The Power of Gnaris (7 page)

“What kind of
weather patterns do you experience? Surely, to live you must have
rain as well as the small amount of sun that reaches you.”

“Yes, we have
rain. Along some stretches of the Home Band there are mountains,
and rainwater feeds rivers that flow towards the Hot Zone, forming
small lakes. The air above the lakes warms rapidly and, when the
air is heated, it expands and becomes less dense. This results in
moist, hot air rising far above the Hot Zone. When it expands, the
air cools, and cannot retain its moisture. The water vapour
condenses to liquid water, clouds form and rain falls around the
perimeter of the Hot Zone; and the cycle is repeated.”

“But doesn’t
some of the rain run-off also flow towards the Cold Zone, where it
freezes?”

“You are quite
right, and we have to compensate for that by transporting some of
the ice to the Hot Zone.”

“That sounds
like hard work.”

“We really
don’t have much choice, or all the water on the planet would freeze
eventually.”

The Great
Savant’s vehicle passed through a set of heavily guarded gates and
pulled up in front of a very large building, much larger than the
palace on Arion.

“This is my
main palace,” said Barrow. “I live here most of the time.”

When Forster
stepped out of the vehicle, a short male Karavec emerged from the
cover of a small copse of trees, and trained a ray gun on the
captain’s chest.

“You are not
welcome here, alien,” he shouted. “You must die.”

A blast from
the ray gun followed his tirade, and Forster collapsed unconscious
onto the ground at Elena’s feet.

“Jim!” she
gasped, throwing herself towards his lifeless body.

Chapter 6 – The
Book of Karavec

“
In the
latter days, there will rise up from the planet Ziemia a great
threat to the Karavec people. Do not be complacent; the threat is
real.
However, be encouraged; the gods will prevail and the
threat will be overcome.”

 The Book of
Karavec (89, 18 & 19)

Barrow took
just a few seconds to assess what had happened. He signalled to his
guards who scrambled into action. Some of them surrounded Forster
and Elena in a protective arc, while another group detained the
offender and snatched the gun from him. They threw him to the
ground and bundled him onto his front, tying his hands behind his
back.

“Bring him
here,” said Barrow.

“Get up.” One
of the guards kicked the man in the ribs.

The Karavec
male stood trembling in front of the Great Savant. He was short
even by Karavec standards, barely reaching Barrow’s shoulders. He
kept his eyes firmly fixed on the ground.

“What is the
meaning of this, Thlarrow? Captain Forster is my guest. Why did you
attack him?”

Thlarrow stood
in silence.

Barrow smashed
the back of his hand into Thlarrow’s face, knocking him down
again.

“Lay there,
you coward,” he said. “You are no better than a Cerdic
android.”

He turned
towards Elena who still stooped over Forster’s lifeless body. “How
is he?”

“He’s alive,
but only just. The blast should have ripped a hole in his ribs near
to his heart, resulting in a massive loss of blood. But it seems
that Captain Forster is very strong.”

“Maybe he
wears some protection under his shirt.”

Elena pulled
back Forster’s shirt to reveal a vest bearing the scars of the ray
gun blast. “You are right,” she said. “He wears a vest woven from
some kind of metal.”

“Is he
breathing normally?”

“His breathing
is quite laboured, but I think he will survive.”

“Guards, carry
Captain Forster to the infirmary. And, if any of you try a trick
like Thlarrow did, you will also be sacrificed to the gods.”

Thlarrow spoke
for the first time, raising himself into a kneeling position. “Have
mercy on me, Barrow, Great Savant of the Karavec. I did this to
please the gods, not to anger them. This alien is not one of us.
The gods will not allow . . .”

“Do you think
I do not know that, fool? Captain Forster is here at my behest. He
is here to investigate the deaths of the Karavec embryos, but he is
also here for another reason. For that reason, the gods have
allowed him to come here. Guards, take him away. Lock him in the
cell and prepare him for sacrifice.”

