Star God of Kashan

Author: Kirk Straughen

Synopsis: Alan Raymond finds himself marooned on an alien world. Captured by the planet's aboriginal inhabitance, he is taken to their city, which his ruled by a mysterious living god. For what purpose has he been captured? What evil menace must he confront and what hideous perils must he overcome? Read this story at your peril!

Chapter 1: Crash Landing

The escape sphere plunged through the alien world’s atmosphere, repulsion rays madly streaming from its retardation cones. The shimmering beams of force began to break the tiny craft’s plunge to destruction, but would they slow the vessel before it met hard earth far below?

The grim faced man within the falling ship didn’t know the answer. He hadn’t even time to think about it as he wrestled with the half responsive mechanism. The cramped cockpit was filled with swirling smoke. Only his armored spacesuit saved him from the toxic suffocating vapors that swirled about his tensely hunched frame.

Wild turbulence caused the sphere to shudder. Sparks flew from the gaping rent in its side. Roaring winds tore at the ragged gash – a wound caused by an unknown energy weapon; the same that had blasted the mother ship to utter ruin. Crimson lights flashed insanely, warning of immanent hull failure.

Alan Raymond cursed. The sphere was in danger of breaking up at any moment. He’d have to eject, but the velocity of the plunging globe was still too high. He’d burn up in the atmosphere like a blazing meteor. Raymond spun a dial to its maximum setting. The repulsion rays blazed ferociously. The sweating man groaned as deceleration drove him deep into the ejection chair.

The globe began to vibrate madly. The microphones of his helmet picked up the unnerving creak of composite-alloy under immense strain. Even the advanced materials of the twenty second century couldn’t take this kind of battering for long. He watched the deceleration readouts and strain gauges with frenetic intensity. His velocity was still dangerously high.

Indicators moved into the red. A squeal of tortured metal came to his ears as a damaged section of the hull’s heat shield was ripped away by the tremendous rush of air. The doomed craft spun wildly. To stay within the globe was death; to eject at this speed could also prove fatal. Raymond hit the eject button with a prayer.

The escape aperture opened. Repulsion rays hurled him from the craft. The chair spun dizzily. G-forces hit him like a wrecking ball. Raymond lost consciousness as the chair’s repulsion field and stabilizers were automatically activated. Oblivious, he plunged through a gulf of tenuous air. His suit grew hot. Its systems struggled to keep him alive. Gradually, his wild fall began to slow. The parachute soon deployed, and Raymond drifted down to the unknown emerald world that gradually swelled beneath him.

**********

Raymond regained consciousness. The shrill sound of the suit’s alarms had roused him. System readouts were projected on his helmet’s visor. He read them and the data etched grim lines of worry on his rugged face. His suit’s systems had been strained to breaking point and now they were failing; would collapse utterly in about fifteen minutes.

He was still very high. The air was yet too thin to breathe. Down he drifted. Dragging minutes passed in a sweat of fear. His oxygen was running out. Blackness crouched like a bleak monster at the edges of his fading vision. He gasped for air. If he passed out with his helmet on he’d suffocate. Raymond broke the seal. Air rushed out under low pressure and again he lost consciousness.

**********

Raymond awoke to the sensation of movement. For a moment his dazed mind groped for comprehension; then he realized he’d landed and was being dragged across the ground by the windblown parachute. He hit the release button. The chute came free. It drifted away and the ejection chair grated to a stop. Raymond unbuckled the safety harness, rolled free and got slowly to his feet, amazed that he was still alive.

He looked around with wary curiosity. The Earthman was surrounded by savanna-like countryside. Beneath his feet was the local equivalent of grass - a dense carpet of rod shaped growths, ankle high, each about a quarter inch in diameter and vivid green in color, almost fluorescent in the intensity of their hue.

He uprooted one with difficulty and examined it further. It was some kind of succulent, leathery in texture and with the resilience of rubber. The roots were a fibrous mat. He doubted he could eat it. Raymond cast aside the plant and looked further afield. Scatted coppices of trees dotted the plain. They were tall spreading growths with thorny black trunks and small leaves resembling pine needles. They possessed the same intense coloration of the native grass.

In the further distance a small heard of animals, roughly gazelle-like in form, could be seen. Their fur was emerald in color and barred with ebony in the manner of a tiger. Their curved horns were black and their legs ended in clawed feet, onyx in hue, and resembling those of an ostrich. They had ivory parrot-like beaks instead of muzzles. The creatures regarded Raymond with large dark eyes brimming with the suspicion of prey animals.

Although no sign of danger presented itself to the Earthman’s roving gaze, this did nothing to reassure the troubled castaway. Someone or something had attacked the Pathfinder with advanced energy weapons, had come close to blasting his escape pod from the sky, and now he was marooned upon this alien world approximately twenty light years from Earth.

The discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life was an historic moment, but one blighted by the unprovoked attack. The only consolation was that no one had died. The Pathfinder, one of half a dozen ships that had been sent out to investigate exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, was fully automated. Raymond was the sole crewman. Telescopic observation from Earth’s lunar observatory indicated that there was a high probability that this world, whose astronomical designation was N1-X26, was a living planet. His job had been to monitor systems and intervene in situations that the ship’s artificial intelligence couldn’t cope with. Automated probes were meant to handle the exploration of the planet.

He’d been in low planetary orbit when the Pathfinder had been attacked. A flood of awful memories came rushing back – smoke and flames; the horrid clamor of multiple alarms. There had been no time to get a message off to Earth. The bulk of the alien planet had blocked his line of transmission. He’d barely made it to the escape sphere. That too had been struck a glancing blow by the unknown weapon. Raymond shuddered at the thought of just how close to death he’d come.

A blazing swarm of meteors far to the west caught his eye. No, not meteors; what he saw was the remains of his ship falling out of orbit and burning up in the planet’s atmosphere. With an effort Raymond tore his gaze from the disturbing sight. The Earthman resolutely channeled his mind into positivity. His situation was dire, but not insurmountable. The air was breathable and the earth-like nature of this world suggested the biochemistry of life here was similar to that of home. Most plants and animals were probably edible to a human.

What worried him most were the hostile beings that had attacked him. Earth’s exploration vessels were unarmed. The possibility of an advanced civilization on the solar system’s doorstep had been dismissed. None of the exoplanets the ships had been sent to explore were broadcasting any kind of radio transmissions that indicated the presence of a technological culture. Clearly, a terrible mistake had been made.

Raymond knew it was imperative he contact the aliens despite the obvious risks and his understandable trepidation. He had to convince them that humanity wasn’t a threat, that there was no need to attack other starships that would undoubtedly come to investigate his disappearance. But could he succeed? Perhaps the beings would prove too alien for meaningful relations to be established. He put the thought aside. He had to try.

He began to remove his useless suit, which was now more of a hindrance than a help. Shortly, Raymond was free of the bulky encumbrance, enjoying the freedom of his form fitting blue gray uniform. He moved to the ejection chair and pressed a button. The back opened to disclose a rucksack containing survival equipment and supplies.

Raymond donned the rucksack and turned in a circle, scanning the horizon, wondering in which direction he should march. As the Earthman considered his options his gaze fell upon an object in the distance. It was merely a moving speck at first, and initially he thought it some form of flying creature.

The silvery thing came closer. It was travelling very fast. He tensed. It wasn’t an animal, but a machine – a strange flying disc about fifteen feet in diameter and several feet in thickness with a waist high railing encircling its circumference. Figures were standing on the circular platform. They appeared humanoid, but at this distance he couldn’t be sure.

Raymond dismissed the idea of running; the machine was far too swift to escape on foot. He had a survival knife and considered drawing it, but was reluctant to display any signs of hostility. Besides, if the aliens were armed, and they probably were, then they’d be equipped with advanced weaponry against which his blade would be utterly useless.

He stood quietly, awaiting the arrival of the beings. He was outwardly calm; inwardly he was anything but. In less than a minute the disc was above him. A weighted net was swiftly cast down. It fell upon him. The primitive means of capture took Raymond completely by surprise. Instinctively, he struggled in the entangling shroud that had snared him, his outward calm giving way to panic.

The disc landed. Raymond looked up to see three figures vaulting from it. They rushed towards him, long blades glittering in the alien sunlight. There was no point in being placid any longer. The Earthman drew his knife. Its composite-alloy blade sliced through the ropes like a hot knife through butter. He leapt free of the severed net, jumped away from a lunging point.

Raymond struck out. His kick sent one being crashing to the earth, bones broken. The others came at him in a howling rush. His sweeping leg tripped one. He dodged the other’s gutting stroke and engaged the being with his blade. Steel rang on steel, sparks flew. The alien he’d tripped scrambled up, came at Raymond from behind.

The Earthman sensed the threat. He jumped aside and the thrust meant for him fatally struck the alien’s companion. Raymond’s leap had saved his life, but also brought about disaster. His foot landed in an animal’s burrow causing him to fall heavily. The knife flew from his hand. His enemy rushed him, sword swinging. The Earthman rolled aside and the whipping blade missed him by an inch.

Raymond kicked. The being howled; fell upon the Earthman. They began to wrestle furiously. Then, Just as Raymond was getting the upper hand another net fell upon the fighting pair. The Earthman looked up and knew despair. A second flying disc hovered over him. The net had been cast from this machine. Now he had no knife by which he might free himself and his foe, also trapped by the net, further hampered swift escape.

The disc landed. Other beings leaped from it. They rushed towards him, blades drawn. Raymond prepared to meet his end as bravely as he could.

Chapter 2: Temple of the Star God

As the aliens raced towards him Raymond gripped the being trapped with him in the net, hoping to use his foe as a shield. In seconds he was surrounded by the four warriors from the second disc. They raised their swords to strike; then hesitated. At first Raymond thought they feared to injure their snared companion. But then he heard the voice they were listening to.

For ornament each being wore a golden torque about the neck – a rod of braided metal curved into a loop, the ends of which were fashioned into knobs that bore large eyes of lucid crystal. It was from these ornaments that the strange voice issued in an alien tongue. Unnervingly, the crystal eyes of the torques swiveled in his direction, observing him with cold mechanical scrutiny.

The voice fell silent. Wordlessly, the beings sheathed their swords in obedience to its commands, and the Earthman breathed a little easier. It seemed he wasn’t to die immediately.

Ropes were quickly brought and bound about the net, trapping Raymond with his erstwhile foe. Why the aliens didn’t first free their companion was beyond his current understanding. The being trapped with him lay placidly, silently. Puzzled, Raymond began to fully scrutinize his fellow captive, a luxury he didn’t have when he’d been fighting for his life.

The humanoid’s skin was remarkably close to the color of a blueberry. The short fur on its head was as black as coal. Eyebrows, not much different from a human arched above the being’s eyes; the whites of its eyes, however, were vivid yellow and the iris startlingly crimson. The ears were more semicircular than those of an Earthman and the helix of the ear unusually scalloped.

Flaring hips and small breasts indicated it was a mammalian female – an alien example of convergent evolution. The woman, for there were enough similarities for her to be considered that, met his curious gaze. Her black lips drew back in a tigerish snarl to display unsettlingly pointed teeth.

Raymond tensed. He had the distinct impression she was seriously considering sinking her teeth into his throat. Then they were lifted and carried towards one of the discs. The sudden movement seemed to break her mood. Perhaps the fact that they were mutual prisoners made her change her mind, but of this he couldn’t be certain.

A section of the railing encircling the disc was swung out like a gate and they were dumped on the platform. One of the warriors removed the control circlet hanging from the machine’s central column, donned it and the vehicle rose swiftly and silently into the air at his mental command. The second disc, carrying the dead and injured and piloted by another crewman from their craft, swiftly followed.

Raymond shifted his gaze to his other captors. They were of the same type as the woman and appeared to be males of the species. Like the woman they were dressed in tunics and shorts of white linen-like cloth. Their tunics were embroidered with a large symbol – a black circle whose circumference touched the corners of the red square it enclosed. Short swords with cup-shaped guards hung from a broad black leather belts. Black sandals completed their apparel.

