Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids

by Dale C. Musser

  When the meeting was over, Marranalis came to me and said, “Sir, Chief Banker Arjuk Norcar, wishes you to contact him at your earliest convenience.”

  “Did he say what it is about?” I asked.

  “No, sir,” Marranalis replied.

  Very well. I’ll contact him later. Right now, I’m going back to the NEW ORLEANS. I need a little time to do some thinking.”

  When I reached my study, I told my bodyguard to wait outside. I wished to be alone and catch my breath for a few minutes. I decided to get the call to Arjuk Norcar out of the way, lest I forget it, so I contacted Verona on the bridge and asked her to call him and put the call through to my study. About five minutes later, Arjuk Norcar’s face appeared on my screen.

  “Greetings, First Citizen,” he said.

  “Greetings, Chief Banker,” I replied. “I’m sorry I was unable to speak to you when you tried to contact me earlier.”

  “I heard you had collapsed from exhaustion. I do hope you are feeling better now.”

  “Yes, much better, but I must confess that the pace of things is wearing on me,” I replied.

  “I understand you thwarted the Brotherhood in their major offensive against the Federation.”

  “We held our space; both sides took a terrible beating,” I said, “however, I doubt that’s what you wanted to talk to me about.”

  Arjuk Norcar laughed, “No, it’s not, I wished to talk to you about Rinncal Haf-joab’s estate. The sale has gone through and the funds transferred. Any time after next week, I can take possession and put my own staff there. What are your plans; do you have persons ready for the tasks?”

  “Honestly, no. However, I can have some within a day or two. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for doing this, it's greatly appreciated.”

  Arjuk Norcar laughed, “Admiral, you are a funny man. You give me one of the most desirable and luxurious estates in the universe and thank me for taking it. Seriously though, it is an honor to assist you after what you did for us at Weccies. I’ll be looking forward to your call.”

  Once my vid screen was blank again I swiveled my chair and stared into my aquarium, watching the fishes swimming about. I could almost imagine Tox the Tottalax swimming about in my aquarium once more like he had when we first brought him aboard before we had quarters set up for him. I was deep in reverie when I felt the presence of another in the room. Since I didn’t detect the odor of cedar in the air, I knew it had to be someone other than A’Lappe. I turned in my chair slowly to find Thumumba sitting in the chair before me. As when last I had seen him, he was in human form and he sat watching me intently.

  “Greetings, Thumumba,” I began, “It is good to see you again.”

  “Greetings, Man-who-speaks-for-Thumumba,” he replied, “it is always a pleasure to see you also.”

  “I trust all things are well on Alle Bamma and that your children prosper? How is Regata since her return?”

  “Regata is well and sends his greetings. He now is the leader of my children since the passing of Jnanara.”

  “Jnanara has died? I did not know that.”

  “Thumumba’s children do not die, Tibby, not as you think of death anyway. They change and move on to become something else, but they do not die.”

  “Is this something you do for your children? You give them another life?” I asked.

  “No, nothing like that, though I do assist them in their transition and guide them into a better life. If I did not, who knows what they might become. I see you are confused by this," he said.

  “Well, yes, to be honest, you told me years ago that you realized you were not a god; does that mean you believe in a god, a creator being, higher than yourself?”

  Thumumba looked at me with an expression of amusement before he answered, “This is a question that perplexes you, does it not, Tibby? Does a creator god exist? The evidence is all around you and still you wonder. Your science likes to try to explain all that has taken place, that is happening and that will come about and somehow relate it to a kind of random perpetual motion in the cosmos where energy and matter are in constant flux and exchange. They see order occur out of chaos; things coalesce and take form and function and they try to isolate the “science” of how these things happen without ever asking the most important question of all. What makes energy do the things it does? Why does some energy gather into units that become electrons, neutrons and protons, to form an atom, while other portions of the same energy coordinate to become light? What makes a radio wave consistent, so that it functions as it does; why doesn’t it randomly change into light, or even become an atom? While yet another unit of energy has formed into atoms that cling together seeking out other atoms, which collect into matter that can work with each other and function in unison in a logical and with mechanical precision.”

  “So you’re saying that behind all the energy and matter, the controlling factor that holds everything together and makes it work is god?” I asked.

  Thumumba smiled, “Let me ask you another question. Your science believes that all the universe, as you know it, was created in a single explosive event. What do you think existed before?”

  “Well, energy I guess, since there was no matter."

  “Energy… so what made this energy explode instantly forming a googolplex of atoms and to form light and sound, x-rays and gamma rays and all that comprises our universe today to exist in a single moment?”

  “Well, I’m not sure I believe all those things happened instantly. I mean there weren’t planets and stars immediately. It took time for them to coalesce," I said.

  “Yes, but the elements and building blocks were there. The atoms were there, the light energy and the radio energy and radiation all came into existence at once. All the building blocks, as it were.”

  “Hmm, I think I see what you’re saying. So you’re saying that intelligence that we name God instigated all of this?”

