PART TWO:
THE SEAS OF MARS
The Brotherhood had built the monastery on the southern slopes of Mount Olympus many generations before, as a simple observatory at first. The meteor bombardment was reduced to a few sporadic entries by that time, but the controls were no longer entirely reliable, and a meteor shower occasionally veered north into inhabited regions. With precise observation, these could be predicted, and the people herded into the abandoned warrens, where their ancestors had lived, until the danger was gone. Later on, as the bombardment ended, the Brotherhood had turned to astrology, and kept the calendar that told the northern people when to plant and when to harvest, according to the movements of the Sun, Phobos and Deimos, and the sixteen signs of the zodiac. Later still, when the demons appeared, launching their raids from the equatorial badlands where no man could live, the monastery served to warn the populace, and the Brotherhood became a trained fighting force.
Brother Mikal was in his tower room, observing the heavens, when the meteor appeared, streaking out of Argo Navis. This was a good omen, but the meteor was moving northward and might well impact near populated areas, so he kept an eye on it. At the last moment, before it vanished into the forest to the south, it suddenly changed course, as if avoiding the Sea Monster and choosing the Unicorn. Brother Mikal leaped to his feet, pounded down the stairway into the courtyard, and rang the warning bell. Brothers came running from all directions, hastily throwing on their robes.
"What is it, Brother Mikal?" the Master asked.
"I believe it is a Demon Ship, Master. It changed course before landing in the forest to the south."
"Did it land, or did it crash?"
"I believe it was attempting to land but was unable to do so. It seemed to me as if it was attempting to pull up and avoid the trees, to land in open grassland, but it was coming in too fast. It was in flames, of that much I am certain, for I thought it was a meteor at first."
"We must investigate, whatever it is," the Master said, "but we will be prepared for demons."
The Brothers saddled up and seized their weapons and set out across the savannah. Brother Jon trailed behind in the haulage cart. In time they could see smoke rising from the pine forests of the southern highlands, and eventually they found the wreckage. It was a ship, certainly, though it was not the usual demon-ship.
"It almost seems designed for humans," Brother Mikal said.
"Nonsense. It came from the south, did it not? And what humans could build such a ship? I believe it was on its way to seize prisoners, as in the old days. I fear the raids are beginning again."
The wish is father to the thought, Brother Mikal said to himself. Everyone knew how much the Master missed the old days--the constant battle against demonic incursion, and the resulting power and prestige of the Brotherhood. Mikal did not miss those days.
"Master," someone called out. "I have found a man. Dead, I think, or gravely injured."
They gathered around the body of a young man--not much more than a boy, in fact. Brother Mikal, who was trained as a healer, quickly determined that he still lived, and that no bones were broken, but he was badly cut and bruised, and his flesh had been burned by his flaming clothing. The young man was quite unconscious, and some of the Brothers carefully placed him in the wagon, while the rest continued to search the forest.
"This one is definitely human," Brother Mikal said, continuing to examine the boy. "His clothing is strange, however, what remains of it. Perhaps he has come..."
"From space?" the Master snorted. "One of the Earthborn Men, perhaps? No, he has been kidnapped from a local village and the demon was returning with his prize when his ship failed him. This is not the usual fighting ship; it has room for several passengers. I am certain that the raids are beginning again, and there may be other innocent victims in the vicinity."
"Master," a voice called. "Come quickly."
The figure that had been discovered was clearly demonic in nature: it had the shape of a woman but was as powerfully muscled as the most perfectly-trained warrior, and its skin was covered in images that were clearly demonic in nature--skulls, dragons, leaping flames.
"She breathes, Master," Brother Mikal said. "She lives and breathes. She cannot be a demon."
"We do not know this for certain," the Master said. "It has aspects of humanity, but it has demonic aspects as well. We do not know why young people have been seized by demons in the past; perhaps they are breeding creatures like this. It could be that this is a succubus created for this purpose, and the boy her intended victim. We will return it to the monastery but shackled. If it is demonic, it will have inhuman strength. I will feel better when it is locked in a cage. When and if the boy awakes, we will be in a better position to determine the truth."
