Alpha 1472 (19 page)

When he had finished talking the three men huddled into a small circle and, in a whisper they hurriedly discussed what the voice from God had just said. They were unaware that everything they were saying could be heard by all. Having deliberated about their reply, they addressed the voice. Balthasar spoke,

“Almighty ones, with the greatest respect we can show, we must decline your request,” As he spoke he was overcome by a great feeling of trepidation, a feared that he may anger these powerful beings, bringing down retribution on his people. But, somewhat warily, he continued. “Since our tribes were formed, and records began, our beliefs have been set in stone. This is the way we worship and keep the memory of the original visitors alive. All of our people believe the same. We three are merely the present kings of our tribes and as such are just the representatives of our great peoples. We cannot ask our people, or be seen by our people to treat or address you in any other way. To us you are the almighty ones the ones who bought order to our lives, the very source of who we are. We cannot turn our back on our tradition or our people. So with due respect we hope that you will accept that to us, to all of us, you must be worshipped because it is the order of things.”

Everyone who could hear, had stopped what they were doing and had listened intently to what the leader had to say. And with the greatest compassion, they had realised that these three men were indeed strong, rightful leaders of their people.
Everyone felt humbled that a comparatively primitive society could show such fortitude and sense of being. For them it was clear that they had absolutely no right to try to interfere with their beliefs. From the brief silence that followed, Harrison felt that he was in tune with the thoughts of all of his people on the surface and believed that he was about to speak on their behalf.

“You three men are indeed fine representatives of your nations. And we accept your reasons for not changing the way in which you address us. It was wrong of us to attempt to alter
things. You are strong willed and we respect your decisions. You will not hear my voice again, but, know this. I feel honoured to have this opportunity to speak to you. I hope you continue to be strong because I feel that you are, and will continue to be, great leaders who will lead your tribes into great prosperity and wisdom”

With this the three leaders once again fell to their knees and raised their hand to the skies in adoration. Gaspar spoke on their behalf, “Masters. We are, and always will be, your servants. Look down on us and see how we grow. We hope we will live up to your expectations.”

As the sun began to fall behind the mountain range to the west, it revealed one of the most spectacular sunsets they had ever seen. On their home planet any sunset that may occur was artificially reproduced. To see one occurring naturally was a joy and a wonder. JD had set a camera on a tripod to capture the spectacle. They noticed a remarkable change of temperature as the sun slowly disappeared. They felt a chill which made the hairs on their arms stand up, and cause them to brace against the cold. In reality the temperature had not dropped that dramatically, but compared to the heat of the day it was more than noticeable. They had been taking a break on the parapet of the cave when two separate things occurred at the same time. As they looked to the left of where they were standing they could see the solitary figure of Travis heading in their direction. At the speed he was travelling they estimated that he would arrive in approximately five to ten minutes. The thing that was taking most of their attention could be seen directly in front of them. From this elevated position they could see the three tribes spread out in front of them still sitting in ranks, cross legged. They had been there since their arrival and the two men wondered how they could stay there all day in the searing heat. This was, however, not what had caught their attention. In the distance they could see, coming down the valley, more tribesmen. The new arrivals numbered a further three hundred or so as far as they could estimate. Watkins took a pair of binoculars from his pack and held them up to get a better look at what was heading their way. The approaching tribesmen looked, to all intent and purpose exactly the same as the ones that presently sat before them. The main difference was that these newcomers were transporting many items of differing sizes. Some were smaller and were carried on the backs of people supported by pieces of cloth hung around the top of their heads, effectively creating a support sling. Others were much larger and required teams of men to transport those using long poles much akin to people carrying large stretchers. Matthew handed the binoculars to John so that he could also get a better look at the scene below. They were both curious and began to hypothesise as to the meaning of the new arrivals. Then, they heard a long blast on some sort of instrument. It was a muted but loud sound that they felt sure could be heard for miles around. As soon as the tribesmen who were working in the cave had heard the sound they instantly stopped work and made for the cave opening. Once there they urged JD and Watkins to descend the cliff face to join the others. They did not ask why, their curiosity was at such a level that they wanted to know what was happening down below and so they duly began to make their way down. As they traversed the last few feet to the bottom, Travis arrived on his bike. Although this was a strange sight to all of the tribesmen, none of them broke ranks. They all sat in their places. There was much discussion and pointing amongst them as they marvelled at this new visitor on this strange machine. None of them had ever, or could ever have, seen such a technologically advanced piece of equipment. The sight of this only served to further cement their position as almighty beings in the eyes of their hosts. Travis propped his cycle against the base of the cliff where it seemed to meld into its background which further amazed the on looking tribe. He then went to greet his fellow travellers who briefed him on their progress and drew his attention to the approaching hoard.

The two groups of people merged into one group which now formed a circle around a sizeable stack of the cargo which had been manually carried to this place. Through the crowd came one man who approached the elders. The elders stepped forward to meet the man half way between the crew members and the
gathering. He said to the leaders that everything was in place and that they were, with their permission, ready to commence. As soon as he had received their permission he turned to face the crowd who were waiting silently for the signal. He raised his arms into the air and stood in a Y stance and waited until he was sure that he had everyone’s attention. When he was sure that he had, he bought his hands together in one resounding clap which seemed to reverberate all around the area. At this point the, up until now, quietly ordered tribe sprang into action. Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar turned and walked back to address the crew.

“Almighty ones, we have awaited your arrival for many generations. To celebrate your presence among us we have prepared a feast in your honour.
Tonight we will feast and rejoice. Tomorrow we will double our efforts to complete your quest. But tonight, we must commemorate your company.”

