“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.”
“I have already done this. My first act after hearing about the deaths at the centre on Hikon was to warn the other planets; my next act was to cancel all flights, as you say. The only flight that I permitted out of Hikon was the ferry ship that is coming to get us; and there are no passengers on board, only crew. What is the second thing you wish to bring to my attention?”
“I had a lead . . . an idea . . . but it has come to naught.”
“Oh?”
“Yesterday, when Elena was showing me around the town . . .”
“Elena showed you around?” Barrow’s voice resonated around the room.
“Yes, I gave her a tour of my ship, and then . . .”
“What is your interest in Elena, Captain Forster?”
Forster’s face turned a darker shade of red. “No interest. We just get on well together because she has lived among humans, and is also fluent in my language. She is the only Karavec I’ve met who shares some experiences with me.”
Barrow tried to conceal his anger. “No interest you say? Keep it that way. Such . . . um . . . liaisons, as practised by humans, are forbidden by the Karavec.”
Forster bowed in acquiescence.
“ Now, what is this lead you mentioned?”
“Yesterday, we saw the prisoners being taken to your palace. Among them I saw a pair of conjoined twins.”
“Twins are very rare on Arion, and throughout the Karavec race.”
“Yes, but Elena told me that Karavec twins are identical in every way. Even their retinas bear the same patterns.”
Barrow nodded. “And what does this have to do with the murders?”
“Don’t you see? If the twin of one of the workers at the Embrycultural Centre is the murderer, then he could have gained access by using his twin’s key card and PIN. The retinal scan would have matched perfectly, and he could have opened the door.”
Barrow nodded again. “They must have been separated.”
“Of course.”
“Did you do a search of the database of the records of embryo births for such twins, and in particular those that have been separated?” His voice rose in anticipation.
“Yes, and I could find none that matched any of the workers at the centre.”
“What about the Embrycultural Centre on Hikon, have you also searched the database of those who work there?”
“Of course. I have so far found nothing.”
“And yet this seems like a plausible explanation. Perhaps someone has tampered with the records.”
“That is a possibility. I will continue to make enquiries following this lead; but I will also look for other clues. That’s one reason why I must visit Hikon. When do we leave?”
“The ferry ship is arriving later today. It will require a few hours to refuel and restock supplies. We should be able to depart tomorrow.”
“Good; and how long will it take to get there?”
“Three days.”
“How fast is your ship?”
“About five percent of the speed of light.”
“My ship can reach eighty percent. We could be there in less than five hours.”
“I have already explained that your ship will not be granted access to Arion.”
“Do you not have a craft that can travel at the speed in darkness?”
“That is not an option for us at the moment since our mother ship was destroyed, and its replacement is still under construction. Besides, we have never built a smaller ship that can travel at this speed. The reason is simple. If we were to travel between Arion and Hikon at the speed in darkness, it would take just a matter of minutes, but the gnaris required to get up to speed would be enormous, and we could easily miss our destination planet while braking from such a high speed after such a short period of time. We travelled from our own galaxy to the Milky Way at the speed in darkness, but even then our braking systems failed.”
“Very well. Three days it is then.”
“Now, Captain Forster, you must get some rest before the journey. It will be quite tiring.”
* * * * *
The following afternoon, Forster, Elena and Barrow sat in the first class section of the ferry ship Gnaris Voyager. The ship was quite small, carrying a maximum of forty passengers and a crew of five two pilots, an engineer and two cabin staff. But on this occasion there were no other passengers, and only four crew members.
“I am not used to such a small craft,” said Forster. “It reminds me of those crude interplanetary ships I’ve seen in the Earth archives.”
Barrow was not very charitable in his response. “This is not a crude vehicle,” he said, raising his voice. “My people do not design ships to just travel between planets, as you suggest. These ships are good for inter-galactic travel as well as travel between solar systems.”
“I meant no offence,” said Forster. “I merely meant that the layout of the ship, not the technology that drives it, reminds me of those from the past.”
“Please choose your words more carefully Captain Forster. I would not wish for us to fall out again.”
“Gentlemen, please,” said Elena. “Jim is here to help us.”
“Jim! Do you dare to address him so informally? He is Captain Forster to you.”
Elena bowed her head in acknowledgement. “Please forgive me, Great Savant.” She turned towards Forster. “And please accept my apologies Captain Forster.”
The ill-feeling dissipated when a Karavec came aft from the cockpit. His appearance brought a smile to Barrow’s face.
“Ah Sirrow,” said the Great Savant, “how good to see you again. Let me introduce you. This is Captain Forster from Earth. He is travelling with us to Hikon to help investigate the murders of the embryos. Captain Forster, this is Sirrow, captain and pilot of this ship. He has been a loyal Karavec in this position
for many decades.”
Forster stood and offered his hand. “I’m pleased to meet you,” he said.
Sirrow looked surprised. He had been told of this strange custom of the humans, but was unprepared for such a gesture. Not wanting to offend, Sirrow slowly extended his own hand.
“And this is Elena,” said Barrow. “She is assisting Captain Forster in his investigations.”
Elena nodded her head in acknowledgement.
“Tell me, Sirrow, are we expecting a good trip?” Barrow asked.
“Oh yes, Great Savant. There are no adverse weather conditions for our take-off, and the journey through to Hikon will be a smooth one. Our ETA at Hikon is three days and four hours. Fortunately, the two planets are favourably-aligned; otherwise the journey would have taken longer.”
“Who is your co-pilot, Captain?”
“Joodrow. He has recently joined my crew from the Gnaris Trader. He has an excellent record.”
Forster looked inquisitively at Elena.
“Gnaris Trader is the cargo ship that travels regularly between Arion and Hikon. It is at present in dry dock, as are all ships except this one.”
Sirrow turned to Elena. “Please tell Captain Forster that I hope he enjoys his trip.” He nodded his head in Forster’s direction, and then turned back towards the cabin.
A few minutes later, the ship blasted out of its Arion orbit, and after an hour it had reached cruising speed, and was on its way to Hikon.
‘We’re now at cruising speed,” said the stewardess. “You can remove your harnesses, and are free to walk around the ship.”
Forster had not travelled at high speed in such a small ship before; so he felt a little apprehensive. “Is this ship strong enough to withstand the forces experienced at such high speeds?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, captain,” said Barrow. “The ship may be small, but she is very tough. Besides, the gnaris provided by the pilots and the engineer will ensure that the ship is untouched by any extreme physical forces.”
For the next three days the ship hurtled through space. The passengers could see nothing except distant stars through the craft’s windows, and the faint outline of the sun Ogien. Only the dim lights inside the passenger cabin afforded a little comfort from the blackness that surrounded the ship. When the ship approached Hikon, sunlight gradually increased, and the stewardess shut the blinds to protect the sensitive Karavec eyes.
The Power of Gnaris Page 4
