by Paul Anlee
Darak’s eyes twinkled. He couldn’t contain his escaping grin. Crissea burst into relieved laughter. The laughter erupted in great waves from the Angel as well. Brother Stralasi glowered.
As she dried her eyes, Crissea apologized. “I’m sorry, Ontro. That can’t be what you really think? It’s just too…preposterous.”
Stralasi crossed his arms indignantly. “I am a Senior Brother in the Alumit. I have studied the Scripture my entire life. What Darak has said—minus his disrespectful tone—is the essence of Alum’s teachings. Those who contravene the Faith will be judged harshly by the Living God.”
“Oh, I am sorry. I’ve made you angry. I just…. There’s no evidence. It’s not rational.” The more Crissea attempted her unapologetic apology, the more stubbornly Stralasi set his glare.
“My friends, I’m afraid this is a clash of cultural perspectives that won’t be resolved here and now,” Darak intervened. “I learned long ago that appealing to rational assessments of the available evidence is useless when trying to convert a person of Faith.” He glanced pointedly over his shoulder at his wings. “Though, I’m sure even Alum Himself never would have imagined hearing those words from the lips of an Angel of the Lord, no matter how Fallen.”
Stralasi made a conscious effort to relax. “It is true I have seen many things in my travels with you, Lord Angel, things that might make weaker men question their Faith. And I have learned that all is not exactly as I once thought it was. But if you would ask me to condemn my Eternal Soul to Damnation by forsaking what I know in my heart to be true, I cannot do that. So you are right; there is no amount of evidence or rational thought that can shake the foundations of my Belief in such a way.” He thrust his chin defiantly forward.
Darak raised his hands in mock surrender. “No, I would not ask such a thing of you, my dear Brother Stralasi. I picked you as my traveling companion precisely for the strength of your Faith. It is clear that even Alum would not question your Belief. That is why I hope you will join the proceedings as one of the Judges. I believe you are ready for that now.”
Stralasi and Crissea were equally surprised and confused. “Judges?” they asked simultaneously.
“Yes, Judges. If I may address the meeting of the Coordina, I will outline my request in greater detail.”
“Most certainly.” Crissea bowed, hoping he wouldn’t notice her embarrassment, “The meeting has been underway for some time.”
“I wondered if it might be,” Darak nodded. “I thought it impolite to monitor your private channels or I would have known. Very well, let’s attend to business.” He directed Stralasi and Crissea to sit by the fountain. He remained standing, facing the two of them.
“Three hundred of the Coordina Executive are here in attendance,” Crissea announced for Stralasi’s benefit. “Thousands upon thousands of Coordina groups distributed around Eso-La are connected to this meeting through me. I will channel our responses and questions as needed. Darak Legsu, please proceed.”
Darak acknowledged the invitation, then turned inward to address the entire ringworld Coordina.
“Greetings friends. Thank you for your warm welcome. It has been too long since I visited. I am pleased with the developments you have made since I first assisted your ancestors in that distant age. It is good to see how you have come together from many peoples into one, and from so many tiny colonies into one shining ringworld, the beautiful Eso-La.
“I’d hoped your worlds would survive at least a while after throwing off the shackles of Alum’s Realm, but I could not have imagined that you would flourish the way you have. I am delighted to see your growth and vitality.
“For whatever reason, it seems Alum has decided to ignore your presence here. Though He’s had ample time to send a Wing or even an entire Flock of Angels to avenge the Rebellion of your ancestors, He has not done so.
“Are you free of Him forever? Does He think you’ve long since perished, or that you’re insignificant? Has He chosen to let you live in peace? I can tell you, none of these is true.
“Alum has simply moved on to a new Plan. A greater Plan. His Divine Plan. He’s no longer content with ruling the small part of the universe we call the Realm. He’s no longer content with the prospect of encountering other civilizations and other powers that may equal or exceed His own. He’s decided to bring about the Age of Heaven, as he calls it.
