This was one of the main curiosities of the business, but on one of our last evenings Scarsdale did draw me aside to reiterate the importance — and the secrecy — of our project. Here, for the first time in Zak, our great water tanks, each capable of holding over a thousand gallons, were filled for the desert crossing. The water was first boiled and then chemically purified according to an elaborate ritual laid down by Van Damm and the Professor.
The people of Zak, who were a curious race with long, pointed heads something like the ancient Egyptians were the most stolid and indifferent people I had ever encountered; not only were they completely unco-operative so far as photographs of themselves were concerned, but completely uninterested in ourselves or in the doings of the Great Northern Expedition. This was all the more astonishing to me as they had never even seen a motor vehicle in their lives, let alone such remarkable vehicles as those we were driving.
With their dark, conical hats, and white, beribboned clothing very much like pyjama tops worn with plus-fours and soft leather bootees, they were a reserved and sullen lot, though the women included some notable beauties. The girls particularly were white-skinned and given to revealing one nipple only, in their specially designed clothing, which to a Westerner was extremely provocative. Not that Scarsdale had any need to issue the warning he felt necessary to mention the first evening we were there; the hard, proud attitude of the men and the murderous disembowelling knives they carried sheathed in brass-studded scabbards at their belts would have discouraged the most ardent admirer of their womenfolk.
They were, however, among themselves completely polygamous. Though some women preferred three or four husbands and to reserve their favours alone for them, we did note some of the more prominent citizens who had eight or more wives, all under the age of twenty. Fortunately for us, such co-operation as we needed from the populace, was secured by the local ruler, the Mir of Zak, whom Scarsdale had met on his previous visit. He was an extremely jovial man, for these people, that is; over seven feet tall and proportionately broad, he made us welcome and insisted that we park our vehicles within the walls of his palace.
This extraordinary building had six courtyards with very fine tesselated pavements; the Palace itself was surrounded by a wall of pink granite over twenty feet high and the sun beat back pitilessly from the pavement of the enclosure so that we at first regretted the hospitality which had forced us to accept this arid spot. However, when Scarsdale had pointed out our difficulties to the Mir, he had our tractors removed to a shady inner court, where fountains of clear water tinkled into lead basins and where strange vegetation, with scarlet and green fruits, grew in riotous profusion.
The Palace itself was built of some sort of white volcanic rock or ash, compressed into bricklets, so that it looked like nothing more than a giant wedding cake; at certain times of day it was dangerous to the eyes to look directly at it, so blinding was the light it reflected from the sun, and our party had to wear smoked goggles when we were within the Palace grounds.
The town of Zak bestrode the plateau in a commanding position; it was a very ancient and even handsome place with its white and honey-coloured buildings and the clouds of pink birds, rather like doves, which inhabited its towers and courts, and which occasionally explored into the air so that the thousands of birds circling the city looked like a second sunset as the desert sun stained their plumage red. There were no less than ten thousand inhabitants of Zak and the people there still carried on a fairly sophisticated civilization; there were about a hundred land-owners and many of the people of the city went out daily to work on the farms which were extremely fertile, notwithstanding the savage sun, and richly irrigated by an elaborate water-works system controlled from the city.
The Mir, in laboured conversations conducted through Scarsdale told us something of his people's customs and history and promised that he would supply a guide to help us on our difficult journey across the desert to Nylstrom. There were even, if Scarsdale's translations were to be believed, civil servants, shopkeepers and many other grades of citizen, administrators and law-makers, within the walls of Zak. We looked, admired, strolled about the old town but avoided too close contact with the people. One could not explain it but one felt it necessary, despite the charm of the town itself. Our innate distrust of the people of Zak was something that was never to leave us.
Naturally, as we were thrown into close contact with one another, I was beginning to learn more about my companions. Dr Van Damm and Scarsdale, now that they were in the field, were working more harmoniously together which proved to me that their acidulous exchanges in England were little more than a pose. I had, of course, had more opportunity to observe my colleagues during the few weeks we had been working together in England and had grown to like them all in their different ways.
We had been together on board ship of course, but many other people were there as well; now, on the trip up to Zak we had each of us been alone, concentrating on steering and controlling the tractors, so that in the evenings, when we made camp, we were glad to re-establish contact once again. Now, in Zak, for the first time in our lives we were together and free of all but the most nominal duties for several days. Inevitably, we got to know a great deal more about each other in that brief space of time, than had been possible hitherto.
I had a field day for photography and utilising my companions as pack-mules was about the city early and late, photographing and filming for the records; I also intended to produce a moving picture of our activities and though Scarsdale and Van Damm grumbled at having to go through simple motions over and over again, until I had secured the material I wanted, I think they were secretly pleased at this chronicle of what should turn out to be an important step in man's fumbling advances towards knowledge.
Holden and Prescott tended to spend much of their time together; as they had once held scientific appointments with the same instrument manufacturing company, their friendship dated from many years earlier and was entirely understandable.
Scarsdale and I were within a decade of the same age but he was the leader of the party and his scientific and more abstruse interests meant that he and Van Damm had far more in common, despite the great discrepancy in their ages. Thus it was that I found myself the odd man out; no-one, of course, emphasised this in any way and it did not matter at all. I preferred it, in fact, and it meant that I could go about my photographic errands without having to wait on the whims or preferences of others.
I often spent my evenings on the windy edge of the plateau, which was one of the most interesting places in Zak; there, on a knife-edge of honey-coloured rock, I could look out across the desert, while on the other side, just below me in a fertile valley was the irrigation plant which fed the crops and the tall, curiously constructed windmills, with their irregular shaped vanes which pumped the water along the dykes to the fields.
The high whine of the pumping machinery; the keening of the wind far out; the curious patterns and whorls in the browny-grey sand of the desert which stretched away across the far horizon; the black and menacing line of the mountains in the distance; and the scorching breath of an oven which came from off the desert like the respiration of a wild beast had a fascination all its own and even now, after all this time, and with the knowledge I bear, I have only to close my eyes to bring it all vividly back to mind. These evenings represented almost the last peaceful moments I was to know in this life.