The Power of Gnaris (5 page)

“A prison?”
Forster asked.

Elena
nodded.

The main
doors, constructed from steel or some other very strong metal, were
closed.

“Those brick
walls look very solid,” said Forster. “They appear impossible to
scale.”

“Nevertheless
the tops of the walls are protected by a strong force that is
impenetrable to the gnaris of even the strongest Karavec minds.
Even the Great Savant himself couldn’t escape from that
prison.”

Just after
they reached the main prison entrance, a door set inside one of the
gates opened with a flurry of activity. A line of Karavec prisoners
in double file emerged from the open doorway. They wore orange
robes tied at the waist, and nothing on their feet. They bowed
their heads and processed slowly while they stepped over the
doorstep, and then turned left marching towards the Great Savant’s
palace.

“What’s
happening,” he whispered.

“They are to
be sacrificed to the gods.”

“Sacrificed?
Does this abominable practice persist even now in the Karavec
worlds?”

“It is not for
you to ask or to question, captain.” Her face turned a bright shade
of green.

He had not
heard Elena speak a word in anger before, so he carefully weighed
up his response.

“I’m sorry; I
didn’t mean any offence. I . . . I was just a little surprised,
that’s all.”

“When the gods
require sacrifice, no one, not even the Great Savant, can question
their will . . . except you, so it seems. They do not ask for
sacrifice often; but, when they do, it is for a good reason.”

“What is the
reason on this occasion?”

“Sixty Karavec
embryos were slaughtered a few days ago, together with their
nurses. The gods are demanding the sacrifice of an equal number of
warriors to appease their anger. Former warriors, who have
committed a crime and are now prisoners, are often chosen for this
honour.”

“Honour? I
don’t understand how it can be an ‘honour’, but I must accept your
explanation. As a guest on Arion, it is not up to me to question
this practice. Please accept my apologies.”

Elena smiled
“Apology accepted,” she said.

That smile
is very alluring
, Forster thought.

Then something
caught his eye, something unexpected.

“Look,” he
said, “two of those men appear to be joined together. Yes, they are
definitely joined at the abdomen. They are having difficulty
walking.”

“They are
twins.”

“Twins?”
Forster’s voice rose in pitch in his excitement.

“Yes, the
Karavec have twins, but they are very rare, and always . . . what
do you call them . . . con . . .?”

“Conjoined, we
call them conjoined twins.”

“That’s it,
conjoined. This happens when the male and female seeds fuse
together as normal to make the single cell that will grow into an
embryo, but then it splits to form two separate embryos, yet it
does not completely split. It results in two embryos joined
together. As I said, it’s extremely rare.”

“Can’t they be
separated? When human conjoined twins are born, they can be
separated using laser surgery. It used to be a difficult procedure
and often failed, but it’s a routine operation on Earth these
days.”

“It is not so
easy for Karavec conjoined twins to be separated because they also
share a single heart that pumps the Karavec blood through their
bodies. We have a saying: ‘Two are One, and One is Two’.”

“The human
surgeons can also do that.”

“Well, it’s
not quite so easy for the Karavec surgeon, but it has been done.
Obviously, there are exceptions like those two prisoners. There’s
one more thing . . .”

Forster
pricked up his ears, hoping for confirmation of a theory that was
already forming in his mind “Yes?”

“Karavec twins
are identical in every way. Whereas human twins, even so called
‘identical’ twins do have slight differences

one might have a mole, for example, and their
fingerprints are different

Karavec twins
are indistinguishable, and have the same fingerprints.”

“And what
about their retinas?”

“They are also
identical.”

Forster smiled
to himself, satisfied that he had made a breakthrough in his
investigation of the murders, but he said nothing to Elena. He
watched the backs of the disappearing prisoners, moving slowly in
file towards the palace.

“Come, let’s
take that trip on the train,” he said.

Chapter 4 – The
Karavec Way

“
The gift
of sight is a wonderful thing that we all crave, but it can only be
exchanged for the greater gift, which is the gnaris.”

 The Book of
Karavec (36, 18)

A few minutes
later, the sixty-four prisoners passed through the palace gates and
down a ramp that led to the Great Savant’s chapel. The door of the
chapel swung open, seemingly welcoming them into the sanctuary.
They remained impassive while they shuffled forward, breaking their
lines to stand shoulder to shoulder before the dais.

The prisoners
stood with their heads bowed before Barrow, who remained motionless
on the far side of the dais, facing them.

“Welcome,
chosen ones,” he said. “You are chosen by the gods to be sacrificed
as atonement for the Karavec embryos and nurses murdered just a few
days ago. Their number was sixty-four, and your number is
sixty-four; a just payment for an unjust act. What say you?”

The Karavec
did not often show emotion, and their underdeveloped eyes were not
capable of tears, but Barrow’s sadness was evident by the trembling
of his voice.

The prisoners
remained with their heads bowed, and spoke in unison “Oh, great and
mighty Savant, we are honoured to have been chosen by the gods for
this sacrifice. From the moment we were created as seeds, through
the time of our tending at the Embrycultural Centre and when we
entered our adult life, as warriors and then disgraced, we have
been chosen. We have been sinners, and have not always obeyed the
laws and commandments of the gods. We know we have not served them
well; but we are now ready to sacrifice ourselves in order to
redeem our souls and, by our sacrifice, to atone for the lost
souls.”

“Well spoken,
chosen ones.”

Barrow stepped
back a pace, turned, and collapsed once again onto one knee,
repeating the same intonation he had used the previous day: “Oh,
mighty gods, hear me from across the great darkness. You dwell far
away in another galaxy, which is our home. We are waiting for the
day you come to claim the Milky Way. Our main purpose, our only
purpose is to establish an empire in the Milky Way ready for your
arrival. Our loyal warriors and servants, each one of us, are
working towards a better future, for a place where the gods will
rule.”

