Steph Bennion - Paw-Prints of the Gods

A tearful Artorius stood between Ravana and Jizo, clutching his mutilated hand. The nurse, her meaty palm clamped upon the boy’s shoulder, had ordered Quirinus to join them within the circle of rods so that Lilith could keep her gun upon them all. Dagan was back on guard at the archway, masked from view by the bright floodlights. Behind Lilith, not far from where her electric cat chewed fitfully upon the remains of the cambot, Ravana saw Kedesh surreptitiously kneeling by the cryogenic capsule. Athene had once again vanished from sight. Ravana suspected they had not seen the last of the watcher.

“What’s that?” demanded Jizo. Her slurred words were aimed at Kedesh, who was edging away from the capsule with a curved box in her hands. “What are you doing?”

“It’s the waste disposal cartridge,” Kedesh explained sheepishly. “With any luck it’ll contain DNA samples. When this is over, we can find out who or what was inside.”

“Artorius is not their star man!” Ravana said defensively.

“zz-oorphaaneed-chiild-oof-Sool-zz,” screeched Dhanus.

“zz-hiiddeen-byy-slaavees-aand-maasteers-zz!” shrieked Simha.

“Yes, but as a theory, it’s not very scientific, is it?” Kedesh protested.

A sudden deep-throated groan, born from the bowels of the planet, rolled across the chamber. Ravana and her father exchanged nervous glances, then both jumped in alarm as a curtain of ethereal blue light leapt from one grey rod to the next. A split second later there came a loud crack, followed by a shriek from Artorius. All twelve columns began to creep sideways, grinding anti-clockwise around the pool. Each upright rod gouged a deep arc as it moved, which quickly merged to slice a huge circular gash in the trembling ground. Finding herself in the way, Lilith gave a strangled cry and leapt back to avoid being hit. The rods continued to slide by, leaving Ravana with the impression that she and others within the circle were trapped inside a slowly-rotating cage. A faint blue glow issued from the shifting rods, creating a hazy column of light.

“What’s happening?” asked Jizo, startled. “Why are they moving?”

“Thraak,” Nana said gaily. “Thraak thraak thraak!”

“Fwack fwack,” confirmed Stripy.

“They’re opening the door,” murmured Artorius, his face pale.

The cyberclones released guttural shrieks and stopped. A storm of emotions leeched from Ravana’s implant, yet the translator images of the greys’ cries came through clear. It was the same picture of hope that had kept her going ever since their escape from the Dhusarians’ dome. The conversation in the stolen transport, when she and Artorius had asked Nana and Stripy about their home world, came vividly back to mind. Talk of doors and portals and trees in space was not enough to express what the star chamber meant to the greys. Artorius slipped free of Jizo’s grip and gave Ravana a hug.

“A way home,” Ravana said in wonder. “They’ve found a way back home!”

“You really should not be doing this,” an angry voice purred in her ear.

Ravana scowled at the ice-smooth tones of the watcher. She turned to the figure who had appeared beside her and stifled a shriek. Athene’s youthful visage was twisted in a cruel grimace of lips curled around bared incisors and the cold yellow stare of a hunter preparing for the kill. Earlier, Fornax had described watchers as alien cat gods. Athene looked ready to give Ravana’s Hindu namesake some serious competition in the vengeful deity stakes.

“zz-oopeen-thee-doooor-zz!” shrieked Dhanus.

On the other side of Artorius, Jizo swayed uneasily before the rotating circle of rods, her mask of confidence in tatters. Ravana saw Kedesh’s eyes follow Athene, who began to pace restlessly around the pool as the clones had done before her. No one else appeared to be aware of the watcher’s presence.

Ravana felt Artorius’ tight embrace and saw his tearful gaze become a look of awe. Nana and Stripy approached, bearing the dignified calm of visiting diplomats. In Nana’s hands was a glistening green globe, no bigger than a fist, made of what looked like damp leather that nonetheless sparkled in the blue luminescence of the chamber walls. The elderly grey shuffled to a halt and offered it to Ravana.

“Thraak,” Nana said solemnly. “Thraak thraak.”

“Err… thanks,” said Ravana, nonplussed. “What is it?”

“Just what you always wanted,” muttered Quirinus. “Fossilised spider snot.”

Artorius frowned. “Where’s mine?”

“You can’t do this!” Athene looked angrier than ever. “You’re changing the rules!”

The watcher’s reaction puzzled Ravana. Nana held out the globe with a gaze of both sadness and joy. Ravana gingerly took the mysterious gift in her hands and found it light and surprisingly dry to the touch. Feeling she should present something in return, she remembered what was in her pocket and withdrew the silver-wrapped packet.

“Would you like some cake?” she asked.

Nana gratefully took the offering. “Thraak thraak!”

“Good call,” Kedesh murmured approvingly.

“What a sweet little scene!” said Jizo, adopting a mocking tone. “I have a present for you, mister star man. Would you like to see it?”

Quirinus and Kedesh exchanged worried glances. Ravana hissed a warning and tried to pull the boy away. Artorius looked to the looming presence of Jizo, then down at her clenched fingers and hesitantly nodded. As he moved closer to see what the nurse held, she grabbed his ear and gave it a vicious twist. The greys shrieked.

“Ow!” screamed Artorius. “That hurt!”

“I’ll rip off both your ears if you don’t get a move on!”

Nana stopped shrieking and tugged Ravana’s arm. Stripy scooped the electric pet from the floor and hugged it tight, not seeming to mind that the cat was more interested in the half-eaten shreds of cambot between its claws. Ravana realised the circling rods moved much more rapidly than before and caught the anxiety in the greys’ behaviour.

“Fwack fwack,” urged Stripy. “Fwack fwack.”

“Thraak thraak,” reiterated Nana.

Kedesh caught the girl’s glance and nodded. “Time to declare, I think.”

“Really?” Ravana retorted scornfully. “Back on my side, are you?”

“I never left it! I was batting for you, all the way.”

“zz-iin-yyoouur-heeaad-bee-iit-zz!” chanted the clones. “zz-oopeen-thee-doooor-zz!”

“No!” cried Athene. “Don’t listen to those brain-washed cyber-boneheads!”

Ravana approached the rods and watched them sweep from right to left before her, each trailing a faint blue mist. The rotating cage soared to the distant ceiling and her blood ran cold at the thought they were somehow trapped inside. She tentatively raised her right hand and pushed her fingers through the luminous vapour swirling between the moving rods.

Her father looked nervous. “Be careful!” he urged.

“My hand goes right through the light,” Ravana said, relieved. “There was me thinking it was some sort of force… Ow!”

She reeled in agony as the next rod swept up, caught her wrist and released a surge of static into her weak arm. The shock sent her spinning backwards and with a shriek she crashed to the floor like a wounded ballerina. The green globe remained tight in her grasp as she fell and in the midst of her pain she was convinced it momentarily flickered with miniature starlight. She landed at Kedesh’s feet, who like Artorius had gone pale.

“Ravana!” cried Quirinus. He rushed to her side. “Are you okay?”

“zz-oopeen-thee-doooor-zz!” the clones shrieked again. “zz-oopeen-thee-doooor-zz!”

“Better do as the lizard men say,” sneered Jizo. “They eat people like you.”