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Rajiah sat within his tent, he was distraught, for Mahan had taken his youngest daughter Datura to be one of Quasar`s newest wives. With him, his wife and children cried for Datura, but also for themselves, for who knew what this terrible demon would do next. Away from the demon Quasar, Rajiah swore to avenge the terrible deeds of the day, but mainly he swore to avenge his daughter, for who knew what the horrific demon would do to her innocent mind. Rajiah thought a lot about Quasar over the next few hours and he decided that he was not a god, no just a very powerful demon, one sent out of hell to punish them for some blasphemous deed.
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Quasar decided that his first act as the god of Remus would be to use his telepathic powers to call the other leaders of the tribes, just the ones who lived near enough to Tent City, as any who lived further away would never be able to walk to Tent City. He wanted them there so that he could enter their minds and force them to obey him, that and to have them worship at his feet. To this end, he called Mahan in to his tent and told him to mount guards around his tent; they were given orders not to allow anyone to enter his illustrious presence until further notice. Quasar then sent his mind out in search of any headman who lived nearby. He found his first just sixty miles away in the tribe of the Good and entered the mind of Jared, the headman of the tribe, much to the anger of Jared. This anger soon turned to fear, for he knew that someone of great power was speaking to him telepathically, and he could not stop him. Quasar put the compulsion to visit him at the forefront of Jared’s thoughts; he then left the headman and went in search of the next tribe. The next day would see the three headmen that Quasar had visited all start on their trip to Tent City, and all not knowing just why they were obeying the call, but all fearful as to the reason behind it. There were many more tribes on Remus, but Quasar knew that the feat of travelling the long distance to Tent City was beyond them; in any case, without modern technology to assist him it was also beyond his ability to contact them.
The longer that Quasar was in the body of the shaman the more their two DNA`s mixed and intertwined. His body was undergoing subtle changes unnoticed by those around him. His skin was thickening; his recuperative system was vastly improved. His eyesight and hearing were easily the best on Remus. His strength was growing more each day and when all of this was added to his mental powers, it meant that he was becoming a superman. Soon it would take another such person to stand any chance of defeating him.
Quasar decided that the time had come to pay a call on those bound warriors who had dared to attack him when he had first appeared outside of the city. He found them scared and panicking about his intentions, they soon found out that his intentions would be anything but honourable. He entered each of their minds and in effect, he brainwashed them, no longer were they free men, now they were warriors bound only to the service of Quasar. This task over, Quasar sank to the ground exhausted, for to brainwash one individual was an easy task for one such as he, but to brainwash so many people was an exhausting task, which explained why he did not simply do this to all the inhabitants of the city. Another reason was that if he did do so he would have no one left to punish for impure thoughts or deeds. As long as Quasar was within telepathic range these warriors would remain bound to him, should he leave they would become free men again, unless he returned to reclaim them.
Quasar spent the rest of the day walking around the large encampment known locally as Tent City, looking for anyone who was not completely broken and so under his sway, and he punished any he found who fought him for control of their mind. Any person who he found openly attempting to subvert his new enlarged flock away from him, the one true god; he tortured. Their screams for mercy, to be allowed to die, caused the other nomads to cower in fear lest this fate befall them. When he had his fill he would give their lifeless bodies to the people of the Alemanni tribe to eat, and so he would be rid of the bodies. Unfortunately, he was disappointed to find almost all of the nomads now bowing down to him in complete terror.
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Colt had been the first one of them to catch sight of Tent City; he had seen it as he topped the hill that the others were still struggling to climb. Amongst this hot arid desert, he was amazed to see such a large oasis before him; the tents of the city were to the south of it while palm trees lined the rest of the oasis. Without the water of the oasis, there would be no city of tents, no palm trees to offer shade and nowhere for the flocks of the nomads of Tent City to drink.
The others too marvelled at the beautiful scene that was set before them, as they all stood there looking at the vista before them, six men walk out from the city of tents; they were walking towards the leader of a nomadic tribe that had only just arrived. A moment later and Colt and the others watched astounded, for the six men fell to the ground and begin to scream out in pain. The new tribe looked similar to the one they had met at the black mountain, so on seeing the six men fall to the ground screaming, something within Colt screamed out a warning. He decided it might be better to keep out of sight of those standing before the city of tents, and he dropped down behind the ridge upon which they stood, he then told the others to do likewise. He did not want to become a prisoner of the savages again, no way; he decided that they should covertly investigate the township first before openly showing themselves to potential enemies.
The other three had dropped down beside him and they now looked at the scene before them, concern for their future was plain upon their tired and worn faces. Then from the city, a large number of warriors charged the newcomers, their war cries enough to scare any but a battle-hardened warrior away. However, what came next was even scarier, for the attackers began to fall to the floor screaming and seemingly writhing in agony before they reached their enemy, and without a shot fired from the antique rifles carried by both sides. When the screams of these poor wretches reached them, they made their blood run cold, for what did the future hold for them if so many warriors could be defeated so easily.
