by A. J. Ross
Raymonds eyes were wide, and for the first time since the fight, there was concern in them.
Lincoln continued, “She took it and sent it back after freeing the refugees. But it was my fault. If I hadn’t told her. If I had followed the rules. I didn’t follow them because I didn’t respect them. I didn’t listen to you because I chose not to. Now look at what I’ve done . . .” He wiped away the tears that had run down his cheeks.
Raymond was silent. He watched Lincoln cry, knowing it was probably exactly what he needed. He sighed and said simply, “Apology accepted.”
The two sat in silence for several moments. Neither of them was the least bit disturbed by it. When Lincoln had first joined the Sword Nation, he would show up to class early every day and wait in silence with his teacher until the rest of the students started to come in. It was a welcomed peace then, and a comfort for him now.
“So,” Raymond broke the silence. “What brings you here Mr. Wolfe?”
Lincoln remembered his purpose in coming. “Well, I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“When you were growing up on the ship from Earth, did anyone die?”
Raymond looked perplexed. “No, of course not. Why do you ask?”
“There’s a machine on the weapons base. Shang said that it is run by a human brain. The name isn’t in any of the files, but I have to find out who it was.”
There were several rapid changes of emotion in Raymond’s eyes, none of which Lincoln recognized. “The Lawreiis,” he said softly.
Lincoln’s eyes lit up. “You know about it?”
Raymond was thoughtful for a moment. He pulled out a chair and sat in front of Lincoln. “Let me tell you a story my neighbor told me after my mother died. . .”
Raymond remembered asking his mother’s neighbor, Mrs. Helen, how his mother had been granted a place on the ship to Graiis. She had nothing at all to offer the Grii. No skill, talent, or a particularly high IQ. She was average. Mrs. Helen hesitated.
“It was a purchase,” she said, “but not with money. The Grii wanted your father’s military genius. He was a high priority selection, but he wouldn’t leave your mother and you behind, so he made a deal with the Grii. He donated his heart and his brain for military use, in exchange for your mother and you. They removed them from him to be built into a computer system. Unlike the rest of the body, the Grii have technology that can support the life of the brain, practically forever. They use his brain to strategize for war, and invent weapons and aircraft.”
Lincoln listened in disbelief. “So, the Lawreiis is. . .?”
“It would seem so,” he replied.
“Have you been to it?”
Raymond shook his head, seeming somewhat embarrassed. “It’s just a machine,” he said softly.
Lincoln sat back in his chair thinking about what he had just learned. The machine that was ignoring him over and over again was powered by the conscious mind of Mr. Arthur's father. He started to feel a connection to the machine itself as he remembered his mother's story only a few hours ago. He had been the tall handsome man who forced his wife and child aboard a ship to a new world. Lincoln remembered writing a poem about Mr. Arthur's father after his mother had told him their story three years ago. A sense of wholeness came over him, and the vast world around him got a little bit smaller.
“Have you been to it?” Raymond asked with equal intensity.
“I have,” Lincoln replied, “but it doesn’t acknowledge me.”
“Why have you been to it?”
“I have to save my wife. And I was told the Lawreiis is the only thing that can tell me how to do it.”
“Christ,” Raymond muttered under his breath. “What are you going to do?”
Lincoln shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Keep trying I guess. I have to find a way.” He stood. “Allow me to speak out of line, sir?”
Raymond raised an eyebrow, “When have you ever needed my permission?”
“You should go to the Lawreiis. It will speak to you.”
Raymond’s eyes fell for just a moment at the thought, then they met Lincoln’s. “Good luck Mr. Wolfe.”
Lincoln walked home feeling the weight of his discovery in every step. His face was tense and his brow furrowed as he concentrated on his thoughts. Now he understood why Kiina had referred to the Lawreiis as a man. It had been built with the mind and heart of Raymond’s father Lawrence. It was more than artificial intelligence, it had been combined with human intelligence. In that way it was almost infallible. No wonder the Grii used it in military strategies. For Lincoln the question remained, How do I get the Lawreiis to respond to me?
He was caught up in the idea that Raymond’s father had sacrificed himself to save his family. What a gruesome exchange. He had chosen to live possibly for eternity, as a conscious mind and beating heart. No love, laughter, or human affection. Lincoln had always admired the tall handsome mystery man in the story. He viewed his actions as selfless. Most people just accepted the Griician terms as to who would be allowed to board the ship. What choice did they have? The general Tsamiit had stood guard with her weapon holstered above her left shoulder blade. Lincoln’s mother had told him about the people who were not accepted trying to board the ship, and the Griician women Fiiying them down. They killed many.
Raymond’s father must have seen this happening. He must have made a deal with the Grii when he learned that he alone qualified for life on their planet. He must have been completely out of his mind. Emotional and irrational. In a desperate move, he gave up all that was rightfully his, to save those he loved. He would miss the birth and growth of his son, never knowing the brilliant man Raymond had grown up to be. All human life on Graiis owed him a tremendous debt, and he had no clue.
