Текст книги "The Warriors Of Shambhala"

Автор книги: Sergii Sheludchenko

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The heavy gray clouds delayed the sky. Snow dust was swirling like devils dancing on the ledges of the gorge. The monks lined up on a small platform in front of the Datsan. For a while they stood motionless, sheltered by a snow plateau. Then they fell to their knees, quoting texts from the Holy Scripture and lifting up their hands to heaven. Suddenly, a bright flash blinded the priests. The Lama fell flat on his face in the snow, stretched to his full height. Just old Iungten stood on his knees, without understanding what was going on around him. The abbot jumped to his feet and covered his eyes with his hand, to see what was happening. Fireball, tearing the veil of clouds slowly floated over the tops of the Himalayas. After some time, he disappeared behind the mountain range. "It was a sign of the mountain world. It is a sign of Shambhala!" Chetsang Kushog whispered. None of the monks could hear the abbot, nobody except Iungten. The old man rose to his feet and turned to the side of the ridge. He seemed to feel the heat radiated by the fireball. Iungten bowed his head, uttering a prayer of blessing to Heaven. But his thoughts were far from understanding the words of Scripture. He thought of the world of the gods, the realm of the Great Mahatma, in which he was lucky to have visited. A few hours spent in the garden, which had gained a priceless gift greater than all the treasures of the earth – he learned to see this by his heart. He learned to understand and feel what was previously unavailable. Iungten’s apprentice called and asked to spend it in the cave. There, he fell into a deep trance; he had once again made his way from the monastery of Maitreya to the possession of the Great Mahatma.

* * *

The tingling in Eric’s left wrist forced him to open his eyes. The extraordinary lightness in the body surprised him. After seeing the room, he made sure that no one was nearby. The pyramid room with a metal structure in the middle was reminiscent of a medical laboratory. Matted panels were built into the walls and floor, emitting a soft light. Plexus cables and flexible tubes became isolated on Eric's hands. First of all he tried to get rid of these bracelets. As soon as he turned off the last posting, the sense of reality had returned to him. Pain in the shoulder joint and dizziness convinced the Lieutenant that this was not a dream. Spaceships of the Empire had no such facilities, at least those with which the young man was familiar. Perhaps he had been captured and he was in the insulator of the cruiser. In any case, we can only wait. Eric sat on his bed comfortably, as if were sitting in a chair. The main thing for him was not to fall asleep. He tried to resist sleep, but tranquilizers did their job. He was awakened by faint sounds coming from somewhere behind him. Eric turned to the source of the noise. One of the pyramid panels was missing, forming the entrance to the room. The brightness of the light rays was gradually increasing, gradually lighting up the room from the corridor. The Lieutenant was alerted. Steps were heard at the end of the corridor. Three men entered the room. Two of them were tall, athletic and dressed in white protective overalls. The third man was elderly and dressed in a yellow robe. "White overalls" stopped in the doorway, and the man in the yellow robe walked inside.

‘Lieutenant Erik Malkovich, we are pleased to welcome you on the basis of "Northern Shambhala." The Supreme Master of the Order of the "Seven Stars" is waiting for you. Eric sighed with relief. It was not like an Arktat ship. The man did not know the base with the above name, at least within the sector habitat. One of the main challenges of future navigators was to study all existing and even old stations during their studies. Eric never encountered the name of "Northern Shambhala."

‘Where's my commander?’ The messenger did not seem to hear the question. He pointed to the way silently, the "white overalls" was standing at the entrance. The most reasonable thing that Eric could do, of course, was to accept the invitation. This was the base of the Temple. The cadets were introducing with some religious ideas in the classroom based on history, the main purpose of which was the improvement of the dedication to and preservation of knowledge, transmitted to members of the brotherhood. But the lifestyle of the Temple was not particularly popular among the laity. Once rich and powerful religious organizations gradually faded away with the monarchist system on which they relied. Many had gone outside the sector of habitat as little as possible to contact with the civilized worlds. The information was kept in the temple, and had always been of heightened interest to public services and free seekers. But without access to a particular script used by the Orders, technicians came to a standstill in deciphering materials that were found in abandoned temples. It was rumored that these discoveries were the cause of constant conflicts between the Galactic Union and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Eric was never interested in politics and was not worried about the problem of archaeologists. Now he regretted that he knew so little about the Templars. Who could imagine that the case will throw him to one of those similar bases?

