by Peter David
Ramed shook his head. "No. No, not at all. At the moment, in fact, there is great consternation among my people. You made quite the impression upon them in a fairly short time. Although admittedly, you did have help. We told the people of your coming, we told them that you were the fulfillment of prophecy. Naturally they could not help but love you. See you as a symbol of something truly great."
"And you, for some reason, feel the need to undo all that?"
Slowly, Ramed sank down to the ground near him, as if he were commiserating somehow. "I have no choice," he said simply. "My part in these matters is as predestined as your arrival was. As your death is."
"You are so certain, then, that I am going to die."
From the folds of his clothes, Ramed pulled out a wooden handle. He pushed on it and a long and sharpened point snapped out. "Neither man nor woman will save you," Ramed said.
The words immediately struck a cord within Cal-
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houn. It had been the exact words of his ghostly visitor from earlier. But Ramed had made quite clear that he had not heard the exchange; unless, for some reason, Ramed was endeavoring to completely confuse him. But that didn't seem likely. Ramed might be deluded, even demented, and certainly bent on Cal-houn's destruction, but remarkably subtle he most definitely was not.
They stared at each other for a time. Then Ramed said, "Are you not going to beg for your life?"
"Am I supposed to?" Calhoun asked sarcastically. "You seem to be rather cognizant of what's to come. You tell me."
"I do not claim to know every detail," Ramed replied.
"Ah. Well, thank you for clearing that up." Cal-houn's eyes narrowed. He struggled to bring himself up to a fully sitting position and managed by dint of pulling his back up against the wall. "Why do you think I'm going to beg for my life?"
"Well, that is a natural action for one who is destined to die."
"We're all destined to die, Ramed. Beg for my life? I've been prepared to die since age fifteen. I never expected to live to see twenty. Every day beyond that, I've considered to be something of a gift. So if you're expecting to see me grovel and crawl now, if that's what this is about"
"No, that's not what this is about. This is about saving my world."
"I thought that's what my presence here was doing."
"You have no say in the matter either, oh Great One. You are as caught up in all this as I am."
"Caught up in all what?" Calhoun said slowly, as if addressing a child. "You have yet to tell me what the hell this is all about."
"You truly desire to know?"
"No, Ramed, it's always been my goal to die in ignorance. Yes, of course I want to know."
Ramed rose, walking away from him and disappearing into the inner recesses of the cave. This, to Calhoun, did not seem the most straightforward manner of answering a question. Moments later, however, Ramed returned with a scroll. It was carefully preserved within a tube, and Ramed removed it from the cylinder with extreme delicacy. He began to read from it, and Calhoun could tell from the way that Ramed wasn't even truly looking at it that either he was making it up as he went, or else he had read it so many times that he more or less had it memorized.
"'Look to the stars, for from there will come the Messiah,'" Ramed said." The bird of flame will signal his coming. He will bear a scar, and he will be a great leader. He will come from air and return to air. And he will be slain by the appointed one. The appointed one, who will be privy to great knowledge. The appointed one , a great spiritual and religious leader, one to whom many will look for guidance, who will hear these words and know, within his heart, that he is the one who is chosen to slay the Savior. He and no other. There will be a great festival to celebrate the Savior, from which the Savior will disappear. And he will then live for three days and three hours exactly after that disappearance. There will come a great confrontation within the place that was once my home. The Savior will be saved by neither man nor woman, and he will die, impaled on the great spear passed down by my descendants. And in that slaying, the Messiah's death will unite our planet. And . . .'" Ramed's voice trailed off.
"Oh, don't stop now," Calhoun said drily. "This was just getting interesting."
" 'And if he does not die in the appointed way, then the final war will destroy all? All. All!" he added for emphasis.
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houn. It had been the exact words of his ghostly visitor from earlier. But Ramed had made quite clear that he had not heard the exchange; unless, for some reason, Ramed was endeavoring to completely confuse him. But that didn't seem likely. Ramed might be deluded, even demented, and certainly bent on Cal-houn's destruction, but remarkably subtle he most definitely was not.
They stared at each other for a time. Then Ramed said, "Are you not going to beg for your life?"
"Am I supposed to?" Calhoun asked sarcastically. "You seem to be rather cognizant of what's to come. You tell me."
"I do not claim to know every detail," Ramed replied.
"Ah. Well, thank you for clearing that up." Cal-houn's eyes narrowed. He struggled to bring himself up to a fully sitting position and managed by dint of pulling his back up against the wall. "Why do you think I'm going to beg for my life?"
"Well, that is a natural action for one who is destined to die."
