The Last Queen of Lemuria (6 page)

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"How is it possible to turn one's body into stone?" asked Nastia, and stopping short, added, "ah, the powers of the five elements..."

The guests looked around with caution.

- "Giants! What giants!" whispered Marina.

After standing a bit longer on the balcony, the travelers, shocked by what they had seen, came out into the light.

- "You liked it, I hope?" asked the Teacher. – "Now, if you wouldn't mind, our elders would like to make your acquaintance." "I'll go ahead." "Samir, you know where to go."

Chapter 6. The Council

The council met in the White Tower. A small room at the base served as the meeting hall. The white walls shined from the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Incense was smoking in the corners. It smelled of tulips. Fifteen elders were sitting at a table in the center of the room. Fourteen men, among whom sat the Teacher. The fifteenth was a woman in yellow. The elders were faintly glowing, as if they were surrounded by a cloud of bluish ether.

Samir led the guests into the hall, and stopped before the council.

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"Thank you for agreeing to help us," pronounced the woman. Her beautiful, lively eyes carefully surveyed each of the guests. "I thank you in the name of the citizens of Olmolungring."

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"That is the elder Kriida," answered Samir in an undertone.

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"What a beautiful woman!" whispered Margo, "we agreed to help? Who? Whom?"

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“Kut Kumi, you didn't tell them?" Kriida asked the teacher.

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"I was not able, Kriida." "I am not sure that they are ready.”

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“Well, in any case, thanks for bringing them," answered Kriida. And silently began to look over the guests. There was an awkward pause. The travelers shifted from foot to foot.

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"What's going on here! Why are we here?" ask Boris, frustrated .

Kriida, after holding her gaze on Margo for an abnormally long time, finally spoke.

She explained that a tragedy had occurred in Olmolungring. A relic, stored here since the city's founding, has been stolen. The Shintaman stone, or Chintamani, as the ancient Lemurians called it, was taken up to earth. This threatened a catastrophe.  Without the Stone, the city became defenseless, and visible to dark forces.  Now they could attack at any minute and destroy their hated stronghold of Light on Earth.

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"How could you have let this happen?!" cried Nastia in horror, "with your abilities..."

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"They recruited one of our own... We were not expecting a strike from within," lamented Kut Kumi.  "They are fiendishly clever, those servants of Lucius."

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"Lucius? Who's that?" asked Andrei.

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"Lucifer," said Kriida, "you've heard of him, I'm sure."

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"Of course we have," responded Margo, "but we didn't think he was real."

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“There is much more to reality than you imagine," answered Kut Kumi.

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"What will happen now?" asked Marina.

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"If we cannot return the Stone by the end of the lunar month," answered Kriida, "it is frightening to imagine what Lucius may do. He has always dreamed of destroying mankind. We've been fighting with him since the world was created..."

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"So then you are powerless against him?"

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"No, we are still strong," answered Kriida. But if he attacks Shambhala, we will have to concentrate all our forces here. People will be without protection. Lucius will not miss this chance to destroy humanity. His army is much more numerous than ours. He can succeed, both there and here. When we eventually win, we will have to make mankind again. Which takes millions of years...  But you can help us."

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"How?! In what way?" asked Andrei.

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"Are we the raw materials to recreate man? Human guinea pigs for breeding?" grunted Margo.

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If that was our goal, we would have chosen the best..." interrupted Samir, stopping under the gaze of Kut Kumi.

Margo gave Samir a glare. Nastia asked,

"Then what can we do?"

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"You can return the Shintaman.  You're not being asked to find Excalibur, or fight with dragons," smiled Kriida, "Kut Kumi will explain it all tomorrow. Are you in?"

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"Of course we are," answered Marina, speaking for the group. The others exchanged bewildered glances.

Kriida added,

"the stone is hidden to the eyes of a Shambhalan. Our instruments are powerless. Lucius himself is personally surrounding it with a force-field which cannot be penetrated by Light. Thus, we had to go a different route. But which route exactly, you will find out later. By the way, have you been to the Museum yet?”

- "The Museum? You have a Museum?"  remarked Andrei in astonishment, checking to see if there was film left in his camera.

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"Yes we do, and it's a pretty nice one if I may say so myself," smiled the Teacher,"go, Samir will take you there. He is a wonderful guide."

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"Oh, we know what kind of a guide he is," muttered Boris.

The tourists left the Tower.

But in the meeting hall, the conversation continued in complete silence. The citizens of Olmolungring communicated telepathically.

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"Do you remember everything, Samir?" asked Kriida.

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"Yes, Madame Elder. I should take them to the museum. And send them to the past."

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"You can't tell them anything. They are too weak. But they are the only reincarnated Lemurians left in this time."

