Chapter 48

Immediately the Church grounds were searched for artifacts and documents. Those from Buseland were watched. We wanted the articles for study and didn't need some to vanish.

Site security was high because this was the time when we should be preoccupied with plunder. Everything went to a team of Section M people that scanned pages of books and photographed and bagged all of the silver objects.

I was doing my own investigating as I looked for places that may hide more information. I found an extensive mausoleum but nothing inside except old bones. This area had not stood up well to the shaking I had done to it.

Mausoleums were a rare commodity on Bejek. The stonework fascinated me. The priests didn't profess a need to preserve a body like some religions so I had to figure that this set of tombs were older than the current doctrine.

With some lights powered by a generator, I photographed all the details I could. I didn't see any hidden meaning here, just something that was odd.

When a tabulation of all of what we found was made, I saw that the solid portal that lead to Tula was gone. This and its key were valuable. It also stood to reason that the Church had spirited away the more valuable items. This would be the rare silver devices as well as the more informative books. There was still a lot left that had to be studied. We had to push the Church back on other fronts before finding time for this.

In the battle, we had faced a new weapon. It was like our sniper weapon but it shot a beam of plasma. The beam was narrow. The damage showed that the beam had lasted for a while because of the pattern it made on any stonework. It didn't leave anybody alive. So far there were only a few of these weapons and now a defence was needed even more.

We all searched through the database of newly acquired books looking for clues. Research the way the Church saw it was hampered by extreme secrecy and some researchers found something that had been discovered thousand of times previously.

Thanks to Osston and Stofan we could read most of the books but not all. Apparently there were advanced codes and then ones more advanced than the previous ones. These were the books that we felt could give us the most information.

Any references to weapons or shields was passed around and we tried to see what the researchers had found. We found that the medallion could protect the wearer from a vacuum as well as admit oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from a poisonous atmosphere. This is what I was looking for before. The way this was done also suggested other ways the shield could be manipulated.

Tiffany seemed to be happy or at least happier than she was before. We were not sure but we figured she was now pregnant. She could not fight but she pushed herself to do whatever she could to protect the family. This meant shield research first and then weapons. I searched for way of regenerating limbs along with the rest of the family. I had some of those in Section M assist in the research. This would be a boon for them, for the veterans, and especially for Tiffany.

Loca came to me three days after we abandoned Sadieea. "My King, I had two thoughts recently which you may wish to think about."

"You think a great deal, Loca, and I would be honoured to listen."

I got a nice smile and he said, "The Church has access to French diesels and this implies one or more portals where these engines would be available."

"That's true. I hadn't given it much thought since I was dealing with the gate in Tula."

"I just thought it pertinent to bring up. The second point is what you once talked to me about. You can use your silver chain to remove a complete library to where you can study it. This will give you books and icons while depriving the Church of them."

Rubbing my chin seemed to help me think. "We can do this better now with carpets to get into position. I still need a place to port the library to that will not allow the priests to flee with the most valuable articles."

"You have many places on Earth that are in desolate locations."

"Earth has too many satellites. The people will be anxious to make my acquaintance once more."

It took a moment for Loca to see the sarcasm in this. "You have a direct access to a world with no radio. The air on the mountain is thin and cold but pure. Surely the air would be thicker further down the mountain. A priest would not be able to use or even form a gate because he would not have a nexus for a portal or a mental point for the terminus of a local gate."

"That's a possibility. Is there someone that will go to that world and investigate for us?"

"I would like to go, my King."

"You are a free man, Loca. You could have gone at any time you wished."

"I agreed to make your maps and search for secrets. I have not done much of either."

"You have done a lot. Pick a team and work methodically. This may not be a new world, but it's a new world to us."

Loca went away a happy man but I was worried anew. I went through the Duchovny data about France. I also had to look for its present or former possessions. This might even have to be enlarged to cover the neighbours. This took me to Spain which had two portals of its own. The two were in the Pyrenees, one in each side of the border though not close to each other.

France had a nuclear arsenal and it was susceptible to attack if enough gold were offered. Using the silver icons would make it much easier.

Tiffany and Lauren were near and I talked about my new worries. We went over the Duchovny data but it was seriously out of date.

Lauren said, "If you plug this leak will we see more?"

"The Church has a lot of equipment and information. It may have hundreds of portals ready to open for all I know. Finding people to work for gold takes time but is usually successful."

"When will all this end? I don't want my children to grow up in a war zone. I want them free to play, not dodging bullets."

