01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
"It has an evil aura - there is something unholy about it."
"That's a strange comment coming from someone who's supposedly left superstition
behind."
"You had an experience of a supernatural kind last night. It left you in mental stress which
defied my efforts to quieten. We know much about the mind - an outside influence disturbed
you."
Steve nodded, so he hadn't been dreaming, Danyk had visited him.
"The force that pulsed from your chamber drew me. It flowed from your mind and
awakened me. It was greater than anything I have ever experienced. I know such things. I
was alarmed and concerned. There was nothing I could do to withstand its influence."
Steve's heart started to hammer, he struggled for words.
"It frightened hell out of me, I have to admit. How, in hell's name, can this thing have such
an effect? Why on me in particular?"
"Sit quietly and let me read your dream."
They sat for some time, at a point, he relaxed but said nothing, then:
"I think the pentacle has an affinity with your latent self. What you call your subconscious
- what we call the hidden mind. In the Pentacle, there is a power unknown to us but you know
this power and refuse to accept it consciously. This power is activated when you are either in
contact with the Pentacle, or perhaps, when you are in a certain emotional state of
receptiveness. Last night, you were deeply troubled by what you were told about our race. I
do not know what power the Pentacle has, but it is conceivable that it is charged with a
cosmic force, perhaps integral to the structure of the universe."
"But why me?"
"If I knew that, we could be in possession of a secret that could unlock titanic forces. I
simply do not know the answer."
"In my dream, or whatever it was - I seemed to be the man in the engraving but then I cry
out that I am not the man. I wake up in a muck sweat, yelling my head off."
"I am not able to see who this man is in the Pentacle - perhaps you are right and it is not
you. Perhaps he is some imaginary person who doesn't actually exist, perhaps he represents
something. You cry out that you are not the man, but that could simply be a desperate denial
of something you do not wish to be!"
Steve hesitated, as far as he was aware, Danyk had never examined the Pentacle closely.
When he did, he was in for quite a shock.
"He doesn't look like me, Danyk. Perhaps, you had better look at him very closely - ".
Danyk changed the subject abruptly.
"I'm sorry about your woman."
He sounded sincere enough but as always, he avoided mentioning her name.
Steve allowed himself to be side-tracked.
"I can't understand what got into her head. I really thought we had something going for us.
It was like talking to a block of wood."
"You've got a lot to learn about Lynxe women. One thing is for certain, once they've made
up their mind about something, they're hard to shift."
"You're talking about women everywhere - they're all the same. - Where the hell will she
go?"
"She'll be all right."
"Seems I've heard that before. She ended up getting pack raped!"
Steve sensed that Danyk knew her destination but that he wasn't going to share the
information. The feeling of frustration intensified. He felt cheated and ill used and he was
ready to pick a fight with anybody at the slightest provocation. Danyk withdrew discreetly, it
was probably wise in the circumstances.
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