The thing that struck Raymond the most out of the astounding situation he found himself in was the incongruity of the contrast in technology. His ship had been destroyed by advanced weaponry and yet his captors were armed with swords and rode a flying machine. It made no sense and left him deeply puzzled.

Over an hour passed. His attempts to communicate with his captors had been met with stony silence and he was still no closer to solving the mystery. The monotony of the flight was now broken by the appearance of a city. Raymond, who lay near the edge of the disc, was able to see some of it.

The metropolis had been built on a large hill overlooking a broad river whose water irrigated the adjacent farmland. The city climbed the knoll in neat terraces, each linked by many broad stairways. The cubical houses were of sandstone. Their roofs were flat, which suited the hot dry climate and they bore upon them gardens of colorful potted succulents. Windows were long high-set louvered rectangles. The homes were ornamented with carved meandros – decorative borders which, in this case took the form of a continuous wave-like motif that encircled the roof, windows and doorways.

Again, Raymond was struck by the incongruity of what he saw – the city and its farmland gave all the appearance of being the product of a preindustrial and pre-scientific society, and yet here he was flying above it in a machine that was the fruit of an advanced civilization. It seemed impossible, but there was no denying the reality of it.

They began their descent, the disc dropping towards the hill’s flat pinnacle where an imposing sandstone building had been erected. A long narrow and flat roofed colonnade led to a huge rotunda whose pillars supported a golden dome. The building was without walls except for the rotunda where a ring-shaped and windowless inner sanctum had been constructed. The temple, for that was what the architecture suggested to the Earthman, was surrounded by high walls pierced by a single ornate gateway broadly resembling the Arc de Triomphe he’d seen several years ago whilst holidaying in Paris.

Within a few minutes both discs had landed in the temple grounds, which had been planted out with flowering shrubs. Raymond and the woman were carried from the craft along with the warrior from the second disc that the Earthman had badly injured in the fight. His captors moved down the colonnade whose size and grandeur reminded Raymond of the nave of a cathedral.

Shortly, they entered the rotunda and paused before the huge gilded doors of the temple’s inner sanctum, doors emblazoned with the same strange symbol on the tunics of the Earthman’s captors. Silently, the portal opened of its own accord and the party stepped across the threshold and into brooding and mysterious darkness.

Raymond sensed an invisible presence the instant he was carried within. It made his hairs rise as he worriedly looked about the gloomy interior. The only light was that which seeped through the open doorway, and by this dim illumination he discerned a circular platform about ten feet across and five feet high in the middle of the spacious chamber.

A circle of gold, approximately ten feet wider than the platform, surrounded it to mark the limits devotees could approach. Raymond, the woman and the injured warrior were dumped just outside this zone. The Earthman and his fellow captor were untangled from the net. The warriors stood back. They fell to their knees, hands stretched above their heads and began to bow to the platform, chanting and bumping their heads against the floor in a display of fanatical adoration that did nothing to ease the worries of the Earthman. The only people that didn’t join them were Raymond and the warrior whose injuries prevented him from moving.

Raymond was free. The temptation to escape was very great, but before he could give it further thought the temple doors clanged shut and plunged the chamber into utter darkness. The Earthman started at the echoing boom. Further alarm came upon him as an eerie crimson glow rose up from the platform he lay before.

The strange illumination wavered like the pale curtains of an aurora. Then tiny points of silver light – like minute stars - swirled up from the surface of the disc. The points began to coalesce. An image took shape before Raymond’s startled gaze. It was a face – a face strange and sinister that held something of the reptile in its scaled countenance and greenish serpentine eyes. It was nothing like the physiognomy of his captors.

The unsettling eyes locked upon him. They seemed to swell, to merge into one vast spiraling vortex into which he fell. Utter terror reared up. It sprang upon Raymond like a drooling monster. Fear clawed him. He tried to scream, but found to his horror he was utterly paralyzed. A strange malignant sensation invaded his brain – the same presence he’d first sensed, but now far more intense. It rifled his memories with the callous disregard of a hardened burglar.

His thoughts became a fantastic swirl. They spun dizzily, began to rearrange themselves into new configurations. The unnerving presence withdrew from his mind and he collapsed on the floor, panting heavily. Slowly, the terror of the experience seeped out of him and his racing heart began to slow.

“Can you understand me?” the eerie voice focused his attention. He looked up. The disembodied face had spoken. It was the same voice that had spoken from the torques of the warriors. The eeriness of the situation made his nape hairs stand on end. Raymond managed to pull his thoughts into some semblance of coherence.

“Who are you? What are you?” he gasped, and then realized with astonishment that the face’s question had been posed in an alien tongue, and that he had responded in the same language with complete fluency as if it had been his native English.

“I am Hiseeth, the god of Kashan, this world you are now upon. You will obey my dictates without question or hesitation. The wounded male and the female were sent to kill you, but you defeated them. I do not tolerate failure.”

Then, to the warriors: “Remove their torques and then depart. Leave the prisoners here.”

This was swiftly done and Raymond could not but notice the look of abject terror on the face of the injured man, and the woman also. Both groveled on the floor making mewing sounds and trembling in utter fear.

The door clanged behind the departing warriors and the Earthman turned angrily upon the disembodied face that called itself a god, furious at the creature’s lies and exploitation of these people. With an effort he mastered his emotions. He had to establish friendly relations with this creature for the sake of Earth.

“I’m no threat to you; my people are no threat to you,” he began. “There was no need to attack my ship. It was an unarmed exploration vessel seeking knowledge not conflict. Obviously, a terrible mistake has …”

“There has been no mistake,” coldly interrupted Hiseeth in English, the knowledge of which it had stolen from the Earthman’s brain. “To these people I’m a god. Being from a scientific culture you know better, and therefore your knowledge threatens my domination. As I said, I was going to have you killed, but changed my mind. I think you may be useful to me, provided you unconditionally submit. Behold the fate of those who defy or fail me.”

The thing swung its gaze upon the wounded warrior. Green rays burst forth from its hellish eyes and struck the man. There was a flash of light; a brief scream of terrible agony. Smoke billowed in a malodorous cloud, and when it cleared nothing remained of the hapless victim but a pile of smoldering ash.

Raymond looked at the face with rage and horror at its utter callousness. Fear for the woman came upon him as the false god swung its blazing eyes towards the mewing victim in preparation to destroy her. In an instant sickening realization came upon the Earthman – the creature, whatever it was, was a ruthless megalomaniac. Raymond leapt in front of the woman and raised his hand dramatically. It was a foolish move, perhaps, but one spurred by his outraged sense of decency that overcame his fear.

“Stop,” he bravely cried. “Spare the woman and in return I’ll help you all I can.”

The wicked face glowered at him. “As I said, you may prove useful to me. It is this that is keeping you alive. But that doesn’t mean I won’t punish your temerity. Here I am god and all must unconditionally obey the dictates of my will.”

Blue rays lanced from the creature’s eyes. They struck the Earthman. He screamed in agony. Raymond staggered back and collapsed upon the floor. It felt as if he’d been shot by a Taser.

The face ignored him. It turned its malevolent gaze upon the cringing woman. “Prepare to die,” it said to her without the slightest trace of mercy.

Chapter 3: Revelations

As the evil visage of the false god loomed above the cringing woman Raymond, with every fiber of his being, fought through the searing pain that sought to drown him in a welter of terrible agony. With a mighty effort he swiftly doffed his rucksack and hurled it at the leering face using every ounce of strength that he possessed. The frantic Earthman’s aim was true. The flying rucksack crashed against the image of the horrid face. The projection dissolved in a flare of dazzling light. The temple was plunged into blackness.

Raymond, with his technical knowledge had anticipated something of the sort. He’d closed his eyes and dropped face down to the floor to protect his vision from the blinding flash. All about him was darkness and silence. He groped his way to the side of the woman. She cried out in fear when he touched her.

“It’s all right,” he reassured her. “Hiseeth is gone. How do we get out of here? We must escape before it returns.”

“God is all-wise, all powerful. We must submit to god. We are its slaves,” she trembled.

“Really?” replied Raymond impatiently and with a trace of derision. “I just got rid of your all-wise and all-powerful god by throwing something at it.”

“Impossible,” cried the woman in utter disbelief. “No mere mortal can thwart god.”

“In that case,” replied Raymond, testily, “I’m either more than a mere mortal, or Hiseeth isn’t really a god.”

The woman remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Raymond muttered an oath. There was no help from her. He looked around the room. By now his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. A small amount of light was filtering under the doors – just enough to ease the gloom. Quickly, he moved to the portal and threw his strength against it. The Earthman sweated, cursed. The doors were immovable, were probably operated by hydraulics. No human would have the brawn to budge them.

An increase in illumination made Raymond hurriedly turn. He cursed. Again, an eerie crimson glow was rising up from the circular platform. The projection was swiftly reforming. Quickly, Raymond’s frantic gaze swept the chamber, and in the increased light he saw another door. It was set in the wall on the platform’s further side and looked much flimsier than the temple’s imposing entryway.

The Earthman dashed for it. He leapt and slammed his foot against it in a flying kick. Wood cracked. Raymond stumbled back. He turned. Tiny points of silver light were swirling up from the surface of the disc. In mere moments the horrid face with its blazing eyes would manifest in all its evil form. Again, he frantically slammed his heel against the obstinate barrier.

Timbers broke. The door crashed down with a third kick. Raymond turned. The face was nearly formed. The woman still lay cringing in abject fear. The Earthman swore luridly. He couldn’t just leave her to die. He dashed to the woman, slung her across his shoulder, bolted through the open way. A corridor ran to the right through the thickness of the circular wall. He leapt into it. Blue light flared intensely behind him – the blast from the horror’s eyes, a hair rising miss.

Panting, Raymond tore down the narrow way, which was dully illuminated by a yellowish phosphorescent coating on the ceiling. A steep stairwell gaped before him. The Earthman pulled up short, his mad dash nearly precipitating him over the brink. He eased the woman from his shoulder and leaned breathlessly against the wall.

With difficulty the Earthman calmed his churning emotions. At the moment the only course of action open to him was escape. His knowledge of the situation on this world was far too sketchy to formulate any long term plans. The only thing he could be sure of was that it would be a complete waste of time trying to make peace with the self-styled god of this world. He turned his attention to the woman. Perhaps she would help him out of gratitude.

She stood staring at him. “Who are you?” she asked warily as she slid her dagger free in preparation to defend herself. “What are you that you can defy god… You must be a god,” she said, answering her own question and backing away from him in evident trepidation.

“I’m no god,” he replied with frustration. “My name is Alan. I’m just a mortal as is your supposed god. Whatever that thing is,” he continued, pointing down the passage, “It’s using trickery to appear divine. If Hiseeth was all-powerful, it would have defeated me. If it was all-wise it would have known what I was about to do before I did it and stopped me in advance.”

“That’s blasphemy,” she gasped angrily, menacing him with her blade.

“The truth is often blasphemous,” he countered irritably. “Look, what’s-your-name, we don’t have time to discuss your glorious religion. We have to get out of here. Do you know where this passageway leads?”

“My name is Irrani,” she replied, oblivious to his sarcasm. “All I know is that we are in a forbidden part of the temple. We must turn back and beg god’s forgiveness. Perhaps it will be merciful and let us live.”

Raymond suppressed a scathing oath. “Do you want to die?” he asked with forced calmness, realizing that anger and insults wouldn’t get him anywhere.

Irrani shook her head in a very human gesture.

“Then follow me and seek life,” he said, beckoning her towards the stairs.

Irrani hesitated for a moment. On the one hand she didn’t want to die; on the other she didn’t want to defy her god. Time seemed to stretch to an eternity in that struggle of conflicting desires. But in the end the instinct for self-preservation proved the stronger. She slipped her dagger back into its sheath and warily followed the Earthman. She didn’t trust him entirely – he was simply too strange for that. But at the moment he appeared to offer the best chance of survival.

Raymond also had doubts about Iranni. Would she stand by him, or turn against him if the false god offered her clemency? Were his doubts justified, or was he becoming paranoid due to circumstances? He put this unpleasant thought aside and began to ask personal questions of Irrani, hoping he could gain understanding that would prevent future conflict between them and increase their chances of survival. His companion answered readily enough as they continued onward.

