The Four Suns of Almert

By LASZLO GUBANYI

A group of explorers find a well, hidden in the middle of a desert, that was left behind by an ancient civilization

that used it to travel among worlds.

They managed to get through it and found themselves on a distant planet inhabited by a very advanced

race of humans who already left their solid body and lived as pure energy beings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LASZLO GUBANYI
• Release date: Jun 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227245786

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The sand was so fine and soft that his feet sank deep,

well over his ankles with each step, none the less, the

sand felt quite rough inside his shoes, and hurt his

toes. 

Every step was an effort as the sand was only soft

when sinking  into it, but on the way out, it appeared

to stick to his shoes. Getting his feet out was an

effort.

Even so, slowly, step by step, he kept forging ahead.

At least, he hoped it was ahead.

Walking up and down through the hilly,  sandy

wasteland, made it difficult to keep going in the

right direction.

Down between the dunes he could not see anything,

and up on top, the view was only that of sand, and

more sand, all around, as far as the eye could see.

Even his footsteps disappeared in the shifting, soft

sand, so he couldn’t even judge the direction he

had come from.

He kept going, still, step by step, not merely by effort

or even willpower, as he was far beyond that.

His mind was getting cloudy, less and less aware of

his surroundings.

His body just kept pushing forward on its own,

forced by that mysterious determination that had

started this problematic dessert trek in the first place.

Had his logical mind been working, he probably

would just sit down, and give in to that mercilessly

hot sun which was burning through his clothing,

sucking out the last drop of moisture from his

desiccated body.

It was so hopeless.

Looking around and seeing the sand dunes stretching

as far as he could see in every direction, burned dry

by that fireball above, it made no sense to push on.

There was no possible way to get out of this alive.

Carlos had not just strolled into the dessert

unprepared.

He had planned this journey carefully.

He had prepared his equipment, food and water, to

last him well over a week, which, at the time, had

appeared to be more than enough to reach his

destination.

At the start, it had been perfect.

But that was twelve days ago, and his week’s supply,

even stretched out, was just not enough.

Even with the most careful provisioning he ran out of

food three days ago and the water had run out

yesterday.

His mind knew that it was helpless, but his mind was

not functioning properly in this dry heat and the body

just kept pushing on.

He could not think any more, he was not even aware

of where he was going.

He did not notice the slow changes around him.

The sand was getting slightly darker and not quite as

soft.

His feet did not sink in as deeply into it any more.

There was even a slight breeze in the air, so still until

now.

But the body was reaching its limits.

It was still pushing forward, but now on his hands

and knees and slowing with every passing minute.

The head hung down, lower and lower, until it just

rested on the now much cooler sand.

The limbs still made a few crawl-like movements,

then they were still, also.

There was only blackness.

A deep, soothing, drawing blackness.

––––––––

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The coolness of the sand under his face brought him

back to reality.

His back was still being burned by the sun, but there

was definitely a cool feeling on his face, touching the

sand.

He slowly dug his right hand deep into the soft sand.

Slowly, as he had not much strength left, but deeper

and deeper.

The sand was definitely cooler the deeper his hand

got.

Perhaps...perhaps there was even a hint of moisture.

With an effort Carlos opened his eyes.

He was half way up the side of a very large sand

dune.

Maybe further down...

He let his body roll down the steep wall of the dune.

No chance of standing up.

His legs would not hold him.

There was a hint of shade at the base, right where the

next dune began.

Carlos slowly started to dig a hole in the sand which

now definitely showed signs of moisture.

With increasing effort he dug the hole deeper and

deeper.

There indeed was water in the sand.

Not running water, but the sand was obviously wet.

After some time digging, Carlos run out of energy.

There was not enough water to actually drink.

With his last remaining strength Carlos shoved the

wet sand into his mouth, sucked on the moisture,

then spit the sand out.

Again and again.

Then the blackness returned.

..............................

––––––––

The next time he opened his eyes there was a shiny

film of water at the bottom of the hole he had made.

Not enough to drink, but now there was a quite lot of

water in the sand he put into his mouth.

The water running down his parched throat was an

incredible feeling.

