Introduction
Azur-Borzul
250,000 years ago a few hundred survivors from the planet Azur [in the system GRS 1915 + 105] fled their world when it's star collapsed.
The Azurian's left behind a race of winged androids they had created and named Azur Borzul 'the Iron Angels'. With their androids the Azurian's had attained immortality, and the ecstasy of flight.
The androids were the recipients of Azur intelligence through the downloading of the 'souls' or memories of living Azurian's whose lives were at an end through accident, disease or aging.
Every Azurian at the age of nine was implanted with the download device and it's own unique protocol.
The implosion of the Azurian star and the resulting neutrino radiation had little effect on the Borzul, but the massive servers which housed the memories and transfer programming, were corrupted by the powerful surge of electromagnetic fields from the stars collapse. The millions of Azurian's who died from the neutrino radiation were instantly downloaded into the corrupted servers. At over a trillion bytes per second the servers were overwhelmed with too much information. The 'new' memories were incomplete. Over the next decade, the Borzul created with the corrupted memories were maniacal in there thirst for 'souls', a need to fill in the gaps left by the incomplete download. This new race of Borzul waged a terrifying war against the older androids and picked through their memories like scavenging Hyenas. The technical minds among them revealed the plans, which the exiles had used to build their starship, a hybrid asteroid, hollowed out for living space and equipped with fusion engines. Heavily shielded it used the force of the neutron stars initial energy burst to propel it on its journey. Obsessed with the need for fresh 'souls' their powerful computers soon pinpointed the trail across the galaxy the exiles had taken. The Neutron star expelled superluminal jets of energy like clockwork. The Borzul constructed a titanic version of the exile's starship and using the jets for an initial boost, were soon following the Azur's path and would descend on them in their new home like hungry wolves.
The Azurian's new home, a blue jewel at the edge of the galaxy circling a yellow star, was sparsely populated with an agrarian culture. The natives were human like the Azurians and were awed by the Azurian engineers and the eight cities they built to circle the globe. The Azurian's soon inculcated the native population with the stories of their home world and the race of 'Angels'. The cult of the Azur Borzul was in its second century when the bright star first appeared. The Azurian's had long since 'gone native' what remained of their past technology was buried deep within the temples of the eight holy cities. In each of these an Azurian Navigator was entombed, with his control device, which could summon a shuttle down from the exile's orbiting starship, or move the ship itself. The Borzul arrival was first viewed as an omen of good fortune, it was seen as the brightest star low in the east. The oldest of the Azurian priests in the Andean holy city, which the Inca's would later call Tiwanaku, viewed the approaching star as an ill omen, something within his ancestral memories stirred.
Borzul engineers quickly revived the systems aboard the Azurian Asteroid and used its shuttle to scout the planet below. The Azurian city of Kar Imael was the first to encounter the Borzul.
They were awakened in the predawn hours when the roar of the shuttle's braking engines shook the adobe walls of this canyon city. The twelve thousand souls of this gentle cliff dwelling people were the first victims of the Borzul harvest. Within six weeks all of the Azurian's descendants and many of the native people who lived near the eight cities had been embalmed with the hideous techniques the Borzul used to free the memories of their victims. The Andean priest after hearing the news of Kar Imael's fate had frantically searched his holy archives for answers. He uncovered the tomb of his ancestral Navigator and with the text from centuries of archives was able to reveal something of how the devices buried with him were to be used.
The
high Andean holy city was the last to be attacked by the Borzul and the
priest was one of its last victims. The Borzul uncovered the tombs entrance
and found the priest entering the final commands, which would send the
Azurian asteroid into a collision with the Borzul starship.
In the struggle, which ensued, he was decapitated as he bit down on a Borzul android's finger.
The Azur ship collided with the larger Borzul asteroid sending it into a decaying orbit and damaging it's fusion drive. With a harvest of 'souls' ready for processing and only kinetic pulse resources remaining to power their return, the Borzul retrieved the shuttle and left the Earth and it's primitive cultures to their history. By the time of the Inca the myths and fables of the Azur Borzul were nearly forgotten.