JD addressed the captain and said that they were sorry but it looked like they were about to have a party and that it seemed that they had no choice.
They would, however, set a series of cameras so that the ship could observe the celebrations. The captain agreed and they waited.

Over the next hour the scene before them was transformed from an open plain into a makeshift camp. A series of large tents had been constructed
in the shape of a large horseshoe, the open end of which was facing the cliff face where they stood. A huge fire had been started in the centre of the camp and the orange glow illuminated all of the marquees which seemed to stand out against the dusky night. It was not yet fully dark and they could see the plume of smoke rising into the evening sky. Butchered animals were bought to the fire and set among the growing embers to begin cooking alongside several large pots containing more food. The central tent of the horseshoe was simply an open three sided structure with a roof and into this area was placed a number of seats rough hewn from wood and covered with several animal hides. At the base of the cliff where the ground was cooler were placed several large terracotta urns containing some kind of liquid which they assumed was to be the refreshments for the evening.

By the time that the sun had completely set and the dark of the night was truly established, the preparations were complete.
The three leaders beckoned JD, Watkins and Travis to join them at the feast. As the three men walked towards the gathering the three kings bowed their heads and offered out their arm in a guiding motion as they walked past. They walked through the crowd for the first time and as they did so a path was created through the tribe. They were slowly walking through a group of people who were completely silent. As the passed each of them bowed their heads. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the large fire. They continued walking through the path as it formed. It eventually led to the centre tent where they stood facing the six hundred strong crowd, in an eerie, surreal silence. Within seconds they were joined by the three leaders who took their places behind them. Melchior leaned forward and said to them. “Masters, they are waiting for your permission” JD asked what should they say? And he was told to simply tell them to begin. JD cleared his throat, glanced around at the others, shrugged, and then announced “Let the festivities begin.” The instant the words had left his mouth, the silent scene erupted into joyous mayhem. A cacophony of cheering, whistling, whooping and shouting washed over the crowd. All six of them took their seats in the tent and as they did so tribal drums started to play. The sound of the drums affected the entire tribe who started to dance around the fire in a clockwise direction and began to sing in unison. As they watched the spectacle that was unfolding before them they were tended on by a series of young tribesmen and women who bought to them food and drink which they laid upon the table that was situated before them. The contents of the banquet was simply astounding, it was astonishing to believe that in such a short space of time they had prepared all of this fare and indeed the surrounding in which they now found themselves. As the food was laid down the aromas that emanated from the table were mouth-watering. Even before they had sampled anything before them they could almost taste what they were about to eat. After an hour of feasting and watching, the entire tribe stopped dancing and they all raised their hands to the sky and with one almighty roar the ritual dance was over. What followed was a series of individual and group performances, which included sword swallowing, singing, fire eating, individual dances, combat demonstrations and much more. All of the performances were greeted with great applause and cheering from the rest of the audience who by now were all seated around the horseshoe and was also indulging in the abundant fare. It took about three to four hours to complete all of the performances. At the conclusion, the entire arena became calm and relatively quiet. Individual groups formed, made up of people from different tribes all meeting within the sub groups that were now amusing themselves. It was a terrific sight to see, all of these people happy to be entertained without technology.

The six of them sat in the head tent and talked about the tribal history, the laws and the way of life that these people led. Any question asked was eagerly answered. Never once was an untoward question asked of the crew. Their hosts thought that it was beyond their place to be so impertinent
, even though their curiosity was boiling over.

They talked for about an hour, and then, there was a lull in the conversation. Melchior saw this as his opportunity.
He motioned towards a man who was standing nearby. The man approached and whispered exchanges were made. The man left. He returned minutes later with nine young females. They were paraded in front of the visitors. Each of the girls was about eighteen years of age, and each of them beautiful and blemish free. They all wore the finest silk garments which barely covered. As the silk rested against their skin every contour of their bodies was highlighted under the fine cloth. Melchior turned to the crew members.

“Masters, May we introduce our gift to you. These are
the virgins of our tribes and all of their lives they have been prepared for this moment they are all dedicated to the purpose. Since birth they have been awaiting your arrival and we guarantee their purity, now we offer them to you.”

Back on board, the rest had been watching the proceeding and indeed enjoying the evening. But now, things were different. Mary spat out the drink she had and began to laugh. The rest of them also found it amusing, even Hatch found himself indulging in a slight snigger. Watkins let his head roll back and
out loud he said “Captain, help.” Through a muffled snigger Daniels asked what the problem was. He had immediately seen this as a chance to inject a much needed shot of levity. He cut the reception to the leader’s ear pieces and then he gave the crewmen his advice.

“OK, so let me see
. You now have choice boys. Choice A is to accept the gift of your hosts and take a girl each and do with them what you have to. Now this would definitely appease the elders, because from what I can gather these young women have been bred to remain celibate in case you decided to call. In their culture it is probably an honour for them and their families to be chosen to be one of the ‘virgins for the almighties.’ Or you have choice B, Which is of course the company line. Now the company line states that any member of the crew experiencing an encounter of the close kind should take care not to inject any of our culture into theirs.” This started a wave of giggles that could be heard in the ear pieces. “Now you are the guys on the front line and to be honest, I don’t think even I could get there in time to stop you. So, I would like to think that you would use your intellectual manhood and choose option B, but the decision is yours. Just remember, whatever you do we will be listening to make sure that you keep the end up for the corps.” At this the entire crew burst into uncontrollable laughter. The choice was obvious, but it was comforting to know that the person who was leading you had a sense of humour.