Cursed Times - What Now?

Chapter 47 - Calm after the Storm

'What's this?' the professor asked. He rushed towards a shaft where the bottom part of a wooden cabin was stuck below the ceiling on the left, and the top part of another cabin peeped up from the floor on the right. Panels on both sides displayed the outline of a hand. The professor pressed his palm against the right one, and a rumbling sound could be heard in the bowels of the temple.

'Father, in the name of the ... .' Metjen glanced around uneasily. Trueth thought he was right to curb his tongue--even if the gods had run out of juice for the moment, they might still be listening.

The cabins jerked and started moving silently, one went up, the other one went down, more followed in an endless silent chain.

'Look at this,' the professor said. 'How does it work? An elevator needs electricity.'

'The Sails of Ra on the roof will do their duty,' Seisi said. 'They are collecting sunlight, turning it into the buzzing power that feeds the garland as it feeds many of our devices. This one is for transporting goods. I only use the flying bridges. ' Seisi said.

The professor shook his head in bewilderment. 'Solar power and electricity. I don't believe this.'

'You better do, you're in a temple,' Metjen said. 'Trueth, you see this? We won't be without mod cons.'

He stopped and regarded her from the side. At least he had the decency to be ashamed. But then, he was only a man. They noticed nothing even if it was right under their nose or nipped them in the rear end. She wanted to hold on to what she had got, so Trueth gave him a break. One near loss was enough.

'By now I'll believe almost anything,' she said. 'Tell me who to pray to, and I'll start right away. Ouch.'

The last bit was directed at the two Servants who had dropped her unceremoniously as they gaped at the device flowing around its silent circuit.

Seisi reassured them this would be safe, told them to get into one of the ascending cabins, wait three floors and get out as soon as they saw pillars. The professor jumped into one cabin going down. Metjen banged his head against the nearest wall.

'Do not fret, he will reappear--unless he has chosen to remain below...,' Seisi said with a frown.

The professor chose not to do that and returned on the other side, beaming all over the face and giving them a double thumbs-up.

'It moves sideways at the bottom, just as it should,' he yelled.

'Count three floors and only exit the garland when you see pillars,' Seisi shouted at a pair of dusty trekking boots floating upwards. He put his hands to his head and muttered something under his breath. They waited, but no professor came into sight. Obviously, he had got out as instructed. The only question was where.

Seisi heaved a deep sigh and addressed the others. 'If you do not see pillars the first time, the cabin will move round and you can exit when it descends. Otherwise, you do as the master of learning did, and you ascend again. But it will be evening soon, we should seek a place to make camp. We cannot frolic with the garland. I'm--I am much puzzled why your sire is so excited, it truly is nothing. '

Metjen sent his team on in pairs with Trueth and her bearers waiting behind until only Metjen himself was left. As she floated upwards, Trueth heard counting from above and applause as somebody presumably had spotted pillars.

She peeped out of her stretcher as they ascended, climbing up the chimney with its airborne bridges on one side, floating past immense dark cavities on the other. Before she could wonder what those might contain, her holy paramedics, having a better overview, also seemed to have spotted what they had been searching for, cheered and swayed her stretcher out of the cabin.