Chapter 5
The gate of Thantys was a cyclopean terrain with a formation of a grotesquerie human with a tongue sticking out of its mouth from a panoramic view, and at the far end of the Northern region. Huge peaks occluded the lurid canvass of the universe, perpetually casting a menacing silhouette around the place. Vast expanse of land with no visible ending of this dark habitation except for the emission of beams at the grid locked base at the foot of the mountain where many of the orbed vehicle landed and took off on official duty. But at that moment, the Halycones were not about to take off soon, as they have something that Thantys would be pleased to see.
Mubarak thought he had seen enough of the nightmarish things out there, but now he found himself trapped with cyborgized creatures with brimming eyes. He became terrified, so were his Tamarisk brothers. Somehow, they knew they would never get out alive. They led them through a giant metallic door. Inside was a large panopticon with thousands of cells bearing Halycones in a dormant mode, with tiny electrodes connected to a glowing greenish stone at the center of the place. Their glazed eyes sent a shudder down the spines of the Tamarisks. They desperately needed answers to their inapprehensible situation, but none dared to speak, not even a whiff.
Then the Halycones ushered the Tamarisks into a carriage, which whooshed upwards. The Tamarisks reeled. Sturdy men who had been raised to be fierce now cowered in fear. Their stomachs churned, bowels gave way and a slimy regurgitation followed, while the Halycones watched with a gaze of condescension. When the carriage would come to a sudden halt at the uppermost floor, the Tamarisks could barely stand groveling in their vomit out of the carriage. Outside the foyer, the Tamarisks recovered quickly and could walk.
Now, this inimitable place looked more like a burial chamber, just like Ibrahim's dream. There were six brazen statues of enormous size with abnormal animal heads, flanked on each side of the wall. Placed at the foot of the statues were golden lanterns, and as it burned, a hideous phantasmagoria of shifting limbs and faces which seemed to move through the walls. The Tamarisks might be illiterate Islamists, but they were adept theurgists. They could discern that where they were standing was no ordinary place. Soon, they walked into a large fearsome room, where Thantys, an enormous monster garbed in a pharoanic armor, sat on a throne of steel. Almost immediately, his metallic Tutankhamen-mask retracted, and a terribly scorched face appeared, devoid of eyebrow and nose bridge; horrible slit nostrils. Mouth a deep V-cut shape stretching from ear to ear. The Tamarisks recoiled in horror when they beheld the face of death. For a moment that seemed like forever, the ubiquitous eyes of Thantys followed them, scrutinizing their face structures, body movement and smelt their fears. Earlier, he had a strange feeling about these, for they were not like the Tivs. He knew they were from a strange and faraway land.
"master, we found these earthlings meandering the perimeters of Oto!" the Halycon hummed.
Thantys became agitated, and when he would speak, his voice sounded hoarse.
"How did you come about this planet?"
The rest of the Tamarisk hid behind Mubarak to shield themselves from his earsplitting voice.
"Oh, my great Lord, spare us! It was my brother's stupidity that brought us here! He created a time machine called the Ark__"
"Ark?" Thantys voice thundered.
"Yes," Mubarak replied in a trembling voice.
"Where is the Ark?" he demanded angrily.
"We lost it!"
Thantys let out a heart wrenching scream. The legend of the Ark was a prevalent one in Alazend. He couldn't believe the Ark had finally returned to accomplish that which was said about it many eons ago. Thantys ordered his underlings to descry the minds of the Tamarisk to locate the Ark before someone else did.
Quickly, the Tamarisks were whisked away from the presence of Thantys. Untold misery consumed Thantys. This time, someone had totally beaten him out of his intelligence. Different thoughts bombarded his mind, wondering how this could have happened when he destroyed the first supreme primogenitors. His fiery eyes darted back and forth, as if searching for something that wasn't there. He knew the Ark could not just appear without the wielder, the great Isah. He clenched his fist and roared in anguish.
* * *
For a few moments, Zillah stood outside the room to catch her breath. Fear encompassed her being. What if she was wrong? How many more planets was she going to invade before she found the correct key? She questioned herself. Being an interloper was her life, and finding the Ark was her only purpose. Time was really slipping out, and the supreme Oldes were already at the end of their wit. Replacing her with a more competent interloper would be their next option. Zillah heaved a sigh and walked towards the elevator. Inside the elevator, she punched some numbers into the slot and it took her upward to the last floor.
Zillah stepped into the secret chambers where the supreme Oldes dwelt. Several hives in different corners of the room, which contained many of their supreme Oldes who had transcended into a state of utmost grace. Then, in the center, six translucent beings clad in red vestment sat in a circle. Their glow lighted a small golden chest emblazoned with two winged creatures on both sides, which seemed to cover an eye shaped security device where some kind of key would be inserted. At every junction, a Xipetus stood at alert with their hands on the handle of their flaming sword, always on the lookout for Thantys and his robotic cronies.
"Interloper Zillah, what is it you have done?" they chorused.
"Oh, great wise Supreme Oldes," she greeted and bowed. "I have done nothing but my duty, which is to bring back the great Isah!"
"A mortal?" they asked.
"He is no ordinary mortal. Doctor Ibrahim created the perfect key to the chest, foretold in time past."
