[center][u][b]Gerbil in the mountain[/b][/u][/center]

The sands looked like a delicate silken blanket, he thought. The sand storm was coming from the southeast, but a more significant storm was coming from the north. There was war brewing, and people were migrating to and from that ancient kingdom; he knew that kingdom; he had made a pilgrimage through it in some distant time, but that was just a distant time, and it cost him his life. Then, you had to travel to what was considered the holy lands, even though he always considered an area a few hundred miles to the North West more sacred to at least himself.  

He took a deep breath and was thankful that the sand hid the mountain; only small stony cracks littered the sand would hint that this ancient mountain was standing sentinel, one of the last in the range not wholly covered by sand, if not the last. It meant he didn't have to concentrate on hiding it that much. But, he knew there would be some trying to seek refuge, he knew it would be sooner than later. They would come looking for a sanctuary of old, at least that is what some stories had said, of a ghost that spent his days looking over tombs of old kings. That valley was to the East, but he realized stories and traditions would last through ages regardless, he had some of the books and studies of the old kingdoms of far ancient times, and he had tablets from those days as well somewhere in a vault below him. 

The man stood there on a dark red rock wrapped in cloth as if he was a mummy from those old times, cloth in thin binds wrapped around his body with a thicker loose cloak that clung to his old frame. He had an old-looking telescopic seeing device, it was several feet in length, and he stood with a secondary staff to hold the end up, mainly so that it would not droop and so he did not drop it on accident. He wished he had the boy with him to carry it, but he was asleep and ill. He would not have him come up from down below just to stare across empty sand. Not that he needed to see what was coming, he could see that either way and keep himself and the few with him hidden from it all, but what about those fleeing from war to come, or from other things. 

"I should prepare for guests maybe; I could take in the few that walk the right direction, maybe hide myself a bit longer... I could plant more in the basin, no one can reach there, and I could keep a few more mouths live longer, and maybe I can get a few smart ones as well." He had realized he was talking to himself, and that he was alone. "They can help regrow... and no... there are many in this world who would burn it in industry should it get out, but I can only hope there are some old souls who would wish to see an ocean again... I know I would..."

He looked down at the ground and saw a small rodent; there had been similar rodents long ago in the desert. He slowly lowered his hand, and it jumped into it, moving up into the cloak and popping out near his neck. He knew it, he knew most of the living wildlife in the area, and he would protect them. He was thankful that he had not had to hunt anything near the mountain in almost fifty years, he wouldn't be able to now. Too much rested upon it. He moved the telescope back to his eye as he stared, and then he stared further, reaching out with his mind to see. He saw a lot, but he hated knowing what would come next. He shook his head, and began to push the seeing device back into place, placing a leather cover over the glass end. He took his staff that it was perched on, and he just sat down on the lip of the rock he stood on. 

"Fifteen minutes and a storm will come over this mountain; for those fleeing, I bet most will die to it, buried under a mountain of sand, under irradiated glass shards that burn and melt into their flesh." he took a deep breath, and sighed, "Come, little friend, let's go to where it's safe..."

Within minutes, the two moved down to the base of the rock and down the sand until he came to a flat in the sand, he turned and started to push sand out of the way until it cascaded down. "Have we been out this long?" the man said with a smile. 

Several lights began to flicker on as the dusty airlock started to blow stand back toward him as he walked in. He closed the door behind him, and that was that. "We should go down to the chapel... see if we can get another hand or two in the hydroponics bay; we can hold more people." 

He moved further down into a stone and metal arched hallway, watching lights turn on as he scurried down halls and then into a staircase down into the depths. The old man entered another airlock and into a stone pathway. He smelled incense and yeast, Farah must have been baking bread. He heard laughter, and that made him smile. 

He stopped at an old wooden door, a little smaller than the doorway, but it served its purpose. He passed by several people lying on in the hallway. 

"Seerer Vaharr, dinner is almost done, it is good to see you once again." an older man said, walking in through another portal in the wall, "I have been hearing stories of war north of the last dunes from Kal Hashir, is there something to worry about?" 

"No... no not this time, it just means that we will need more hands in the extra bays, and to make sure they are growing grain instead of clothing. Maybe cut rations, and we will have less of a stockpile to trade in... " replied Vaharr, "How are the stores looking?"

"Growing, as they always should... more than enough to last a year with our four hundred mouths if we only eat grain, and have no more mouths... but, I am afraid that will not be the case soon." 

"Another mouth or two will not starve us yet." Vaharr staff was sent the mam accusingly, "We can survive a bit longer, but paradise may need to wait longer... did you get medicine from Hashir, Bash?" 

"Some..." Bash said, "He knows war was coming, I talked him into a lower price for just some of it... the rest we will have to wait till the plants and Karash are done." 

The older man snickered and kept walking with a limp on his side, not using his staff he just pushed forward, and forward not a care in the world; the younger man, like one of forty-five, followed close behind with board and paper in his hand. They twisted through doors, and down hallways, passing several more people until they came into a massive room, it was long, and tall. Extremely tall, almost sixty feet up it looked like a gateway, and if the halls behind it were not dug through collapsed ruins, then it might have sometime far in the past, but this ancient room stayed. The far end of the long hall, was a mound of sand that came through everything that might have once touched the outside world. Statues of a god-like figures lined between thick marble pillars. These figures, all had one thing in common, they were staring hatefully at the figure that was above him. He turned and saw what protected him, a large man painted in gold, and white. Unlike the other statues, it's paint had not faded since it was placed there in it's sandy tomb. 