The lieutenant went into a long corridor, accompanied by a guard. A monotonous wall with tunnel junctions are not different from each other. They soon stopped at a small door with a combination lock, which hid an ordinary elevator car. The man was determined by the time of lifting that they were in pretty deep water. The Messenger drew from the folds of his toga glasses some dark filters and handed them to Eric at the entrance.

The bright rays broke into the elevator, for a moment, blinding the lieutenant. Even spectral filters do not protect the eyes from powerful radiation. Eric subconsciously stepped back into the shadows of the cab. "White overalls", which stood there, caught him under the arms.

It was daylight by local time. For the first time it was better not to look at him. The outer structure of the base was impressive with its size and architectural design. A Gothic castle, erected on Velburge, was incomparable. Dozens of buildings which adjoined each other formed a huge ring. The tower was located in the middle, which was very similar to a navigation beacon. The plant resembled Velburge’s grass, with a crevice of concrete slabs lying on the road. White flowers with many petals rested on the water surface, reflected in the water like a mirror. Eric counted five lakes that were obviously artificial, but most of all he was struck by the mountains surrounding the base. Their height was incredible. The tops of the stone giants were hiding in the clouds, hiding the real dimensions of the ridge. Eric tried to see what was situated around the protective dome that protected people and buildings from various climate changes and supported the conditions necessary for life. It looked like "Northern Shambhala", which had no external motor protection.

A few minutes later, Eric moved to the moving belt of the escalator, accompanied by churchmen and reached a huge building that stood slightly apart from the main buildings. Intricate patterns were adorning the facade of the building, which were built of translucent colored stones. The Monads glittered in the sun thousands of lights that did not allow you to look away from the mystical figures. The glass doors opened silently, six people were dressed in yellow togas, and they were waiting for those who came before a huge staircase of white marble.

* * *

The Magistrates’ cabinet did not correspond to the way of the churchmen’s life in the understanding of Malkovich. Paintings on the walls, wooden furniture, and a lot of intricate details were obviously handmade. A small gray-haired man was sitting at his desk and went through the papers. If he gets placed in a different environment, it can hardly be imagined that this old man is the head of the monastic order. He looked like a law office clerk.

‘Lieutenant Malkovich arrives at your invitation.’ Eric did not think of anything better than to appeal to the Supreme Master in the form of a semi-canon. The man looked up from his notes and looked at the young man. An unpleasant tingling sensation appeared under his left shoulder blade.

‘Come on, Lieutenant. Sit down.’ The Master pointed to a chair facing the table. ‘We are glad to welcome you to the base. To tell you the truth, you gave us a lot of hassle.’

The Master spoke in a good intergalactic dialect with a barely noticeable accent.

‘Where's my commander?’

‘Unfortunately, you're the only one who we were able to save. There was nothing left from the packet boat, only your escape pod. Soon, we will try to send you to the sector of habitat. But first, you tell me what brought your ship to Terra and what happened to the packet boat.’

Eric had no choice, as he set out everything he knew and remembered from the time of entering the job before the Arktats attack. The magistrate was asking questions, clarifying certain details of the events. He was interested in the mission of the packet boat, and the situation that preceded the beginning of the flight. The lieutenant politely refused to give information concerning the purpose of the ship. The Head of the Order listened to Malkovich, got up from the table and walked over to the side wall of the room. Monk pressed the button, and the panel went quietly to the side, revealing a dark square of space. Spiral galaxies and separate planetary systems were marked with crystals of various colors and shades.

‘The planet was known as “Terra” in the Spheres, the locals call it "Earth" – a small bluish flame flared up in the corner; the closest sector of patrolling ships of the Galactic Union that could help us, which is located at a distance of 8 parsecs from us in constellation Vega. Unfortunately, the capacity of our transmission stations prevents contact with the ships located at such a distance. Echard of Falmius County is near the Porcion star, which is not very loyal to your empire. If we try to send a distress signal, it will likely be intercepted, and the first ship that will come on Earth will be the ship of your enemies. I cannot put your life at risk and the lives of the base staff.’

‘A meeting with the raider was appointed in the sector.’