“I think we should move further back down the hill and talk about what we just saw happen out there.” Colt said grimly. As soon as they were back at the bottom of the hill, he spoke to them.
“We will rest up here until the sun sets and then I will recce the place.” Colt told the others. “We need to see if it is safe for us to enter and seek help, especially after what we just saw.”
The others immediately argued his decision to leave them behind while he went forth into unknown danger.
“Jim it will be better if I go with you to guard your back, we do not know anything about these people, they appear to be at least as bad as those savages back at the mountain, my god they might even be the same tribe.” Rawlins exclaimed in hushed tones, worried that the empty land around them would carry his words to an enemy.
“Jim, Peter is right about the dangers posed within that encampment, we do not know anything about these people, if the newcomers can overcome the defenders so easily, it could be highly dangerous for strangers to venture anywhere near them.” Partridge ventured.
Alice was about to join the argument when another person spoke ahead of her.
“Oh it will be now that Quasar has the Alemanni under his control.” John Olsen said to them.
They all whirled around to see a six feet tall herculean man standing behind them; he had shoulder length fair hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in the attire worn by the people of the encampment; however, he spoke reasonable enough English for a local.
“Come, it is not safe here, I will take you to my camp where we can talk.” Olsen said beckoning to the four stunned friends.
“And why should we trust you more than the people at the encampment?” Colt demanded to know of this modern day Hercules.
“Because, I will not attempt to eat you, and they might try to do just that.” Olsen said smiling at them. He then turned away and walked along a shallow gully that led away from where Colt and the others stood sheltered beneath the hill and took him towards
a much deeper ravine. The four friends looked nervously at one another before Colt made up their minds.
“Come on, let’s go, and hopefully he will be true to his word and not try to have us for his dinner.” Having enjoyed the company of the Alemanni, Colt decided that the stranger must be the safer bet.
They finally came to the ravine that Olsen had walked along; it led them further away from the township and to a narrow cleft that opened up into a cave entrance that in turn led them in to a large chamber, Olsen beckoned them inside. The change in temperature they encountered when they entered it was most welcoming; and inside they found three more people who were guests of Olsen.
“This is Father Samuel Myers, Father Ricardo Amalekite and Father Joseph Larsson; they are also my guests for the moment. They are missionaries sent by the Church of the Universe.” Olsen said no more than offer this simple introduction regarding three men sitting within the chamber.
Colt then introduced himself and his three friends, adding that Alice too was a missionary for the Church of the Universe, but he did not get a chance to say more, for Olsen offered them all some food and water, and this was very welcome after the hardships they had endured during their hard trek. While they settled themselves down upon the rough stone that was all the seating that there was on offer to any of them, Olsen served the food. While they had fed little was said beyond how hungry they had been, for they had been surviving on space rations during their time on Remus. Afterwards Olsen got back to the problem confronting them all, he did this by asking a question, and it was one hell of a question.
“Tell me, just why did your freighter choose to crash in to the Black Mountain at that exact spot, for in doing so it released Quasar from his prison and may have consigned the galaxy to a fight for its very survival. Was it by design or sheer bad luck?” This question stunned everyone within the chamber.
“I am sorry but, what did you just say?” Alice asked in reply to his question. She was as surprised by the question as the others were, and she was beginning to look on Olsen as a man of whom she should be afraid.
In answer to Alice’s question, Olsen gave them the abridged version of the history of the planets Rega and Remus, of how Quasar had been finally defeated when he was lured deep beneath the black mountain. How a certain rare mineral prevented him from using his telepathic powers, and allowed the forces of the planet Rega to entomb him there for eternity, an eternity however, that ended just six days ago. He finished his brief history lesson by adding that with the passing of time how this history was now regarded by many merely as myths, up until today.
“So once again I repeat my question, just why did your freighter choose to crash in to the black mountain at that exact spot and so release him, was it by design or sheer bad luck?” Olsen looked at them and waited for one of them to answer him.
Colt answered the question even though he did not believe that a being could survive for the length of time put forward by Olsen, but the people of Earth had at one time or another believed some weird things. Colt now began to relate their story, of how they came to be light years off course and why they had crashed on Remus. After telling their story, Colt had a question for Olsen.
“John, now that I have answered your question, I have one of my own. Just what did we see happen out there, why did those men just fall to the floor and begin to scream?” Colt asked.
“What is our new friend speaking about John?” Myers asked concerned that something may have happened to his flock while he was hiding away within a rocky chamber. “What men is he talking of and what did happen?” Father Myers demanded to know. It was Colt who told him of the strange battle that had occurred before Tent City. Everyone now turned to Olsen to listen for an answer to the original question.
“What you witnessed was the mental power that Quasar can command without the aid of any technology whatsoever. Just think how strong an enemy he will be with the modern technology of today to aid him.” Olsen replied. “However, enough of that for the moment, let me tell you first a little about myself and why I am here. I live on the planet Rega; the third planet from our sun, this planet is Remus, the fourth planet in the same system. I am here on Remus because of the dreams that have filled my nights of late, and of the others at the monastery where I live and train, they told us that Quasar was returning. So your tale fits in, and it also tells me that the lords of creation are behind both our stories, for some reason they want us to battle against Quasar, and now rather than at some future date.”