When he stood
and raised his head, the prisoners also raised theirs. The hologram
of the god Kingirow appeared once again on the dais. But this time
he was not alone. Five other gods stood beside him. They resembled
six very old and wizened members of the Karavec race.

“Most
omnipotent Kingirow, leader of the Karavec gods, creator of the
Karavec and of the Council,” the Great Savant chanted, “behold the
chosen ones who stand before you and who are to be sacrificed.”

There was
silence while the gods conferred. One of them whispered something
into Kingirow’s ear.

Kingirow
sounded irritated when he conveyed the other’s concern. “Why are
twins among the prisoners? Do you not know that they are a blessing
to the gods? ‘Two are One, and One is Two’.”

“A set of
twins were among the embryos, Oh Great One. Therefore it is fitting
that twins should also be sacrificed.”

The gods
conferred once more before Kingirow delivered his verdict. “You are
right, Barrow. The twins must die. Their gnaris will be of especial
satisfaction to us.”

Barrow nodded
and resisted issuing a sigh of relief.

“You have done
well, Barrow. Now step back. You know what will happen next.”

The Great
Savant scuttled off to one side of the room, not wishing to be the
sixty-fifth member of the sacrifice. He watched while the prisoners
locked their eyes in ecstasy on those of the six gods. Then he sat
in a corner of the chapel, and closed his own eyes, protecting them
from harm.

Shafts of
intense light shot from the eyes of the gods to those of the
warriors. The eyes of the warriors had always been shielded from
bright light; so it felt as if their eyes were on fire, and the
pain was excruciating. But the pain lasted for a brief second
before they experienced a feeling of absolute bliss. They opened
their eyes fully and could see clearly for the first time in their
lives.

Kingirow spoke
to them in a weak quavering voice. “Warriors of the Karavec, you
have been given the gift of sight. But in reparation, you must
yield to us your gnaris. Without gnaris, you will die.”

He turned to
Barrow. “Perform the sacrifice,” he said.

The Great
Savant opened his eyes again and came out from the shadows. “Yes,
great gods, I obey. What is you will?”

He already
knew the answer to the question, for he had performed many
sacrifices in the past. But each sacrifice had been different. He
remembered the beheading of sixteen Karavec warriors to make amends
for sixteen Karavec whose heads had been severed and who had never
recovered; even Karavec cannot grow new heads. He recalled with
sadness the time he had poisoned seven servants after his sister,
his four nephews and two nieces had been fed a poisonous
radioactive cocktail and died.

But this was
different. This time sixty-four prisoners stood before him, former
loyal Karavec warriors, and he knew he must cut the throat of each
one of them before draining their blood.

He set about
the task methodically. He cut the throat of each of the prisoners
in turn, covering the floor with puddles of green fluid. He had to
watch his step while he waded through the sticky mess, and the
stench of Karavec blood made him retch.

He glanced
towards the holograms for any sign of pity, but there was none.

“Continue,
Barrow,” said Kingirow. “Why do you hesitate?”

If Barrow felt
any pity himself, he did not show it. The Great Savant did not
waver from his task. He now set about cutting the limbs from sixty
of the dead warriors. Four he left intact, for the nurses at the
centre had died while trying to protect the embryos, and had not
been mutilated. Then he returned to each body once more and hacked
away at the limbs, pieces flying in all directions until a sea of
body parts littered the chapel floor, stretching from one corner to
the other. He no longer felt nauseous, for his lungs had become
accustomed to the smell and the sensation of joy at the slaughter
had overcome his other emotions of fear and revulsion.

It was
atonement. It was the Karavec way.

“Enough,
Barrow.” The booming voice of Kingirow no longer sounded frail and
weak.

“It is done,”
he said. “We have received the gnaris of the sixty-four warriors,
and have seen them suffer, just as the embryos suffered. We have
inhaled the fragrance of their blood. We are sated.”

The voices of
the other five gods reiterated the words of their leader. “We are
sated.”

“We are
satisfied,” Kingirow continued. “We will leave you now and return
to our home, the home of the Karavec race; your home. We wait for
the time when the Milky Way is ready for the rule of the Karavec
gods.”

The Great
Savant bowed his head once more and waited for silence.

When he raised
his head, the holograms had vanished, and every trace of Karavec
flesh, every puddle of blood had gone too. The chapel floor
appeared wiped clean. It seemed as if nothing had happened.

Chapter 5 – Hikon

“
Hikon is
unique among the planets in the Milky Way. The Karavec choose
neither the Hot Zone nor the Cold Zone; yet they have chosen
both.”

 The Book of
Karavec (37, 25)

The next day,
Forster was granted his request for an audience with Barrow.

“Great leader
and servant of the gods, may you always find favour with the gods,
and prosper,” he said.

The Great
Savant waved his hand in dismissal. “Captain Forster, I invited you
here; so any problems with the gods . . . leave them to me. Please
dispense with the formalities in the future.”

“Very
well.”

“What progress
have you made in your investigation?”

“There are two
things I must bring to your attention. The first is obvious. If the
murderer on Hikon is the same person as the murderer here on Arion
. . . and I have every reason to believe he is . . . then he must
have travelled between the two planets last week.”

“So he must
have been on board the ferry ship?”

“Right. I have
already requested a manifest of all the passengers who travelled on
that trip from Arion to Hikon. But, more importantly, the murderer
must not be allowed to depart from Hikon. I request that you cancel
all flights out of Hikon until we know more.”