Carlos kept digging deeper and deeper to find more

water soaked sand.

Very soon he had to enlarge the sides of his hole to

be able to get to the water, which was quite deep

now.

It took a lot of time to quench his thirst, but

eventually it did happen. He even used a bit of

water to rinse the sand out of his mouth.

Laying on the cool sand, no longer thirsty, he began

to have more confidence in his future.

The Feeling could still be right.

The Feeling.

Carlos had no other name for it.

It was a kind of emotion, a strong urge to do

something. Most of the time something

unexpected, unusual.

He remembered well his first encounter with the

Feeling.

About twelve years old, he was visiting the

Zoological Park with his parents.

In this park the big animals were not kept in cages.

They all lived in caves on the side of a large artificial

hill, separated from the public by deep moats.

It was not allowed, but he naturally had to climb to

the top of the hill to find out what was there.

There were a few trees there, but mostly bare rocks,

and quite slippery too, as he very soon found

out.

He slipped and started to slide down the curving rock

towards the edge, where a very long fall awaited him,

and would end him up right in the middle of a

pride of lions.

Carlos went down onto his belly trying to slow down

his slide, but although the slope was slight, there was

nothing to hold on to in order to stop himself.

His head was turned to the right so he could not see

what was on his left.

Suddenly he had this strong urge to stretch his left

hand out towards his back and managed to grab an

outcrop of the rock.

Once stopping his slide downwards, it was easy to

climb back to safety.

It took a bad dream a few years later to bring back

the memory of that day to realize just how strange it

was that he reached out and grabbed that protruding

piece of rock without possibly knowing that it was

there.

Since that time, it happened a few more times 

Not very often, just two or three times a year, and

each time it made him do something he would have

never done on his own volition

But each time it was just the right thing to do.

Each time the results of the action he took were very,

very beneficial to him.

He had achieved things he would have never even

aimed at by himself.

At the beginning Carlos tried to resist these urges for

being so unnatural, illogical, but after a while he

learned to trust the Feeling.

It was never wrong.

Except, perhaps, now.

Carlos understood the seriousness of his situation.

The miraculous finding of water in the middle of the

dessert had saved his life for now, but after all, it

appeared just to prolong the agony.

He had no food, and no expectation of finding any.

The hunger eating his insides was nearly painful.

If he stayed here, he would not survive long without

food, but then how could he leave behind the only

source of water probably for many kilometres

around.

He could not even carry any water with him, as he

had thrown away all his empty containers to lighten

his load.

He was stuck.

His prospects were not good if he were to stay, and

not much better if he kept on walking.

He had to make a decision.

There was a maybe...a small possible maybe, if he

were to start walking again.

And there was not even a maybe if he stayed with the

water.

He would certainly die.

So that was settled then. He had to go. No choice ,

really.

But which way?

Going back?...He knew he would not survive that.

He had to keep going in the same direction and hope

that there was something that way.

Not much of a choice.

And the Feeling did not help.

It was gone.

Which by itself was unusual, because up till now,

it had always stayed with him, pushing him, until

he got to his destination.

Now, it had simply..... gone, leaving him alone to

make his own choices.

Carlos tried to drink as much water as he was able to

in order to carry the water inside, but after a while

it just made him sick.

That did not help his exhausted body.

At first he thought to wait for nightfall to start

walking, to avoid the sun which now was

again burning his back, but his body was getting

so weak that he did not dare to wait any longer.

It was time to go...... Now.

Carlos remembered which side of the dune he had

come down to reach this crevice with the water,

so decided to climb up the opposite side to

continue on his way.

It was a bit steep but it was sand, so he would make

headway by digging his shoes into the soft side...

Except, he could not do that,

The side of this dune was hard and unyielding.

This was completely unexpected.

Carlos had a very close look at that wall.

It was sand.

It looked like sand, it felt like sand.

Still, it was solid, hard and resistant to pressure.

Carlos hit the wall with his hand, as hard as his

weakened body was able to manage.

It sounded hollow.

A most unexpected sound.

Carlos sat down in the sand, completely confused

now.

This was the last straw.

Not only had his body failed him, but now his mind

was playing tricks too.

It was a really frustrating feeling.