It transpired that she was one of the elite servants of the false god. These consisted of fifty hereditary families whose children were indoctrinated from an early age. Their duties were to do whatever Hiseeth told them to do with mindless obedience. Hiseeth’s will was law. From what Irrani told him there didn’t appear to be any theology to the religion. God lived among The People, ruled them, and this was sufficient.

According to Raymond’s companion, in the remote past there had been many gods. They had descended from the stars in a cloud of light. At the time her people, who had no name for themselves other than The People, had been simple hunter-gatherers. The gods had taught them agriculture and all the other basics of civilization. In return for this knowledge and improved living standards they had placidly submitted to divine rule.

As time passed, the gods grew less and less in number as they returned to heaven in some mysterious way and for some unexplained reason - a reason that was kept hidden from the common people as well as the gods elite servants. Now, only the current god remained as ruler of Nenesh, their city. Why this was so Irrani couldn’t explain. It was a divine mystery and if god didn’t want to clarify things than that was its prerogative.

At the end of her account it was broadly clear to Raymond what had actually happened. The gods were aliens whose ship had probably crash landed on this world. Unable to return home they had exploited The People for their own ends, using advanced technology to masquerade as supernatural beings.

The progressive disappearance of the gods was most likely due to death from accident, disease and old age. Not being able to interbreed with the indigenous population because of genetic incompatibly meant that no offspring could be sired by them. In order to preserve the illusion of divinity the disappearance of the gods was attributed to a return to heaven. The current god was probably the last of the aliens, its lifespan no doubt vastly extended by remnants of the ship’s original technology.

Irrani glanced sideways at the Earthman as he ruminated. “And what of you?” she asked. “I’ve never seen your kind before.”

Raymond, as best he could, explained his origins and arrival upon her world using the pre-scientific language of The People.

“A boat that travels between the stars,” she gasped in amazement upon his conclusion. “This is a miracle, and yet you deny that you are a god.”

“I’m speaking the truth,” he said. “My people have more knowledge than yours. It is this knowledge that enables us to make things that seem like magic. Your god is like me – a form of life from another world. Unlike me Hiseeth is using its knowledge to deceive your people. Your false god is exploiting you with trickery. It is using you as slaves.”

Irrani remained silent. She wore a thoughtful and troubled expression as she struggled with the concepts of the Earthman’s revelation, concepts that threatened the very foundation of her beliefs. The end of the passageway stopped further conversation. Progress was halted by another door, one of metal. Raymond cursed. He’d not be able to kick this barrier down.

The door slid open as the pondering Earthman sought for a solution. Raymond and his companion started at the unexpected. Further alarm came upon them as a thing strode across the threshold. It was a conical machine. Its silvery metallic body was supported by four splayed legs. Four black lenses, like those of a camera, were spaced about the apex of the cone. Two mechanical arms with three fingered hands swiftly reached to seize the couple.

Raymond leapt back, avoiding its lunging clutch. Irrani wasn’t quite fast enough. She cried in alarm as the thing’s cold hard fingers clamped upon arm. The Earthman swore. He dashed to the struggling crying woman, snatched her dagger from its sheath and stabbed the mechanism’s eye. Grass cracked under the mighty blow. He dodged the robot’s other grasping hand and swiftly struck at another glittering eye.

The machine turned rapidly, causing him to miss. Its hand latched upon his forearm in a crushing grip as he sought to strike again. Raymond gasped in pain, dropped the dagger. He fought desperately against the robot’s overpowering strength, but to no avail. The mechanical monster dragged him and Iranni through the portal. Then the door slammed shut, and its dismal boom echoed through the empty passageway.

Chapter 4: Divine Mission

The struggling Earthman and his companion were dragged along a short right angle corridor at whose end was another heavy metal door. The barrier slid open as the machine approached. Both captives were hauled within a darkened chamber whose blackness was relieved by the dim glow of many strange instruments arranged about the walls.

The robot halted before one corner of the room thick with shrouding shadows in whose darkness could be seen the disconcerting glint of eyes. The sinister orbs focused on Raymond, and again he felt the unsettling alien presence of the thing that called itself a god. The Earthman took a firm grip on his disturbed emotions as he scrutinized the darkness in which metallic glints could also be dimly perceived.

There was a man-like form hidden in concealing blackness. It seemed to be seated in something like a wheelchair with machinery mounted on the back, and Raymond thought he heard a faint hiss and whir reminiscent of medical technology in operation. Irrani’s worried voice broke through the Earthman’s speculations.

“What is this place? What is this thing of living metal that has us in its grip?” she tremulously cried as she looked wildly about the chamber, disturbed by the dimly winking lights of machines whose outlandish appearance was most unsettling to her in their utter strangeness.

But before Raymond could offer any comforting explanation a ray of purple light lanced out from the darkness and struck her in the head. Irrani went limp, and it was only the robot’s iron grip upon her that stopped the woman from falling to the floor.

“Irrani,” cried the Earthman in horror as he cupped her chin and turned her lax face towards him.

“She is merely unconscious. I’ve rendered her insensible so we can talk in private.”

Raymond jerked around. The voice, like the purple ray, had come from the darkness where the shadowed and sinister figure sat. The Earthman cursed himself for a fool. In his blind flight he’d led Irrani into the very lair of this monster that arrogantly called itself a god.

“What do you want with us?” he asked, hiding his fear and revulsion as best he could, for he did not wish to appear intimidated in the presence of his enemy.

“We’ll hold this conversation in English,” replied Hiseeth. “Your language has words The People’s tongue lacks – words embodying scientific and technological concepts they know nothing of.

“As I’m sure you’re aware I’m not of this world. A thousand years ago a handful of my people fled our home-planet to escape its cataclysmic destruction through the madness of nuclear war. With our technology we were able to extend our lifespans, but as time passed our machines began to break down and spare parts run out. Nor did we have the huge industrial complex of a technological society at our beck and call wherewith we could manufacture more. Things have now reached a critical point. Vital machinery will fail in a few years. I cannot have that happen.

“At first I intended to kill you, but when I saw how closely you resemble The People I changed my mind. But for your skin, eye color and ears you could pass for one of them. This was the deciding factor as well as your technical knowledge. I will manufacture special dyes to change your coloration.

“You will go on a secret mission for me to a distant city once ruled by one of my compatriots. There, aided by your scientific knowledge you will locate the vital machinery I need and bring it to me. You will do this because you have no choice. You are marooned on this world with no prospect of returning home. I can make life easy for you, or very unpleasant if you refuse to cooperate.

“You obviously don’t want Irrani to die and I will use the woman as additional coercion. Her knowledge of this world will assist your mission, and so I have decided that she will accompany you. But do not think you can escape or outwit me. She will be wearing a torque. It is a monitoring device disguised as jewelry. Through it I will be able to see everything you do and hear everything you say. The device also contains an explosive pellet I can detonate by remote control. I will kill her if you disobey me. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” snarled Raymond, seeing the bitter truth that he had no choice at all.

**********

Leaning on the safety rail, Raymond looked down from the flying disc he rode, and gazed at the savannah the hurtling craft swiftly passed above. There was no wind for the disc’s propulsion field shielded its passengers from the airstream. Several days had passed since his encounter with Hiseeth, and his appearance was now virtually indistinguishable from that of a Kashan indigene. Local nondescript clothing completed his disguise. The Earthman’s skin and eyes still itched a little from the side effects of the dyes, which were permanent. Fortunately, the worst of the horrible experience was passed and he was no longer in a torment of agony.

They’d been flying for several hours, having left Nenesh at sunrise and the Earthman, bored with the monotonous scenery of the seemingly endless plain, turned his gaze once more to Irrani. The young woman stood by the central column of the disc, mentally piloting their craft using the conveyance’s control circlet. Raymond had been separated from her whilst undergoing the cosmetic treatments that disguised his earthly origin. It was only when boarding the flying disc in the early hours of this morning that they’d been reunited.

A change had come upon her. Before, he felt he’d been successful in planting the seeds of reason that would eventually enable her to see that Hiseeth was not divine but rather a ruthless and deceptive exploiter. But when they had been reunited she’d waxed lyrical about how lucky they were to undertake this mission in glorious service to the god. Clearly, she’d been subjected to a form of brainwashing in his absence to ensure her absolute loyalty to Hiseeth and to counter any doubts he’d sown.

Silently, he cursed Hiseeth. He felt powerless. Irrani willingly wore the torque as a high honor – a sign that she was a member of the privileged class who served divinity. He couldn’t speak to her openly, or do anything without the false god being aware of it. Raymond considered attempting to remove the mechanism under the cover of darkness and against her will whilst she was asleep, but then dismissed the plan.

Hiseeth hadn’t said so, but the device was most likely equipped with sensors that would alert the false god of an attempt at unauthorized removal. Any ploy on his part to free her from it could well prove fatal. He’d puzzled for a while over why he hadn’t been fitted with a torque as well, but soon correctly deduced that the few remaining devices that were still operative were needed elsewhere.

Most of the trip so far had passed in silence. The knowledge Hiseeth was monitoring him inhibited the Earthman from interacting with his companion. Irrani, for her part, seemed lost in the thrill of once again being in the favor of her god. She hardly seemed aware of the Earthman’s presence. Her dreamy expression made Raymond shudder. It indicated the extent to which Hiseeth could manipulate the minds those it ruled.

Again, he vehemently cursed Hiseeth. His resolve firmed. Somehow, he’d find a way to rid Kashan of this creature, but he doubted he could do this on his own. Raymond approached Irrani. If he conversed with her it might bring her out of her religious reverie. Then, perhaps by subtle means he could free the woman from the false god’s degrading influence. The electronic eyes of the torque she wore swung upon him as he drew near, reminding him to employ the utmost caution.

“I know so very little about this world,” he began. “For example, how does this flying disc work?”

Irrani looked at him with a slightly dazed expression. “What?” she said. “Oh, the disc,” she continued, focusing on Raymond. “I think about the direction I wish to go. This metal band around my head sends my thoughts to the disc’s central column and the vehicle moves in obedience to my will. It is like walking – I simply think and motion follows until I will it otherwise. The magic of the gods is truly marvelous is it not?”

Raymond had sense enough not to disagree. They made further small talk, the Earthman choosing the topics and his words with care. Another hour passed. The savanna became hilly and soon the hills rose to a blue gray mountain range that stretched across the horizon in a serried wall of jagged pinnacles.

Irrani sent the disc climbing. The rugged peaks swiftly loomed, and the flying disc shortly passed between two towering crags whose snow clad eminences glistened brightly in the mid-morning light. A shadow suddenly fell upon the couple. Raymond looked up thinking it was a cloud. He gasped in alarm. No cumulus had blotted out the sun.

The startled Earthman grasped Irrani’s shoulder, pointed. The woman went pale as her eyes alighted on the monster. The thing’s body was serpentine in form, but covered with black feathers rather than scales. The skull was long and narrow and the gaping maw full of razor teeth. Two pairs of bird-like wings – one pair just behind the head and the other near the fan shaped tail – enabled it to fly. Six legs resembling those of a hawk and armed with similar talons protruded from the white belly of the beast. The thing was the size of a light aircraft – slightly smaller than a Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

“It’s an orok,” gasped Irrani.

The thing uttered a piercing screech that sounded like a hacksaw cutting iron. The frightful cry ended further conversation. Its wings folded. It dived upon the pair – a plunging nightmare of feral destruction. The disc weaved. The monster hurtled passed in a narrow miss. The orok climbed, swept about for a second attack.

More needle peaks hemmed in the flying disc. Irrani sent their craft diving into a sheer gorge. Their horror followed, streaking down in swift attack. It struck the vehicle, talons clinging fiercely to the safety rail. The disc wobbled, slipped sideways. Irrani lost her grip on the column’s handholds. She tumbled, slid across the deck and slammed against the safety rail right beneath the monster’s drooling jaws.

