by Steve M
“It’s OK, sir. Let’s see if we can make it better,” said Allor as he began to run the remedium along the length of the old man’s leg.
They could see movement of his skin at the location of the broken bone. It didn’t take long before the old man was standing on his own again. He did a little dance to prove it was healed.
“Let me check the rest of you,” said Allor.
“It was just my leg. I’m fine otherwise.”
“Then let my machine prove you right. It will only take a few tox.”
“If that’s what my god tells me to do, then I will,” replied the old man as he sat on the bench again.
His arteries were cleaned of obstructions. A rash on an arm was cured. Then Allor got to the old man’s head. The remedium took a long time, much longer than usual. It found and corrected a small tumor.
“Stop it,” said the old man as Allor saw the final green indicator. The old man got up from the bench and moved away from Allor quickly.
“What was that?” he demanded.
“What was what?” asked Allor.
“That thing, it’s done things in my head.”
“What sort of things?” asked Allor.
“I know things now. Things I didn’t know before. Things without being taught.”
“Like what?” asked Allor.
“The Congress of Planets in 3417 PE (Primus Earth Years) included both economic and gender role slavery to the Prohibition on Slavery. They were subsequently included in the contact criteria. Are these things in my head true?”
“Yes, I believe they are true.”
“If the things in my head are true, then there is one more thing that must also be true,” said the man.
“What is that?” asked Allor.
“You are not a god,” replied the old man.
“That too is true,” said Allor. His words caused a murmur among the people around them. A god had just admitted to not being a god. This was a moment they would not forget.
“Then why are we told to worship you?” asked the man.
“It was easier to bring together a planet under a political and religious ruler than simply a political one,” replied Allor.
“Napoleon Bonaparte would disagree with you.”
“Who?” asked Allor.
“You haven’t given yourself the same knowledge you gave me?”
“No, I didn’t know what it was doing until now. I knew it helped a mentally defective man become normal. But you have shown me the extent of the healing. What does it feel like?”
“I am still the same man. But I’m not. My personality is the same. But the things I know now makes clear that many of the things I was sure of are false. I wish my wife were still alive so that I could apologize to her.”
A messenger from Pens came to him.
“Pens requests your assistance in Port Newton. There is some resistance from a group of Ceros priests. They are in a cave with believers that refuse conversion,” said the woman wearing the red robe of The Expected.
“Tell Pens I am needed here,” replied Allor.
“Yes, Lord God Allor,” she said, and walked briskly away.
Since the death of Tal, Pens argued that Allor should spend less time healing and more time ruling. Allor refused to give up the only work he cherished, the only thing worth doing, the vital thing needed to progress his plan.
Allor picked up the remedium. He looked at it for a moment, then took a deep breath and held it to his head.
Do you remember when you learned the 2+2=4? Most of us don’t. Allor felt like that, but now imagine if it were millions upon millions of facts. The flood of new information was overwhelming, and Allor put his hand out to steady himself. He knew of the attempt to blow up the English Parliament on Earth 5. He knew of the Mission of Mercy on Piksol. He had used the reader to understand as much as he could, but without a frame of reference it was difficult to assimilate the knowledge. It happened when he got to something called physics. The reader had assumed a basic understanding of the new term. Allor was missing that. But now he understood. Now he knew a term called mass and how it differed from weight.
When he finished, he sat down for a moment. The crowd of people waiting to be healed came closer. His guards kept them several maatars from him. Allor’s mind was racing. And with the new knowledge came a new realization of the potential to use the remedium to accelerate progress towards meeting contact criteria.
Allor motioned for the guards to let the next person through to him. As he fixed the child’s eyesight and broken fingers, he thought about threshold models of collective behaviors and the best methods of reaching the threshold. He turned off the information transfer for the child. He would only use it on adults. He handed the child a gold coin when he finished.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“Welcome back,” said Rusa when Koven came into the bridge of the cruiser.
“Thank you. Did you miss me?” Koven asked.
“Yes,” replied Rusa. “I missed having someone to analyze.”
“Analyze?” asked Koven.
“It’s just a standard psychological profiling and use with predictive models of behavior. Nothing sinister or threatening. It is designed for me to anticipate your needs and assist you.”
“And what does your profiling tell you about me?”
“You’re a nice person. Historian awkward with some additional trauma from your early youth. I’ve reviewed your history and determined the source as the loss of your younger brother. While I am unsure of the details, I have determined that you hold yourself responsible for his death. This results in your being cautious and lacking confidence in your abilities. In an effort to avoid a similar failure, you avoid circumstances where you are responsible for others, even if it’s only for their emotional happiness.”
“Rusa,” said Koven, “please be quiet.”
“Avoidance is not the path to healing.”
“Shut up, Rusa.”
They sat quietly for a few tox while Koven reviewed the systems on the cruiser. When he had finished, he called up the holo of the latest message from Professor Wingut.