‘Your raider most likely was attacked by Arktats or it has not arrived at the rendezvous point. You saw a way out of hyperspace of only one ship, but not the fact that the cruiser came by itself. Unfortunately, our scanners do not capture any foreign objects within the reach of the rays. It is no secret that Arktats technology is far superior to humanoid development. Perhaps their ships use some powerful energy shields. Be patient, I think, everything will become clear in a few days.’

Eric decided that the audience was over; rose from his chair, but the Magistrate stopped him with a gesture.

‘You must meet with one more person.’ The monk walked in, dressed in a purple robe with a long rectangular cap on his head.

‘Lieutenant, I want you to listen to me. I do not know how interesting is the story for the layman of the Order of the "Seven Stars", but for you, this information will not be superfluous. Take your time with the questions before answering all that you hear.’

Great Emperor Vashavartin was a governor of Alioto, guardian of faith and order, summoned the spiritual mentor, the Reverend Nirmanarati several kalpaks ago. The Emperor was really worried about frequent reconnaissance raids of the exots ships, or as they were referred to as Non-humanoid in the area of habitat now. The question arose of creating a well-trained unit of soldiers that have the power to stop provocations of exots. As the emperor considered better Templar warriors, united in the Order, with the task of consulting no one. I note that the Vashavartin was one of the few monarchs who put the interests of their people above their own. People called him Vashavartin the Honest. He faithfully followed the teachings of the ancient sages who said that the Empire does not belong to one person. Nature had endowed Vashavartin with all the qualities necessary for the present monarch. Aliot’s Empire existed for centuries without experiencing wars and disasters. But the process of unification was with the stellar systems. A Galactic Alliance had emerged; it managed to gather the most progressive minds of the universe under the banners. More and more planets were adjoining to the intergalactic community. On the other hand, the League of Non-Aligned Worlds had joined without conceding the Union with power and influence. The non-humanoid sectors were organized in an interplanetary Confederation. I will not mention the trading companies and industrial associations, owning entire planetary systems, and, in fact, they were the states with their own laws and governance structures.

Soon the Confederation, as suggested by the Emperor, began the invasion of the habitat. Intergalactic War broke out, destroying entire star conglomerates. In this massacre Vashavartin took the side of the Galactic Union. The league also joined the fighting, sending their ships at the disposal of the Joint Fleet. Together, the Confederates were driven back beyond the realms. They solved the problem with the Exots, left to figure out the relationship between them. And while the troops were licking their wounds, fighting from space was transferred to paper, setting off a diplomatic war. Each side wanted to attract more allies. A peace treaty only gave a short breathing space.

The question arose before Vashavartin again, which of the alliances he should prefer, ‘The existence of the Empire extragalactic commonwealth is impossible. The Aliot planets would become easy prey for the warring parties. And he made the right decision; he re-signed an agreement with the Galactic Union by the time his men built the largest church of the Order of the "Seven Stars" at Eron. The Emperor often came for advice from the Teachers of fraternity and learned the true teachings of the Kalachakra – the higher cosmic principle. The Order actively preached the way of the warrior. Many residents of the Eron took vows and were leaving the worldly life. When the Galactic Union demanded from the Emperor to send to the Council Aliot’s fleet, Vashavartin turned for help from the Order. Then the league struck a blow to the unprotected planet. The System of Aliot was invaded, the Emperor was killed in battle, and churches were destroyed. The Teachers of the Order decided to withdraw from the Galactic Union and move the remains of the brotherhood to the border realms. Terra became the basis of the Order. This was the planet, which took place when the last battle that made the Exots leave the sector data. Then the world's population accounted for ten to twelve million people, and about three million being Exots. Exots lost the benefits of civilization, exhausted energy resources of the emergency capsules which they had degraded rapidly, turning into a creature driven by primitive instincts. We tried not to interfere in the formation of the society on Terra. Earthlings, which they called themselves, at first divided into different species. Exots lived in separate colonies; people rebuilt their settlements in suitable climates and naturally grouped by race. Exots have adapted quickly. High fertility, susceptibility to the analysis and collective action has led to the fact that non-human species began to besiege people from the populated areas. Religious cults of deep space have been actively imposed upon natives of the Spheres. Ra, Osiris, Horus are only a few Exots that are called gods, through which the aliens have established control over the human mind. But this period in Earth's history we will return later. I see you are tired. We still will have time to talk. Now you will be shown to your apartments. Relax, get acquainted with the base. I'll send for you tomorrow, and we will continue the conversation.’