Suddenly, the disc dropped like a stone. Irrani was unconscious and without her guiding will their vehicle was inert. The beast’s dark eyes alighted on the helpless woman. Its gaping jaws were about to lunge at her. The Earthman cried in wild fright, leapt at the thing, sword drawn. The disc tilted under the weight of the orok. The sudden movement of the craft combined with the man’s wild cry unsettled the horror. It screeched, flapped away.

Raymond also lost his balance and crashed against the railing. The Earthman dropped his sword, managed to stoop and grab irrani about the waist. The disc rolled, inverted. Raymond hung by a straining trembling arm, bearing his weight and that of the woman. The ground seemed to rush up like the stony fist of an enraged Titan. The clinging man looked down in utter horror. Fear paralyzed him. Utter terror had him in its icy coils. The disc continued its fall and in but moments would smash against merciless rock obliterating all aboard.

Irrani’s moan broke through the Earthman’s terror. It focused his mind. He couldn’t let her die. Desperation leant wings to his thoughts. An idea sprang to mind. He wrapped his legs about his companion, held her tightly, securely. Letting go of her he snatched the circlet from her head and jammed it on his own.

Raymond focused all his will upon the disc, urging it to right itself, to halt the fatal plunge. Nothing happened. He sweated, tried again, his mental effort fuelled by wild desperation. The disc began to respond, sluggishly at first, then with increasing swiftness. It turned, began to bring itself to a proper orientation, to slow its dreadful fall.

The Earthman tried to hurry the process. His legs were trembling with the strain of holding Irrani in such an awkward manner. He could feel her slipping. His skin was slick with sweat making things more difficult. Raymond tried to grab her with his hand, but wasn’t quite quick enough. She slipped free of his hold. He cried in the despair of self-recrimination as she tumbled to the ground in what could only prove to be a fatal unstoppable fall.

Chapter 5: Lair of the Orok

A monstrous form swept beneath the slowing disc as the horrified Earthman watched Irrani tumble to her doom. The nightmare creature grabbed the woman in its claws. The fearsome orok hadn’t given up. All the while the foul beast had been circling the plunging craft and now it swiftly made its move. Mighty wings beat furiously. The creature gained height, veered off and swept around a jagged peak. In mere seconds it was lost from view.

Raymond, with a mighty effort, forced himself to calmly think. He focused his thoughts intensely, determinedly. The disc responded to his mental commands. Now fully righted it streaked around the rugged pinnacle in swift pursuit as he clambered over the safety rail. The Earthman saw his quarry in the distance. Its four wings lent it terrific speed. It was outdistancing him with ease.

He increased his speed, but realized he dare not get too close. If the orok felt threatened it might drop its burden in order to attack him. Raymond maintained his distance, keeping the creature just in sight, fighting the urge for rash action that growing anxiety prompted him to undertake.

Fifteen minutes agonizingly passed. His quarry dived towards a mountainside, vanished. Raymond cursed. The Earthman dramatically increased the swiftness of his flight despite the risk. If he couldn’t quickly locate the creature in this maze of peaks and valleys he might never find it. Shortly, he arrived where he’d last glimpsed to orok. Raymond looked worriedly about. A rugged expanse of mountainside, as bleak as his thoughts, was the only thing that met his anxious gaze.

Despair came upon him. How could such a large creature vanish so quickly without a trace? His roving eyes then came upon a deeply shadowed area of the rugged slope. Hope rose within Raymond as he guided the flying disc towards it. A huge cavern soon loomed before him. This was the only place where the orok could have gone.

Raymond landed at the entrance to the cave, praying that his deduction was correct. The odds were that Irrani was dead. The thought made him sick. He hoped he was wrong. Although he’d lost his sword when the craft had inverted he still retained a ten inch dagger. The rest of the equipment and supplies had been tied to the flying disc’s safety rail, and among these articles was a small but powerful crossbow.

Grabbing the weapon and its ammunition the Earthman hurriedly loaded the crossbow and entered the cavern. Light spilt in through the large entrance, but petered out as he advanced into the gloomy interior. Stalagmites and stalactites abounded, some joining into mighty columns. He darted from one to the other, well aware that up ahead in all probability lurked the fearsome monster.

Sounds came to him – the noise of sharp claws scrabbling over the rock. Raymond froze, pressed his body into the deep shadow of a soaring pillar. Now the heavy breathing of a giant body could be heard. Something huge and dreadful was approaching. The Earthman tensed in a sweat of terror. His knuckles whitened on the crossbow.

The orok moved passed him in the darkness. It paused for a moment. Raymond held his breath in fear of it hearing him. He could sense the shadowed form weaving its ugly head one way and then the other as it sniffed the air. An age seemed to pass and then it moved on, exiting the cavern.

Raymond waited a little longer, then let go the breath he’d been holding. His knees felt weak. He wiped the sweat from his brow, inhaled deeply. Now he must move quickly. The creature had gone, but who knew when it would return. The Earthman advance with caution for he knew there might be other dangers hiding in the darkness.

Shortly, the tunnel opened into a larger natural chamber. A sudden scream – a woman’s scream – made him start in wild alarm. He raced within the hollow. His eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, went wide with horror at what he saw.

Irrani lay on the cave’s stony floor. Over her another orok stood - a smaller six foot version of the adult creature. The horror was worrying the woman’s throat with its jaws. The sight drove a spike of fear through the gasping Earthman. Raymond yelled. The Monster swung its vile head towards him, ripping the bloodstained torque away.

It hissed vilely, dropping the damaged and sparking device. The thing scuttled at him. Raymond let fly the crossbow’s quarrel. The projectile grazed the beast’s head. It came on undeterred. The Earthman leapt aside, barely avoiding the snapping jaws. Again, he dodged its clashing teeth, struck with his dagger.

The blade sank into the orok’s shoulder. It hissed like a steam whistle, swung its head in agony. The bony skull struck Raymond, sent him flying. He hit the ground hard, rolled. The beast though badly wounded came at him in a fury. The Earthman’s dagger was buried in the monster’s flesh. He was weaponless, defenseless. In but seconds the horror would have him in its gaping maw.

Raymond looked wildly about seeking some means by which he could defend himself. His frantic eyes alighted on the damaged torque. The Earthman lunged, grasped the mechanism and hurled at the rushing orok. The thing’s powerful jaws clamped down upon the device, crushed the explosive pellet.

A frightful detonation shook the cavern. Rock fell. Thundering echoes chased each other in the gloom, then faded leaving a deathly quiet in their passing. Raymond coughed from the dust. He got to his knees then staggered erect. The orok was dead – most of its head had been blown to bits by the power of the blast.

The Earthman turned away from the sickening sight. He saw Irrani. She lay unmoving. Raymond stumbled towards her, fearing he’d be confronted by something more dreadful than the mutilated monster. He reached his companion’s side in a welter of fear. Her throat was badly bruised and stained with blood, and there were other wounds upon her body caused by the claws of the mother orok. He fell to his knees and with trembling hands explored her injuries.

Relief came upon him. Her throat hadn’t been ripped out as he’d dreadfully feared. Rather, the baby orok had merely grazed her neck with its teeth while toying with her torque. The young of most creatures are playful. The shininess of the jewel had attracted its curiosity, held its attention. Irrani had fainted from the pressure of the beast’s jaws upon the torque – the metal being squeezed against her flesh had temporarily cut off the blood supply to her brain.

“Irrani, wake up,” urged Raymond as he patted her cheek. “We have to go before the mother returns.”

Her eyes opened. She gasped and looked wildly about in a moment of unreasoned panic. Raymond grasped her shoulders and quickly explained what had happened.

“Come,” he said as he helped her stand. “We have to go.”

Weapons retrieved, they left the cave without further incident, and Raymond gave thanks to whatever gods might be that the mother was still out hunting. If their luck held then they would be far away by the time it returned.

The couple boarded the disc and, as Irrani was still recovering from her ordeal, the Earthman took up the task of piloting their craft. The vessel flew on for a time, and Raymond had the opportunity to think as the mountain range fell far behind them. They were free. The torque had been destroyed. Hiseeth no longer had a means of spying upon them. Quite likely he thought Irrani dead – the last image the god would have had would have been of the orok’s teeth around Irrani’s throat. Little wonder Hiseeth hadn’t bothered to detonate the explosive when the device had been torn from her.

Raymond turned excitedly to Irrani who had finished tending to her injuries. He explained the situation. “You are free,” concluded the Earthman. “The flying disc can take us anywhere. The world awaits and is full of opportunities. There must be other god-free cities beyond the rim of the horizon where a new life can be found for you.”

“And what of you?” she asked, warily.

The Earthman sobered. “I must find a way of ending Hiseeth’s domination. The false god is exploiting your people and is a menace to mine. Other ships from my world will come, and it will attack them as it attacked my vessel. I cannot let this happen.”

Raymond tensed as Irrani drew her dagger. But rather than attacking him she pressed the blade to her own throat.

“You must complete the god’s mission,” she determinedly said. “You are very brave. Threats to your life count for little. But I will slay myself if you refuse. Can you live with that?”

The Earthman looked on in complete shock. He hadn’t expected this. Silently, he cursed Hiseeth. The false god had infected Irrani with blind fanaticism. He had no doubt she’d kill herself if he refused. Wild schemes rushed through his mind, each one soon discarded. Even if he disarmed Irrani she’d throw herself overboard. If he bound her she’d refuse to eat and starve herself to death. No, he couldn’t live with that.

Though the explosive torque was gone Hiseeth still had control of him through Irrani. With bitter realization Raymond knew he’d have to do the false god’s bidding. He cursed himself for being so naively honest with Irrani. The Earthman took a deep calming breath. Self recrimination wouldn’t save the day. For now he’d have to play along.

“I’ll do as your god commands,” he said without enthusiasm. “In what direction should I steer the disc?”

**********

Irrani, having recovered from the worst of her ordeal was again piloting the flying disc. Raymond, with nothing much to do, leaned on the safety rail and looked down at the landscape passing beneath them. Rainfall on this side of the mountain range was greater, and the countryside lushly forested. The trees were towering pine-like growths whose leaves were fronds resembling those of ferns – vivid emerald with crimson petioles and rachises. Many scented blooms resembling those of the lily, but dark orange in hue, grew in inflorescences from the branches.

Raymond shifted his gaze. In the distance was the glitter of an ocean as vast and blue as the sky. Soon, they would arrive at their destination. The Earthman knew little about the city they were nearing, except that its name was Toona and that the god who had ruled it had died some four hundred years ago. Hiseeth had provided him with the bare minimum of information directly relating to the device he was to locate, no doubt to keep him dependent on Irrani who knew much more this world and whose loyalty to Hiseeth was assured.

With the passing of another twenty minutes they were hovering high above Toona. The city had been built on the ocean’s shore and was much larger and architecturally quite different to Nenesh. The houses, arranged in neat streets and avenues, were lobed structures built around a central circular colonnaded courtyard-garden. Conical roofs of red tile capped the lobes - three in most homes, but up to six in wealthier houses. Small high set windows resembling portholes ran beneath the eaves. These were of stained glass with roseate patterns in amber and sapphire.

The city followed the coastline’s large bay for about five miles. At the farthest end was its mercantile port and fishing fleet, these craft resembling the Mediterranean felucca. Inland, in the general vicinity of the port, the forest had been cleared for farmland. Here, lush crops grew, too distant to be clearly seen. Raymond shifted his gaze. In the streets below people, as small as ants, went about their daily lives, oblivious to the disc hovering high above them.

Raymond turned to his companion, curious as to her reaction. From what he gathered she’d never seen another city apart from Nenesh. Hiseeth wasn’t one to let its subjects wander. Irrani stood staring at the metropolis, her brow deeply furrowed. The Earthman moved to her side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“They have no god, and yet Toona seems orderly and prosperous. I thought we’d find ruins at the most, chaos at least. How can this be?”

“I think you’ll find that people can be quite happy without gods; that they can organize their own lives using their own intelligence,” replied Raymond, carefully. “Didn’t Hiseeth give you any idea of what we’d find when we got here?”

Irrani shook her head. “God gave me directions towards Toona and a description of the building where we’d most likely find what we seek, but that is all. Did he tell you more?”

