The Echolone Mine (14 page)

Carlin
wandered, light blue eyes taking everything in avidly.

As they waited
for the women on the most comfortable couches in the entire
universe, Torrullin asked, “Carlin, are you familiar with
glyphs?”

“Oh, indeed. I
have studied Valleur glyphs, Egyptian, Aldari, Venusian, even
Avior. Those are the big ones, but I have studied others also. Some
have no race claim or it was lost a long time ago, and others are
too obscure to count among the big five.”

“Study is one
thing, but can you read them?”

“The big five
certainly. The others - most. There are a few, however, where no
translations were made.”

“Let us hope
it is not one of those,” Elianas murmured. “I never knew there were
people on Cèlaver.”

“In, not on,”
Carlin grinned, and launched into a succinct account of Cèlaver
history.

The big fire
died to glowing embers.

In honour of
Elixir, everyone crowded around it to eat, to talk, to laugh and to
drink. The archaeologists, the greeners, the shamans, the
villagers, Allith and her father all squeezed in, along with the
six newcomers. Food came first - and it was outstanding - and
shouted introductions, a potent brew was next, and then more
serious talk.

The
environmentalists, in the form of a serious young woman, laid claim
first.

“My Lord
Elixir, everyone knows you prefer the older ways to a technological
society, but does that extend to mining and the like?”

“I am against
it and I do not care who knows it. Beacon was denied Valaris
because we refused to allow them to exploit us.”

The woman
smiled. “Are there minerals?”

“Yes, but they
do not know that.”

She grinned.
“You lied to them?”

“Absolutely.”

She laughed.
“What do we do here?”

“There will be
a meeting in three days. We shall find a workable solution.”

Another
greener spoke. “It’s a truth technology requires the metals mining
uncovers.”

Torrullin
nodded. “More worlds use technology than don’t. Fact is, we cannot
completely stop mining and industry, for those of us satisfied with
the simple life are by far the minority. However, if we do not
fight exploitation, we lose even the simple ways.”

“You will make
this clear at the meeting?”

“Yes,”
Torrullin said. “That mine was an eyesore.”

The
environmentalists erupted in spontaneous clapping.

“An eyesore
covered over,” an archaeologist said, “which is great, but we lost
an opportunity to discover much about the past.”

“The entrance
was sealed,” Allith murmured. “Apparently the door is still
safe.”

She had thrown
a stick of dynamite into the fire. The archaeologists started
talking at once, all together.

“No,”
Torrullin said. “It cannot be reached.”

“We could sink
a shaft …”

“And have
miners flooding the area again?” Torrullin murmured. “I think not.
The mine is gone and remains gone.”

“But Elixir,
it’s a find!”

“I did not say
it would be ignored. It will be investigated, by me and my
companions.”

Another stick
of dynamite lobbed in.

“Unfair!”

“We should be
allowed in!”

“We came
first!”

Torrullin held
a hand up. “The way in will kill every one of you. As it is, it
will take all Elianas and I possess to ensure the safety of the
other four of our party.”

An older man
begged, “Please let me take one of their places.”

“I understand
your thirst for knowledge, for it drives me also, but, friend, I
cannot do without them. Caballa and Lowen are seers, Cassy has an
ancient background and Carlin is an expert in glyphs.”

“He is?”
another archaeologist demanded. “We made tracings, you know, full
tracings.”

Carlin leaned
forward, his face animated. “May I see them?”

Stubborn
silence greeted his question.

Torrullin
barked a laugh. “Very well. If Carlin has all he needs in those
tracings, I shall take one of you in his stead.”

“Me!” the
archaeologist who revealed the existence of the tracings shouted
first.

“Bugger you,
Jack,” the older man said.

It was about
to degenerate into a loud argument, thus Torrullin interfered. “Who
among you has dealt most with tombs and underground
civilisation?”

The older man
smiled. “That would be me.”

“Then you are
on board. Forgive me, I forget your name.”

“Petin Marlo,
my Lord.”

“You are
Xenian, by your accent.”

Petin Marlo
inclined his head. He smiled at Lowen. “Max Dalrish is a personal
friend.”