* * *

Manley was in the monastery of Maitreya for the second day. The first day the monks gave him a long period to relax for the tired young man. The next morning, he took part in the prayer service.

No one asked why the Trapa came to the walls of the monastery. The brethren of the monastery warmly welcomed the young man. He became acquainted with the history of the temple. They were telling amazing legends about Lamas, who once lived in these walls. But Manley expected something different. None of the brothers even said a word about the old man, who was in Shambhala. Maybe all that they heard about the Trapa was from his mentor, was he just another legend? Manley decided that if the old man is not in the temple, he will continue the way to the Land of Mahatma. He did not need a companion, and if he is going to die in the mountains, then this is the will of heaven.

The morning began as usual. The monks gathered in Lha-khang on the ritual of greeting the sun. Manley took the allotted place, trying to drive away as quickly as possible the night slumber. The prayer that comes from the heart, nothing should prevent. The abbot gestured and roared gialings[15]15
  Gialing – is a ritual wind instrument similar to an oboe – made from femurs nuns of, virgins, who live in the Nepalese monasteries. Bones have taken after the person who did not know the man will die a natural death


[Закрыть] of Lha-khang. The doors were opened and a gray-haired old man stood in the doorway, his arms supported by two novices. Manlius, unable to control himself, threw himself at the feet of the Lama.

‘My life belongs to you! I want to be your apprentice!’

‘The one who has violated the ritual is not worthy to be in the monastery.’ The old man pushed the Trapa away and went to the Lha-Khang. The monks roared in dissatisfaction. Now it is clear why the young man came to the abode of Maitreya. He is one of those who were looking for the Holy Land. The abbot rose from his throne and pointed to the door.

‘Community of the Maitreyas Temple does not want to see you among the brothers.’

Manley got up. He knew that the infringement of the Charter of the monastery leads to expulsion from the community. Cursing himself for incompetence and stupid behavior, the young man went to the door. He was now by himself. Continuing the way to the Land of Snows this was madness that borders on suicide at this time of year. Demons will not 8979pass through the mountain passes. And if he was going to die, let him die close to the monastery. Monks will hold the soul in the world of Bardot and take care of the sinful body.

He briefly looked for a place of refuge. He was satisfied with the first available cave on a hillside near the monastery. Trapa left the monastery, not even taking his meager possessions. He was preparing to move to another world where things were not important, and any object that resembles a physical existence, will only delay its passage. Manley found flat ground in a cave, threw off his clothes and sat down for meditation. He relaxed and tried to calm his mind, clearing all thoughts and emotions. Gradually, he was able to plunge into a state of rest. He ceased to feel the cold, the sound disappeared, and Manley sailed in the clouds, enjoying the ease of his body. Suddenly he heard a growing chorus of Om mani-padme-hum – the mantra of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, closing the gates of birth, both physically and in the world of the gods. The Trapa felt a growing tide of heat. It seemed like flames were licking his body. The pain became unbearable. A bright fire broke out before the eyes of the youth. Manley made an effort to escape from the fiery embrace.

The first thing that a young monk saw was this old man's face, leaning over him. Manley tried to rise, but the Lama stopped him.

‘Not yet. You were very far away. But not enough to lose your way back.’ The old man adjusted the blanket covering Manley’s body. ‘Neither the sky nor in the ocean in the mountain cleft you will not find a place where death had not beaten the living. But, slaying your body, you do not get rid of the karmic consequences. So is it worth to expose yourself with reincarnation without using the opportunity provided by heaven in this life? We make it easy for ourselves with bad and harmful things. However, that is good and useful to do but extremely difficult.’ The old man put his hand on the head of Manley and felt a light tremor passing over the body. His eyes were closed, and he fell into a peaceful sleep without visions and sensations.

* * *

Eric was walking in the garden, enjoying the cool of the morning. The second day he became acquainted with the base, studying the location of the main communications and technical buildings. Calm and silence reigned over the station, which did not cease to surprise the lieutenant.

‘Good morning, Eric.’ The young man turned around. The Master of the Order of the "Seven Stars" came very quietly. He gestured to the guy to follow him.

