by Jason Kent
Turning his attention back to Jennifer, MacGregor said, “Get one of their ships and get it quick.”
Her mind racing, Jennifer could see no way out of the situation. After a few seconds, she nodded. “I’ll try my best. But, as I’ve…”
MacGregor stepped forward and grabbed Jennifer’s pony tail, pulling her head back with a hard yank.
Jennifer gasped in shock.
“Do it.” MacGregor said, his tone flat and dangerous. He flung Jennifer back so that she stumbled and landed next to her pack on the floor. Checking his wrist display, MacGregor said, “You have six hours.”
Jennifer got to her knees and zipped up her wet suit with a jerk. She grabbed her pack with its built-in rebreather and snapped it onto the back and sides of her vest. Jennifer made sure she had both of the data pads in her vest pocket, her primary and the back-up she had found in the salvaged equipment. With a glance back at Tom, she started for the entrance pool, pulling out her gloves as she went. At the edge of the water, she glanced back to see Mason looking concerned, Thuros trying his best to appear resolute and Kalil bewildered. Both MacGregor and Quade had satisfied grins on their faces and a dark, dangerous look in their eyes.
Jennifer suppressed a shudder of revulsion. She knew whether she came back successful or not, her personal safety would be forfeit – they would rape her and then most likely kill her and the others anyway to cover up their actions. She sealed her face mask and stepped off the rock shelf into the murky water.
There were several Soo waiting for her under the water, as was their custom. Jennifer crossed her arms across her chest in the best imitation of a Soo greeting. She recognized Sue along with an older female named Myrna and a male named Rosh. Rosh seemed to be something akin to a tribal chief or ra’atiri in Sue’s clan. Sue gave the proper greeting of entwined tentacles across her thorax and turned to lead the group out of the grotto.
Jennifer gladly followed. She would try to explain to Sue what was happening when they stopped to talk. Perhaps, by some miracle, the Soo would have a suggestion.
The sessions with Sue usually took place in what Jennifer understood to be a common gathering area used by her clan. While she swam behind the Soo, Jennifer wracked her brain for something she had missed – something she could use to save Mason and Thuros, not to mention herself. One thing was nearly certain at this point, there was no ship available to take her or any of the other humans back to Earth. She had asked as soon as she knew enough terms to describe space travel and home. Lost in her thoughts, it took a few minutes to realize the two Soo accompanying Sue had slowed until they were following at some distance, leaving Sue and Jennifer some privacy in an unfamiliar passage.
Sue had shown her many different chambers used by the Soo but today she obviously had something special in mind as they turned down a wide corridor with glittering sunshine streaming down from a fissure near the water’s surface. Jennifer’s interest was tweaked, despite the danger presented by Tom’s ultimatum.
After another five minutes of swimming, Jennifer’s enthusiasm had again swung back to concern. She really needed to stop and talk. Jennifer keyed the microphone mounted in her face mask and asked, “Sue, are we going to stop soon?”
Jennifer listened as her data pad emitted a serious of clicks and low vibrations. Sue stopped when she heard the question. The pad translated the Soo’s response for Jennifer’s earpiece.
“Not far now,” Sue’s synthesized voice answered.
Before Sue could take off again, Jennifer laid her gloved hand on Sue’s tentacle arm, what they would call their kannai, and said, “Sue, my friends are in trouble.”
Sue waited patiently for the translation to come from the data pad. Blinking her large eyes, the Soo replied, “Ai, I am aware of this.”
Jennifer was taken by surprise. She wanted to ask how Sue knew, but didn’t feel there was time for the back and forth the answer might entail. “I need to get to my home, my own world, or my friends will be hurt. Din, Sue, they will be killed, my friends will din.”
“All humans are not friends,” Sue replied, belying a deeper understanding of the situation and schisms in the survivor’s camp than Jennifer thought possible.
“Ai Sue, this is truth,” Jennifer said. “Sue, I need a star ship – a puit’on va’a. Sue, this is important. We talked about this a few days ago but I’m not sure you understood. Do the Soosuri of this world have va’a?”