Bishop Myers broke in here. “We stopped off at Rega on the way here John; we visited your monastery and were very impressed with Prior Karson and the monks. However, we did not run into you while we were there?” Bishop Myers said the last few words in a rather puzzled tone.
“I was away on Earth for a while Bishop, funny how we were both on each others planet when our future was to be so intertwined.” Olsen said smiling. “I was there for two years, during this time I was trained to fly and maintain my space craft, they were loath to release me after so short a time, but I could not afford to be away from Rega any longer. My ship is only an inter-planetary vessel so it piggy bagged a ride to Rega aboard one of your large inter-stellar starships. We were able to purchase my craft by selling your people a large amount of valuable minerals that abound around the monastery, but not on Earth.” Olsen explained to the satisfaction of Bishop Myers who had heard about the deal from the Bishop on Rega, and said as much.
Olsen looked at each of the four friends to gauge their reaction to the start of his strange tale about Quasar, and then he turned to the three missionaries to gauge their reactions. As they seemed to accept his words without argument, he continued. Little did he imagine that they were just attempting to be polite and had dismissed his tale regarding the history of Rega and Remus as simply a tale, pure myth?
“I will now tell you all the few facts that we know about Quasar himself, it will help you to understand the urgency of my mission and the difficulties that lay ahead of me, and you if you agree to join me in my quest. It may also help you to understand what you just witnessed.” Olsen said and then continued.
“According to the ancient writings that mention Quasar, and these date back many thousands of years, he first became known to the authorities as a pirate, so they sent a single warship to a planet named Purgatory to deal with him. He was able to take control of the crew using just his telepathic abilities and then captured the next starship that was despatched to search for the first, again by using the power of the mind and nothing more. By the time the authorities began to worry seriously about the situation on Purgatory, Quasar had amassed a fleet large enough to move against them. Somehow he defeated much larger fleets of starships, it is thought that he used mind control against members of the ship`s crew and they acted as fifth columnists and sabotaged many of the ships within the fleet of Rega. How he was able to do all of this is unknown, but a great civilisation fell because of the power he is able to call upon, the power that is to be found within his mind.” Olsen saw the disbelief appear openly now upon those before him and he sighed.
“I can see that none of you believe me, strange after what you four witnessed out there on the plain I would have thought that you would have at least thought it possible. Never mind you will, after our little trip tonight. I will take one of each of your two groups into the encampment tonight and you will see the truth for yourselves. You, Father Myers, know how your flock spend their nights, tonight though you will see a very reserved people, one that is scared, even of their own shadow. And you Captain Colt are a good judge of people I think, whatever you think of me; you will both tell me what you see there after we return.” Olsen declared grimly.
“If this Quasar is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, will he not see the three of you there, as soon as you enter the encampment?” Partridge demanded to know, he did not believe any of what Olsen had told him but something somewhere within him was worried that his friend could be walking to hi
s death that night.
“No, Dave, for none of you are telepathic, and I, as my mother came from Earth, I too am invisible to him, and for as long as I chose to be. Should you cause him to notice you though, he will soon have you under his control, for even though your people are not telepathic he will be able to enter the mind of anyone near to him and gain control of their mind, in affect he will brainwash them. So be warned, when Quasar is nearby to us tonight you must be careful not to attract his attention. However, before the night is over you will all agree to assist me in my sworn duty, to finally destroy the entity that is Quasar.” Olsen said these last words more in hope than in belief, for he knew it would be an uphill battle to convince them of anything that he tod them.
“If you are so invisible to his psyche, why do you not simply murder him?” Alice enquired. Although she felt that this stranger was sincere, she also felt that he was missing a screw, a pity really, because he was quite a hunk.
“He is now surrounded by a veritable army of telepathic warriors; if you were to attempt to use a weapon against him they would stop you. In fact, even if you were to use a long-range weapon it would probably prove to be ineffective against Quasar. According to the fables told about him, he seems able to nullify the effect of some weapons and recover almost immediately from others. Only a nuclear device would kill him for sure, and I am not ready to kill all the innocent peoples ensnared by him just yet, and it will be impossible later.” Olsen replied grimly.
“You say that we can do it for now, why not later?” Alice asked.
“Because, Alice, by the time your people finally believe my story he will have a fleet of starships to stop you, and most of these ships he will have taken from Earth or Mazere.” Olsen replied.
“Surely you had some sort of a plan to take this creature down before you set out on your mission? No one would attempt such a thing, purely relying on chance to find the help you need on the way. You could hardly have expected to find seven people who not only are not telepathic but also are able and willing to go up against the sort of monster that you paint Quasar to be, could you? In fact what you have before you are seven of the most unsuited people you could have hoped to find.” Colt exclaimed.