Four days later, the village had a special feast in honor of Victor, Taerg, their quick thinking bravery and heroic acts.
When they were called before the grand council of elders there was a different atmosphere in the room than when they met with them previously. A very old female spoke first this time. She warmly smiled at them both and said, “We have reviewed the directives of the ancients. We could not look at all of the directives in one week. It would take far longer than that to examine them carefully. It was unanimously agreed by all council members that our moon should not be colonized. However, we have no way of enforcing this directive.” Affectionately she continued, “Therefore, in view of the recent heroic, selfless acts performed by the both of you, we have agreed that an exception should be made in this case. You will be granted access to the Cavern of Lights for as long as you need to examine these directives, other historic records and items of interest. You will do so with the intention of providing a solution to our problem. You are not to reveal anything further to the general populace, not even to your closest family members. The secrets of the Cavern of Lights must remain secret to our people. Taerg Esidarap and Victor Marcus do you agree to these terms?”
Taerg and Victor looked at each other, nodded their heads and said in unison, “We do.”
“Then we have an agreement.”
“Taerg” she continued, “you will study these directives and other records. You will become completely familiar with them. You know our people and our wisdom very well, so you will consult with Victor and answer any questions he may have concerning those things. If you cannot answer a particular question, you may call upon a grand council member for assistance.”
“Victor, you have knowledge of your people and their ways, laws and intentions. Please use this, along with your research of the records and directives to find a way for our moon to be overlooked in the colonization efforts of your people. We understand that you may need to colonize other worlds to relieve population overcrowding of your worlds that you presently occupy. However, the moon above is specifically mentioned in the directives concerning the very scenario of colonization, in connection with our planet Paradise. Please do your best to find a solution that is acceptable for all.”
Taerg and Victor again both agreed to this. Another elder leaned forward and said, “You may travel to the Cavern of Lights and begin your task. Remember, the results of your endeavors will affect the future of this world.”
Victor and Taerg began to feel a heavy weight begin to rest on their shoulders. Responsibility with high expectations would now become an integral, constant and familiar part of their life.
Chapter Four: Cavern of Lights
The very next day Taerg, Victor and some escorts were given sealed official documents signed by the grand council members. The documents granted them access to the Cavern of Lights. So, they set out on their journey. It took only a day, to travel across the city by foot to the cavern. The city ended at the base of some mountainous cliffs along the ocean coast and there was a winding trail leading up to the actual cavern. The mouth of the cavern was very large. Easily large enough to fly a scout ship into. When they arrived at the gate, they presented the guards with the sealed official documents. The guards reacted by giving them both scrutinizing looks. They discerned that this was highly irregular for them. No one except grand council members ever requested access. All the grand council members were immediately recognized and allowed entry. They did not promptly grant Victor and Taerg access to the cavern. They sent a messenger to call their superiors, the local council of elders to inspect these documents. When these council members reviewed the documents and recognized the official signatures of the grand council members, they allowed them through. However, they were acting as though this had never happened before. Understandably so, for it had not ever occurred prior to this. The elders themselves were not allowed in, only grand council members were. They found it very surprising that these two, who were not elders at all, were allowed in. Taerg was not very old considering these people’s viewpoint of longevity. His uncle was considered a young elder. Victor was a little older, but his appearance was different and they could not understand this.
The documents had orders to let Victor and Taerg spend days and if needed, nights at this local family’s place. Each day they were to be supplied with food and drink for the entire day that they would spend in the cavern. Walking the winding trail that led up to it only took an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening when they returned. Victor did not enjoy spending so much time on travel, it seemed like a waste of time to him. Taerg on the other hand, did not seem to mind at all. He cheerily greeted people along the way, always in a good mood.
As they entered the cavern they could feel the cool air within. In complete darkness Taerg had to light his lamp while Victor’s mission recorder reacted to the darkness by activating a small light that lit up the immediate area in front of him. They could see seemingly endless rows of shelves filled with various documents. The floor was completely level and smooth. Evidently, it had been carved out of the solid stone many centuries ago and somehow polished smooth.
It took nearly half a day just to find the section of the cavern where the directives were kept. They were in the back of the cavern neatly ordered on shelves against a wall near a large fireplace. The large pile of wood next to the fireplace must have been brought in by the members of the grand council. Taerg lit a small fire there and began to feed it with larger pieces of wood until he had a good strong fire going.
