by Steve LeBel
“Lookies,” Bernie said, unable to contain his excitement. Instead of responding to Bernie, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the movement on his tray. His fork and spoon were standing upright on the plate. The fork bent forward in a deep bow to the spoon before grabbing her and twirling the two of them around in some sort of silverware happy dance. “Stop that,” he hissed. The unheard music seemed to end, and the fork lowered the spoon gently back to the plate before falling over himself. Bernie scowled as he examined the fork, trying vainly to bend the tines back into their original position. “Now I have to pay for that.”
Lenny brought them back. “Lookies? I thought they were eradicated years ago.”
“They were one of the refugee groups you tried to help, weren’t they?” asked Suzie.
“Yes. The Town Council decided the lookie population was out of control. They declared them a public nuisance and ordered them exterminated. They were catching them and throwing them into a waste dimension. We protested, and they changed their policy and sent them back to their world of origin instead. I still have my ‘Save the Lookies’ T-shirt,” Bernie said with pride.
“Where did you see them?” Suzie wanted to know.
“I’d gone for a walk in the woods, and I sat down to do some thinking, but I fell asleep. I woke up to find one standing between me and nasty looking beastie that had crawled out of the wild. The lookie was squealing at it, trying to chase it away.”
“It was protecting you?” exclaimed Suzie as she clapped her hands together with delight. “That’s wonderful.”
“I doubt that,” Lenny responded. “Why would it try to save you? They don’t have…” Lenny’s voice trailed off as he desperately tried to avoid another double lecture from Sissy and Suzie.
“I managed to scare the beastie away. When I stood up, I think it decided I was too big to eat.”
“How many lookies were there?”
“When I sat back down, they started coming out from all over. I counted fourteen of them. I think the one who tried to protect me is their leader. I couldn’t understand them, but they seem to communciate with each other.
“You know what’s funny?” Bernie continued. “They followed me home. When I left for work this morning I noticed several of them watching me leave. I waved at them, and three of them waved back.”
Alcandor Offers a Theory
Alcandor sat in Gondal’s private office in the Senate Building. He had come at Gondal’s request.
“I want to talk with you privately before I convene the Senate today, Alcandor. I want to make sure you understand the importance of this meeting.”
“You think I’m unaware of the global catastrophes threatening our very survival, Gondal?” Alcandor asked with some irritation in his voice.
“No, of course not. You are a good thinker, Alcandor, probably the best we have, but even you need some advice in this matter.”
“Please continue.” Alcandor appeared somewhat mollified.
“You think in ways that can be difficult for others to follow. You must consider your audience today. If they do not understand you, they will not ask you to explain. They will turn to other explanations. I cannot allow that to happen. I no longer believe the Temple has the answers we seek.”
“But I’ve come today with hypothesis and theory, not answers. Finding answers takes time.”
“We don’t have time for long studies, Alcandor. You must convince the Senate you understand what’s happening. And you must convince them to give you the resources you need to solve this problem. We’re out of time.”
* * *
“We want answers, not theories! That’s what,” shouted the minister at the end of the table.
There was a chorus of, “Hear! Hear!” from the senators.
“We’ve been getting better theories from the idiots on the street,” shouted one of the senators. She was also greeted with a chorus of “Hear! Hear!”
Lord Alcandor stood alone in the center stage. He felt chagrin, knowing Gondal’s warning had come true. The senators were scared and in no mood for theory. They wanted answers, just as Gondal predicted.
“Senators, please listen to me. This is important.” Alcandor feared they had lost their willingness to listen. The crowd confirmed his fears with more boos and hisses.
“Silence! Silence, everyone,” shouted Leader Gondal as he pounded his gavel. As the crowd quieted down, Gondal decided to invest more of his personal and political capital in Alcandor. The meeting was too important to end without decisions. “Senators and Ministers, everyone knows we are desperate for a way to deal with these disasters. I believe Alcandor offers an answer. Not a complete one, perhaps, but one we must consider. Please hear him out.
“Continue, Lord Alcandor. You have the floor.” Gondal stared the crowd into silence.
“Thank you, Leader,” said Alcandor. “Let me summarize the things we all agree on. We are experiencing the worst onslaught of major catastrophes in our history. We’ve seen massive flooding, forest fires, threats to our food supplies, wicked windstorms, brutal heat waves, tidal waves, and numerous problems causing thousands of deaths. On this, we can all agree. We can also agree these disasters are becoming more frequent and more deadly.
“What we may not agree on is the cause of these disasters. Yet it is critical we find the cause. If we can’t find the cause, then we’ll never find a solution. Most people will agree with this logic,” he said to a soft response of “Hear! Hear!”
“Let me turn to the different theories to explain what is going on.” As the audience groaned, he said, “Yes, yes. I know you’ve heard them before. Please indulge me.
“One prominent theory is our world is coming to an end. The proponents of this theory show that not a month goes by without some large-scale disaster. And, by all accounts, the disasters are getting worse. Some argue the night sun, which goes dark every thirty-two days, is but a portent of the end of our Sun. They argue the world is unstable and total annihilation is around the corner. If this theory is true, there’s nothing we can do about it. It will happen. The only thing we can do is prepare ourselves for the end.
