Ekron

The Parasite - 5

"I don't get it," said Anubis to Maria, "why don't we just put an antenna on it and remote control it from here?"

The Macsks looked at each other, Astarte was sitting on a chair, she laughed a little and began to cough.

Maria went to give her some water, and then replied to Anubis, "You mean control it with electromagnetic signals?"

"Exactly."

"Because electromagnetism travels in space approximately at the speed of light, a signal from the Moon would take more than a second to reach Earth. For the signal to go and come back, and effectively establish a control loop, it would take double that time. If we were to control it from here to the Sun, the delay would be more than sixteen minutes. If we actually want to destroy one of their planets, we'll have a control delay of about an hour. We must have a spiritual link to the creature, and that link can only be performed from that planet. Agatha is already there, this is your plan, not mine."

Anubis laid back on a stretcher and was tied to it. By his side there was another stretcher of equal dimensions. Outside the stretchers, two modified transformers, six feet high, and two Megawatts of power, scavenged from the old armory in Württemberg, were located one at Anubis side and the other at the opposite side of the empty stretcher. That way, any electromagnetic interaction between the transformers would pass through Anubis and through the empty stretcher.

Maria approached with a knife in her hand and took out Anubis right eye from its socket, then put it on the empty stretcher, where the head would be. She turned on the transformers and Anubis started to squeal as his image blurred and scattered between both stretchers. When Maria turned off the machines, Anubis remained in his stretcher, with only his left eye, and a black dog with a red right eye, breathing heavily, was laid down on the other stretcher.

Maria covered Anubis with a blanket, and said, "They must not see each other."

Then she took the black dog with the help of Trimurti and other Macsk and sat it at the center of a circle made of Macsk blood. She stood outside the circle with the knife in her left hand. In a dialect of Qatra's language, she recited verses specially prepared for her by Astarte.

"Láthatlan, his shadow is yours, his hands are yours, his eyes are yours; carry him to the lace of light, to warm the grave of those who are no more, until the dying star erases us all."

A dot of light appeared over the dog's head, and Maria introduced her left arm and the knife into the circle. Her arm started to frost, and she stabbed the knife in the dog's throat. The dog reacted and bit Maria's hand severing her index and medium fingers. She took her arm out of the circle, the dog bled and choke to death seconds later. Nevertheless, it did not immediately fall to the ground, as if something would be holding it in the air. Then its right eye, the only one it had, disappeared like ash leaving a black trail as finally the animal fell to the ground, inert, and the dot of light over its head vanished.

Maria disinfected her hand and bandaged it. Took the blanket off Anubis and untied him. He seemed disoriented and weak.

"Now you should see what it sees, and with a little training, you'll control it without problem."