More didn’t react. He stood looking at them just as impassively.
“I’ve been chosen? Can you explain what you mean?”
“We are the supreme judges. We observe civilisations and, when they reach a certain point of evolution, we judge them.”
“You judge civilisations?”
“Yes.”
“You’re asking too many questions,” the man with the slashed ear cut in.
“He is the Chosen One. He should know.”
“We judge whether civilisations remain pristine, in other words if there are still pure inhabitants. We act accordingly, deciding to give them a second chance, or not.”
“What happens if they’re not pure?”
“They are doomed to destruction. Not the planets, but the civilisations. Corruption and promiscuity should be punished. We gather all the virtuous inhabitants of the remaining civilisations, and transfer them to a new planet, so that they can make a new start.”
“And now, you’re here to destroy this planet?”
“Yes. But you can come with us.”
The rules of the universe sounded weird and interesting, at the same time. He thought of asking them about the planets as he had so many queries. Yet, something held him back. He lowered his left hand, and unconsciously covered the metal bracelet on his right wrist. He felt the judge with the slashed ear eyeing him all the time.
“You see,” the old man carried on, “there are rules that no one can escape.”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“…and this applies to the universe itself, where cosmic evolution is being closely observed. Living beings are aware of this process, and they cannot influence it in any way.”
“As we say, you choose what to do, and how to do it. It is the end result you are assessed on,” the third judge said for the first time.
Mor kept staring at them without reacting. It was the second time he had chosen between life and death. He didn’t know which one was more relieving. The flight life would offer him, or his stay there and his doom? On the one hand, he felt wearied; he wanted to find the peace and quiet he had been deprived of. On the other, his curiosity was piqued.
“Do not resist your destiny. Now, you feel heavy, full of remorse.”
“We know full well who you are,” the oldest judge continued. “One of the best scientists, one of the brightest minds. You did what you had to do.”
“Yes, to save myself, while I was supposed to save our planet.”
“Its salvation wasn’t in your hands. You did the right thing. You like challenge, and you have nothing to lose. You only gain new experience. Who knows? Maybe, you will discover something new to add to your previous knowledge.”
The judge on the right came a little closer.
“Have you found anything worth dying for?”
Mor couldn’t speak.
“We’ll take that as a ‘yes’. However, you can find something worth living for. You choose.”
“You are confused. You’re trying to find a new identity, a new vision. A scientist like you always had a vision. This is your chance. Now. Find this vision, and redefine yourself. Find the peace of mind that you’re looking for. Don’t pass up this opportunity.”
He gave them puzzled looks. The past flashed before his eyes. He always had a vision in his life and work. He never rested on his laurels, always posing questions, and searching for answers. Maybe, this was his chance. Maybe, in the unknown vastness, he would find more answers, peace, and closure. Maybe, the unknown wasn’t unknown, after all. He found their offer rather enticing. It was a challenge, and he didn’t say no to challenges. This way, he piqued his scientific curiosity, which was more important than his agricultural life on planet Saabah. What’s more, he had nothing to lose. For him, everything was already lost.
“OK,” he answered after thinking for a few seconds. “I’ll join you.”
“That is a wise decision. Follow us.”
He stood up and followed them. They went close to the sphere. A ladder came down, and the door opened up for them to walk through. Two of the judges sat behind the wheel, while the oldest one right behind them. Within seconds, the small sphere had flown high in the sky. Saabah’s rocky flatlands grew smaller and smaller, until they turned into blots, and got out of sight. When they flew away from the planet’s gravitational field, out into space, Mor found out where they were heading: a huge spaceship, like a gothic fortress.
“Where are we going?” he wondered. “Which planet?”
“You will find out soon.”
The closer they got, the more imposing the spaceship looked. In the middle hulked a long tower, bigger than all the others. The spaceship was cone-shaped, with several smaller towers scattered across it in irregular shapes. The windows and walls were lined with what seemed to be metal bars.
After some time and a few swerves, the bright sphere moored to the spaceship. The door opened. On the inside, it was just as dull and cold as it looked. There were lights on both sides of the endless corridors. They walked for some time. The sliding doors they went through opened up with difficulty; they were heavy and lined with iron bars.
After some time, they reached the central chamber. There, two young beings were seated.
“Let’s go,” said the older of the two. The engine gave a boost, and the voyage around Saabah’s galaxy began.
“Allow me to introduce ourselves. We are Saula, Zanaia, Ashira, Navi, Odora.” The judges greeted him with a slight nod of their head. Ashira was the oldest and most likeable. Next to him stood the judge with the slashed ear, Odora.
More wanted to know some details, but none of them was eager to talk. He looked around him.
“Isn’t there any one else?”
“”In this galaxy, no. You are the only one. We did what we had to do.”
“What’s going to happen to the planet?”
“It will be purified, in that the cycle of life will start again in a few years. We may transport inhabitants there from other planets. You see, this process of purification, no matter how painful for civilisations, is necessary for the perpetuation and enforcement of order as every system obeys rules. Lack of order and chaos bring problems.”
