Starship Armstrong - Season 3

Part 4 - The Statue Of Dr. Kang (III)

"Looks like they speak Martian after all," said Gul.

The group was surrounded by a crowd of half-dressed locals who watched them with leery reverence. The old man in the imperial coat, the one who had just spoken in Martian, looked on at them expectantly.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Dr. Kang. "Did you notice how deliberately he pronounced each syllable? He learned all that by rote. He might not even understand what it means."

"There are many things I do not understand," said the old man, so suddenly that it almost startled the others, "The sacred words are not among them. We lost many of the ways of our ancestors but we did keep their words for the day we would need them. For today."

He was clearly struggling against a thick accent, but his incredibly precise enunciation made up for it. The man's female attendant translated.

Mitzner stepped forward.

"I'm glad to hear that. My name is Lieutenant-Commander Zarah Mitzner of the Huxley Foundation Starship Armstrong. I'm in command of this expedition. We come in peace."

"We greet you in peace!" said the old man, smiling and widening his arms. "Thank you one thousand times for escorting our great savior to us. Truly this is a sacred day. The prophecy is fulfilled and the chosen one is come."

Again the man's attendant translated. This time there came a great roar of approval from the crowd.

"Surely they must be referring to me," said Dr. Kang, turning to the others.

"Just because of the statue?" asked Ensign Gul, incredulous.

"What about the statue?" asked Dr. Kang.

Mitzner looked defeated.

"When you say the chosen one, you mean the tall guy with the glasses?" she asked, gesturing to Dr. Kang.

"Yes!" said the old man. "Who else could it be?"

Mitzner made just about the most disgusted noise she ever had.

"What's the prophecy?" she asked, half sighing.

"Aha!" boomed the old man "It is a tale known to all but one worth telling."

He began to gesture wildly and as he spoke he slowly worked his way through the crowd and briefly made eye contact with each individual. The old man was a true showman and it was clear his audience was the gathered locals, not the Armstrong crew. His attendant followed behind him, calmly translating.

"It is known that in the ancient times our ancestors lived in a golden age where they harnessed the power of the stars themselves! That time has passed, and now we live in the shadow of their former glory."

The old man's attendant got to this part of the story, and the locals began to mutter in apparent agreement.

"But our great ancestors, whose power was without limit, prophecized that a new golden age would one day restore glory to our people, and the appearance of the chosen one would be it's herald!"

The crowd cheered again, hooping and hollering.

"It is known that the chosen one will descend from the sky!"

The crowd cheered this point even more enthusiastically. They were being worked up into a religious fervor.

"It is known that the chosen one will wield the power of the ancestors!"

The crowd cheered anew.

"It is known that the chosen one will be wise beyond our ken!"

Again the crowd cheered.

"It is known that the chosen one will bring about the new golden age!"

This the old man yelled the loudest, and the crowd in turn cheered for the loudest.

"That's a pretty good prophecy," whispered McAfree to Wagner.

"I know, right?" Wagner whispered back. "If you and Dr. Kang developed time travel you'd tell me right?"

"Oh Wagner," McAfree laughed softly, "of course not."

"I take it that you saw our shuttle come down from orbit then, didn't you?" asked Dr. Kang.

"I do not speak your words well enough to understand," said the old man.

"You saw me come down from the sky, yes?" he rephrased.

"Kang!" yelled Mitzner.

"What?" asked Dr. Kang.

"Don't encourage this!" she said, looking at him as though he was a slow child.

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Dr. Kang.

"You're not the chosen one, Kang!" Mitzner snapped.

"Aren't I?" asked Dr. Kang dramatically. "Wagner, hand me the thing."

He held out his hand.

"What thing?" asked Wagner.

"The thing!" Dr. Kang snapped "The thing!"

McAfree rolled her eyes and began rummaging around in the pack of equipment Wagner had slung over his back.

"Things have names, Doc," she said, handing him a silver tube about as thick as her wrist. It had a large input screen on one end.

"Ah, thank you McAfree," Dr. Kang said directly to Wagner as he took the silver tube.

"Behold, witless primitives, the lost science of your ancestors!" Dr. Kang yelled, clearly enjoying himself.

He tapped on the input screen a few times and the tube emitted a high pitch whirring noise, then a blast of energy shot out the top and into the sky like a burst of fireworks.

The crowd gasped.

Dr. Kang held up his hand, with all five fingers. One by one he lowered each of his fingers. When he lowered the final one there was a crack of lightning and it immediately began to rain.

"I control the weather!" Dr. Kang announced. "For all intents and purposes I am a god!"

The crowd erupted in approval, even more enthusiastically than before. The held their arms up to the sky as the rain fell upon them.

Mitzner ran through every swear word she knew under her breath. As something of a polyglot of cursing this took a while.