  “It’s much deeper than that, Tibby, where do you think all of this stuff came from?”

  “Well I guess you want me to say God made it. Right?”

  “Yes and no… If God made it, what did he make it from?” Thumumba said as he stared intently at me. I knew that he could read my mind and he was looking at my thoughts as I contemplated his words.

  “Well, he made it out of energy I guess,” I answered finally.

  “And where did that energy come from?”

  “Well, he made it.”

  “Out of what, Tibby? Think… the answer is staring you in the face. Take off your scientific cap for a minute and think about it logically. If God was all that existed, what did he make everything else from?”

  All of a sudden, I felt all the hair on my body stand on end and it hit me… “Out of himself! He made it of himself! However, if he did, that means…”

  “…that everything we see and know and more, is ALL a part of God." Thumumba interjected. “Every cell in your body, every star in the universe, every particle of light and every atom in the air you breathe is ALL a part of God, Tibby.

  “But how… I mean… well if that’s the case, then all of us are a part of God. Why don’t we have more knowledge? I mean if we’re all part of God? We should all have the same knowledge and we should all be able to read the thoughts and feelings of others. Shouldn’t we?” I said in confusion as I looked at Thumumba.

  “Tibby, the cells in the toe of your body are alive, correct?"

  “Yes!”

  “And scientists could take that living cell from your body and still keep it alive and even have it grow and reproduce in a laboratory, correct?”

  “Yes,” I answered, “but I don’t see…” Thumumba raised a hand halting me as he continued.

  “You have many cells in your body like that one in your toe, each separate living entity that joins to form muscles, organs, your bones and they all work together. Tell me, Tibby, are you aware of each of them as you sit here now?”

  “Well, no,” I answered.

&nbs
p; “And do you think that cell in your toe is aware of the ones in your liver and what it's doing at this moment?”

  “No, but they don’t have a brain either, so they don’t think about, or question these things.”

  “Yes BUT you have a brain and you can think and question, so do you know what’s going on in the cells in your liver this exact moment?”

  “Well no, but I know they are there,” I said.

  “Why? Why do you know they are there? Because you have a connection to them in a communicative sense you are aware of, or because your science has dissected the human body and learned these things and told you so?”

  “Okay, I get your point; at least, I think I do. So you’re saying that we are all like cells in the body of God?”

  “Again, yes and no. There are big differences, but it’s a useable analogy that leads in the right direction. What I am trying to illustrate is that while you are made up of a mass of living cells, which comprise you and make life possible for you; you have knowledge of their existence and function, whereas they do not have that same knowledge of you, even though they are the building blocks you are made of. So it is with God. Everything that is, is a part of him. However, like the cell in your foot, we are only a part of a much larger thing that we do not know or understand.”

  “All right, but, well... if this is true, why are some parts of God at war with others, I mean like the Brotherhood fighting and trying to dominate others?”

  “I believe in your world you have a disease called cancer, a disease where cells in the body malfunction and mutate into cells that threaten and can kill the host body they are in. Even though the person, whose body the cancer cell is in, may know it’s there, it doesn’t stop those cells from growing and threatening, or even killing its host.”

  “So God can’t stop people like the Brotherhood from being evil?”

  “Evil? Thumumba grinned. “Yes, if you want to call it that, we won’t get involved in the semantics of that word at the moment. Why do you think God isn’t involved in dealing with the Brotherhood?”

  “Well he’s allowing them to continue.”

  “Let’s go back to the cancer in the body. Does the body immediately surrender to cancer or does it fight it?”

  “Well it tries to fight it,” I answered.

  “How? How does it try to fight it?”

  “Well it produces antibodies and white blood cells that attack the cancer cells.”

  “I see”, Thumumba said with a knowing grin on his face, “So living cells that make up your body organize to fight against living cells in your body that are trying to kill you.”

  “Ah, I see what you’re saying; the Federation is like the cells in the body that try to fight off the infection. However, God didn’t tell us to fight the Brotherhood,” I said.

  “Do you tell your body to fight off the infection of cancer? Alternatively, does it do so out of a normal programed reaction that is built into the cells?”

  “Okay, okay, I see this is far more complex than I thought. However, I’m seeing your point. So back to my original question. You’re saying that you believe in a god and we are all a part of that god, like cells in our body, but is God conscious of his existence?”

  “The very fact that you are asking that question means he does, Tibby. Since you are a part of God and have awareness that means God does also.”

  I started to feel dizzy as I tried to grasp the complexity of it all, realizing that God must have as many conscious aspects as there were sentient life forms in the universe and even more. Were they all somehow connected and dumping information into some gigantic cosmic brain that was God's? I didn’t know – and I realized I would never be able to know that any more than the cell in my toe could know all that I, the collective being of cells which makes up my body, knew. I looked at Thumumba, who smiled and nodded his head. “Now you understand, at least as much as you are able to.”

  “Do you communicate with God?” I asked.

  “Tibby, every living thing communicates with God.”