The creature was shackled and loaded into the wagon next to the boy, so both could be transported to the monastery. Several Brothers remained behind to search the forest but reported later that they had found no other passengers or bodies. Brother Mikal rode beside the wagon; he was troubled as he watched his patients’ unconscious faces. The boy, too, was strange in some way--human, to be sure, but strange. He did not seem to be the usual Martian villager. The woman...
She stirred and woke.
"Jason?" she said in a strange accent.
The boy stirred in his sleep. Perhaps that was his name. The woman opened her brown eyes and gazed up at Brother Mikal. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him in a gaze that was intelligent but unsettling. She looked him up and down in an appraising manner, judging the strength of his warrior-trained muscles. He would do the same, to be sure, in her position, though he wondered in passing if the Master might not be correct, and she was even now studying his potential as a breeder of demon-spawn. With the thought, he could not help but laugh at himself, and the strange woman took note of his smile. She turned her head, in some pain, and studied the rest of the hunting-party.
"Who are you?" she demanded at last. "Why am I in these hand-cuffs?"
The Master rode up quickly. "Don’t speak to her," he said. "Who knows what powers she has?" He rode on to the front of the line.
"I’m a pilot," she said, after a while. "My name is Sanchez. This is my co-pilot, Jason. Is he badly hurt?"
Demons do not inquire after the health of humans, Mikal thought. "He is injured, but I believe I can heal him. I am Brother Mikal."
"Mikal," the stranger said, "I am not a threat to you. Our ship was shot down by some sort of planetary defence system. We are here to help you."
"The system is ancient," Mikal said. "It took your ship for a meteor. Unless you are lying and came from the demon-infested lands to the south."
The stranger gave him a look of wry disbelief. "Demons? What demons?"
"Silence," the Master said. He put his mount between Mikal and the captive. "She wishes to learn from you."
"I wish to learn too," said Mikal. "Isn’t that why we are bringing them back?"
"You won’t learn the truth from a demon," the Master said, "I forbid you to speak to her. We will make sure the boy is restrained as well. They seem to know each other."
***
They had a bit of a problem putting Sanchez in the cage. Brother Mikal could not see how she managed to do it, but she broke the ropes that bound her as the wagon was being backed up to the cage in the courtyard, and she took off for the still-opened gate. A leap of several meters took her halfway across the courtyard, and another nearly to the gate itself. If a pair of riders had not happened to enter the gate at the moment, the horses rearing in her face, she might well have made her escape. A dozen of the Brotherhood fell upon her with cudgels and staffs, and despite being shackled by the wrists, she managed to throw them off and fling several across the courtyard before she was finally overwhelmed with sheer numbers and flung into the cage. They slammed the door on her and quickly switched on the power which was the only way to keep a demon from escaping. She flung herself against the door and screamed as the lightning coursed through her. She gave up then and lay panting on the floor, her dark eyes blazing.
"Do you see?" the Master said. "Is that not an example of demonic strength?"
"Perhaps," Mikal replied, "but demons do not scream in pain."
***
Jason lay on the cot in Mikal’s tower room, still unconscious. His wrists were shackled to the wall with a strong lock, the key hanging beside the door on the other side of the room. Under Mikal’s care, he was recovering from his injuries and breathing deeply in sleep. Mikal sat and watched him.
"Does he look dangerous to you, Capuchin?" Brother Mikal asked.
The monkey leaped from his perch and snuggled in Mikal’s arms, looking up at him with a puzzled expression.
"Now, that one out there is dangerous, certainly." He glanced out the window at the tattooed figure lying in the cage in the courtyard. "And if she is a demon, then this is the companion of a demon."
The monkey scratched her head, as if in deep thought.
"But being dangerous doesn’t make you evil. I daresay I would fight as hard as I could if strangers were trying to lock me in a cage. Still, she must have the strength of a dozen men."
"Three or four perhaps," said a voice, "and a great deal of training."
Mikal glanced up to see Jason looking at him.
"You’re awake. Do you want some water?"
"Yes, please."
Mikal brought him a bucket and held the ladle for him to sip.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome, Jason, if that is your name."
"It is. You were talking about Sanchez? Is she all right?"
"Yes. She is injured but recovering. We are trying to determine her species..."
