[DalekSec]

Not sure if folks are into this or not, but here is part to in any case.



PT2

Waking in the room that was obviously meant for healing, Rea?s eyes tried to focus on the ceiling high above. Squares of light were spaced at intervals next to others that did not glow. ?What strange torches.? she thought to herself as she lost all hope that her ordeal thus far might have been a dream. Discovering she was not laying in a pan as she had last time, she sat up and looked around the room. Her captor nowhere to be found, she got shakily to her feet. Hugging the covering that was draped over her shoulders, she found it was of a different color now. Bright red and it had a clean scent. ?How long?? she whispered aloud while trying to guess at the time. With no sun, moon or stars to observe, she found her sense of time had left her.

Walking cautiously towards the edge of the table, Rea?s breath caught as she saw the metal floor so far below. Never one to appreciate heights, she carefully walked backwards away from the edge. A prison without bars by sheer height alone. She was free it seemed to explore the realm of the table and nothing more. Unless she sprouted wings, the demon Wurdulak had trapped her most efficiently until he came to claim her once more. Walking the length of the table, leaving a healthy distance between herself and the edge, she saw the large clear container that lay on the floor and from the shadow of the form that dwelt within, it became obvious where her tormentor was residing. ?Like the dead themselves.? she hissed before offering a short prayer for protection from her God. Kneeling so that she could move closer to the edge without the sense of the world going wobbly, she squinted to make out as much detail as she could. Mists floated all around the demon and wafted across the top of the casket. Its open top appeared to glow with lights that made Rea think of the sparks that came with lightening storms. Even the scent, while melded with the other strange smells of the room carried the same odor as when she had been assaulted with light at the gates of his domain.

?Truly this is the land of the dead.? she spoke in a hushed voice as images of the brutal death of his last meal flashed in her mind. Was he simply saving her for a special occasion like a goose spared until one of the mandatory religious festivals? Was that why he tended her cut and fed her a meal fit for the highest Legit in the land? At least she was not hanging from a hook to cure in some smoke house and that was a good thing. Wasn?t it? Once more she pondered the drawn out torment that waiting produced. Better to run, leap off the table as a jilted lover might make use of a high cliff. A sudden end and he could wake to find she had escaped in her own little way of her own choosing.

While the taking of one?s own life was a sin as bad as that of a woman learning to read, Rea felt the God her mother and father spoke of would understand both actions on her part. How was suffering a spiritual matter and how could any God worthy of devotion expect his creations to endure such torments. Hanging her head, Rea reminded herself that her parents were already waiting for her in the next life and that was a most comforting thought. Death, quick and definite would be her only means of escape and no matter how she looked at the problem, that was the answer that remained.

Standing and turning her back on the edge of the table, Rea let her tears wet her cheeks. Hearth and home would not be her lot and death would come at the tender age of eighteen summers. Crossing her arms against her chest, she took a step backwards. Followed by another and another. Fear still tugging at her thoughts, she wanted her end to be an abrupt and surprising drop beyond her control. Reaching back with her left foot, her toes pressing to the cool surface of the table, she lowered her heel. Feeling it drop past the angle that she thought it should, she closed her eyes and let herself fall. The sickening sensation of the plunge making her body tense, she screamed out only to feel her body strike a soft mass at the end of the descent. Thinking that the metal floor was anything but soft, she bolted to a sitting position and felt the mass move under her weight. The bed of pelts moved to snort and growl at her. With less malice towards her than before, Rea came to realize she had landed upon the wolves that had ushered her to the demon. Confused as they seemed uninjured, just as she was, made her thoughts race at a furious pace. Expecting to be torn apart by the wolf pack as soon as they regained their wits and wind, she felt instead the soft trilling coming deep from within their bodies. Faint snores and occasional grunts responded to her movements as she carefully slid from their ranks. Glowing eyes looked up to regard her only to close once more as they chose slumber over carnage.

?Such training in your kind. Another dark miracle here I suppose.? she remarked quietly only to get a smirking stare from the alpha that had given consideration to ravaging her. Holding perfectly still until the eyes of the large gray wolf closed again, Rea realized she had not planned for this shocking eventuality. So ready to accept her end, she shook and viewed the height of the drop she had taken. The edge of the table so high above her that it made her stomach spin to think of it.