Besides the directives, there were many other historical records as well. All the documents here in this section were very ancient. After they found the directives they began to read them carefully. The directives were likewise arranged neatly in numerical order, so they started at the beginning. Taerg would read a document first and then Victor would read that same document. If Victor had any questions concerning any unfamiliar words, Taerg would help him with their meanings. Some of the words, Taerg himself did not know. These were ancient documents, some terms had become obsolete. At first they were perplexed as to how to solve this problem. Nevertheless, with further searching they found a more modern looking set of documents bound together like a book. It was very much like a dictionary. It was specifically made to help with the meanings of these obscure words. Even the grand council members needed help in understanding the directives. They agreed that this book was likely made for these members and by them at some point in the past. Most of these directives were actually directions for village life. Some things Victor already knew and others Taerg would explain. Every so often, there was a directive that stood out distinctly from the rest. For example, the one where it explained that only grand council members were allowed into the Cavern of Lights.
“Why,” Victor asked, “would they not want anyone from among the people to read these directives? Most of them are about things they already know concerning the regulations of village life. You would think that the elders of the village councils would at least be able to have access for educational training purposes.”
Taerg shrugged and said, “Perhaps, it was for the preservation of the records themselves. Too many people handling them would wear them out over time and they would eventually be destroyed that way. Look how old they are. We must be very careful with them.”
“They could have made master copies and used them, to make copies for each village to see the directives for themselves. Logically, it would be the responsibility of each council member to make a copy for their village and for their own reference as well. Why such strict secrecy? No, I think that they were trying to hide somethings Taerg. Perhaps, something they did not want the rest of the people to know.”
“Maybe, but as you know my people are not the sort to have secrets that they keep from one another. We are an honest forthright people.”
“That’s true, but could it be that there was something that happened in the past so unique or terrible that they do not want the
general people to know about? It is obvious by looking at what we have viewed so far, that they were concerned a great deal about preserving the traditions and regulations in these directives. These records are probably thousands of years old. What mystifies me is that essentially they describe exactly down to the last detail, your village life presently. Do you know how unusual that is Taerg? Civilization always develops, but yours has not done so for thousands of years. Even your language is mostly the same, with the exception of a few new and also some obsolete words. By now you could have space ships of your own and then we would not even bother with your moon. Why would directives be put in place to halt this important development?”
“I do not know Victor. Perhaps we will discover the answers to your questions, when we read the rest of the directives.”
“Presumably, but I suggest we specifically look for these answers as we go along. We should write each unanswered question down and any additional ones we think of along the way. When or if we find an answer, we will discuss it carefully and then write it down on the same page as the question that it answers. There is plenty of blank paper here. We could put one question per page. When we have completed the reading of directives, we will review all the questions and answers we have recorded.”
“That sounds like a structured way to handle this,” said Taerg. “You obviously have done research before.”
“It was my life. It is also a simple way to handle this. We still have many more directive documents to cover. Proceeding this way will eliminate the possibility of getting lost in haphazard confusion. My research was far more complicated and intricate than this. It involved elaborate experiments that were very methodical with numerous complex mathematical formulas. Here’s our first piece of paper with the question that we just asked, on it.”
Taerg looked at it, then he showed a disgusted look on his face. He took the paper, crumpled it up and threw it in the fire.
“What did you do that for?”
“Victor, your skills with our language still need to improve greatly. Your handwriting is like a child’s.” He laughed, then shook his head and said, “We cannot show writing like that to the grand council members.”
“My apologies Taerg, you are right. How could I be so foolish? Some researcher I turned out to be. Of course you will be the one, to do all the writing. Now, make sure that first question indicates our concern about the reason for the secrecy of the directives.”
It turns out that this was a progressive way to handle their research. In a relatively short time, they had a number of specific questions. Unfortunately, the answers did not reveal themselves too readily. There were many vague references that only caused them to have more questions. Additionally, there were many directives covering various eventualities of village life. They would have to spend a considerable time going through them all. They required weeks to complete this task. Fortunately, it did not take them very long before they achieved a major milestone.
As Taerg was reading one of the directive documents he stopped reading and looked at Victor seriously. He looked back to the document and read the rest. After he was finished he handed it to Victor and said, “You will find something interesting in this one.”
As Victor examined the document, he realized it was regarding the procedures for expansion of future villages. How to choose qualified people to serve on the council for new villages. Then, it started covering the steps that the people would have to take, after the inevitable eventuality of their world being completely populated came to fruition. There was a reference to the moon that had already been prepared for this future expansion. Victor reread this part again. Their moon had already been prepared for the future expansion.