Jason laughed out loud. "She’ll love that. But her species is human, like you and me. Only she was raised under three times the gravity you were and that gives her more muscle mass."
Mikal’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you saying that she’s Earthborn?"
Jason’s eyes narrowed as well. "I don’t know. Does that make her a demon?"
"No, but demons know of our legends, it is said, and a clever one could use that knowledge to gain my confidence."
"What legends are those?"
Brother Mikal hesitated.
"You just said that demons know your legends. Either I am a demon pretending not to know, or a human who really does not. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to tell me, would it?"
"I should be reporting the fact that you have awakened to my superiors, not engaging in idle conversation with you."
"Do you want to wake your superiors at this time of night? It seems very dark out there."
"It’s the Hour of Andromeda. Midnight. I will be going on watch soon."
"Then your superiors must be sleeping peacefully. Why not wait a bit and try to understand a few things yourself? You do like to understand things, don’t you?" Jason jerked his head toward the telescope and the desk piled high with charts and scrolls. "Tell me some of your legends and I’ll tell you some of mine."
Mikal thought for a moment. "That seems fair enough," he said at last. "According to legend, Mars was explored and settled, long ago, by the Earthborn Men. In those days, they say, the sky was red instead of blue and the air was poisonous and the storms deadly. The Earthborn Men lived beneath the ground, in vast gardens. But they overreached themselves and tried to turn Mars itself into a garden. The gods punished them with fire from heaven, and torrential rains, and a great flood, and a deadly plague. There was war in Heaven, the angels seeking to help Men, and the demons to destroy them.
"They are still at war, but they have divided Mars between them. The north, surrounding the Boreal Sea, was turned into a garden, where men of Mars, the descendants of the Earthborn Men, can live and breathe. The high places in the South remain airless and cold, where only demons survive, for they are dead and do not breathe, and their bodies are cold and do not require heat. They are ruled by the Morgh Rajah, an all-powerful sorcerer. He can see great distances and appear anywhere and call up the power of the winds, turn night into day, and raise the dead to serve him. The angels, known as the Androi, try to protect us from him and from his demonic warriors. The Androi are seldom seen, but those who claim to have seen them say that they are beautiful and strong. It is also said that the Earthborn Men will return some day and with the help of the angels, finally defeat the forces of darkness."
"Have you seen any angels?"
"No, though I should like to."
"Have you seen any demons?"
"No, though I should like to. No, perhaps not. Unless it is from a great distance. They do not come to raid as often as they did, but they still appear now and then, and perhaps I shall see some one day, or even fight them."
"What do they look like?"
Mikal picked up a book and showed Jason a drawing. Jason studied the image; it appeared to be a rotting corpse dressed in battle-armour. The creature certainly looked demonic enough.
"What book is this?" Jason asked.
Mikal showed him the cover. "The Book of Morgh. That is their true name. The Morgh. But we don’t like to speak the word aloud. They are Death. Death dressed in impervious armour. With powerful weapons. They cannot be killed by ordinary weapons, for they are already dead. But electro-magnetic forces, a gift from the angels, can destroy them."
"That doesn’t sound like Sanchez to me," Jason mused. "She can be pretty frightening if you get on the wrong side of her, but she’s beautiful, just like a big cat. She showed me a picture once, of a creature from her native jungles--a jaguar. I told her it looked just like her, and you know what she did? She laughed and kissed me. Have you seen this all-powerful sorcerer?"
"No. He is said to appear at will, anywhere. Sometimes young and sometimes old, but always terrifying."
"Have you seen any other strange creatures?"
Mikal sat up straight. "There were more of you, weren’t there? In your ship."
"I didn’t say that. You were talking about legends and portents, and I just wondered what else you’d seen. Shall I tell you what I know of the Earthborn Men?"
"That was the bargain."
"The Earthborn Men are dead, most of them. Killed in the same plague you mention. Some of them went to the stars and returned in deep sleep, and thus a few survived. There are creatures called robots who walk and talk, but are not alive, and some of them look pretty frightening, though they are harmless to Men. There are other creatures called Androids, who are also robots but look like beautiful men and women. All of these are the servants and protectors of human beings, and we believe they have created this breathable atmosphere of yours, and the Boreal Sea, and the forests around it.