“My Soosuri have no va’a,” Sue said, “we are here alone for long stretches of biahi…time. Sue and the other Soosuri are alone around this atdao…cut off from all others.” After a moment, she added, “I am sorry, taio.”
Jennifer nodded stonily, “Thank you, Sue.” Sue turned and started off again. Jennifer started swimming again with long, fluid kicks from her legs. Lost in her thoughts, Jennifer went several minutes before looking up again. They had come far along the cave formed by the fissure reaching up to the open sky. The light filtering down from the surface far above was a brilliant aquamarine. She looked behind her; Myrna and Rosh still followed at a respectful distance. Looking back to Sue, Jennifer asked, “Where is Sue going?”
The translator took a few moments to make sense of Sue’s response. In Jennifer’s earpiece, Sue’s response finally came back, “To the marae of the Great Father Soosuri, the place of Yu’os [iho].” The last word was spoken with a definite inflection, indicating the software had hit a point of confusion.
Jennifer reread the words on her data pad to be sure she had heard right. She repeated the statement back to Sue putting her hands up in a gesture they both understood as, ‘is this correct?’
Sue spoke again, “Sue and Jennifer go to the marae of the Great Father Soosuri’s…gift.” Jennifer tried to clarify, “Yu’os is the Great Father Soosuri, I got that much. What is Yu’os giving? Food? Healing?” Jennifer assumed Yu’os was the Soo god, but had found the hard way already it was dangerous to make any assumptions.
Tilting her head to the side and staring at Jennifer with her large eyes, Sue responded simply, “Iho of life…the Son’s iho.”
Jennifer shook her head. She had so many questions and wanted to follow up on what Sue was obviously so eager to share with her. But the situation back at the camp would be no closer to resolution if she returned with nothing but a story of the Yu’os, great or not. Jennifer had the urge to get back to Mason and the others. She had to convince Tom there was no way to get home; that no good would come from him killing either of the two scientists…or her. God, how could she do that?
Jennifer’s thoughts were interrupted by the soft touch of one of Sue’s padded hands on her forearm.
Sue was tugging gently. She spoke and the translation was repeated in Jennifer’s ear, “See the life giver…receive Yu’os’ iho of life.”
Jennifer looked into Sue’s eyes. There was something there she had not noticed before - an urgency in her gaze. Weird, how could she possibly discern an emotion such as this from the utterly alien physiology when basic communication was miracle enough for Jennifer?
A tingle ran down Jennifer’s spine.
See the giver of life. Receive Yu’os’ iho of life.
What did Sue mean? Jennifer had gotten glimpses into the religious aspect of Soo life; the worship of the Great Father and his gift of their home, the sea. This was easy enough to understand. After all, would not all intelligent creatures wonder about their origin? Surely associating a father-figure with the creator was something most of humanity could at least comprehend, although some would prefer a feminine figure.
“See the life giver,” Jennifer agreed finally. “Jennifer wants to understand Yu’os’ iho.”
Sue nodded and sped off with no further comment. Jennifer followed for a few more minutes until she found herself in a new grotto. Myrna and Rosh stopped behind them and waited at the entrance.
The cavern was much larger than the one she and rest of the crew found themselves sheltering. Not sure if the optics or lensing of her face pl
ate was distorting the long distance view, Jennifer floated at the surface of the calm pool and peeled back her face mask. She gasped as her eyes became adjusted to the light levels. The space was immense and there at the far end of the cavern a construction which rivaled some of the greatest structures in Europe. It rose from the water’s surface; up and out of sight where it was lost in darkness.
Only one word could describe what she was seeing. “Cathedral,” Jennifer breathed, “it’s a ruddy cathedral.” She looked over at Sue, who had her eyes above the water. “For Yu’os, the Father?”
Sue turned her strange upside-down v-shaped irises to Jennifer and said, “Marae for the Son’s iho.”
Jennifer looked back at the cathedral and whispered, “Marae is a temple.” Louder, she said, “The Son? This doesn’t make any sense. I thought you said it was Yu’os’ iho.” She looked back at Sue and said, “The Father gives life, iho of life, to the Son?” If ‘iho’ meant ‘gift’, this was a simple enough concept given the procreation process of both humans and Soo.
