INJASUTI
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kathryn stared horrified at Afzhal Serinius. She recoiled instinctively at the very thought of killing a child - any person for that matter. Her body turned ice cold, her hand covering her mouth. She felt a wetness around her eyes, and realised she was actually weeping. With superhuman strength, she fought back her tears. Her hand moved away from her mouth. She turned to face the mother of the baby, saw a brief, anguished look in her eyes before the look was replaced by…forced pride?
She glanced around her. Against the wall of the cave stood Kephtah, Abry and Shabgah, unmoving, like statues. The dogs were on their haunches, quite still next to Kephtah.
Then she faced Afzhal Serinius again, shaking her head.
"Upon my life, I refuse to be a part of this - this murder!"
"Your Highness, it is your duty. You owe Injasuti this duty. You cannot turn back from it."
"My people will find a way - "
"Impossible. The force field is impenetrable. No human hand or any other instrument can touch it. No one can come through, Queen Khaira. Anyone trying will die an instant death! The Offering must come to pass. You shall make it so."
In desperation Kathryn tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Voyager…Janeway to Voyager…"
There was only static. It was an attempt at least; since she had woken from her coma, she had known that they had recalibrated the frequency of her commbadge.
"I cannot do it, Supreme Commander. It is against everything I stand for - the preservation of life before all else."
"That is not your personal motto but that of your Federation, Queen Khaira. You are now one of us."
"No, I am not. I am inculcated with the mores and ethics of my Federation, yes. But as a person, a human being standing before you, I cannot in good conscience kill an innocent being. Innocent, do you hear me? Innocent!"
"And I tell you, your Highness, that it is her very innocence that is commended and offered to our Venerable Goddess. For all time shall the child be honoured in death…"
"How can you say that? Believe that? What you are doing is nothing more than murder, the wilful slaying of an innocent just so that your prayer to a goddess can be fulfilled!"
"It is our way, Khaira."
"It is a way that seeks change! Twenty eight women, their babies and four men were killed. Why did they leave? We responded to a distress call, and we were too late to save them. Murdered - poisoned by you. I don't doubt that for a second now. Why did they flee? It is obvious that they did not wish to be party to this…slaughter of the innocents."
"They fled because they were cowards, Khaira. They had to be stopped - "
"So help me God, I tell you again that I refuse to drive a dagger through living flesh."
"But, Khaira, you are not so innocent in the killing of a person."
"What…?"
"I know that you took it upon yourself to kill one Tuvix…"
Kathryn closed her eyes. Of course, Voyager had been scanned that first time. If Serinius wanted to hit her somewhere that exposed her guilt, her remorse, it was going to be with Tuvix. She felt the prick of tears again, the burning sensation behind closed eyelids that made her remember doe-like eyes which never left her conscience. Tuvix in those last moments as he begged for his life, her efforts at trying to forget, to push him right to the back of her mind so that he could vanish in the mires of forgetfulness, the hazy plateau where nothing was defined as memory anymore. She pictured the nights sitting next to Chakotay in his quarters, drawing on his strength, his comfort, the solace he offered, his indefatigable support of her and the constant reassurance that Tuvix had accepted her decision.
Now, dreadfully close to the fore, Tuvix haunted her again. She had killed him. It didn't matter that in the greater scheme of things, she disassembled him to retrieve two well-loved crew. She could tell herself a thousand times that that was the payoff - she had Neelix and Tuvok back. What did it matter? The guilt was intensified a thousand times as she tried to forget those begging eyes.
Tuvix was a fully functional being who had become attached to the crew, a member of the Voyager assembly of men and women whose only task was to get home. Tuvix was gone.
"I did not kill Tuvix, you must know that. I am not a killer - "
"Then this task will be fulfilled, for you will not kill, but Offer…that is different…"
Kathryn looked at the baby who had returned to the arms of her mother. The child looked no more than a year old. Again the sting of tears as the baby smiled at her, sticking out a hand to reach for her. Kathryn moved forward spontaneously. When the mother nodded shyly, she touched the baby's forehead, the soft hair, her cheeks. When she took hold of the little one's hand, fingers clasped tightly around her fingers. The baby smiled, four perfect teeth showing. Kathryn extricated her finger from the child's hand and stood back.
