Post by Cornelia_Africana on Nov 4, 2005 14:59:20 GMT
The full moon was already high in the sky when the team of UNESCO archaeologists arrived at the old manor house where they would be staying for the course of the survey of the site. It had once been home to the local family of landed gentry, but was now used as a conference centre. A wind had blown up during the evening, and was now whistling through the branches of the trees and sending clouds scurrying across the face of the moon. Annikki Tamminen of the University of Helsinki, the team’s Finnish member, switched on the lights in the manor’s dining room, and shuddered as long shadows were cast across the room. “I don’t know which is the eerier, this place or that stone circle in the moonlight. It gives me the creeps.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I love this sort of weather!” David Smith was an English team member, in charge of geophysics, and very much the outdoor type – a certain advantage in an archaeologist. “You can understand why the locals believe that spirits walk the earth on nights like this, can’t you?”
Giles Thompson, the team’s Canadian leader, grunted. He was a dour, taciturn man, whom nobody on the team liked very much, but he had influential friends in UNESCO, and had been able to pull strings to get himself put in charge of the expedition. “You’re getting as bad as Francois”, he growled. “By the way, has he decided to honour us with his company yet?”
“Not yet”, Annikki replied. “The last I saw of him, he was still deep in conversation with that old man down in the village.”
“Well, some of us have got work to do. The equipment arrived yesterday, didn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s all down in the cellar now.”
“I’ll better go and check it, then.”
He left the room, leaving Annikki and David alone. David wandered around, looking at the trees swaying in the wind through the hall’s enormous windows. Finally he spoke.
“I think I’ll go out and take a walk around the village. May even have a look at that circle in the moonlight.”
“Well, if you meet any of the fairy folk, don’t forget to give them our compliments!”
“I won’t !” and with a cheery wave he was off.
* * *
Giles made his way down to the cellar. He switched on the single light bulb that lit the room, and in its eerie glow, he made his way through the boxes that contained the team’s equipment. He showed no interest in them however, but seemed to have fixed his attention on a small box at the end of the room, seemingly the most insignificant. He opened this box now, and as he did so, an eerie green glow emerged from it. He knelt down before and lowered his head, almost as though in an act of worship. Slowly, something began to emerge from the box. A structure, seemingly of quartz crystals, from which the light seemed to emerge. A pale green light, yet sickly, radiating evil. Although the structure was less than a foot high, yet the evil emanating from it appeared to fill the room, and crush everything in its vicinity before it. Giles indeed seemed crushed and diminished as he knelt before it.
“My lord” he murmured, “I am at your service”.
A low voice came from the structure, a voice that also radiated evil. “You have done well” it said. “This is indeed the place. And the Time Lord is here. I hold his time ship captive. The Time Lord and I have many scores to settle.”
Giles lowered his head even further. Ever since he had given himself over to the power which now controlled him, that power had been obsessed with someone it called “The Doctor” , and the revenge it would one day take on him. It was that power which had told him to get himself made Director of the Dumha na mSidhe survey project– apparently seeing something about the place – and it was very definitely the place – that would enable it to take that revenge. There were times he could not remember when this evil had not been part of his life. Sometimes he wondered how he had come to give himself over to it so completely. It was almost as though his mind was being controlled, and yet the effort of resisting was such a weariness…. besides, although he did not know what the intelligence he served was, he had no illusions about its motives, and if he ever failed to obey it … he would die, he had no doubts about that.
“Tonight the moon is full” the voice continued. “The ideal time. The attempt must be made tonight.”
Giles raised his head. “But my lord… we cannot access the Mound. The humans deny access after a certain time.”
“The attempt must be made tonight!” the voice hissed. Giles shrank back, cowed. “If you cannot enter the central chamber, use the top. The energies are less concentrated there, but there should be sufficient power. At the exact moment the moon reaches fullness… the attempt must be made.”
The crystalline structure sank back into the box, and the light faded. Giles closed the box, and stood up, beads of sweat on his forehead. How was he to accomplish what was wanted? How could he clamber to the top of the Mound in the moonlight, and do what his master wanted him to do, without being seen? He knew that there were often tourists wandering around the stone circle even after dark. Nonetheless, he did not dare disobey. He had no alternative.