She returned
the smile. Max Dalrish was the Peacekeeper of Xen III, and she was
a Dalrish. If Xen had claim to royalty, the Dalrish were it.

“Mr Marlo,
there is a proviso,” Torrullin began.

“Petin,
please. I may look older than you, but I know I am far
younger.”

Torrullin
grinned. “Petin, then.”

“Proviso, my
Lord?”

“That you are
transparent with all findings. You share with your colleagues
here.”

“Agreed.”

The team of
archaeologists whooped it up and called for the tracings.

As one of
their team rose, Allith’s father spoke for the first time.

“You are from
the stars, Torrullin Valla. You see far in all directions, yet you
bring two seers with you?”

Torrullin
bowed over at the old man, a mark of respect for the wrinkles,
experience and wisdom in faded blue eyes. And a sense of
otherworldliness. His name was Anethor Tin and he was not head
shaman for nothing.

“I have lost
the ability to see, my father. We hear visions are given in the
presence of this strange door.”

Anethor
sighed. “That is true.”

“Do you seek a
vision?” another villager asked.

“I merely seek
to find the answer.”

“There are
many answers,” Anethor murmured. “Which do you seek?”

Torrullin
spread his hands. “All of them.”

Anethor shook
with silent laughter and then, “No one man may have all the
answers, Torrullin Valla. The burden would be too great.”

Torrullin
stared into his eyes.

“Perhaps you
are that man, yes.”

“I think he
wouldn’t bear the burden alone,” Allith whispered to her
father.

The shaman’s
eyes flicked to Elianas and rested there. “No, he has an eternal
companion.”

Elianas, like
Torrullin, stared calmly back.

Anethor
wheezed a laugh and squeezed his daughter’s hand. “Fetch me some of
that brew, will you?”

Torrullin and
Elianas glanced at each other and then looked away.

“I had a
vision,” a villager murmured. “I’ve never had one before.”

“So did I,”
the young greener woman said. “Scared me.”

Petin Marlo
cleared his throat. “It happened to me as well.”

Torrullin
looked from one to the other. “Did any of your shamans experience
the same?”

Only one
nodded. “It was my first, but I’m not sure whether it’s the result
of my training or proximity to the door.” He was young, barely out
of his teens.

Anethor
murmured, “Our visions have ceased recently.”

Torrullin
sucked at his teeth. A widespread phenomenon, then. He said to the
young man, “It is the door.” He gazed around. “Will the four of you
share your visions with us?”

The
archaeologist returned with a bunch of rolled appears. “We need
space to - sorry, did I interrupt?”

Torrullin bade
him sit, saying they would look at the tracings in a while. He
gazed questioningly at the villager. She was a middle-aged woman,
attractive with dark eyes, and she nodded.

“Life is
simple here, so great events are easily noticed, if ever they come.
They don’t usually. Our greatest event in the last century was
contacting an ancestor from Mon Unon and I know I can say that to
you without fear of ridicule. In the last ten years the only event
worth mentioning is the flooding of Four River Crossing. So, when
that man found gold, it was huge, but when the others came it
wasn’t an event, it was a disaster.

“Even if
everyone goes away, the disaster remains. Much will have to
repaired and many folk will find it hard to think the way we did
before. Still, all can be coped with, with time and patience, but
when an old woman like me suddenly sees a thing, me, not a shaman,
then, in my world, it’s a massive event.”

She leaned
forward, eyes boring into Torrullin’s. “What is worse is seeing it
come true.” She leaned back, unconsciously slapping her thighs. “I
didn’t say anything, but I wish I had. Who would believe me, I
thought?”

“What did you
see?”

“I saw what
happened today.”

There were
gasps around the fire.

“When did you
see this?” Torrullin prompted.

“Two weeks
ago. My youngest gawped at the activity, and I went to fetch him
from the mine, don’t want no youngster of mine getting involved
with those greedy men. I found him at the top of the slope and
that’s when it happened. Poor boy, he thought I’d taken ill. I sent
him to help his older brother on his farm, put him out of harm’s
way. Then nothing happened and I thought I’d imagined it, until the
news came earlier.” She lapsed into silence and then added. “I’m
sorry. I should’ve said something.”