“Only relating to the artifact that we must retrieve,” replied the Earthman. Raymond grimly smiled to himself. Clearly, Hiseeth wasn’t the all knowing being it portrayed itself to be. No doubt its arrogance made it believe, as Irrani had believed through indoctrination, that without divine rule things would fall apart, and that the indigenes would revert to the savagery from which they’d been raised. It was a typical attitude of the colonial mentality whether on Earth or another world.

Fear gripped him with another realization. Hiseeth would no doubt extract this information from Irrani during the debriefing. The false god would quickly realize its power would be undermined if it became known that people could prosper without its rule. Then, what need of divinity? They’d both be killed to keep this fact from the people of Nenesh.

Raymond looked glumly down upon the city, wondering how the hell he was going to save Irrani and himself from this horrendous fate.

Chapter 6: Living City of the Dead God

“Look,” said Irrani, her voice distracting the Earthman from his worry. “Over there. That is the temple of the god.

Raymond followed the direction of her pointing finger and gazed upon the indicated building. The temple was of the same plan as the one in Nenesh – a huge domed rotunda with its projecting colonnade. High walls surrounded the structure, but in this case the imposing gateway had been bricked up and the courtyard was overgrown with wild shrubbery and small trees – testimony to centuries of neglect.

“The temple is situated in the heart of the metropolis,” observed Irrani. “We’ll be seen if we descend now. We must wait until nightfall.” The woman shifted her gaze. “The margin of the forest lies just beyond Toona. We can hide there until the appointed hour.”

Irrani sent the flying disc speeding towards the woodland, and within ten minutes they were descending between the towering trees. The machine bumped to earth a short distance from a bubbling stream and became quiescent. The couple exited the craft to stretch their legs after the long flight, and Irrani looked longingly at the cool and inviting water.

“I’m going to bathe,” she announced. “You may also do so when I’m finished.”

Raymond took the hint and turned his back as she walked to the stream and disrobed. He stood silently, his mind a morass of troubling thoughts and worries to which he could find no answer. The Earthman took a deep, calming breath. A tranquil mind would be more conducive to finding a solution. The first problem to overcome would be his companion’s misguided loyalty to Hiseeth, but how to best achieve this end?

A scream, suddenly cut off, jerked Raymond from his thoughts. He quickly turned. Irrani was nowhere in sight. He drew a sharp breath of alarm and raced to the stream. The Earthman’s wild gaze swept right then left. Again he gasped. On the far bank he glimpsed a creature disappearing into the undergrowth. It bore a limp figure slung across one mighty shoulder.

Raymond splashed through the stream in frantic pursuit, tore recklessly through the clinging greenery. In mere moments he was on the heels of the thing. It turned, alerted by the frenzied crashing of his body through the scrub. The Earthman swore at the sight of it.

The beast was humanoid in form and at least seven feet tall. The slate hued skin was hairless, leathery, and covered in wart-like bumps. Its arms were much longer than a human’s, hanging to the knees. The hands were three fingered and clawed. Its head, with its cruelly curved beak, had more in common with a falcon than a primate. A long tail tipped with a scorpion-like sting completed its bizarre anatomy.

Raymond drew his dagger as the horror cast aside Irrani. The creature hissed vilely. Its barbed tail lashed like a whip. It charged. The Earthman leapt aside, narrowly avoiding its clawing grasp. The beast, more agile than it appeared, swiftly turned, pounced. Raymond ducked its scything claws. He lunged, plunging his blade into the monster’s chest. The horror screamed. Raymond echoed its pain wracked cry for as he struck the beast the monster had swept its envenomed tail around and stung him in the back.

The horror toppled, crashed to earth. Raymond followed swiftly in its wake. The Earthman lay gasping. He tried to rise, but numbness was swiftly spreading through his limbs. Fear seized him. He was helpless. He could neither aid Irrani nor himself. He though he was going to die.

Time passed and his fear eased. He couldn’t move but he could still breathe. The monster’s venom was of a paralyzing kind. In time his body would free itself of the toxin and what was true for him would apply to Irrani, for he correctly deduced that a similar fate had befallen his companion.

The snapping of a twig sent fear coursing through him once again. He was still paralyzed, helpless. Another beast, possibly the creature’s mate, might be coming, and he was powerless to defend Irrani. The thought was most unnerving and he lay in a welter of knifing anxiety, unable to turn his head and see what approached.

Raymond’s heart seemed to miss a beat as a man-like shadow fell across him. A face hovered above the Earthman, then another and another. His fear eased a little. Three native men of Kashan looked down upon him, long spears gripped firmly in competent hands.

“Dead?” queried one to the other.

“No, merely paralyzed as is the woman.”

“They are not of our people,” said the third. “Look, the clothes they wear are of a different cut, and this dagger,” he continued, showing Raymond’s bloody blade to his companions, “its workmanship is different also.”

“Then where are they from? According to legend another city les beyond the Namas Mountains, but neither appears to be equipped for such an arduous journey.”

“Their camp might be nearby,” suggested the second. “Stay here and watch them. I will investigate.”

Raymond listened to the speculations of the pair. The language they spoke was almost identical to that of Nenesh, and so he was able to grasp most of what was said. The beast he had killed was called a raksat. The three young men had been on its trail, hunting it for sport. From what he could see of their elaborate clothes all were obviously from very wealthy families, for their crimson tunics and kilts were richly embroidered with gold and silver thread, and further ornamented with precious gemstones.

Shortly, Prince Ledja, the senior of the trio returned, wide eyed and breathless. “A god-machine,” he gasped. “I found a god-machine. That is how they made the journey.”

The man’s companions paled. “This is grievous news,” said one. “One of the oppressive gods must still exist. These must be its mischief making emissaries. Let us slay them now.”

Fear gripped Raymond as the fellow raised his spear to deliver the killing thrust.

“Stop, Jovaz,” cried the leader of the trio, grasping his companion’s arm in a staying hold. “This presents possibilities to our advantage. As you know my brother, King Narex, shields himself well from assassination. At night he retreats to the High Tower, its many levels heavily guarded by his most loyal warriors.

“This god-machine, unlike the ones we have, still works,” he said to his companions. “We can use it to fly to the uppermost floor, thereby circumventing the guards. No one will suspect such a surprise attack. With my brother dead I will become king and you, my princely cousins, will be richly rewarded.”

“But Ledja, we don’t know how to operate a god-machine,” objected Emru, the prince’s second cousin. “Such knowledge has been lost for centuries.”

“True,” replied the prince, grimly, “but one or both of these two know, and we will make them tell us. Now, bind them quickly, for the raksat’s venom will soon wear off. We’ll take both to my country villa where we can plan in secret and with care.”

**********

Midnight was upon the world as Raymond piloted the flying disc towards the High Tower. Prince Ledja was aboard with his cousin Emru. His second cousin, Jovaz, had stayed behind in the villa with Irrani as hostage. The Earthman wore a grim expression that reflected his fear for the woman. He remembered the shocking sickening scene, the screams of Irrani as the rack had cruelly stretched her naked sweat streaked body.

It had been completely unnecessary. At the first hint of a threat to Irrani he’d quickly agreed to cooperate. But their captors, either from wanting to show they weren’t bluffing, or from pure sadism, had forced him to watch, bound and helpless, as they’d tortured her. He glanced sideways at the two brutes, his hate filled murderous expression concealed by the black balaclava-like covering that hid his head and neck, its slit leaving only his eyes exposed.

The two men, like him, were clad from crown to toes in black body hugging garments and supple boots of sable leather. Futile and desperate schemes spun through the Earthman’s troubled mind. None of them seemed likely of success. If he rebelled now it would only result in Irrani’s horrid death. All he could do was continue to cooperate and hope for luck and inspiration.

“The tower draws near,” whispered Ledja to the Earthman. “Land upon its flat roof; from there we will lower ourselves by ropes to the encircling balcony of the uppermost story. Remember, the woman’s safety depends on your unhesitant compliance.”

“I will not forget,” replied Raymond with false mildness as he gazed upon the soaring structure.

The High Tower, situated in a walled area of the metropolis reserved for aristocratic families, was built on a trefoil plan and soared upwards to a height of approximately three hundred feet. The smooth ivory stone, ornamented with architectural dragooning, was broken at many levels by large circular stained glass windows. These glinted briefly for a moment as the moon peeped through scudding cumulus. Then darkness again hid all in gloom as heavy cloud veiled the midnight sky.

Raymond slowed the disc further and soon it settled as noiselessly as a shadow upon the flat roof of the night shrouded structure. The trio disembarked. Ropes were tied to the safety rail of the machine and carefully lowered over the edge to the encircling balcony some twenty feet below.

Ledja descended first followed by the Earthman with Emru bringing up the rear. Within about a minute all three stood before the large arched doorway that gave ingress to the tower. Slowly, quietly, Ledja opened the portal a fraction and peered cautiously within. He paused for a moment as he scanned the room, heart quickening with the tension of the moment, fingers tightening on the hilt of his drawn dagger.

No threat came to his roving gaze. He swung the door wider and slid sideways into the room. The prince was as jumpy as a cat slinking past a sleeping hound. He knew if caught death by slow torture would be his fate. All was quite. The empty room was in shadow, dimly lit by the feeble glow of a dying oil lamp. Ledja breathed a little easier and beckoned his companions to enter.

Raymond and Emru crept within. Ledja pointed to another doorway on the far side of the room.

“The bedchamber,” he said in a low whisper as he moved towards the door.

Emru prodded Raymond with his dagger, spurring the Earthman forward. Raymond wasn’t at all eager to be a party to assassination, but had no choice. Grimly, he followed the murderous prince, his troubled mind again seeking some way of thwarting the dark schemes of his ruthless captors.

“Open the door,” quietly murmured Ledja as Raymond reached his side.

The Earthman hesitated. He’d overheard the prince discussing the possibility that the entrance to the bedchamber might be booby trapped – a crossbow rigged to fire when someone swung the portal wide. Again, Emru pressed his dagger to Raymond’s flesh with menacing pressure.

Breathing deeply, his expression bleak, Raymond tensely thrust the door open; then gasped in shock as his startled gaze fell upon the shocking scene within.

Chapter 7: Slave in the Silver Mask

A low wide bed occupied the centre of the room. Bound to it spread-eagle was a naked girl, her features hidden by a silver mask that left only her lips and chin bare. A nude man straddled her, his face alive with sadistic glee as his violating hands roamed across her youthful form.

For Raymond the moment of shock passed in an instant. He rushed forward, grabbed the brute and hauled him off the weeping girl. The king turned on him. They grappled fiercely as Ledja and Emru burst within the room.

Nerax caught Raymond about the waist and threw him to the floor. The king leapt to a side table and grasped the dagger lying on it. Emru came at him in a rush before he could stab the downed Earthman. The king sidestepped Emru’s vicious thrust. He struck. Emru screamed as the ten inch blade slid between his ribs.

Raymond was down but not out. He drove his boot heel against Nerax’s shin with utmost violence. The king howled, staggered back and fell against the table. Both crashed heavily to the floor. Ledja leapt across the Earthman, aimed a kick at his brother’s head. Nerax managed to catch his foot. The king lurched erect. He jerked the prince’s leg high above his head.

Ledja tumbled. The king bent to snatch up his fallen dagger, intent to spill his brother’s blood. Raymond pounced upon him. Both men went down. The king sank his teeth into the Earthman’s shoulder. Raymond gasped in agony. He head butted his opponent. Narex let go as Ledja scrambled to the wrestling pair and with glee locked his hands about his sibling’s throat in a brutal stranglehold.

The Earthman hung on grimly to the struggling king as Ledja pleasurably murdered his own brother. The king’s eyes bulged, he gasped for breath as the life was slowly choked from him. His eyes rolled in their sockets. His body convulsed for a moment, then lay in death’s inertness.

Ledja climbed to his feet breathing heavily. The look of murderous madness slowly faded from his face. With a trembling hand he wiped away the spittle that drooled from the corner of his narrow lips.

“It’s done,” he exclaimed exultantly as he sat on the bed, recovering his breath. “A pity about Emru, though.”