“What is Alum’s ‘Age of Heaven’? How could Alum’s Realm be any more perfect?
“In ancient days, before Alum was the Living God, we had stories of a place free from any suffering, free from labor or strife. It was a place where everyone could live forever, and where our only work was to praise God throughout our days. A place free from threats, free of uncertainty, where God’s Will was the only Law and God’s Love was the only Force. We called this place Heaven.
“This is Alum’s dream, to recreate our universe, to reflect His idea of Heaven. To do so, He will first have to collapse our universe, the only physical universe we know, destroying us all, every last creature, every planet, every star. He will return everything to a condensed, primordial state, and recreate all matter according to His new laws. He will remake nature in His vision of this Heaven.
“I have been beyond the universe to the realm of the Chaos, a place where the laws of nature have not yet taken hold. I have seen the end of the expansion of our universe into the Chaos, an expansion that has been rolling outward since the first real matter condensed out of the virtual froth of the Chaos many billions of years ago.
“To achieve this, Alum constructed a device He calls the Deplosion Array. Once he activated it, our universe, the universe of real matter, stopped expanding and The Chaos started seeping back into the universe, ripping apart matter along its edge.
“The destruction will be slow at first, then rapidly accelerate until the edge of the universe is retreating faster than the speed of light. In less than ten million years, the universe will be returned to the Chaos and Alum will begin the re-Creation.”
Through both his lattice connection and physical surroundings, Stralasi heard a rising murmur coming from the Coordina members gathered in the adjoining courtyards.
Crissea’s brow furrowed in concentration, and she raised her voice to be heard over the sound. “I would ask Counsellors to refrain from transmitting anything except clearly phrased questions, please.”
“Darak Legsu, how can we hope to withstand or oppose Alum’s Will in this?” she asked. “You know that we have refrained from further exploring the basis of reality. We vowed ages ago that such technology would remain unexplored. We chose to develop whatever we could within the Laws of Nature. Even if we were to commence intensive research today, we’d have no hope of stopping Alum in time.”
“I will deal with Alum,” said Darak and, in an instant, vanished. In his stead, stood the man Stralasi had first mistaken for a Shard.
The shock from the Coordina was audible, palpable. Stralasi would have sworn a physical tremor had been transmitted the full circumference of Eso-La through the radio waves connecting the Coordinas.
Darak, the man, continued, “Alum is not alone in understanding the origin of the Laws of Nature, nor is He the only one capable of manipulating them. I am not here to ask you to stand with me in opposition. I am here to ask you to share your wisdom in choosing the right way forward.”
He turned to the Brother seated beside Crissea, “This includes you as well, my friend,” he said.
“Alum has made a decision that affects the entire universe. He has made this decision without consultation because He believes it to be the correct one. Alum is ancient and wise. His Realm has brought peace, prosperity, and happiness to humanity, Cybrid, and Angels, alike.
“But that has come at a price, as the Aelu well know. That price has been extreme stability in the Realm, a rejection of other possibilities and other civilizations that may have developed in different ways besides the Standard Way.
“Alum has decided to alter the
universe so that only His Standard, and His alone, will rule. His vision is beautiful; it is the perfection we all claim to seek. It is also the end of change, of uncertainty, of challenge.
“I want to give those who will be affected by His choice a say in the future. I will travel a significant part of the Realm and, where I go, people and Cybrids will be given the ability to come together so that their voices may be heard.
“I will converse with Alum directly and debate the merits of His Divine Plan. The worlds I visit will receive the opportunity to listen to that debate and to vote. I will invite them to enhance their intelligence through a lattice mechanism so they can fully understand the issues. Their vote will determine whether Alum’s Dream is permitted.
“If the majority votes ‘yes’ for Alum’s Divine Plan, I will depart this universe for the Chaos. If the majority votes ‘no’ I will push for Alum to depart.”