"I cannot do this, Supreme Commander. As I stand here, you may have to kill me. I will die first before I do anything to this beautiful child."
Kathryn gave a little sob as she stood back. Once again, she looked round to where the others were still standing like statues. Why weren't they moving? Why did the dogs lie so still? When she turned to face Afzhal Serinius, it was to see his eyes changed. They literally changed colour. They had been a light brown. Now they appeared silver, orbs from which rays of light shone sharply.
"I am Afzhal Serinius, Keeper of the Holy Offer. You shall do as I command."
"With respect, Serinius, I am Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager and I shall not obey your command. I follow my deepest instinct not to take a life, however much I may be provoked to do so."
She pointed to the mother and child. "That little girl deserves to grow up, to be a child, to be educated, to fulfil her dreams, to enter young womanhood, to have children one day. I cannot and will not do your bidding." Her voice sounded like an echo in the cavern and as she looked at the young mother, she saw tears flowing from the woman's eyes. No one wanted this, Kathryn realised. No one. But where was Voyager? Time was running out. How long could she keep this madman at bay? How long?
In that moment Afzhal Serinius stepped menacingly closer. Kathryn retreated, three, four steps. Afzhal looked beyond her to the three standing still against the wall and he nodded. Then his eyes bore into Kathryn's again.
"In the past we have had Queens like you, Khaira. But I bent them to my will. You will obey me…"
His very breath struck fear into her heart. She hit her commbadge.
"Janeway to Voyager… Janeway to Chakotay… respond…respond!"
I need you now…
"You will obey me…"
The fear exploded in her.
Voyager…where are you…?
'No…no…"
Kathryn retreated further, then felt herself backing against the three humans. They had come closer, she realised with dread. The dogs began to growl. Her hands were caught in those of Abry and Shabgah. She tried to wriggle free.
"No…"
"Oh, yes, Your Highness."
"Chakotay…please, I need you now…"
Abry and Shabgah pushed her gently forward so that she stood hardly a metre from Afzhal Serinius. The sharp glow from his eyes returned, two laser beams she instinctively needed to avoid. His palm snaked out, to her face. There was something lodged in his hand. Kathryn had not noticed it before. While Abry and Shabgah held her she became immobile, the need to flee suddenly subdued as the beams from Afzhal's eyes bore into hers. The next moment she felt the cold metal as his palm connected with her forehead. Instantly she felt pain, making her scream. A thousand little pinpricks entered her and swiftly spread into her skull, her body. Kathryn gave another anguished cry. The pain was overwhelming, so intense that her body slackened. The hands that held hers moved to support her. She gave another choked cry as shard after shard of pain lanced her. The shards became images, of the past, of the present.
A flicker of an image - Tuvix who smiled at her, Ransom's redemption as he went down with his ship, dark nights in her quarters as they traveled through the void, a man - Calem - who believed his daughter was still alive and how she became the vision of the daughter, Ralkana… Then the images were replaced by another, a loving face. Her head began to swim. More images…the face of a warrior who sat with her nights and told her it was alright to cry. The face of a warrior who showed her that Tuvix lived on in the memories of Tuvok and Neelix. They had made it so. She heard his voice from as far back as that first day. "She's the captain… She's the captain… She's the captain." Always it was his voice, his smile, his eyes as they assured her, the tattoo she sometimes caressed with trembling fingers, that gave comfort to her battered soul.
One by one those images faded into oblivion. The last thing she could remember or see was Chakotay's hand on hers. Don't leave me, Chakotay…please don't leave… That image slowly dissolved even as she tried to hold on to it.
Then all was gone. In the blankness created by the excising of memories, a new collection of images entered...
Afzhal Serinius removed his hand from Queen Khaira's face minutes later and gave a wicked little smile. She appeared like the walking dead. Then he told the two servants, "That will be all. Your services will be remembered, Abry and Shabgah."
When they released Khaira, she stood up straight, her eyes on him. They were glazed, all memory of a ship, a crew, a man who smiled, gone.
Afzhal snapped his fingers and instantly Kephtah, her guard, stepped forward with the dogs in tow.
"Yes, Supreme Commander?"
"See that she is kept in her room. Her instructions have been given her. In one hour we shall begin the ceremony."
