Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
Ancient Technologies Revealed

“Is thatyour phone?” Harry asked, hearing the ringing from Hannibal’s pack.

Hannibalopened his pack, retrieving the ringing phone. It appeared to be a flip-phonejust a shade larger than a normal cell phone made of a material unknown toHarry with a small antenna on it. “Yeah, it’s me,” Hannibal replied as heopened up the phone. “It’s a call from my people at Tiamat.”

Pushing abutton on the phone, Hannibal put it to his ear and said, “Talk to me.” Helistened intently and his face fell. “Was anyone hurt?” he asked into thephone. Hannibal listened a few more seconds and his face grew grim. “Were youable to secure the place?” he queried. A few more seconds passed and he said,“Good. I was concerned that they were going to try something stupid like that.You were able to seal it so they couldn’t get to it, weren’t you?” A briefpause ensued, and then he stated, “Okay, bring it to me. Don’t let anyone getnear it. Do you understand? See you this evening.” Hannibal snapped the phoneshut and swore. “The damned fools,” he snapped. “I warned them not to tryanything.”

“What wasthat all about?” Harry asked in a concerned tone.

Hanniballooked at him grimly. “Apparently, there has been a paradigm shift in the localgovernment’s view of our excavation at the Temple,” he declared. “It seems thata local militia decided that they wanted what was inside the Temple and raidedthe site trying to get to the treasure cave. A gun battle ensued and ten of mypeople were killed along with thirty of the militia. I had anticipated thiswould happen so I had my people set up a booby trap that would seal the placein such an emergency. I had hoped that it wouldn’t be needed but now it seemsthat I was wrong.”

“You meanto say that the Temple is sealed up forever?” Harry asked with dismay.

“No, notforever; before I came back from over there, we discovered a hidden entrance onthe other side of the mountain, higher up and completely camouflaged,” Hannibalexplained. “Only two people know where it is – Dan…the man I was talking to onthe phone, and I. He’ll be here this evening with some research on the Library.Apparently, he has uncovered something significant that he didn’t want to talkabout on the phone.”

“So you cancontinue the exploration of the Temple and the Library,” Harry surmised.

“Yes,”Hannibal stated, “however, at this point we will have to be careful. Thisincident wasn’t just a coincidence. We’ve had problems with the governmentofficials for some time and I suspect that this particular incident wassanctioned from the higher levels of the Indonesian government. This isn’t overby any means. We may have to seal the place permanently if this kind of problempersists. There are things in the Temple that could be potentially catastrophicif they fell into the wrong hands.”

“What doyou mean catastrophic?” Harry asked with a hint of skepticism on his voice.

Hannibalsighed, pondering how to answer. “We found things in there that bordered on thefantastic,” Hannibal began, rubbing his jaw and chin with his fingers. “How doI put this? We found highly advanced machinery in there, vast areas ofmachinery that stretch for miles. In one place, we discovered a portalgenerator that can literally take you anywhere you want in the entire universe.I saw things in that portal that defy description or explanation. I saw otherplanets, beauty beyond human comprehension. I saw other species on the variousplanets, some beautiful and graceful beyond words and some, unspeakably uglyand malevolent. On one planet, I saw with the portal, giant insects, spiders,etc..., much like the spiders and scorpions we killed while exploring theTemple were its primary inhabitants. If this portal were used in the wrongmanner by the wrong people, the entire planet could be overrun with aliens.”

Harry andMary looked at each other in disbelief, and then gazed at Hannibal. He saw thelook. “Think I’m making this up, huh? Well, watch this,” he said confidently,picking up his phone and pressing a button. He waited a few seconds for theconnection. “Dan? This is Hannibal. Is the Temple secure?” Hannibal queried.

“Yes,” Danreplied through the phone. “Our little booby trap effectively sealed the mainentrance to the Temple. I double checked it this morning.”

“How aboutthe militia, have they gone?” Hannibal asked.

“Yes, fornow. It looks like they’ve given up for now. Our little firefight seems to havemade them think twice about doing it again,” Dan answered.

“What aboutour people? Are they safe?” Hannibal asked again.

“Yeah; workcontinues in the Library and the machinery is secure. No one is going to get inhere now. The silent hole is guarded and heavily mined,” Dan reported. “Ifanyone tries to get in that way, they’ll be dealt with severely.”

“Good. Nowhow about the portal…how’s the research on it going?” Hannibal asked.

“Very well;Selina and her father have been invaluable. But there are things I would liketo tell you face to face. It’s not something to be said over the phone,” Dananswered.

“Good, verygood; is Selina there with you?” Hannibal asked.

“Why yes,she is. Why did you want to know?” Dan replied.

“Are thingssecure enough for you to come now?” Hannibal asked.

“Yes, Ibelieve so. Do you want me to come now?” Dan queried.

“Yes, andbring Selina along with you. I have some friends I’d like her to meet,”Hannibal instructed. “Home in on this signal.”

“OkayHannibal, we’ll be there in five minutes,” Dan said.

