[UA] Dear Brother #10a: Mordecai

[Bryant Durrell]

Dear Brother:

I write this missive to the brother whom I shall never know, for
Mordecai has no brother -- and yet I write, compelled by my humanity to
chronicle my inhumanity, and to speak of the horrendous subterranean
sights which I and my band of comrades have seen.  We may never return
to the surface of the Earth, but some future explorer will find these
words and know that Doc Lully's band of adventurers and madmen walked
the shores of the seas that lie beneath the world of men.

Men!  Would that I might count myself among their number; yet the
reptilian blood of the Nephilim runs in my veins, and always shall it
set me apart from the madding crowd.  I am fortunate to have known the
friendship of my companions, for there are no better companions above or
below.

It was Doc Lully himself who led us, down through that cave complex in
the mountains known as the Ozarks.  The mysterious Agent Pyramid was the
man who finally vanquished the Nome King with his twin guns: their
muzzles spit fire into the stony form of the monstrous beast, until it
was forced back.  Pip made one of her light-hearted quips, impenetrable
in meaning to any but a fellow engineer, and we pressed on into the
darkness.

It was Commander Sam Collier who put a name to the tunnels we found
there; before he told us of certain occult South Seas legends we had no
words to express our trepidation, but the brave aeronaut gave the
Lightless Tunnels of Tsathoggua a name, and that which is named cannot
be as fearful as the nameless horrors which crowd beyond our vision.
His words did not save us from the battle with Tsathoggua's
toad-creatures, but we smiled as we slew.

It was in the Spawning Caves of the Sub-Arachnoids that we lost -- but
no!  no, I will not speak of it, for even now in the hour of our greatest
danger I cannot bear to speak his name.  Let these words be a silent
tribute to he who fell saving our lives from the ghastly albino
scuttling spider creatures with their clickety-clackety claws.  Some
stories strike too close to the heart, but wherever that brave man's
soul now resides, I pray that he will know we pray for him.

And finally, we came to the Emerald City of Yaktavia, built by the dread
Lemurians in the millenia before men knew of cities.  My alien heart
beat faster, for there was that in the strange architecture of the
city's spires that rang with insistant familiarity in my mind.  Could
this lost green city hold the key to my heritage?  Almost, almost I lost
my footing amid a rush of speculation, before my true friend Achilles
Tang touched my shoulder and silently reminded me of our purpose.

We entered that city, unafraid, knowing that our uncanny purpose would
carry us to victory as it had so many times before.  Little did we know
of the fell leader of that city, the philosopher tyrant Bry An -- but
our lack of knowledge would be remedied far too soon!

The cryptic beings known as the Tero greeted us as we entered the
Emerald City, with gesticulations and sounds of a disturbing nature.  It
has never been said that Doc Lully's band of heros sought out violence,
and despite my hunger for blood and the pure catharsis that only battle
brings, we held our weapons at our sides.  They led us to Bry An's
chambers, and we followed.

Bry An was a grotesque figure, dressed in ill-fitting silver robes and
carrying a tuning fork matching those far larger tuning forks which
adorned his savage city.  His words were as unwise as his garb, for he
claimed that once arriving in the city we must not be allowed to leave.
No man stands in the path of Mordecai and his comrades!  This Bry An
dangled a gilt honor, hoping that it might distract us from our mission;
he claimed that we were Invisible Ascended Masters.  Ah, but I know my
blood too well!  No half-breed such as I could be among the ruling
caste, did I even believe that there are those who are born to rule.

And he babbled on further, speaking of orgone energy; if one could
believe the ravings of a madman, then his mighty orgone guns were the
source of all good energy in the land above, unbeknownst to those who
live their lives in peace.  Futile claims, to those who so well know the
heroism of the human spirit:  man needs no orgone rays, no secret
transmissions, to guide him to the light.

We fought, then, despite Bry An's futile protestations!  He spoke of one
known as Greer, who led the dark counterparts of the Tero, the Dero,
purporting that this Greer threatened us even then.  It was of no moment
to us, though, for we fought for the freedom to depart the sunken
subterranean realm.  Agent Pyramid bravely entered Bry An's mind,
seeking the truth which no man can hide from the Master of the Powers of
the Mind, and as sure as the Sun and the Moon chase one another around
our humble Earth, he found naught but treachery.  Commander Collier
seized upon Bry An, holding him back from his malevolent intent.  Doc
Lully showed his kind heart, urging us to listen to Bry An further, lest
there be some measure of merit in his words, but we would have no
further dealings with the subterranean mastermind.

We fought!  And then it was that some small part of Bry An's lies proved
true, as Greer's flying saucers erupted from pustules in every wall of
the vast cavern which housed the forbidden City of Emerald.  But my
comrades and I are no strangers to the shaky ground that lies between
two rival armies.  As the saucers rose like birds hatching from decaying
eggs, I raised my voice with all the power of my inhuman father,
commanding the Tero to fight on my behalf -- though it sickened me to
draw upon that which is all that is dark in my soul, my love for my
comrades allowed me no other course of action.

They fought, and I seized upon the orgone guns of Bry An, lifting one
from its place on the battlements.  I noticed, in a moment of sanity
before I began to fire, that Pip had crept away, and I was glad, for I
knew that one of us must escape to tell the tale.  Oh, how the rest of
us battled!  Achilles, drawing upon his heritage and his lifelong
training in the arts of the Oriental martial disciplines, leaped onto
one of the saucers; Commander Collier, never uncertain, took wing and
flew into the sky to grapple with the dreaded Dero on their own ground.
Agent Pyramid, in constant telepathic contact with little Pip,
nonetheless stood his ground and fired away with his twin guns, bringers
of doom to so many who stood against the forces of justice.

My orgone gun spat blue energy among the saucers as Achilles and
Commander Collier wove a web of death in the sky.  In the dark corridors
beneath our feet, Pip frantically rewired the controls of the gigantic
orgone gun with which Bry An menaced the surface world.  Perhaps he had
influenced we surface dwellers, if not for the better, but this band of
determined heros would see the end of Bry An's reign of evil.

And then it was, on Agent Pyramid's command, as I stood laughing amid
the bodies of slaughtered Teros, that Pip activated the orgone ray in
ways Bry An could never have imagined.  She told us, later, that a horde
of fearful beasts -- Deros? -- came to help her in her task, a mystery
which may never be unraveled.  But she accepted their aid, and activated
the ray, despite the certain knowledge that it might cost us our lives,
for such is the burden of those who hold high the noble cause.

The Dolorous Tone rung, like a bell speaking the time of the world's
end.  All movement ceased.  None breathed -- and then he stood, but no,
say rather HE stood, for a being of such size must rightfully be written
of in letters ten feet long.

Mu, the Last Lemurian, stood.  And all grew dark.

Your inhuman brother,
Mordecai

-- 
        Bryant Durrell [] http://www.innocence.com/~durrell [] 9/11/2001
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               "To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be."
                          -- Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo

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