Chapter 7 - 1
“The Goddess”
Kalasiris , the ancient high priestess of RA and the keeper of the sacred rites just returned from behind the Ebony Wall that separated the most holiest and forbidden for all but the most devout priestesses from the rest of the Falcon Temple of RA, the holiest site in all the Saran Empire.
Behind the Ebony Wall was the Path of Worship, a tunnel that could only be passed by those who knew the rites and secrets. And after the path of worship was the holiest of the holiest, the Chamber of the Gods.
True, the Queen was all powerful, commanded the military, but no queen ever ascended the Falcon throne against the will of the Priests, and if she did, the queen did not last very long and another queen and dynasty more inclined keeping the traditions alive and the gods appeased was found.
If anyone would ever ask, Kalasiris was a devoted servant to the God queen like any other subject and she openly proclaimed nothing less. However everyone in the Empire knew about the power of the temple and the undisputable will of the gods, solely revealed to the priestesses that served the six gods and the female all surpassing goddess RA.
Kalasiris lowered the white hood of her cape, revealing the face of an old woman. A face reflecting intelligence and a bitter harshness that carved many lines and wrinkles in the parched skin, none of them caused by smiles or laughter.
Kalasiris was close to three hundred years old, but even the best cell restoration techniques of Saran medicine did no longer really work, she started to look her age. Most Sarans did not choose to extend their lives past the age of two hundred. Most people simply got tired of life. There was no law prohibiting life extension, but the number one cause of death of the ones past the bicentennial mark was suicide and assisted death.
That did not mean Kalasiris was considering suicide or ready to retire. She was still relative healthy and had spent too much time at the apex of power.
Deep down she could not deny her religious believes and secretly was afraid of afterlife. Her consciousness sometimes reminded her that she had never really served the gods, but her interests alone.
This was of course also the chief complaint and charge of her other arch rival, Tethebea of Luxor. That self-righteous witch, claiming that Kalasiris of Sara had lost her ways. Even thinking about the other priestess made her blood run cold.
The temple was the oldest and most traditional building on the planet, with vast catacombs underneath, where the queens of the past stored their mortal bodies, while their spirit selves enjoyed eternal paradise in after life. Kalasiris however just as her predecessors before enjoyed the latest in Saran tech. A wave of her hand lowered an almost insubstantial plastic film, the material became stiff and a heartbeat later, projected images of the arriving Terran teenagers.
She had the system focus on the tall girl with a truly perfect body and long blonde hair. She looked like the very incarnation of the Goddess RA. She truly appeared like a celestial being that stepped right out of the Sun to be worshipped.
Kalasiris did not miss the reaction of the Sarans seeing her.
The group of Earthers she was with consisted of other females and none of them were ugly. To her the one with the coppery red hair was also strikingly beautiful, but there was no goddess with red hair. She completely ignored the male component of the group, Kalasiris hated men and the only reason she wanted them around was for menial slave labor. While there were robots who could do all that, it was much more satisfactory to have men do it. This was the way it always has been. As long as anyone could remember; as long as the priestesses made sure no one dared to remember.
The last time, the misguided masses were exposed to the primitive falsehoods and the sick notion of equality, the empire suffered dearly. Rebellious colonies that no longer worshipped the Goddess, rejected the rule of the queens and razed the temples were the consequence.
Another such revolution could very well spell the end of civilization and cause the doom of Saran.
Kalasiris was not prepared to have humans from that cursed lost colony show up in the very capital, spreading ideas not consistent with what she alone deemed appropriate. That one of them even appeared to look like a real daughter of the gods was more than inconvenient.
She summoned the others and assembled the Circle of the Priestesses in the Hall of Wisdom. It did not take long, not even her closest confidants dared to delay when she issued a summon for assembly.
Saran was as much a monarchy as it was a theocracy, and religion was so ingrained, so encrusted and such a fundamental part of life, making Kalasiris and the high priestesses of the other major Saran worlds in effect a force equal to the queen. Kalasiris secretly considered herself even above the queen and the true stalwart of Saran values and traditions.
The others had gathered around the ring shaped pool, filled with water, reflecting the flickering light of the gas fed flames. Licking and dancing in their golden bowls held aloft by ebony statues of the gods. The pool also reflected perfect mirror images of the eight women in their priestly gowns. No matter how often they had gathered here, it always was a solemn affair and made them feel closer to the gods and removed to a higher level of existence and more important than the mere mortals who needed their wisdom and guidance.
