Covenant: Exodus

Chapter 22

Namaah inhaled the salty air and opened her eyes. In front of her, Noahim stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, the waves gently rocking the three boats that were anchored several hundred yards offshore. Even from so far away, the ships still looked larger than any she had seen before. Karok sat at Noah's side, both of them seemed to be scanning the horizon intently. Namaah knew that Noah was searching for any sign of Jakon and the other Mul'Ki that had fled Atla on the Lion. Although there had been no sign of the other ship in the three years since the catastrophe, Noahim had remained concerned that Jakon was coming.

Namaah had done her best to convince Noah that they were safe now, at least from Jakon, but it was to no avail. As she approached her husband, she could hear him talking quietly to Karok, although the noise from the wind and the surf blocked the words sufficiently that she was unable to make them out. He sensed her approach and turned towards her, a smile growing on his face. Karok stood up and took a few steps towards Namaah, brushing lightly against her leg as he passed. "I fear that it is almost time for us to leave," Noah said as he put his arms around her, "We have been here long enough, we must continue our search for a new home."

Namaah had expected as much, Noah had said after a short time on the new land that it would not work as a permanent home for the survivors of Atla, but he had decided that before they continued on their journey, they should search for other survivors of the great catastrophe. They had found several scattered groups across this land, groups that before the flood may have lived in relative harmony but since that time had fallen into chaos and discord as the remaining survivors fought over the limited amount of land and food. Before the flood, this had been a prosperous land, but the tidal waves had destroyed their homes and killed the majority of the animals that were used for meat. The remaining people and animals were driven higher and higher into the mountains as the waters continued to rise, their resources becoming harder to find as they climbed.

When Noah and his people had found the first of these survivors they were attacked, but there was little risk of them hurting any of the Atlan survivors, Noah and the other Mul'Ki made sure of that. The people were in awe of the power that Noah commanded as he displayed for them his ability to lift large objects, objects that not even a hundred men could have lifted, without touching them. Noah had quickly begun to understand the strange language that the natives spoke, teaching them to grow crops and herd animals the way that the Atlans did, and replenishing their own supplies in the process, but they knew that the time would come when they would have to press on and find their new home.

Namaah put her arms around Noah's neck and looked deeply into his eyes, "I know that you feel we must continue to search for a new home, but why Noah?" she asked, "Why is this place not as good as any other?"

"This place is too exposed. It took us only a matter of a week to find the people that lived here. Jakon will be coming, we cannot risk him finding us before we can complete our mission," he said, "I know that some of you think that I am crazy and that he will not be coming after us, but believe me, Jakon will never stop."

Namaah sighed and shook her head, "And this mission that you speak of, what exactly is our mission...other than to find a suitable place to settle down and have children?"

"Namaah, there is nothing that I desire more than to have a child with you," Noah said softly, "but our mission right now is more important than that. The Ratam Ra'Ava gave instructions that we need to build the machines to produce the Gods' Noise. Only the machines can prevent the sky from falling again. And it is not enough just to build the machines, we must build them in the right places. This is not the right place, I had hoped that it was, but it is not."

"And how will you know when we find the right place, Noah?" she asked.

Noah looked at his wife, and smiled slightly, returning his gaze to the sea. He stared out into the turbulent water for several moments before finally answering, "There are many things hidden within Ratam Ra'Ava, similar to a code. Complex mathematical equations weaved into the tapestry of the myth that, when worked out correctly, point to times and places or give us maps of the stars that we can then use to navigate to these places. The problem is that ever since the day that the sky fell, the maps of the stars are useless. We now look up into a foreign sky, a sky devoid of all of the stars and planets that we have spent millennia mapping out, so aside from having to decode Ratam Ra'Ava, I also need to somehow decipher this new placement of the stars, or rather, our new place on the planet."