After a long while of just sitting there, contemplating

the dune in front of him, he hit it again.

Harder...with the same result.

That deep, hollow sound with a metallic hint.

It had to be artificial.

It just had to be.

Carlos started to dig into the sand trying to find the

end of the wall.

He could not.

The hard surface went much deeper than he was able

to dig.

There had to be an end somewhere. Or some sort of

door.

Leaning against the hard wall with one hand, Carlos

started to walk along the deep crevice in the sand.

It was a difficult walk, his body protesting with every

step, and the burning sun above did not help matters.

His feet were getting heavy, more and more difficult

to drag along the soft sand.

He had to rest.

Carlos sat down in the sand leaning against that hard

wall.

Just a short rest, then he would keep going...

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I couldn’t just let him die there.

And why not?

Come on. You don’t mean that.

Okay. I don’t. But bringing  him in here?

What else could I have done?

"I do not know. Maybe give him food and let him

go."

"Let him go where? He would not get out of this

dessert alone."

"That is not our problem. What is he doing here

anyway?"

"That is a good question. I backtracked his steps. He

came across the dessert in a beeline straight to us.

How did he know we were here?"

"He didn’t,, otherwise he would not have been dying

out there."

Then how did he...?

"I’ve got no idea, but you can ask him yourself. He is

waking up."

Carlos slowly opened his eyes.

Yes, I am waking up but I am not sure I want to.

"If you are aching head to toe, well, that is normal

after what you have been through."

"Knowing that doesn’t make it any better. Is now the

time to ask the logical question...who are you

people?"

"Maybe after you answer my logical question. What

the hell are you doing alone in the middle of the

dessert?"

"That is another good question. By the way, thank

you for saving my life, even if it caused you

some problems."

You did not just wake up, did you?

"No. I had been listening to your conversation for a

while. I wanted to know what this place was,

though I have to admit, I just got more confused"

Are you hungry?

I could eat two horses.

"Well. I do not have a horse at hand, but I will bring

you some food. Not much, as you have to

go easy at first."

"And while I am eating, will you give me some

information?"

You first.

"Okay, but I do not have much to say, and even that,

you will find hard to believe."

‘Try me."

"Okay, here it goes. I just had an urge to come here.

Something from inside myself pushed me in this

direction, without knowing the where and the why."

You were right. I do not believe you.

I am sorry, but it is the best I can do.

Would you like to eat?

I would love to.

Then talk.

I did.

Not enough.

"Look. I can see your point. You being away from

everything in the middle of the dessert mean

s to me that you’ve got something to hide.

Judging by the artificial dune outside, this is

a high tech and very well-funded whatever it is

. Having a stranger just dropping in on you,

well, it would make anyone nervous."

"Thank you for understanding the situation. This

should make it easier to put the cards on the

table."

‘Yes, it should, but I do not have many cards to put

on the table.

What I have told you was the complete truth.

Besides, I am easy to be checked out. I am a

computer technician, well,one in training to be one

anyway, on holyday at present.

I am not associated to any political party, have never

joined any organization, don’t even have many

friends.

Matter of fact, I do not have any friends.

I am very much on my own. You can easily check

all of this out."

"I will, but this still does not explain your presence

here."

"Well, I do not have much more information to give

you on that.

Sometimes I just blindly follow a gut feeling. I know

this sounds stupid, but in the past this happened

to be quite beneficial a number of times.

I did not know that I would end up here.

I just started to walk towards a set direction, set by

my gut feeling."

"You do understand that this is a very unsatisfactory

explanation."

"Sorry, but it is the best I can do. Please believe me,

that if I wanted to lie to you, I could have come up

with a much better explanation."

"Okay, eat now. I will come back later to talk to

you."

That sounded very gloomy.

"Please understand the seriousness of your situation.

Your mere presence here puts our existence in

danger.

And the fact that we have to protect ourselves,

might put your existence in question."

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The moment Carlos was alone he got up and started

to check out the room. Still a bit unsteady on

his feet, he was looking for a door or a window

to escape his present situation.

He understood perfectly the  position he was in, and

it was clear that this people, whomever they were,

could not just let him go.

