The Requiem Collection: The Book of Jubilees, More Anger Than Sorrow & Calling Babel

by Eric Black

  Babel considered for a moment. He looked at Quentin. “You and I were brought here so that you can teach me the secrets of the Chokka. And more than that. If we are going to move forward, we’ll also need the technologies of your father.”

  Quentin studied Babel for a moment. “So you’re saying now, if I understand your meaning and if I may be so bold, you need someone to guide you – a counselor. Now that you are the Császár, you need a Minister of Science.”

  “Um, I don’t know if that’s exactly what I was saying but I’m sure I would have gotten to that point. Now that you’ve brought it up, what do you say?”

  “Do you know the role of the Minister of Science?”

  “Sure, he does all kinds of sciency stuff.”

  Quentin laughed. “Well, if that’s all you need from me, then I accept.”

  Jims cleared his throat and their attention was turned to him. “Let me guess,” Babel said, “you’d like a title as well?”

  “How about the Minister of Romance? Just ask Krista…”

  “Jims, shut up.” Quentin said laughing.

  Jims didn’t answer at first, pausing to bring the attention back to him. “So about the Minister of Romance position…”

  Quentin slugged Jims in the arm (which didn’t budge). “You want to try that again, Nancy? This time actually hit me.”

  Quentin took another swing at Jims, only this time Jims turned his body and caught Quentin’s fist with his open hand. Jims then closed his hand, trapping Quentin’s fist inside. “Now, would you like me to squeeze, or can you cool it, mate?”

  Quentin smiled. “Either let go of my hand or I’ll have the Császár here banish you from his world.”

  Jims looked at Babel and started to speak but Babel gave Jims a serious look. Jims didn’t know how to read Babel’s face. “You wouldn’t banish old Jims would you? Besides, if you did, you better sleep the rest of your short life with both eyes open. I’ll be coming for you.”

  Babel held his serious look for a moment longer but finally broke. He smiled widely. “I guess I better keep you around then. By the way, I’ve just asked your brother to be the Minster of Science. I’m guessing you’d like to be the Minister of Security.”

  “Would part of my job be keeping the Minister of Science safe? If you say yes I won’t take the job.”

  Babel laughed. “You can keep safe those you see fit.”

  Jims looked at Quentin and slid his bladed hand across his throat. “You’re a goner there, mate.”

  “I’ll take my chances.” Quentin said before looking back to Babel. “It is agreed. So what is our next move?”

  “Now we have to find a man.” Babel answered seriously.

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  The Cancellarrii looked out over the two thousand Klopph. He would no longer take any chances with the Chokka. He was bringing the war to him. His standing order – find the Chokka and bring him back alive; kill everyone who was aiding the Chokka.

  The Cancellarrii turned command of the regiment over to the Field Commander and walked back to the vehicle that would take him back to the Erőd. His new Kaptajn joined him.

  “Good speech.” the new Kaptajn commented.

  “Thanks. I meant everything I said. You have some big shoes to fill but you’ve served me well for many years and I wouldn’t expect any less now. You deserve the position.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “We have a decent drive ahead of us. During that time, I’d like to get your thoughts on the Chokka. Tell me what you know of them.”

  The Kaptajn had already been briefed for the position on everything, but what the Cancellarrii was interested in was anything that the new Kaptajn might have heard over the years that he currently didn’t know. He was apprised on most of the findings and investigations around the world but occasionally he missed small bits of news or information. The new Kaptajn had served directly under the Cancellarrii for many of his early years as a Klopph. Five years prior he had been named Field Commander of the Far East Region.

  Most of the information that the Kaptajn shared, the Cancellarrii already knew. There were a few minor details of which he had not been previously aware but none of these were significant. They were about two miles from the Erőd when the Kaptajn mentioned something that the Cancellarrii did not know: a personal journal written by the previous Császár.

  “I’m not familiar with this journal,” the Cancellarrii interrupted, “please tell me more.”

  The Kaptajn told the Cancellarrii what he knew of the journal, that it had been written by the Császár during his time imprisoned in the palace. It was rumored to have been hidden in the palace and later removed and given to someone, but he did not know who.

  “How did you discover this information?”

  “Many of the servants who served in the household of the Császár were retained by the Keeper.” The Cancellarrii already knew this. “One of these servants was a cook, who after many years of service at the palace was relocated to the Far East Region to serve as a cook for our outpost. Great food I should add. Anyways, this cook mentioned a Chokka journal. Apparently he had seen the Császár writing in the journal and had a conversation with the Császár about the journal at some point.”

  “So where is this cook now? We’ll need to question him.”

  “He died two years ago.”

  The Cancellarrii was frustrated. He needed to speak to someone who had firsthand knowledge of the journal. There was no telling what was revealed in those writings. “Did he ever say who ended up with the journal?”

  “He did not. He only said that the book was smuggled out of the palace. He did not know who received the book.”

  “How did he know that the book was taken from the house?”

  “He knew where the book was hidden.”

