Penumbra (46 page)

Mackendrick looked around the group, his face frozen with shock and hope. He gripped Rana’s hand and followed as Carstairs turned and walked into the shadowy portal. Bennett, Ten Lee and Hupcka joined them.

They passed down a wide, high corridor, leaving the pink fungal glow behind them. They switched on their flashlights and filled the corridor with a hundred dazzling reflections.

Carstairs turned. ‘Please, in the temple, only the light of naked flames.’

Obediently they switched off the flashlights. Bennett walked on, blinded by the absence of light in this midnight tunnel. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he saw a faint source of illumination far ahead. He felt a hand grip his, small and warm: Rana. They left the corridor and entered the great circular chamber, illuminated by the flames of perhaps a hundred tiny candles set high in the curving walls.

Mackendrick, Rana and Bennett were the first into the chamber after Carstairs, and they stopped and stared at what was revealed in the fitful candlelight. Bennett’s pulse quickened and fear clutched at his chest.

Stationed like silent sentries around the circumference of the chamber, Bennett made out the tall and shadowy shapes of the Ancients - the Ahloi, as Carstairs called them. They stood unmoving, their long arms by their sides, even longer legs slightly bent at the knees. Rana almost collapsed against him in shock. He took her weight, wishing that someone would likewise support him.

Carstairs, ahead, turned to them. ‘Please,’ he said. ‘Follow me.’

‘Where . . .’ Bennett began. ‘I mean, where are we going?’

‘There is much I must explain,’ said their guide. ‘This way.’

He turned and led them across the chamber, past a short, central stone, towards a dark square set into the floor. As they approached, Bennett made out a flight of stairs. He followed Carstairs down the steps, Rana supported between himself and Mackendrick. Ten Lee and Hupcka brought up the rear.

The meagre illumination from the candles in the chamber lit their way down the short staircase. Then they were in another wide, high corridor, receding into absolute darkness. Bennett heard Carstairs’ footsteps ahead, checked that the others were with him, and followed.

They walked for perhaps ten minutes before the darkness was alleviated by a light in the distance. It appeared tiny at first, a mere speck like a star, but rapidly grew as they approached. At last they made out the shape of the tunnel ahead, the walls, floor and ceiling receding in perspective to form a square exit filled with a familiar opalescent glow.

Bennett knew where he had seen such light before, but he found it hard to believe that this was the same. Then he felt the lapping of a faint wind about his face, and knew that his eyes had not been deceived. They were emerging from the mountainside, into the light of Tenebrae.

They arrived at the end of the corridor, and Bennett halted and stared out. An ever-widening flight of stairs fanned out from the exit of the corridor and descended the flank of the mountain. Far below a vast sea was contained and encircled by a rearing rampart of cliffs like the inner wall of a volcano. Let into the almost sheer face of the rock were dark slits like windows, hundreds of them, thousands in fact, in serried rows one above the other. Bennett moved his gaze from the far wall of the mountain, around in a great sweep, to the sheer cliff faces on either side of the corridor’s exit. Here he could see that each of the window slits was at least ten metres tall, carved into the mountainside to form great, cavernous chambers.

Carstairs made a sweeping gesture to encompass the whole spectacular design. ‘Welcome to the monastery of Ahloi-tennay,’ he said.

Bennett looked around at his friends. He knew that the expressions of wonder on their faces matched his own.

Only then did he see the statues, small compared to the great slit windows, that stood in a great phalanx on a ledge to either side of the exit and encompassed the entire sea. He could make out the details only of the first dozen or so. They were carvings from the natural rock of ... at first he assumed they were animals, and then revised his opinion. Among the first few statues was that of an upright being, a humanoid with a regal bearing; it possessed a great domed skull, tiny childlike features, its body enveloped in a robe. Next to it was something very much like an upright scorpion, and next to this an ursine being, and then an arachnid with great faceted eyes and ferocious mandibles. Bennett began counting the statues, and reached a hundred before the diminishing perspective defeated his vision.

Carstairs turned to them, silhouetted against the opalescent dome of Tenebrae, and spread his hands.

‘The Ahloi are an ancient race,’ he said. ‘They are
the
most ancient race in the universe. They are the only survivors among the many who inhabited the young universe, billions of years ago. They were once a materialistic race like any other, but while their fellows across the many galaxies wasted themselves in futile aggression or the hedonism that results from the pursuit of materialism, the Ahloi managed to survive this stage of their evolution. In time, over many millennia, they became contemplative beings.

‘They crossed the universe by means of star-flight unimaginable to us and lost to the present Ahloi. They seeded many galaxies, and settled to fulfil their self-appointed roles of guardians, or teachers. Over time, over millions of years, many races came to the planets inhabited by the strange and wise beings, often accidentally, and then purposefully when they heard the Ahloi’s message.

‘Homefall, or Ahloi-tennay as we call this world, is where the Ahloi set up their monastery, their ministry, in this galaxy. We have received many novices in our time, as you can see.’ Here Carstairs gestured at the statues to either side of the exit. ‘They came, and we healed them, and in so doing they saw the light of the truth, and some remained with us in contemplation until they relinquished their forms and became part of the shannath, or nirvana, while others returned to their planets of origin.’

Mackendrick said, ‘They were dying, these individuals, and the Ahloi cured them?’

