Dragons and Destiny (33 page)

“What is the
core exactly?” asked Niaill.

Inalei’s reply
when he answered made it clear to Niaill that he was repeating what
he had been taught. “A core is the mech-an-ism that powered the
space-ship that brought humans to our planet. We shall come back to
it later. The Susalai has been in contact and wishes to learn what
else you have learned from the writings of Tara and Kolyei, about
the core and other matters.”

“Well,” Niaill
considered, looking at his notes, “there was lots and lots about
what Tara called the secret pack which guards what she described
as,
‘what must be protected and guarded at all costs’
,
whatever that means. Their rtathlians are located right up at the
edge of the mountains at the edge of this continent,
‘at the
nearest point to the other continent
’.”

Inalei looked
neither amazed nor surprised at this and Niaill suspected that he
had known about the secret rtath all along. This suspicion was
confirmed by Inalei who answered in the affirmative when Niaill
asked him if that was where the Susalai was.

“She also talks
about the other northern continent. She says that she and Kolyei
have been there. She didn’t write much about it further than that
though.”

Inalei looked
neither amazed nor surprised at this either. “Is there anything
else written about
hidden things
?” he asked.

“Hidden
things?” queried a tired Niaill, picking up on Inalei’s emphasis on
the last two words. “What sort of hidden things?”

“More records,”
Inalei told him.

“One about a
Guildhouse,” answered Niaill. “It’s a bit confusing, almost as if
she was frightened to write about it and she never says exactly
what was hidden. Hold on a minute and I’ll find it, it is in volume
two if I don’t disremember.” Niaill picked up the second volume and
began to leaf through the crackling pages. “Here it is. Do you want
me to read it to you?”

“If you
would.”

‘…
and
following the death-bed instructions of Jim Cranston and of those
with far greater knowledge that me, Kolyei and I journeyed to
Stewarton where we talked to the son of Arthur Knott who did do
much for us all when we first arrived on the planet and of who,
more later. We told him of Jim Cranston’s concerns and he agreed to
do as Jim Cranston asked. He admitted to me that he couldn’t
understand much of what the technical print-outs contained anyway
(perhaps one day humankind will relearn what we once knew). We
three hid the box containing the print-outs underneath the
foundations of the Guildhouse, in the Hall about a lindlength from
the fireplace. It will be safe there. The building is a sturdy one
as befits the Technicians Guild and built of stone unlike
others...’

“Is that the
sort of thing you mean?” He yawned.

Inalei looked
excited. “That is it precisely. Now you must rest and forget this
for a while. I must report to the Susalai once more.”

“Fine by me,”
said Niaill. “I’m shattered. I might take a look at the little book
before I drop off though, it’s not written by Tara, the writing is
quite different but you never know, it might be important.”

The fourth
volume was more than half the size of the other three. The paper
was the same type as volume one and the cover was of a shiny
material that Niaill couldn’t identify.

The penmanship
was small and niggly as if the author had been in a hurry. Every
entry had a date, the first one, ‘
24:iv:2392’
.

Must be the
dating system our ancestors used
, surmised Niaill.

The first pages
were filled with a resume of what had brought his ship, the
Electra
, to the planet.

The next pages
itemised the author’s worries. This was old history to Niaill. As a
cadet he had learned about how the convicts had freed themselves
from the
Electra
and gone after the crew and families who
had tried to flee.

‘
25:iv:2392
: Camilla will take them to a place where I hope that they will be
safe. My wife and children go with her. I worry incessantly about
them. I wish I could have stayed with them.

We cannot kill
twenty thousand men, alas for my conscience and those of the crew.
I could not have lived with myself if we had done so what must be
must be though I fear for all our lives.’

Then came some
three pages concerning his wife and children.

‘
27:iv:2392
: Johannes Pederson, Chief Engineer, I and two others must deal
with the other threat to our existence. The power-core. In their
hands it could become a dangerous weapon. We must hide it in a
place where it can never be found. We are taking it into the
desert. Even if we do not survive the trip, even if the convicts do
hunt down my family and the others, at least who do survive will be
free from the threat of total destruction. This is the best I can
hope for.’

There was a gap
of some days. The next entry contained an account of his farewells
to his wife, Anne and his children, Jessica, Cherry and Joseph. The
following entries were day to day accounts of their trials in the
desert, how the truck kept breaking down and the contrariness of an
item known as the driller.

Niaill kept
skimming the close written pages, trying to pick out any clues of
where they were heading. That they were aiming for a specific spot
was clear, the gridref mentioned earlier. Peter Howard didn’t say
how far they were travelling each day. Niaill ground his teeth in
frustration as he read on.

‘
29:v:2392 :
Well, the blasted thing is buried, the driller ditched and we are
on our way back. I hope the truck holds out. Johannes will activate
the locator in the morning.’

There was
another time gap in the journal.

‘
27:vi:2392
: To see Jessica again after all that has happened to us. What
bliss. But my fears have been justified. The fate of Anne, Cherry
and Joseph I do not know, but alive I hope they still are. Thank
the stars for Gerry Russell and Martine who at least managed to get
these few out. I will be forever in their debt.

We leave for
the north tomorrow, over the islands, to safety, though I hope that
one day I will be able to come back to find Anne and the little
ones again.’

Niaill turned
the page to find out what happened next but it was blank. Flicking
through the empty pages he found only one thing; in Peter Howards’s
script there was the gridref again at the top left hand corner of
the penultimate page.

He never did
see them again. What a shame after all that he went
through
.

Niaill shut the
book and sat back, idly fingering the covers. He frowned.

The back cover
was thicker than the front.

He looked
closer, the lining had been unstuck and stuck back down.

