After the flitter had continued flying for some time, though, he began to lose faith in the moons as a navigational aid. Such directions were imprecise, after all, and fraught with the kind of mysticism that he hated.
Macostut, on the other hand, seemed to be overtaken with awe at the vastness of the desert landscape. "Will you look at that crater!" he cried, nodding to the black hole beneath them, full of rock and little else.
Kando was delighted. "Aha! We're near now. The stronghold is near a crater, and the lake is said to be nearby as well."
"Maybe I should fly around a little and look for it?"
"No, keep straight between the moons," Kando said, though he was sorely tempted by the idea of exploring the crater.
His perseverance was soon rewarded, although both he and Macostut almost missed spotting their target. As they flew over the crater and back into the Serpent's Spine ridge, the land was split between the ridge's vertebrae. The flitter was nearly past the split directly on their route when he looked directly down and saw that the space in the split gleamed in the moons' light.
"The lake!" he cried, pointing. "There it is. Take us down there."
The flitter passed through the crack in the ridge with barely two meters on each side of the craft to spare.
Silently it descended, and Kando gazed with wonder at the deep clear waters, within whose depths even now he could see the eyes of the chrysoberyls shining through the ripples. The moons' reflection seemed to blink in answer to his gaze as the slight turbulence from the flitter's descent ruffled the surface. Behind the flitter, the Temple was shadowed by the rocky face of the cliff, but its windows, though darkened, mirrored the water and the moons. Just beyond the flitter, stands of tall trees and grasses fluttered and waved.
"It's the most astonishingly beautiful place I've seen since I've been here," Macostut breathed.
"Right," said Kando, and opened the hatch to heave the first chemical bomb into the pristine waters.
Acorna followed the flickering torch carried by the old priest as he led her through the bowels of the Temple. It was very quiet now, with everyone off to bed, and all she heard was the soft shuffle of the old priest's steps, the crackle of the torch, her own footsteps and heartbeat, and the sound of running water.
The priest led her up and down stairways and through walls that seemed to contain no doorways until, as they passed through the last of these, she saw the water that had been making the sound. A broad, lively stream ran beside the narrow walkway. Acorna guessed it must feed into the lake. The Temple was built with its foundation underwater. The corridor through which she walked was inscribed with drawings as the other cave had been. It was ancient and did not appear to have been constructed. Possibly the earliest temple structure had simply made use of another lava tube like the one containing the lake. Volcanic ranges were full of such holes, some small, but as in this case, some of great depth and volume. The one containing the lake was cracked open at the top, but at one time far back in the planet's prehistoric times, the waters would have been deep inside the mountain.
Her head began to throb with the rush of the water, the flicker of the torch, the closeness of the tunnel.
Then suddenly the priest stopped directly in front of her.
She stopped, too. He pointed the torch at a rough white column set in the middle of the stream.
Sensing that she didn't understand, he moved in closer, and now she saw the shape was not a column, but a statue set upon a pedestal with the well that was the mouth of the stream bubbling up at the foot of its base. It was very tall and white, like the stone from which the Serpent's Spine ridges were made, not the cat's-eye stone used more often in Temples for ornament. The first thing she saw was the outstretched hand. Its carved fingers bore, like her own, just one knuckle. The statue's feet were cloven hoofed, with carved feathery hairs curling up the calves, just as such feathers curled up her own calves. The statue had hair that curled around a face and the deformed and slightly stunted horn that adorned it. She recognized the statue's features and posture-all except for the eyes, into whose sockets cat's-eye stones had been set, skewing the otherwise excellent likeness of Aari. But as she faced the statue full on, she realized that these particular chrysoberyls had wider stripes in the middle than usual, giving the eyes a less feline appearance than they might have otherwise, and the face could have been that of her mate when he was lost in thought.
"Aari," she said. Definitely Aari, just as in her dream.
The priest turned and beamed at her. "The Companion."
She was about to ask all of the questions in her mind when they were replaced by a rush of intense pain and an agonized cry, (Acorna! Help! Please, I escaped Edu, but he is on his way to the sacred lake to poison it, and then wipe out the Aridimi priesthood. You have to stop him.)
The feelings engendered by the cry were so intense that Acorna fell against the wall before she could regain her balance. The old priest turned, alarmed at what he saw in her face, but she was oblivious to him. (Nadhari!) she mind-called. (You're wounded. Where are you?)
(Never mind about me. You have to stop Edu and Macostut. I don't know how long I was unconscious. It may be too late already.)
(It may be too late for you if we don't get help for you. There are many people here to protect the lake.)
(He has poison, Acorna. Do something!)
(I will. But, Nadhari, I need you to concentrate now. Where are you? How long did it take you to get there? Did you happen to notice the coordinates again shortly before you left the flitter?)
(No-yes, there was a sandstorm. A terrible storm. I was sucked out into it when I tried to overpower Edu and Macostut and take over the ship. I dove into a drift of sand to escape having my skin stripped off, but I'm still pretty raw and sooo thirsty. The storm is over now, though, so it isn't so bad.)
(I think I have a good sense of where you are. Captain Becker can come for you. The Aridimi have searchers out, too. Someone will come to find you. Make noise if you can.)
(I can't do much,) Nadhari said regretfully. (I don't think I can speak at all, my throat is so raw.)
Acorna turned her thoughts to Becker. (Captain, I am receiving a telepathic message from Nadhari. I think she is somewhere near these coordinates. Will you please go look for her? She may die otherwise. And, Captain?)
Becker, who had been asleep when her mind prodded his own, growled, "What?"
(Watch out for the Mulzar's Federation flitter. Nadhari says they were also caught in the sandstorm, but they flew off after ditching her in the desert. She says Kando intends to poison the sacred lake.)
(I'll keep my eyes peeled, Princess.)
Acorna allowed the present situation to flood back into her senses. She saw the old priest bending over her, a look of excitement so great his wizened old body could hardly contain it emanating from every pore.
"Even so must it have been when the Companion came to save us. So he knew words that were not spoken, saw events that were not in front of his eyes."
Acorna nodded. "Yes, we do that. And, although there is so much I need to ask you about this wonderful statue - about Aari's visit here-the lake is in danger. Mulzar Kando and an accomplice intend to poison it."
Twenty-One
Splash! RK's ears twitched at the sound. He sniffed and opened an eye, trying to keep the dream he was having about Haruna safe behind his other, closed eye.