"We're all destined to die, Ramed. Beg for my life? I've been prepared to die since age fifteen. I never expected to live to see twenty. Every day beyond that, I've considered to be something of a gift. So if you're expecting to see me grovel and crawl now, if that's what this is about"
"No, that's not what this is about. This is about saving my world."
"I thought that's what my presence here was doing."
"You have no say in the matter either, oh Great One. You are as caught up in all this as I am."
"Caught up in all what?" Calhoun said slowly, as if addressing a child. "You have yet to tell me what the hell this is all about."
"You truly desire to know?"
"No, Ramed, it's always been my goal to die in ignorance. Yes, of course I want to know."
Ramed rose, walking away from him and disappearing into the inner recesses of the cave. This, to Calhoun, did not seem the most straightforward manner of answering a question. Moments later, however, Ramed returned with a scroll. It was carefully preserved within a tube, and Ramed removed it from the cylinder with extreme delicacy. He began to read from it, and Calhoun could tell from the way that Ramed wasn't even truly looking at it that either he was making it up as he went, or else he had read it so many times that he more or less had it memorized.
"'Look to the stars, for from there will come the Messiah,'" Ramed said." The bird of flame will signal his coming. He will bear a scar, and he will be a great leader. He will come from air and return to air. And he will be sla
in by the appointed one. The appointed one, who will be privy to great knowledge. The appointed one , a great spiritual and religious leader, one to whom many will look for guidance, who will hear these words and know, within his heart, that he is the one who is chosen to slay the Savior. He and no other. There will be a great festival to celebrate the Savior, from which the Savior will disappear. And he will then live for three days and three hours exactly after that disappearance. There will come a great confrontation within the place that was once my home. The Savior will be saved by neither man nor woman, and he will die, impaled on the great spear passed down by my descendants. And in that slaying, the Messiah's death will unite our planet. And . . .'" Ramed's voice trailed off.
"Oh, don't stop now," Calhoun said drily. "This was just getting interesting."
" 'And if he does not die in the appointed way, then the final war will destroy all? All. All!" he added for emphasis.
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"That was truly riveting," Calhoun told him. "And what am I supposed to learn from that?"
"You are supposed to understand," Ramed said in genuine confusion. He waved the spear around for emphasis. "This is prophecy. These are the words of Ontear himself. Most of it has not been made known to the good people of Zondar. Only that the Savior would one day come. That is all they know. But it was the wish of Onteara wish carried out by his greatest acolyte, Sutithat only the innermost circle know of the true, full details of what was to happen. After all, who would willingly wish to become known as the Savior of the Zondarian people if he knew that his destiny was to die in order to obtain that unity?"
"I can see where that would be a problem."
"Suti kept the sacred knowledge within his own family, and that knowledge was handed down, from one generation to the next. The secret scroll, passed down, the information waiting for the time that was to come."
"And you're certain that I am the Savior," Calhoun said. "You're so certain of that. And that you are the appointed one who is supposed to kill me."
"Of course," Ramed said in clear confusion. "How can you possibly dispute it? The prophecy is clear"
"Is it? How do you know?"
"It could not be more clear!"
"T'hanchips. I think you're looking for an excuse," Calhoun told him. "I think you're just a deluded, would-be murdering bastard who's looking for any excuse"
Ramed was literally trembling with rage. "How can you say that? You know nothing of me! You know nothing!" He drew closer to Calhoun. "I have a wife! A son! I am a good man, a decent man, who has never harmed a soul in my entire life! Do you think I wanted this task? Do you? I lived in dread of being the
appointed one! As did my father, and his father before him! You have no idea what it was like, Calhoun! No idea of the burden my family has carried! Every day, for generations, Zondarians have hoped and prayed that the Savior would come! And every day, for generations, my clan has dreaded that moment, for we knew that the knowledge we possessed ensured our damnation! If I lived my entire life and never set eye on the Savior, I would have died in peaceno! I lie, for I would have had to pass the knowledge on to my son, thereby condemning him to a life of apprehension! I have spared him that, at least. For that, I suppose, I should be grateful. I must do this thing, Calhoun. I have no choice, no free will. My people, the fate of my very world, depends on my next actions! I must do that which I find personally repugnant in order to ensure that my planet is united! For if I do not, if my will is weak, if I fail in the endeavor, then there will come a great war which will destroy everything! How can I condemn my people, my world, to that?"
"Your destiny is no more and no less than what you make of it," Calhoun said. "Letting your every move be dictated by vague prophecy . . ."
"There is nothing vague about it!"
"There sure as hell is."
"It speaks of your coming from the stars, with the flame bird as your avatar!"
