cyzne-blog - Tumblr blog

cyzne-blog · 6 years

Text

Urth: Chapter 9 The diving bell had descended into a mass of underwater plants with long fronds that effectively hid them from view, but they could see into a kind of underwater valley where Aquanoids were swimming around. They were human in form with hairless bodies, webbed feet & hands & gill-slits at the neck. At the bottom of the valley were buildings formed of a green species of coral that appeared to have been moulded, presumably by the Aquanoids themselves. By using their powerful binoculars at the portholes, they could distinguish fine detail. Jim. It's amazing. Bill. I never expected anything like this. They've developed their own civilization. Wockle. Look there. One of them is riding a giant fish. Just like we were told. In the distance, they saw 1 riding a fish about 4 metres long, sitting on a saddle & guiding it with a type of bridle. After 1/4 of an hour, they were lifted back onto the raft & told the captain to return to the city with all dispatch. At the council chamber, a meeting was called & it was decided to throw a cordon around the area where the kidnappings had occurred & set an ambush when the Aquanoids came ashore. This was successful & soldiers captured 6 of them, who were then brought before the council. They spoke the Common Tongue & 1 of them, Sayvar, declared himself the leader. Sayvar. We can only stay on land for 6 hours; then we must go underwater or we die. Gandus. There's a bathing pool in the building where you can go - under guard, of course. Sayvar. Thank you. Gandus. Now we want to know why you've been kidnapping our women. Sayvar. Our race is dying out. We're becoming infertile, so we hoped to breed with your women. After all, we are the same species. Gandus. Did you succeed? Sayvar. Unfortunately not. Gandus. Where are the women now? Sayvar. On an uninhabited island -- well treated. Gandus. If you return the women & don't kidnap any others, we won't make war on you. Sayvar. How can you make war on us? Our race lives underwater & you have no way of reaching us. This was a poser for Gandus, until Jim came up with an idea. Jim. The sea is only 5 days' journey from here. If you migrated there, you might find some of your own race you could mate with. Sayvar. We have heard of the sea, but thought it was just a myth. Jim. Send some of your people to investigate Sayvar. But how could they survive 5 days on land? Jim. We could arrange tanks of water along the way. Sayvar. If you let us go, we will tell our people what you have said. *** And so it was. Sayvar's people were intrigued by the possibility of finding more of their race in the sea, an expedition was sent & contact established with their own kind in the sea. Then, with the aid of the Angarians, who transported portable water tanks on wagons, the underwater race, few in number, moved to the sea. The Angarians did not act entirely out of altruism, as they did not like having a potential but inaccessible enemy so close to them. The 4 accompanied them & watched the Aquanoids frolicking in the sea. Jim. It's good to see things turning out well. Bill. It's a pity all human endeavours didn't turn out so well, instead of the usual mixture of cruelty & folly.

