his
dismissive view of aliens was wrong.

Her own thoughts
dwelled upon Taranis’ notes on the slate she carried. The priest
had decided the Falsafah prophecy was about a meeting between
aliens and humankind, but was less clear on how this would come
about, nor did his notes shed any light on why Artorius was so
important. Taranis had found a description of the star chamber in
another part of the
Isa-Sastra
, only to be baffled by the
accompanying mathematical formulae. Ravana did little better, but
recognised Krakenspreken’s famous theorem from her engineering
classes and puzzled over this reference to extra-dimensional
physics.

“I collected some
samples for optical dating from where we found Cadmus,” remarked
Govannon, interrupting her thoughts. “We dated the outer structure
to a hundred thousand years old or so, see? Strange thing is, the
central chamber saw sunlight just twelve thousand years ago. What
do your err... grey friends know about this place?”

“They recognise it as
being built by their kind and that it’s very old,” Ravana told him.
“They describe it as an entrance or a door to somewhere.”

“To the afterlife?”
suggested Quirinus. “It could be a tomb.”

“Thraak thraak!”

“That’s religious
talk,” Govannon said, inadvertently echoing Nana’s retort. “Though
Cadmus thought the same. You’ll soon see what he meant.”

“Why won’t you tell us
what you saw?” asked Ravana.

“You need to see it
with your own eyes,” the archaeologist replied. “Trust me.”

* * *

Philyra scowled. The
tiny flying robot buzzed close to her head, the searchlight beams
of its triple-lens holovid camera illuminating the glistening
tunnel walls with bright white light. She was starting to find the
heavier gravity tiring, especially when trying to keep up with
Fornax, who having recently come from Earth was light on her feet.
The reporter’s cambot had recorded nothing but one nondescript damp
passageway after another since their first tentative steps into the
trench. As their descent continued past the eerie green lamps,
Philyra began to wonder whether they would find anything worth
reporting at the end of it all. She knew from watching shows like
Weird Universe
that archaeologists had a tendency to get
excited over what viewers saw as amazingly-trivial finds.

“This place is
creepy,” she grumbled. “Not to mention slimy. This damp is not good
for my hair, you know. It took me ages to get the colour
right.”

“The cambot also
records sound,” Fornax reminded her. “And it homes in on whoever is
speaking. Do you really want your bad hair day documented for
posterity?”

“There’s not much else
of interest down here,” muttered Philyra.

Ininna and Yima, the
Que Qiao agents, were not far behind. They in turn were trailed by
Xuthus, Hestia and Urania, who upon hearing the muffled curses of
the two Dhusarian pilots as they tried to open their transport’s
jammed door, had made it clear they had no intention of remaining
in the domes alone. Hestia tried to leave Ravana’s cat behind, but
the electric pet had taken a liking to her and kept jumping back
into her arms every time she put it down. The students were talking
about Ravana, who after her dramatic reappearance had left them in
suspense about where she had been the last few weeks.

“She was like a
different person,” remarked Hestia. Her luminous locks, currently
bright orange, fascinated the cat and she frowned as the pet pawed
at her neck with a diamond-tipped claw. “Ravana seemed so shy
before.”

“Beheading that robot
with a cricket bat was cool,” admitted Xuthus.

“She’s probably a
witch,” said Urania. She glowered at the electric pet snug in
Hestia’s embrace. “She and that damn cat flew in on a
broomstick.”

Xuthus frowned. “Why
don’t you like her?”

“Do I need a reason?
My father says the refugees...”

“Never mind your
father,” interrupted Xuthus. “What do you think?”

Urania glared at him.
“You’re only sticking up for her because she fancies you.”

“Ravana does not!”
snapped Hestia and blushed.

“Afraid of the
competition? I’m sorry to break it to you, but you’re not Xuthus’
type. Nor it seems is any girl here,” Urania added mischievously.
“Isn’t that right, Xuthus?”

Xuthus looked
confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve barely glanced
at Philyra. What she’s wearing would make most boys drool.”

“He does like girls!”
protested Hestia. She frowned at Xuthus. “Don’t you?”

Ahead, Ininna spun
upon her heels and stared angrily at the three students. Yima,
Fornax and Philyra paused and turned to see what was going on.

“Will you be quiet!”
Ininna hissed. “How are we supposed to sneak up on the infidel
Dhusarians with you making so much racket!”

“Sorry,” Urania
murmured.

“Though it was quite
illuminating,” added Yima, grinning at Xuthus. “Is it true?”

“What?” retorted
Xuthus. “I don’t know what you mean!”

“And you said there
was nothing of interest down here,” Fornax chided Philyra.