"Just as you have presented us with different heroes," their monotonous voice rose in contempt.
"You will pardon my wrong judgment, my Supreme Lords. I am just an ordinary Interloper," she retorted.
Dillah looked at Zillah, and in that moment he felt her frustration. Their job as an interloper was not an easy one. Jumping into different universes in search of a device, they were not sure of what it looked like. No Tivs or Tran-Tivs alike had seen the Ark except for the first supreme primogenitors who wrote about it in the ancient texts.
"I have seen this Ark and differs totally from the rest that had been presented before the Supreme Oldes," he said.
Zillah looked at her brother and immediately understood what he was doing, and her heart melted in gratitude for his actions. A long, awful silence followed, and Zillah hoped that Dillah's judgment would do much to assuage their minds.
"Let's have the representative," they answered in conclusion.
"As you wish, my Lords," she replied.
As she walked out of the room, Dillah gave her the look of 'I hope you know what you are doing?' and she shook her head and the door closed. Zillah dashed into the elevator and started downwards. Her entire body oscillated with joy. For no reason, she was positive that this representative was exactly the one written about in the ancient text. Apart from the mistakes she had made in the past, collecting fake Arks and presenting wrong supermen. She just knew this was it and would still find Ibrahim in the containment.
The moment the door slid open and Zillah stepped inside the quarters where Ibrahim was, her joy melted away; replaced with unsure emotions. For there, Ibrahim sat with his head bent, legs sprawling, staring blankly at the Ark in his hands. Zillah paused for a second, because she did not understand the reason for his languorousness.
"Doctor Ibrahim," she called out gently.
"I don't understand," he replied without glancing at her.
Zillah heaved a sigh and moved close to him.
"I can't believe that, that my father died for this," he sighed.
"I am just a fraud. I am not better than the Tamarisk. Mubarak was right after all"
"Doctor Ibrahim, we both know that science is a door that leads to so many places"
His face darkened as he raised his gaze to meet hers.
"Mine was tomorrow for my people and my father died believing in that tomorrow"
"I feel your pain, but you are here now and we have a bigger problem," she said.
They locked eyes for a while, volumes of inexpressible words passed between them.
"My world is on the verge of extinction, and it is your destiny to save it else you wouldn't have been here. You are the great Isah foretold in the secret text that would fall from the sky with the blazing Ark."
In that moment, Ibrahim burst into a hysterical laughter. Zillah felt a heart string for him. Somehow, she knew it was difficult for anyone to be uprooted from his world and thrust into a mysterious world. Suddenly, she thumped him on his chin and he fell over, and his hysteria came to an abrupt end. His face froze in shock.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Apologies, my great Isah!" she replied and helped him to his feet.
"Don't call me that," he screamed.
"Point taken, Doctor Ibrahim. It's best you clean up, for the Supreme Oldes await your presence!"
His eyes widened in shock.
"You are so damned convinced," he growled.
"You will be grateful I did," she answered gently.
Ibrahim opened his mouth to challenge her but stopped as he realized it was better for him to be reticent in the present situation.
He shuffled out of the room and into the cleaning facility. His eyes swept over the airtight wall for any opening, but there was nothing. He just had to get the hell out of this nightmarish place. For a moment, he thought Zillah was some kind of hope, but now all he could feel was nothing but captivity. Ibrahim stood akimbo, cogitating of ways to get out. He pounded his fist on the wall, and a dull sound resounded. His heart skipped! There was something behind the wall, if only he could find an object to bore it.
Quickly, he secured the Ark in his pocket and was about to dash back to the workspace to see if he could manipulate their technology to burst out his prison. The door opened, and Zillah walked in, carrying a piece of white one-piece suit with diamond stones around the neck.
"Don't even think about it," she said sternly.
Mortification overwhelmed Ibrahim, and he bit his lower lip nervously.
"Now clean up," she barked.
"I am not afraid of you!" he retorted.
"Oh, you are not supposed to be, great Isah"
She said in sarcasm and yanked the machine from his pocket before knocking him into the steaming water.
"This is not fair"
He gasped and raised his head abreast of the water.
"Now, you can go, so I can wash up"
"You lost your chance," she hissed. "I won't let you do something silly," she continued, and turned her back to him.
Ibrahim sighed, and slowly removed his wet, filthy cloth, not wanting to make any kind of noise that would make Zillah turn around. The warm water really soothed his body and his soul. He shut his eyes and allowed the water to seep into all his pores.
"We don't have all the time," she said.
"Why are you such a killjoy?" he whined
"Pardon me, my great Isah"
"I am not your great Isah",
He fumed and rose.
"I will remember that in the future."
She answered and turned to look at him. Ibrahim almost dropped dead and covered his privy area. Zillah pretended not to notice his embarrassment as she thrust the suit into his hands.
"Time is of the essence, my—Em—Doctor Ibrahim," she said in a rather quick tone and turned her back at him.
Ibrahim sighed tiredly and came out of the tub. He said a prayer in his heart and changed into his clothes. When Zillah would turn to look at him, she was awestruck by his magnificent physique. His fair complexion glowed under the suit, and it all helped to reinforce Zillah's conviction about him.
"Shall we?"
She asked and gestured at the door. Ibrahim nodded and they both exited the room.