0 notes

cyzne-blog · 6 years

Text

Urth (cont.), by Barry Gordon. Synopsis Bill Godley, Jim Hardman & Ken Drinkwater investigate the sighting of a humanoid creature in the Blue Mountains. They find & rescue Wockle, a humanoid dinosaur, who tells them he came from Earth's sister planet Urth, via a dimension portal. They decide to visit Urth with Wockle. After various adventures, they end up in the kingdom of Angar, where Jim falls in love with Lalia, the Witch-Queen & is devastated when she dies at the hands (or rather tentacles) of the evil god Sandis. They decide to stay in Angar until Jim recovers from his grief. Now read on. Urth: Chapter 8 After Lalia's tragic death, Bill, Jim, Ken & Wockle stayed at Gandus's mansion to allow Jim time to recover from his grief & had been there 2 months. Time had hung heavily on their hands, so they devised ways to pass the time, though not successfully. Ken had tried to interest the Angareans in sport, but without success. Bill had tried building a printing press, but encountered technical problems. Only Jim, who had done some charity work, had any success. Ken. I swear, these Angareans have no interest in sport. Bill. They might have read Kipling's poem about: "The flannelled fool at the wicket; The muddied oaf at the goal." Ken. That's not helping. Bill. What was your latest venture? Ken. I was trying to interest them in football. Bill. How many balls did you suggest they use? Ken. One, of course. Bill. One too few. You should give each team a ball to play with, so they won't fight over a single one. Each team could play happily by itself, thus eliminating unhealthy competition. Also, the goal posts should go. They're an unnecessary distraction. Ken. That's the fucking stupidest idea I've ever heard. Bill. Just trying to help. Ken. And what about your project, Mr. Smart Arse? I've heard you've had trouble building a printing press. Bill. I'm having trouble with the type alloy & the ink, but nothing that can't be solved. Ken. It'll take you ages to print a book. Bill. How so? Ken. You'll have to set the type for page 1 & print a page, then do the same for page 2, & so on till the last page. Bill. Suppose I want to print 1,000 copies of a book, I'd print out 1,000 copies of page 1, then reassemble the type for page 2, print 1,000 copies of that & so on. Besides, I could have several printing presses built once I solve the problems. Gutenburg made it seem so easy. Jim then entered the room. Jim. Printing will bring wonderful benefits to Angar. Bill. I certainly hope so. It's fortunate the Common Tongue is phonetic. Look what printing has done for Western culture. I... Bill staggered for a moment, then sat down. Jim. What's wrong? Bill. It may be my illness again. Ken. You'd better go to bed. Bill. I'm all right now. That illness was bad, though. I was as weak as a kitten. Ken. But fortunately not as furry. Bill. My tongue felt furry, but that's all. Jim. It was a disease endemic to Urth. It's a good thing they have a herbal remedy for it. At 1 point, we were afraid you were going to die. Bill. So was I. Fear of death concentrates the mind wonderfully. I've always been very healthy & being an invalid was hard for me & very embarrassing. I couldn't even wipe my arse. Jim. Don't be ashamed. It can happen to anyone. Tell me, when you were in a coma, did you see a tunnel of light, dead friends & relatives, or a radiant being? Bill. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's a complete blank. All I've seen is the being Sandis in our last adventure & that doesn't prove an afterlife. These are 2 separate issues. Jim. I like to hope we have immortal souls. Bill. Even proving an afterlife does not prove immortality, as our spirits might cease to exist after a while. The only way to prove immortality is to exist forever. They were musing on this when Gandus entered the room. Gandus. Hello, gentlemen. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Jim. Not at all. We were just discussing Bill's illness. Gandus. It was most unfortunate, but people rarely catch it a 2nd time. Bill. That's good to know. It's funny, but I think about death much more since I had it. I think this is a good thing, though, since I'm more prepared to meet it. When I was healthy, I didn't give it much thought, but now I realise I could die at any time. Ken. It's a sobering thought. Bill. It's unlike you to be sober, Ken. Ken. Only because it's early morning. The sun's still over the yard-arm. Bill. Don't worry. It must be under the yard-arm somewhere on Urth. Ken. I'll drink to that. Bill. One thing it has made me aware of is cherishing the present moment. Jim. Mindfulness is 1 of the great teachings of the East. Wealth can't buy you a beautiful sunset, or a baby's smile. Bill. I'm not sure I'd want to buy those things anyway. Gandus. This is all very interesting, but I've come here hoping you could help me with a problem. Jim. We will if we can. What is it? Gandus. Do you know the great lake not far from the city? Bill. Yes. We've often strolled along its shore, admiring the view. Gandus. For the past few weeks, young women who have walked its shores at night have been vanishing. Our first thought was kidnapping, so we've had armed patrols scouring the countryside, but they've had no luck. They haven't even found suspicious footprints. Though, with the ground baked so hard with this recent drought, it's not surprising. Bill. What kind of women have gone missing? Gandus. Women from their teens up to about 30. Most quite pretty. Bill. Have they always been alone? Gandus. Some have. Others have been in twos & threes. Bill. It sounds well organised. Gandus. We thought it might be white slavers, but our informers have come up with nothing. We've also come down hard on all known gangs & we're pretty sure they're not involved. Bill. This is a real poser. Is there anything else you can tell us that might help. Gandus. Well, there are old legends about the lake, but that's all they are - just legends. Bill. We'd like to hear them. Gandus. They say there is an underwater race of humans living in the lake with their own cities. Occasionally a fisherman fishing far out in the lake says he's seen a creature half human, half fish on the surface that dived immediately it saw him. One even said he saw a creature riding a giant fish, with a kind of saddle & bridle on it. But fishermen drink a lot, then come up with this nonsense. Bill. We'll talk the matter over & see if we can come up with some ideas. If we do, we'll let you know. Gandus. Thank you. Bill. Were any of these women wealthy, or have wealthy relatives? Gandus. A couple were, but there were no ransom demands. Bill. Thank you, Gandus. We'll be in touch. Gandus leaves. Jim. When will we be in touch? Bill. I don't know. If we don't see him through the week, we'll see him through the window. Ken. This is no time for fucking jokes. Bill. I've made enquiries & I