  “He knew where a secret journal was hidden and yet he told no one?” The Cancellarrii was furious.

  “What do you expect? The Keeper had just taken over the world. The cook was kept in service of the Keeper more out of convenience than anything. I doubt that his loyalties switched from the Chokka to the Keeper overnight.”

  “I agree with you. But at some point in time, he must have come to terms that the Keeper was not going anywhere. He was in service of the Keeper for many years. Surely during that time, there was some sense of loyalty to the Keeper.”

  “Perhaps his service to the Keeper did not overshadow his many years of service to the Chokka. He mentioned the book just before he died.”

  “Do you think that he was the one who sent the book from the house?”

  “I believe it is possible. He was the one who dealt with deliveries to the palace. He had plenty of opportunities to smuggle out a book.”

  The Cancellarrii looked seriously at the Kaptajn. “When did you find out about this book?”

  “About a year ago, just before the cook died.”

  “Did you speak of the book to anyone?”

  “You mean did I mention to my commanding officer? Absolutely. I informed the Region Commander.”

  “The commander who was killed last year?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Apparently he died before he was able to pass on word.” The Cancellarrii was angry. This was information he should have had. It was fate that intervened and spared the information from being passed on. “You have read the report on the man who is the son of the former Minister of Science?” The Kaptajn nodded. “Do you think that perhaps the son is the one who received the book?”

  “It would make sense. There were no others with direct ties to the Chokka other than the palace staff. Everyone else was killed during the Keeper’s rise to power.”

  The Cancellarrii thought for a moment. They were about to pull into the gates of the Erőd when the Cancellarrii ordered the driver to change directions. “Take us to the Keeper.”

  Five minutes later, the Cancellarrii and the Kaptajn faced the man who led the world. “We have a problem.” the Cancellarrii
said. “Knowledge of a secret book has surfaced. This book is in the possession of the Chokka.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  “A man you say; what man?” Jims asked.

  “He lives in the Barren Lands.” Babel responded.

  “The Barren Lands? But no one lives in the Barren Lands. Thus its name. You know, a land that is barren.”

  Babel smiled. He enjoyed Jims. The man was very capable, which is why Babel named him his Minster of Security. Jims also never seemed to lose his sense of humor. Even when the moment was suspenseful or full of misunderstanding, Jims had demonstrated the ability to lead while a sense of levity remained. “And yet a man remains nonetheless.”

  Jims considered the dictum. “And we need to find him?”

  “I know where he is, I have seen him. We just need to go to where he is.”

  “And what is it exactly that this Mystery Man will show us?”

  “He has something we need. Without that item, we are at a disadvantage with the Klopph.”

  “What is this item?” Quentin asked.

  “Do you recall telling that your father was working on a teleportation device?”

  Quentin didn’t understand the term teleportation. “I’m not sure to what you’re…”

  Babel picked up on Quentin’s misunderstanding. “He has a device that will allow us to move from place to place instantly.”

  Quentin’s eye widened. “My father was not able to create that item. The physics of transporting people was beyond him. He studied the Bejárat was not replicate the effects.”

  “This man has done that.”

  Quentin nodded approvingly but was skeptical. “If this man does indeed have that technology, why would he share it with us? Any man who lives in the Barren Lands is obviously not the keenest of social interaction.”

  “When do we leave?” Jims interjected.

  “We will stay here long enough for me to learn as much as I can of my Chokka ancestors. I have the knowledge of their secrets but I know very little of their history. I would like to know what they did well and what they did not so well so that I can be a fair leader to the world. Quentin you can help me with this.

  “I would also like you to look at your father’s technology. See what we have at our discretion that can use to defeat the Klopph. Jims you can help him. After that, we’ll have to raise an army.”

  Babel looked at Quentin. “While Jims builds our army, you and I will visit our new friend in the Barren Lands.” He paused once more and then asked something that had been bothering him, “Will the people of the world see us as different from the Klopph? Aren’t we the same as them if we overtake them by force?”

  “A great number of the people alive today never lived under a Chokka government. You are concerned if they know we are any better?” Babel nodded. “What does your heart tell you?”

  “It tells me that we are doing the right thing.” Babel answered without hesitation.

  “Then it does not matter what others think. We will do what feel is right.”

  “And if the people do not respond?’

  “Then we have already lost.”

  Babel considered Quentin’s words. He looked at Quentin. “I have vowed that I will avenge the death of my father, just as you have vowed to avenge the death of your family. This is personal. But as much as I want to kill the Keeper, I don’t want to enter this blindly out of rage.”

  “Are you saying that you are?”

  “I am saying that I am not. I will kill the Keeper to avenge my father and my grandparents. But that is not the reason I am choosing to start this war. I am starting this war because I am a Chokka. If I don’t, no one else will.”

  “So it’s ego?”

  “No, but it is what I know to be right.”

  “You are our Császár.” Quentin answered. “We will follow you.”