William Stoneham
January 28 1997
Chapter One
The Azurian had lived for millions of years and at the height of their evolution they achieved immortality, transferring their 'souls' into artificial bodies.
The legends spoke of their arrival every thousand years, to collect the dead from the Temples of Asur Borzul in the Eight Holy Cities. Now, only one temple remained, in the ancient city of Tsetsen-Uul, but no one practiced their forgotten faith, no one knew how to prepare the dead for the journey to Heavens Furnace.
Tsetsen-Uul, Central Asia
April 14, 2008
The 'Tea Road' tavern's music had a certain appeal. Liam's travels had taken him to many places and it was always a cultures music he enjoyed. He leaned against the wall, a bowl of rice with thin strips of meat in his lap. A large ceramic mug was filled with the local beer. Liam glanced at the notebook framed in his opened knapsack and the inscription, between bites of stringy meat. He knew the basic text was a dedication for a holy man, but the rest was in a much older dialect. He sighed and drank more ale. The smoky room was making him drowsy. Liam glanced at the last line of the inscription. A soft voice spoke. "All thou art, in Heavens blinding light, a furnace fed from mortal flesh". Liam blinked and looked up. A young woman, Middle Eastern in appearance, quite striking in this outpost of coarse features, stood next to the table staring at the notebook's inscription. "I'm sorry, my curiosity sometimes replaces good manners. I'm Ashida Yuzem". She held out her hand. Liam wiped his own before taking hers, warm and beautifully formed. " I recognized the inscription, the dialect is perhaps eight hundred years old." Liam blinked again to make sure she wasn't a hallucination. "Please". He said. Finally releasing her hand. "Sit down." She smiled and Liam found himself grinning foolishly as he gestured to the bench next to his. 'Get a grip old man, you don't want to frighten her'. He thought to himself.
"I'm Dr. Liam Penn". He waved to the tavern keeper. They ordered green tea for her and more beer for him.
"So Miss Yuzem, you know this dialect?" Liam asked.
"Please just Ashida. Yes it is one of several I have studied in my field of interest." She said. "Which field is that?" He asked. "I thought you would know that, Dr. Penn, it is the Cult of the Asur Borzul, or Iron Angels." The tea and beer arrived. She sipped at hers and he took a swallow before answering. "You don't look foolish, and you sound lucid so I assumed you pursued practical work."
Ashida looked at him with a steady gaze.
"I know enough to take the myth very seriously and what I know about your work impresses me." Liam had to smile at that. "Well it's certainly been a long while since anyone was impressed by my work, other then my creditors." He said. She replied. "Don't belittle your work doctor, the papers you published on this subject were brilliant and not the 'ravings of someone who has lost his scientific perspective'." Liam winced. "Hmm, a quote from the review in 'Science'."
"Yes and they speak from the comfort of rooms far from the field where you and I work." Liam was starting to like this young woman. "You've actually read my work?" He asked, not sure if he'd heard her right after all. The beer was having its effect. "Yes and perhaps we should discuss what you believe to be buried in Tsetsen-Uul, but for now I'd like to make you an offer of a warm room and a comfortable bed in the only hotel in this city, my treat." Liam sat up; he couldn't believe he'd heard that right at all. My god a warm bed! He looked at her again, no she meant a bed of his own, not hers. Too bad. Well it would probably kill him anyway after all these years.
The Hotel Uul, though worn by age and hard times, had something Liam had dreamt of for months. Hot water. He bathed and let the warmth soak into his bones. The bath revived him considerably, giving him a clarity he had not had in days. Ashida had told him about her background as they made their way to the hotel. She was the daughter of the Turkish Minister Of Trade, who traveled with his family and had infused an interest in archeology in her at an early age. When Ashida discovered Liam's writings she began her own quest for the Temples of Asur Borzul and the cult of the Iron Angels. Liam was curious to see what the young women had uncovered with less formal training. Her passion for the work and her father's financial backing, not withstanding. She informed him before they parted for the night that her father's interest in her work and respect for Liams' could mean further funding.