This whole place spoke about something very big,

important, and secretive.

The room he was in was fairly large, very

functionally furnished, but the attention to

comfort was obvious.

The complicated computer set up also indicated a

busy work place.

The bed he was laying on did not belong to this

room, it must have been put here just to

accommodate him.

The pastel coloured walls had a metallic feel, there

were no windows and the only door was the one

those people used to get out.

Carlos did not check if the door was unlocked.

What the hell I am doing looking for a way out? -

he fumed to himself, upset about his futile actions.

"Even if I would find a way out, what would I do in

the dessert outside? I am completely at

their mercy."

Not very happy about the situation, Carlos sat down

waiting for the next thing to happen.

He did not have to wait long. The same youngish

looking man came back with a serious

expression on his face.

Well? What is the decision?

About what?

About what you’ll do with me.

"Oh that. Nothing yet. I need more information from

you."

I told you everything I could. You can check it out.

"I did. I spoke to two of your professors at the

university, your land lady and a few of your

neighbours."

‘Wow!, you are a fast worker. You must have some

very good connections to be able to do that in

such a short time.

And what did you find out about me?"

"Your professors said that you were a very bright

student but that you do not concentrate on

your studies, and that you could have achieved

much more.

Your landlady said that you were a serious young

man who did not cause any problems, not

like her other tenants.

Your neighbours said that you were a nice fellow, a

bit on the weird side, very interested in UFOs

and not looking for company. None of them

has seen anyone visiting you."

I could have told you all that.

But you did not.

And what is the final conclusion?

I still have a few questions to ask of you.

Go ahead.

What are your plans for the future?

Is that relevant to the present situation?

It is very relevant. Please, answer.

"I do not have a definite plan. Started studying

computers and programing as I saw a

future in it, but in reality it did not interest me very

much. I am interested in a lot of things, 

but none of them would give me a career."

What are your interests?

Nothing that you would call important.

Please, humour me.

"Okay. I am very involved in scuba diving, I like

ancient history, archaeology, specially related to

old legends, disappeared civilizations,

extra-terrestrial influences.

The lot is quite childish , wouldn’t you say?"

What about family?

"I do not have any. My parents died in a car accident

when I was very young, and  I was brought up

by my grandmother who is dead now.

If I would have died in the dessert outside here,

probably no one would notice my having gone

missing."

Well, what do you think?

The man was talking to someone behind Carlos.

Turning around he saw three other men and two

women standing there, looking at him.

How the hell did you get there?

He was ignored by all of them.

I think he will do, Peter.-The taller, slim woman

with the reddish hair declared.

Okay, I agree. Let me talk to him.

The one called Peter indicated Carlos to sit down

while he went for a chair opposite him.

The others slowly filed out through the only door.

Okay, let’s talk about the problem.-Carlos wanted

to appear jovial although he did not feel like

that at all.

Problem? What is the problem?

"Your secrets, my presence here, what to do with

me..."

"Oh that problem. There is no problem. I have quite a

few solutions for that in mind, but before we get

to that , I have a proposition for you which could be

beneficial to all of us."

I am listening.

‘I am offering you a job. We are very short staffed

here. We need people who are young, healthy,

unattached and have an open mind.

You seem to qualify."

What kind of job?

"You can have the details later if you accept. I can,

however, tell you that it is legal, it is ethical and

that it comes with  a very generous salary."

But?

"Yes, there is a but. You have to stay here for a long

time, without any contact with the outside world.

On the plus side, as you mentioned, this place is very

well-funded so you can have anything your comfort

requires."

Even dancing girls?

"Sorry, no. Sex is one of the very few things that are

seriously restricted."

I saw a couple of girls here.

"You did not .There are no girls here. They are

co-workers. In a very tight living

environment like this is, girl/boy relationships

could cause a lot of problems so it is frowned

upon big time."

And how long would I stay here?

"Well, we can discuss that later. We all have five to

ten year contracts. Sometimes the isolation is

hard  to take, but when you think about the

amount of money you will take home, it

makes it all worthwhile. Besides, I can tell you one

more thing. What we are doing here is so interesting

that every one of us would stay even if we had to

pay for the privilege."