“Do you realize what this is implying? This means that your people were once a space faring people Taerg. Therefore, my people are not allowed to colonize your moon. Write this as the answer to question number three concerning why your moon cannot be colonized.”
“Why is it that my people do not have space vessels now?”
“Get another piece of paper out, this will be question number nine.”
That night, in the privacy of his room Victor reviewed the video of his mission to the moon. He had this nagging question in the back of his mind, concerning the plant and animal life there. He was scanning through each individual frame when he came upon a flowering plant that he recognized. It was not exactly the same as the flower that some people had in their gardens here, but close enough. He knew that the lighter gravity would have a minimal effect on the plant life there. The plant here was a little closer to the ground, with slightly smaller petals on its flower. The one on the moon had taller stalks, slightly larger petals and was the exact same color as the ones here. This is what he would expect if they had brought the plant life from this world to terraform their moon. The plant life would adapt to the new environment. These people at one time were reasonably advanced in their technology. What happened?
The next day he showed the entire video to Taerg who noticed other plants and was naming them off one by one.
“Victor, why did you not reveal this to me earlier? I would have realized this right away.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think of the connection until yesterday, when we discovered that your people were technologically advanced. Now though, it makes perfect sense that they would use the plant life from their own planet to prepare their moon to be inhabited by future generations.”
“Once our planet is filled, how will we expand to the moon if we do not have the necessary technology to get us there?”
“That is a very good question, put that down as number ten. It is a question that we should ask the grand council. Are there any other questions we need to write down?”
“How about this question: Why do they call this the Cavern of Lights when there are no lights except the fireplace and these oil burning lamps that we bring in every day?”
“I would not put the answer to that question high on the urgent answer list, but it is a legitimate one. I guess that will be number eleven.”
They continued to devour the directive documents one by one. They were covering them more rapidly. Now that they had learned most of the obsolete terms used in these documents, it was easier. There was little lost time trying to figure out the meaning of certain words. After two weeks they were roughly half way through the directives. Unfortunately, they did not find answers to any more of their questions. This was beginning to frustrate the both of them, but especially Victor. He had the notion that they would have more information by now. The only distinct reference that arose every so often was only an allusion to the “chamber of the past.” The phrase was always connected to future expansion and the colonization of the moon. These remarks were reiterated several times, although without any helpful details. Consequently, another unanswered question was added to the list.
“Taerg, what do you think this chamber of the past is? Do you think that it is another cavern somewhere in these cliffs or maybe somewhere else?”
“This is the only cavern known in this part of our world. All the others that I know of are about a thousand miles away. They are not special, simply caverns that are empty and smaller than this one.”
“That is strange. It seems to me that if it were mentioned in connection with this cavern, it would at least be close by. If not directly connected to this one.”
“We already explored the whole cavern and we did not find any other connecting chambers.”
“Yes I know, but maybe we should look more closely. We will do this after we finish examining the directive documents of course. I would also like to analyze your earliest historical records in addition to these directives. Some of the records even predate these directives, according to what we have discovered so far in them. Not surprisingly, they are referred to as the historical records. Perhaps we will continue our quest for answers there.”
They kept up their monotonous work, but with little success. The only other po
int of interest was the vague mention of “the great conflict,” whatever that was. Another question to add to their growing list. Four weeks and this was all they had? They were disappointed, but at least they discovered answers to some questions. Really, how could they expect more? The directives were just that, directives. They decided that they would spend the next week on the earliest historical records.
That week was not so disappointing.
Chapter Five: Chamber of the Past
On the first day, in the morning, they looked around by the shelves where the earliest records were located. Taerg stood in front of the beginning shelf against the wall, he noticed that his lamp’s flame flickered because of a slight breeze. Where was this air flow coming from? Was it the fireplace? He stepped closer to the shelf, trying to peer behind it. He could detect a crack in the wall extending behind the wooden shelf unit. He pointed this out to Victor. Together, the two of them removed the documents and put them in neat piles, so that they would look at them later in the correct order. They moved the heavy shelf unit away from the wall. From this point of view, they could see that straight cracks in the wall formed a large square. This was some sort of door. Taerg pushed on the wall. Nothing happened. Victor looked behind the shelf that was next to the vertical crack in the wall. He took some of the documents off the shoulder level shelf and set them on the floor. He positioned his mission recorder’s light to illuminate the space on the shelf. There was a hole cut in the back of the shelf here. This hole revealed a square box fixed to the wall. The box had two buttons on it, one blue and the other green. Victor smiled, as he said, “Could it really be that simple?”
Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize Page 5