“I suppose you must be really busy,” Mor added, his voice tinged with sarcasm.
“Living beings have the choice, but they have to suffer the consequences later on. You must know this better than anyone else, Mr. Mor.”
He lowered his head, and heaved a sigh.
“A scientist as capable as you…”
“What? A scientist who became a farmer on the most distant planet in the universe?”
“You had the knowledge.”
“But I couldn't use it.”
“It was hard because, as I told you, you couldn’t. You wanted to save a whole planet.”
“That was the plan, but I failed.”
“Don’t see it as a failure. See it as an opportunity, as an experience. For new, more knowledge. You are a scientist. You feed on knowledge.”
“Where am I going?”
“As I said, you’re going to a planet that hasn’t reached this level of evolution. This is what happens during the stage of purification.”
He walked to the left wall, close to a central computing system. He keyed in some codes. On the screen popped up some letters that Mor couldn’t make out.
“Planet Zaon.”
“Zaon? What’s there?”
“Civilisations at an inchoate stage of development. We once purified this planet hundreds of intergalactic centuries ago. Progress took a little bit longer to start than we thought, but it’s going at quite a satisfactory pace.”
“I guess I have no choice.”
“I am sorry you don’t, as far as the planet is concerned.”
The man looked at the youngest judge, Odora, and asked him to show Mor around, so that he could relax for the rest of the voyage. He politely asked Mor to follow him.
After walking for some time al
ong the dark corridors of the spaceship-fortress, they reached a door. Odora opened it by using a code that he keyed in on a wall screen, and politely showed him the way. The room looked like a cell. Dark, with a metal bed, and a small window overlooking the vastness of space. Before he shut the door, he showed him the code, in case he wanted to get out, and left. Mor lay down, looking at a planet out the window-skylight. He was tired. He shut his eyes, but his mind was reeling with so many thoughts. He couldn’t go to sleep. Besides, he didn’t want to doze off and see that nightmare of Neuron’s explosion. He sat up and took the device out of his metal bracelet. He didn’t think twice before he pressed the green button. The device was activated on the spot, and the small screen lit up.
That very moment, the door opened up and in came Ashira. The device caught his eye. Mor hastily put it back.
“This is…?”
“My whole life,” he said curtly. He didn’t want to talk about it. “Are we close?”
“Yes, in a while.”
He looked outside the window, lost in thought.
“You’re in doubt, I understand. About the new start. About what you have done so far. Don’t regret knowledge. It’s precious.”
“It only caused me problems.”
“Not knowledge itself. It’s the way you use it.”
“The more you know…the worse you feel.”
“Still…look around you. Look how artfully the world is made. And you unlocked so many of its secrets.”
Mor let out an ironic smile.
“Not that bit.”
“How many have managed to open a gate to a parallel universe, except you?”
“…and my partner? I don’t know. Maybe, somewhere else, it’s part of their routine.”
“It may look impossible, but it could be just an inch away from becoming reality.”
He reached out and moved his finger.
“You have to find the passage.”
“And start having problems again, eh?”
“The passage has its consequences. You make the choice, and you have to live with them. It changes you.”
He looked at his arm and the burnt skin.
“Sometimes, we can make a new start, as long as we get rid of the remnants of the past.”
“It’s not easy.”
“It’s easier than you might think. Get rid of what keeps you captive. For example, this device.” When he completed his phrase, he reached out his hand. Then, he pulled it back.
Mor sat down pensively. He took off his bracelet, and took to examining it. The Judge went up to him and took a closer look at it. He slightly moved his hand, as if he wanted to touch it.
“Maybe, you're right. But not yet.”
He slipped the bracelet back on his wrist.
“Come with me when you are ready.”
He nodded his head.
“Good. Come on. The time has come.”
They opened the trapdoor, and went down the narrow corridor. After walking past three doors, they entered the room where the small bright sphere stood. Mor was the first one to get on it, followed by Odora, who was the pilot, and Ashira. He gave the old judge a knowing look. He pulled and held him back.
“The time will come,” he whispered in another dialect.
The gate opened, the sphere flitted out into space, and began to descend towards planet Zaon, Mor’s new home.
Tetrapolis
After a while, the sphere turned up in Zaon’s sky.
“All the inhabitants must be looking at us. They may think that Gods are paying them a visit. That’s what you will be for them. A God. Make sure you take advantage of that.”
Mor let out a sarcastic smile. “I don't even know how to survive, and he says I’m a God!”
The sphere descended, until it landed. Within seconds, the staircase came down.
“Have a good start, my friend,” Ashira wished him with a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll be watching you.”
“Now, that puts my mind at ease,” Mor thought. He didn’t question their words, but there was something about the judges that he didn’t quite like.
He turned around to look at him. In theory, the idea of purification was right but, in practice, it was fraught with problems. He looked at the staircase, while the strong sunlight reflecting off it dazzled him. The unknown frightened him. He didn’t know who he was going to confront, and how he would adjust, before he explored his options.