‘Today I want to tell you about what happened in the world where the Exots finally calculated and created a beacon of energy. A system of pyramidal structures capable of accumulating and transporting energy has been signaled at a great distance in space.’

‘Did they call for backup?’

‘Right, the paratroopers of the Imperial House "Himu" known in the Spheres as the Anthropophags were the first to arrive on Terra. The only race of Exots recognized in the Sector habitats and is officially allies of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. We have no choice but to intervene. Then the remains of the Temple of the fleet gave his last fight. It managed to completely destroy the enemy, but the Brotherhood has lost almost all vehicles. Only the monks survived who were engaged in scientific developments, and a couple of undermanned combat crews and spiritual masters of the Order. The worst thing is that during the battle, the Himu ships opened fire on the planet's surface. The Terra civilization ceased to exist. Those few, who were lucky enough to survive, had to leave home and go to areas with minimal background radiation. The Supreme Master of the Order decided to hold the sweep of the remnants of Terra Exots and conserve a signal system created by aliens. Then we started to decontaminate the surface of the planet. More than three hundred years it took to complete the restoration of the ecological balance. Our specialists have struggled not only with the consequences of nuclear attacks; we were hiding all the artifacts that could explain to the earthlings their origin. An institute of forerunners was established to strengthen the spiritual perfection of a new civilization.’

‘Each race has received their Messiah, taking into account the peculiarities of society in the galaxy. We started a new experiment in which our scientists completed experiments on artificial prolongation of life. The first prolongation was to increase the biological existence of a hundred and ten children, at local time calculation. Second, the revised set of injections increased the life expectancy of up to three hundred and fifty years. The last prolongation of a third generation was to enable the ability to maintain the life cycle as long as the biological form decided to self-destruct. We tested the drug not only on the brothers of the Order, and the inhabitants of the Earth. Subsequently, local legends have emerged about the "immortality pill". Now try to create it yourself. Gradually the Order of the "Seven Stars" has evolved from a brotherhood called "Warrior Templars" in fraternity "of the monks-scientists." Civilization grew and became strong on Earth and exactly followed the structure of the Galactic coexistence. The Grand Master, who at the time led the Order, took the decision to impose on all members of the brotherhood the vow of "not to harm a living creature." From the Templars, only the guards have had and have the right to bear arms. In my opinion, this is one of the mistakes admitted by the magistrates. These mistakes can be attributed on the ban to attract earthlings to the Order. All for the presence of the Order on Terra, several people were invited to visit the base. We spread the true teachings of the Order to nearby geographic areas. We are creating another buffer barring access to the database.’

‘Now a little bit about the teachings of the Order. First of all, a study into the interaction between the dense worlds and scarce worlds should be done. We live in a dense world. Then, after the death of the physical body heat, electricity and all other energies move into the ethereal body, invisible in our world. In this state, the soul is still on the planet, which previously inhabited a physical body. Free from the ethereal body, energy substance gets into the scarce world. For local residents, Earth is the planet, which is formed around the scarce world. One of the properties of souls living in the scarce world is the ability of resettlement in the physical form. After the scarce world there should be the most advanced fiery world. But we do not know much about it. The Order of the "Seven Stars" have been watching the evolution of souls, thus moving to the physical body. We found that the seat of the soul can not only be the human body, but also any biologically active form: tree, grass, animals. Everything depends on the spiritual karma, the physical representative of a previous life.’

‘Scientists deny the possibility of life after death. They believe that the newly emerged physical form acquires experience only in the contact with the material world, and after the death of the body, collecting of the information disappears. You say that the subtle essence of education is the same as creatures that emerge from the physical body. It is theoretically possible to imagine, but the real party does not seem very plausible.’

‘Life as development goes through various stages that make up the seven kingdoms of nature. There are three basic worlds: mineral, vegetable, animal and human. But humanity is not the last stage of evolution. Further development occurs in the finer worlds. Just on this point, I told you that the Planet is a dense world. Feelings, desires, emotions are in the scarce world. As I said, there is still a world of thought; the fiery one. All three worlds are inhabited. But living in them you are not able to see the parallel worlds.’

‘Populated planets have property to attract the subtle forms. After the death of the physical body, they rush to these planets to be in the environment, selecting the most suitable for their habitat.’