“Yes, and…more for those sharing the Father’s aroha,” Sue said. “Follow.”
Jennifer watched as Sue headed for the far side of the grotto. ‘Aroha’ meant love and the translator knew she understood the word and context so it did not bother to translate. More? Was Sue referring to the structure or was there more to the religious question? She laughed at herself. “Of course there’s more to the story.” She slipped her face plate on and followed Sue. Popping her head up frequently, Jennifer watched as the structure grew larger and larger. It was illuminated by light streaming from openings cut into the ceiling of the cavern some four hundred meters overhead. She turned on her helmet camera and verified one of the spare data pads was recording the video feed for later analysis. With a pang, she thought of how much Kalvin Mason would love this. She hoped he would get the chance to see it for himself.
As she drew closer though, Jennifer’s heart began to sink. As more and more detail of the massive cathedral’s architecture became evident, she could see age had taken a heavy toll. She could not begin to guess how many centuries this building had stood here and how many of these centuries had seen it slide into disrepair. Towering pillars had collapsed, parts of the façade, some chunks as large as a house, had fallen into the grotto’s waters where the piles of debris formed small islands.
As they passed the threshold, Sue followed a wide central aisle. She stopped and tapped a ledge just below the surface of the water which seemed to curve along beside the twisting aisle.
Jennifer pulled herself up and found the water was a bare twenty centimeters deep. She stood up and raised her face plate once more, breathing in the cool, damp air.
The structure had obviously been built for the use of the Soosuri. The fact most of the structure was above water seemed to indicate they had chosen the hardest way to build something, perhaps as a way of showing their devotion to their Great Soosuri Father. They had stretched beyond their natural habitat to build this glorious sanctuary to their god.
Sue made a gesture with her two main tentacles which encompassed the open space above them. “This is the Great Father’s ocean, his tea o marama - the ocean above the ocean.”
Jennifer gazed around. “It’s beautiful, Sue.” She knew the Soo would be able to understand the concept, they had gotten sidetracked one day discussing the issue of beauty and how it was interpreted between their very different species.
Following Sue further into the heart of the great cathedral, Jennifer was confronted by absolutely heart-wrenching beauty in the form of flowing statuary, both abstract and more life-like scenes. The astonishing structure stretched as far as she could see between rows of towering, twisting columns. Used to the constant sounds under the water, Jennifer felt the silence pressing on her like a physical force. The splashing of her feet and the sound of Sue breaking the surface now and again was all Jennifer heard. After five minutes of walking a new sound began to mingle with her sloshing.
Finally, Jennifer and Sue reached a pair of massive doors flanked by imposing statues of Soosuri wielding strange weapons of a sort Jennifer had never seen. Jennifer noted the source of the sound which had been growing as she walked deeper into the marae. Twin waterfalls fell behind the statues, fed by a source on the surface far above. The falling water provided a dramatic backdrop for the two statues. Only one stood at its full ten meter height. The other lay on its side, broken at its midsection and now partially obstructing the central, watery aisle. Her path blocked, Jennifer was forced to enter the water once more, joining Sue.
One door was ajar, allowing enough room for first Sue and then Jennifer to enter the inner sanctuary. Jennifer gazed around the circular chamber bordered by seven massive pillars rising from beneath the water to the multi-tiered balconies and skylights fifty meters above her head. The walls were covered with base-relief patterns of intertwining plants of some kind.
Sue spoke, quickly followed by the translation in Jennifer’s ear. “The plants are gna’an; they are [sacred].”
“Why?” Jennifer asked.
“The Son bore them,” Sue answered.
“The Great Father gave life to the Son,” Jennifer said. “This building is dedicated…is for the Son.”
“Life from the Son,” Sue said. “This is the place Sue celebrates Yu’os giving of the Son. Before the ma’te’, low tide, of our people, this was a marae of retnon. The gathered Soosuri would listen to the fanaitai and repent of our isao…”
“I want to understand, Sue,” Jennifer said, “This temple is where you worshiped in groups. Your priests, the fanaitai would lead the retnon, your service, but have stopped because something happened. Can you tell me more?”
