Ascension by Drew Wagar (i read a book TXT) 📕

awe. The sphere was now a blazing ball of fire growing larger with deadly speed.

In a brief instant a terrifying noise rose about them; an echoing torment of ripping and shrieking. The volume was astonishing, reverberating from the hills around them, doubling and re-doubling into a cacophony of overpowering mayhem. The hergs panicked and fled, shrieking. Miri and Meru instinctively threw themselves to the ground as the conflagration passed above them. A wave of heat singed them as it raced past, the noise dropping in pitch dramatically.

Seconds passed and the noise faded abruptly away.

Miri raised her head in the direction the fireball had been travelling. She gasped as a huge eruption of smoke, dust and flame appeared not two miles further on down towards the valley. A moment later the ground shook beneath them and a dull roar assaulted her ears.

The flame faded abruptly and the smoke and dust began to drift away. A huge furrow had been ploughed in the soft ground of the valley. Something lay at the end of the furrow. Something dark, something metallic.

Meru scrambled on his hands and knees alongside her, shaking with fear. There was no sign of the hergs.

Miri slowly raised her hands and placed them on either side of her head, her mouth wide with astonishment.

*

They weren’t the first to reach it, as it had fallen closer to the city than the range of hills in which they had been riding. Without the hergs they had been forced to walk back through the boggy fens and it took far longer than it had to travel up. In the near darkness they had to be doubly cautious to avoid a dangerous fall.

‘Hurry!’ Miri called out from ahead, gesturing to Meru.

Meru was tired, and struggled to keep up with her. Her lithe athletic form seemed to have little trouble with the difficult terrain, and she clearly had reserves of strength he did not enjoy.

‘I’m coming.’ he muttered.

As they left the side of the hill the ground firmed up. Water was now running in a stream alongside a broken path. The stream was reassuring, easy to follow and its flickering surface reflected the light of the stars, guiding them downwards.

Meru caught up with Miri when she reached a small natural dam that overlooked the lower part of the valley.

‘Look!’ she breathed in excitement.

Meru could see the huge furrow close up now. It was littered with broken bits of debris, twisted and unrecognisable. Right at the tip lay a large dark mass. Meru’s first impression was that it was a solid slab of burnished metal. It was largely composed of interlocking geometric shapes, with virtually no curves in evidence. From his perspective there were two large circular orifices showing in the rear, from which clouds of steam and smoke were curling upwards into the night air.

He could also see the glittering yellow flicker of torch lights around the object, and more of them slowly moving up from the general direction of the city. Faint sounds of voices reached them across the cool evening air.

‘We need to see.’ Miri announced, and vaulted over the dam, skipping lightly on down the path. Meru caught his breath and wearily followed her.

By the time Meru caught up again Miri had reached the crowd of people that had gathered around the object. She had already forced her way through to the front and was staring at the object with intense fascination.

Up close the metallic nature of the object was obvious, but it was not as smoothly panelled as initial inspection had suggested. Every so often there were odd protrusions, small rectangular hatches, some big enough to carry the suggestion of doors or entrances. Steam and smoke continued to drift from the rear, with a soft hissing sound.

The crowd seemed wary. All had pushed forward to within about ten metres of the object and were standing around the rim of the piles of crushed and turned earth that surrounded it. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that no one should go closer.

Meru could overhear snatches of broken conversations.

‘A fallen star, did you see it land?’

‘I heard it overhead! Crashing down! Almost took my head off!’

‘It should be destroyed! Burnt! Buried!’

‘Lucky it fell short of the city!’

‘It’s a piece of sky, not of this world!’

Some teenagers, evidently bored with the inaction, started flinging stones at the object. They bounced off with a dull metallic clang. One stone hit one of the smaller rectangular hatches.

There was a series of clanks from within the object, as if some strange machinery was stirring into life. The crowd held its breath.

With a jolt, a loud bang and a huge ejection of steam the foremost part of the ship lifted up abruptly. The crowd gasped in fear and, as one, sprang backwards. Some ran in terror.

Meru managed to get to Miri’s side

‘We should leave!’

Miri shook her head, ‘No. I must see this.’

The steam dissipated slowly, revealing a gaping aperture on top of the object. Miri could see a hood of sorts, hinged at the back and raised up by two metal pillars as thick as a man’s arm. The hood itself was similar to the rest of the object, but appeared to have glass sides, as she could see through it all the way to the other side.

With a final hiss the hood stopped moving and silence descended once again.

For a while no one moved. There were cautious mumblings, and some of those who had fled slowly came back.

Miri looked around the the people.

‘Isn’t anyone going to investigate?’ she demanded, showing the palms of her hands.

She was met by blank stares and tutted, ‘Cowards.’

Meru grabbed her arm, ‘What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to have a look.’

‘What? Are you mad?’