Provided they had results of course, Liam reminded himself in his room. His tattered pack lay on the table and Liam removed the SMB. Using an adapter he recharged its battery. He examined the hard copy of the days scanning. The beta decay column was filled with the tell tale signs of neutrinos. Buried beneath the square lay the evidence he had sought for ten years. The last of the Temples of Asur Borzul. As the legend told it, the priests of Asur Borzul prepared the chosen for the arrival of the Iron Angels. The Angels carried the dead to Heaven where their bodies were consumed in the fire of Gods furnace and their souls were freed from earthly bondage.
All of this had been myth, until the day of his discovery in the ruins of Paucartambo. Liam had uncovered a tomb with the usual funerary objects, and what he mistook for a mummified finger. He had examined it alone in that ancient chamber, knowing even then its implications. When he did his tests back at the University he knew it would change his life. The finger was made of a material the most sophisticated analysis could not match to terrestrial materials. Liam discovered to his horror that it was saturated with lethal amounts of neutron radiation. He'd discovered the most significant artifact on the planet and it was literally killing him. In desperation he decided to sabotage his own career. He would save his young wife, Mellisa, from exposure and his colleagues at the University. He wrote his first paper, a careful collation of his discoveries, with reference to the finger as the' bone of an unknown life form'. He presented the paper and deliberately hedged and finally refused to show the 'Alien Bone' to the expedition review board. When he demanded more funding and still refused to present the artifact the board put him on probationary review. Mellisa was furious with him. He would not come home and took up residence in a remote mountain cabin.
He purchased the cabin and ten surrounding acres, also the basic components for the Single-Molecule Biosensor.
He knew he had a limited time before malignancies began to grow in his body.
The SMB would monitor his neutrino levels and help him in his search for more artifacts.
Liam made plans to leave the country as soon as his levels were down. He found a granite seam on the property, which he calculated was several hundred meters in depth. He encased the finger in lead and concrete with an impermeable kevlar wrapping and dropped it into the seam.
Mellisa filed for divorce that week and the University terminated his contract. His severance money was just enough to get him out of the country and into a clinic in central Europe. After two bone marrow transplants and a session of chemotherapy, which nearly killed him, he was ready to travel again. Eight years later, he was still in remission and had been for several years.
The Czech physician who treated him had told him even a small amount of radiation could be fatal. Liam knew with a certainty that he lived on borrowed time.
Now in this room in a remote corner of Asia, he lay on the bed and prayed he would have enough time to complete his search. Perhaps with the young woman's help.
Ashida lay awake, staring into the darkness. She knew some of the rumors about Liam Penn and they were disturbing. Most were associated with his bizarre behavior after the tomb in Paucartambo had been opened. Like many other sacred sites there were stories of a curse. Unlike stories for entertainment and publicity, the curse of the Tomb of the Iron Angel proved to be fatal. Four of his colleagues, who had contact with him at the University, had died of bone cancer. Two were fighting for their lives. Dr. Penns' ex-wife Mellisa Kingsley had barely survived pelvic cancer. Ashida had spent six months researching Liam Penn and the more she learned the more she suspected. Through her fathers connections she had obtained Peruvian research reports
That showed traces of rare neutrino radiation at the tomb, indications that something very lethal had once occupied the space. Her search had finally led her to Prague and the clinic where Liam had been treated.
With a donation from her father to the clinic she was able to meet the physician who'd treated Liam. She learned of Liams fight with cancer and his determination to continue his research.
Where had he gone? Somewhere in Asia, the doctor recalled. She calculated the points of egress and entry for a man with few options monetarily. It took her four months and the consent of her father to find Dr. Penn. Now she hoped to learn the terrible truth of Liam Penn and his 'Alien Artifact'.
Dawn choked it's reddish light through billowing clouds of sand. The deserted streets collected reefs of sand in every crevice, as two huddled figures moved across the market place. Liam and Ashida walked toward the ruins. "Thanks for breakfast and the room, I don't know how, or when, I can repay you and your father." He said. "I will be repaid by your knowledge and help in understanding what we are about to uncover. As for my father, he is a generous and also a curious man. His repayment will also be in your discoveries." She answered.