“Another popular notion is the karma theory. This theory says we are being punished for something we’ve done. These disasters, they say, are retributions for our sins. If this theory is correct, we must find what we’ve done wrong and stop doing it.
“Another speculation suggests the presence of a divine being. In this theory, a god is trying to communicate with us. Some say the god is trying to teach us something or warn us of something. It’s not clear. If this theory is correct, we must figure out what this god is trying to tell us, so we can comply before worse disasters befall us.
“My concept is different. I believe we have a protector. We all know the horrible disasters we’ve suffered. But they could have been much, much worse,” he said to an outbreak of boos and hisses.
“Wait. Wait,” Alcandor shouted back at the crowd. “Think about it. Please. In almost every case, we have been rescued at the last minute. Something has intervened to prevent the disasters from becoming even worse. Remember when our forests burned, but on a single day, all the fires were suddenly extinguished? Remember, the hurricanes all ended on the same day. Don’t forget the heat wave that was destroying our plants and threatening all of us. It, too, ended suddenly. And what about the shorter days? Who knows what might have happened if things hadn’t suddenly returned to normal? There are many more examples.
“In my theory, there is a divine being watching over us and working to prevent or minimize these disasters. I call Him the Great Protector. If my theory is correct, then we must find a way to communicate with Him. He is the key to everything. If we can just talk to him, He could warn us about future disasters. We may even be able to tell him about problems so He can resolve them more quickly.”
The room went silent as the senators considered his words.
The Leader bent forward and said, “Tell us, Lord Alcandor, why do you propos
e the existence of a Great Protector? Surely if anyone has saved us, it would have been the Sun. Why would you suggest something else is involved?”
Alcandor raised his hand to silence the crowd. “This is the hardest part to understand. You must listen carefully,” he said with a soft voice that forced the senators to listen more closely.
“Almost all of the disasters lasted several days before suddenly ending. I ask you, if the Sun had the power to stop them, would He have waited so long? Would He have delayed his mercy for days as He watched His people suffer? I submit He would not. Therefore, I know it was not the Sun who intervened. It was instead the Great Protector.”
Gondal had difficulty accepting the argument when Alcandor first introduced it. It was hard to accept that the Sun had been powerless to help. The senators struggled now with the concept. Yet, if the Sun could intervene, it was impossible to believe He would have delayed so long before doing everything He could.
When Gondal judged the senators had enough time to consider, he asked, “Why should we believe your Great Protector theory instead of the others?”
Alcandor paused as he collected his thoughts. “Leader, that’s an excellent question. Consider this.
“If the world is ending, there is nothing we can do about it, so I submit, for purposes of discussion, let’s not waste any time with this theory. Each of us will have to prepare for the end in our own way.
“For the karma theory, we must consider any sins we may have committed that would justify such horrible punishments. I find nothing to justify this. We are a gentle people. We do not harm anything, except the food we eat. This has not changed since the beginning. We have done nothing to justify being treated in this way. And for that reason, I reject this theory.
“The divine being theory is also flawed. To my way of thinking, if there is a divine being who wants to talk with us, surely he can find a better way than sending a flood or a tidal wave to get our attention. We are more than willing to listen. Any being this powerful can surely figure out a better way to communicate.
“This leaves me with my theory. If there is a benevolent god out there trying to protect us, then it makes sense to communicate with Him. Our existence depends on it. We must figure out how to do this. We must tell Him we’re grateful for His help. We must tell Him when we see other problems. And we must listen to His warnings of any disasters He cannot prevent. Only by establishing communication with this higher power can we hope for safety,” Alcandor finished.
“Let us assume for a moment, Lord Alcandor, that your theory is correct,” said the Leader. “What would you have us do?”
“The first task is communication. But there are several things to consider. For example, the Protector may be acting on behalf of the world. He may not be aware we even exist.”
These words triggered an outcry from all sides. Loud shouting and shaking of fists were everywhere. It took three minutes before the Leader could restore order.
One senator summed up the crowd’s sentiment, “How can He not know about us? This is our world! We’ve been here since anyone can remember!”
“Some of my observations,” began Alcandor, “suggest the Protector is not omniscient. If he was, these disasters would not have progressed as far as they did. He clearly doesn’t want them to happen, yet if He was omniscient, He would have stopped them before they got started. And something else: He isn’t all-powerful either. If He was all-powerful, and He didn’t want these disasters, then He would prevent them or even make them unhappen. From this, I conclude our Protector, as powerful as He is, has His own set of limitations.”
“If He actually exists, how do you propose to communicate with this Great Protector of yours?” asked a senator from the southern mountains.
“The main problem will be getting His attention. Considering what He can do, He may be massive in size, and if that’s true, He may not have noticed us. Therefore, we have to give Him some sort of sign that we’re here,” Alcandor said.