“Giles, a voice said behind him, “who were you talking to?”
He turned abruptly and saw behind him Francois Lacombe, Professor of archaeology at the Sorbonne. He had taken an instant dislike to Lacombe as soon as he had met him – a dislike not wholly separate from an uneasy and irrational feeling that the Frenchman could read his mind - and would not have had him on the team if it had been possible, but as one of the world’s leading experts on megalithic culture he could not have been excluded.
“It sounded as though you were talking to someone” Francois repeated.
Gile shook his head. “Just muttering to myself.” Since he could hardly tell his colleague what he had been doing, he decided to change the subject.
“It took you long enough to join us” he said angrily. “Had your fill of wasting your time talking to that old fool in the village?”
“I do not see it as a waste of time” Francois replied. “I often find that many garbled memories of things that were once true are preserved in folklore.”
“Well, let that be as it may. I’m going down to the Mound to set up some equipment for the sonar scan…”
“At this hour of night?”
“Well, we do have a job to do here. Perhaps you ought to remember that too, sometimes – you have a job to do.”
Their eyes met. There was a moment of tension, but it was Giles who lowered his eyes first. “Yes”, Francois replied. “I do have a job to do.I must remember that.”
• * *
Although it was almost midnight, and the exact moment of full moon was approaching, David was still wandering around the stone circle, breathing in the moonlit night air. There was only one other wanderer there, a young Japanese man, whom he had greeted, but who was now on the other side of the monument. He could see the quartz crystals in the stones, glittering in the moonlight, and he wondered what the Mound would have looked like five thousand years ago, when it was covered in quartz. Suddenly he stopped. From the myriad points of light on one of the boulders that surrounded the Mound, a single bright streak of light was seperating. It was the size of a human – no, taller – and it was starting to move towards him. As it drew closer, he could see it had the form of a woman, with waist-length hair, in a long robe, holding out her hands towards him, with a face of incredible beauty, though due to the silvery glow which surrounded the form, he could make out no further distinguishing features. Transfixed, he realised he was seeing one of the Tuatha de Danaan. He knew he should have been afraid – but he wasn’t. In fact he felt a feeling of well-being that he had only rarely felt in his life. The air seemed to be ringing with voices that sounded like music. As the glowing figure approached, he found himself moving towards it, entranced.
Then suddenly there was a blow on the back of his head, and he knew no more.
“Oh, I don’t know, I love this sort of weather!” David Smith was an English team member, in charge of geophysics, and very much the outdoor type – a certain advantage in an archaeologist. “You can understand why the locals believe that spirits walk the earth on nights like this, can’t you?”
Giles Thompson, the team’s Canadian leader, grunted. He was a dour, taciturn man, whom nobody on the team liked very much, but he had influential friends in UNESCO, and had been able to pull strings to get himself put in charge of the expedition. “You’re getting as bad as Francois”, he growled. “By the way, has he decided to honour us with his company yet?”
“Not yet”, Annikki replied. “The last I saw of him, he was still deep in conversation with that old man down in the village.”
“Well, some of us have got work to do. The equipment arrived yesterday, didn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s all down in the cellar now.”
“I’ll better go and check it, then.”
He left the room, leaving Annikki and David alone. David wandered around, looking at the trees swaying in the wind through the hall’s enormous windows. Finally he spoke.
“I think I’ll go out and take a walk around the village. May even have a look at that circle in the moonlight.”
“Well, if you meet any of the fairy folk, don’t forget to give them our compliments!”
“I won’t !” and with a cheery wave he was off.
* * *
Giles made his way down to the cellar. He switched on the single light bulb that lit the room, and in its eerie glow, he made his way through the boxes that contained the team’s equipment. He showed no interest in them however, but seemed to have fixed his attention on a small box at the end of the room, seemingly the most insignificant. He opened this box now, and as he did so, an eerie green glow emerged from it. He knelt down before and lowered his head, almost as though in an act of worship. Slowly, something began to emerge from the box. A structure, seemingly of quartz crystals, from which the light seemed to emerge. A pale green light, yet sickly, radiating evil. Although the structure was less than a foot high, yet the evil emanating from it appeared to fill the room, and crush everything in its vicinity before it. Giles indeed seemed crushed and diminished as he knelt before it.