  Babel paused only briefly, giving his decision one final thought. Then he raised his head and straightened his back. “We go to war.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Quentin pushed his chair away from the desk. He had just finished cataloging the mainframe of the fortress and wasn’t sure how to react to what he found.

  In the mainframe were designs for several projects on which his father was working. Most of the projects had either not been completed or had not been started but there were several that had. One especially fascinating tidbit – he had always considered the Pishacha to be naturally occurring but discovered that the Ministry of Science had created the Pishacha. “I wonder whose idea it was to work on that project?”

  He kept digging and his interest was sparked by one particular project that had been completed many years prior: a reanimation machine. The project itself spanned back many decades before the death of his father.

  In the early years, many of the subjects had died during the testing. Something about the radiation levels. As years went by however, the machine began to re-grow lost appendages of the test subjects. Quentin recognized some of the names of test subjects as various soldiers who had served in the Chokka military.

  After ten years of testing, the first test subject was successfully brought back from the dead. Quentin looked at the name of the first successful test subject and was speechless. It was him.

  His father had recorded numerous journal entries and Quentin read that his father had been very close to a breakthrough in the weeks leading up to his son’s death. In fact, his father had another test subject lined up for the day after Quentin’s death. Of course, Quentin’s death changed that.

  His father had ordered Quentin’s body brought to the fortress. There he worked for nearly forty hours straight, working to perfect the machine. Finally, two days after Quentin’s death, his father used the machine and Quentin returned to life.

  Quentin was stunned. He read his father’s words aloud:

  Quentin has shown a complete recovery. In fact, there have been some other positive residual effects of the reanimation. Yesterday, Quentin cut himself on a broken test tube. The cut was superficial but bled severely. I could see the blood flowing but by the time I reached him, the blood had completely stopped. What’s more is that the cut completely disappeared. His body had healed itself almost instantly. I wonder what this will mean for him in the future?

  “This is why I die and come back. There can be no other explanation.”

  Quentin spent the next several hours combing through the historical archives. He ascertained designs and plans from not only his father but also many of the Ministers of Science before him. He discovered that the many of the abilities by many of the people in the world had been created by the Ministry of Science. These abilities, once absorbed by their test subjects, became part of the genetic makeup of those people. Then, those abilities were then passed down genetically from one generation to another.

  “What does this mean for my children? Did I pass my reanimation on to them?” He dwelled on the question for some time but forced himself to stop. “My wife and children are dead. I have to accept that.”

  He tried to exorcize the thought from his mind but it would not escape him. He kept imagining his children trapped inside of the burner of the Erőd. Each time the burner was fired, they would die, burned to death, only to be revived, still stuck in the burner to die that horrible death all over again.

  “Are you alright?”

  Quentin turned to see who had spoken. It was Babel. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t look so well.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Okay. So, what did you find?”

  Quentin showed Babel what he had learned. Babel was amazed. “So that is why you return after you die.” Quentin nodded. He then showed Babel what he had learned about the some of the abilities of the world.

  “Thanks for showing me.” Babel said aloud instead. “Let me know what else you find out. Also, I wanted to tell you that we’re leaving in the morning. Thank you for all that you’ve taught me.”

&nbs
p; Quentin nodded. “So in the morning then.”

  “Yes, in the morning. Now get some sleep.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. Good night, Babel.”

  Quentin waited until he heard Babel’s footsteps disappear and then turned around to face the screen. “Let’s see what other secrets you have for us.”

  CHAPTER FORTY ONE

  “I want answers!” the Keeper demanded.

  “We’re currently working on that. We are speaking to everyone who was associated with the Chokka’s servants and everyone who served at the outpost the same time as the cook. If anyone knows anything, they will tell us.” the Cancellarrii answered.

  The Keeper thought for a moment. “Perhaps there actually is no book. Is it possible that the cook was mistaken?”

  “The cook was convinced there was such a book. Why would he make up such a thing on his death bed?” the Kaptajn answered.

  The Keeper turned and faced the new Kaptajn, the man whose power was dwarfed only by the Cancellarrii. “After years of service in the palace, I sent him to you in an outpost. Perhaps he was angry. He was hoping to die surrounded by the luxury of the palace. Instead, he was shipped to live out the rest of his life in the Outerlands. Maybe he wanted to start a conspiracy that would outlive his own life.”

  “It’s possible, sir.” replied the Kaptajn. “But something just doesn’t sound right.”

  “What do you mean by that?” the Keeper challenged. He was testing his new Kaptajn, seeing if he would stand up to him – a quality he wanted in his Kaptajn. The Cancellarrii knew his new Kaptajn was being tested and said nothing.

  “Why would the cook tell the Klopph such a story? If the intention was to alarm us through conspiracy, he forgot that the Klopph do not intimidate. If his desire was spread hope among the people of the world, he could do better than attempt to pass rumors across the lips of the Klopph. He spoke matter of fact. Nothing more.”

  “You were there at his death and witnessed firsthand?”

  “I was and I did.”