ZUMARIDI ALAMA (The Emerald Rune)

Introduction
Jitu’s Shaitani




Close to the border between the United African States of Ethiopia and Kenya, a meteor crashed into the side of an escarpment, two thousand one hundred and ninety-five feet above a valley. The impact occurred shortly after two in the afternoon and was registered on seismographs as far away as northern Sudan and southern Tanzania, as five point five.

Within hours, scientific crews arrived on the scene to survey the damage. Unfortunately, the area the meteor hit was a highly unstable, inhospitable area. The valley below was riddled with fissures, bubbling mudpots and hissing fumaroles... vents or openings in the earth’s crust. It was the fumaroles that were the cause of greatest concern. Issuing great quantities of steam, hydrogen sulfide... a flammable, poisonous gas that smelled like rotten eggs... and other gasses. A cloud of gas blanketed the ground so thickly that only instruments could see through it to take measurements. This caldron prevented access from below.

The fault scarp left after the debris avalanche was a formidable sight. From above, the scientists noted that the detachment plane extended well over a quarter mile into the plateau and several miles in either direction. The meteor was buried under tons of earth, rock and ancient lava. At its base, the talus, or slope made by fallen and disintegrated materials fanned out over a mile into the valley in all directions. Harmonic tremors shook the ground.

Unmanned satellites orbiting above the earth showed that over ninety miles away, in another valley, an identical, sympathetic, landslide had occurred at the same time. The Eastern Rift Valley shuddered along its entire length before settling down. The major consensus was that it would cost billions to excavate and retrieve the remnants, if any, that remained of the meteor. Therefore, it wasn’t worth the money, time or efforts of the country. Technical papers and photographs were placed in a big folder and filed away. Several months later the event had faded from memory.

* * *

Seeping from a pore in the face of the escarpment, a drop of silver-white, mercuric like substance formed. It grew until its own weight caused it to fall to the talus below. Another drop formed, fell and coalesced with the first. Over and over this process continued, ceasing only when the rare breeze brought moisture from steam vents, or blew the heat away, so that dew could form on the surface. Then the gelatinous mass collecting below would harden until all water vapors had dissipated. Two weeks passed before the seepage finally stopped. Below, what appeared to be a giant lava ball shook and rolled down the slope. Over three meters, approximately ten feet, in diameter, it came to rest over a solfatara, a type of fumarole that emitted sulfurous gas.

Several days passed before the ball moved again, looking much like a balloon filled with water rolling along the ground. Down the valley it flowed over the debris of earthquakes and lava flows. A week found it in another valley. This one had a large lake in the middle. The ball stayed well away from the shoreline, preferring the open grassland. It smelled food. Halting its journey, it solidified and waited.

A cooling air fell into the valley as the sun sank behind the western ridges. Hippopotamuses, who had spent the hot daytime hours wallowing in the lake, emerged to feed on the lush vegetation. At first they were a little disturbed by the massive boulder that had suddenly appeared on the edge of their grazing turf, but after a while, they ignored it. By the time the last drops of water had evaporated from their thick skin, they were eating peacefully.

The ball shuddered slightly and from within it, three bluish-white bubbles formed. In quick succession they were expelled at an incredible velocity. Three hippos were hit, surrounded by a blinding flash of light. They fell to the ground in a heap, their flesh desiccated and smoking. The ball rolled over each in turn, leaving only a charred area on the ground to show where the hippos had been. Its appetite sated, the ball once again hardened and rested... until the following night.

* * *

Three months after the meteor impact, Jitu congratulated his ancestors for their foresight in sinking the ground stabilizers. There had been no structural damage to any of the homes built into the face of the escarpment on either side of the valley. The geothermal power plant hadn’t even caused a flicker.

With his son sitting on his shoulders, he had gone to check on the mechanism that created the mirage of a valley, over ninety miles away, over his valley. He could have used the QTM, or Quantum Translocater Module, on his belt, but he wanted to spend time with the boy. “Besides”, he told himself, “I’m happier out here than I am at home.”

It was after sundown when they returned to the village. After a bath in the hot springs and a dinner eaten in silence, Jitu put his son to bed. “I’ll be back in this many days,” he told the lad, holding up seven fingers. “Be good for your mother, practice your lessons and remember that you are the man of the house while I’m gone.”

The trip to Nairobi, the state capitol of Kenya, would only take a couple nanoseconds. The time at the National Assay Office could take days. Gold, taken from the mines across the valley, supplied the small community with enough currency to purchase any and all necessities. But, that meant that someone had to go stand in line, file the necessary documentation and wait for the final tally. That task fell on Jitu as the leader of his people.

He was looking forward to this part of his responsibilities. A whole week soaking in the sights and sounds of the city ... of visiting nightclubs and being fawned over by beautiful women. A week of being away from the valley, his people and most of all... his wife. Too excited to sleep, he had left the house. Going up to the promontory, he had waited, lost in his own thoughts, for the darkest part of the night. He thought about not returning to the valley, though he knew that he couldn’t do that while his son still needed his mother. “Someday”, he whispered to the night breeze.

For five generations now, his people had lived here in isolation. Almost a totally self-sustained community, their needs from the outside world were few. They had lost all hope that someday the technology of this planet would equal that of their planet, allowing them to go home. Though the humans had advanced technologically, their political and social advancement hadn’t kept up. So, the net result was that most of the advancement came in the form of weapons of destruction.

From the earliest days of childhood, the need for absolute secrecy was drilled into every member of the small populace. To be seen outside the valley would attract unwanted attention, so no one ever went beyond the mirage that cloaked the valley, except Jitu when he went to exchange the gold for currency. A couple hours before dawn, he left.

* * *

Depleting one valley of its wildlife, the ball moved on into the next ... and the next. Many of the valleys were barren landscapes of recent volcanic activity. After several futile excursions into these wastelands, the ball learned to wait at the entrance of a valley for a breeze to bring the chemical signature of living creatures. It had been days since its last meal.

At the base of a particularly large gorge, its senses told it what it could not see. The ball rolled into the steep walled canyon, through a shimmering wall and entered a lush valley filled with an abundance of different life forms. An elephant browsing on an acacia tree was struck in the head with a bubble of blue-white light. It fell, totally dehydrated, and the ball rolled over it. It’s appetite sated, exhaustion from its long trip set in. The ball hardened in place.

Three days passed. A leopard, looking for a place to rest, curled up next to the ball. As it lay down, the ball shuddered and the dried remains of the leopard was absorbed into the gelatinous mass before it had a chance to rise to its feet. Stars were sparkling in the clear night sky when the ball started moving again. After feeding several more times on the unwary denizens, the ball solidified and rested.

* * *

To Be Continued....
Posted by Kabri at 1/27/2009 12:40 PM
Categories: Sci-Fi Story Inspirations
 

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