The Power of Gnaris (16 page)

“What was
that?” Elena asked.

“I don’t know
exactly, but get down low. Hurry!”

Barrow pulled
Elena down with him, hoping that the undergrowth would give them
some protection. He glanced up and saw a feathered object stuck
fast in the solid crust of the plant.

“
It’s a crude projectile device.
It
must have been propelled by some kind of weapon,” he whispered.

The next
moment, a group of three brown-skinned men, each wearing nothing
but a loincloth and a feathered headdress, stood above them, their
weapons drawn. They had arrived in silence.

One of them
spoke. He used another strange language, but, the implication of
his words was clear.

Barrow wasn’t
going to wait for the threat to be carried out. He donned his
goggles once more and looked through them at the first savage. He
concentrated his mind, and a flash of light passed from the goggles
towards the man’s arms, causing him to drop the weapon. Two more
flashes followed in quick succession, and all three men soon
squirmed in agony on the ground. Barrow retrieved one of their
weapons.

“Just as I
thought,” he said. “These weapons use the tension of a taut string,
or maybe it’s the gut of an animal, to propel a dart-like object
towards their prey. It is a primitive weapon, but no doubt very
effective.”

“Lord Barrow,”
said Elena, tugging at the sleeve of the Great Savant. “We must get
back to the ship without delay.” She stood and offered her hand.
“Lord Barrow

”

The three
savages became very agitated. One of them shouted out to the
others, “Bardzo.”

There was a
babble of excitement.

“Bardzo,
Bardzo,” the other two repeated.

The one who
appeared to be their leader raised himself into a kneeling
position, and bowed his head. The other two followed suit.

“What’s going
on?” Elena asked. The frown on her face showed her bewilderment.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked them, using the English
language in the hope that there might be some understanding.

“They are
worshipping you,” said a strange voice, also using the English
language.

Barrow turned
abruptly. He had some knowledge of English, and recognised the
words that the man used.

But Elena, who
was almost fluent in English, was the one who spoke. “Who are you?”
she asked.

The man wore a
uniform consisting of a khaki suit, and had a revolver in a holster
at his hip. Unlike Jesse and the gang, he was clean-shaven and his
neat sandy-coloured hair had been cropped short.

“My name is
Donohue. I am a Ranger.”

Donohue did
not draw his weapon, and was alone, so Elena did not feel
threatened. She knew that Barrow could take the man down in an
instant.

“Please speak
more slowly. I am familiar with your language, but you are speaking
too fast. What is a Ranger?”

“I come from
Washington. On the instructions of President Kowalski, we, the
Rangers, keep watch over the Prehistorics, the Ancients, the
Cowboys and the Indians. We don’t want any of them causing us
problems in the city. But, more to the point, who are you?” he
asked, “and what weapon did you use against these savages?”

“My name is
Elena, and this is Barrow, Great Savant of the Karavec.”

“The
Karavec?”

“We are a
different race. We come from the planet Hikon.” She raised her
finger, pointing upwards.

“Hikon?”

“Hikon is the
third planet of this solar system. This planet, Ziemia, is the
fourth.”

“Oh, so you
are talking about the planet we know as Odbijanie.”

“Does it not
surprise you that we are from a different planet?”

“No, since the
arrival of KEO 3 we are well aware of the possibilities of
interplanetary travel, and the existence of species on other
planets. Our astronauts have even travelled to the larger of the
two moons.”

“What is KEO
3?”

“I think you
had better come with me so that my boss can explain everything to
you.”

Barrow, who
had understood some of the conversation, said to Elena, “Ask him if
his boss is President Kowalski.”

“Yes,” Donohue
replied.

“Can you take
us to him?” Elena translated.

“Yes, I have a
vehicle standing by, at the top of that slope.” Donohue pointed
towards a low hilltop to the west.

“I have one
more question before we leave,” said Elena. “Why are those savages
worshipping us?”

“They heard
you speak the name of your leader, the Savant. What did you say his
name was?”