"There are even creatures called Cyborgs, who are men who have attached the parts of robots to themselves to help them survive. I was raised by one, who probably would have appeared frightening to you, and whom some thought the spawn of man and robot and considered to be a demon, but he was a kind and intelligent man whom I loved. He told me tales that I thought only legends, but which turned out to be true. I believe your legends are true as well, or most of them. I've never heard of Morgh Rajah, or his creatures, but I’m sure his power can be defeated. The Earthborn Men have indeed returned, Mikal, and they need your help."
Mikal stood and backed away, Capuchin clinging to his shoulder. He set the monkey on its perch and turned to Jason.
"You know that I want to believe you...
"But you are suspicious."
"Wouldn’t you be?"
"Yes, I would," Jason’s head dropped. "I am very tired, Mikal. I would appreciate it if you would wait till morning to tell your superiors that I am conscious. I could use some rest. Besides, I would not be very helpful to them in my present state, and I think... No, I know it is very important that we all understand each other. Much more important than you can imagine."
"Very well, Jason. I will go on watch now, and at dawn I will awaken the Brotherhood."
"Thank you, Mikal." Jason dropped off to sleep, and Mikal descended the stairs to the courtyard to relieve the Brother on watch before the cage. Sanchez smiled at him, and he caught himself smiling back, then frowned and turned his back. He could feel her dark eyes upon him.
Jason opened his eyes. "Hello, Capuchin," he said. The monkey, recognizing her name, turned to him. Jason, his arms still shackled over his head, pointed with one hand toward the keys that hung by the door, and with the other made a sign.
***
Brother Mikal stood in the courtyard, leaning on his staff. The gate was locked, and the one called Sanchez was safely trapped inside an electrified cage, but he was nervous. Jason’s stories whirled in his head, and somehow, he knew that the boy was telling the truth when he said that something very important was afoot. His own astrological calculations pointed to the fact.
"Mikal?"
"Do not speak to me, Demon."
"Oh, stop it. You know I’m not a demon. Is Jason all right?"
"He is healing well." Mikal turned and looked at her. She was indeed a beautiful creature, in a rather bizarre way. He began to notice that not all of her designs were demonic and ferocious. There were beautiful women, and foreign landscapes, and strange ships.
For a moment he was distracted by the southern sky, as Phobos, rushing backwards across the heavens, left Andromeda and briefly occulted Deimos, nearly stationary in Pegasus. The meaning was obvious.
"You’ve seen tattoos before, haven’t you?" she said, interrupting his reverie. "You have an ocean, so you must have sailors. She spread her arms in the cage, displaying her nakedness. Mikal could not turn away. "My whole life is here. These are the ancestral tattoos of my people, and I began adding to them as soon as I left home. We have to travel light in my business, and I couldn’t bring souvenirs with me. I got this one in Nueva York, this one on Mars a long time ago. It’s Mount Olympus. See? These I got on Ganymede and Callisto..."
Mikal averted his eyes from the erotic images. Perhaps she was a succubus, after all, or a whore, which was almost as bad. He turned his back on her, and suddenly realized that she had been using her body to distract him.
There was a figure standing outside the entrance to the compound. Mikal turned and began to run to the alarm-bell, but he stopped, spellbound, as the woman walked up to the gate. She was dazzlingly beautiful, with ice-blue eyes and long ashen hair, and when she smiled at him, her expression lit up his soul. She crouched down and leaped over the three-meter gate, landing as delicately as a cat in the courtyard. When his jaw dropped in amazement, she smiled at him again, put her finger to her lips, and turned to the gate. She took the lock in her hands and broke it as easily as Mikal broke his bread at dinner, then flung open the gates. Mikal was certain that he had seen an angel.
Two figures came out of the mist and strode into the courtyard. One was a tall and pretty adolescent girl, with a bow and arrow. The other was a man, somewhat older, small of stature, with abundant curly hair and a twinkling eye. In his hands was a device that looked like a musical instrument, but he held it like a weapon. They stood guard at either side of the gate as a tall figure came striding out of the mist. Mikal fell back in terror at the sight of him. He was head and shoulders taller than the others, and his skin was black as night. With incredibly long strides, he passed through the open gate, the mist swirling in his wake like a grey cloak and came directly toward Mikal and Sanchez.