"The flame bird merely speaks of the timing of it. Even if you judge that this is the time, that doesn't mean I'm necessarily the one you're expecting. All our worlds orbit stars, or suns. We owe our lives, our existence to them. We all come from the stars, Ramed. All of us. Singling me out simply because I come from a starship is folly."
'"He will come from air and return to air!' You materialized out of the air itself!"
"You're a spiritual individual, Ramed. Don't you
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"That was truly riveting," Calhoun told him. "And what am I supposed to learn from that?"
"You are supposed to understand," Ramed said in genuine confusion. He waved the spear around for emphasis. "This is prophecy. These are the words of Ontear himself. Most of it has not been made known to the good people of Zondar. Only that the Savior would one day come. That is all they know. But it was the wish of Onteara wish carried out by his greatest acolyte, Sutithat only the innermost circle know of the true, full details of what was to happen. After all, who would willingly wish to become known as the Savior of the Zondarian people if he knew that his destiny was to die in order to obtain that unity?"
"I can see where that would be a problem."
"Suti kept the sacred knowledge within his own family, and that knowledge was handed down, from one generation to the next. The secret scroll, passed down, the information waiting for the time that was to come."
"And you're certain that I am the Savior," Calhoun said. "You're so certain of that. And that you are the appointed one who is supposed to kill me."
"Of course," Ramed said in clear confusion. "How can you possibly dispute it? The prophecy is clear"
"Is it? How do you know?"
"It could not be more clear!"
"T'hanchips. I think you're looking for an excuse," Calhoun told him. "I think you're just a deluded, would-be murdering bastard who's looking for any excuse"
Ramed was literally trembling with rage. "How can you say that? You know nothing of me! You know nothing!" He drew closer to Calhoun. "I have a wife! A son! I am a good man, a decent man, who has never harmed a soul in my entire life! Do you think I wanted this task? Do you? I lived in dread of being the
appointed one! As did my father, and his father before him! You have no idea what it was like, Calhoun! No idea of the burden my family has carried! Every day, for generations, Zondarians have hoped and prayed that the Savior would come! And every day, for generations, my clan has dreaded that moment, for we knew that the knowledge we possessed ensured our damnation! If I lived my entire life and never set eye on the Savior, I would have died in peaceno! I lie, for I would have had to pass the knowledge on to my son, thereby condemning him to a life of apprehension! I have spared him that, at least. For that, I suppose, I should be grateful. I must do this thing, Calhoun. I have no choice, no free will. My people, the fate of my very world, depends on my next actions! I must do that which I find personally repugnant in order to ensure that my planet is united! For if I do not, if my will is weak, if I fail in the endeavor, then there will come a great war which will destroy everything! How can I condemn my people, my world, t
o that?"
"Your destiny is no more and no less than what you make of it," Calhoun said. "Letting your every move be dictated by vague prophecy . . ."
"There is nothing vague about it!"
"There sure as hell is."
"It speaks of your coming from the stars, with the flame bird as your avatar!"
"The flame bird merely speaks of the timing of it. Even if you judge that this is the time, that doesn't mean I'm necessarily the one you're expecting. All our worlds orbit stars, or suns. We owe our lives, our existence to them. We all come from the stars, Ramed. All of us. Singling me out simply because I come from a starship is folly."
'"He will come from air and return to air!' You materialized out of the air itself!"
"You're a spiritual individual, Ramed. Don't you
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believe in the ephemeral nature of the spirit? We are plucked from nothingness, and to nothingness we return."
Ramed shook his head and pointed accusingly at Calhoun, coming to within a foot of him. "This is absurd," he said. "In most cultures, prophecies are vague, and those with something to gain try to find the specifics that will serve them. Here the prophecies could not be more specific, and you seek to dilute them."
"I'm simply pointing out that maybe they're not as precise as you thought. You could just as easily be the savior as me. You're a great leader, after all."
"Oh really?" Ramed smiled patronizingly. '"He will bear a scar.' What of that? I have no scar."
That was when Calhoun lunged forward.
He'd slowly been positioning himself, maintaining what seemed a casual sitting position. The moment that Ramed was close enough, however, Calhoun made his move.
His intention was to slam into Ramed with such force that he would knock him cold. He would then grab the sharpened pike and use it to cut through the ropes that were binding him. For a spur of the moment plan, it wasn't bad.
Unfortunately the ground betrayed him.
There was a thin layer of gravel. Had his feet been free so that he could properly maneuver, he would have easily been able to vault it or maneuver around it. But with his feet tied up, it was impossible for him to move with his usual agility.