Kalasiris, raised both arms, puffs of smoke belched in big bubbles to the surface of the basin where they burst and curled in wafting swirls to the distant ceiling. She evoked the names of the gods and led the others into a chant for wisdom and guidance. Only after all these so important rites had been performed, did she move to the matters at hand.
A large projection of Earth appeared above the pool. Even Kalasiris had to admit there was no planet known to Saran quite as inviting and majestically beautiful as this white and blue orb.
An unseen voice gave an account of the Freon crime, abducting thirty adolescent humans, the interception by the Samoteth and the subsequent events. The report included images of the Earthers’ fighting the Saran crew and excerpts of interviews with them and the captured Freons.
The old woman noticed the reaction of the others as they showed images of the blonde woman close up.
“This is exactly why I have called you” She said unable to completely hide both her concern and her disgust from her voice, pointing at a freeze image of the young woman. “She presents a danger greater than a fleet of rabid Pan Saran savages. Even you look at her with open adoration!”
One of her oldest confidantes and fellow priestesses said. “Never has such beauty be seen on Sara. Could she not be a Goddess, sent to test us?”
“I should personally drown you in your own sacrificial blood.” Her response was much more emotional and harsh than she intended. “Did you not just see the report? She is from Earth, product of a primitive society that once was a Saran colony.”
The one she just yelled at. “Why are you so emotional then? Besides the theory that humans of Earth evolved from an early colony is not a very popular one and far from proven.”
Kalasiris slowly counted the braziers and tried to calm herself. Her voice had the normal volume again, but did not lose the sharp edge. “You are right, this is hardly worth a great deal of emotional response, except for the fact that the Queen will use her to get rid of us. What has been tried by queens, unsuccessfully before could be tried again with the incarnation of
RA herself leading the opposition. This queen is smarter than many before her. More cunning, calculating and she does not like to share power. That is why she has ordered the thirty Earthers to come to the Throne world, no doubt. She will introduce her as a messenger of RA and indoctrinate the naive and innocent Earth woman and use her as a pawn to advance her own agenda.”
Another priestess surmised. “The public reacting to her already. It will take little to convince them, you are right. Who needs priests if a goddess is there?”
Kalasiris nodded with cold eyes. “The Queen’s claim being a Daughter of RA has become a title in nature only. Many Saran have lost their faith into the supernatural and the spiritual. But with a woman like that, she will renew that claim to be an actual one. The thirty Earth kids must disappear and with them the Blonde. Disappear forever and before they can make too much of an impact.”
--””--
The priestesses were not the only one who took special interest in the kids from Terra. While the Saran Empire was an absolute monarchy with strong theocratic elements, it considered itself a more or less free society. More if you were female and less if you were male, but that was an accepted status quo for millennia.
There was mass media. Much of it was state and religion controlled, especially the major outlets, but a mega society spanning over more than a thousand planets did have a plethora of smaller and independent media outlets. Some of which were even considered subversive, illegal and very controversial.
Every flavor of political opinion and dissent could be found in what the Saran’s called the quick sand media, always shifting, with no real bottom and no real substance.
Melissa got the first taste of it, as the flyer landed on a transparent platform, thousands of feet above the distant ground and mounted to the side of a truly gigantic black and gold statue of an apron wearing, staff holding Egyptian god. The animal head resembled that of a monkey or ape and did not seem to be modeled after a Terran animal anyone of the teenagers could recognize.
One of their guides stepped onto the transparent platform that gave access to the statues open maw. She extended her hand in an inviting gesture. “Welcome to the Gukhuthum. Here in the top you find the finest guest accommodations our civilization can offer, courtesy of our beloved queen
Ammothep the IXth, god born daughter of RA. She who sits on the seat of Eternal light, the Throne of the Divine Falcon decreed in her immortal wisdom and royal grace that you may be treated and seen as wards of the court.”
Sigurd, who was probably the most fearless of the bunch, flanked in an elegant and powerful move over the low sides and landed on the transparent surface. He looked down and grinned. “Great view.”
Melissa was next, she didn’t exactly jump like Sigurd, but her moves were no less agile but with an added natural grace and flow of female moves.
She was mobbed and crowded almost instantly by men and women, floating bright lights and buzzing ball shaped drones. The mob of at least twenty beings, quite obviously the equivalent of news reporters of this world had stormed the blonde and more or less ignored everyone else.
At first, neither Sigurd, nor any of the others that had now all stepped off the flyer understood a single word.