estimate the lake is almost as big as the Caspian Sea. Wockle. Well, tell us. Bill. Tell you what? Wockle. What did the Caspian see? Bill. Wockle, you're developing an almost-human sense of humour. Jim. Not bad for a humanoid dinosaur. Bill. I've been asking around & there are no dimension portals as far as I know. That's a pity, because it might explain the disappearances. I wonder if dark energy & dark matter are the cause of psychic phenomena. We know they exist, but we don't know what their properties are. It might explain how sometimes thoughts take on material form here on Urth. Jim. You could be right. What about those mermaids fishermen said they saw? Bill. They didn't actually say they were half human half fish, but humanoid in form. They may have misidentified dugongs or manatees. Imagine a sexually frustrated sailor seeing 1 in the distance after having too much rum. Wockle. Then you place no credence in their reports? Bill. I didn't say that. I'm just keeping an open mind. Actually, exploring the lake is our best bet, as we have no other leads. Jim. That lake is vast. Where do we start looking? Bill. We can sail along the shore, making enquiries as we go. If that doesn't work, we can sail over the main body of water & perhaps take soundings. Jim. People say the lake is bottomless. Bill. It must have a bottom; it's just very deep. I've heard the water in this lake finds its own level, but no doubt this is a legend. Jim. Now you're bullshitting us. Bill. True. How about we start tomorrow? Jim. A good idea. *** It was a beautiful lake, as big as an inland sea, below sea level & surrounded by verdant hills. Many streams fed into it, but there appeared to be no overflow. Many people chose to build homes here & fishermen plied the waters. Sudden storms could also develop, so sailing on the lake could be risky. With the weather to take into consideration, they hired a fairly large one-master with a lateen sail that they could manage without aid. Fortunately, the weather was glorious, with azure skies. First they sailed along the lake shore, stopping at towns & villages for stores & information. Then they crossed the width of the lake several times, but without seeing anything unusual. They heard legends of amphibious humanoid creatures, but found no hard evidence. Finally they sailed home. Jim. We don't seem to be having much luck. We've heard some stories, but there's no way to verify them. Ken. We'd have better luck hunting for the Loch Ness Monster. Bill. Don't forget that the coelacanth was discovered as late as the 1930s. Ken. The what? Bill. Coelacanth. It's a fish thought to have become extinct 65 million years ago - about the time dinosaurs died out. I've seen 1 in the Australian Museum encased in plastic. It's nearly 2 metres long, so its no minnow. Jim. Why do you think the dinosaurs became extinct? Bill. Drug abuse. Jim. Serves me right for asking. Bill. The point is, these creatures could really exist. Wockle. How can we verify this? Bill. We haven't been able to catch them by night, so we'll have to find them by day. All the sightings have been at night, which shows they're nocturnal, so we'll have to go underwater in the day time. Jim. How? Bill. By means of a diving bell. If Gandus gives us the resources, we can build a spherical 1 out of bronze, which wouldn't rust like iron & a watertight hatch on top. We could put thick portholes around the sides & a pump attached to a long hose to pump down air. Jim. What would you put it on? Bill. On a giant raft with a hole in the centre & supported by a strong frame. One of the war galleys could tow it to various locations on the lake. Then we might be able to observe them in their native habitat. Ken. It sounds like a good idea. Wockle. Even if we do find them, how can we stop them? Bill. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. First we have to establish their existence. Ken. Let's go see him now. Accordingly, they walked through the mansion until they found Gandus in his study. Bill. Gandus, we may have a solution to the problem of the missing women. Gandus. Excellent. What is it? Bill. In the Islets of Langerhans - where we come from - we have a device called a diving bell that can go deep underwater. Gandus. Well, I'll be fucked! Bill. We'd like your permission & help to build it so we can search for these Aquanoids, as they are called. Gandus. Things are getting serious. Daughters of important families have gone missing & I'm under a lot of pressure. Bill. Not as much pressure as we'd be under in the diving bell. Why don't you forbid to go near the lake at night? Gandus. We have, but some of these women like to do what's forbidden. Bill. This idea might work. He then explained it to Gandus. Gandus. Made of bronze, you say? Bill. To resist the water pressure & avoid corrosion. Gandus. How large? Bill. Large enough for me & my 3 friends. Gandus Thst's going to cost a shitload of money. Bill. I can't see any other way. Gandus. All right. I'll talk to the Council. I'm sure they'll expedite matters. *** With Gandus's aid, they hired workers & cast the diving bell. This toik them 2 months before they succeeded. Bill had trouble designing a watertight seal for the hatch, but this problem was finally overcome. The diving bell was then lifted onto a giant raft & positioned over the central hole on a strong scaffold with a thick cable attached to the diving bell & leading to a winch. There was a long tube leading from an air pump that Bill had designed to the diving bell. It was now the day of the official launching & Jim explained it was traditional in his country to smash a bottle of champagne on the bow of the ship before it was launched down the slipway. Angarians had not invented champagne, so there was some confusion over what to do, until Ken bought a bottle of rough red wine at a local tavern. The launching went without mishap & they boarded the galley that was to tow the raft into the lake. They thought it best to start their search at Angar, which lay at the end of the lake. Dividing the lake into sections, they started searching methodically. The lake was so vast, they could not see 1 shore from the other. Fortunately, the weather remained fine. After 2 unsuccessful weeks, they were once again scanning the underwater scene through the portholes near the lake bed, which was not deep in that part, when suddenly Jim, whose eyes were the sharpest, suddenly exclaimed: "I can see the creatures."

0 notes

cyzne-blog · 7 years

Text

Death

Death. What happens after the final moment? Is it nothingness, or something else? Better to become nothing than to tread another weary road. People hope for an afterlife, but reason is against it. How can the mind exist without a matrix like the brain? Perhaps in some field of quantum physics, presided over by Dark Energy, or Dark Matter. Who knows? And so the debate goes on.

0 notes

cyzne-blog · 7 years

Photo