He turned to Stralasi. “Brother, as Head of the Alumit on Gargus 718.5, I have given you the ability to represent your world. Your lattice has already been suitably enhanced. You only need to accept the burden of judgment, and I will load your memory with the requisite knowledge and evidence. All you need to do—each and every one of you—is to take back the right to determine your future.”
4
“We have something to show you,” Crissea announced.
Darak’s brows shot up. “Something to show me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m intrigued. It’s been a while since I’ve had an actual surprise. I believe Brother Stralasi may have been the last one.” This came as a revelation to the Good Brother.
“Mm,” Crissea agreed, sharing some inside joke that was beyond the Good Brother’s understanding.
The three were relaxing and enjoying one another’s company while waiting for the Coordina’s decision. Stralasi was contemplating Darak’s invitation to help judge the Living God’s Divine Plan; it was not something to be considered lightly.
“It’s not on Eso-La, though,” Crissea added. “We’ll need to travel to get to it.”
“Then, by all means, please lead on.”
Darak and Brother Stralasi followed Crissea through the gardens to the arrival platform. They descended through the rock-like strata of Eso-La to the same vessel that had retrieved their bubble in space. This time, Crissea escorted them to an observation chamber in the ship. Her Familiar hovered past them and into a tight-fitting control room; the door whooshed shut behind it.
Crissea sat in one of the four reclining chairs in the chamber and motioned for Stralasi and Darak to take their own seats.
“We will travel at a lower acceleration to reduce any potential discomfort,” she assured Stralasi.
“Don’t worry about me,” he replied, somewhat indignantly.
“It might be for the better,” Darak soothed. “The Esu are more robust than they appear.”
Stralasi harrumphed while Crissea diplomatically hid a smile. “We have our limits,” she said graciously.
“We can dispense with physical accommodations and discomfort, if our hostess will allow me to alter the local effect of such acceleration,” Darak suggested.
“Normally, we frown on that technology,” Crissea replied, “but this is your surprise to experience so, if you’d rather.”
“It is done,” said Darak, and the ship accelerated away from the ringworld at 10g. “I’m eager to see what you’ve arranged for me.”
They shot parallel to the backside of the ring, and curled around the atmosphere-containing wall to the inner edge. The ship sped along a few thousand kilometers above the atmosphere.
Crissea explained to her guests, “Our surprise is closer to the far side of Eso-La. But rather than take a train to the docking station, I thought you might appreciate an aerial tour of our world. Our route will take us along the inner arc of the ring and to the other side before moving above the orbital plane. We’ll catch an exceptional view of the ring from there.”
As she said this, the chamber walls, floor, and ceiling turned transparent, except for the control room wall directly in front of them. To all appearances, the three of them seemed to be sitting on chairs moving rapidly through space.
Stralasi gave silent thanks for his travel experiences with Darak. Without the prior terrors of finding himself suspended over strange planets and asteroids, this trip would have sent him into paroxysms of panic in front of the fascinating Crissea. He was glad not to have to endure that embarrassment.
The majestic scale of Eso-La unfolded beneath them. Enormous oceans, continents, and cloudscapes were mesmerizing from this distance. Stralasi imagined they must be magnificent up close.
Despite their speed, the landscape below unrolled slowly. The enormity of ringworlds had always filled him with awe. Just think, each of those ponds far below is an ocean, and the furrowed ridges are entire mountain ranges!
He was surprised not to see any large cities. A few times, he spotted the lights of civilization at the edge of regions darkened by the night-synthesizing shades moving along their rails. But the shades blocked their view into the darkest areas. Is it possible all cities along our route are in their night time now?—he wondered. That seemed like too much of a coincidence. Darak had hinted that cities might not be so common here. Surely, the people of Eso-La, the Esu, enjoyed urban life as much as anyone?
After an hour, the ship turned away from the arc of the ringworld and pointed into deep space. Eso-La fell quickly behind them. Thirty minutes later, Crissea announced they were at the halfway point. The ship flipped its tail away from the ringworld and began decelerating.
