Chapter 3: Meeting Krolos

Gren was standing there in the doorway.

“You finish bathing?” she asked.

“Yes, thank you. I feel much better,” I replied.

“You talk strange, are you M’goo?” she asked. Her hand crept towards a knife on her belt.

“No. I’m not. I’m a traveller,” I replied.

That seemed to pacify her.

“Come,” she said.

I followed Gren back to the entrance of the structure. Waiting there were the two Trauts who’d travelled with me. One grunted and gestured in a direction. I walked ahead, with them a step behind me.

We arrived at a smaller structure, and he opened the door and directed me to enter. Inside was a single room, with a crude bed against one wall.

“You rest,” he said. Then he closed the door behind me.

I surveyed the room. The opposite wall had a window. It was too small to escape through, and I expected they’d set a guard outside the door.

I sat on the bed, considering my choices. The Trauts were primitive. The long-buried shuttle and their language suggested Baglogi origins.

Perhaps their leader, Krolos, would offer more insight.

I lay down and closed my eyes. We’d travelled for days and I needed rest. Their leader could wait.

The shuttle reunited with Ship near the asteroid belt in the Uv’ek system. They were soon through decontamination and up to the main bridge.

“Ship, you remember Cathy? She has now signed up as crew,” said Jem.

“Confirmed. Updating her status, Commodore. She needs ID and locator chips,” said Ship.

“Of course. Saria, could you take care of this?” asked Jem.

Saria smiled. She fetched a small hand-held device.

“Please hold out your right arm,” said Saria.

Cathy did as asked. Saria held the device against her arm.

“Ouch!” said Cathy. She rubbed her arm.

“The pain will soon fade. You now have two microchips in your arm. One is used to confirm your identity in advanced systems. The other is used to locate you, if you become lost,” said Jem.

“Oh,” said Cathy.

“Your ID chip grants you access to all relevant areas of this vessel. It also ensures food dispensers only offer compatible food,” added Ship.

“That makes sense. So, it’s like a key?” asked Cathy. On Earth, she knew of ID cards and badges.

“Yes, Cathy. You might need to wave your right arm in front of a door or an access panel to scan it,” replied Ship.

“I like that. I often used to lose my keys back home,” said Cathy.

“This is your home now, Cathy,” said Jem.

“Right. I mean my former home,” she said.

Jem smiled.

“Saria, please show her where her cabin is, and explain the tracking device,” ordered Jem.

“Yes, Commodore!” said Saria with a salute.

Saria guided Cathy back to the elevator. Jem turned to Laine.

“If we’re done here, we can resume our patrol,” said Jem.

“I suggest we include systems with obelisks in our route,” said Laine.

“Agreed. Ship, plot a patrol and include systems that have obelisks along the way,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“You have gathered what you needed here?” asked Jem.

“Affirmative,” replied Ship.

“Then take us to our next destination,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

On the tactical display, Ship moved towards the edge of the system. A while later, the hyper-drive cut in and they winked out of normal space.

I woke to the sound of knocking on the door. It took me a moment to understand what was happening. On a vessel, the doors had chimes. The last few days I slept in the open, without walls or doors.

“Hello. Who’s there?” I asked.

“Wake up. Go see Krolos,” said the voice. It sounded like Ronh.

I stumbled out of bed, reached for a coffee from the food dispenser, then realized there wasn’t one. Grr!

As I approached the door, it opened. Outside, a bright morning light greeted me.

Ronh stood smiling at me. Nearby stood a couple more Trauts that I recognized from our journey here.

“Go see Krolos,” he said.

“Lead on,” I said.

I followed him along a street and further up into this walled settlement. The Trauts hadn’t developed enough to build cobbled or stone streets, it was a mix of dirt and gravel. I had seen no one riding any domesticated animals either.

The temple stood on a hill in the middle of their settlement. It offered a view over all the other structures. The temple was built from stone. It looked like the oldest part of the settlement.

Ronh escorted me up to the main entrance, which was a large wooden door. It stood open, and several Trauts were entering and leaving through it.

We entered the temple. Ronh and his companions were suddenly in a more reverent mood. In fact, there was little sound of anyone speaking here.

Inside, the temple had a high vaulted ceiling and stone floor. Symbols and relics surrounded the walls. I assumed they were significant to these Trauts. I found nothing suggesting advanced technology.

As a visitor, I just quietly followed Ronh further in, until we reached the middle. His two companions stopped and waited near the entrance.

Ronh stopped and waited. I stood beside him and looked around the interior. Light from several crude windows illuminated the area around us well, but left areas to the sides in shadows.

My study of the temple interior was disturbed by a voice from the shadows.

“Brian! Welcome,” said the voice.

A moment later, a portly figure stepped out into the lighted area. His robes were much better quality than any I’d seen since I arrived here.

He smiled at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable.

“Krolos?” I said.

“Yes. You rested, hmm?,” he said.

“Thank you. I was glad of a bath and a sleep,” I said.

Krolos looked to Ronh, who was on one knee, bowing. He waved a hand at him in a dismissing gesture and Ronh promptly left.

“He said you appear at stone clearing? And you kill Haku?” asked Krolos.

I nodded.

“I’m rather lost, and I hoped you might be of help,” I said.

“Lost? You home now,” he said.

He wasn’t making much sense.

“You hungry? We go eat,” he said, grinning.

He took my hand and promptly led me through a side door.

Krolos guided me to a dining room, with a table set for two. He invited me to sit, and he took the other seat.

“You hungry, hmm?” he asked.

“I haven’t eaten since yesterday, so yes,” I said. Their use of Baglogi seemed rather basic, and I wondered how much they knew of the language.

He almost winced, but covered it well. He clapped his hands, and several female Trauts came out from a side passage carrying plates loaded with food. They placed the plates between us on the table and left the room.

“You like?” he asked.

The food was probably the best this settlement offered. I’m certain most Trauts didn’t eat this well. As a guest, I smiled and nodded. No reason to offend my host.

“Eat!” he said.

I tried a few dishes to find them an improvement of the trail food I endured. Too bad I didn’t find a working food dispenser in that shuttle.

We ate for several minutes before Krolos spoke again.

“Ronh said you big magic?” he asked.

I couldn’t explain technology to a primitive. I didn’t want to claim magic either. So I shrugged.

“But you kill Haku?” he asked.

“Haku tried to kill me. It missed me and crashed into the ground. No magic, just lucky,” I replied.

He thought about it for a while. I continued eating. I wondered if my welcome here depended on my ‘magic’ abilities. He didn’t stay quiet long.

“He say you go in tomb?” asked Krolos.

“I was curious,” I replied. “Just looking. Not much in there.”

He looked at me strange.

“And you not M’goo?” he asked.

“No. I’m not M’goo,” I replied.

We continued eating. His scrutiny made me feel uncomfortable.

Krolos reached over and pointed at the bracelet on my arm.

“Magic?” he asked.

I rotated my wrist and looked at the bracelet. It was the reason for all my current trouble. I wish I hadn’t found it in the cargo bay.

“Not magic,” I replied.

“You trade?” he asked. He clapped his hands and three female Trauts returned to the room.

“I can’t. It’s stuck on,” I replied. If I could get it off my wrist, I would gladly give it to him. I didn’t want it.

Again he reached over and examined the bracelet. His efforts to get it off failed.

“Hmm,” he said. He waved a hand and dismissed the female Trauts as I sighed.

Soon after, an idea came to me.

“I’m looking for an obelisk, do you know of one?” I asked.

“What?” he said. I’d exceeded the limits of his language.

“A tall stone statue, with strange writing on it,” I said.