The Hand of Grethia: A Space Opera

by Guy Antibes

  “What you are talking about is suppression. I can’t agree with you.”This guy is dangerous. I can’t imagine Obsomil falling for strengthening Ichar’s hold the people. “I think that we three, Obsomil, you and I, should discuss this in detail.” Wilton’s plan would only lead to a repeat of history, pre-Obsomil’s grandfather.

  ~

  Wilton was not pleased. The king had not yet heard of his administrative plans and he had to confront the awful fact that he might need Jan’s support. This youngster should have accepted Wilton as his superior in every way, but it didn’t appear that the off-worlder was pacified.

  “Suppression? Of course.” Wilton smiled. He tried hard to keep the condescension out of his smile. “A little, at first, to get the process moving. Controlling the people is always the first step towards providing them with what they need. They accept what is given them so much better. That is why the Grethian priesthood has been so successful for so long.”

  He put the heels of his palms together and spread his fingers. “You need to force the branches into shape before you can let the tree grow as you wish. The people need to be molded. The Grethian priesthood is a marvelous way to do it. Think about that first.”

  ~

  Jan nodded, rubbing his chin. Wilton might have thought that Jan was coming around, but Jan was thinking of ways to expose him. What would he do if Obsomil really supported Wilton’s views? Fosan’s comments continued to gnaw away at him.

  “Why don’t you put together a little plan along the lines we have thought?” Wilton continued. Jan could almost feel him patting his head as if he were a little child.

  “We can present it to Obsomil when we meet him.”

  Jan acquiesced. “Oh, I’ll put together a plan using the Grethian priesthood to release the technology. Your idea does have some merits, after a moment of reflection” Jan bowed. “If you excuse me, I would like to go to my quarters, wherever they are. I was told the king assigned me new rooms, but I felt that I had to meet with you as soon as I returned to the palace.” Jan left the room.

  A servant stood at the door, ready to lead him to his rooms. He wound around the palace and could see he was headed close to the Royal Compound. He was shown into a room off a bit from the main corridor. He looked about the large and well-appointed quarters. Some wall hangings depicted Diltrant hunting scenes. Jan could recognize the Royal Hunting Lodge sewn into one of the newer-looking ones, after the former monastery had been rebuilt.