Melissa felt quite uneasy and crowded, she too had no idea what they were asking. All the Sarans she had met before spoke or at least appeared to speak English. “Hold your horses!” She yelled. “I ain’t getting y’all yapping like that. I don’t speako Sarano, comprente?”
That made Aaron actually laugh. Of all people they had to abduct a female redneck. She looked like an angel and would have been the center star for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders or a dream angel for Victoria’s secret, but she wasn’t the most subtle or gracious girl when it came to social interaction, unlike the elf like girl from Dublin. Aaron realized as he compared the two girls, that he started to like the quiet red head with the almost incomprehensible accent quite a bit.
Their official guardians managed to separate the kids from the Saran media crowd and herded them into the gigantic wide open maw and through automatic parting glass doors into the lobby of what could be recognized by some of the teenagers as a very posh and luxurious hotel lobby of sorts.
Aaron summed it up. “This place looks as if a gay Hollywood production designer was tasked to come up with the most bombastic gold over loaded set for a retro futuristic hotel lobby set.”
No one in the group with the exception of Melissa understood what he actually meant. Wolfgang stemmed his fists into his hips. “I expect Flash
Gordon and the Hawk Men any minute now.”
Aaron ducked and looked around. “The hawk based symbolic might suggest just that. Let’s hope Emperor Ming isn’t real.”
Buwunti scratched his chin. “Who is Emperor Ming?”(*)
The guides interrupted their bantering. “Please let us take you to your accommodations, where you may rest and enjoy the privacy this place ensures until the queen has returned and will summon you to her presence as we expect, her glorious majesty will do.”
Aoife spread her arms and made a gesture that included the whole place. “So this is basically a golden cage. We are prisoner here, right?”
The guide that was dressed pretty much like everyone else, complete with a black hair do in page boy style and who hasn’t really introduced herself made an uneasy smile. Clearly indicating that Aoife was spot on.
“No you are not prisoners, but everyone agrees that you be safer here until you have fully acclimated and our Queen has decreed the details of your new life’s direction.”
Sigurd was not too happy as he snarled. “Not only have we been abducted, but instead of us making the decisions regarding our future, it is some queen who does it for us.”
“Be careful what you say! Right now you are protected by your ignorance and our understanding that you come from a primitive society, but it would be good you learn fast. You are just a man after all and not allowed the same freedom of tongue exalted females have.”
“What?”
Another guide took the one that just had spoken by the shoulder and put herself in a more prominent speaking position. “Our beloved queen is on her way back from the Planet of Universal peace where she attended an important conference. She is expected to return her light and grace us all with her presence in about eight or nine days. Her majesty sent word ahead that she has personal interest in all of you. So for the time being you are to remain in the Gukhuthum. Only the highest and most important guests of state receive the honor to reside here.” She then added. “I understand you did not ask to be abducted by Freons. Let me let it known to you, we Sarans did not ask to be burdened by you either. So it might benefit you to realize you are indeed wardens of the court and for all practical purposes you are
Sarans and subject to our laws.”
The last part was not as friendly and had a clear edge to it.
The teens were herded to a truly luxurious part of the hotel like establishment and the guides assigned them to rooms.
--””--
Sara was abuzz about the kids from Earth. The official news carried the entire story, carefully leaving out any details about Earth history or social development, explaining it was officially due to the agreement of noninterference that there was little information on the latest technological and cultural developments.
Much of the flashier new outlets however focused on the tall blonde girl.
The five men and the three women listening to the news, sitting in a shabby apartments, almost clearly across the globe, belonged to the ′Equality for All’ group, an underground organizations with strong ties to the Pan Saran Empire. The EAG was only one of several, small but fanatical organizations that did not want peace or two independent Saran nations, but a complete overthrow of the old encrusted dynasty system of aloft and arrogant queens. A complete Pan Saran victory. The razing of all temples and eradication of any reference to religion from society.
While there was some support from the population for ideas of more rights for men and for peace, there was very little for the rest of the ideas and chances promoted by the EAG. The Queen was very popular and religion deeply entrenched in Saran society.
Anum raised his container of Tills, a popular Saran drink made of fermented grain towards the viewing station projecting images of the Earth teenagers. “They will use her to bring our Pan Saran brothers to heel.”
One of the women, a low wages earner and an assistant accountant for the produce procurement department of the Saran Fleet, bit into a Saran pear she had just peeled and asked while she was chewing. “How?”
