Donnchadh realized he was right. They had accomplished much for only being two against those who ruled as Gods. Gwalcmai went to the ship’s captain and issued him instructions, directing that they head toward the northeast.
When he returned to Donnchadh he saw that she was looking up and he knew what was on her mind. “He has long since died.”
“I know,” Donnchadh acknowledged, “but I can still mourn.”
“Mourning is all that seems to come of this.”
Donnchadh nodded. “There will be more grief before it is all over.”
Aspasia had the Talon’s visual sensors zoom in on the planet that was receding behind them. He could see Artad’s mothership passing over the massive wave that was moving out in a perfect circle from where Atlantis had been. The wave was moving at almost six hundred kilometers an hour.
The first land it hit was the western tip of Africa. As the water grew shallower the wave slowed, but that energy was translated in water displacement and the tsunami grew taller, doubling in height by the time it hit the shoreline.
For those onshore, the first indication of something amiss was the water actually withdrawing from the land, baring the sea bottom to the sun. Fish were caught by the sudden disappearance of the water and lay flopping in the mud. Some humans went out to gather this unexpected bounty, not knowing their doom was racing toward them.
The air was filled with the sound of a thousand thunder-storms. Then the wall of water appeared. It swept ashore first in western Africa, then all around the Atlantic coastline as the circle expanded. It surged inland, in some places penetrating over 150 kilometers before finally coming to rest. Some of the wave even passed through what would be called the Pillars of Hercules into the Mediterranean, causing devastation throughout that basin.
The tsunami, greatly diminished, even made it around the capes on the southern tips of America and Africa and into the other oceans, circling the globe. So worldwide was the effect that the legend of the Great Flood would pass into legend among all peoples of the world.
Aspasia cared little about what the water had done. His sensors tracked Artad’s mothership as it crossed Europe. It came to a halt above a tall peak in the land that was located between Asia, Europe, and Africa, where it off-loaded the thousands on board. After the people had dispersed, the pilot of the vessel did as Aspasia had done in North America— hollowing out a cavern inside the mountain and caching the massive ship inside.
Even though his Talon was drawing farther and farther away from the planet, the sensors were able to pick up a half dozen golden saucers zooming off to the east, disappearing around the edge of the planet. Aspasia had no doubt he was witnessing some plan Artad had set in motion to keep his own side in play through the truce. It was the Airlia way.
Many people must have died.” Donnchadh was lying next to Gwalcmai, his arm around her, near the stern of the boat. The sail flapped in the light breeze, propelling the ship to the northwest.
“Yes.” Gwalcmai said no more and they were quiet for a while, both looking up at the stars.
“Do you think—” Donnchadh began, but Gwalcmai gently put a hand over her mouth.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “This is what we came here to do. Some dead now versus many dead later. This is going to be a very long war. Very long. And it’s just begun.”
VII
Donnchadh and Gwalcmai passed other ships on their way to the northeast, most of the craft hav-ing been badly battered by the wave. Twice they stopped and took on board survivors of vessels that were foundering, also off-loading whatever supplies they found. One of those vessels had two dozen high priest supplicants on board. They had run away from the temple when the door was slammed in their face by the Guides during the loading of the first mothership. Seeing the Ark and Sphinx being lifted out had convinced them that the end was near and they needed to leave.
In Donnchadh’s view this meeting was a fortuitous opportunity and she spent most of the journey with the twenty-four supplicants, telling them the truth about the Airlia — up to a point. She did not tell them where she and Gwalcmai were from or of the other planets. Simply that the Airlia were not Gods, but rather creatures that used humans for their own ends. The supplicants had no difficulty believing her, given recent events. By the time they landed on the southwest coast of England, Donnchadh and Gwalcmai had come up with a plan for these men.
They led them inland. During their time on the island, the two had prepared for various contingencies and were using one of those strategies now. After several days of hardmarching, the group arrived at a lake. In the very center, a hill rose precipitously up out of the water to a cone-shaped top. It was a great tor, towering over five hundred feet above the lake. Donnchadh and Gwalcmai had come across this strange geological structure several lifetimes ago. There was a small village on the south side of the lake. Seeing the strangely dressed party approach, the inhabitants fled and the group appropriated several boats to cross the lake to the island. Before they departed, Donnchadh had the supplicants gather several torches.
A thin trail wound its way back and forth up the tor to the top. They wove their way upward in silence. When they reached the top, the view was magnificent. A large plain surrounded the lake and tor in all directions. A small circle of blackened stones indicated where the locals had set a fire. Next to it was a larger stone, about a foot high by six long and three wide. Donnchadh and Gwalcmai had placed it there with great effort. They noticed that there were objects of worship on the stone — dried flowers; mummified corpses of small animals; smaller, carved rocks.
With one arm Gwalcmai reached out to sweep the objects off the stone, but Donnchadh stopped him. “Myth is valuable,” she said, and she carefully removed them and placed them at the base of the stone as the supplicants waited.
Once the stone was clear, Donnchadh used the medallion around her neck. She pressed it against a spot near the top of the stone. The supplicants were not overly surprised when the stone slid down two feet and moved sideways, revealing steps descending into darkness. They had seen such and more while on Atlantis.
Donnchadh led the way down the stairs, the supplicants following, Gwalcmai bringing up the rear, closing the stone behind them. The flames from the torches flickered off the stone walls as they descended.
Donnchadh and Gwalcmai had taken a chance years previously, using a stone-cutting tool appropriated from the Airlia supplies on their planet to carve out this passageway. They’d done it because, by using sensors, they had been able to determine there were several large voids deep underneath the tor and they had cut their way down to reach and connect those voids, making their own version of the Roads of Rostau. The air inside was damp and chilly. The stone walls were perfectly cut, the steps smooth and unmarked.
They came to a halt on a landing with a stone wall ahead and more stairs descending ninety degrees to the right. Donnchadh put her medallion to a spot on the stone wall and a hidden doorway appeared.
Donnchadh led the way through, the rest following. The dampness was gone now, although it was still chilly. The light from the torches grew much brighter as it was reflected a thousand times over from crystals that lined the cavern. The open space was two hundred meters long by a hundred wide.
Donnchadh went to the right along the wall to another door, flanked by two pillars of crystal. She opened the door and a level tunnel lay beyond. They walked along it for a kilometer before Donnchadh abruptly stopped. She placed her medallion against the left side of the tunnel and another hidden door appeared and opened. They entered a small chamber, ten meters long by five wide. The twenty-six crowded inside. There was a small wooden table in the middle of the room and Donnchadh went to the far side of it. A scroll of papyrus was on the table, held down on each corner by small pieces of crystal.