"Yes, Supreme Commander," said Kephtah as he gently led a docile Kathryn away in the same direction from which the woman and child had come.
When they reached a small entrance, Kathryn stopped and turned to Kephtah. Her eyes were blank. She looked at him but could not see him. Her trance was complete. Often he had seen Queen Toreth with such a look. It would be impossible to break the spell. Khaira touched his chest. It was a strangely comforting gesture, like an echo from her deepest memories that still resonated in her heart. She must have touched someone in the same way many times for it appeared to him familiar, beloved. He was a subordinate, yet the caress of her palm against his shoulder seemed not for him, but someone else. He tried to smile. There was no such luxury anymore, nor could he weep. It was ordained and he had to fulfil his part of it.
"In one hour, the Offering begins," she said softly, her voice low. It felt to him as if a hand squeezed his heart.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Then I shall pass a dagger through the child's body."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Then it is good, Kephtah. The Offering shall come to pass…"
Kephtah wanted to weep. He could not. He was a man. Men did not weep on Injasuti. They had been denied that need for hundreds of years. Who knew whose child would be next? They could not know that the baby to be offered was his brother's child. That was why he’d remained in the shadows so that the baby did not see him and recognise him. Now it was too late to save the baby, too late to save Queen Khaira. Too late. If he tried to escape, where would he hide? The unseen wall had struck many escaping men and women, even children, with its deadly fire, a fire that instantly consumed the whole body. Many knew where the boundary of the wall was for the ash of the dead that had seeped into the soil. Yes, where could he hide? Where could he take his brother's child and its mother? In the depths of secrecy he had told her that she could flee with the women who left Injasuti. She did not want to leave her husband, her family. Now he learned that those women and their children were dead, surely killed by Afzhal Serinius who did not know of the child's relationship to him.
Just as certain that no one could enter the Place of the Weeping water, so no one could escape. For him, his brother's wife, for Queen Khaira, for any young mother, there was no escape.
The Supreme Commander had made sure of that.
Kephtah's heart burned with the old shame that flared, the shame of being a willing witness to an order that surely had to come to an end.
Queen Khaira's eyes were different now. Not her own. She was no longer the woman who was the leader of her people as he had heard. She was no longer the commander of a starship. She had tried to fight, just like Toreth fought, but it was impossible to fight Afzhal Serinius. Where was her ship, her officers? Would they be in time to save her?
Without speaking, he led Queen Khaira to a large bed. He removed her head dress carefully and lifted her so that she could lie down on it. Khaira closed her eyes, one hand resting on her bosom. Soon she fell into a light slumber. The pain from the trance Afzhal had put her in was severe and taxing on the body. He had seen Queen Toreth like this and always, after the Offering, it took her days to recover from her ordeal. Toreth had finally stood up to Afzhal, protesting his interference, sending away the eunuchs, refusing to conduct the last Offering. Afzhal repaid her by silencing her. Supreme Commander Afzhal Serinius was a man without mercy, cold, steeped in the tradition of the Injasuti. He was a dangerous man to cross and Toreth had tried. But Toreth died.
Kephtah pulled a light cover over Queen Khaira, marveling again at her beauty, how even in her trance, she could sleep so peacefully.
He gave a sad little sigh. Once today was over, Afzhal would tie her to him forever. First, he would mate her with a male from the southern continents so that she could produce a girl child. A serum injected into her body would ensure that the mating would result in a female. Khaira would not object to the mating because, while still in a trance, she would expect it. After the mating and after the birth of the baby, Afzhal would bring the eunuchs to service the queen for as long as he ordered them to. She would have no choice. Once the trance wore off, Afzhal would simply put the spell on her again until she capitulated. Kephtah shook his head.
"There is nothing I can do but stand by and watch…"
Outside, people had begun to gather for the Offering. They came from the furthest boundaries of Injasuti that lay within the unseen wall. Three hundred thousand people lived inside this area. Many had come to witness the induction of the new queen. Word had spread that Queen Toreth had died and that the Procurator, invoked by Supreme Commander Afzhal Serinius, had brought to them a new Queen. Many of the women who came were honoured mothers whose babies had been sacrificed and whose ashes now lay in urns under the headstones of the Tophet. They were curious about the new Queen and wanted to see the Offering. As soon as the child has been lifted into the burning arms of the Goddess Tanith, they would begin their wailing. Always, their wailing sprung from their deepest sadness, joining with the weeping of the mother whose child was to be sacrificed today.