He turned somewhat annoyed, because she didn’t saw the obvious as he did. “The old religion and the old gods are not dead on the worlds of our Pan Saran brothers. The cursed and irrational believe in the supernatural has not been eradicated from our society. By parading a woman with that kind of appearance and looks coming from Terra no less, could entice a new movement among the Free Colonies reversing everything that was gained.”
One of the men sitting with him before the viewer had been born on a fringe world colony, also seemed to fail to understand. “She truly is very beautiful, but she does not appear to be a supernatural being in my opinion.”
Anum put his drink down, got up and retrieved, the Book of Gods from a shelf. Even in this antiestablishment house hold, where the names of the Gods were cursed, a worn out copy could be found. He thumbed through the curling pages, finally found what he was looking for and pounded his index finger at the passage. He recited aloud.” ... and when the time of the gods seem at an end and many rise up to proclaim their allegiance to other gods and things. She who is RA will return to the children of Sara, gather those who remained faithful and reward them greatly, unite those who can be redeemed and punish those who cannot. Behold RA shall take form as woman of great beauty and her hair shall be like liquid gold. Hair that has grown not made.”
The woman who had stopped eating her pear continued reciting without reading the text, for she remembered it from Temple service.” She comes to the children of Sara from a world that has been forgotten in time and is sacred to all the Children of Sara.”
Anum clenched his fist. “Supernatural nonsense, but every one of the Saran and much of Pan Saran will remember these words of the great seer Rameseis seeing her and wonder if they are not true after all. Giving the temple demons we call priestesses all the leverage they need to entice an uprising on the new Colonies.”
One of the men who had been quiet so far, still wearing his patrol uniform of a public order officer turned away from the viewer images. “What do you think we should do?”
Anum’s eyes glared with fanatic light. “Children of gods can’t be killed. We kill her and it all ends before it has a chance to spread.”
--””--
Not all the priestesses in the temple agreed with the Oldest, they still believed in the gods and of course they too knew the words of the great seer Rameseis, that were part of the sacred texts collected in the Book of Gods. Seeing the images of the newcomers and the young woman just like everybody else, they drew similar conclusions as the dissidents half a globe away, however with very different motivations at heart. They did see the same potential for a revival of religion and they pondered the possibility that this woman from another world was indeed the very fulfillment of that prophecy.”
They looked to Tethebea of Luxor for guidance.
--””--
Still a considerable distance from Sara, the queen’s royal barge prepared for another trans-spatial jump taking it closer to home. Ammothep the IXth, was still deep in thought regarding the meeting she had with the Saresii, the Ult and the Pan Saran emperor. She also consumed the reports she had received from home, official reports and those of her intelligence services and unofficial sources she kept within temples, the public and even in some opposite groups.
Aboard this magnificent Royal barge and all Saran ships, Sara time was kept and according to the clocks it was well past midnight. Just the necessary vessel operations stations were occupied with officers and technicians, the rest of the crew, just as the bulk of Sarans at home on Sara, were resting.
Not so the queen. While even Sarun was sleeping in his small chambers close by, a light above the desk of the queen created a bright isle in the otherwise spacious dark study. She had pulled up several view screens and used a Data-Comm before her to make notes.
The seemingly unimportant event of the thirty Earth kids arriving on Sara, at least in terms of everything else that was going on, created more waves and motion than anyone could have anticipated.
She cursed the commander of the Samoteth, not for rescuing the kids but for neglecting to warn everyone about the looks of one of the Earth kids. How could she be so ignorant?
Of course she knew! Moheepata was of the old house Kethmmar. Her own house, but there were others in her family with ambitions to the throne. What was her game?
She recalled the words of the Saresii and wondered if the Saresii knew about the blonde one. The Saresii had said: “We suggest they do not go to Saran or Pan Saran worlds but instead proceed to the World of Old and attend school with other gifted individuals.”
There was deep wisdom in that, because the girl would mean so much to so many. She would be used as a religious pawn and symbol by every group. With the potential to tear the Saran and the Pan Saran empires apart into even more warring factions and thus spelling the doom for mighty Saran. Once divided even more, her people would be easy prey.
Many star empires before had been brought to their knees and vanished from the Galactic Stage due to internal turmoil.
And all catastrophes begun with something small, seemingly easy to be controlled.
She had several ideas what to do with the Earthers. Not all were aligned with the openly expressed agreement she found with the other leaders, but maybe these plans could be realized just as fine without the blonde girl.
Sometimes it was necessary to do the hard things in order to preserve the whole.