"I agree with you but I might point out that the people on Bejek die violently all the time but are for the most part happy. Canada and the rest of the world may just be too civilised."

"How can you say that? You mean that there is wholesale death all the time and culture has to be devoted to war instead of benefiting the people."

I said, "Earth has a drug problem. They have war and hunger all the time. Their war is usually like ours now. It's at the far end of a rifle. I'm a realist to know that a culture has to be dynamic or it fails."

"So you think we are dynamic?"

"We're just starting to be. When we fail, somebody else will take over the reins. In the short term, our children will live in dangerous times and learn to survive."

Lauren was going to retort when a knock came to the door. Loca came in and he looked flustered. "My King, I found something odd. Did you order the breach in the wall of world #4 repaired?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"I was there to investigate the area to find equipment to descend to the valley. The opening is closed up and there's much more air and its warm. Nobody has had time to visit this complex with the war on and nobody knows anything about the repair."

"Let's go look."

I helped Tiffany up and kissed her. She walked over to a heavier chair with straps and sat down. This one had a fulcrum and she got the chair to elevate and precede us out of the tent. The portal to world #4 was shut down but we put the key to it and entered. We were not sucked in like last time and the room was pleasantly cool.

The former damaged area was nearby. The area looked the same as the rest except that there were still four portals missing and the new material didn't look as old as what had been there before.

We investigated this level and then ascended to the next. After having used the fulcrum so much, it was easy to use the elevating device. There seemed to be no other changes.

When I came back, I sat close to the newly laid patch. There was something else wrong here and I could not see it. I voiced my thoughts and Tiffany said, "The place is clean. No dust, nothing."

"You're right. I don't think the school has been doing the vacuuming." In a moment I added, "This place has a computer, it has to. We can go up and down the tubes. It must have done the repairs too."

Lauren said, "It could be a repair computer and the other one is to move us up and down."

"That could be it, too. One or more computers control this place. Computers, at least the ones I can envision, do not repair. They have machines do the job and they control the machines. Then again, the silver icons can do some wonderful things."

Tiffany was near the wall and said, "Hugh, there is some silver in this hole. It's where the brackets go."

I looked and sure enough there was a thin layer of silver at the bottom. It looked shiny. Whatever was doing this was working small. We might have nanobots here or something even smaller. If there was a computer in this station then possibly we could talk to it like I did to go up and down.

"Hello, Computer. We would like some information about the world we are currently on."

It didn't take Lauren, Tiffany, or Loca long to catch on and they tried too. Tiffany had me remove the fulcrum and she was able to elevate her chair the way I had in the depths of world #5 which I figured was on Earth.

It didn't take long until the school invaded us. Many of the new people in Section M had not been in the complexes yet and had to be shown by the old hands. I was happy to see Mrs Dubkova here as well as some of her daughters. It was not much longer when Caiti and Sonya came in with Porta.

They ran to me and Caiti asked, "What happened?"

"This place was powered up. There has to be a computer that allows us to go to each level but the wall is also repaired. The holes in the wall have silver in them. The computer is building four new gates."

"Neat." She walked over to the wall and inspected the area then put her finger in. I was going to yell at her but it was too late.

"I don't see anything."

"They are probably smaller than a speck of dust. You might have millions on your fingertip right now."

Caiti looked close then Sonya pulled the finger close so she could see it too. Caiti said, "What do I do with it now?"

Let someone get some water and you can wash the end. Bring back some ordinary silver too. If it's building, it needs the raw material."

"Ok."

Some students ran off and then bent over a bowl as Caiti washed her finger very delicately. When she was done she shook it off and popped it in her mouth. I was too late again. I didn't say anything because there was no way I knew if this was dangerous or not.

Porta said, "Let's go down the mountain and bring back the four portals. That's not hard."

I tried to see if something was wrong with this idea but there was nothing. We even had a shield that would not leak oxygen. It was also a goodwill gesture on our part so the computer may be more likely to respond to us.

"You can go if its in the morning here. Loca will be in charge of the expedition. Can anybody see through the walls?" Somebody had their headband and put their head close. In a moment she said, "I can see through but its hard without a coin. There's a lot of light on the other side."

I put my hand on the wall but didn't feel any extra warmth. Loca was talking to some of his people and Porta was right there getting her duties. Students arrived and a gate was set up. We had to close the main portal to keep the air in and then we energised our shields. A small opening allowed the air to leave more gradually. When the pressure was equalised, the gate was opened wide. It was not morning but close to local noon.