It sounds intriguing.

That is the correct word for it, believe me.

And if I do not accept?

"No problem. You can leave with sufficient

provisions to get home, but without the memory

of what you have found here. We have the

means to accomplish that."

You are asking me to make a big decision.

"I know, but I am not pushing you. We want you to

stay, but you have all the time you need to

make up your mind. In the meanwhile, you can

live with us, work with us, see what you are

getting yourself into."

‘What about your secrecy?"

"It is quite safe. If you stay, you will have to know

everything, if you leave, you will not

remember anything."

The place was huge. At least it was two hundred meters across, grossly of a round shape.

The ceiling was quite irregular, Carlos recognized the inverted shapes of the dunes above.

So the artificial dunes are extending quite a distance. I just touched the edge of it.

Yes Carlos, and there are a few places more, just like this.

Aren’t you taking some kind of risk by showing me all this?

"Well, some. The thing is , we would like you to stay.

We had a discussion about this and decided that

the only safe way to keep you here would be to

make you really want to stay." 

And showing me around you will achieve that?

"Brother, if after you have seen what I am going to

show you, if you are not begging me, on your knees

to stay, I am the Pope."

I do not think you would make a good Pope.

Okay, just watch what is in this place and hold your chin so it will not drop.

The whole place was brightly illuminated by multiple

lights from above. All around there were machines,

instruments of all sort, the functions of most of

them Carlos could not even guess.

Computers, screens and blinking lights of all colours were everywhere.

‘Yes, we have our own power sources."-Peter

explained at Carlos’s questioning look.-"Partly

solar and partly kerosene. We have more power

than what we need."

And it appears that you need a lot.

Yes, we do, but we can afford it.

Right in the middle of the place was a large pond like

water surface, perfectly circular and  lined with a

yellowish white material.

It is an odd place to have a pond. It appears the dominant feature of the place.

"You are not as silly as you look like. Look at that

water and do it with a lot of respect. That water

is the dominant feature of this place. That water

is the reason why we all are here."

"What is so important about that pond? You stand in

the middle to cool of when it is too hot?"

Well, you would need a par of very long legs to do that.

Why? How deep is that thing?

I do not know.

What do you mean you don’t know? Never tried to check it?

We tried many times but failed.

I think you are pulling my leg. What is so difficult in measuring how deep the water is?

"Well, I will give you a clue. We have an echo

sounder with the maximum reach of two

thousand metres. We could not reach the bottom with it."

You can not be serious. That is just not possible.

Welcome to my world where impossible do exist.

I am not sure about taking you seriously.

You better start doing it as there is more about that water.

More?

"Just a few more things. For example, that porcelain

like material which lines the hole, and by the way,

it is there as deep as we are able to check."

What is it made of?

Good question doctor Watson. The answer is that I have no idea.

Common!

"It is true. With a lot of difficulty we managed to get

a small piece off for analysis. We still don’t know

what it is made of."

I cannot believe that you are serious.

There is more.

More? I am listening but I tell you now that it is unlikely that I will believe you.

"I can see your point and I would probably say the

same thing in your shoe. But listen to the

next gem. Carbon analysis of that fragment

indicates an age well over a hundred thousand

years."

"As I have said it before, I do not believe you. Still,

if what you are saying is true, I would fully

understand your presence here."

As I said, welcome to my world of impossibilities.

"Now let me see if I got it right. You have here this

well like thing which is more than two thousand

metres deep, clearly artificial, and is originated

from much before Homo Sapiens existed on

this planet. Did I get it right?"

Perfectly. Just what I said. And if you stick around you can check the data yourself.

"This is fantastic. I do not know who  are you

people or what are you doing here, and I don’t

care. I want in."

On your knees?

On my stomach, licking the floor.

––––––––

Carlos was exhausted , physically and mentally, still

he was not able to sleep. Was just laying in bed,

staring at the ceiling in the semidarkness of his room.

Too much has happened to him recently.

Too much, too strange and none of them made any sense.

He has already forgot the fact that just a few hours

ago he was dying in the dessert, giving up any

hope to survive.

That part at least made sense.

The dessert, the heat,