He took a deep breath, and moved on.
He went down the staircase, shading his eyes with his palm. The sphere left the surface, and vanished within seconds. Mor stood in a clearing, surrounded by lush vegetation. He gazed at the sun. He would follow its course, going straight.
He took a few steps into the lush vegetation. Tall trees, bushes in all shapes and sizes, plants with big, broad leaves. After Saabah’s unbearable desert, this pulsing planet with an abundance of water and plants was an oasis. On his left, he saw a small pond, and made for it. He dipped his palm. The water was cool. He smelled it. It was odourless, tasteless. He washed his face. The weather was quite warm. He looked around. His eyes wandered among those shades of green.
The forest was teeming with a diversity of small birds and animals, as well as strange colours and shapes. He stood up to keep rambling. As far as this planet was concerned, he knew it was inhabited. It was a matter of time to meet its people. He walked further. Ahead of him, he couldn’t make out much as the lush vegetation covered his path. He had to brush aside branches and twigs to carry on. Some of them were heavy with seeds. He was ravenous, and couldn’t resist reaching out and plucking some. The fruits were particularly tasty and juicy. They assuaged his hunger and thirst.
He walked on and on, until it got dark. He sat under a tree and, after clearing the ground from weeds and insects, he built a small fire, and weariedly huddled up. The sky was illuminated by hundreds of stars. The night wore on with no surprises. Animal kingdom was resting.
He woke up relaxed the next morning, ready to keep walking and searching. After some time, there was no more lush vegetation; only some small kermes oak trees leading to a steep slope. Far afield, he made out what looked like a small settlement. He quickened his pace with anticipation. All of a sudden, his leg caught on a noose that pulled him back. As he tried to set himself free, he tripped over something, lost balance, and started tumbling down the slope. When he reached the plain, at the foot of the hill, he banged his head on a stone, and lay there unconscious.
***
He opened his eyes with difficulty. Everything was a blur. He winked several times, until he could see more clearly. Now, he was making out some figures, and hearing voices. “Where am I? How did I end up here?” he wondered.
A girl ran towards him. He shut his eyes, racked with pain, and when he opened them up again he saw her bend over him with a cup of water, trying to help him drink. Inches away lay the bluest eyes he had ever seen. They were bluer than Saabah’s sky that faded away in the light of its two suns. He couldn’t tell if all this was for real or just a dream.
It was for real. He realised that when the cold water slid down his throat, cooling him. He rolled his eyes to see a crowd standing over him. They spoke a language he couldn’t understand. His gaze fell on the girl’s face again. She smiled at him.
He sat up with difficulty. Some of those standing in front of him seemed to make a few steps backwards in fear. The girl helped him sit up by holding his back.
He took a good look at his surroundings. Human beings, dressed in strange clothes, letting out weird sounds. They spoke a language he couldn’t understand, and they were of smaller build. Their clothes were garish. The men, robust and swarthy, covered their naked parts with short skirts, belts with broad buckles, and strange hats with feathers, while the women wore short skirts and lots of jewels. They were topless.
The pretty girl talked to him all the time, trying to explain that he’s fine. In vain. After some time, everybody made space for an old man wearing a bulk
y hat. “The chief of the tribe,” Mor thought. As soon as he came closer to him, there were some shouts. A boy had plumped to the ground, writhing in pain, and foaming at the mouth. He immediately stood up and ran in his direction. He laid him face down. He took off his top, and placed it under his head, so as to help him breathe more easily. He knelt and bent over him. He opened his palms, and rhythmically pressed the top of his spine, inches under his neck. He also pressed and lift his hands, in tune with his breathing. Gradually, the boy came to his senses, breathing normally again. He stroked his head.
“You are fine now, my friend.”
The boy, wearied, turned to smile at him. He then stood up and ran to an old lady, who threw her hands up in the air, and prayed.
The rest of the crowd looked on in awe. The chief whispered something to those around him. After a while, four people went up to Mor. They all started to talk to him. They pointed to the settlement houses. Thatched huts made of thick tree leaves. As they all walked past him, they greeted him. Smiling faces of children and old people. They crossed the little flatland, and reached another settlement. They left him near a stream, and showed him a hut. He understood this was the place where they would put him up. One of them brushed aside a weft hanging at the door. Mor had to bend his head to walk in. It was too short for him. Still, he was happy about their hospitality. Inside the hut, there were some colourful rugs and baskets full of fruit. The pretty girl walked in and left a bowl of fruit. His first encounter with his new surroundings was very promising. Yet, he had to learn their language, so that he could communicate with them as far as possible.
When he woke up the next morning, he washed himself in the cold stream flowing by his hut. Early on, it was going to be a hot day. The cold water soothed his burnt skin. He had just finished his breakfast when the pretty girl stepped in with a smile. It was hard to resist such a disarming smile, so he smiled back as warmly as he could. That smile had made his day. He had to learn what her name was. He put his palm on his chest, pointing to himself.
“Mor,” he spelled. “M-O-R. You?” he pointed towards her.
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