It was a Wizard, Mikal thought, a Southern Wizard, burned black by the equatorial sun. For all he knew, it was the Great Sorcerer himself. Mikal shook off his reverie and raced for the alarm bell. Just as he reached for the rope, a powerful hand was clapped over his mouth, stifling his cry. Jason held him tight and placed a knife at his throat.
"We do not want to harm you," he whispered. "But we must leave immediately." Mikal watched helplessly as the strangers converged on the cage. The angel reached for it and pulled back her hand, as if stung. Was she a demon in angel’s dress? The curly-haired man ran his fingers over his instrument and the power died, the soft glow about the cage fading to nothingness. Then the angel gripped the cage, feeling with her fingers as if she could sense the weakness of the steel, and silently pulled the door off. Sanchez half-stumbled into her arms and the angel lifted her as if she were made of feathers. The Wizard took something from a pocket in his garment and ran his own huge hands over Sanchez’ limbs. Mikal recognized the movements and realized that the Wizard was a healer.
The young girl and the older man had gone into the stables and returned with horses. The angel prepared to mount, still holding Sanchez in her arms.
"Wait," Sanchez said. "There are robes in the tack-room. Doctor, you will need a white one, the rest of us should wear grey."
Sanchez looked at Mikal and winked, as the girl and the curly-haired man went to fetch the clothing. Mikal realized that Sanchez had been observing everything around her, perhaps listening to the Brothers' conversations, all the while. The one she called Doctor carried himself with authority; in the white robe of a Brotherhood Master, his privacy would be well respected. The others, in novice robes, would be well concealed, and no one would be surprised by their silence. In fact, they would all be given free food and lodging at any Pilgrim’s Rest, and since the Brotherhood travelled the world, any strange behaviour on their part would be accepted as simply foreign. Dressed appropriately now, the entire party began to mount up. The angel placed Sanchez in the saddle as if she weighed nothing, and then leaped lightly up behind her. Sanchez looked down at him.
"Mikal," she said, "do you want to come with us?"
His jaw dropped in astonishment. His heart ached to join them, to be a part of this company of beautiful creatures, to find out what in Mars’s name they were, and help them in their quest, whatever it was. "I can’t leave the Brotherhood," he said. "I have taken vows."
The girl and the curly-haired man mounted up, the former slinging her bow and quiver over her shoulder, and the latter doing the same with his strange instrument.
The angel looked at him, cradling Sanchez in her arms like a heavenly Madonna, and his heart melted before her blue-eyed gaze. When she spoke, it was a sound like a mother’s heartbeat. "You will be doing the Brotherhood’s work, Mikal. I’m sure of it."
"But... I can’t..."
The Wizard spoke in a deep and kindly voice. "He must do what he feels is right, Nadia." He swung up into the saddle, the great white robe swirling about him. "Jason?"
"Sorry, Mikal," said Jason in his ear, and struck him on the back of the head with the butt of the knife. Mikal slumped to the ground unconscious.
Some hours later, he awoke. The hour of Pegasus was giving way to that of Delphinus, and the sky was becoming light. He struggled to his feet and stumbled toward the warning-bell, then stopped. He turned and raced up the stairs to his room and began to gather up his most precious scrolls and books and stuff them in a duffel-bag.
"I don’t know what they are," he said to Capuchin. "If they’re demons they’ll kill me, but they could have killed me anytime. If they’re really the Earthborn Men, they will need my help, won’t they? In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize they appeared to me for a reason." He went to the monkey, who stretched out her arms, begging to be taken. "Too dangerous, Little One. The Brotherhood will take care of you. You've always liked Brother Jon, haven't you?" He looked at the key, hanging by the door, and the empty shackles lying on the bed. "How did he get loose, anyway?"
Brother Mikal descended the stairs and saddled his mount in the stables. He turned and looked up at the darkened monastery as he came out into the courtyard. "Everyone will think I was taken by demons. If I stay, I’ll be punished for letting them go, and no one will trust me. But worse than that, I’ll never know who these people are. And that's a thought I can’t stand."
He swung up into the saddle and rode out through the open gate.