He had preserved the life of a man who would lead a group of ordinary children in a petition to save the lives of hundreds of thousands on the planet. This same man would in a way become father to Lincoln and many of the other boys whose fathers were slain in the Gendercide. In Lincoln’s opinion, Lawrence’s actions had preserved the life of the strongest, smartest, and most capable man on the planet. He had made a decision based solely on emotion, yet that decision was the exact reason why Lincoln was alive today.
That’s it. He stopped walking and just stood. He wanted to focus all of his energy on his thoughts. The Lawreiis had judged him on his emotional instability and inability to carry out what he desired, but in this way, they were actually connected. Lawrence couldn’t have predicted the outcome of his actions. He did what he knew was right, and although it cost him greatly, it would mean salvation for many. These kinds of things are never measurable. They can’t be calculated.
If Lincoln could not appeal to the intelligence of the Lawreiis, he would have to appeal to the heart of it.
Lincoln entered the base and went directly into the Lawreiis. He took off all his clothes and went into the machine. This time he didn’t put his hands into the two circles at the front of the machine. He stood right in the center of the room and spoke out, “Stand up young king. Seize and believe, conquer; achieve. Anything you wish to be; will be.” His voice was firm but calm. “I wrote that for my father. Not my biological one. When I wrote that, my real dad was drowning himself in a bottle of alcohol. He had checked out. He wasn’t there for my mother or me. So, I didn’t write it for him. I didn’t write for the person who brought me into the world, I wrote for the one who helped me understand it. I didn’t write it for the man who gave me my manhood as a birthright, but the one who made me earn, value, and respect it. He put this idea into my mind that I had something to offer this world, so I completely gave myself to his guidance. Myself along with many others. He led us into victory when it was decreed that all men would be wiped from this planet. Even now he is the only man who is respected by both humans and the Grii. This man is Raymond Lawrence Anarthrous. He is my teacher, mentor, friend, and father on this planet. Until yesterday, he was the greatest man I’d ever
heard of.
I’ve learned of an even greater man. One who pushed a pregnant woman aboard a ship. My mother told me this story many times. A man gave up his own life. He agreed to a sentence that may have been worse even than death, and for what? To save his wife and child? If only he had looked at the situation objectively. He could’ve easily re-married on Graiis and started a new family. He could have put his life on Earth behind him and found a way to live happily.
Why? Why didn’t he do it? Why didn’t he choose the smartest course?” Lincoln scoffed and tears filled his eyes as he answered his own question. “Because he didn’t want to. He must have known true love is not a matter of course. It can’t be feigned or duplicated. If you are lucky enough to find the real thing once, you may never find it again. Despite the cost, true love is always worth the sacrifice.
You know why I’ve come today. Why I came yesterday . . . And why I will come tomorrow . . . I have to save my wife. I don’t care what it costs. I don’t care what my chances are. As long as there is air in my lungs I will not stop until she is safe. Why should I accept a ‘no’ from you? It was your inability to accept the Griician rules on a merit-based selection, that caused you to bargain with your own life. But in the end, that bargain is the reason why myself and thousands of other young men are alive. No one knows what the future holds. I think those irrational leaps of faith and love are the colors that shape our lives and the lives of others. Help me. I will not be a man of any less caliber than you have been. Help me, please.”
He stood alone in the cold room as the darkness and silence enveloped him. He didn’t know if the Lawreiis had heard him, and he wasn’t bothered by it. He knew he must always return until he was finally heard. He felt a sense of peace. It was a stillness he shared many times with his teacher Raymond. It was odd he should have the same feeling now. Or, maybe not so odd.
He felt a surge of power shoot through his body. First just one, and then there were many invading his body from the crown of his head to his toes. He felt his body slowly lifting from the ground until he was lying on his back in mid-air. The Lawreiis was lit up, and there was power going in and through Lincoln. He gasped for air as the feeling overloaded his senses all at once. He felt like he was being continuously electrocuted with low voltage. His temperature had risen, and he felt like his whole body was on fire. His eyes rolled back into his head and everything went black. Darkness. Silence.
The darkness was gradually disrupted by hints of color. Color springing up in patches in what looked to be some other universe. Lincoln struggled to regain access to his conscious mind, but something was different. The more he thought, the more the colors in the strange universe would dance with tunes of varied intensity, and he became certain he was seeing inside of his own mind. It was beautiful. He could read each of his thoughts as it was formed in his brain.
And then there were other thoughts. Thoughts he had not formed. The Lawreiis had hijacked his subconscious and was now driving his mind. He felt the intrusion of foreign intellect, calculation, and demand with each beat of his heart. He felt it. Every breath he took was drawn with complete control, tranquility, and purpose. He focused on the movement of colors and they spoke to him.
“The woman is safe for now. Rahilius knows he is no match for Griician warriors. He will take the time to seek an advantage, and endeavor to use the girl as a resource in that effort. But just as he is no match for Griician warriors, you are no match for him. And yet if you wish to save the woman, you must go to Kayora and kill him. You must train. Go to the greatest Fiiesman on this planet and secure her services. She will train you, and you must learn to wield the Fiie. You will suffer as never before, but you must be strong. You will return to me in ten weeks. At that time, whatever knowledge of battle, whatever ability or skill in wielding the Fiie, whatever anger, aggression, passion; whatever resolve, whatever courage you have acquired - when you return to me, I will double it. To honor my son and his world, when you return to me, I will double it. Only then will you be strong enough to survive all that you will encounter.”