Raymond was sickened to the core and felt soiled by his involvement. He picked up the dagger and began to cut the slave girl’s bonds. It was clear that neither brother was better than the other, and he was determined to do some good if possible.

“Excellent, you’re cutting her bonds,” said Ledja as he rose from the bed. “We can throw her off the balcony. We can make it look as if she slew my brother and then jumped to her death to escape execution by torture.”

Raymond looked at the prince, appalled by his callousness. The brute might by royal, but he was bereft of all nobility. The Earthman realized he had to take a moral stand. Already, he’d sacrificed his principles by becoming involved in a murderous plot. Despite the danger to Irrani he could no longer be a party to this crime.

“Two people are already dead,” said Raymond angrily as he cut the final rope. “Enough blood has been shed. The girl comes with us, unharmed. No one has seen us. The king’s demise will remain a mystery.”

Ledja swore at the Earthman. He leapt across the bed like an uncoiling spring and collided with Raymond. Both men hit the floor. The prince’s hands clamped viciously about the Earthman’s throat. Raymond’s breath was cut off. He tried to thrust his fingers in his foeman’s eyes. Ledja sank his teeth into Raymond’s hand. Choked, the Earthman couldn’t scream. His vision began to darken as his heart pounded wildly. Death swept in on wings of blackness as the world faded to oblivion.

The prince gasped, went limp. His hands fell away. Raymond, half conscious, felt the body being dragged off him as he lay gasping life giving air. Slowly, his strength and senses returned. He saw the girl in the silver mask standing over him, Ledja’s blood dripping from the dagger in her hand.

“After hearing what you had to say I think I can trust you,” she said. “I can’t remove this mask. It’s held on by straps riveted to the metal. I trust you to cut the leather and not my throat.”

“My friend is hostage. I was forced to help these men,” he explained as he rose unsteadily. “But I can no longer be a party to this crime. Will you help me rescue her?”

“In exchange for my freedom, gladly,” she said as he cut the mask’s cruel straps. “I know what it is like to be a prisoner, a slave to the bestial passions of my captor.”

The mask fell away and she turned. Raymond gasped in surprise. The resemblance to Ledja and Narex was obvious.”

“I am princess Xatharjana. They were my brothers,” she confirmed, guessing his thoughts. “Their deaths are no loss to the world. Both were brutes. Too much inbreeding has caused a sickness of the mind in my family. It is a folly I shall not repeat,” she continued as she quickly stripped Ledja of his clothes and donned them without remorse.

As she dressed Raymond stood there shocked by the frankness of her appalling revelation. He was further sickened when, without any compunction, the girl severed the heads of Ledja and Narex, wrapped both gory remains in a strip of fabric torn from the bedding and bound the bloody trophies to her waist. The sound of fists hammering on the entrance to the royal suite jerked him out of it.

Xatharjana gasped. “Narex’s bodyguards!” she exclaimed. “They’ve come to investigate the commotion. We must flee at once.”

“This way,” said Raymond as he dashed out the bedroom door and to the balcony.

The princess quickly followed and in but moments both had reached the dangling ropes. A tremendous crash reverberated as Raymond seized his line. The desperate guards were using a piece of heavy furniture as a battering ram, and in but moments the door would splinter under the terrific onslaught.

The couple began their hurried ascent. The cracking of timbers came to them, and then the door was down in a clamor. A dozen warriors rushed into the chamber. Some ran for the balcony, others dashed for the bedroom. An outraged cry rang out as the mutilated body of the king was discovered.

Raymond looked down, glimpsed men spilling onto the balcony. They saw the ropes, looked up. Someone shouted. A flung dagger rang against stone, narrowly missing the Earthman as he hauled himself to the roof. Xatharjana quickly followed.

“They’re climbing the lines,” she gasped as she drew the dagger and swiftly slashed one cable. The ascending men fell onto those below. Hot curses split the night. Two more sweeps of the keen blade severed the remaining ropes. More warriors tumbled, screaming.

Raymond leapt aboard the flying-disc. “Get on,” he called.

Xatharjana hesitated for a moment as it dawned upon the princess that the thing before her was a god machine. Another wild cry from below decided the matter. In a second she was beside Raymond and the Earthman sent their craft hurtling skyward.

The girl clung to him, startled and a little afraid at the swiftness of their flight. Her trepidation soon passed, and she began to enjoy the new sensation as Raymond slowed the machine and set it on a steady course towards the villa of the late prince Ledja.

As they journeyed Raymond told her of himself and the mission he’d been forced to undertake. It was a risky admission, revealing he was in the service of one of the feared and hated gods, even if it was an enforced service. But he felt that the truth would be better than any lie he could concoct, and at least show the princess he was an honest man.

“And you hope to defeat this god?” she skeptically asked at the conclusion of his narration. “Is such a thing truly possible?”

“The gods are mortal beings,” he explained. “And like all mortal beings they can be killed. But first I must rescue Irrani, my companion. There will be danger. You said you’d help me, but if you change your mind I’ll understand.”

“I’ll not retreat from my commitment,” she firmly replied. “I owe you my life and my dignity.”

Xatharjana fell silent for a moment and then, feeling the need to unburden herself to someone she felt she could trust, the princess began to tell Raymond something of the events that had befallen her.

Her mother, queen Ryestha, had died about a year ago and with her passing Narex had become king. With virtually unrestrained power he could now unleash those dark and secret fantasies heretofore caged within his twisted mind.

With the aid of some trusted henchmen Narex had kidnapped Xatharjana during a hunting expedition – a favorite pastime of the nobility. The king had cunningly arranged things to appear as if she had been killed by a pack of wild sabiths. A body had been discovered, one too mutilated to properly identify – the corpse of an unfortunate slave girl of similar age and build to the princess, and dressed in her royal apparel.

Incest among the nobility was a common practice, and provided it was consensual no one thought it wrong in any way. But to take a woman against her will was a grievous offence, and not even a king could escape the approbation and punishment that would swiftly follow the discovery of such a crime. Hence the concealing silver mask that had been forced upon Xatharjana.

“I’m sorry that this evil befell you,” consoled Raymond, feeling his words were wholly inadequate considering the horror she’d experienced.

“There is much evil in the souls of men,” observed the princess, soberly. “With my brothers dead I shall ascend the throne. And when I am so ensconced I will do my utmost to make my city a better place.”

They flew on in silence, Raymond gazing at the moonlit landscape that passed below. He followed the course of a river that glinted faintly in the darkness. Shortly, the tributary curved about a hill on whose summit the lights of a villa showed. At its sight a torrent of pent up fear burst forth, terror that he’d held at bay but would now no longer be denied. The Earthman wondered if Irrani was still alive and what indignities had been forced upon her.

Xatharjana noted the look upon his face, his trembling limbs. “We’ll save her,” she said as she placed her hand upon his shoulder. “I know of a secret exit to the villa – an escape route prepared for times of trouble. But a way out can also be used as a way in. Now, follow my directions.”

Raymond did as the princess instructed. The flying disc descended, curved about the hill and landed near an overhang of naked rock at its base. Xatharjana stepped from the disc. The Earthman followed as she led him to the overhanging rock. They pushed through dense scrub and soon stood before a narrow cave entrance concealed by the brush.

The girl stepped within, stooped. The sound of flint striking on steel could be heard. Fame blossomed in the dark as the torch caught alight. The silhouette of Xatharjana beckoned and Raymond entered also.

Both had traversed the passage for only a short distance when the flaring torch showed something glinting in the gloom. The thing rose upward slowly, sinisterly. It swayed from side to side. Xatharjana froze. The creature hissed. Its fur stood on end. Its mandibles, as large as hedge shears, clashed in a spray of venom. The princess gasped in fright. Instinctively, she leapt away from danger. The girl collided with Raymond. Both fell, limbs entangled as the many legged horror rushed toward the hapless pair.

Chapter 8: Rebellion

Raymond glimpsed the horror’s rush. He seized a rock, flung it at the hissing monster with all his might. The stony missile crashed against the thing. It tumbled, writhed in agony. The Earthman grabbed the torch and scrambled to his feet. He’d stopped the creature’s charge, but it was a brief respite for in an instant it was coming at him once again.

He thrust the torch at its bony face. The thing’s head weaved. The torch missed. Its mandibles clamped upon the wood and with a savage jerk tore the flaming brand from his grip. The monster reared up like a striking cobra. Raymond grasped its neck, wrestled desperately with the hissing horror.

The venom drooling mandibles clashed inches from the Earthman’s face as he struggled to fend off his nightmare antagonist. The beast thrust against him. Raymond stepped back. His heel caught on the uneven floor. He went down, the horror on top of him.

Xatharjana, now recovered from the fall, saw the frightful danger. She drew her dagger and flung herself upon the creature. Her blade plunged frenziedly. Gore spurted. The horror writhed, cast off the clinging girl. The monster turned savagely upon her. Raymond leapt upon it, pinned it to the ground; clung to the heaving beast with all his strength. The princess recovered her dagger. She thrust the blade into its eye, drove the steel into its brain. The horror stiffened. Its jaws clashed in agony and then relaxed in death.

Raymond climbed shakily from its carcass and wiped the sweat from his face. “What the hell was that?”

“It is a sabith,” replied the princess as she picked up the torch. “It is a young one, not yet having joined a pack. Come, we must move on. I do not think there will be any further danger until we enter the villa.”

The cave had been enlarged to form a passageway, and the two traversed its length without further incident. After about ten minutes they came to an iron plated door of heavy wood that had neither handle nor lock. Xatharjana stepped to the portal and pressed a combination of rivets that fastened the metal plates to the door. There was a soft click and way opened to reveal an upward flight of stairs which they mounted.

Another fifteen minutes of hard climbing brought them to a blank stone wall which seemed to be a dead end until the princess pressed it in certain places, which caused a stone panel to swing silently outwards. Both were tensely keyed for action, but the torchlight showed the cellar free of threats.

They stepped across the threshold. Before them was another stairway that gave ingress to the underground storeroom. Xatharjana softly swore. The soft glow of an oil lamp flickered on the wall of the stairwell where it turned at a right angle. Someone was coming and would be upon them in mere moments.

The secret portal had automatically closed behind them. There was no time to reopen it. The princess removed the lid of a salt barrel, thrust the torch into it. The flame died and both raced to the doorway at the foot of the stairs as the illumination from the nearing intruder increased alarmingly.

Positioning themselves on either side of the entrance they waited with nervous expectation. The light increased. A figure stepped from the final tread and moved across the threshold. Both pounced like striking lions. Raymond clamped his hand over the person’s mouth, threw the other about a slim waste. The oil lamp fell with a crash and a whoosh of igniting fuel.

A muffled cry of fear escaped the captive as the Earthman dragged her clear of the burning mess. The cry was quickly silenced as Xatharjana pressed her blade menacingly to the figure’s heaving breast. Both looked at their prisoner. It was a young serving girl. Her eyes widened in amazed recognition at the sight of the supposedly dead princess.

“It’s Azeema,” explained Xatharjana. “She was part of my household that was incorporated into Ledja’s upon my faked death. Release her. She will not betray us.”

Raymond let go and the girl fell to her knees. “Princess,” she exclaimed. “I … we all thought you dead… How ...”

“A plot of my brother, Ledja,” she replied, cutting off the babble and beckoning the girl to stand. “There is no time to fully explain. Jovaz is also involved. He must be brought to justice, and there is a woman prisoner we must also rescue. How many are here who will aid us?”

“Your servants outnumber those of Ledja’s men, but we are unarmed. The guards are loyal to the prince. Half are coming off sentry duty soon. I was sent here to gather food for their midnight meal.” Azeema brightened. “I have an idea. There are medicinal herbs stored here as well as food. Dried apuzo berries are used as a soporific. I will mix these with the meal and hide their taste with spices. With half the guards incapacitated we have a chance.”

“It is a good plan,” replied Xatharjana enthusiastically. “Set about the task and spread the word to those you deem most trustworthy. We will wait here. Advise us when the soporific has taken effect.”