  On one of the tables sat a card reader. This one needed wiring. Of course, there was no power in the building. “Technology infants that will need a lot of care…” muttered Jan. Wilton’s words rolled through his head. Wilton is right, the release of the technology has to be gradual. There would have to be a massive education program. But not as Wilton proposed, through the Grethian priesthood, guarding all progress as before. There had to be a different way to fragment the control. Jan sat down at a desk that was conveniently supplied with non-powered writing materials. Jan wrote various approaches down and soon become totally absorbed in his work.

  ~~~

  Chapter 31

  Back in the large meeting room, the same men who initially met with Lord Wilton, assembled again. The morning sun began to enter the room through the gallery windows changing the atmosphere of the room. Jan walked in to meet the group. Jan recognized most of the men and nodded to Fosan, who stiffly returned a sight bow. Jan’s mood lightened as he recognized Garst, his old shopkeeper boss, now in charge of the domestic police and vigorously shook his hand. Garst enthusiastically greeted him like he would an old friend.

  He laid a large roll of paper on the long table and looked up to see if the easel was set up like he requested. On Impollon IV, a virtual screen would show his work, but that technology wouldn’t arrive in Grethia for quite a while. Wilton walked in with his retinue. A minute later Obsomil rushed in and sat down on his chair, bidding all of the rest to sit as well.

  Wilton nodded to Obsomil and began, “Jan and I have discussed the workings of a new and united world. As King Obsomil has already discussed with you, I have gratefully accepted to take a role in administering the implementation of the new wonders left from our ancestors. Jan, here, will be given the role of keeper of this technology. He and I have devised a plan utilizing the Grethian priesthood. This plan will be presented by Jan.” Obsomil furrowed his brow and looked querulously at Wilton. The King did a fine job of acting.

  Wilton sat and Jan rose. This fellow will have to learn a few things about independent underlings. He didn’t even ask about my plan before this meeting,thought Jan.That’s just as well.

  Jan walked to the side of the room to the easel. He took a deep breath. If this went wrong, Jan could always escape to his ship and just leave.

  He paused in front of the easel and felt a nervous hesitation. He gave his head a tiny shake and unrolled the large sheets of paper and threaded holes at the top onto two pegs on a horizontal bar at the top of the easel to reveal a presentation, probably unlike any of these men had ever seen before.

  “King Obsomil, Lord Wilton, Lord Bloodin, distinguished participants, the release of technology is a tricky business. As you know. I have just returned from a trip to the far continent”

  Wilton leaned forward in his chair.

  Jan continued, “It remains totally devastated and still unfit for habitation due to the abuse of technology. Technology is like using fire. It is necessary to use it to bend metal, make glass, cook food andprovide warmth. Used in the wrong way it can cause pain and death. Your ancestors used technology like fire. They made it work for them, but ultimately, that same technology turned on them and became the means for their destruction and for your lack of technology today. I propose a gradual reintroduction of technology and I propose to do that by the establishment of a Grethian Society. He looked at Wilton, who sat back and folded his arms with a faint smile.Good for him,Jan thought,let him gloat as he removed a strip from the easel revealing the words,

  TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCED THROUGH GRETHIAN SOCIETY.

  “The Grethian Society is not run by the current Grethian priesthood. The Society will be comprised of two types of people, scholars and former members of the Grethian priesthood who are willing to share. The society will oversee the proper release of the technology. It will not be delivered through a religious means.” Jan removed another strip,

  THREE TRADING COMPANIES TO IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCTION.

  Wilton jerked up and put his palms on the table. Jan continued, “The actual spread of the implements of this technology will be licensed through three independent trading companies. The reason there are three is that competition will be necessary to sell the technology to the workplace at reasonable prices. The more sellers, the better. Through this technique, improvements on the technology and differences in implementing the technology will provide energy and diversity to the process of assimilation. In addition, we will avoid concentration of trading power into one organization, regardless of where the trading companies are headquartered. That will diminish the likelihood of a single government controlling the distribution of the released technology and thereby dominating the entire population.”

  Jan looked at Wilton. A perplexed look came over the Murgrontian’s face. He didn’t comprehend what was happening. Jan looked at the others in the room. He could see they only understood parts of what he was proposing. Obsomil and Fosan were on the edges of their seats looking at the reactions to the presentation. Jan had shared his proposal with the two men early in the morning after he had devised a new strategy. Obsomil looked at Wilton but the man had composed himself and looked on.

  Jan peeled off the next strip.

  CONTROLLED INTRODUCTION IS THE KEY TO ASSIMILATION.

  Jan explained, “Controlled introduction is the key to keep the world from having to accept too abrupt of a change. Lord Wilton pointed out this very important fact to me.” Jan nodded to Wilton and the man had to return his acknowledgement with an unc
omfortable smile.

  “Your society will change dramatically with the increase of technology. The changes need to be controlled so that the expectations of the people can be met. If your society has rising expectations that are not met, then discord arises and the people will lose faith in you. If the control is lost, the introduction of technology is not maximized. The changes need to be controlled, but not suppressed. If you suppress the technology, you will end up with another era of stagnation like what the Grethian priesthood has caused. What we are proposing is a slow release of products based on the readiness for a specific technology. That’s why the Society and not the priesthood controls the release of the technology.”

  The next strip exposed the words,

  EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ARE VITAL TO UNDERSTANDING.

  Jan continued, “The continent across the sea holds incredible treasures of knowledge. Not only of technology but of the arts as well; of philosophies and concepts. Every society creates a unique synthesis of human nature. The children of this world need to contribute to a culture, not just use the technology. Technology must become a part of their culture, but not control it. What good are these gifts if you can’t put your own stamp on them and improve them?

  “To improve, make better,” Jan paused dramatically and found more of the men appearing to understand his works.

  “Yes, you can master and improve the technology. The society will establish a curriculum that will be taught to all children. Fosan has agreed,” at this Fosan nodded to those in the group. Further conversations with Obsomil and Fosan that night had satisfied Jan, that Fosan now truly understood Obsomil’s intentions, “to head up the establishment of this educational system. All children will be educated to read and to write just as they are in Diltrant. They will also have the opportunity to learn both languages of the ancient Grethians. One is the language you currently speak on Grethia and on many worlds in our universe. The other is a specialized trading language used by your forefathers and currently among the political and merchant class. Fosan will redesign the curriculum of the University of Diltrant. He will, with Lord Wilton’s permission, also set up a university in Murgrontia.” Jan paused to let the men assimilate the proposal.

  “The education system will take some time to establish. It will have three levels like Diltrant has. An elementary education level will provide the basic communication tools and establish a common base to understand the gifts of the ancients. An intermediate education system will provide a universal understanding of technology concepts providing enough education for the student to work with making the technology better. The third level will provide specialization in three principal courses of study, culture, technology and administration.”

  “There are still mysteries. A substantial number of warehouses and presumably factories were built underground on the other continent to keep the land above more pristine. With the portals, it was easy to move things in and out. We have only touched the surface over there, but the environment on that continent is lethal. We don’t know, at this point, what was preserved and what was lost, however you do have the Grethian Halls on this continent that gives you patterns to reconstruct the technology used in the past. Instead of sharing the technology, the Grethian priesthood hid it from view.”

  Jan looked over the audience and took a deep breath before taking away the last strip.

  CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS.

  The men gasped. They generally thought of Jan as an interloper, an intruder and commonly called him ‘off-worlder’, but not as a gate to the outside. “In order to tap into the mainstream of life, we will contact other worlds. Your world, as you know it, is not ready for such contact. If an outside trading group visited you, Grethia would be occupied immediately and dominated by the Trading Companies before you knew what was going on. They would certainly be more destructive to your personal freedoms than the Grethian priesthood.” Wilton snorted, but Jan ignored him.

  “Grethia needs to prepare itself so that it can operate from a position of strength when contact is made. Such preparation will take years. The people here need to be educated and some kind of a world government or union so the trading companies, who will eventually find you, won’t divide and conquer your world by using one country against another. With that in mind, we need to find a way to maximize the introduction of technology without creating worse problems.”

  Wilton stood up and looked curiously at Jan as if seeing him for the first time. He shook his head slightly and stated, “Here is a plan that describes the future of our world. It’s one I endorse. Quite frankly, Jan and I hadn’t discussed all of the details, but now that I see it, I feel success depends on all of our cooperation. I agree with Jan’s plan. Murgrontia will send its scholars to Diltrant. I would like to take Jan to Murgrontia and present this plan to our council in Ilvant.” Lord Wilton went over to Jan and congratulated him then sat down. Despite his gracious words, Jan still regarded Wilton as their biggest obstacle.

  King Obsomil rose to speak, “Jan has introduced us to an approach to a problem that we didn’t even know existed. We have heard counsel I think we must follow. The future is ours. But not the future I contemplated just a few months ago. It does not consist of a few words written on a treaty, but it involves the efforts of us all.” He paused to look at each man in the room.

  “The Council of Diltrant will still exist, but will answer to a new organization, the Council of Grethia. I will start our as the initial leader of all of Grethia. Bloodin will rule Diltrant in my name until my son reaches his majority. Hopefully, Wilton will discuss the strategy with the Council of the Lords of Murgrontia to choose their own course of action. Mulloy will rule Actobal as he has in the past.”

  Obsomil shot a glance at Wilton with the pronouncement. Wilton looked on impassively, revealing nothing. “As I think of it, I nominate Port Alchant as the primary site of the central university Jan proposed. Of course we will keep our own as Murgrontia establishes theirs. There are many details, but I think the plan is sound enough to move forward,” Obsomil said. “The primary councilors please stay and I will discuss plans with you”

  Men rose and left. Obsomil sat and addressed Jan, Wilton, an aide of Wilton’s and Bloodin. “The challenge is ahead of us. We need to plan the details of integration of the Grethian Priesthood. Jan, you and I need to go to Port Alchant and see what kind of reaction we get from Ichar. Wilton, please draw up an outline of the objectives you will want to meet in your administration. We should be gone for a few days.”

  Wilton looked at Obsomil questioningly. “It will take you two weeks to get to Port Alchant.”

  “No, it will only take an hour or two aboard Jan’s space ship.” Obsomil offhandedly replied. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you start out on one of my own vessels for Alchant. We will meet there to discuss our plans with Ichar, and then you can proceed on to Murgrontia and present the plan to your Council of Lords.”

  Wilton’s body language told Jan that Obsomil’s suggestion didn’t sit very well. The information about Actobal had caused a rise in him that Jan might not have noticed if he wasn’t looking for it.

  Wilton spoke, “I will do so, King Obsomil. I definitely would like to go by way of a Diltrantian vessel because of its speed. However, I feel the need of a new standard. My people will misinterpret what we have done here if I return in the colors of Diltrant. I propose a new flag that has as its key the blue power from the Hand of Grethia.”

  “Do it! We can make the standards before you depart. That is an easy first step of the reorganization! Lord Wilton’s request is a perfect symbol of what we have to do,” Obsomil said. “We will put such a flag on all of our ships. That might help us with Ichar!” Obsomil rose from his chair and left the room.

  One week later, Jan, Fosan, King Obsomil and three bodyguards took off in Jan’s ship, heading for Port Alchant, long after Wilton had left.