“This is ridiculous! If He’s that big, surely we can see Him. Please point Him out to us, Alcandor,” said the senator to a quick response of “Hear! Hear!” from the crowd.
“He might not be visible to us. But He’s here! I’m convinced of it. And it’s essential we figure out how to communicate with him,” Alcandor persisted.
The Leader shook his head. This was becoming harder to accept than the first time they had talked. “I don’t know, Lord Alcandor. You want us to believe in an invisible being, who may or may not be willing to help us, if He only knew we were here. Is that about right?”
Lord Alcandor sighed. “Yes, Leader. That’s about it.”
For the next hour, debate raged on. The Senate was desperate to take action to deal with the crisis. In the end, they voted to give Lord Alcandor the manpower and resources he requested. Very few were satisfied with this decision. But no one offered any better alternatives.
And, as crazy as Alcandor’s idea sounded, at least they were doing something.
One Bright Spot
Journal Entry
The one bright spot of this whole week was seeing the lookies again. They must have been living in the woods for a long time. It’s been years since the Town Council tried to get rid of them.
When I have time, I’m going to see if they’ll come out again.
I wonder if they’ve had anything to do with all the lost things that keep showing up on my doorstep. I always thought it was my cloud, but it never made sense that the cloud would find lost things.
He’s the type that loses them in the first place.
Senate’s Progress Report
“Every time you call me to testify, you delay my progress,” Alcandor fumed.
“Yes, we understand that,” said Gondal. “But surely you understand we need to be kept informed of your progress. If your attempts are not successful, we must explore other measures.” Senators expressed their approval of Gondal’s words.
Gondal knew there were few ‘other measures’ waiting to be explored, but they were desperate for news. They were all upset and worried. He had to balance the Senate’s need for information against Alcandor’s need to work uninterrupted.
“I apologize for my outburst, Leader. I apologize also to the Senate,” said Alcandor as he bowed his head to both. “I know everyone is concerned. Please, let me start again.”
“Proceed,” Gondal said.
“Let me review what’s happened since the Senate charged me with contacting the Great Protector. The greatest challenge is finding a way to get the attention of such a being. We’re fairly certain He is not all-knowing or all-powerful because, in spite of His apparent desire to keep us from harm, He’s not always able to do so. And yet when He does make an appearance, His powers are immense. From this, I conclude He’s distant from us at least part of the time. This means we can’t just speak with Him because He may not be around to hear us. We have to wait for him to come to us.
“Think of Him as someone who sees an unending forest. If we want to be noticed in that forest, we must draw His attention to a tiny clearing in one small part of that forest. How do we do this? We must do something a forest cannot do. We must make some sort of sign, one that makes Him curious enough to investigate.
“I chose fire for the sign, because fire is not natural to the forest. And we know large bonfires at night can be seen across long distances. Admittedly, our initial attempts were not successful, so we began forming patterns with the fires. We set the fires in locations to form triangles, squares, and pentagons. We also varied these patterns by creating greater distances between each of the fires—” Alcandor said as one of the ministers interrupted.
“But none of this has worked,” exclaimed Minister Terwin. “If it isn’t working, why are you still making fires?”
“I still believe fire is a good signal. As I said, we’ve varied the signal in several ways. Our next effort will be to make the signal stronger and more noticeable.”
“But Lord Alc
andor, we’re running out of forests,” said one of the senators, which produced the first laughter heard in the Senate in many days.
Even Alcandor chuckled. “Fear not, Senator. I’m doing something different this time.”
Leader Gondal said, “Please continue.”
“You’ve all seen lanterns with a mirror-side built into them. The mirror is used to reflect and amplify the lantern’s light and send it in a specific direction. I’m currently building fifty large mirrors that will be used to direct the bonfire’s light upward, where I believe the Protector will notice it. This will be brighter and more visible than anything we’ve done before.”
“Where do you plan to do this?” Minister Terwin wanted to know.
“That’s something I need to talk about,” said Alcandor. “I want to do it on top of the highest temple in the highest mountain we can find. The Temple at Fernwod would be perfect, and I was hoping the Senate could prevail on the generosity of Speaker Zardok to make it available.”
Gondal took a quiet breath. This would not be easy. Gondal felt, once again, the enormity of trying to bridge the gap between Speaker Zardok and Lord Alcandor. Those two had been at odds as long as he could remember. They were as different as two people could be. The Speaker’s entire belief system was based on his unswerving faith in the goodness and beneficence of the Sun. Alcandor, on the other hand, didn’t take anything for granted. It angered the Speaker when Alcandor challenged things the Speaker believed should be beyond questioning. Yet, that was the very thing that made Alcandor’s science so valuable. He made them see things they couldn’t see before.
“I’ll make the request, Lord Alcandor,” said Gondal. “You’ll be informed as soon as I have an answer. Before we adjourn, can you tell me if you have other ideas if your mirrors do not work?”
“Yes, I’m working on something with glass. When light passes through glass of varying thickness, it changes the intensity of the light. I think it can be used to force the light of the bonfire into a more intense pattern that can be seen from farther away.”