Making her mind up not to squander her new found freedom, considering how she might have died, Rea gripped the red cloth around her body and ran along the metal floor for the prospect of possible escape. Feeling the dust and grit under her well callused feet, she turned her head in every direction in hopes of some route of escape. Expecting the wolves to give chase, she pricked up her ears for the sound of claws on metal. Hearing no such sounds, she ran for another high gate and found herself in a dark room of many dim lights. Flashing in odd patterns and in different colors, she could not help but stare. Bursting upon her without warning, the room grew dazzling in a way that would have dimmed the brightest day. Shielding her eyes against the glare, she heard the sound of metal grinding against metal.

Turning to see the gate sliding shut with a huge metal wall, Rea scrambled to try to slip through the closing gap. Seeing it had sealed too quickly, she jumped back in a near panic. Trapped once more and now in a room that began to hum all around her, she wondered if she had only managed to worsen her fate if that was even possible.

One thought kept nagging at her as she hesitantly crept across the floor of the room. So far, only one of the demons had presented himself to her and the people of her village had always spoken of the Wurdulak in the plural. Was it simply a matter of her being given to the one demon or were others laying in wait within the musty shadows of the cave? Tying the red cloth around her neck like a cloak, Rea felt a little more secure in her natural modesty. Sprinting towards the relative safety of a gigantic chair leg, Rea examined the lattice work of its metal frame. So much like a ladder as to tease her sense of curiosity, she reached out to grasp a rung like support and carefully worked her way up to the cushion of the seat. Sweeping the thick dust away with her foot, Rea could only wonder how long it had been since someone of any size had made use of it. Grabbing the edge of the table before her, she pulled herself up to the surface of the desk. Her bare skin chilled, she found one of the sources of the humming and the flashing lights.

A slab as large as the foundation of a small house lay in front of her. Blocks with letters that seemed to spell out nothing she could hope to recognize stood with symbols, the meaning of which, only a few were familiar to her. Numbers and single blocks with whole words further tantalized Rea with their possible significance. One stood out with a most pleasant word. ?Home?. Sounding it out a few times to be certain she was not mistaking its meaning, Rea hung her head. ?If only it was that simple.? Not only did she not hold faith in magic such as a simple block with a pleasing word might offer, but even if it did serve to whisk her home by some supernatural force, that was no solution. She was still an outcast and her exile left no room for appeal. Were she to appear in the main square of her village, it would only mean the Inquisitor and Legit would have another go at her and this time they might press for a simple hanging in view of her miraculous if unwelcome return.

Reaching out with her left foot to make a line in the dust upon one of the blocks, she almost dove from the surface of the giant table. Flickering to life, a window with a clear shield came to life. Seeing faces staring back at her of a size closer to her own, she wondered if it was a prison for those who had come before her. Moving closer to the glowing surface of the window, she waved and then tried pounding her fist against the odd material. ?Can you hear me? Who are you? Can you help me?? she spoke in a hushed voice that ached to scream. Seeing none of the others react in any way to her attempts to gain their attention, she felt a tingling on the palms of her hands. Pressing them to the surface of the odd cage, she got the sense of ants crawling along her flesh to tickle and tease her fingers and palms. Even her thick auburn hair began to stand on edge and stick out at odd angles. Laying her cheek to the surface, she found it had the same effect. Looking closely at the cage, she could see the images were actually made of tiny dots like the grand mosaics said to grace the homes of the very wealthy in the more prosperous towns and villages. ?Pictures? Moving pictures?? she wondered aloud as she watched them.

Taking a moment to consider what she was seeing, her stomach sank. The people in the box were dressed in the same clothes as her demonic captor. Grey one piece outfits that closed in a the front in a way she could not guess at. Tall black boots exactly like the one she had pounded on and then tried to clean in an act of bold mockery. Looking closer at the faces of the images, she was sure she could pick out that of the Wurdulak who now slept within his clear casket. Though in the moving picture he looked young and even handsome, unlike the deathly visage he presented now, the shape of his brow, nose and mouth were unmistakable.


Gasping as she touched a shaking hand to the face of her giant captor in the strange box, Rea listened to the conversation he was having with his fellow Wurdulak.

?Captain Evans. I must try to explain the situation one more time. The mass of this planet makes lift off impossible even if the ship were not so badly damaged. Our only logical choice is to carry out our mission as best we can and hope for rescue. Mission control and NORAD on Luna KNOW were are missing and will mount a search and rescue mission. This is a Terra-forming ship and we can do just exactly that here!? The older man with more braid on his uniform scowled at the person Rea recognized as her demon.