With a finger gesture she called up the report of a religious firebrand. Tethebea of Luxor had always been an agitator. However she was clever never to openly cross the line and preached the state religion exactly down the lines as it was written. Her views and her followers were the most orthodox and ardent believers. Neither the High Priestess nor the Queen could really afford to openly oppose her. Tethebea’s followers were as influential as they were connected to every important aspect of the empire. The group maintained a sizeable portion of the fleet and the barge commanders emerging from their ranks were the most militant and successful ones.
Now Tethebea had crossed the line, by questioning the God connection of her the queen. Everyone accepted the fact that this has been just a title for thousands of years and not an actual claim. Most enlightened Sarans did not believe in gods anyway and saw religion as nothing more as an expression of Saran culture and identity. Some knew it was maintained to keep the monarchy legitimate and curb the calls for a monarchy reform of the absolute rule and a move towards a constitutional one or eradicate monarchy all together.
Tethebea, called for the blonde woman from Earth to be granted permission to step behind the Ebony wall and enter the Chamber of the Gods, where the presence of RA would determine if she was indeed her daughter or perhaps even her very bodily incarnation.
There had been a few very scandalous episodes in Saran’s past when ambiguous groups or insane women presented themselves as the fulfillment of the Seers vision by wearing blonde wigs.(1) Not that there were many wig makers brave enough to create one in the forbidden shade.
What set the Earth woman apart was not only the completely alien but incredibly attractive way she wore her hair, or her undisputable origin from
Earth but also the fact that it was not a wig but naturally grown. Not to mention the fact that the Saresii woman suspected them all to have Psionic powers.
The queen could only imagine what could happen if the blonde was presented in a public temple and demonstrated some sort of Psionic feat.
Psionics were still more or less magic in the eyes of the masses.
She would be instantly worshipped as the incarnation of RA. The queen’s claim being a daughter of the gods, suddenly not only invalid but perhaps even blasphemous.
Ammothep took of her wig and put it on a wig stand nearby, massaged her bald head trying to think and find a way to draw the most political profit out of this. She felt that if she played it right, she could cement her position like no queen before, get rid of the High priestesses and replace them with puppets of her own. Enough dissent could be sewn in the ranks of the Pan Saran for them to be weakened by internal turmoil and in turn make her the queen that reunited the Saran Empire once and for all.
However the situation had the equal potential for catastrophic consequences, with the Saran Empire in shambles. Her assassination and the High Priestess herself on the throne; declared the original God Queen
Suddenly there was a movement in the deep shadows of the room.
She knew there was always the danger of assassination, and no place was truly safe from the hand of an assassin, but she could not help her voice taking on a tremor, reflecting the fear she felt. Her right hand fell onto the
Saresii needler she always had nearby. “I did not expect assassins so quickly, and aboard my royal barge are you are acting on the behalf of the Keepers of Ancient Faith?”
Into the circle of light stepped a female all dressed in black. The tight suit was reflection free and the woman moved without the slightest sound. She then removed the tight mask and revealed a strangely ageless woman with long white hair and purple eyes. “No my queen, I am Alycia, commandrix of the Seth Shadows. We are sworn to protect the rightful queen ever since
Sarans left our home world for the first time.”
“And I am not the rightful one? “She asked while she was thinking. The Seth Shadows had always been seen to be the true force behind the throne and the reason why Queens maintained their hold and power over all Saran both male and female for so long. Everyone believed they were the queens very own enforcers, but the truth was they were very much independent. While there were queens that belonged to the Shadow, no queen had true power over them. A tightly guarded secret of course.
She looked her visitor straight in the eyes. “The Seth Shadows guard more secrets than there are stars in the heaven. The legend says the Shadow has been created by the God Seth, to guard and protect the one true line of daughters.”
“It is so, my queen. We do guard secrets some of which are of such profound importance, they reach beyond the interests of Saran alone. You however may take comfort in the knowledge that you are my queen indeed and you are rightfully on the seat of Eternal light. I have watched over your health and welfare since you blinked for the first time into the Light of RA.”
The woman pointed to the back. “I have always been in the Shadows around you and will do so for as long as Seth will let me. You have to fear nothing from me or the Shadow my queen. I am however here to urge you to proceed with the plan to send the Earthers to the school the Saresii mentioned.
The blonde is in mortal danger and it grows exponentially the longer she remains. Let her disappear along with the others. Even though you contemplated her demise.”
“I never intended to go back on my word to the other leaders.”
“But you were tempted to retain the blonde and make her a pawn in a game played by many sides. Pawns rarely survive such games of power.”
The queen could not argue that and nodded. “I heed your council, Alycia.”
Continues...