Moreaugarin's crusade

When we finished the job, that groveling son of a bitch, Moreaugarin came and said that he had found immortality and could be reborn from a single drop of blood or from his own footprint, even if it were one hundred years old. I know what these end-of-the-century scholars are up to, Gunner. They’d like to give us the go-by."

"Now, what can I say? The man said this time we’re sure to hit the jackpot. Ever heard of ancient-light diamonds?"

"Some rumors, yes," I said and rubbed my hands. "What about them?"

"Well, this Moreaugarin claims he knows where they can be found."

"Don’t be so bloody stupid! An amphibian from B’ol Solar system told me that these diamonds are far beyond the edge of the cosmos, about fifteen thousand light years away. What then?"

"Listen, Max, this is the set-up. Moreaugarin showed me one of those stones and guess what. I took it to the jeweler’s at Grazzelli’s in Blue city. Cuts quite a figure in his field, you know. Well, he says the stone is genuine. Then he takes a gun from a drawer and says he will prove it…"

"Well?"

"Well, he puts a slug through his head! Moreaugarin and I get splattered all over with his blood and brains. And then Grazzelli comes to life. Moreaugarin just touches his body with that stone and…"

"You’re a goddamn liar".

"No, I’m not! And look, that’s all there’s to it!"

"You’re trying to piss me. Shoot it".

"The other thing is, Moreaugarin said that Pilgrims arrived in some spot on the Earth…"

"Big deal. I heard that one from a sea-devil!"

This is an age-old story. One million years ago these Pilgrims destroyed civilization on Venus. By treason, perjury and crime. Pilgrims were sonorous beings born from the primeval sound of the Universe. They carried the walls of the Ideal City beneath their mantles of ancient-light. The Venusians couldn’t resist temptation. They wanted to become immortal, too. Abjured their creed. Left their temples to neglect and decay. Next they stoned their priests. Then they marched together in the City. Yet the Pilgrims’ plan failed. The Venusians’ rage burst out all of a sudden. The walls collapsed under the canon fire and it took the Venusians just one autumn to butcher one another…

"Do you know what happened next?" Ibhib asked and took slug from the bottle.

"You tell me."

"These Pilgrims wanted to become masters of all the worlds in the Universe. They travel from place to place hoping to find a spot to their liking. After they had destroyed the Venusians civilization they salvaged part of the walls of the Ideal City and squeezed through one of the hundreds of "worm holes" crossing the Universe."

"So where they stop?" I asked impatiently.

"Somewhere near here. On planet Terraria."

"That imperfect copy of the Earth, right?"

"Right. But they couldn’t build their Ideal City here. The gravitational field was unstable. Now and then, which is quite often, a strong temporal vortex changed the geographic position of the settlements. Garbage and other refuse dumped from the Earth appeared on the beaches in Terraria. Out of that putrid heap all sorts of unimaginable beings came to life and they continuously changed the entropy index of the planet…"

"Listen to me…"

"Wait. I’ll be through in a moment. The Pilgrims got to…"

"To the Earth."

"That’s it, Max boy. The Earth. The walls of the Ideal City are made of ancient-light diamonds."

"And we grab them, all right?" I shouted eagerly.