Thlarrow
snivelled when the guards led him away. “Have mercy, please.”

Barrow
followed the guards at a distance, contemplating the day’s events,
and how he might once again appease the gods for this
infringement.

When he
arrived in the infirmary, he found that Forster had already awoken.
Elena mopped his brow with a damp cloth. There was no sign of the
doctor.

“How are you,
captain?”

“A bit bruised
around the ribs, and a bit winded; but I’ll be alright. I expected
a frosty welcome from the Karavec on Hikon, but nothing like this.
Who is that fellow?”

“He works for
me; at least, he did work for me. He was a labourer who looked
after the grounds surrounding the palace.”

“What will
happen to him?”

“He will be
sacrificed, of course.”

“But . .
.”

“Captain
Forster, please do not question my decision. He is a traitor and
must be sacrificed to the gods. You know it is the Karavec
way.”

“Captain
Forster,” said Elena, “the Great Savant is right. You could have
been killed; and then your mission would be unfulfilled.”

“Ah yes, the
investigation.”

Barrow looked
Forster in the eye and smiled. “Captain Forster, we all know that’s
not the real reason why you are here.”

“You know
about that?”

“Of course.
Why do you think the gods permitted you to come to Hikon? Anyway,
we’ll talk more about that matter another time. First, you must
rest. And when you are well, you must inspect the Embryological
Centre, interview the employees and try to come up with some other
clues. The murderer is still at large, almost certainly here on
Hikon, and he must be found.”

He turned to
Elena. “Where is the doctor?” he asked.

“She seemed
satisfied that Captain Forster has not suffered any serious injury.
Nonetheless she did a full body scan, and is examining the results
as we speak.”

At that
moment, the door opened and a young female Karavec entered.

“Good morning,
Doctor Leila. How is the captain? He is a very important guest, and
is on a mission of vital importance.”

Leila was
older and taller than Elena. “The news is good, Great Savant. The
captain only suffers some bruising, and will be up and about
tomorrow.” She spoke with confidence.

“Thank you,
doctor.”

Before leaving
for his own quarters, Barrow set a guard of four of his most
trusted warriors to protect Forster from any further attacks.

“I will see
you tomorrow, captain,” he said. “Elena, I must speak with you
before you leave.”

He left with a
flurry. Elena could only give Forster a flicker of a smile while
she followed Barrow out of the room.

“Elena,” the
Great Savant said after they had settled into a pair of chairs in
the Great Savant’s living room, “I must again caution you against
any close friendship with Captain Forster.”

Elena looked
idly around the room before answering. The room was large,
windowless and poorly lit. An open fire glowed in an old-fashioned
fireplace. Portraits of other Karavec leaders from the past decked
the walls. An intricately woven carpet of green and gold almost
completely covered the floor. On the far wall opposite the fire
stood a large bookcase containing hundreds of volumes; some looked
new, but most appeared to be very old.

“My
relationship with Captain Forster is a purely professional one,”
she said. “I am his assistant, nothing more. Nonetheless, when I
saw he was hurt, I moved quickly to his aid; as I would for any
friend or acquaintance.”

“I see. Very
well, we will meet with the captain in the morning, and he can
resume his investigation.”

Elena stood
and bowed before exiting the room.

* * * * *

The following
morning, the doctor discharged Forster from the infirmary He joined
Barrow and Elena in the Great Savant’s private quarters.

“We will visit
the Embryological Centre first,” he said. “I assume it has been
locked up and guarded since the crime was committed. Several days
have already passed.”

“Nothing has
been touched,” said Barrow.

“The bodies
and body parts?”

“I am told
they still lie where they were found. As I said, nothing has been
touched.”

“Good. Please
arrange for the workers from the centre, including all off-duty
personnel on the day of the crime, to be available for
interrogation this afternoon. Now, if you don’t mind, may we
begin?”

“Follow
me.”

