Evadeen Brickwood - The Speaking Stone of Caradoc

“Lycia is a small town close to the southern coast of D’ântilla, for those, who are foreign to our shores,” Parnú clarified upfront. “The site of this observatory has a long history. Gabari natives erected stone circles before the great deluge, when D’ântilla was still part of Atland. These stone circles served as observatories to the ancients.”

Parnú explained that the scientists of the modern observatory were trained to detect and destroy heavenly bodies posing a threat to the mother planet.

“You may have heard we possess an effective forewarning system. We now also have a powerful new raygun.” He paused. “Asteroids that can be dangerous to us. Ever since the planet Astra exploded eons ago, leaving behind rocks that now circle the heavenly realm. We will view the cosmic deflector raygun a bit later.”

The time travellers nudged each other.

“Friend Parnú, please tell us about this planet ‘Astra’,” Chryséis asked shyly.

Parnú told them matter-of-factly that the planet had existed beyond the red planet, Xipe Xolotle for many cycles of arc. They already knew that a cycle of arc was thousands of years.

“A planet between Mars and Jupiter? No way!” Trevor had cried out in surprise.

The astronomer and other tourists seemed a little miffed at the impolite outburst in a language they didn’t understand. An uncomfortable Lelani looked the other way and Trevor fell silent.

Parnú quickly changed the subject as he led the way through long passages with shining floors into another part of the observatory. The children from the future hung back and whispered to each other and Katherine had a sudden idea.

“Listen, D’ântilla must be roughly to the southwest of the Bermuda triangle…” She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

“We will now watch a mirage,” the astronomer announced solemnly and led the visitors through metal doors that slid noiselessly open.

They had arrived at the planetarium. The tourists took their seats and a young thin man with a stubby nose, made ready to put the mirage roll into its wall slot. He had been in charge of ‘Mirage Education’ for only a few days and was proud of his new position.

It was a very good mirage and the visitors were usual quite impressed. The lights in the hall dimmed and the seats moved down into a horizontal position. The mirage showed scientists working frantically on control panels as a monotonous voice spoke.

“…the trajectory of an approaching asteroid, hurtling at high velocity towards the mother planet, was predicted through precise mathematical calculations. The asteroid moves in direct collision course with the mother planet. Engineers train a raygun on the approaching asteroid, emitting super-concentrated light rays.”

Bang! The asteroid was destroyed just in time, with smaller pieces whizzing through space in a cloud of dust. They vaporised on impact with the earth’s atmosphere in a spectacle of sparkling showers.

The mirage apparently depicted an actual incident not too far in the past.

“Our civilisation has nothing to fear when it comes to celestial hazards. We can now take on even larger planetoids.”

The audience murmured approval. Next up was a tour of the new cosmic deflector raygun. The real thing! A large vimaan transported the visitors to the top of the hill where they were dwarfed by a huge apparatus inside an oval building. The domed roof was busy opening when they walked into the hall.

“Please keep sufficient distance, athenai, not beyond this line,” Parnú instructed.

His voice echoed off the high round wall and roof. The awed group retreated behind a yellow line that was painted on the very shiny floor and stared up at the surprisingly plain looking raygun. There were no screws or wheels or levers. Just a telescope mounted on a dimly illuminated board.

As Parnú led them around the apparatus, a control panel with different-coloured squares on the other side of the board came into view. Two scientists seemed to evaluate lines and curves on the screen and spoke in muted tones.

“Why is it so flat and wide in front?” Katherine whispered.

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s easier to program the angle they need. Did he just say they can use a pulse action from different angles?”

“I think so.”

The flat, oval outlet looked like a giant mouth. The friends barely listened when Parnú told them about the other features. Trevor stayed behind and secretly took a picture of the raygun and the scientists. Then he took a photograph of the stone circles below through the great windows. In the background, the sky over the harbour looked hazy.

“We are coming to the end of your visit. Shukri athenai, thank you for your visit to our humble scientific establishment in the Iapetus Hills.”

Parnú concluded the tour and the visitors were transported down to the shark-guarded entrance of the observatory. Soon a flurry of vimaans rose into the air and descended on Kamûk. From here the palm-fringed beaches looked rather inviting.

“We will return to the citadel to freshen up. Then we will visit the famous aquarium on the other side of town,” Lelani said. “Tomorrow we will spend time picnicking on the beach.”

“That sounds really nice, Lelani,” Chryséis said. “Tell us more about this aquarium…”

That had been only half an hour ago.

Suddenly, one of the guardsmen held up a shimmering white object, that he had found in Chryséis ’ backpack.

“It is here, it is here,” he shouted triumphantly. Lelani moved ever so slightly away from the children.

“Oh boy.”

“What is this egg doing in your backpack?” Katherine asked Chryséis .

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Do they seriously think we would steal a silly stone egg? How ridiculous!” Chryséis was all flustered.

“This doesn’t belong to us,” Trevor tried to explain.

“No, it doesn’t belong to you. You stole it.”

The guard was still holding up the egg and Trevor started to lose his temper.

“Now wait a minute, what do you mean? We have never seen this thing before. Why are you accusing us guard?”

“Trevor, stay calm,” Katherine warned him. “Don’t make them angry – please. I’m sure they’ll use telepathy to find out the truth. A lie detector test or something like that. Remember, they are civilised people and the Lady of Cydonia knows that we didn’t do it.”

Trevor unclenched his fists. “Yeah, and if not, we’ll find out what a prehistoric dungeon is like.”

Katherine had an unpleasant flashback of the caves at Shuruk with big tarantula guards and bundles of human bones wrapped in white fluffy stuff. She thought fiercely of running from the citadel and activating a time portal.

“Should we go invisible and run for it?” Chryséis whispered, having the same idea. “I don’t want to go to prison.”

Trevor felt braver, but then he hadn’t been in Shuruk. “No, we can’t do that now. Katie’s right: they are too much like the Alesians to harm us. I have one of the time-portal-finders in my pocket and we are still wearing our VICs. If we need to run, we can do it anytime.”

“Oh that’s real comforting,” Chryséis said sarcastically.

“Where is Kheton? He’s our guardian, shouldn’t he protect us?”

“I don’t think Lelani can contact him. I’m scared. What’ll they do to us?” Katherine sounded rattled.

“Come with us now,” the captain of the guards interrupted.

The guards wedged the culprits in the middle, two on each side, front and back and the time travellers were led away like common criminals. Suspicious eyes followed them as they trotted demurely through the citadel passages and up a flight of stairs. The citadel was a pretty building with wall paintings and statues everywhere, but the time travellers had no time for art. The guards stopped on the third floor in front of a massive wooden door.