The entire ring was visible from their position above its orbital plane, though Stralasi could make out no details other than alternating light and dark bands. The ring continued to recede, though its pace slowed and slowed over the next hour.
“I didn’t see any cities,” Stralasi said to Crissea. “Aren’t ringworlds intended to house extremely large populations? I thought there would be huge cities. Are they too small to spot from here?”
“The Amphi was near the center of one of our largest living areas,” Crissea answered.
Darak stepped in to bridge their gap in understanding. “I’m not sure Ontro would recognize one of your cities as such. The Alumit still grows individual above-ground, climate-controlled cerraffices.”
“Oh,” Crissea responded. “Well, as Darak said earlier, we have ring-wide climate control. The weather is always pleasant, even when it’s necessary to permit rain in a region. In addition, we can modify our metabolisms at will, as necessary. For example, if one wished to live in the oceans or high in the mountains, their body can be adapted to make the conditions comfortable.”
“Why don’t you just put on extra clothing?” asked Stralasi.
Crissea laughed. “Our garments are completely decorative. Why should a body ever feel uncomfortable when it can simply be adjusted to suit its environment? Which makes more sense?”
Stralasi thought about the strange worlds and environments he and Darak had visited. He had to concede that, at least on a planetary scale, Alum agreed with Crissea. The Esu just extended the technology an extra degree. But he had to ask, “What about rain or snow? How do you protect your things?”
“What things?”
“Why, your things, your personal belongings. There must be certain things, consistent things, across all worlds and civilizations, along with some sort of storage units, housing, or facilities, are there not? Things like dishes, and clothes, and…and…entertainment units, and what about bathrooms, he blurted, “Where do you shower or clean yourselves?”
“When needed, such facilities rise from the ground,” answered Crissea. “Or one could bathe in any number of public or private pools.”
Again stepping in as liaison, Darak clarified. “The Esu have no need to arrange things as in your society. They can recycle and recreate practically anything on demand. Most of their machinery is hidden in the substrate; you wouldn’t notice
it if it weren’t pointed out.”
“Where do you sleep? How do you get privacy? What about personal security?” Stralasi peppered Crissea with questions as they occurred to him.
“We rest when and where needed, against a tree, by a pool, on a bed of moss,” the woman replied, “though we seldom require extensive periods of inactivity. We edited that need from our genome long ago.”
Stralasi was stunned. He knew Darak never seemed to require rest, but he’d attributed that to his supernatural powers.
“As for privacy,” Crissea continued. “If I ask, people won’t look. And as for security, what do I need to be safe from? The local animals and insects are duty-allocated by Central Coordina; they present no danger.” She hesitated. “Unless you mean, do I fear threats from my own people?”
Stralasi forcibly shut his gaping jaw. He suppressed his preconceived notions and expectations, and opened his mind to this different way of living and thinking. “I guess I have a lot to learn,” he admitted.
Crissea could read the effort it took him. She touched his hand. “We all have much to learn. I will always have time to answer your questions, Ontro.” Her eyes sparkled with kindness, and Stralasi felt his heart beat faster in response.
“Oh, I see we’ve arrived,” Crissea said, breaking the spell she had cast over the Good Brother. Shaking himself back to attention, Stralasi noticed Darak tilting his head as if trying to hear a soft whisper or puzzle out something he was looking at. Stralasi had not seen him perform such an action in all the time he’d known him.
“No,” Darak said, looking genuinely surprised. “You didn’t!” His face radiated wonder and disbelief.
“Didn’t what?” demanded Stralasi. “What’s going on?” He’d been too distracted by the conversation to notice that the chamber walls had gone opaque again. He looked around the observation room, bewildered.
“Patience,” replied Crissea as the door to their ship opened again on a darkened room. “One moment. The controls are a bit unfamiliar. Oh, there it is.”