“Do you want to watch?” asked Koven.
“Watching it again might be helpful with your input.”
“You’ve already seen it?”
“I have access to all of your comms during a mission,” she replied. “I thought you knew this.”
“No,” replied Koven.
“It should have been included in my assignment briefing.”
“I didn’t read it.”
“That explains it, then.”
“Yes, it does,” replied Koven.
Koven was pleased to hear that the sociologists had been removed from Earth 7.
Rusa and Koven returned to the planet. Koven kept his eyes open for the first few moments of the journey, until the speed acted as a catalyst on his fear. Still, it was the longest he had ever watched a descent.
The palace was busier than usual. Banners were being put at the front of the temple.
“I wonder what the big occasion is?” asked Koven from the corner of the main temple as they watched a man working on a wooden scaffold as he put up large swaths of cloth.
“It appears to be a wedding is happening. And from the looks of it, I think the woman with red hair may be the bride,” replied Rusa.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Here,” said Allor as he put the bracelet on Ova’s wrist.
“What is this?” Ova asked him as she looked at the golden metal on her wrist.
“Touch it here,” he said, and pressed a red stone in the bracelet. “Now say my name.”
“Lord God Allor,” she replied. Nothing happened.
“No. Just Allor,” he replied.
“Allor,” she said, and a holocomm started between them. It was of Allor and it was real time. He walked away from her so she could see that it continued even over distance.
“Now we can be together always,” he said. “Now say END.
”
“End,” she said, and the image disappeared.
She walked over to him and gave him a long kiss.
“This is the best present I have ever received,” she said, and kissed him on the lips again.
A woman walked over to them. She was carrying two pieces of cloth. Ova looked at them and then pointed to the red and orange plaid pattern. The woman nodded her head and left.
“There is another,” he said.
“I like gifts,” said Ova, smiling.
He put the medallion around her neck.
“It matches yours,” she said. “It is beautiful. I will cherish it forever.”
A man came to them carrying three glasses with wine in them. He stood and waited as Ova tasted each of them then chose the first one.
“And make sure we have more than enough on hand. Plan for a two-day festival and we should have enough for one day. My brother and his men drink more than most.”
“Yes, Princess Ova,” replied the man. He bowed and left.
“Put your finger on the medallion like this for a moment,” Allor said, and then he disappeared.
“Where did you go?” she asked. A moment later Allor reappeared.
“I am still here, it just made me invisible,” he said. “Try it.”
And she did. She disappeared then reappeared then disappeared again then reappeared.
“This is remarkable,” she said. Then she stopped for a minute. A look of disappointment crept upon her face.
“Yes, now you understand. I am not a god,” Allor said.
“But how did you make these things?”
“I didn’t. I found them. There was a ship from out in the stars that crashed near where I lived many years ago. I salvaged these from the wreckage.”
“But if you are not a god, then who should I worship?” she asked.
“No one. There are no gods, only things we don’t understand. To worship the unknown makes no sense. Stand very still. I have something that may help you understand.”
Allor took the remedium from his robe. He ran it over his bride. He corrected some cancerous tissue in her stomach and a weak heart valve. When he held the remedium to her head, he could see the expression on her face change as the knowledge flooded into her brain. When it was finished, Ova sat down quickly on the floor.
“I never knew,” she said over and over.
Allor sat down beside her and put his arm around her. He pulled her close to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Prisoners. Those are our ancestors.”
“I know,” he said, and hugged her tight. “The people from the stars have returned,” he said.
“And there are really no gods?” she asked him with residual disbelief.
“Only incredible machines.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
They stood on the balcony of their quarters in the temple and looked at the river down below and the city laid out beyond it.
“We begin a long journey today, bringing Earth out into the stars,” Allor said.
“Yes. It will take us many years of hard work,” Ova replied as she looked up at Allor. “But its work we will do together, and that is almost as important to me.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“I know that the man I take as my husband still grieves for a love lost, a love destroyed. Vicious violence. But I am not jealous of this, and I don’t want to interfere with it. It shows me that my husband is a man capable of a deeper love than I can imagine. And if I am fortunate, if I am a good wife, a loyal wife, and a good companion, then if you love me just half as much as her, I will be the happiest woman on Earth.”
Allor leaned over to his bride and kissed her gently.
“Thank you for having patience with me,” he said.
“It would be hard to be cold to you, my love,” Ova replied.
The capital was swollen with people. The pilgrims were now joined with the tens of thousands come to celebrate the coronation and the wedding. Many had come to see the new ruler that had finally brought an end to religious wars.
Pens had barred horses from the capital. The streets had been cleaned and the displays of Ceros priests’ heads were taken down. Around the city Pens had stalls like those in the markets that dispensed information, food, and wine. Additionally, to mark the occasion, Pens had all new green robes made for himself, though green was definitely not his color.