?Dr. Stewart. I know you mean well but we BOTH understand the original mission was to begin terra forming Europa. This planet is nothing like Europa and wherever we are in the universe, I and the navigator have no clue! Whatever we passed through, be it a Wormhole or gateway or God only knows, we can not even guess at our present location. I will not even get into temporal theory when it comes to such vast distances in the known universe. Where would Space Command even begin to look for us? Further, if you did not notice, I think they have their hands full with the alien armada was saw on the long range scanners moving through the asteroid belt. Do we even HAVE a planet to go home to IF we can ever make lift off happen?? Raising his hand to stifle an argument he seemed to anticipate from Dr. Stewart, the older man nodded. ?I agree we have no basis to assume they were hostile except my onboard paranoia as a military man of many years. Point taken. However, the facts are just what they are. We knew the chemistry and biology of Europa as well as its mass and orbit. We can only guess at what kind of soup we have here. Already we know the density and mass of this rock is far greater than either Earth OR Europa. Thankfully not enough to crush the ship but I would not advise going for a jog in the atmosphere we have been stuck with unless you wear an environmental suit. We have limited scans of this planet before we set down and are still trying to figure out the orbit. Unless you have some magic tricks up your sleeve you never disclosed as we trained for this mission, I can only assume we are here to stay and have little if anything to do as we wait for help that will not and can not come.?

Dr. Stewart as Rea came to know his name nodded. ?Yes Dan. I know all your objections. I accept that rescue is probably a non-issue. I accept that all of our calculations for Europa are now null and void. But, if we are to spend the rest of our lives here, why not take the time to do the science and if we can terra form this world, well, do it. Let us assume you are right in your military hunch. The ships we saw were heading for Earth and were hostile and we can not match their technology. Then, given that set of circumstances, are we not obligated to TRY to leave some legacy behind? Is it not our duty to TRY to preserve some aspect of Earth and humanity? Dan?Captain Evans?Let me effort this with the computers and at least see if we are even able to do so. If we can?t. FINE! I accept that. But, if we can plant a seed of what may be the last of our world, let me try to convince you to allow something of us to endure.? His soulful eyes following the Captain, Rea felt a pang of sympathy for the demon though she only understood a fraction of what he was talking about.

?Alright. Three conditions. One, there is NO sign of native vertebrate life, sentient or not. It is one thing to play God with mindless jellyfish as was found on Europa and quite another to massacre a developing world to suit our tastes. I will not force developed alien life in another direction from its natural evolution. Two, it is feasible to try. If nothing else the gene banks on the ship will last indefinitely as you well know. A shabby epitaph for our world but better than wasted efforts for nothing. Third, well, third is a wild card. If we find a way off this rock, it is our duty to try to find our way home no matter how impossible that may be.? Nodding slowly, Dr. Stewart agreed to all the conditions offered.

Rea was fascinated. Was this the prehistory of the world flashing before her eyes? Did it all begin with demons and, she hoped, the one true God bringing life to the world from the stars? If that was true, why was her demon tormentor the one to argue that her world deserved life? It was all so terribly confusing and while she never felt chained to the dogma of the faith of her people, Rea was squeamish about redefining who were the demons and who might be the God.

Leaning upon one of the moving blocks on the platform before her, Rea watched the image speed up until the movements of the figures were like that of children at rapid play. Their voices becoming a high pitched whine until she lifted her weight from the button. Watching a scene far different and more tragically familiar, Rea?s breath caught. Laying in a casket of a more common looking sort than the one occupied by the Wurdulak she now knew had a name, Rea saw the one that had been called ?Captain? in repose. His arms crossed over his chest and his hat placed with care on his lower torso, the ceremony was evident in its meaning. If they were demons they knew death on a personal level.

?Hell of a way to die Captain.? a young woman spoke with a catch in her voice that gave evidence to tears trying to express themselves. As the figures stood around the casket, Rea could not help but notice that all present were looking sickly. As those present in the box of moving images raised their right hands above their foreheads, music began to play from an unseen source. Jumping with a cry of fright, Rea turned at the sound of the high metal gate sliding open and saw her captor step into the strange room of the magic box.

Expecting at last to know the worst of his wrath, Rea did not wish to run as the images were still so fascinating. If she was to die this very moment, she wanted to see as much of the demons and their ways before her end came. Shaking as she watched one of the hands of the ghastly remains of the man she saw in the box, Rea was all the more puzzled as his fingers grasped a knob on one of the smaller boxes that only offered sounds. As the music grew louder, his hand drew back and away from her. Lifting his right hand in the same gesture as his younger self, Rea was certain she saw tears erupt from his glowing eyes to creep along his hollow cheeks.

Listening to the music and the words of the invisible singer, Rea was left to wonder what a rampart was or why Star Spangled Banner, whatever that might be, would fly.