Among the tall plants, the trees, half hidden by the fan-like fronds, they stood like monoliths, unmoving, waiting. Through the sheen of the waterfall, they could be seen in their long tunics, their arms folded. There was a low, constant hum which was the sound of their wordless chanting, soft and hypnotic against the deafening sound of water.
From the platform in front of the waterfall the ground rose up, so that the chanting men and women rose against the sides of the valley, upon the terraces. There were no children and all who were present wore colours of gold or blue or red.
Kephtah observed them from behind the curtain of water, their figures a little blurred in the mist. Today was to be an auspicious day as the new queen, Queen Khaira, would be inaugurated by conducting her first Offering. It seemed to him that all who lived inside the protective unseen wall had come to participate in the ceremony. Many were just curious and then there were those who, despite the horror , the shamefulness of this continuing practice, took a macabre pleasure in watching a baby die.
They would not pray for luck or good fortune or divine intervention from their Goddess Tanith, bless her Holy Name, nor would they seek her counsel or her wisdom. For their new Queen, only a deep and sacred veneration through the sacrifice of a girl child. While many did not like it anymore, they were still drawn to witness the ritual. It was the law of Injasuti.
Kephtah's heart quickened at the thought of the child. Neither Abry nor Shabgah knew that the child was the child of his brother. Her mother had pointedly and deliberately ignored him so that Afzhal could not suspect anything. Had she not hoped that he would be able to intervene and stop the sacrifice of her baby? Afzhal Serinius, he knew, would have had him killed right away had he known about Kephtah's affiliation to the child, whom his brother had named Irezah. Never was the baby's name to be openly mentioned after her selection, but in his heart he thought of the baby by the name given her. Had he not hoped that he himself might be able to stop the Offering?
Perhaps he was not a hero, but his heart was great. So he prayed fervently to the God of the Ancient Hebrew whom few on Injasuti worshipped, to break this cycle, to intervene on his behalf and on behalf of little Irezah who was to die within the hour. Silently he entreated the Great Deity, felt the storm rage in his heart until the raging merged with the raging of the waterfall. When the fury in his heart calmed and settled into a quiet flowing stream, he stopped.
Kephtah turned and walked back into the depths of the cavern. The people were ready, Afzhal was ready and Queen Khaira was almost ready. On Afzhal's signal, Queen Khaira would appear with the statue of the Supreme Goddess Tanith on the square platform. Against a wall, there was a small panel which he pressed. An opening appeared in the wall. Kephtah stepped inside. He called a word that sounded like "dungeon". On that signal the small enclosure, like a lift, carried him down into the depths underneath the mountain.
When the lift stopped and the door opened, he stepped into the large room. Kephtah knew that when the signal was given, the entire floor of the room would move up to the platform - in reality two trap doors that slid sideways and down to let the floor of the throne room to appear? in its place.
There were candles everywhere. In the middle was a small circular stand and on it a large, ornate dagger encrusted with red, green and white gemstones. In front of the stand was Queen Khaira, this time dressed in cloth of ora, with rows and rows of beads of white jamshid streaming from her head dress framing her face. Her hands were painted with intricate patterns, the wrists adorned with bangles. She did not look up when he entered the altar room, but kept her gaze on the ceremonial dagger in front of her. Beside her stood the two Egyptian dogs like statues.
On a low dais was the life size statue of the Goddess Tanith, six metres in front of the small stand containing the dagger. Between the statue of the Goddess Tanith with the burning bowl in her arms and the dagger stand was another small rectangular stand; on it the baby of his brother was already lying. Kephtah felt his heart burn with shame. When he stood behind the waterfall looking at the people who had arrived for the Offering, he knew that his brother was also among the crowd.
He didn't dare show recognition, but when he looked at little Irezah lying there peacefully, he realised that her peacefulness was brought about by a sedative that Afzhal had given her. The baby made only soft gurgling sounds of contentment, her small pudgy arms waving in the air.
They were ready. He gave the signal to Afzhal Serinius who had been waiting for him. The Supreme Commander raised his hands upwards in supplication.