‘Of course, I greatly appreciate the informative story, I think, the history of Terra and information about the Templar can later be useful to me. I do not understand what the goal of the conversation is and I would like to return to this discussion after my return from the Sphere.’

‘You’re right, Lieutenant, do not waste your precious time on tales of immortality. Let's move on to the official part of our conversation.’ The monk’s intonation was undoubtedly harsh. Eric realized that the old man was hurt by his remark.

‘Guards examined the impact area of the packet boat. They found the container, and within the order a "Secret" that was intended for the captain of the cruiser that you were waiting for in the sector. If the information it contains goes public in the area then another war could break out. It seems that His Majesty Charles V was not going to share any information with his allies, much less with his enemies. It's amazing how your spying was able to obtain such information, although I suspect that the Exots’ informants took part in this. Your staff, of course, had the two ships disappeared without a trace. The search party will be sent to the sector of the alleged meeting. What is under threat? We know that at least one cruiser of Arktats was in the area. I think they will not be in a hurry to leave, even realizing that the Imperial ships will arrive here soon. They have good reasons, which I will discuss later. If the Imperial starships destroy the Arktats, Terra cannot avoid invasion, you will be looking for and hoping that someone will manage to get to the planet. If Arktats destroy a search party, we will be under siege from the Exots.’

‘What is the sense for the Confederates to block Terra? As the raw material base of the planet is not promising, the sector can only be used as a border checkpoint.’

‘Or a testing ground for research. Do not forget that the representatives of all races are gathered in the world that lives in the Spheres. You've probably heard about the problems in the sector of Ceres?’

‘When did almost all the world's population become extinct by an unknown virus?’

‘The virus is known, and its shape, or as the scientists say mutation, has absolutely not succumbed to the localization and treatment.’

‘Do you mean that the virus has an artificial origin?’

‘Yes, I do, it was established in terrestrial laboratories. Unfortunately, we did not immediately link the event in the sphere with frequent visits by visitors from outer space. We thought that the Confederates usually carried out reconnaissance raids. When we thought suddenly it was too late. Ceres is not the first victim of Exots. Nearly two centuries ago in local time-calculation we recorded the first studies related to the sub-cellular infectious agents. Our scientists did not intervene, believing that these surveys can be useful for an advancing civilization. By the time the Exots had established a network of secret societies on Terra providing them with financial and informational support, they chose the most insidious and brutal race of deep space called Ahriman that lives in little-known sectors of the Andromeda Galaxy. The Ahriman profess to the cult of Baal which were sent to Earth for contact with people. By buying a human form they trusted, they imposed their world view and philosophy on earthlings. Offering an easy way to enrich a luxurious life, they therefore only signed contracts in blood. Therefore blood betrayed not only the mysticism of action, but also allowed to monitor the energy substance in the human body, which is the soul. In fact Aahrimans are the same Templars as the brothers of our Order. Knowing about finding Shambhala on Terra, they do not take any hostile action against the database. We, accordingly, did not touch the followers of Baal. Fighting of the philosophical movement began on Earth. I will not go into the details of the confrontation, except to say that at the first appearance of Ahrimans the brothers of the Order formed an ambiguous attitude towards them. Part of the radical seceded from the Templar Order and formed a new database, giving it the name of the South Shambhala. Another group organized a center called Agharti. South Shambhala insisted on full physical destruction of not only the adherents of Baal and the followers of other mystical cults of Exots. As a result, Agharti refrained from any confrontations. They built a powerful laboratory complex in the depths of the mountain ranges and concentrated their efforts on creating a new gene pool of earthlings. We are now actively working with Agharti, especially after the events in the sector of Ceres. The relationship of the Order went wrong with South Shambhala. We must pay tribute to their leaders. The Templars of South Shambhala left Terra after a meeting with representatives of the magistrates. As soon as the mutation research of parasites developed into a kind of business we could not stay away. Private research centers funded by the followers of Ahrimans produced new viruses by examining the rate and method of distribution. Please note they were doing it not in specialized protected laboratories, but on the population of the planet. They create viruses for the individual regions with different climates, and of course, with different ethnic groups. But the worst was the discovery of a strain capable of self-resistance mutations and pharmacological effects. It was cloned recently and it is still under active investigation.