A Dubious Peace
Page 64
He had been silent since leaving Mark. Carnigan and Synton had tried to engage him but had given up after his unresponsiveness. They shrugged to each other and, with hand gestures, agreed it was merely another of Yozef Kolsko’s strange spells.
As long as it was daylight, his mind plotted, but as they walked, darkness descended, and his thinking involuntarily took a more somber tone. As brilliant as he had been in his chemistry courses, he had been an indifferent student in the general education requirements at the University of California, Berkeley. Among the latter courses was a survey of philosophy, not a topic to his taste. However, either due to his enhanced memory or because it struck some chord within him, he remembered in great detail a single lecture on the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The elderly professor, his unkempt white hair reminding Yozef of Einstein in photos, railed too long about the injustice heaped on Nietzsche when people associated him with Nazism and anti-Semitism, both of which he would have firmly opposed.
When the professor wrapped up the lecture, he quoted the philosopher and related it to world leaders, past and present. “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Yozef repeated the quote to himself three times. If he continued on the course outlined in his mind, he would not only involve Caedellium in dangerous affairs outside its coasts but could also facilitate fighting on a grand scale. Thousands would die. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Of course, as many or more might die if Caedellium sat behind impregnable defenses. It was unpredictable. Could he live with the results? He didn’t know, but he would find out.
They left Orosz City and began the climb into the cleft. He only occasionally noticed shapes—trees, a few structures, slopes whose presence was known only by the way they blocked the stars, and a few lights from lanterns shining through windows. At the moment, it didn’t occur to him that the color of the lights was from kerosene lanterns, instead of whale oil as it had been before his arrival on Anyar.
Finally, they reached the branching road to home. They were halfway to the manor when he turned to his companions.
“Go ahead. Tell the others I’ll be there in a moment.”
Carnigan and Synton looked at each other, their faces illuminated enough by the interior manor lanterns. They nodded and continued without him.
He turned from the window lights and looked again into the darkness. Time passed. A cloud covered the starlight. It was pitch black, but somehow faint images seemed to form in the night. His mind involuntarily tried to identify the shapes until he came to one that reminded him of looking into a mirror. He broke into a cold sweat.
THE END
Books by Olan Thorensen
Destiny’s Crucible
Yozef Kolsko Thread
Cast Under and Alien Sun
The Pen and the Sword
Heavier Than a Mountain
Forged in Fire
Tales of Anyar (anthology)
Passages
A Dubious Peace
Other Threads
An Ancient Enemy (novella)
Paladins of Distant Suns
A Tangled Road to Justice
The Road to Nowhere (forthcoming)
The Janus Harbinger
Harbinger
Greta Havorsford Novels (writing as Kelsey Robicheaux)
The Pink Flamingo
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Patricia Waldygo at Desert Sage Book Editing Services for innumerable improvements to the book and teaching me those things about writing and grammar that I didn’t learn in school. Appreciation also to beta readers: Kathleen Martinez, Fred Anderson, Jason Swearingin, Kenneth Pence, Wayne Byerly, and especially Jenna Ossip-Klein. Unacknowledged but appreciated over time are comments and suggestions from many readers and listeners of the Destiny’s Crucible series. The Seaborn maps are the creation of Sam Lewis. Cover by Alex at Podium Audio.
About the Author
Olan Thorensen is a pen name. He’s a long-time science fiction fan (emphasis on ‘long’) who has jumped into independent publication with all its pitfalls and unknowns. He thinks all colors go together: clash, what clash? A fan of Dilbert, Non Sequitur, Peanuts (even if old strips), and still thinks the end of The Far Side was a tragedy. In his youth, served in the US Special Forces (Vietnam:SOG). Has a Phd in Genetics, around 200 science publications as author and co-author on genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. Is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Lives in the Blue Ridge country of Virginia. Thinks it’s totally cool someone can read his stories and enjoy them. Loves fireflies, thunderstorms, is eclectic in music, and thinks four seasons are better than one. His web page is olanthorensen.com. All input from readers is appreciated.
Please email me with any comments at olanthorensen@gmail.com or through my web site at olanthorensen.com. I promise to read all emails, though I won’t be able to answer personally every one. Also, if you enjoyed the story, please leave a comment/review on appropriate venues, such as Amazon and Goodreads. Readers and authors have a synergistic relationship. The more reviews, the more likely there are for more books.
MAPS OF ANYAR are available for viewing and downloading at olanthorensen.com.