by Gadi Migdal
“The Whole will respect your wishes, Your Honor.”
Nola looked at her in surprise. “What does that mean?”
“Your honor, the Whole will not force you on a mission that you don’t want to take part in, and the Whole will not force you to be a part of it. If you don’t want to go on the journey, the Whole will train a new coordinator. If you choose that, you can return home and remove the implant that connects you to the Whole.”
Nola eyed her suspiciously. “I am supposed to believe that after the Whole prepared this journey for decades, it will let it go just like that?”
“No, Your Honor, the journey will happen, it would just be postponed for a few years until another coordinator is trained.”
“Why is the Whole willing to wait so long? Why is it so patient?”
“Because the independence of the coordinator is important to the Whole, Your Honor. The Whole needs you to be thinking and independent.”
‘Independent?’ the scream in her head suddenly went quiet. “What does independent mean?” she asked.
“Your honor, the Whole needs human coordinators for their human perspective. The Whole wants to learn and to evolve. For that purpose, the Whole needs coordinators.”
Nola looked hesitantly at the general. “General, how can I be sure that the Whole won’t hurt me or force me to do things I don’t want to do?”
The general shrugged her shoulders. “Your honor, you are part of the Whole since before I was born, has it ever done you wrong?”
“Not as far as I know,” admitted Nola. “But all that time it was making plans behind my back.”
The general laughed. “Everyone has secrets, Your Honor.”
Nola found herself smiling. “The Whole kept it hidden for years, no doubt it’s good at keeping secrets.”
The general laughed again. Her laugh was unpleasant and yet it managed to sound friendly.
The existence of an entity of collective intelligence consisting of five billion whole members was inconceivable. A question arose in Nola’s mind. “General, you said that all of you are always connected. Are you able to communicate with any member of the Whole? No matter how far?”
“Yes, Your Honor, if it is necessary to do so.”
“Are you able to communicate from here with the Whole members down in Neifar?”
“Yes, Your Honor, but it’s not just me that can do that, you can too.”
Nola looked at her doubtfully, then transmitted a question to the loquat garden manager. “How long until the next crop ripens? Report back immediately. Coordinator out.”
“Four days, Your Honor,” the response came right away.
“Received,” Nola responded in amazement. The reply had come from her old cluster. The cluster that was now on the far side of Neifar, 15,000 kilometers away from Singa.
General Bud laughed her weird laugh again.
Chapter 10
Thomas
The small graves in the yard were well-cleaned and demonstrated the family’s appreciation of God’s great power and mercy.
“Thank you, my dear little ones, thank you for glorifying us,” she whispered to the tombstones of her three children who did not reach adulthood. She wiped her tears and marched toward the house. Hana set down the bucket and wiped her hands on a towel tied to her dress before opening the door. She lifted the bucket with practiced ease and carried it into the room. The men were still deep in their conversation. Raoul’s clear voice drifted into the cooking corner. Hana smiled to herself with pleasure at hearing her eldest son confidently reciting the seven prophecies.
Monar, her youngest son, entered with their two best hens.
They were still alive! He was supposed to slaughter them. She glared at the child, who returned a plaintive expression. She shook her head firmly and with a brief hand gesture, told him to go outside.
Hana added water to the pot and fanned the fire in the coal stove. Thomas would arrive the following morning, and Hana didn’t intend to disappoint him. Everything would be ready for him. She would cook and clean all night and make sure that the feast he would share with them was perfect.
Thomas. The living God was going to dine with them.
They waited for him from the early morning. The summer sun rose early. Hana and Sahid stood at the door in their best clothes, their five children sitting beside them. Not one of them moved or spoke while they were waiting for the god.
He arrived when the sun was nearly in the center of the sky. ‘The wondrous ways of the gods,’ Hana pondered piously, as she heard his chariot of fire land in the yard. The silver delegates entered the house in silence, taking their places on both sides of the doorway.
The occupants of the house bowed and prostrated themselves as Thomas flew inside. His body glowed with the power of the sun, which he controlled. They turned their closed eyes to the ground, but his light was nonetheless blinding to them.
“You are permitted to sit,” ordered one of the delegates.
They raised their heads submissively and opened their eyes.
Thomas hovered above the ground. His holiness shone with white brilliance.
“His light will light up the world, and his power will guide the people,” Raoul sang with devotion.
“May the light in this house never be extinguished,” replied Thomas, and slowly lowered himself to the ground.
Hana was thrilled, he was even more noble than he looked in the statues. His exposed upper body was muscular and sculpted. His beautiful face radiated the vast wisdom he had accumulated over his thousands of years of life.
“Our lord blesses us with his presence,” said Sahid and bowed again.
“Yes, yes,” Thomas waved impatiently. “What’s for dinner?”
They sat around a floor mat and looked at the living god as he ate his meal.
Not one of the household’s members would begin eating before the guest was satiated. The god showed them his greatness and ability. He ate all the food that was set before him, two roasted chickens and a sack of rice, enough food for twenty mortals.