“Verygood,” Hannibal said as he laid the phone down. Then in a very stern tone, hesaid to Harry and Mary, “What you’re about to see must not leave this room. Menwill kill for this technology. It’s not meant for this evil world. Thetemptation to abuse it is too great.”

Harry andMary nodded in agreement that what they were about to see would be kept inconfidence. “That isn’t any ordinary phone, is it?” Harry asked. “It looks likea phone, but not like any phone I’ve ever seen before.”

Hannibalsmiled broadly. “Very perceptive Harry,” he replied. “You’re absolutely right.Dan is in the heart of the Temple under at least three thousand feet of solidrock. No ordinary satellite phone could reach down there. This phone istechnology from the Temple. It’s my communication link to them.” As he wasspeaking, the open area of the living room in front of them began to shimmerand suddenly, a glowing sphere appeared in front of them. Harry and Maryrecoiled in fear. “Don’t be afraid,” Hannibal cooed, seeing their fear. Thesphere glowed brilliantly, then faded away to just a glowing ring large enoughfor a man to walk through it.

Abruptly,two shimmering forms appeared within the ring. Then Dan stepped out of the ringwith a large brown satchel. “Hi Hannibal,” Dan called out. “Selina will bealong in a minute.” As he was speaking, Selina stepped out of the ring and thering disappeared in a blink.

Harry andMary sat there dumbfounded as Hannibal cut off the phone and rose to greet Danand Selina. He shook Dan’s hand and turned to Selina, giving her a friendlyembrace, which she returned in kind with an added kiss on his cheek. She lookedHannibal in the eye, asking, “Are you all right? You look a little shaken.”

“I’ll tellyou about it later,” Hannibal replied softly as he turned to Harry and Mary.“Dan, Selina. These are my friends: Harry and Mary Clint.” A broad smilecrossed Hannibal’s face as he watched Harry and Mary’s reaction to the portaland Selina.

“So you’rethe infamous Harry,” Dan crowed. “Hannibal has said so much about you, much ofwhich is good. I’m please to meet you.”

“It’s apleasure to meet you,” Selina purred. Harry and Mary sat there in a state oftotal shock and disbelief.

“Pleaseforgive them Selina, they’ve never seen your kind before,” Hannibal apologized.

“That’sokay. I remember you had the same reaction when you first saw me too,” Selinasaid in a smooth, melodious, purring voice.

Finally,Harry rose from his seat. Before him stood a being nearly six feet tall thatlooked like a cross between a human and a cat. Selina was stunningly beautiful,with large, bluish-green catlike eyes on a face that was a perfect meld ofhuman and feline. She had long, dark brown hair pulled back into a long,braided ponytail that hung midway down her back to just below her shoulderblades and her catlike ears poked out slightly from under the hair. Her bodywas slender and lean, powerfully built and covered with a soft, silky silverygray fur that shined in the light. She stood there wearing jeans cut off at theknees and a tank top tee shirt with her hands on her hips. Everything about herformed a perfect meld of human and feline: perfectly proportioned, right downto the clawed hands and feet. She emanated a profoundly strong and confident,yet gentle presence. Selina held out her hand to Harry and purred, “Don’t beafraid. I don’t bite; at least not today.” Her smile revealed her caninesslightly. Harry hesitated, and then slowly extended his hand and grasped hersin a firm handshake that she returned.

After abrief shake, he let go and turned to Hannibal. “I don’t believe it,” Harry saidin shock. “You weren’t lying. Not only have you discovered a means ofinstantaneous transport anywhere, you’ve also made contact with an apparentlyfriendly alien species. This is unbelievable.” As he was speaking to Hannibal,Selina went to Mary, squatting down in front of her.

“It’s okayMary. Don’t be afraid,” Selina said, slowly extended her hand to Mary in anon-threatening manner, as she would to a little child. Mary sat there,petrified. Selina looked into Mary’s eyes as she slowly placed her hand on Mary’sknee, purring, “It’s okay.” Gradually, courage came back to Mary as she lookedinto Selina’s eyes. She inched her hand over to Selina’s in a manner thatsuggested she didn’t know if it was all right to touch her.

“Go on.Touch me. I’m flesh and blood just as you are. The same God that made you mademe,” Selina purred. Mary finally touched Selina’s hand and astonishment filledher face.

“Your furis so soft,” Mary finally said. Selina glanced at Hannibal and smiled. “Andyou’re so beautiful. I could never imagine that such beautiful and imposingcreature existed in this world,” Mary complimented.

“Why thankyou, Mary,” Selina answered, placing her other hand on top of Mary’s hand whilelooking deeply into her eyes. “You’re so kind. It’s a trait not seen too oftenin your species. It’s a distinct pleasure to see this.”

Harry stoodthere in utter amazement, looking at Selina. “What is she? Where did she comefrom?” he asked Hannibal. Selina heard the question, stood up, and turnedtoward Hannibal and Harry.

“Why don’tI let her tell you,” Hannibal declared.