The students held fulcrums to elevate themselves then floated through the gate. When there were four of them, they just dove like champion divers into the ocean of air. Four more went through and Loca and Porta were last. Caiti had hold of Sonya and they plunged right after. I was glad the girl's mother was not currently present to see this.

I called for some students and had a silver nail made that could be used to wedge in a crack in the rock of the mountain and still hold a coin. It would be helpful for later.

Porta and Caiti were far below. There was a large area to search and probably centuries of rock on top of any portal if any of them were still there.

The nail and coin was put in for me. The school and the teachers played hookey. Loca was not getting any slack cut for him.

Tiffany didn't like heights but she left with Lauren just to see what was happening. With everybody gone, I went too but I went up. There was a lot of wind and I could not fight it well enough. When I almost got blown away, I went down the mountain with everybody else.

There were a lot of large rocks that had fallen and I saw children picking up thousands of tonnes and taking them away to a safe area. Loca was being careful where he had not been environmentally conscious before.

The world was beautiful. It didn't have the red chlorophyll of Bejek. It had the something closer to Earth but it was more blue. The trees were different again and the younger members were hunting for small creatures since they were already bored about moving rock.

There was a yell later and the students pulled a bent portal from the rock. This was enough to get everybody back to work.

I asked Loca, "Will you stay the night or go back to Bejek to sleep and get more supplies?"

"We have to go back. The young ones came and ate all our food."

"Not much different than when you had children, is it?"

"These are better behaved but still do what they want."

We didn't need the fulcrums to ascend. When everybody was transported to the large room, the gate was closed and the inter-world portal opened. Some of the students studied the portal with Osston and Stofan. It was photographed to find out how much was removed from it when we came back.

I talked to Mantoya and Artlam about plugging up one more link to Earth type weapons. Since we had withdrawn from Sadieea, we had more people to protect. With the arrival of the ships we had more weapons to do this with.

The warships were anchored near a small island seventy five klicks from the shore at Woodland. We wanted them out of range of shore based artillery. When I came aboard the Ronnas I saw that much of the work had been done. Defensive batteries had been put in place first but not all of them had been placed yet. There was a lot of integration that still needed to take place.

Dimitri said, "I almost had a mutiny yesterday." This was said with a smile so he was not that angry."

"What was the crew revolting about?"

"They wanted to go to this new world. I hear it's beautiful but more blue than Earth."

"There are a few differences. A little less gravity, a shorter day and I think there is more oxygen. A fire burns much faster there."

"Will I get my crew back?"

This got me thinking. "I think so but I think you should recruit. In fact, I want you to be the admiral. You know more about ships and weapons than Mantoya and he's not going to bitch about losing some work."

"Me! An admiral!"

"Why not? I need somebody to coordinate what we do on the sea."

"What about the American ship?"

"You're the Admiral. I'll tell them though. I also want you to take apprentices."

"We're at war, Sir."

"All the more reason. You train them in seamanship and they train you in how to use your mind. You have to remember that most of the apprentices will be female."

"That will give us problems, Sir."

"I noticed when your men are off duty they have no problem finding company. The women are looking for a husband."

"I can see duty suffering."

"Perhaps in the short run but your men will fight even harder when they are protecting their families. Your men will have to grow in other ways. I have some square riggers and a few have diesel engines. You are going to have to amalgamate those into your fleet."

"They are a waste of time and effort, Sir."

"A square rigger with a shield and a jet engine is as fast as yours if the masts are removed."

Dimitri had to think then said, "I can try but that means I have to split up my crew."

"You have a double complement, remember."

"I need communications, weapons, radar, fuel, all sorts of supplies."

"The container ship is close. In fact the container ship may be converted to something. If she goes back to Earth, she will be noticed."

"Can a shield go around it?"

"You have the people, so you should try. I'd prefer that your people learn to erect the shield. I have not changed my mind about a space navy."

"One with square riggers?" This, at least, was said with a smile.

"Yes, to catch the solar wind."

"Touché."

"There is another matter. The ships I mentioned have diesel engines made in France. The Church has a link to the products of that country. France has a nuclear stockpile."

"So you are going to sever this link?"

"Yes."

"It could be more members of your family."

"Then I have to convince them to stop."

"There are other portals."

"And I will have to control them, too. I don't see this being over in just a few years."

"What about our one year — enlistment?"

"I'll stick to my word but I'll try to persuade you to stay. If you're determined to leave try to find a suitable replacement."

