The Sin of Moloch

by Andrew Gordinier

  Deanna was left mute by the wash of pain those calm words held, the terror that those unflinching eyes must have seen.

  “I am the only person that I know of to walk out of the room at the end of the hall, other than… him.” The woman stood and turned her back to Deanna. She quickly lifted her designer sweatshirt to her shoulders, exposing a road map of pain and terror etched across the pale flesh of her back. Deanna’s mouth fell open in shock, she wanted to be emotionless and calm like this woman, but couldn’t. Deanna was able to close her mouth before the woman recomposed herself and turned around again, but could do nothing about the tears flowing freely and silently down her face. Their eyes locked for a brief instant, and the woman with no name quickly looked away. She started to say something to Deanna, but it only came out as a sad choked sound. Deanna lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the woman, hugging her tightly and desperately. The woman collapsed into Deanna’s embrace, stoically at first, but she slowly started to cry in silent torrents.

  Deanna looked up to see Radha coming out of the bathroom, wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt. Radha stopped in her tracks when she saw Deanna, eyes red with tears streaming down her face. Deanna looked at the woman collapsed in her arms, shuddering as silent sobs convulsively escaped her. It was the first time Deanna had been part of the tragedy, she had helped girlfriends survive abusive boyfriends and given advice over coffee. But, this was ground zero. She had never expected it to feel like the abyss yawned wide under her feet. Only strange road runner physics prevented her from plummeting into darkness. She hugged the nameless woman closer and felt something inside herself break, like an egg hatching open to reveal something new and mysterious. Looking to Radha for support she saw something stormy flash across her eyes, and suddenly understood why John loved her so much.

  “We need a plan because we are not spending one more moment here, and she is coming with us.” Radha pointed to the woman with no name, something was growing in the undertones of Radha’s voice.

  “My name…”The woman’s voice was weak, but there was no mistaking the defiance in her tear-streaked face. “My name is Yvonne. Yvonne Copper.”

  Deanna smiled and said, “Time for some thrilling heroics.” But she was the only one that got the reference.

  The planet below John was not just lifeless. It was dead, sterile, the surface blasted to fractured glass. Floating in orbit, he wanted to convince himself it had been caused by a natural disaster, by some cosmic event that he poorly understood. The star that the planet orbited was a tiny dim brownish star, there were no other planets in the system, not even a moon. There seemed something unusual about that to John's thinking. Still, he lacked any kind of knowledge to give a rational voice to those doubts and feelings.

  As the planet turned, a long broken line came slowly into view on its surface. It was perfectly straight and ran north and south from horizon to horizon. John hesitated for a moment and then realized that he, or anyone else, may never be this way again. Fumbling with his pack in zero gravity. He pulled out his tablet and set the camera to the highest resolution he could, then snapped several pictures and one short video of the planet's surface and the mysterious line below him. It wasn’t enough though, that line could be anything really, so John teleported to the surface of the planet.

  Even though the gravity was less than what he was used to, it was still a surprise, and John lost his balance and fell. John didn’t get up quickly, for a few moments, he simply lay there chuckling to himself. John was clearly the first human to set foot on this world, and here he was falling on his ass instead of making some profound historical statement. John was happy no one was there to see it, but knew Radha would laugh when he told her about it. He stopped laughing and pulled himself to his feet.

  “Radha…” He said aloud against the silence of that long-dead world. “I love you… I miss you…”

  John knew the suit would transmit those words. He knew they would faintly echo out across the universe, and he felt the sadness wash over him. No matter how long or how far they traveled, Radha would never hear those words. He didn’t even know how many light years he was from home, but it was easily hundreds, if not thousands. John felt the familiar pang of self-recrimination and angst that had haunted him since becoming a mage. Everyone else gets to live a beautiful quiet life with the ones they love, why shouldn’t he? Then again, how many people got to walk around on alien worlds?

  Pushing aside his angst, John walked towards what from space had been a clear but tiny line. Up close on the surface, it was massive and clearly constructed. It was a hexagon-shaped structure that was, for the most part, hollow and partially buried under the blasted glass of what had once been the surface of the planet. The ragged shattered edges of the structure had clearly housed conduits and shafts, which might have even been a maintenance tunnel of some kind. The center of the structure was divided into five smaller sections. Each had what for all the world looked like railroad tracks in each corner. John took a lot of pictures, paying close attention to details that he thought might be interesting. He considered exploring the inside of the structure but was painfully aware that this was not what he came looking for. He contented himself searching around the outside of the structure, perhaps there was something of interest there. It was a random choice that paid off in an unexpected way.

  On the top of the structure, there was clearly a hatch, John could see at a distance that it was damaged and mangled, but it was interesting. As he approached, he stopped to examine what he at first thought was a dark stain on the top of the structure. It was disconcerting for John to look at, he understood quickly and clearly what it really was once he was close enough. It was a shadow of something that had been trying to get to the hatch, something… No, someone who had been vaporized as they tried to escape.