Barrow led
Forster out of the main entrance of his palace. Surrounded by
guards, they made their way across a grassed area and past a lake
until they reached another large building just a few minutes’ walk
away. The faint sun glimmered on the Hot Zone horizon.

When they
reached the centre, another elderly Karavec greeted them.

“This is
Dorrow, chief embryculturalist at the Regional Embrycultural Centre
on Hikon,” Barrow said.

Dorrow swiped
his card, entered his PIN and waited for the sensor to do a retinal
scan.

When the doors
opened, he motioned for Forster, Elena and Barrow to step
inside.

“Oh!”

“What is it,
captain?” The Great Savant sounded impatient.

“The crime
scene here is quite different from the one on Arion.”

“In what
way?”

“Well, it
still appears that the murderer used a knife, and the embryos have
been cut; but they have not been as badly butchered as the ones on
Arion. And there’s not a great deal of blood spilt. It’s almost as
if . . .” Forster let out a low whistle before continuing, “. . .
as if they were killed for their blood.”

“You mean the
murderer killed the embryos and collected their blood?” Elena could
not disguise her distaste.

“Yes, that’s
exactly what I mean.”

“For what
purpose?”

“That has yet
to be determined. Now, if you could leave me to look around,” he
said, turning towards Barrow and Dorrow, “I’ll search for any other
clues.”

“I will help
you,” said Elena.

“I’ll wait
outside,” said Dorrow.

“And I’ll be
back in my quarters at the palace if you need me,” said Barrow.

* * * * *

When Forster
reported back to the Great Savant that evening, he had some
interesting information.

“I have found
a clue,” he said.

The Great
Savant wrinkled his forehead and waited for Forster to
continue.

“I found this
small scrap of paper beneath one of the benches. Dorrow assures me
that prior to the murders the centre was cleaned thoroughly every
day, and he does not recognise the inscription on this paper.”

“Do you think
the murderer could have dropped it?”

“It is
certainly a possibility, though I cannot be sure.”

“What is
written on the paper?”

“I could not
recognise the script, but Elena has suggested that these are
ancient symbols representing Karavec numbers.”

“Let me
see.”

Barrow
scrutinised the piece of paper, and nodded. “They are numbers all
right, as you say, ones used by the ancients.”

“Can you read
them?”

“Yes, the
numbers are in pairs. There are three pairs

(16, 41), (27, 77) and (89, 18). They look like some
kind of coordinates. But what could they mean? Perhaps they
identify some location on Hikon.”

“That is
possible, but I don’t think so.”

“What is your
opinion?”

“Could they be
a reference to some part of a book?”

Barrow smiled
in recognition. “I should have thought of that myself,” he said.
“Wait here.”

He crossed to
the far side of the room where he scanned the shelves of the
bookcase. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for,
and stretched up to remove an ancient tome from the shelf.

“This is ‘The
Book of Karavec’,” he said. “It is both a sacred book and a
chronicle of Karavec history and religion. It has two parts. The
first part tells of the time the gods created the universe and how
the Karavec came into being. The second part is a record of Karavec
history from the earliest times right up to the time we arrived in
the Milky Way.”

“How can this
help us understand the numbers?”

“The book is
written in the ancient script, and the chapters and verses of the
book are referenced by pairs of numbers.”

“I see. So you
think the numbers on the piece of paper might refer to sections of
the book?”

“Exactly.”

Elena couldn’t
contain her excitement. “So look them up,” she said. Then she
remembered to whom she spoke. “Please forgive me, Great Savant. Can
I help you look them up?”

“I will do
it,” said Barrow.

He turned the
pages until he had located the chapter and verse indicated by the
first pair of numbers. This is Chapter 16, verse 41,” he said. “It
says, ‘After the Karavec had been created and had been living on
their home planet for more than two hundred millennia, there was a
great famine in the land. Many Karavec died, and others were only
sustained by drinking the blood of Karavec embryos’.”

Forster
whistled. “That might explain why the blood from the Hikon centre
was collected and removed.”