* * *

Govannon led Ravana,
Quirinus and the greys down the final slope, towards where the
rasping voices of the clones echoed eerily from the tunnels ahead.
The descent had taken far longer than Ravana anticipated and the
cloying darkness was alive with strange murmurings that teased her
nerves to the edge. After a couple of sharp turns Govannon paused,
glanced back with a finger to his lips, then carefully crept
forward. The right-hand wall before them curved towards a source of
light, from where faint human voices could now be discerned
alongside the buzzing screeches of the clones. Govannon peered
around the corner and with a wave of his hand beckoned to Ravana
and Quirinus.

“They’re in the
chamber beyond,” he whispered. “Be careful.”

Ravana quietly lowered
the cricket bat and her slate to the ground, her father doing
likewise with the plasma cannon. Together they cautiously poked
their heads around the wall. The passage ended at a tall archway,
beyond which lay a space bathed in the glare of mounted floodlights
and an odd blue glow from the walls. Standing near a damaged
section of wall was the other military android, as defiantly
invisible to Ravana’s implant as the first. Although not turned
their way, it was undoubtedly scrutinising them with an array of
sensors.

Seven figures stood in
the chamber. Ravana’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the
hooded monks, who stood with Kedesh, Lilith and Dagan; all of whom
she bitterly realised had deceived her one way or another. As a
cyberclone began to speak, Ravana reeled under a surge of jagged
emotions as her implant homed in on the creature’s telepathic
turmoil.

“zz-oorphaaneed-chiild-oof-Sool-zz,” the figure rasped.
“zz-kiing-byy-thee-greeaat-gaamee-zz!
zz-yyoouu-muust-fuulfiill-yyoouur-deestiinyy-zz!”

“But I don’t know what
to do!” wailed a little boy’s voice.

The manacled Artorius
stood trembling in the shadows on the far side of the chamber. Next
to him, a wavering Jizo took a swig from the bottle in her hand.
They were half-hidden by the strange crumpled shape in the dark
pool at the centre of the chamber, around which rose a circle of
towering rods. Ravana felt a moment of panic when Jizo and Artorius
glanced her way, then realised she was concealed behind the
floodlight glare. She was relieved to find Artorius unharmed but a
rescue seemed hopeless. Nana and Stripy pushed past her to
look.

“It’s a weird cocoon
with legs,” said Govannon, speaking in a hushed voice.

Ravana was puzzled.
“What is?”

“The thing in the
middle of the chamber, see?” he whispered. “Although now it looks
more like a broken egg. When I was here before the walls weren’t
glowing like that and those rods were only so high. There’s what’s
left of a dead giant spider as well.”

“Thraak thraak!”
cackled Nana.

“I’m more worried
about that battlebot,” muttered Quirinus. “How the hell did a bunch
of crackpots like these get hold of military hardware?”

The android turned its
head and shuffled closer with a steely scrape of feet. Ravana gave
Nana a curious stare. She was about to query what the grey had said
when she heard footsteps in the tunnel behind. Several people
approached in a very noisy fashion.

“Looks like we were
followed,” Quirinus murmured.

“Who by?” Govannon
said irritably. “A herd of elephants, is it?”

A harsh buzzing filled
the air. Ravana ducked as a small rotor-driven robot came from
nowhere and whizzed over their heads with lights ablaze. She
frowned when she saw intrepid reporters Philyra and Fornax were
right behind and hurrying towards her.

“What are you doing?”
Ravana whispered. “You were told to stay on the ship!”

“And miss the big
story, kid?” scoffed Fornax. “Not likely.”

“Keep your voices
down!” hissed Govannon.

Philyra joined Ravana
crouching by the wall. Together they watched nervously as Fornax’s
flying camera buzzed past the android and into the chamber. Hearing
more noise from behind, Ravana turned and groaned. Another two
figures appeared in the green-tinged gloom of the tunnel, this time
wearing the grumpy countenances of Yima and Ininna.

“Whoopee,” grumbled
Quirinus. “The cavalry has arrived.”

Ininna replied with a
withering stare, but whatever cutting retort she planned was lost
in the din of yet more new arrivals. Govannon looked close to
despair at the sight of Xuthus, Urania and Hestia trotting through
the ancient alien tunnel with no more urgency than they showed on
their way to lectures. Ravana’s cat leapt from Hestia to Stripy and
was greeted by a tentative stroke of fur. The crowded passage was
suddenly awash with urgent whispers.

“That capsule is a
time machine,” Hestia was saying. “You’ll see!”

“It’s from the
USS
Constellation
,” retorted Xuthus. “Well, maybe.”

“This is crazy!”
Govannon hissed. “Go back to the dome, the lot of you!”

“I take it all back,”
Philyra whispered to Ravana, casting a doubtful eye over Nana and
Stripy. “Your aliens are real. But that boy! I know him! It’s
Artorius of Avalon!”