The god ate slowly and polished it all off with pleasure.
Hana saw Monar move with discomfort. She glared at him and he looked back stubbornly, as he raised his hand toward the dishes on the mat. Janet slapped him quickly and placed her hand back in her lap before anyone noticed. Hana breathed in relief; it was fortunate that she had sat her eldest daughter beside Monar. A tear sprouted in the corner of her eighth child’s eye, but he didn’t utter a sound.
Thomas peeled off the last piece of meat and threw the chicken leg into the waste heap. He suddenly looked up at Monar. “Are you hungry, boy?” he asked, his voice was so pleasing. Her heart sunk. He noticed. How could she dare to think that the god wouldn’t notice such a thing?
Everyone bowed quickly. Hana peered through her arms that were placed on the ground. As she had feared, Monar remained sitting.
She shuddered. If the boy insulted the god, the family would be doomed. The boy ignored his family and looked defiantly at the god. He didn’t bow, and even worse, he replied to the god. “Yes! You ate all of our food!” he said defiantly.
Her son was dead. Hana closed her eyes in order to stop the tears. All was lost. If Thomas didn’t kill him, Sahid would. Monar had insulted a guest under his roof. His fate was decreed.
One of the delegates stepped forward decisively and raised a silver arm to the boy. Thomas motioned him to stop with a quick wave of his hand. The delegate halted where he stood, but his arm remained directed at the child. Thomas smiled at Monar. “Why do you think I ate all of your food, boy?”
“Because you can. You’re the god. You can do anything.” The child answered without alarm.
Thomas let out a pleasant laugh. “No, my boy. I ate your food so that you understand how unimportant it is. You attach value to food that you pre
pared and shelter that you built. You forget that everything is temporary and replaceable. One day, this house will be destroyed, and the farm animals will die. You too will die. Even the mountains will be eroded and disappear one day. Everything is temporary. Only I am eternal, boy. My power creates and moves worlds. As long as you remember that you will be happy. If you focus on your material concerns, such as food or shelter, the winds of time will take them away from you.”
“And his wisdom is great, beyond human understanding. With wisdom and reason, he will govern us,” Raoul sang devoutly.
Monar looked at his brother and the rest of his kneeling family members. Suddenly he realized his fate, and tears came to his eyes. Hana longed to hug him but did not dare move. The boy looked at her, and their eyes met. Her youngest son. Her beloved little one. She read his thoughts. She saw them in his expression. He was always stubborn. He would not go quietly. He already had nothing to lose.
The boy looked directly at the god. “If we don’t have food or shelter, we will die anyway. I know you are immortal and control everything, but if we don’t eat, we will die of hunger, no matter how much faith we have.”
“He will be punished, Your Majesty,” said Sahid, his forehead still pressed to the ground. He spoke with fervent faith. “He will be sacrificed on Your alter today. I shall gladly chop him up for the sanctity of Your Name.”
Tears streamed from her eyes. Her youngest son would be slaughtered as a sacrifice on the altar of the god, just as the punishment of heretics required. She stopped the wail that threatened to burst from her throat. Her youngest son would die, but the fate of the rest of her family was still up for discussion.
The God looked at the child without saying a word, then stood in one quick motion. Suddenly he was floating in the air again. “Sit,” he ordered in his pleasant voice.
The kneeling family members sat quickly and looked at the God.
“You won’t sacrifice your son, Sahid. He will come with me to the dwelling of the gods where he will learn the consequences of his insolence, skepticism, and lack of faith.”
“For his deeds are many, and his mercy is great,” Raoul sang passionately.
The God turned without saying a word and floated out.
The silver delegate unfroze and walked over to the boy. He swung him over his shoulder quickly and quietly.
Monar looked at her with tears in his eyes, and didn’t make a sound as they took him from his home.
Outside, the chariot of fire roared and leapt skyward.
They remained, sitting in silence. A family without a child and without a meal.
Chapter 11
Whole
Where does a human end and the Whole begin? Which thoughts were hers and which were planted in her by the Whole?
Nola tried to be rid of these thoughts and focus on the task before her, but it was stronger than her. She couldn’t manage to calm down or get some sleep in the hours that had passed since her conversation with General Bud.
She needed some distraction. Luckily for her, the humans who had arrived a few hours earlier provided an excellent distraction.
They were different than what she had expected. Very different. An altogether dissimilar experience from the meeting with her family. She hadn’t imagined that five grown human beings could create such disorder.
Nola hadn’t been present when the hovercraft brought the three men and two women. As she had agreed beforehand with Grant, he had not revealed the truth of the journey’s mission to them. They thought that they were joining a top-secret, experimental mission for the council, which was intended to investigate the possibility of establishing clusters in other worlds.