“What of Irrani?” Raymond anxiously enquired. “She is the prisoner we must rescue.”

“Jovaz keeps her chained in his private bedchamber” replied Azeema. The girl quailed at the fearsome expression which came upon the Earthman’s face. “I’d best set about my tasks,” she nervously said.

And so the plot was swiftly set in motion.

**********

An hour that seemed like an eternity to the anxious Earthman crawled by. He paced the darkened cellar in restless agitation while Xatharjana dozed in a corner of the room. His thoughts were focused on Irrani. If Jovaz had raped her he’d take great pleasure in killing the fiend by slow degrees.

Raymond paused. Suddenly, and with considerable surprise, he realized his murderous thoughts were more than a crude desire to mete out rough justice to her tormentor. He had feelings for the girl that were more than just camaraderie or friendship. When his concern for Irrani had transformed to something more than mere worry was impossible to say, for the process had been gradual like the coming of the dawn, the rising of the light by slow degrees. But was it love or just infatuation? He wasn’t sure.

But what future could there be even if she returned his feelings? Each was an alien to the other. Would their differences prove too much of an obstacle? The Earthman sat in quiet speculation. Further minutes passed and then a soft glow caught Raymond’s eye, ending his contemplation. He turned and again saw the dim light of an oil lamp seeping down the stairwell. The princess, a light sleeper, was awakened by the glow’s increase. Both hurriedly moved to the doorway and nervously stood on either side, uncertain as to who approached.

Primed for action they tensely waited. Azeema stepped within the cellar much to their relief.

“The soporific has taken effect,” advised Azeema. “Half the guards are incapacitated, and securely gagged and bound. Most of Ledja’s servants are asleep. Those that were awake have been quietly subdued and restrained,” explained the servant girl. “We have armed ourselves with the weapons of the guards,” she continued as she handed both purloined swords. “Your loyal retainers are above awaiting your commands.”

“Then take me to them,” ordered Xatharjana.

They ascended the stairs and soon entered the huge kitchen of the villa. Here, twelve servants waited, half armed with the guard’s weapons, the others with a miscellany of large kitchen knives, heavy cleavers and sharpened broom handles whose points had been fire hardened. All fell to their knees before Xatharjana.

The princess quickly bid them rise. A short discussion followed concerning tactics. The entire force was then dispatched to deal with the remaining half dozen guards that patrolled the villa’s grounds, for it would take all twelve untrained servants to subdue these warriors by overwhelming numbers.

Xatharjana and the Earthman followed Azeema as she led them to Jovaz’s private rooms where Irrani was held captive. The home was constructed around a central courtyard garden with a loggia on the inner perimeter. The trio hurriedly cut across the garden, then turned left down the colonnade. Shortly, they stood before a heavy bronze bound timber door, securely bolted from within.

Light seeped under the barred portal, showing someone was still awake. The trio waited tensely, expectantly. A moment passed then wild cries cut through the night, swiftly followed by the clash of steel as the servants in a rush fell upon the startled guards.

Azeema hammered furiously upon the door. “My lord,” she cried. “Enemies attack. The villa has been set alight. You must escape at once.”

A moment passed. Azeema cried her dire warning once again. The door opened a crack. A suspicious eye peered out. Raymond slammed his foot against the portal with all his might. The door banged inwards, but was halted by the safety chain. The Earthman cursed, cried an order. All three furiously kicked the barrier. Wood splintered with a crack. The chain tore free. The door was flung wide with a booming crash and the trio rushed within the bedroom.

Jovaz, who had leapt clear in time, met them sword in hand. Behind him Irrani lay bound to the bed, completely nude. In an instant Raymond absorbed the dreadful scene. He lunged at Jovaz with a wild cry of feral hate. Their swords clashed. Sparks flew along with savage oaths as each man strove mightily to slay the other.

As the swordfight raged Xatharjana and Azeema rushed to free Irrani. Jovaz glimpsed the movement. He dodged the Earthman’s thrust and flung himself upon Xatharjana as in her haste she dashed too close to him. Man and girl tumbled to the floor. Raymond and Azeema leapt to aid the princess, but were halted by Jovaz’s blade pressed against her throat.

“Drop your weapons or she dies,” snarled the wily noble.

“Kill the brute,” cried Xatharjana. “I’m better dead than the hostage of this vile fiend.”

Jovaz pressed his blade against his captive’s flesh. Blood flowed. Raymond cursed and flung his sword upon the floor.

“That’s better,” smirked Jovaz as he stood and hauled Xatharjana to her feet. “Now step back and let me pass.”

With an oath the raging Earthman backed away and watched helplessly as the grinning brute inched towards the door, the princess before him like a shield. But Jovaz in his arrogance made one mistake. His eyes were focused on the Earthman, contemptuously disregarding Azeema who was nothing but a lowly servant in his eyes.

The girl reached behind her and drew the heavy knife from her sash. She flung it at the retreating noble with swift efficiency. The handle of the whirling blade struck him in the temple. Jovaz gasped, staggered. His sword clattered to the tiles. Xatharjana’s foot lashed out and slammed against his shin. The ferocious blow sent him crashing to the floor.

Raymond shouted in elation as their enemy lay stunned and helpless before them. But in an instant his cry of victory became a bitter curse. The untrained servants had failed to completely overcome the guards and now three doughty warriors burst within the room.

In an instant the guards, attracted to the fray, took in the scene – the moaning victim upon the floor and his three assailants. With feral cries of rage they leapt towards the trio, drawn and bloody swords raised to strike in swift revenge.

Chapter 9: The Treachery of Hiseeth

As the enraged warriors rushed the trio Raymond swiftly acted. He leapt forward in a wild dive and snatched the knife from the floor. The foremost warrior lunged. The Earthman rolled. Sharp steel chipped a tile. Raymond flung himself on the moaning lord and pressed his blade to the fellow’s neck.

“Stop,” he wildly cried. “Drop you swords or I’ll slit his throat.”

The warriors hesitated. Xatharjana stepped forward, her movement drawing their gaze. Shock came upon them. Now the heat of battle had faded they saw her clearly. They stood irresolute, looking at the princess; then at the fallen lord, their loyalties clearly divided.

“Narex is dead,” explained the girl, “He was slain by Ledja who in turn was killed. I am now the sole surviving heir to Toona’s throne. Put away your swords. Loyalty to a dead master is pointless. I will show you mercy. I am not my brother as all of you well know.”

“How do we know you speak the truth,” asked one warrior, skeptically.

The princess unbound the length of cloth about her waist and cast the severed heads of Ledja and Narex at the doubter’s feet.

No further words were needed. The fellow sheathed his sword. Within seconds the others followed his example and knelt in submissive acknowledgement of their future queen.

**********

Several days had passed. Raymond rode the flying disc, guiding the machine towards the city of Nenesh and Hiseeth, the false god who ruled it. He was alone. Irrani had largely recovered from the torture she’d been subjected to.

The girl had taken great pleasure devising Jovaz’s gory execution, and the Earthman had shuddered upon hearing the bloody details, ones Xatharjana was only too happy to indulge her in. The man was now dead and the princess crowned queen with Irrani living in the palace and in the care of Rouan, Xatharjana’s personal physician.

The two women had become more than just friends. Raymond remembered the vivid midnight scene he had accidently stumbled on, their faces between each one’s well spread thighs as they lay on a large mat in the middle of the secluded palace garden. It had been quite shocking to him, for he’d had no indication, no hit of their sexual preferences.

He’d quietly retreated; his mind beset by stabbing jealousy. It was then that he realized his depth of feeling for Irrani. Now he knew beyond all doubt that he was in love with her. The Earthman had stumbled to a bench and sat heavily upon it, quite dejected. For a time his mind sank in black despair. He was far from home. It might be decades perhaps before another ship from Earth would come, if ever, for the Universe was vast and possessed a multiplicity of worlds to explore. All he could see before him was a waste of lonely years that ended in bleak death’s fell embrace.

Rage at the unfairness of it all came upon him. He wanted to lash out, to vent his wrath and frustration on something. He thought of Hiseeth, the initial cause of his misfortune and the obnoxious being became the target of his burning ire. His depression lifted as purpose came upon him with renewed vigor. The alien posed a threat to Earth’s explorers and the people of this world also – a threat that must be ruthlessly eliminated.

The following day he’d approached the queen with his plan. It had been difficult for him to meet Xatharjana, the midnight scene of uninhibited passion still fresh in his mind. But he’d hidden his jealous feelings well. If Irrani was happy then he would be happy for her. The meeting with the queen lasted an hour, and after much discussion she’d assented.

Raymond had kept Irrani in the dark as had Xatharjana when he told the queen of his companion’s fanatical devotion to Hiseeth and the fact she’d try and stop him at any cost. The Earthman had left in secret. He would have liked to say goodbye to Irrani, to see her one last time, for there was every chance he was going to his death. But as he didn’t want to arouse her suspicions he’d departed in the quiet of early morning. It had been a very painful thing to do.

Bringing his thoughts to the present, Raymond glanced at the device secured to the flying disc’s safety rail. It was the mechanism Hiseeth had sent him to obtain, the one which he’d located in the subterranean complex of the temple in Toona, its underground layout not too different to that of Nenesh.

The Earthman shifted his gaze. Below him loomed the city of Nenesh. Raymond angled the flying disc towards the temple and landed in the deserted walled enclosure surrounding it. Disembarking, he soon stood again before the huge gilded doors of the temple’s inner sanctum. Silently, the portal opened of its own accord, for Hiseeth had detected his arrival. Raymond stepped across the threshold and into brooding and mysterious darkness.

Hiseeth’s projection floated above the disc in the centre of the room. The false god’s baneful gaze focused upon the Earthman as he approached the holographic image of the creature. It spoke:

“Have you found the mechanism?”

“Yes,” replied Raymond. “But at great cost. Irrani is dead,” he lied. “She was killed by a flying monster as I’m sure you are aware.”

“Irrelevant,” snapped Hiseeth, callously. “Show me the mechanism.”

Raymond was hard pressed to maintain a placid expression in the face of this heartless disregard for the life of the woman he had come to love. He unwrapped the object he’d been carrying and held it up. It was a silvery alloy sphere the size of a grapefruit with several transparent tubes projecting from it as well as points for electrical connectors. The device, courtesy of its ancient manufacturer, was enclosed in a sealed cube of transparent material to protect it from damage and contamination.

From above a ray leapt out and scanned the object. Raymond fought to remain calm. With difficulty he maintained an outward air of unconcern as the beam swept over the device, probing its inner workings. The ray winked out and the worried Earthman breathed a little easier. He was in a cage with the equivalent of a savage tiger and well knew it.

Hiseeth, satisfied that all was as it should be, gave its order: “Proceed to my subterranean quarters. You will receive further instructions when you arrive.”

The Earthman stepped through the door he’d previously broken down (now repaired) and proceeded along the familiar corridor. Soon, he was in the underground chamber, wrapped in sable shadow. Two eyes stared at him from out of the darkness and again Raymond felt the unnerving presence of Hiseeth.

The alien’s humanoid form was concealed by darkness, hunched in something like a wheelchair with machinery mounted on the back. The room’s illumination slowly increased and a thing of horror was revealed to the shocked Earthman. Before, Raymond had never gotten a good look at Hiseeth. The creature had kept itself hidden in deep shadow with its robot acting as intermediary. But now this travesty of life stood revealed in all its sickening detail.

The alien’s body was emaciated, almost skeletal. Its scales were molting, apparently from disease, for those that had re-grown were deformed. Tubes were connected to its throat and wires penetrated its skull. The head, lolling on its scrawny neck, appeared unnaturally large due to the body’s withered condition. The horror’s bony claw like hands trembled, indicating some form of neurological pathology. Only the greenish serpentine eyes held something of animation - not true life, but rather a fierce defiance of death. Raymond’s skin crawled in revulsion at the sight of the thing. In his eyes it was like a decaying zombie – something dead but kept alive, something that should have been buried long ago.

