Chenga

Full Circle

Eleven hooded figures sat in the circle around the red pentagram.  At the centre of the pentagram stood a golden, spherical cage, set upon a black, ebony pedestal.  Within the sphere sat the twelfth member of the Kula-Mar.  He sat on a golden chair, cushioned in red velvet.  In front of the golden chair was a set of dials and a single lever.  The panel of dials and lever were connected by metal struts and supports to the chair.

'V'Skar, begin.'  The dusty, croaking voice of the Kula-mar Elder broke the silence.

No answer came, but the man inside the spherical cage pulled the lever towards himself.  At once, the chair rose into the air within the sphere.  A low humming sound filled the chamber.  The sphere, and all inside, then rose above the ebony pedestal, suspended on thin air by a force that repelled the metal from the ground.

Two circular bands of golden metal began to spin in perpendicular directions around the sphere.  Their movement started slowly, but soon sped up, into a golden blur of motion that obscured the golden cage and the man within.  Faster and ever faster, the metal bands rotated, until they reached the critical speed.  All that the Kula-Mar could see was a solid golden sphere, suspended above the ebony pedestal.

Within the sphere, the chair and its lone occupant shimmered, as they oscillated within the off-centred field created by the spinning rings.  V'Skar felt no movement.  From his perspective he was hovering stationary within the sphere.  In relation to everything beyond the sphere, however, he moved through space; as an oscillation that increasingly fell out of sync with what was around him.

V'Skar looked at the clockwork dials in front of him.  He had been travelling for just over a minute.  He glanced at the golden sphere and saw the smooth blur beginning to change.  As the rings began to decelerate, he began to see the moving bars of the gilded cage and details of the apparatus around him.  He checked the dials again and saw that another minute had passed.  The rings now rapidly began to slow.  By five minutes they stood still.  A slight smell of ozone came to V'Skar's nose.  He sneezed and raised his hand to his nose.  As his finger came close, a spark of static electricity stung him on the face.  Inwardly he sighed: he knew that the sphere's off-centre alignment had not been corrected since he'd last used it.

V'Skar looked at the dial: six minutes.  The chair sank down and the sphere itself came to rest on the ebony pedestal.  V'Skar stood and opened a door to the golden cage.  He stepped out and surveyed the chamber.  It looked just as he remembered, yet now the Kula-Mar were gone.

He hoped that the Council had calculated the travel time correctly.  He strode across the marble floor and came to the bronze double doors.  Behind the doors, he heard slow footsteps coming his way.  V'Skar threw open the doors and gazed upon thirteen hooded men, who walked slowly towards him.

'Lord... I bring a message.'  V'Skar spoke quickly and addressed the tallest of the Kula-Mar.

'V'Skar, state your designation.  And what is the meaning of you coming here?'  A puzzled tone gave warning of the leader's displeasure.  Behind the Elder member, one of the hooded figures threw off his hood.  Across the distance of just a few yards V'Skar looked at V'Skar, with mouth hanging momentarily open.

'Forgive the intrusion.  I am V'Skar, designation 1 and I have come across The Void.  We have need of K'Emchek.'

The Kula-Mar Elder looked from one twin face to another.

'Explain yourself, V'Skar.'

'In less than a day K'Emchek may die here.  Across The Void he has already died... yet we have need of him and would take him from here, so that he will not have to suffer the indignity of death at the hands of a Peytahn.  We have a return course plotted.'  V'Skar hoped his speech would be enough reason to allow his return.

A look of disdain fell over the features of the Elder.

'Is the prophecy fulfilled?'

'The Three have come together and have been dispatched to Chenga.  Mouai has destroyed much of the Petahns' land and they have turned on the K'Vathin.  As we speak, the Peytahns are heading towards Deneb, intent on sacking the city.  Once both Peytahns and K'Vathin are weakened, we will step in to restore order.  The Mara-Tong are now with us.  All is going to plan.'

'And you are sure that The One will not escape Chenga?'

'The spice should diminish the strength of The One and stop any regeneration.  The One should prove to be easy prey for our agents there.  We have sent three assassins from the Mara-Tong to ensure nothing goes wrong.'

The Kula-Mar leader nodded.  'We have reports from several other Kula-Mar.  Designations 3, 7 and 192 are still in open rebellion.  Designations 3111 and 7005 have taken no action on the prophecy.  Here we will have The Three before nightfall.'

'I will inform our Council, Lord.  We will dispatch agents to 3, 7, 192, 3111 and 7005 to begin collapse of their wave functions.'

'Good, too long have those systems been allowed to exist.'

'Lord, I must return soon, is K'Emchek ready?'

'K'Emchek, you are to head to designation 1.'  The skeletal form of the Elder turned to one of the hooded men behind him.  The hood fell from the Kula-Mar's head to reveal the confident, smooth features of K'Emchek.

'Certainly, my Lord.'  K'Emchek strode up to V'Skar.  'It sounds as if this Peytahn needs a little lesson.  Is it Garesh, son of Kansh?'

'Close... Gamesh son of Karsh.  If you are ready, K'Emchek, we must leave.  Lord, we take your leave.  May The Void serve you well.'

'May your soul dwell in the dark for all eternity.'  The crusty old voice blessed V'Skar and raised his bony hand in farewell.

V'Skar and K'Emchek strode through the open doors and made for the golden sphere.

'Can the Casimir Engine take both our fields?'  A concerned look crossed K'Emchek's smooth face.

'We believe so.  It hasn't been done before, but the sphere will enfold us both in the spatial carrier field.'

K'Emchek nodded.  Together they clambered into the sphere and closed the door.  The twelve Kula-Mar surrounded the sphere, as V'Skar pulled the golden lever.  K'Emchek stood on one side of the chair and V'Skar on the other.  They braced themselves on the side of the golden chair, as it rose into the air.  The sphere lifted up from the ebony base once more and the dislocator-rings began to rotate.  Faster, and even faster, the rings spun and the two men and the golden tracery of the sphere disappeared.

In the circle V'Skar turned to the elder Kula-Mar.  'Lord, do you think Designation 1 suspect anything?'

'Have no fear.  With K'Emchek in place, Designation 1 will soon be no more.'