“My lord” he murmured, “I am at your service”.
A low voice came from the structure, a voice that also radiated evil. “You have done well” it said. “This is indeed the place. And the Time Lord is here. I hold his time ship captive. The Time Lord and I have many scores to settle.”
Giles lowered his head even further. Ever since he had given himself over to the power which now controlled him, that power had been obsessed with someone it called “The Doctor” , and the revenge it would one day take on him. It was that power which had told him to get himself made Director of the Dumha na mSidhe survey project– apparently seeing something about the place – and it was very definitely the place – that would enable it to take that revenge. There were times he could not remember when this evil had not been part of his life. Sometimes he wondered how he had come to give himself over to it so completely. It was almost as though his mind was being controlled, and yet the effort of resisting was such a weariness…. besides, although he did not know what the intelligence he served was, he had no illusions about its motives, and if he ever failed to obey it … he would die, he had no doubts about that.
“Tonight the moon is full” the voice continued. “The ideal time. The attempt must be made tonight.”
Giles raised his head. “But my lord… we cannot access the Mound. The humans deny access after a certain time.”
“The attempt must be made tonight!” the voice hissed. Giles shrank back, cowed. “If you cannot enter the central chamber, use the top. The energies are less concentrated there, but there should be sufficient power. At the exact moment the moon reaches fullness… the attempt must be made.”
The crystalline structure sank back into the box, and the light faded. Giles closed the box, and stood up, beads of sweat on his forehead. How was he to accomplish what was wanted? How could he clamber to the top of the Mound in the moonlight, and do what his master wanted him to do, without being seen? He knew that there were often tourists wandering around the stone circle even after dark. Nonetheless, he did not dare disobey. He had no alternative.
“Giles, a voice said behind him, “who were you talking to?”
He turned abruptly and saw behind him Francois Lacombe, Professor of archaeology at the Sorbonne. He had taken an instant dislike to Lacombe as soon as he had met him – a dislike not wholly separate from an uneasy and irrational feeling that the Frenchman could read his mind - and would not have had him on the team if it had been possible, but as one of the world’s leading experts on megalithic culture he could not have been excluded.
“It sounded as though you were talking to someone” Francois repeated.
Gile shook his head. “Just muttering to myself.” Since he could hardly tell his colleague what he had been doing, he decided to change the subject.
“It took you long enough to join us” he said angrily. “Had your fill of wasting your time talking to that old fool in the village?”
“I do not see it as a waste of time” Francois replied. “I often find that many garbled memories of things that were once true are preserved in folklore.”
“Well, let that be as it may. I’m going down to the Mound to set up some equipment for the sonar scan…”
“At this hour of night?”
“Well, we do have a job to do here. Perhaps you ought to remember that too, sometimes – you have a job to do.”
Their eyes met. There was a moment of tension, but it was Giles who lowered his eyes first. “Yes”, Francois replied. “I do have a job to do.I must remember that.”
• * *
Although it was almost midnight, and the exact moment of full moon was approaching, David was still wandering around the stone circle, breathing in the moonlit night air. There was only one other wanderer there, a young Japanese man, whom he had greeted, but who was now on the other side of the monument. He could see the quartz crystals in the stones, glittering in the moonlight, and he wondered what the Mound would have looked like five thousand years ago, when it was covered in quartz. Suddenly he stopped. From the myriad points of light on one of the boulders that surrounded the Mound, a single bright streak of light was seperating. It was the size of a human – no, taller – and it was starting to move towards him. As it drew closer, he could see it had the form of a woman, with waist-length hair, in a long robe, holding out her hands towards him, with a face of incredible beauty, though due to the silvery glow which surrounded the form, he could make out no further distinguishing features. Transfixed, he realised he was seeing one of the Tuatha de Danaan. He knew he should have been afraid – but he wasn’t. In fact he felt a feeling of well-being that he had only rarely felt in his life. The air seemed to be ringing with voices that sounded like music. As the glowing figure approached, he found himself moving towards it, entranced.
Then suddenly there was a blow on the back of his head, and he knew no more.
