Then the Elder arrived. The throngs of people parted to allow passage to the shivering prisoners. He stood before them, his height and immaculate garb, together with his startling white beard and golden skin, impressing his authority upon the bewildered missionaries.
For minutes, he simply stood before them, not speaking, looking into their eyes, into their souls. None of the missionaries spoke although they were desperate to know why they were being treated in this way. Then, moving close, he confronted Christian who was on the first post in line.
He studied deeply for several seconds before moving onto the next in line, which was Vasquez. Studying her in the same manner, he ignored her questions, thrown at him in a high-pitched, near-hysterical voice.
Ignatious was next and the imposing figure looked into him as with the others. This time, however, he spoke. “You, my friend, are of a different species than your comrades,” he said in his mixed dialect. “You have powers they cannot understand and you are a good man.” His tone was flat and without emotion. “A terrible crime has been committed against our society and punishment will be dealt in the appropriate manner. As part of the group, you, too, must suffer the same fate no matter the good work you have so far performed.”
He passed on to Ottomier, imprisoned next to Ignatious. The Elder stood, looking into the priest’s eyes for many moments. Reaching out, he placed a hand flat against the trembling Ottomier’s forehead, again for many moments, not a word escaping. Stepping back a pace, he then spoke: “You are the guilty one.”
“But…but…no…no…I haven’t done anything!” he whined, unconvincingly.
Ignoring the comments, the Elder, Kaba, spoke to all, looking directly at Ignatious. “Your companion has sinned against this tribe in the worst manner possible. By this, he has put you all in peril. You will die as a result of his actions and, by the time you do, you will be happy to go to the next level. Tribal customs, centuries old, are still practiced here and I cannot interfere. The two concessions I will make, are that Gawain,” he used the current name, “will be last to die with less punishment until that time, and Vasquez, the female will die instantly and without pain.”
Ignatious turned angrily within his bonds, to Ottomier. “What have you done, Gerard?” he asked. “What is it that has put us in this predicament?”
“Nothing. He’s got it wrong!”
Casting his mind back to the previous day, Ignatious recalled seeing Ottomier behaving suspiciously as he emerged from the jungle. “I saw you, Gerard,” he said softly. “Coming from the jungle. You had done something hadn’t you?”
Ottomier’s silence spoke volumes. “Come on, Gerard. You are a man of the cloth. Confess to all here of your sin. Save us!”
Kaba intervened. “He cannot save you Gawain. The punishment has to be for all.” Ignatious looked at him in horror. The man was educated — two hundred years old for the good Christ’s sake! He was just, fair and wise. He had the ultimate power here.
In his sleep, body covered in sweat, Ignatious tossed and turned, gibbering nonsensical stuff to the confines of his motor home bedroom. The dream continued…
“What has he done, Kaba?” he asked. “And why must we all suffer?”
The Elder, again looking directly at Ignatious, through clear, young-looking eyes, explained: “Early today, one of our tribe took a journey into the jungle seeking food. When in there, he came across the body of a female of the village, Ka-Lauma. Ka-Lauma was fourteen years of age and had no experience of a sexual nature, never having desired it. She was missed during yesterday but thought to have gone with friends and, at night, during the celebrations, was thought to be here. When she did not return home after the celebration, she was thought to be staying at a friend’s dwelling. You see, we do not have problems with missing persons in our society, unlike your decadent one, so there was no fear for her safety.
She was found, as I have said, and it was discovered that she had been forced into a sexual encounter and then put to death. By the time we got to her, it was too late to save her and she will be sent to the next plane later today.
It is clear that your brother, Father Ottomier, took Ka-Lauma away and carried out an attack on her, ending in unlawful killing. The punishment for such a crime is torture and death.”
The missionaries paled under their deeply burned tans, horror chilling their minds and bodies. The warming sun went unfelt on the captive’s skins. Death had become accepted to some degree but torture? Torture? This could not be! Things like this do not happen any more. These thoughts flashed through the partly numbed minds of the fated four, ignoring the fact of the tortures carried out every day in some part of the world, where war and political intrigue was prevalent.
“But, Kaba!” cried Ignatious. “Stop! Please!”
The elegant Elder turned to Ignatious, studied him for a moment and went to stand in front of him.
“What is it, Gawain? Please, do not plead for your lives. The decision is made; tradition has to be fulfilled.”
Ignatious was sweating more heavily now, desperation showing in his eyes. He spoke softly, however, covering his fear. “Kaba,” he began. “You are clearly different from the others. I can see that you are of an utterly different race — different to us all, in fact. You are of a higher intelligence; an intelligence that is above all of this. Why do you allow it?
Kaba’s expression did not change, he merely inhaled deeply.
“Gawain, my friend. Your perception is correct. I and my comrades are of a different race. You will find it astonishing but we are from a different satellite than yours. We belong to the same galaxy but many millions of miles from here. I tell you this because of your circumstances. You will not survive but you are deserving of some explanation.”
Ignatious looked at this mysterious man, a man so gentle and perfect of appearance, calmly telling him that he and his group are from another planet! How could such an intelligence allow what threatened to be a nasty death.
“Our work here is ongoing,” continued Kaba. “By your time scale it is slow, but we can sit for hundreds of years in order to carry our experiments through. Some of the benefits you will already have noticed; the way the tribespeople can control the wild beasts by the strength of their minds, for example.”
Ignatious was unable to control the trembling of his body. “But what is your purpose?” he asked.
The Elder explained calmly. “I have neither the time nor the inclination to go fully into our business but I will tell you something that you will not be able to accept. You are a religious man and will follow your faith.”
He paused before speaking again. “My ancestors came to this planet billions of years ago. They watched this ball of gas cool and develop. They were experts in the construction of life — DNA, which you have now discovered, being a large factor in that.”
“What do you mean?” asked a pensive Ignatious.
“I mean that we, not your God, produced all life on this Earth. We made mistakes along the way, the dinosaurs being one of them. What useless, ugly, ungainly creatures they were. They provided nothing of value to the planet. They destroyed rather than enhanced life. So we got rid of them.”