"Ashida, I need to tell you something before we proceed. It has to do with a rare, but quite lethal radiation. Which we could be exposed to if we uncover the tomb, I'm certain is beneath the square." She stood very close to him, her face in shadow. "I know of your illness and where and how you were exposed. Something which you hinted at in your first paper and I suspect it was this 'artifact ', which caused your illness." She hesitated. "And the deaths of those whom you had contact with eight years ago."
Liam stopped walking and his whole demeanor changed. He suddenly seemed older, more weary. His tall frame bent. "No I thought I'd saved them.. "Mellisa? Is she alive?" Ashida put her hand on his arm. "Yes, she's alive. I'm sorry Liam I thought you would have heard. He shook his head. "No I wanted them to think I was mad, you see, so I would be forgotten. God I am mad. To think I could keep this terrible secret all these years." Ashida took his hands in hers and guided him to a sheltered alcove.
"Go on". She said. "How terrible is this secret"? "Tell me the rest." Liam looked toward the ruins and continued.
" The Asur Borzul existed over a thousand years ago. They had contact with the Inca people of the Paucartambo valley. That contact created a new religion. The priests of this new faith built huge underground tombs, where the kings and priests were prepared for their ascension to heaven. The chambers were built with a circular stone plug several meters thick, which only the Angels could remove. At Paucartambo there was the legend of a young king whose queen had died in childbirth. She was prepared for her ascension and lay in the tomb. The king stole into the tomb before it was sealed prepared to die so that he might join his queen in heaven. The Angel who came for the queen would not take the king and when it approached the queen to carry her away the king fought with it, trying to wrestle it to the ground. The king's flesh was burned from his bones and his skull was turned to stone. It was the skull with the finger of the Angel in its mouth, which I found buried beneath the queens sepulcher. The last thing I did before I left the University was to analyze a 3D model of the finger. The computer identified it as a prosthetic digit from an artificial construct. What we would call an android. For eight years I've pieced together some of the evidence behind the myth. The Asur Borzul were probably from the vicinity of a microquasar or neutron star. That would explain the neutrino radiation. The rituals proscribed a very careful preparation by the priests for the dead to be taken by the Angels. Every one of the sites for their temples lay near molybdenite rich deposits. The priests would prepare the bodies by suffusing them with the powdered ore. In its refined form molybdenum is incredibly strong and can withstand extreme temperatures. The myth tells of a journey to a place referred to as Heavens Furnace, probably the quasar and its superluminal jets. Or perhaps a planet in orbit near the neutron star." Liam paused and looked in the direction of the ruins. " I believe they could return, this is the only site left with what I hope is an intact tomb. If they do come here they could irradiate everyone in a mile radius with lethal amounts of neutrinos." She stared at Liam, eyes wide. "This is fantastic Liam, 'First Contact', the possibilities are incredible!" He held her shoulders. "Listen to me, these beings have come here over countless millennium for one purpose only. To harvest the dead. They're not here to enlighten us or exchange knowledge. What will happen when they arrive and don't find any temples, nor any priests and acolytes to provide them with fresh souls to animate their race of machines?" Ashida suddenly looked afraid. "There must be something we can do, how do you know they will come?" She asked. He rummaged in his pack and removed a plastic covered sheet of data. It was a print out from the Jet Propulsion Laboratories yearly assessment of quasars within the Milky Way galaxy. "GRS 1915 +105 has emitted superluminal jets like clockwork. A backward projection in time indicates roughly every thousand years a microjet is directed toward our system. One is due in a few days. It will pass harmlessly through the outer planets. My own conclusion is this alien race is somehow using it to make the trip. In fact they will probably use the stored kinetic energy to fuel their ships return." Ashida stood ridged gazing toward the ruins, with visions of alien horror. "What will they do to us when they see their temple's in ruins. Who would believe any of this if we try to warn the world? Even my father would not accept the enormity of what you are saying. I'm not sure why I should believe it either."
She shivered leaning into him. He put his arms around her. They held each other for a moment.
She whispered into his chest. "What did you mean they animate their machines with souls."
Contact Stoneham Studios for Chapter 2