  John had seen the pictures from Nagasaki and Hiroshima of people's shadows blasted into pavement and stone walls when the bombs went off. This was clearly the same thing. Some living beings last moments of desperation and panic burned into the last reaming proof of their civilization. The shadow showed a long narrow body with two legs, four arms, and an oval head on a longish neck. John started taking pictures, focusing on the details after getting larger context images. The final picture he took was of one of the hands, the shadow clearly showing five fingers. While they lacked the familiar layout and large palm of a human, they were all too familiar despite the differences.

  Tapping a few icons, John checked to see if he could contact Conrad or Eric. This was more than earth-shattering news, it was soul-wrenching and John was unsure if he could wrap his head around it alone. Soon enough he was looking at Conrad's face and could see the fatigue there.

  “Did I wake you?” John's voice cracked.

  “Yes, is it important? Did you find-“

  “No. I haven’t found Finley yet. I found something else, though.” John turned the tablet and slowly panned the camera over the ghostly shadow.

  “My god, John! Is that… Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yeah. The whole planet is blasted. The surface is almost totally glass. There is this one surviving structure though, I was looking at it when I found… Him? It?”

  “He looks less alien than I would have thought. Are you taking pictures?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been taking a lot of them. But this freaked me out. The hands, Conrad, they look almost human.”

  “It could be parallel evolution or something like that. There are only so many efficient forms for an appendage to take. Where are you?”

  “I have no idea, really. I suppose if I had to, I could get back here. It’s a lot of very long jumps, though.”

  “Have you rested yet?”

  “No, I need to find him.”

  “You’ll be no good if you are fighting exhaustion when you find him.” Conrad said in a fatherly way.

  “You’re right, but I’m not sleeping here.”

  “I don’t blame you, my boy.”

  “Any wo
rd on-“

  “We will contact you as soon as we have anything.” “Sorry, I’m just freaking out.”

  “Understandable.”

  “I’ll call if I find anything else.”

  “Be careful, John.”

  John packed away the tablet and took another look at the soot-black shadow. He felt he should say something, a prayer, anything to pay homage. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what happened here, or who you were. I’m sorry that I don’t have time to explore and learn the answers to those questions. I can only say that you haven’t been forgotten that even these tiny fragments and ruins will change so much when I tell others about them. I’m so sorry, your world must have been amazing.”

  John walked a short distance away before teleporting again.

  Chapter 21

  “So, the only way in or out is by magic?” Radha looked out of the only window they could find in Solomon’s lair, and again marveled at the waterfall and the vast jungle below.

  “Yes.” Said Yvonne.

  “I refuse to accept that there has to be another way.” Deanna started to slowly pace the full length of the room.

  “There isn’t enough rope to get down from here, and there are rocks, so we can’t just jump.” Yvonne again had a flat, emotionless expression.

  “I saw the rocks all too well when I fell.” Deanna had no desire to see them again.

  “What if we make a rope? Out of bed sheets or something?” Radha asked, leaning over the edge carefully.

  “I did that once, and I almost made it down. Ever since then, Solomon has been careful about how many sheets he has in the house.” Yvonne said the name of their captor boldly and with venom.

  “Wait a minute.” Radha leaned as far as she dared out the window while holding onto a stone bookcase. “How far is it to the side of the cliff?”

  “What?” Deanna stopped and joined Radha, carefully looking to the side rather than down.

  Down was clearly a death wish, too far to jump, and besides the rocks below, there was little doubt that there would be something nasty swimming in those waters. To the side, across a nearly sheer cliff face was the edge of the mountain. There was greenery clinging to the edge, trying to push past into the sky. As if the plants were not content with claiming the mountains and they wanted the sky as well.

  “It must be at least a hundred feet away.” Radha reached out and ran her hand across the surface of the rock face.

  “If not more.” Whispered Deanna as she stepped away from the edge.

  “What’s on the side of the mountain?” Asked Yvonne as she took her turn peering over the edge.

  “Who knows? It could be a straight drop there too.” Radha sat in a chair and peered out over the jungle. “Even if it’s not another cliff, what do we do about that?”

  “The jungle?” Yvonne sat with her feet dangling over the edge.

  “Yeah, we don’t even know where we are or where we would be going.” Radha whispered.

  “Not here.” Deanna looked down at the two of them. “Where ever we would go, is not here. If we die or vanish, it won’t be because we let it happen. Yvonne? How did you climb down last time?”

  “I tied together everything I could find, sheets, towels, a table cloth. I used a table and the door frame to tie to, it wasn’t long enough though.” Yvonne said without turning around.

  “Go get everything you can and set it up again.” Deanna paused and thought for a moment. “Clothes, we are going to need more practical clothes and boots. Anything rugged.”

  Yvonne sat at the edge, silent and unmoving.

  “Damn it! Yvonne!” Deanna shouted with what she hoped was anger and authority. “We need to move while we can, so do it! Radha and I will get some food and look for anything that might be useful.

  Yvonne stood up, pushed some stray hairs from her face, and silently went to do as she had been told.

  “You didn’t have to yell at her.” Radha said without looking at Deanna.