Then Afzhal began his slow chanting.
"O Holy of Holy Goddesses, Thou who art bountiful in thy measures to our people, hear us now as we declare our sacred obedience to Thee! Bless this child, for unto Thee we present our bounty… Bless us…bless us…bless us…"
And as he chanted the floor started moving up.
"Bless O Holy of Holy Goddesses, our new Queen, dedicated to you as your embodiment, to grace forever your image, to serve our people and glorify you in this, our sacred veneration to you…"
Up, up, up until the roof gave way and they stood in bright light. Kephtah looked at his sister-in-law who was wringing her hands together, her lips moving in silent supplication. He stood next to her, behind Queen Khaira and the dogs. Fervently he prayed that even in these last moments of doom for his little niece, there would be deliverance from an untimely death.
The waterfall was behind them; the rushing water became the song that would accompany their sorrow. The valley was green, as ever green as Injasuti could look at this time of the year, the most beautiful season of all, the season of new life. Leaves sprayed with mist glistened in the late afternoon sunlight. One would never suspect that this part of the forest, with its waterfall, the lush green leaves, ferns and fronds, the river that snaked away from the small lake on which the platform was situated, this unsurpassed beauty would be witness to a child dying by the hand of its queen.
"O People of Injasuti!"
Thus began Afzhal as he addressed the crowd and swept them up in the passion of the moment. They continued their low humming, a poignant song that merged with the falling water behind the platform. Now they could all see the statue of their Venerable Goddess Tanith, the fire bowl in her arms. Those who stood closest along the embankment of the river could see the baby lying still on the stand just behind the statue.
Afzhal's voice rose higher and higher, strident and impassioned in his convocation.
"We mourn the death of Toreth who has served Injasuti with dignity and decorum."
Afzhal swept his arm in the direction of Khaira who stood unmoving behind the dagger stand, looking straight ahead.
"This is our new Queen of the Injasuti! Our Goddess has favoured us with an Offering today! Queen Khaira of Injasuti will conduct the Holy Offering. As it has been in ages past, so let it be done now!"
The humming deepened into melodious tones. Kephtah couldn't look at the woman next to him. What he felt in his heart, the pain of a thousand lances, was multiplied a million times more in her. He knew that the tears she shed did not run down her cheeks, but turned inwards and coated her heart.
"This is our Ancient Law," continued Afzhal, arms raised above his head, "and this law we must keep to the end of time… It has been so decreed by our Venerable Goddess Tanith, the mirror of Etbaal and Eshmoun. Therefore, people of Injasuti, we praise them by honouring them with a girl child, our generous gift of worship."
Kephtah closed his eyes. How many times had he stood here, next to the distraught mother while her child was sacrificed to the gods? How many times did he stun the mother? How many times before did he have no feelings? Where were the people of this new Queen brought to them from far lands?
Afzhal turned to Khaira.
"Now, Queen Khaira!"
Khaira stepped forward as if a silent switch had been activated in her head. Carefully, she lifted the dagger from its dark velvet bed and let it lie on her palm first, the other hand stroking the blade. The humming stopped. The crowd held its breath as Khaira lifted the dagger higher, the knife pointing downwards. She stepped forward until she stood in front of the baby.
Kephtah had stopped breathing too as he kept his eyes riveted on the baby who was blissfully unaware of her fate. She gurgled and smiled, her little arms waving in the air. From deep inside him came the anguished entreaty to God for intervention. From the corner of his eye he watched Khaira's movements. His heart burned intensely. He wanted to rush forward and whisk little Irezah away.
Queen Khaira clasped the dagger with both hands. The baby smiled at her, her little hands reaching for the knife edge that glinted in the sunlight.
She was not affected by the baby's smile. Her eyes were glued to the point of the baby's chest where she would drive the blade through her tender body.
"Hear us now, O Immortal Goddess Tanith, as we consecrate this child to thee… Accept her into your loving arms to be honoured forever as sacrifice…!"
And in his heart Kephtah prayed silently… 'O God of all the ages…hear my crying…give ear unto my prayer…'
Khaira looked up at the crowds again, hands high above her head where she held fast on to the dagger. Very slowly she began to lower the blade…
Down…down…
***
END CHAPTER SEVEN