Tears flowed from Lincoln’s open and fluttering eyes as the Lawreiis etched it’s words onto his mind. He felt such great satisfaction within himself. Such elation.
The voice fell silent. He felt the foreign consciousness within him slipping away, and he was granted the ability to once again control his own thoughts. His body slowly began to lower. The intensity of the lightning flowing through him began to lessen gradually until everything went black. He was deposited onto the ground in a heap of naked and unconscious flesh. All of the lights in the Lawreiis were off, and the room was as silent as it had been when he first entered.
Shang burst through the doors. “Wolfe. Wolfe. Are you alright?”
He cradled Lincoln in his arms, shaking him gently.
Lincoln awoke with a gasp of air. At first he didn’t recognize where he was or who was speaking to him.
“It’s me,” Shang assured him. “Wolfe, breathe. It’s me. What happened? Did you speak to it? I saw the lights.”
Lincoln heaved breath after breath as his memories returned to him. He remembered coming into the Lawreiis and speaking. He remembered sparks of electricity through his body. He remembered being lifted, and then . . . His eyes widened in disbelief and he looked at Shang, “He spoke to me,” he said, as a wide smile spread across his face. “The Lawreiis . . . he spoke to me.”
SEVEN
”Good news, and bad news”
A ceremony was held on Graiis to witness the anointing of the new acting Grisian. Lincoln stood shoulder to shoulder with the other council members, dressed in traditional Griician styles and patterns in a display of solidarity. The council had decided on blue; light with dark accents. Each suit was made with a floor-length wing that started from the left shoulder, and came around to connect at the right wrist. Each cape was embroidered with the symbol of a past Leader or General. Lincoln had chosen to wear the mark of Lord Grisian himself. It was a way for him to honor the one who would have become his father-in-law.
The council members were the only humans permitted to attend the ceremony. Raymond’s face was serious. Logan was on his right, and all of the others were to his left. He looked nervous. He had warned the boys to be extra careful in whatever they did or said.
“If I don’t talk,” he said brusquely, “you don’t talk. If I don’t move, you don’t move. If I stop breathing, I better not catch a single one of you drawing a breath, is that clear?”
“Yes sir,” the boys replied.
Lincoln couldn’t believe he was even allowed to attend. Kiina had accused him of treason, so he knew all of the other Grii must have a similar view. He had asked Raymond if he should stay behind, but he reassured him,
“Tsamiit wishes the entirety of the council be in attendance, that includes you Wolfe. We both know how the Grii feel about these things, but I suspect the general has her reasons for allowing you to enter the palace.”
Although Lincoln was still uneasy about his presence there, he was glad to have been invited. This was the perfect opportunity for him to speak with Kiina and tell her what the Lawreiis had instructed him to do. He needed to ask Kiina to train him. After all, she was the one who told him not to deviate from the Lawreiis’s instructions. He couldn’t have planned things better himself.
He remembered seeing Braii’s adoptive sister, Grisian’s bodyguard Kiina dance with the Fiie when he was younger. Braii had taken him down to the base, and the two of them tossed large pieces of fruit for Kiina to obliterate. Her speed and coordination with the Fiie was unlike anything Lincoln had ever seen, and she knowingly made a show of her combat prowess.
The light in her chest glowed a vibrant red as she sliced through Braii’s entire basket. She became so engrossed in the movements she continued to dance with the Sword as if she hadn’t noticed all of the fruit was gone. She expertly demonstrated precise movements, combinations, and war cries. It was poetic to watch - almost spiritual. At least
Lincoln felt so as he beheld this seasoned warrior in battle, slaying all her invisible enemies.
The Fiie blade itself was remarkable. When still, it could barely be seen, but the faster Kiina moved it, the more visible it became. You could hear it burning through whatever moisture was present in the atmosphere, leaving the faintest trail of glistening smoke with each stroke. It had a silvery sparkle like the shimmer of diamonds that could only be seen when she spun it in circular motions. The blade would curve in whatever direction was opposite the movement.
Lincoln saw her lean muscles bulging beneath her semi-transparent skin. He could see the passion burning in her eyes, rivaled only by the brilliance of the Fiie itself. He had been captivated. She was magnificent, and no doubt the Greatest Fiiesman on the planet. How convenient that Kiina would be the one to train him. He knew her, and they both had the same goal: Saving Braii.
Griician women lined the path to the throne. They stood with their assigned military units. Each group wore a slightly different set of colors according to unit or rank, but all wore the black steel armour underneath, and the Fiie was holstered at the left shoulder.
There were four women on the balcony, and they began to beat large drums. It started slowly and steadily, but gradually the pace quickened. They beat with speed and fervor. Despite the calculated and perfect harmony of the musicians, yet you could still hear the hints of individual passion leaking in between the notes.