“Barrow, his
name is Barrow.”

“They thought
you said Bardzo. These people have an ancient legend that speaks of
the god Bardzo who they believe was both the creator of Ziemia, and
the first man. The legend tells of a beautiful young girl named
Zona who came paddling down the First River and caught the eye of
Bardzo. The pair fell in love. Zona threw herself into the still
waters, and invited Bardzo to jump in after her. But when he hit
the water, the placid current turned into raging rapids, which
pulled Zona under the water and she drowned. Bardzo searched for
Zona’s body, but he never found it. They say the sounds of the
rapids are Bardzo’s cries for his lost love.”

“So these
people think Barrow is Bardzo?”

“Yes, and that
you are the reincarnation of Zona. They are very uneducated people,
and believe in many different gods and heroes from the spoken
legends of their ancestors. Wait, I will speak with them in their
own language, and send them on their way. But, I ask you again,
what weapon did you use against them?”

“Not a
weapon,” replied Elena. “The Great Savant, Barrow, has powers that
he can use against even you, if you try to cross us.”

“Powers? Like
in the movies?”

“What’s a
movie.”

“Never mind;
it’s not important and only make-believe. I can see that your
leader’s powers are real, and I certainly won’t be crossing
you.”

After Donohue
had spoken with the three savages, they picked up their weapons and
left. While they retreated up the eastern bank of the river, they
looked back many times as if they wanted one last glimpse of Bardzo
and Zona.

Donahue turned
to the two Karavec. “Follow me,” he said. “I’ll take you to the
helicopter.”

“What is a
helicopter?”

“It is a
flying machine.”

When they
reached the crest of the hill, Barrow could not believe his
eyes.

“That is a
flying machine!” he said to Elena. “It looks more like one of those
giant flying insects from Arion. How can such a thing fly?”

Elena thought
of Forster and his encounter with a whirlybird when she showed him
around Arion city.
I hope he’s alright
, she thought.

Elena asked
Donohue about the helicopter, and translated for Barrow: “The
blades on top are called rotor blades. When they spin rapidly, air
flows more quickly over the tops of the blades than it does below
the blades and this creates enough lift to make the machine rise in
the air and fly.”

“What a
rudimentary form of flying machine! I hope it will get us there in
one piece.”

At that
moment, Barrow felt a surge of power being drawn upon his
gnaris.

It must have
shown in his face because Elena asked him, “What is wrong, Great
Savant?”

“It is Lolena.
She has called upon the power of my gnaris.”

“Lolena, where
is she? Is Jim Forster with her?”

Barrow
couldn’t help but recognise Elena’s excitement and anticipation. “I
do not know whether or not Captain Forster is with her, but she has
drawn upon my power to overcome the guards to gain entry to the
city.”

“Is it the
same city, Washington, where we are headed?”

“I think so.
It’s in the same direction, towards the east.”

“So Lolena has
made it to the city,” Elena said. “I’m so glad she’s safe.” She
tried not to betray her emotions to Barrow that she was glad to
learn that Forster was probably also safe.

Barrow took
the seat next to Donohue, and Elena sat in the rear. After they had
buckled themselves into their seats, the Ranger turned a key, and
the helicopter’s engine burst into life. Donohue engaged some
levers, and the machine rose vertically. Barrow marvelled at the
versatility of the machine when it hovered above the treetops,
before banking and heading off towards the east.

The vehicle
made slow progress, but Barrow and Elena enjoyed the spectacle of
watching the landscape pass by beneath the craft. They were used to
travelling fast, very fast, and had never before experienced the
thrill of a slow moving aircraft. Below they saw a terrain
consisting of rocky outcrops, clumps of tree-like plants, and
rivers meandering through narrow valleys and plains, and bordered
by small fertile areas of grassland.

“Look,” said
Elena. “That looks like the cave where the Prehistorics held us
prisoner.”

Donohue didn’t
understand what Elena had said to Barrow, but he did recognise the
word ‘Prehistorics’, for which Elena had no translation.