  ~~~

  Chapter 32

  Jan lowered his craft into a fallow field not f
ar from the port. Three guards fanned out and checked the surrounding area. Finding no one around, Jan and Fosan laid a portable portal in the grass right in front of the ship and covered it. Jan still had not removed the portal in his ship’s engine room. He had half forgotten about it, but he reviewed the setting and locked the ship.

  The entourage found a path and headed towards the port. It was easy to pick out the temple, the pyramid structure stood out against the sky. A massive representation of the Hand of Grethia thrust up from the flat roof at the peak of the building. Rooftops glistened, reflecting light off the morning dew. A mist fell on the seaward side of the city, but sunlight began to burn it off as they entered on a road leading into the city.

  The group wound their way through wealthy Alchantian neighborhoods and stood on the steps leading up to the entrance while a crowd of people had now gathered. They recognized someone of importance had arrived. Pola waited for them at the top of the steps with twenty priests standing in a row behind him.

  “King Obsomil, Ruler of Diltrant desires entrance into your temple to speak with the high priest Ichar,” intoned Fosan.

  “I am Pola, Senior Prior to Ichar,” the priest said, his wild hair flowing in the breeze. “Welcome to Port Alchant and to the Grethian Temple. Please come with me.” He squinted at Obsomil. “Have we met before? You and that young man here seem familiar.” He should have. Jan recognized Pola from their stay at the temple after their adventure in Actobal and from the fight at the lodge. he had no doubt that Pola knew exactly when he had seen them both previously.