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"So, I am to deceive them?"

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"Samir, Samir. You will be lying to save them. You must send them to their past incarnations before sunset. They will return the Shintaman to us, I am very hopeful. The fate of the world is in the hands of weak people, whom we cannot even tell about their own mission," sighed Kriida.

The Elders nodded in sadness.

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"Samir, be careful with the Memory Ray. It must not be interrupted. They cannot remember who they are or where they are from. Let everything in Lemuria be as it was in its last days.”

Samir bowed to the Council and left.

Chapter 7. The Experiment.

A long tunnel led to the museum. Along the walls were white marble statues of human height. The guests carefully walked around them.

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"Somatics?" asked Marina.

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"No," answered Samir, "this is the gallery of marble Envoys. Those who went up to the World Above forever. You've probably heard of them."  - And he began to list them: "Orpheus, Zoroaster, Plato, Pythagoras, Paracelsus, Lao Tzu, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Saint Germain... Those being of course their earthly names."

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I understand, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, they are prophets," interrupted Margo, "but how did Pythagoras and Plato get there?"

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"Different Envoys were sent to humankind for different reasons. Some brought knowledge. And others brought faith. Jesus gave life, to cleanse the human race of filth. But people have made the Nazarene an idol, and thought up a new religion."

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"Well, he was the son of God," Nastia protested.

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"Just as you are," nodded Samir. "We are all the beloved children of God. Alas, not everyone is aware of this fact."

When they went inside, a ray of light from an oil lamp was illuminating the room. "Now that's what I call a museum!" The exhibits were sitting right on the floor. It smelled like a library- of old paper and dust. It was dry and chilly. Tools used by ancient people, knights' suits of armor, weapons, ancient statues of the Olympian gods, dishes, furniture, decorations, pictures, from ancient to modern, all mixed together. Every object had a tag with an inscription in an unknown language. The tourists looked it all over in perplexity.

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"Oh my!" – exclaimed Margo. She took the bejeweled box, the only object on a separate pedestal.  The box held nothing, but it was lined with fine velvet on the inside- very fancy! It looked like a Faberge.

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"Margo," said Nastia, "why do they need Faberge?"

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"Exactly! It is much more valuable!" confirmed Samir.

Boris smiled incredulously. Andrei and Marina approached a bit closer.

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"Well, what was inside?"  wondered Marina.

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“The Stone was inside. The very one we were talking about at the Council."

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"Аhh!" said Margo, stretching it out.

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"Shintaman!" whispered Marina, tearing up and bowing to the box. Margo almost dropped it in surprise.

Samir lit the flat lamps on the walls. The room immediately changed The light made the room much brighter. The deep
cave-like shadows disappeared. The ancient jewelry shined. The pictures and sculptures began to play in the light. It became clear that there were only treasures among the exhibits.  Nastia touched a marble figure.

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"Look! It's a Raphael The Goddess Hera! It was thought to have been lost during the war. And this one... is a da Vinci...  Monet... Dali...”

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“But why would you put them in a room like this?" asked Margo, "they're dying here!"

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"The Museum of Shambhala is the most ancient museum on earth," answered Samir, "the exhibits are stored better here than in the best museums on earth. We've collected here, that which humans call treasure, and that is priceless. This wand, for example, belonged to the queen of Lemuria."

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"Don't let it go to your head, wand," grunted Andrei, trying to lift it, "it weighs at least a hundred pounds! She must have been a strong queen!"

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"Are the Lemurians those stone giants from the cave?" asked Nastia.

Samir nodded.

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"What happened to it? Your Lemuria?" asked Margo.

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"Every civilization must die to make room for the next one. These are the laws of earth." 

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"And what is written on the tags? What language is that?" wondered Andrei.

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"That would be Sanskrit. And what's written is the history of the objects. We are able to read information from there about each object. Everyone who uses the object leaves a trace. An ancient thing can tell you a lot..."

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“Why do you need these stories?” asked Nastia, "why do you need to know the fate of things?"

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“In this way we study the history of the Earth, and compare how mankind has changed over the course of civilization. We simply cannot believe chronicles, because they were made by people. But things store history just as it really happened."

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"Why do you need that if you have the Akashic records?" asked Marina.

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"It's always good to double check," smiled Samir, and slowing himself, he added, "would you like to read the history of these things yourselves?"

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"How is that possible?" asked Margo.

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"All of you pick one object. Any object."

The tourists scattered around the cave. Nastia found a silver box, heavy, with holes in the roof, with a hidden lock. Margo didn't want to part with her bejeweled box. Andrei, with difficulty chose  a board with a shining jewel on the edge. Boris took an object that looked like a chisel, but twenty times larger. Marina sought out a belt, inlaid with pearls.