“What did you
say about the Prehistorics?” he asked.

“I just
pointed out to Barrow that the Prehistorics kept us prisoner in
that cave.”

“You were
prisoners of the Prehistorics?”

“Yes.”

“How did you
escape?”

“Barrow used
the same power that you saw him use against the savages.”

After they had
been flying for about three hours, Donohue pointed towards the
east. “That’s Washington,” he said. “We’ll be there in about ten
minutes.”

The helicopter
swooped low over the city. From above it looked much like any other
city on any of the planets that the Great Savant had visited, but
Barrow was surprised at how spread out the city was, how most of
the roads appeared straight and often intersected at right angles,
and that there didn’t appear to be any tall buildings. They passed
over a river spanned by five bridges.

Barrow became
alarmed when the aircraft began to slow down and then appeared to
hover motionless above a grassed area to the rear of a large white
building with a flat roof. He noticed men in uniform on the roof,
holding weapons similar to those used by Jesse and his men, but
much larger and more sophisticated. Donohue waved to them and,
recognising the Ranger, they waved back.

“Why do those
men keep watch on the rooftop?” Elena asked.

“They are
members of the Secret Service that are specially trained to protect
the president. They have high-powered weapons and other
equipment.”

“Why is this
necessary? Does someone threaten the president?” Such a notion was
alien to Elena who was used to the ultimate power wielded by the
Great Savant. She could not imagine any Karavec wanting to harm
Barrow.

“Yes, there
are foreign powers that threaten the life of the president and the
stability of the union.”

Elena
translated for Barrow, who said, “What a strange race of people
these are. No one threatens the Great Savant, not even the members
of the Council.”

But Elena
seemed less sure. “Let me remind you, Lord Barrow, why we are here
on Ziemia. There may not be a threat to you directly, but the
murder of so many Karavec embryos is a threat to the future of the
Karavec race, maybe even to the stability of your hold on
power.”

Barrow
conceded with a nod.

By this time
the helicopter had landed, gently lowered onto the soft green grass
of the White House South Lawn by Donohue. The rotating blades
continued to spin, then slowed down until they finally came to a
halt.

Evening was
setting in.

“Follow me,”
said Donohue. “The president is waiting for you.”

He led them
onto the South Portico and through the Blue Room into the Cross
Hall. He took them towards the right where the grand staircase led
to the first floor.

“This floor is
the president’s residential area,” said Donohue.

They passed
some bedrooms, and then Donohue stopped outside an unmarked storage
closet, which he opened, and ushered them to follow him inside. It
appeared to be a secret passage.

The passage
leads to the president’s office,” Donohue explained. “The president
uses it to access his office from his residence.”

When they
passed through the door at the far end of the tunnel, they entered
a spacious oval-shaped office. A large intricately-carved desk
occupied the area adjacent to the window. Curtains divided the
window into three parts, and two unfurled flags stood in front of
the dividing curtains. One of them was the same flag that fluttered
from every government building in Washington. The other was a flag
with a blue background, a circle of white stars and a large bird
holding what appeared to be a branch in one of its talons and some
kind of sheaf in the other.

A man with
silver-grey hair, clean-shaven and smartly dressed in a dark suit,
sat at the desk writing some notes. He rose when they entered. He
was tall and stooped slightly when he approached his visitors.

“Mr.
President,” said Donohue. “These are our guests from the planet
Odbijanie, the Great Savant of the Karavec, Barrow, and his
assistant Elena.

President
Kowalski approached them with a little apprehension. He had been
warned by his aides who had received messages from Donohue that
these strange aliens must be treated with caution as well as
respect. The Great Savant, who wore brown leather body armour and
thigh length brown boots, portrayed a strange sight for the
president. His olive-green face was lined and wrinkled, his head
was bald, and goggles protected his widely-spaced eyes. The other
Karavec, who appeared much younger, had removed her goggles. She
possessed a certain attraction despite being also hairless.