“It’s all
right,” Anethor murmured. “We are safe but for one, regrettably,
and the mine is closed now.”

Torrullin
added, “Regret can sour a soul, aunt. Let it go.”

The woman
smiled her thanks.

Lowen spoke.
“We heard the visions were of good things.”

Allith
replied, “That’s true for the most part. In the lower village at
least four women I know of saw flowers and fields.”

“I saw
flowers, too,” the environmentalist said. She looked warily at
Torrullin. “Is it true what they say about the number
fourteen?”

He blinked.
“What do they say?”

“That it’s a
magical number?”

“Seven is the
magical number,” the shaman said.

“All numbers
have magic, as do words, music, rhythm and the senses,” Torrullin
said. “Yet, of all the properties, fourteen is most sacred. In
there lies the laws of magic. Simply put, it isn’t a magical number
- it
is
magic.”

“Why do you
ask?” Elianas asked of the woman.

“The flowers
were laid out to reveal the number fourteen.”

“And what
colour were they?”

“Yellow.”

Torrullin
sighed and Elianas whispered to him, “Nemisin had a recurring dream
about yellow flowers in fourteen.”

“I know,”
Torrullin muttered.

“Is something
wrong?” a shaman muttered.

“It is too
early for that kind of judgement,” Cassy said.

“Young man,”
Torrullin said to the young shaman, “what did you see?”

He cleared his
throat. “I saw black clouds, my Lord, everywhere, all over the
land.”

“Echolone?”

“All land
everywhere.”

Caballa
covertly made the sign of the Goddess over her breast. It did not
escape Anethor’s eagle-eyed gaze. “Lady, what do black clouds
signify to you?”

She stared at
him and then glanced at Torrullin.

“Answer
him.”

Caballa said,
“Darkness, evil, void, chaos, darak fallen, eternal change,
disaster, nothing to feel comfortable about.”

The young
shaman gasped in horror.

Anethor probed
further. “You are a seer. Have you many visions yourself?”

Caballa
nodded. “Many, yes.”

“Have you ever
had a vision of black clouds?”

“I have
not.”

“You cannot be
certain it is disaster, evil and all those other words.”

Caballa
smiled. “I guess not. One’s mind often makes impulsive
connections.”

“One last
question,” Anethor murmured. “Have your visions been true?”

Caballa looked
at her hands. “I haven’t been wrong yet.”

Anethor
sighed. “What a curse that must be.”

Caballa looked
up. “Until it is taken from you and you realise it is an
extraordinary gift.”

Beside her
Lowen made a sound in a throat and lowered her head.

Petin Marlo
fidgeted. “Can I tell mine now?”

There was
general laughter.

Torrullin
gestured and Petin rose to his full height, which was not much at
all.

“It’s like
this. We were at the door within an hour of our arrival. Jack there
started the dating process and Muller over there started tracing.
The rest of us investigated the surroundings. I stepped back to get
a good view of the door’s construction, when the strangest feeling
overcame me, light-headed, kind of out-of-body. I think I must have
groaned, for Muller told me to keep quiet, and thus I said nothing.
I’ve said nothing until now.”

Petin paused
and walked around the glowing embers to kneel before Torrullin.

“Do you know
Max Dalrish used the farspeaker chain to bring these here present
archaeologists together?”

Torrullin
shook his head.

Petin nodded.
“He heard of this from the Kaval and said only the man who can walk
through doors can sort this out. He meant you, of course, and
pulled us experts together to keep the miners at bay until you
could get here. The greeners were doing a good job, but, trust me,
every one of us experts would have throttled a hundred miners each
to protect the door from a blast, and Max knew that.”

“Max is an
astute man.”

Petin nodded.
“Now, of course, only you can get to it.”

“And you will
be there.”

“True,” Petin
grinned.

“Now tell me
exactly what you saw.”

“I saw you and
him.” He gestured at Elianas. “The two of you knocked at the door.
That’s it.”

“Gods,”
Torrullin muttered.