‘No, I’m curious. This is a visit from the heavens, I must see them!’

She pulled away from Meru, and walked over to the object. She gingerly raised a hand and touched the object’s flank. She was surprised to find it cool to the touch. The crowd watched her with trepidation.

‘Miri, get back here!’ Meru called.

‘It’s all right.’ she replied. The crowd gasped as she vaulted up on top of the object and walked over to the hood.

Miri was confused by what she saw. Underneath the hood was something like a small room. There was a chair surrounded by a series of tables in which lights and buttons were placed. Many of them were a familiar and reassuring red colour, some were even flashing. In front of the chair was a green circular dish divided into four quadrants. It was glowing faintly.

‘Come and see!’ Miri called. ‘It’s safe!’

Meru and a few of the more intrepid youngsters joined her on top of the object, peering down into the small room. Miri could make out a small circular tube behind the chair which appeared to lead down inside.

Quickly she jumped down despite Meru’s continued protestations. The tube contained a series of recessed foot and hand holds, allowing her to easily descend. Inside she found what she took to be curiously mundane sleeping and cooking arrangements, simple beds and a collection of trays and utensils. The room was dimly lit by little red lights. Miri stared at one for a moment, wondering how it could work. It didn’t flicker like fire.

Another tube led from the rear of this room to one much larger. On entering she realised that she was nearing the rear of the object, as she recognised what could only be the insides of the two large orifices they had seen on the outside. The room was virtually empty, with the only decoration being a series of arrows and bays marked out on the floor.

Meru and the others joined her as she looked around.

‘What do you think it is?’ Meru whispered to her.

Miri ignored him, raising her hands and placing them top of her head, spinning around and looking about her.

Her face was a mask of disappointment.

‘But there is no one here! Where are they?’ she said, disconsolately.

*

The object, or ‘Fallen Star’ as it had been dubbed, had been declared off-limits from the moment the Masters had arrived. Miri had claimed it was because they had no idea what to do about it and that their laws and words had no explanation. Unfortunately she had said this out loud and landed herself another period of hard labour aimed at taming her wayward spirit.

Meru found her gazing at it from the tallest parapet of the Cathedral the next morning.

‘Still waiting for ‘them’?’ he asked.

‘No need to tease.’ she snapped back. ‘They should have been in there. Why come down here and then vanish? It makes no sense!’

‘Perhaps they were never there. It could just be a broken thing, thrown away the same way we would discard a worn out shoe or knife.’

Miri seemed unconvinced. She rested her chin on her hands and stared out across the fields towards the end of the valley where the gouge in the ground was clearly visible.

She shook her head. ‘No. That’s not it. But the Masters know something.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘You saw how quickly they stopped people looking at it. You saw how they censured me!’

‘That was because you shot your mouth off as usual!’

‘An excuse, that’s all!’

Meru sighed. ‘But why? We saw the inside. It was nothing special, a few empty rooms, some clever lights….’

‘Exactly.’ Miri said, turning and fixing him with a look. ‘Nothing special was there and no visitors either…. so what is it for…’

She frowned, and then her eyes grew wide and darted from one side to another. She was clearly thinking something through.

‘Miri?’ Meru growled in warning, knowing the look on her face.

‘Oh, nothing.’ she said, leaning back against the stone wall. She idly walked past Meru, humming to herself.

‘Maybe.’ she muttered, ‘Just maybe! The Canticle!’

Meru reached for her, but she danced out of reach and fled down the spiral staircase that had led them up to the parapet.

‘Don’t do something stupid! Miri! Come back! Miri!’

Meru chased after her.

*

Miri had run all the way to the Fallen Star and had clambered aboard it before Meru arrived. He was surprised to see no sign of any guards, but the Masters had clearly indicated that any caught near it would be censured. He could only assume they were watching from afar. Doubtless Miri and he would receive a severe punishment as a result. Damn the girl!

‘Miri! Come back down, if we’re spotted…’

She didn’t respond. He was forced to clamber up on top of the Fallen Star.

Miri was sitting in the chair, looking around at the lights and buttons, as if trying to work something out.

‘What are you doing?’ Meru demanded.

Miri waved him to silence, looked about her for a few more moments and then looked up at him.

‘What if this is supposed to be empty?’ she said, her eyes flashing with excitement.

Meru shook his head in bewilderment and Miri continued.

‘Perhaps they never were here, they didn’t intend to come down. What if this is a means to go to them? This could be an invitation, and it would be rude to refuse.’

‘An invitation? To go where?’

Miri pointed at the winking star, just visible above the horizon in the glow of dawn.

‘There.’

Meru stared at her, ‘You don’t really think this thing could take to the skies do you? It has crashed, it is damaged, that much is obvious!’

‘If I can find a way…’

She randomly pressed one of the buttons. There was a soft musical tone and a voice from