  “I mean, do you talk with him and him with you?”

  “I see you still are missing some of this,” Thumumba said, “Let’s go back to our analogy of your body. The cells in your stomach get invaded by bacteria and it becomes ill. It sends messages to your brain in the only language it understands, a cry for help and pain. Your brain passes the information on to your body and you feel ill. Do you talk to your stomach and say, “Hi there, sorry to hear you’re not feeling well? What can I do for you?”

  “Well no, I take some medicine that cures it. My stomach wouldn’t understand if I talked to it.”

  “But you did respond to its communication to you, didn’t you?”

  “I see, so we talk up to God, he doesn’t talk down to us?”

  “Not in the same way we communicate with him. You didn’t respond the message your stomach was sending you in the form of pain by punching yourself in the stomach to send pain back; you provided medicine that gave relief. Your stomach may never even have realized you actually responded at all. It only knows it got better.

  “So the Federation’s reactions against the Brotherhood may in some way be us responding to God’s will in a communication we are getting but not realizing?

  “Again, yes and no, loosely translated you might say so.”

  “But you're closer to God because you are on a higher level; doesn’t that give you a greater understanding of him?”

  Thumumba laughed and I swear for a moment the entire world shook; then he said, “Tibby, what makes you think I am a higher life form? Is it because I have a different form than you?”

  “I don’t know; I guess I simply assumed it. I mean you can do things we can’t.”

  “Tibby, a drodoceal can do things you can’t; does that make it superior, or more advanced than you?”

  “Okay, I get your point, I think. I’m going to need to give this more thought. I’ll need time to digest this.”

  “We got off track from what I came to discuss with you,” Thumumba said, “however, all of this is relevant to what I must tell you. You once asked me if I could see the future and I told you that I could not, but that I could see probabilities and make relatively accurate predictions in some areas. I know that right now you are dealing with some personal issues of your own regarding your health.” I let out a gasp when he said this, but he raised his hand, stopping me from saying anything.

  “Tibby, I cannot heal you if that is what you were going to ask, but I can tell you that things will not end up as darkly as you may come to think in the next few years. Know this, that in your darkest hour when all looks like there is no hope and no future, I will be there for you and that you will survive and life will be more glorious than you can now imagine.”

  “So you’re telling me my condition is going to get worse,” I said as a sinking feeling settled in.

  “It’s going to change and with that change, there will be good and bad,” Thumumba said. “What I am telling you is not to dwell on it; live your life, do your best as you have been doing and things will work out better than you can ever imagine.”

  “And this is what you’ve come to tell me. That no matter how bad things look, not to worry about it but keep on going like it’s not real?”

  “That’s an oversimplification of it, but basically, yes!” Thumumba said and then, in a manner that reminded me ever so much of A’Lappe, Thumumba vanished.

  I was sitting there contemplating what Thumumba said when there was a knock at my door. This was strange, as people in the Federation didn’t knock; there were door bells and communication systems that announced people's arrivals or requests to enter. The only one I knew who ever knocked was Lunnie and I am not sure where she picked the habit up from.

  “Come in,” I said as I activated the door control. Lunnie peeped around the corner and came into my study; her eyes were all puffy and I could tell she had been crying.

  “What’s wrong sweetie?” I said a
nd quickly she ran to me and threw her arms about my neck and sobbed. Dad the horses are all dead. Poccot is dead! They all got killed in the attack on the estate.”

  “By the stars, I’d forgotten the buildings at the south end of the estate weren’t covered by the RMFF shield A’Lappe made to protect things. Listen, we’ll get Cantolla to have her people clone you a new horse; it will be like Poccot,” I said as I wondered what else had been destroyed that I was not aware of.

  “But dad, I want Poccot. Another horse won’t be the same. I will have to train it all over again.”

  “I’m sorry, Lunnie, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. The best I can do is to have another horse cloned for you exactly like Poccot.”

  “Dad, I don’t think I want to go back to the estate. Can I have my friends come here to visit me?”

  “I don’t see why not. We let Rory come visit Reide; I think we can let your friends come and visit you also. We’ll need to make some arrangements with security for them to come through the Cantolla Gates.” I said this knowing full well, it would be a security nightmare, as security would want to scan Lunnie’s friends before allowing them through the gates every time they came or went.

  My com link beeped and I answered, “Tibby here.”

  “Tibby,” Kerabac’s voice began, “Captain Felenna is here wishing to speak to you.”

  “Ah, yes. I guess I am several days late getting with her. Send her to my study, please,” then I turned to Lunnie, “Look sweetie; I'll see to it that Cantolla has her people clone you a new horse as soon as possible. Is there anything else you need? Felenna will be here soon and I need to discuss some things with her.”

  “No, I guess that was all,” Lunnie said with her lip projecting. “Dad, I miss having you around more.”

  “I miss being around more,” I said, “but if I don’t stop the Brotherhood, none of us will be around at all.”

  “I know, Daddy, but I still miss you being around,” she gave me a quick hug and ran out the door.