There was a wheel outside of every public lavatory. It was large, it was wooden, and it had eight long push poles protruding out of it. Those who used the lavatory were expected to help push the wheel around three times, contributing to a manual flush sewerage system.
Merchants yelled out to the pilgrims trying to sell their wares or services. A man with a beautiful rug in front of him sat on a solid wooden chair. Laid out on a table next to him, he was surrounded by hundreds of human teeth he had extracted over the years. He was price haggling with a man whose left side of his face was swollen.
The ceremonies were not as elaborate as Pens had planned. In place of his two-hour coronation ceremony, Allor had agreed to a shorter event. Pens had commissioned the creation of a crown for Allor. No one placed the crown on his head. He did not kneel before anyone. The gold crown with red and yellow jewels sat on a pillow on the seat of the throne chair.
Pens spoke at length about the history of the Cult of Allor. He spoke at length about the misery, death, and horror caused by the cult of Ceros. He spoke about how Allor had told him many times that wisdom came not from how much you could hurt but from how much you could help.
Even Rom spoke, despite having consumed too much wine. He spoke about the alliance formed and sealed in marriage. Then, after losing his place or his train of thought, he laughingly sat down.
Allor crowned himself, picking up the crown and placing it on his own head. The cheers began in the temple then dissipated out along the streets. “It is done,” people yelled, and started cheering. And just as quickly as he had crowned himself, he removed the crown from his head and put it back on the pillow on the throne. They stepped forward from the throne and held up his hand for silence.
“Today, I bring you an end to war. Today, I bring you an end to slavery. Today, I bring you,” and he hesitated for a couple of tix, “an end to all religion.” He stopped and stood silent for a moment, looking at the crowd that seemed unsure of his meaning.
“Let me be unmistakable in this: when you see the remarkable from me, you are merely seeing technology you do not understand. For I have no god and am no god. I’m just a human like all of you, but one that possesses remarkable machines. That they came to me was an accident and my good fortune. That I can use them to return the sick to health is my reward. That I can use them to unite our people and finally be rid of the curse of the cults is the reward we all share. From today, let us live in peace with our neighbors.
“We come from the stars. The remarkable machines I use which are the reason people worship me as a god, these, too, come from the stars. Humans like us inhabit many planets beyond the sun. They have many things that can improve our lives, and they will share them with us once they are sure we are not a threat. So let us make the preparations required of us, move aside old things that divided us and caused us to hate. Let’s begin the transition to a better world.
“So from this day forward, don’t think of me as your God, only as your king.”
Then Allor went back to his throne, moved the crown to the table just beside the chair, and sat down again.
Pens stood and walked forward to the pulpit. He motioned for Rom and Ova to stand.
“Today, King Allor takes a queen,” Pens said as he moved his arm to point at Ova. “Who brings this woman to be wed?” Pens asked.
“I bring myself, priest,” said Ova with a laugh. Pens was frowning.
Rom spoke quickly. “I bring her,” he said. Pens nodded with the look of a man who had been slighted.
The wedding ceremony took much longer than the coronati
on. King Rom spoke again. Still under the influence, his speech was sometimes rousing, but mostly just long and rambling. But he ended it well by referring to Allor as his brother.
Pens, displaying his propensity for structure and authority, spoke at length about the duties of a wife to her husband and his to her. It was not an enlightened speech and used old ways of thinking of women as property. Ova could be seen staring at Allor, her face red and getting redder every time Pens added more bondage to the list.
Finally the bride and groom pledged themselves to each other. They kept their speeches brief. And when the ceremony was complete, they walked together hand in hand out to the balcony overlooking the square in front of the temple. The crowds below cheered.
The wedding banquet was extensive with two long tables, each seating nearly one hundred people. They were served by many of the people that had been cured by their new king. It was during the banquet that Allor and Ova snuck back to their quarters.
As the king and his new queen joined together as one, in another room not far away sat two blasters, a cloaking pendant, and one PPS. And standing just around the corner from the room, cloaked and quiet, were two guards.
And as the king pulled his queen up on top of him, Koven entered the room with Rusa.
“This will make a good haul,” said Rusa. “But I wonder why there are two weapons but not two pendants or two PPS.”
“I don’t know either, but we’re not going to be here long enough for it to matter,” replied Koven.
He was wrong.
When they picked up the tech, the ship anchors fell from the ceiling with the nets trapping them. The noise was loud, and the floor shook. When a very annoyed Koven switched off his PPS in order to use one of the recovered blasters to cut through the net, the two cloaked guards struck them with clubs. Koven was knocked unconscious and Rusa received a significant jolt to her head, which contained her central command center.
As the king watched his queen collapse on him, her body still jerking with her ecstasy, a damage subroutine began to run inside of Rusa’s central command center. And as the program was loading into memory, a satellite rounded the horizon and came within direct communication with Rusa’s central processor.