‘They were not dying, as such,’ Carstairs replied. ‘We cured them of the many ills the flesh is heir to, diseases if they were diseased, or merely the blight of ageing. You see, nature has imposed cruel limitations upon the lifespans of its many races. In the terribly short spans they were allowed to live - often only long enough to reach adulthood and reproduce - they were unable to mature spiritually. They were like fireflies; just as they begin to apprehend the wider world they are cruelly snuffed out. Humans, too, are such a race. We need more time, extra years, in which to contemplate the truth of existence. The Ahloi refuse no one in their desire to propagate contemplation of the truth.’

‘But if all races came here,’ Bennett said, ‘then Ahloi-tennay would be overrun.’

Carstairs’ calm smile halted his objection. ‘But Josh, over the millennia, entire races
have
sought the ministrations of the Ahloi. Entire planets have passed through our portals, and been cured and informed of the truth, and returned to their own worlds to consider those truths. In time, of course, these individuals pass on, relinquish their physical forms, just as I will in years to come. The Ahloi have given them that most precious gift of all, that which normally cannot be gained: the gift of time.’

Ten Lee said, ‘It is the belief of my people that, although we do not have time to gain the truth in one life, we are reborn into others so that the quest for the truth can be continued. Like this, after many lives, we at last arrive and become at one with sunyata.’

Carstairs bowed his head. ‘Your way is valid and true,’ he said. ‘But the Ahloi considered it a source of much misery and suffering, this endless cycle of rebirth. Our way is a short cut, if you like, a means of achieving what you call sunyata in one, albeit extended, lifetime. But each form is valid, Ten Lee. Follow your own path, if you wish. Or you may join with us.’

Into the silence that followed Carstairs’ words, Mackendrick said, ‘You refuse no one? You will take me?’

Hesitation showed on Ten Lee’s face. Then she stepped forward. ‘And me?’

Carstairs gestured at the group. ‘We will take you all, if that is what you wish.’

‘You say “we”,’ Mackendrick said. ‘You sound as if you belong to the Ahloi now, as if you’re a part of them?’

Carstairs nodded. ‘That is true. When you apprehend a universal truth, when you share something as fundamental as the Ahloi’s knowledge, then it is impossible not to become a part of what they are.’

‘But they haven’t taken you over?’ he asked.

Carstairs laughed at this. ‘You use the combative terms typical of the human race,’ he said. ‘In essence, of course, they have taken me over, for it is a fact that I now believe what they believe, and what is being “taken over” if not coming to believe in the truth as perceived by others? But I can assure you that it is an entirely passive and beneficial form of take-over. We share in the joy that contemplation affords, and if you wish to join us you are welcome.’

Mackendrick said, ‘When you have cured me, then must I remain here?’

‘My friend,’ Carstairs said with patience, ‘we make you do nothing. We show you the light, that is all. However, once you have perceived the way, then you will be unlikely to want to return to the life and the world you knew. It will seem shallow and superficial. The ways of materialism will hinder your concentration. In all likelihood you will wish to remain here, with us.’

Mackendrick nodded. ‘I am ready,’ he said at last.

‘Then, if you would like to return with me to the Chamber of Rebirth? Please,’ he gestured to the others, ‘you are welcome to observe, or even join, the ritual.’

He moved back into the tunnel, soon disappearing into the darkness. Bennett looked about him one last time, at the great circular sea and the encompassing mountains, the statues of the legion of aliens long since passed from this world. Then he followed Carstairs, Rana still holding on to him as if in fear.

On the long walk back to the chamber, Bennett considered the words of Carstairs, the convert to this strange alien belief system. He supposed the crux of whether or not one believed in the way of the Ahloi was how one viewed their power of bringing the dead back to life. Did their ability necessarily mean that their belief system was correct?

He stopped himself there. What proof was there that the aliens
could
bring the dead back to life? He wondered if he was being materialistic and crass in his analysis of something so amazing as the promise of rebirth.

They climbed the steps, and they saw that now the chamber was bathed in torchlight. The obsidian walls reflected the bright orange flares of a hundred flaming brands. As they emerged into the chamber, Bennett halted and stared about him. The Ahloi stood in a great circle, their gaunt forms thrown into stark relief by the flickering torches held aloft by every other individual.

Those without torches stepped forward to form a smaller, tighter circle. Carstairs moved to the central stone. He was joined by two of the tall, stiffly articulated aliens. The Ahloi bent their knees and lowered their long heads as if to speak to him. Bennett heard a rapid series of clicks and whistles. Then another Ahloi came hurriedly into the chamber, moving with the spry articulation of an insect. The alien approached Carstairs, bent and hurriedly addressed the human.

Carstairs swung around, facing the corridor down which they had originally entered the chamber. He hurried back to Mackendrick and the others.

‘You have been followed,’ he said. ‘Already he has slain many Ahloi.’

They turned and stared. Bennett wondered what Carstairs was talking about. Who could have possibly followed them all this way?

Seconds later a figure emerged from the mouth of the opposite corridor. Bennett stared at the intruder, who paused on the threshold of the chamber. His face, in the light of the flames, was soaked in sweat and appeared just a little insane. He held a laser pistol in each hand and raised them as he took in the gathering.

Beside Bennett, Rana gasped. ‘Klien!’

Bennett recognised the security chief who had interviewed him in Calcutta four months ago, and knew then how Klien had managed to follow them here.