Looking around, he saw no other figures around, and the two men looked at each other, but the older man had to look away after a few seconds, ashamed of himself. He looked at the man in front of him, "Farah is a good woman, and while I can keep us hidden from most of the world, she keeps us hidden from others. There is a war that will rage on near us, and should the Emperor come, we may be found... This sand storm will help conceal us, same with the main entrance blocked off. But should we be found, we will have to fold, and you all should... Have this as a place of science, you are the heir to this coven... Though we know." he looked up at the statue above him. "Though we know he is one of science, use that with him... reason, that we wish to see Terra become the jewel it once was, that humanity should be beautiful, that as it's protector... The homeworld should see the light that it is a beautiful world. We have many old texts in the vaults below, barter with him, make sure we can continue our work and way of life... But, I will likely have to move on, I can be here maybe once to meet with him or his envoys... but after that, I will likely have to flee for the safety of everyone here... For the work this place has done." 

"Vaharr... stay... just because you are a priest, does not mean he will not see reason in your ways... You wish to see this place turn into beauty, you wish to see the oceans of old times, so do I, and so does everyone else here, I am sure he does as well. I am sure that he wishes to see it as how it was when he created the world away from the dark ones and molded it humanities needs. He has been with us since the beginning. He will know what to do with you and this place."

"No, Bash al Ka'tim, when I brought you here as a child when your parents were used as sacrifice, I made sure that you, and al others would be protected, and that is what I will do... you must know that this is a place of worship, we can blame it on ancient ways... in hopes it is not destroyed or to hide it through the labyrinth of the lab, but this room alone will make this place a target... This room alone is what he wishes to destroy because it is faith in something besides what we can see. We must hide it for as long as possible, and it will be hard... I can feel him and many others who are powerful in the mind, much more so than I... I am nothing compared to them, a speck, maybe it will mean we can live in peace longer, but he will eventually find us. I hope we can sway his council some so that this has not all gone to waste."

The younger man looked defeated but nodded understandingly. He smiled, "I will do my best to lead this place to the way of paradise as it should be... once you are gone, once I am the head here... I know you are old, but I hope you die here with us... not alone on pilgrimage; you are like a father to many of the young ones and have taught everyone here many things... You have given us hope, and soon you will give many others hope, I have foreseen it Seerer, in the coming wars, we will take many more on... and watch as people flock to us, we will become something great... We will spread the seed of our faith in the way of the faithless, and possibly besides the faithless, we will see our home turned into a paradise, where instead of sands for all the eye can see, we may have our oceans." 

"Stop, no more of this, humble and quiet, and we will progress slowly... it is the only way, for we will endure silently and change slowly. It is safer, and once I am gone from this world, maybe I will look down upon you as you walk through paradise in old age... An old wife, children, you and Farah's granddaughter... Live, and be happy, like this little friend." 

A small rodent that until now had been sleeping, awoke and made it's way to the cloak, poking its head out once again, and moving to the old man's shoulder.

"A happy life... full of adventure, joy, and beauty, something simple, but not mundane... something worthwhile... You are five years till, fifty... You have lived a long time under me, almost thirty years. While you will live here, and continue my work... That does not mean you have to be chaste like I... Have a family so that they can see paradise with you... And should I live long enough, I would like to impart my wisdom on those who carry on my legacy." 

The man began to zone out as he spoke, enjoying himself but realizing that it was likely a lie. That he would be alive again should he die, likely back at another age that was much younger, this life, this one he considered to be successful. He wondered how this life would die, would he mess up and be seen by some foreign mind, or would he make a mistake when he went to test the air within the basin. There were too many variables, and he was thankful that most of the places he went to could only be accessed by the mountain, that way, he could work alone. Maybe he would die of old age and be found the next day laying on the ground dead in his room, a needle in hand, sowing a pillow or thousands of them for the influx of people that were to likely be showing up.

He shook his head and walked away from the younger man, the mouse on his shoulder as they began to walk the length of the hall going towards the sand; that dune gave them a few months at least, maybe longer. He wondered and sighed, hoping that it might be enough. He shook his head, knowing it wasn't. A day was what that would give them if lies were believed or were meant to be believed.

He had visions, he saw, and he hid. The vision he was having in his sleep at this time is that the sands in front of him were gone, and Luna shined through the broken and stained glass portals that littered the walls, that the paint upon the fiendish gods would come back, and destruction would be let loose upon his homeworld once again. He hoped that would not come true, but he stared at the portal which held the moon. In his eyes, the stained glass representation of a man fighting a dragon was shattered, the head of the man was gone, and the dragon was replaced by a dark spot upon the moon. 

"Little friend, we will not let that happen. This place will be beautiful once more... the gods will die, and we will be saved by the Emperor... God save him, may we preserve our species and its history, may we live through time ... and watch our world grow beautiful... We will see, but first, we must prepare." he said, turning and moving with haste to prepare for guests.