A door in the other side of the chamber slid open as the horrified Earthman sought to control his revulsion. Raymond started at the unexpected sound. Further alarm came upon him as the thing strode menacingly across the threshold and came towards him. It was Hiseeth’s robot. The machine was conical. Its silvery metallic body was supported by four splayed legs. Four black lenses, like those of a camera, were spaced about the apex of the cone. Two mechanical arms with three fingered hands gave it some dexterity.

Hiseeth’s voice broke through his alarm: “You will install the device under my guidance. My mechanical servitor lacks the dexterity to make the repair. But it can and will watch you, conveying all it sees to my brain. If you seek to betray me, to harm me, I will know and order it to destroy you. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” replied Raymond with succinct and feigned calmness.

The Earthman laid aside his sword as commanded, and then set about the task under Hiseeth’s directions with the robot standing behind him, scrutinizing his every action. Wearing a surgical mask and gloves Raymond installed the new device beside the old. Connections were made. Test lights flashed for several seconds, then valves opened and a dark blue fluid began to flow through the transparent tubing as the old device was cut out of Hiseeth’s life support.

Raymond then turned his attention to disconnecting the worn out component. But upon completion of the task he sensed sudden movement from the robot. The Earthman hurled himself aside and the machine’s sweeping blow, one which would have crushed his skull like an eggshell had it connected, missed him by the narrowest of margins. Fortunately, he’d anticipated betrayal and had been alert for it.

Raymond rolled to his feet and leapt back further. “What is the meaning of this treachery?” he exclaimed in contrived surprise and outrage. “Have I not served you loyally?”

“Your service has been forced. You will betray me at the soonest opportunity. Do you think me such a fool that I wouldn’t realize this?”

The robot rushed at Raymond ending further conversation. The Earthman dodged its grasping hands and bolted for the door. The portal slammed shut in his face. He spun around to confront the charging mechanism. Again, he desperately tried to evade its swift lunge, but wasn’t quite quick enough.

Steel limbs clasped him in a crushing bear hug, began to squeeze unmercifully. The Earthman struggled mightily, but it was useless. Hiseeth looked on with gloating triumph as his robot commenced to crush the life from Raymond.

The Earthman couldn’t breathe. His vision eddied towards darkness, and at any moment he expected his ribs to splinter and their jagged ends to pierce his lungs like bony daggers. Fear came upon him. The pain was intense. He was on the verge of blacking out when the frightful pressure eased. Raymond slid from the machine’s limp embrace and tumbled to the floor.

For a time the trembling Earthman lay limp and gasping, but at last his strength returned sufficiently for him to stand. Raymond gazed at Hiseeth. The alien was dead. It lay slumped in its wheelchair-like mechanism, eyes blindly staring and froth dribbling from its lipless mouth.

The small amount of deadly poison the Earthman had smeared on the inside of the mechanical heart had done its work. It had been a close thing, though. A few seconds longer and Raymond knew he would have perished in the robot’s murderous grip, which had ceased with the death of its horrid operator.

By the false god’s description of the device Raymond, very early on, had had a good idea of the mechanism’s purpose. The Earthman knew his plan involved taking a terrible risk. At any moment it could have come undone. Fortunately, Hiseeth’s scan, like an x-ray, hadn’t been able to detect the presence of the toxin, nor the fact the Earthman had carefully broken the seal of the container and then repaired it. In its arrogance the alien had underestimated the intelligence and cunning of the Earthman.

The last star god was dead. The threat to this world and further expeditions from Earth was over. Raymond’s thoughts turned to the future. The people of Nenesh wouldn’t thank him for killing their god and so he wasn’t about to tell them. Eventually, they’d move on when they discovered Hiseeth no longer appeared in the temple and no doubt rationalize its absence. Given time they’d learn to govern themselves as the people of Toona had.

Before he left there was one final thing he had to do, and he steeled himself for the unpleasant task. The Earthman retrieved the sword he’d set aside and with one swift powerful stroke severed the head of Hiseeth. It was what Xatharjana had demanded as proof of his success.

The Earthman picked up the gory evidence and was about to shove it in the bag he had with him when a growing noise made him start in wild alarm. He swiftly turned. The door that had closed in his face was now open. Fear came upon him with recognition of the sounds coming through it – it was the slap of many sandaled feet pounding swiftly down the narrow passageway. The poison hadn’t killed Hiseeth instantly. Before the alien died it had summoned help from the city, and now the creature’s minions were racing to its aid.

Chapter 10: The God is Dead

Before Raymond could move an inch a dozen raging men burst wildly into the room. Their hard eyes fell upon him. All saw the severed head he held. As one they gasped in sick astonishment as they recognized the gory remains.

For a moment shock held them in its paralyzing grip. Raymond seized the chance. He bagged the head then bolted through the other doorway with all the swiftness of a bounding antelope. Enraged cries erupted volcanically behind him. In but seconds the foe, like wild dogs, were hot upon his heels.

The fear spurred Earthman dashed through the gloomy maze of subterranean rooms and passageways. He twisted one way, then another in a desperate bid to confuse his crazed pursuers. Turning a corner he quickly slipped behind a blocky mechanism of unknown purpose. In but seconds the wild hoard of rabid foes charged passed his hiding place and disappeared around another bend in the shadowed corridor.

Raymond leapt from concealment and sprinted back towards the maze’s exit. Behind him a cry of wild anger echoed down the passageway as the hunters realized their prey had doubled back.

The racing Earthman gained the chamber where Hiseeth’s body lay. A single guard blocked the exit, sword drawn in eager readiness. Raymond didn’t stop. In utter desperation he charged the man, hurled his sword with all his might. The fellow tried to dodge the flying blade but wasn’t quick enough. The warrior screamed, collapsed in a welter of gushing gore.

Raymond vaulted the dying man, bolted down the passageway and up the stairs, the raging foe in swift pursuit behind him. The Earthman burst from the temple in a rush of frantic speed, then arrowed towards the flying disc as if his life depended on it, which it did.

To his vast relief the machine was unguarded. He leapt the safety rail and jammed the disc’s control circlet upon his head. A hurled sword whipped passed him in a narrow miss. Raymond swore in fright. He turned. The warriors were charging at him, now mere yards away.

The disc rose at his command. He ducked and another spinning blade flew over his head. The foremost warrior who’d cast his sword leapt, caught the disc’s edge and tried to haul himself upon the swiftly rising mechanism. Raymond kicked him in the face. The man fell screaming and struck hard earth.

Another sword clanged against the safety rail in a spray of sparks. Raymond leapt back and then the disc was out of range. The exhausted Earthman sank to the deck. He leaned heavily against the mechanism’s central column, limbs trembling with fatigue and the frightening narrowness of his hectic escape.

**********

Several days had passed since the conclusion of Raymond’s mission. The Earthman sat beneath a spreading tree, leaning against its smooth trunk. The growth was one of many that edged the ocean’s shoreline upon which the city of Toona had been built. It was a fine cloudless day, warm with bright sunshine. The ocean stretched out before him in a vast expanse. Its waves languidly caressed the beach of white sand, which curved gracefully to form a placid bay. A gentle breeze stirred the Earthman’s hair, bringing with it the exotic scents of strange blooms.

It was a wonderful panorama that lay before him, but Raymond’s mood was bleak and his dejected state made him oblivious to the beauty of his surrounds. Again, he cast his mind back to the fateful scene that had crushed what little hope he’d had that the woman he’d come to love would accept him.

Lookouts on the palace towers must have alerted the queen to his approach, for when he’d landed in the building’s courtyard a body of guards was waiting for the Earthman and had swiftly conducted him to her majesty’s presence.

Xatharjana was waiting for Raymond in her private suite, and here Hiseeth’s severed head was presented by him to the queen - gory proof of the successful completion of his perilous undertaking. It was then that Irrani stepped within the room. The guards without didn’t think to stop her, for it was common knowledge that she was Xatharjana’s favorite paramour.

For a moment Irrani stared in shock at the severed head Raymond held within his bloodstained hands. She gasped in horror. Her hand flew to her lips in disbelief; then a feral look came upon her face as jarring disbelief quickly turned to wild rage at the killing of her god.

She flew at Raymond, an animalistic scream bursting from her lips. Clawing fingers darted for his eyes. Raymond caught her hands. They wrestled madly. Xatharjana cried for the guards as Irrani felled the Earthman with an unarmed combat throw. Raymond hit the floor hard. Irrani was on him like a raging lioness. Her hands locked savagely about his throat as warriors rushed towards the struggling pair. Murder was in her hate contorted face. It took all four guards to haul the maddened screaming woman off the gasping man.

Raymond brought his mind to the present. He hadn’t seen Irrani since that horrid incident. Fortunately, the palace was large and Xatharjana had given him a room in the servant’s quarters at the sprawling structure’s furthest end. It was no doubt best for all concerned, but even so the Earthman was dejected by events.

The troubled man shook his head at his folly. As soon as he’d unwittingly seen Irrani and Xatharjana in that passionate moonlit embrace he should have had sense to abandon all hope of romantic involvement with her. But instead he’d maintained a hopeless hope that something might come of his desires.

The sound of his name being called brought him out of his sad introspection. He turned his head and tensed. Irrani stood several feet away. Her demeanor was calm and he relaxed a little. The sight of her was quite poignant, stirring up all those feelings of unrequited love.

“May I speak with you?” she quietly asked.

Raymond, too choked by emotion to reply, nodded his assent.

The girl knelt next to him. She sat silently for a moment, ordering her thoughts, then spoke.

“I’m sorry I attacked you,” she began. “It was a great shock seeing Hiseeth’s severed head. I reacted with emotion rather than reason. But now that I’ve had time to think about things I can see that you were right. No mortal could slay a god. That Hiseeth is dead proves he wasn’t one.”

“I’m glad you see things as they truly are,” he said. “I hate seeing people deceived and exploited. I admire you. You don’t deserve that. No one does.”

“Then you have feelings for me?” Of course the girl suspected he did, but wanted to provide an opening for the Earthman to express himself, for being an alien she wasn’t sure exactly how he felt.

Raymond looked intently at Irrani. Her question appeared in earnest. He decided to be frank with her. He began to say “I love you,” but then with shock realized he didn’t know the word for love in her language. Unconsciously, he’d been using the English version whenever he thought about the girl.

“My feelings for you are extremely intense,” he began, and then elaborated by expressing his desires in an uninhibited torrent of flowery words that left him quite breathless with emotion.

The girl sat placidly, looking at Raymond for a moment. Then she spoke: “From our time together I sense your people and mine are much alike, but I now I see there are some significant differences, also. The intensity of desire you express is not experienced by us. We have friendships and we have sexual intimacy with our friends to maintain that bond, some of whom we may marry. Among us people can have more than one marriage partner of the same or opposite gender. So you see, the exclusive possessiveness characteristic of this thing you call love is lacking in us.

“I like you, Raymond,” she continued, placing her hand affectionately on his shoulder. “I have come to consider you my friend. I will gladly welcome your embrace, your penetration of my body, for I enjoy intimacy with both men and women. But it is not within me to experience the intense emotions that you humans do when it comes to love. We are a different kind of people. You must ask yourself if you can accept me as I am.”

Raymond was a little taken aback by her frankness. He sat quietly, thinking. It was in a way rather sad that Irrani would never experience the emotions of human love, would never be able to return the intensity of his desire. She hadn’t said so, but it was clear to the Earthman that Irrani intended to continue her sexual intimacy with the queen, even if she formed a relationship with him.

Jealousy flared hotly for a moment, but then common sense took command. Irrani was right. He was among a different kind of people. His human attitudes and values in this setting were unreasonable when applied to them. But could he accept her as she was? For long minutes he looked deeply within himself. At last he smiled with certainty and turned to the waiting girl.

“Yes,” he replied. “After much thought I can accept you as you are.”

Irrani smiled. She moved next to him and he placed his arms around her. A sense of joy came to the Earthman. Although Irrani would never desire him as a human woman might, he found he was content that in her own way she cared for him. Indeed, though more akin to friendship he sensed her feeling would endure unlike the all too brief flare of human passion. Together, they looked out upon the beauteous vista of the sea, and gazed upon a world that held the promise of fruitful days to come.

THE END