“More,” Sue sang, swimming around Jennifer then descending into the depths of the sanctuary. “Follow.”
Jennifer followed, adjusting the buoyancy in her vest to allow her to float downward after Sue. In the dimming light, she could see the intricate patterns on the walls and the seven massive pillars continue down for another fifty meters. Between several of the pillars plants matching those carved into the wall grew up from the floor of the chamber. They reminded Jennifer of kelp plants back on Earth. Finally, she reached the footings of the pillars set amid a rocky and uneven floor which was choked with tangled roots from the plants stretching up to the light at the surface of the pool. It was as if the pillars were anchored to the bedrock of the world. In the relative darkness of the deep water, Jennifer noted the walls and pillars glowed from phosphorescent algae.
“Here,” Sue said, “we think upon the making of worlds. The Great Father made all things from chaos to order.”
“Humans have similar thoughts,” Jennifer said. “In a human sacred book, we call this creation…the Genesis. That’s a good name for this place, the Genesis Pool.”
Sue eyed Jennifer. “Ai, we are here because of Yu’os, as his creations.”
Jennifer turned slowly in a circle, taking in the roots of the columns. Facing Sue again, she said, “Yes, the Great Father made you and the worlds.”
“Ahe’, Jennifer,” Sue said, “we misunderstand each other. We Soosuri are here on this one world because we think upon the Great Father, Yu’os, and his Son.” “Sue and Soosuri are left on this world,” Jennifer said slowly, “because you worship the Great Father.”
The word ‘worship’ did not translate. Jennifer tried again. “You are here because you give your mind and hearts to the Great Father. You worship him.”
Sue provided the needed word for worship. “Yes, Soosuri mar’ar, we worship Yu’os and the Son.” She crossed four tentacles across her chest then made a handing over gesture.
Jennifer was excited. Could it be something as complex as faith might be as simple to understand between the Soo and Humans as the need to eat and drink?
“See the Son,” Sue said. Before Jennifer could ask one of the thousands of questions swirling in her mind, Sue swam toward an opening which had remained unnoticed at the base of
the wall between two of the pillars, partially hidden by swaying gna’an plants.
Awed and excited, Jennifer followed, wondering what she would see. Was this Soosuri cathedral similar to those on Earth which served as pilgrimage destinations? Was there a bit of what the Soo believed to be this Son somehow preserved in the inner sanctum? A relic perhaps? “Only one way to find out,” she muttered and followed Sue.
They entered a small chamber measuring ten meters across lit by the same phosphorescent algae as in the Genesis Pool. Jennifer looked around. Seven statues glowed in the pale violet light; each depicting Soosuri in what Jennifer surmised was a position of worship similar to that which Sue had demonstrated earlier. She took in the statues as she moved to Sue’s side above the center of the concave floor.
Sue was staring upward.
Jennifer followed the Soo’s gaze and caught her breath.
Spread across the arc of the cavern ceiling three meters above her head was a statue hanging in the water. A large Soosuri, four times life size, held a smaller adult Soo in his tentacles. Even with the alien physiology, it was evident the larger figure was cradling the smaller one with great care while looking deep into his face. Although she would never be able to explain why, tears crept from the corners of Jennifer’s eyes, falling behind her face mask.
“Yu’os and the Son,” Sue said softly.
“The Son does not live,” Jennifer stated, taking in the details of the master work of the statue. “He died…” When Sue did not respond, she looked to find the Soo staring at her, her iris warped into what Jennifer had come to recognize as a look of concern.
“The Son lives,” Sue said slowly. She wrapped one hand around Jennifer’s arm and pointed upward with another. “The Great Father gave his son…” Sue seemed to consider her next words carefully before replying, “The son gives life, the Yu’os’ iho of life.”
Jennifer nodded, unable to believe what she was hearing.
“The Son ceased to live but returned for all Soosuri,” Sue continued, trying to explain. Her words were coming quicker now as she grew more excited or agitated or both. It was hard for Jennifer to tell.