It was only after they arrived, were they informed that the leader of the mission was an active coordinator. From that moment, the routine of the cluster was broken. Although they made requests to meet her, the sleepless and exhausted Nola didn’t even make an effort to respond to them. Even worse, they disturbed the cluster’s functioning. They tried to record the workers. They asked to see the gardens. One of them even tried to enter the laying hall without permission. Luckily for her, General Bud had prevented the guards from killing her.
In addition, it appeared that they thought that they had jobs on the ship. They asked to run tests on the systems and tried to gain full access to the computer - access that Nola did not intend to grant them. What the hell was she thinking when she had requested that they be sent here? What did she even need from them on the ship? Nola envied the cluster members, who completely ignored the human beings’ presence. If she was in their place, she would have long since thrown the humans into the waste heap.
She would have to leave her room and meet them eventually. Nola went over all the points that Grant had given her via the ship’s computer. The implant absorbed and filed the information for her at such a high speed that, had she not known its source, she might have believed she had simply always known. External data and Nola’s memories mixed together. Her brain presented the data to her as a line of summary.
Ella Ling - 36 years old, single. Doctor of exo-biology recently spent a year and a half on a research mission on a Level 3 planet.
Maya Gruber - 39 years old, single. Communication engineer, served as a liaison officer for 6 trade missions, including one on Earth.
Nola was surprised by that item. She didn’t know that anyone still lived on Earth after the Seventh Extinction. She would have to talk to Maya about that.
Guy Richards - 37 years old, single. Merchant. Has attended 17 trade missions, 6 as primary merchant.
Andre Glover - 34 years old, single. Zero-point engine engineer attended 2 trade trips as engine officer.
Her age. But Nola didn’t know or remember him. They must have grown up in different parts of the city.
Tom Mueller - 66 years old, married with two daughters. Doctor of physics with expertise in wormholes. Oversaw 26 trade missions. Spent two years on Earth.
Another surprise. His older daughter had been elected to be a coordinator 5 years after Nola. Furthermore, he was leaving another daughter and a wife behind on Neifar. Why would an older man with a family go on a journey like this?
She would have to speak with him personally and get to know him better. Whether she wanted to or not, she would have to speak with all of them and get to know them.
Nola breathed deeply. The ship’s computer told her that the five humans were in Tom’s living quarters. This was a good opportunity to speak with all of them. She left her room and marched quickly towards the human quarters.
Her decisive stride tried to hide her fears and excitement about the impending meeting.
Nola transmitted an opening order to the door. The door opened immediately. Five surprised faces looked at her as she entered. Nola felt her face flush with embarrassment. Should she have knocked before opening the door? As a coordinator, she had never requested permission to enter rooms.
The implant displayed the names of each person in the room. Nola was slightly surprised; she didn’t know that the implant had that ability. Ella and Andre were sprawled on a huge cushion in the corner of the room, and it was clear from their posture that they were engaged in a lively conversation. Tom sat beside a virtual terminal near his bed. The screen still showed the structure of the ship; he appeared to be studying it. Guy and Maya sat beside a small table, holding drinking glasses, and they too were clearly interrupted mid-conversation.
Tom recovered first and rose to greet her with a broad smile. His broad shoulders and graying hair gave him a paternal, reassuring look. His deep voice matched his appearance, “Commander Taylor, I am pleased to meet you face to face. Thank you for the comfortable living quarters that you arranged for us.”
Commander? Where did that come from? It seemed that was what they understood her role to be.
He marched over to her and, to her great surprise, gave her a h
ug.
“Hello Tom,” she said in a quiet voice. She let go of his embrace and backed away from him. Did they all expect to hug her? Panic came over her, she had to get out of this room as quickly as possible. “We will take off in seven hours, I hope all of you are prepared.”
Ella came over to her. Bouncy black curls framed her delicate face and complemented her small body. “Hello Commander Taylor, we are completely ready.” She began to spread her arms out for a hug, but Nola preceded her and held out her hand decisively, as she remembered the head of the council doing. “Welcome, Dr. Ella,” she said.
Maya, Guy and Andre also approached and shook her hand as they greeted her. Nola welcomed each of them by name. Her heartbeat began to relax, the situation wasn’t as bad as she had feared. Andre was last to shake her hand. In contrast to his bony thinness, his speech was soft and pleasant.
“Commander Taylor, thank you for inviting us to join this mission. Might I be granted access to the engines before takeoff? I want to run a few routine checks.”
Nola felt frustration arise in her again. This was her cluster; nobody would coordinate it for her. “Thanks Andre, but there’s no need. I ran all the tests on the computer, and I have sensors and cameras monitoring all the engines.”
Andre nodded understandingly, “Of course, Commander. I have no intention of overstepping, but if you change your mind, remember that I’m at your service. I have a lot of experience with zero-point engines.”
She recalled what Grant had told her, that humans need something to live for. The journey might go on a long time, and they needed something to do, even if it’s idle work.
“Sorry, Andre, I am tired, and you are absolutely right. I need someone with engine experience. It would be great if you could check them and report back to me when we’re ready to take off.”