We checked in on world #4 and found that Loca had already found another of the portals. I asked him, "What did you find out about the other portal you found yesterday?"

"It didn't seem to be altered but the process may be very slow."

"Let's try siccing a colony of ants on the frames? Maybe we can just put them back into place."

"That is a very good idea, my King."

"We have had some minor successes in guiding the ants. It is not like the heart or the medallions but they will work if they are directed adequately."

"Have you heard of any improvements to the shields?"

"You and your family find most of the improvements, my King. We are left with just finding the fine details, like the old weapons we found."

"Which ones are they?"

"The ones found near Woodland. In the hidden home and the ones in Tula."

"What did you find?"

"The ants were directed to repair the weapons. We have not been able to replicate the energy storage units but the ants can do this."

"Why wasn't I told sooner?"

"Vasiliy suggested the idea. He is very dedicated. I think he wanted to present you with a product that we knew everything about."

"How well does it work?"

"It's being tested as we speak."

There was some excitement and I at first thought it was because we found the third gate but it was a girl flying in. She was young and her thoughts were not focussed because of fear. We all went into a defensive posture and the youngest were put into the gate and moved high up the mountain.

An older recruit came to Loca and looked at me. She decided I took precedence and she said, "We found a single stigga nearby."

The stigga were not so dangerous since we got our shields. I elevated myself and flew with half of my security force. The other half could not use their minds well enough to do this yet.

The girl came with us and she showed the tracks in the dirt. The tracks were far apart so the stigga was running. We spread out and followed or tried to get ahead of the creature.

The being was wily in the extreme and knew how to avoid capture but there were simply too many of us. The creature was herded into a place between rocks and it began to dig like hell to get away.

The students moved the rocks and I picked up a large volume of soil and even then he almost got away. Security had guns on it but it didn't understand the weapons or perhaps didn't care. When he wiggled loose, I concentrated on the air that was touching the stigga. This was similar to what I did when I touched a solid object. This medium didn't work as well but I did manage to hold the air and the stigga. As soon as I could, I elevated the creature above ground so he couldn't hold anything to crawl away.

Tiffany had been with us and said, "What are you going to do with it?"

"All we have are babies. I'd like to learn how they communicate. If its mentally then there may be a lot of them ready to come to this ones aid. We should pull back while we can."

We flew back and had to pick up those people that were bound to the planet's surface. The stigga had seen the futility of fighting and stopped struggling. When he was put on the ground, he began to try to flee. I sat on a rock and used my mind to communicate but it didn't seem to work. I could not detect any emotion from him and he didn't react to my thoughts.

Because the creature was struggling so hard, I sent for the young stigga we has raised. As an afterthought I said, "Bring the Human children with them."

Tiffany didn't want to be near the creature but she tried to do what I could not. Lauren did too, then the students had to have their turn. Since we were not harming the creature, its struggles got less until it didn't try to flee.

The mothers I had recruited came with their children and in each case one of the children were stigga. The adult stigga watched intently as the infants were put down. The stigga babies were very mobile. They were not as bright as a three year-old Human but they were a lot younger too.

The infant stigga wandered through our group until they found the adult then ran back to their 'mother'. The young Humans were less frightened though and just looked at the adult that looked so much like their little friends.

The older Humans were asked to move away. The young stigga got over their fright partially but they didn't want anything to do with the adult of their kind. Eating and drinking was a peaceful activity so I summoned some. Since I knew what the baby stigga liked we could guess at what the adults would eat.

The adult looked at the young of both races and at the work still going on. He saw people flying through the air as if this was their natural home. The other half of the time the junior archaeologists carried one or more rocks and took them away to build a stone bridge. There was a wide break in the planet's crust and a strong river flowed perhaps a hundred metres lower.

When the food came, the youngsters were interested and hurried to eat. I took a piece and extended my hand with the tray toward the stigga. I let out a breath quietly as he took a portion and then ate it. The tray went the rounds a few times until the children were full. They were then chased off to play under their mothers' watchful eyes.

I tried again to communicate with voice and then with pantomime. This still didn't seem to work until one of the young stigga fell off a rock. It cried out in fright and the adult raced to it. I could have stopped this but I wanted the interaction.

The child was now very frightened and I heard the stigga speak to it. It had a long one sided conversation until the child was not as frightened. I left the younger members of the school to try now and I just seemed to wander off. I was sure the stigga was weighting its chances to flee but it also knew that we flew faster than it could run in the rugged ground nearby.

