Page 153 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

section that had not been explored before and find themselves face to face with some unusual finds,
one of which would turn out to be a star map. It was Jennifer and two other female crew members
that would obtain surprising information regarding their destination and the archaeology that
remained.

Jennifer, Merissa and Yulan had opted to tour the local night spots. One they went into was
full of missionary members of The Order on a sabbatical. It was an all-male group; the women’s
presence was both intriguing and a cause for much embarrassment among the younger members of
the group. An elderly member; an Untharan, was the only one to actively engage with the three
women.

“You will have to forgive my young acolytes, part of their training is periods of abstinence in various
disciplines; this is a period of chastity and celibacy. I remember when I was young and had my time, I
almost died of frustration” the old Monk chuckled. “As a means of distraction I and my fellow
chaperone had thought an Archaeological outing would help. There are some twelfth millennia ruins
nearby. My colleague should really be here, but he was bitten by one of the local bugs out at the dig
and he’s currently nursing a swelling the size of a Chhabra nut. Painful so I’m told, but it should
subside quickly. What brings you to this settlement?” he asked. Jennifer told him of their mission to
She’brakda. He nodded and frowned. “I was assigned to that expedition as a Recorder. I would have
been equivalent to human mid-teens at the time. I remember the place well; and some of the local
fauna. The ruins were really interesting to my curiosity as an amateur Architect. There were varied
examples of building types; some of which were remarkably intact. There was one unfortunate
incident though. The party were busy recording the exterior of a structure; in particular some carved
glyphs, when a shout from another building a distance away aroused their attention. Being at a
critical phase in their proceedings I was dispatched to see what the others had found. When I arrived
at the scene; the others were frantically clearing rubble away from an entrance they’d unearthed. I
could see only the top of the doorway, but the Glyphs were undecipherable, unrecognisable in fact.
It was the material that the doors to the building were made of that was remarkable. It looked like
the finest polished bronze I’d ever seen. There was Cloisonné work in silver and gold wire with
inlayed enamel in a panel on one door. The arch around the doorway forming the entrance to an
underground chamber; or so we assumed, was made of a polished and heavily carved local grey
basalt. As the layers of rubble and debris were removed two skeletal remains were found. About one
and a quarter metres in length they appeared to be some kind of animal. The remains were
petrified, as opposed to being fossilised. One of those present, an ancestor of my colleague who is
now suffering in his room; removed his protective gloves to examine one of the skulls and was
immediately seized in severe pain, he dropped the skull as the skin of his hands had been attacked
by something coating the surface. Whatever the substance was; it was literally eating the layers of
skin from his hands. We rushed him to the expedition’s medical facility and I ordered the dig sealed
till further notice. At the medical facility all attempts to stop the eroding of the poor man’s flesh
failed. Where the substance came into contact with nerve tissue it dissolved along the path of the
nerve. It was a painful sight to watch; he didn’t live long thankfully. In the end he was dead within
twenty minutes. Forensic examination of the liquefied remains eventually revealed the culprit to be
some kind of bacterium. Traces of more of the organism were found in other areas of the ruins too.
It was decided to leave the moon with the scans we had and what objects that were
uncontaminated. I have lived with the knowledge of that day for some three hundred years. It was
one of the reasons I joined The Order. Nearly all the records from that time were lost during a
Border skirmish. I’m surprised that any remain. But I implore you; be more careful than we were;
and, Maker permitting, please let me know what your findings are. As to the location of the Entrance
Doorway, have you any maps of She’brakda?” he asked after telling his tale. Jennifer called up the
last scans done by a recent drone probe to a pad from the Veklaar’s archive and showed them to the
old Monk. He indicated a spot just to the east of the former main dig. Not much could be seen in the
close images, it looked like there had been some further collapse of the ruins hiding the excavation.