Chapter Four--THE JOURNEY BEGINS

 

 

Yu grasped at hope. “Supreme Magistrate, our technology is excellent. We can lay shields around objects and groups of objects. Can’t we protect our population against the Ancient Ones and then extend that technology to protect our world? I know my father and his secret scientists are working on just such a shield. It’s a State Secret, so I don’t know what progress they’ve made.”

Nor’s mouth twisted wryly. “Military secrets are fleeting. Considering what we’ve discussed, I can tell you there’s progress. But time is the enemy. Meanwhile, I need proof that the Ancient Ones are abducting our citizens. That will galvanize the Council into action.”

Nor reached for the Dimensional Crystal and activated a memory map of Atlantis. As it surrounded the two young men, he pointed to Yutanius. “The last reported missing persons, a boy and a girl, were here.”

Yu nodded her recognition. “Artan Park. I know it well.”

“We can be up there in half hour,” Arius calculated, cutting off Yu’s nearly compulsive tendency to explain the technology. Given an instant, she’d have explained how the gazebo turned Nature’s electric fury into harnessed power to serve the people.

Nor dashed Ari’s speedy timetable, “No anti-gravity bubbles. You must trek overland. Your bubble frequencies could be detected.”

Ari was dumbfounded. “That’s a hard two-day hike!”

“The Ancient Ones won’t be waiting for you in the park. They are in space, hiding from our patrols. Your investigation begins in the jungles between here and Yutanius. Is that clear?”

Arius shifted uncomfortably. “Perfectly clear -- Father.”

“You need not know my reasons. I regret I cannot share the ultimate truth with you. I am consecrated by the blood of all who held this trust before me. It is sacrosanct. I will not defile it. Now make your plans. You must return here within one week. Our evacuation begins a week before K’altun.”

The old man did not get up, but it was clear they were dismissed. The two stood, nodded formally, and headed for the door. Arius felt his father’s eyes on his back. Still in his youth, Ari often hated making the tough decisions a Lawmaker must. He wondered if years of experience made it any easier for Nor.

Nor’s sonorous voice rattled like a casting of bones as it trailed out the door after them. “Seven days. Bear it deep in your ancestral recall. Seven celestial dawns break before our exodus.”