With difficulty
Niaill managed to un-stick it and peeked inside. There was
something there and he thought it was a piece of paper. With due
care he wheedled it out, it was a single piece of thin paper,
folded into four. He unfolded it with trembling fingers. The words
were written in Tara Sullivan’s script. It was a poem.

‘
Golden
flyers, kind and true,

Old and wise
with eyes so blue.

Hidden from
sight, guarded by the sinetad rtath,

Sending away,
those that take that path.

They are true
friends of Kolyei and I,

Where we go ere
our time comes to die.

Deep in wisdom,
loyal, lovers of life,

Striving
forever to keep us from strife.

Never forgotten
if only in tales,

Under the trees
in those great western dales.’

Niaill pondered
the enigma of the poem. It was very similar in tone to the one she
left on the mound near Vada - the one he had read as a boy. She did
like to talk in riddles.
What does it mean? Who is she talking
about, the Susalai? But no, she is talking in plurals, not a single
Lind. The Avuzdel?

It was as he
drifted off to sleep that another thought occurred to him.

The Lai. She is
talking about the Lai… but they are a legend … a fable …

Niaill was
asleep.

* * * * *

The Ammokko

Space is
silent.

There was no
one to hear as the bay slid open, five round objects dropped out
and headed towards their destination planet.

One dropped
into the Great Eastern Sea close to the Island of Hallam.

The second
landed in the woodlands on the south-western fringe of the smaller
of the northern continents.

The third
landed in the mountain ranges to the north of Vadath.

The final two
landed in the southern hemisphere, the penultimate to the far west
of the southern continent, far into the desert.

Number five
landed right in the middle of the lands inhabited by the Larg.

* * * * *

Niaill

Excitement was
at fever pitch. The legendry Lai were not legends at all but flesh
and blood creatures.

True, they had
wings and could fly but he had been assured by Inalei of the
Avuzdel that they ate, slept and talked much as the Lind did.

The prestigious
storyteller of pack Sindya was beside himself with excitement,
almost going so far as to disgrace himself in front of his rtathen
by relieving himself like an untrained ltscta. The rest of the
members of the rtath were in not much better state and the
younglings, picking up on the excitement from the adults were
pretty nigh impossible to keep in order.

Inalei,
standing beside Niaill and Taraya laughed, telling the worried
parents that the Lai had young of their own and were accustomed to
such antics.

The Lind (and
Niaill) were standing round the edges of the domta clearing leaving
the central area for their honoured visitors. A meal had been
prepared, the Lai were meat-eaters and the choicest haunches of
kura and zarova had been readied after the Lind had been warned
that the Lai would no doubt be hungry after their long flight.

Sindya, Elda of
the rtath that bore her name rehearsed for the umpteenth time the
words of welcome that it would be her honour and duty to utter.

Niaill and
Taraya stood silent.

Only a few were
aware of the reason why the Lai had chosen this moment to
emerge.

In volume three
of the records Niaill had come across some smudged notes. Tara had
mentioned what she called a probe that had been sent to the planet
before the
Argyll
had landed.

‘
The probe
was sent out and the reply was favourable.’

Niaill had
deduced from this that these Nahoko were somewhat similar to this
probe but apart from the fact that they probably came from
somewhere in space he was little the wiser. So much knowledge and
technology had been lost in the intervening centuries. Some humans
even questioned the fact that their species had originated on
another planet at all. Niaill knew this was wrong but rather
thought it might be difficult to persuade some to the contrary,
especially those from the more isolated and religious
communities.

Despite the
excitement there was an undercurrent of foreboding permeating the
domta. Niaill was conscious of it.

: Let us
enjoy this meeting at least :
he suggested to Taraya.

: It is not
every day that we are visited by creatures straight out of our
legends :
Taraya agreed.

: I almost
don’t believe it is happening :

: Do you want
me to bite you so that you can be sure? Go on, only a little nibble
:

As one, the
Lind looked up into the clear sky. The Ltsctas stopped gambolling
around.

: They come
:
announced an excited Taraya.

Indeed, they
were approaching, three flying creatures in a ‘vee’ formation. They
were making directly for the domta. The formation was growing
bigger. They could see giant wings and tails.

: I didn’t
think they would be so big :

: Big and
beautiful :
marvelled Taraya.

The waiting
Lind lay down on the forest floor, a deep obeisance befitting the
arrival of such wondrous creatures. The air was thick with the
downdraft of six huge wings as the vee manoeuvred itself for
landing.

Landed, they
unfurled their wings and stood gazing around with great whirling
eyes.

: Great
Andei’s pawprints, dragons, they are DRAGONS :
Niaill was
awestruck.

The Lai were of
burnished gold flecked with copper.

The one in the
lead was of darker hue than the other two, in some areas his hide
glistened so darkly as to be almost black although his wing
membranes shone in the fading sunlight.

They were
smaller than Niaill had expected. The fairy stories he had read
about dragons brought with the original settlers told of huge
beasts with a gigantic wingspan, fierce and strong with flaming
breath. Niaill remembered that these dragons usually ate virgins
for supper.

The Lai’s
torsos were perhaps one and a half times the size of a plough
horse, their wings wide, with rippling muscles nearest their bodies
and thinner at the ends.

Their back legs
were thick and strong, front legs small and at the ends they had
what could be described as hands with four fingers. In place of the
thumb they sported a wicked looking talon.

The heads were
paler than the rest of their bodies with orange circles round their
blue eyes and they had muzzles the same colour. The eyes had flecks
of silver in them and the pupils were black.

The Lai were
not like the dragon stories.

Sindya rose
from her prone position to her paws and stepped forward to face the
lead Lai, the one with an air of authority about him the other two
lacked.