When the 'mother' came, the child was not put down but carefully handed to the Human. The Human though did not retreat. She talked about 'her child' and all the trouble he got into and then pointed out her own children and gave a rundown on them. The two walked around the camp taking all the young ones with them.

I flew off now looking for any stigga that could be sneaking up on our camp. I wished I had brought the translating icon so I could have understood what the stigga was saying to the child.

The last two portals were found and taken up the mountain. The bridge Loca wanted built as a project was done though I had no idea how long it would remain. There was rock left over and one large flat piece was used for a roof for a Flintstone's type home. We didn't have a mastodon but we did divert a stream so it went close and even dug a pool to collect more of the water.

The house was stocked with food and some simple implements before we started to leave. The stigga was shown by gestures to go in and it did as long as some of the young ones went in first. The women with the children were the last to leave and I think we left a flustered stigga.

Lauren said, "What was your reason for letting the stigga go, Hugh?"

"It wasn't talking to us. Let it see some friendship and it might. We know that there has to be a few more stigga around and some might cooperate if this one doesn't."

Tiffany said, "That stigga acted odd. It was a loner. The ones we saw in the camp were in family groups. Do you think this one was an outcast or perhaps just old?"

"We have to find out. The Church is still using them for cannon fodder and shock troops. The more we know the better we can stick it to the Church."

"You were talking before about finding a place to put one of the Church libraries. Are you thinking of putting one on this planet?"

"That was my idea. Once the inter-world portal closes, the gates are severed. There is no reference to anyplace so they can't open a new gate."

"They could possibly destroy the library or even float it to someplace they like better."

"They might, but I plan on putting the building as high as I can. The priests will concentrating on breathing, not moving their library."

"I like that. They can't fight and we take them. If they do stay strong then they have the stigga here to help them."

"It's the best I've come up with. There are dead or nearly dead worlds beyond the portals but we can't get to them."

After our meal, Vasiliy came to me with a big smile on his face. I pulled out the icon before Vasiliy said, "Hello, Sir. I heard you wanted a report on the weapons we found in Tula.

"Yes, I would."

"The laser pistol is not as good as your plasma weapon but it is not weak. It also has a mental trigger but it is far easier for me to use. The range is two kilometres at least but it's difficult keeping the beam on target. It looks to be at least equivalent to what the Church is now using but I suspect that ours is better. Their's shoots a pulse and has to charge before the next shot. Ours is continuous and more like a machine gun. If you miss you just sweep the beam over the target."

"How long does the charge last?" When Vasiliy made a face I pointed at my wrist.

"The weapon will fire for ten seconds before getting too hot. With gloves it will last longer but it burns out at twenty three seconds. Using one second bursts that are usually more than enough, the charge will last for fifty three shots. The weapon seems to have a defect worked in. After three full charges, the laser device burns out. I think this was planned to limit the effectiveness of the weapon while still fulfilling their contractual obligations."

I drew a picture of the typical Russian electrical outlet and Vasiliy said, "A high voltage source is required. Six to eight thousand volts. The techs on the Ronnas found it would use direct current too."

"Are they a good weapon for the field?"

We had to get the interpreter now and a lot more detail was filled in. I said, "Issue one weapon to each man under Dimitri's command. Dimitri is either to issue the weapons or put them in the armoury."

"You are very generous, Sir."

"I am thinking of the problems now and when it is time for you and your people to leave. I don't want problems that will upset Earth."

"I understand that, Sir and I think you are doing the right thing."

"Can those weapons make it through airport security?"

"They are ceramic but their shape alone will mark them for seizure."

"I'm going to Earth soon. There's a lot of points to check and I need a competent pilot. Can you recommend one?"

"You deserve the best and I am willing to assist you."

"Good, you better make some copies of the guns so we can have a few."

"I will, Sir. but there was a weapon here on Bejek that was repaired too."

"Tell me about it."

"The weapon uses a strange group of chemicals we have not used before. The ants were able to duplicate this. The projectile is very fast. Its shape is odd and we found it doesn't make the customary sonic boom associated with other fast bullets. The bullet is also carefully crafted. It will stay together through the air and even hit leaves and small twigs but when it hits something solid it fragments after penetrating three centimetres, depending on the target. It then fragments into seven portions. Each sub-projectile then explodes. It will not penetrate a shield but it should kill just with the shockwave."

"You better send these to Dimitri too. He likes toys no matter how straight he keeps his face."