  “Maybe not, but a magical serial killer and sadist could reappear at any moment, we need to leave.” As Deanna spoke, Radha stood up and looked around.

  “Where do we start?”

  “I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go along.” Said Deanna with a smile.

  Together they searched through the tunnels that Solomon had carved into the mountain. He had clearly put great effort into making his home comfortable and impressive. He had shaped the stone carefully, replicating crown molding and detailed trim along the floors. Where those floors weren’t highly polished and detailed, they were covered with expensive rugs. They found a library that was a bibliophiles dream come true. Each book looked rare and old, if not unique. Radha remembered all to well the story John had told her about the maintenance man you had seen some of his notes. So despite Deanna exclaiming, “Books are the best weapons in the world!” they moved on.

  In Solomon's private rooms, they found expensive suits and clothing of every type. Little of it was practical or useful to them, and even less of that fit them. They did find rugged pants and boots that didn’t fit well at all, but it was better than running through the jungle unprepared. Radha grabbed some clothing and a couple pairs of boots that she thought might fit Yvonne.

  Down a long wide hall, there stood a pair of massive metal doors that were intricately carved to portray some great ancient battle. They swung open smoothly and quietly to darkness. When Deanna hesitantly stepped onto the polished floor, lights flickered to life in display cases and over shelves. Without other lights in the room, these admittedly numerous lights left deep shadows etched across the room and hid the actual dimensions of it. Silently the pair split up and wandered from case to case peering inside at the wide variety of items on display that had only one common theme. They were all weapons.

  Radha drifted away from Deanna, who had gravitated to racks with guns Radha only had seen at a safe distance in movies. Row after row that Radha passed had cruel looking weapons, some ancient and some modern. Swords that looked cruel and glittered strangely in the light, a bow that seemed to be made of shadows, a spear with a strange wire net wrapped around the long wooden pole. There was even a giant wooden catapult that had to be ancient, it was chained to the floor, and seemed to strain against the chains eternally.

  Radha came across a long row of low shelves displaying daggers and knives, each with a small yellowed paper describing the weapon. These fascinated her for some reason, Radha had never thought of weapons as pretty, but that was the only word she could think of as she strolled past them. One made her stop, though, it looked broken, and she felt sad about it. The handle and hilt were slender and elegant, a series of curves and arcs that flowed to form its contours, but where the blade should have been, there was a small triangular plate with small rings at each point. Radha picked it up and found herself reassured by its weight and the way her hand slipped around the smooth curves of the handle. Unaware that she was smiling, Radha examined the rings and the plate closely, it seemed loose. She pulled on one of the rings experimentally, and it moved. She pulled more, and the dagger's blade slide out of the flat plate, long and sharp.

  The triangular blade seemed to be made of a different metal from the rest of the dagger, it looked almost liquid. Radha was tempted to touch the tip of the knife, to test its sharpness, but didn’t because it was strangely mirror perfect. Carefully she slipped the plate back into place and looked at the strange dagger with admiration. She already knew she was going to take it.

  “Radha!” Deanna called form out of the darkness. “I found what we need!”

  “Just a moment!” Radha leaned closer to read the information that had been next to her dagger. It was called an Assassins Stiletto and was dated to the mid-1700s. Not much other than that, but it didn’t matter to Radha, the dagger was already hers. As she walked towards the sound of Deanna’s voice, Radha had two distant thoughts. That Eric would approve of her choice in weapons, and that her parents wouldn’t recogni
ze who she had become.

  It didn’t take long before all three women were standing at the edge, contemplating how short and weak their improvised rope looked. There was no way it would make it to the ground below, and it was even doubtful that it would make it to the edge of the cliff face. Yvonne admitted that she had tried to use a couple of rugs to make it longer, but they were heavy, and she couldn’t tie them securely enough.

  Their small pile of provisions was even less impressive. Shotguns they had stolen from the museum/armory. There were three small backpacks. Water bottles with filters, sturdy kitchen knives, and a couple of spools of string. There was also a small meager first aid kit. There were a few cans of food, soup mostly, as Yvonne explained Solomon preferred everything fresh.

  “How are we gonna do this?” Radha said shakily.

  “Someone goes to the end of the rope, we swing them side to side till they catch the edge. Rinse and repeat. Deanna said, putting her hands on her hips and looking again over the edge.

  “The supplies?” Yvonne looked at the unimpressive pile.

  “We can either send them after the first person or before the last.”

  “Who goes first?” Yvonne asked as she took a small half step away.

  “I can’t do it, not first anyways.” Radha shook her head and sat on one of the chairs.

  “Yvonne?” Deanna asked but already knew she was going first.

  “Nope. I’ll go last.”

  “I guess I swing first then.” Deanna suddenly saw the plan in a different light.

  Hauling the improvised rope up was fast and easy, it just wasn’t that long. Radha and Yvonne helped Deanna tie the sheet that marked the end around her waist, and after a few quick tugs, she was as ready as she would ever be. All three pulled on the rope together to make sure the table lodged in the doorway that was serving as their anchor wouldn’t move. With that done, there was nothing to delay the next big step.