“But you and your dad don’t believe that?”
“We’re of the opinion that the only way for the Empire to recover is to end this war,” said Amadeus. “And that means defeating the Deathlords decisively. The only way to do that is to take the fight to them. It’s not without its risks, but father says our current plan of bunkering down is a slow death as the Deathlords keep chipping away at us. We had to fight tooth-and-nail to get our offensive proposal through the Council of Juniors. And after news of your defeat of the Deathlord Planetkillers, it looked like we were going to sail through the Elders’ vote to pass it.”
“I take it that’s not the case anymore?” asked Jack, still watching as Eudox Skyborn debated the two representatives below.
“This assassination attempt on Mourdock Skyborn really set us back,” muttered Amadeus. “It has not only swung sympathy in favor of the Skyborns, who are the primary opposition to our proposal, but it has also cast a shadow on us as the ones behind it. Right now we're toxic, and every vote Skyborn is able to swing away from us makes it that much harder to recover. It also doesn’t help that he has Director Casgor in his pocket, and Casgor has been helping him sway Elders left and right.”
“Well, that kind-of gives you an argument that it wasn’t you guys who were behind it, since it turned out so bad for you,” said Jack.
Amadeus shook his head. “Only because it failed,” he replied. “If those assassins had succeeded, it would be a whole different story. With Mourdock dead, the Skyborns would have lost their claim to the throne and their alliances would have crumbled overnight.”
Jack studied Amadeus carefully. “It almost sounds like that’s what you wanted,” he said.
Amadeus looked at Jack and smirked. “It’s not,” he said. “I would have preferred nothing of the sort had happened to begin with.”
“Even though you’d be next in line to marry Anna if Mourdock was out of the picture?” Jack asked.
“You sound like you think we might have actually been behind this assassination attempt,” said Amadeus.
“I don’t,” said Jack. “But I was also there when the assassin said you’d sent him.”
“Ah, yes,” said Amadeus with a chuckle. “I don’t wish Mourdock Skyborn dead, but if I did, I like to think I’d be smart enough to hire killers who wouldn’t run around blabbing about my involvement with them. Don’t you think it’s rather convenient you and Mourdock lived to hear him utter such a damning accusation?”
“Didn’t seem convenient when we had to jump off the stratum to keep from getting blown up,” replied Jack. “I got the sense the guy didn’t expect us to survive his bomb and wanted to rub Mourdock’s face in it before he died.”
Amadeus frowned. “I guess it doesn’t matter who sent them in the end,” he said. “The damage has been done. The Skyborns grow stronger, the Empire grows weaker, and nobody but us Evenstars seem to care.”
Jack nodded. He could see how frustrated Amadeus looked. It was obvious he cared a great deal about protecting the Empire, and Jack found it hard to argue with the idea of fighting back against the Deathlords. But still, he needed to find out for sure if the Evenstars posed any threat to Anna.
“Well, it seems like you and your dad are pretty busy,” said Jack. “But I was wondering if you’d like to hang out sometime?”
Amadeus raised a curious eyebrow. “Funny,” he replied. “Based on the news reports I’ve seen, I’d think you’d be more interested in hanging out with my sister.”
Jack blushed. “It’s not what it looks like, dude,” he said.
Amadeus laughed. “It never is with Kimlee,” he said with a sigh, as if just saying her name were exhausting. “She hasn’t shut up about you, you know.”
“Uh… really?” asked Jack, somewhat surprised at that little revelation.
“Yes. With you running off during the State Dinner and then helping Mourdock fight off those assassins in the club, Kimlee thinks you have a real ‘bad boy’ thing going on. And she seems to like it.”
Bad boy, eh? thought Jack, standing up a bit taller as that idea tickled his fancy. Jack had never thought of himself that way before.
“Between my studies and helping my father corral the votes for our proposal, I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time to hang out, unfortunately,” continued Amadeus. “But my sister is hosting a party in a few days at our penthouse in the Redwater supertower. The whole family will be in attendance. You can come to that if you want. Truth be told, I’d appreciate your company there. I cannot stand the people Kimlee invites to those things.”
“Then why are you going?” asked Jack.
“Despite the insipid nature of her show, it’s watched by billions of citizens around the Empire,” said Amadeus. “Because of that it’s a great way for us to reach out and gain public support for our endeavors. I’m guessing that’s why father allows it to continue. It gives us a certain publicity edge that allows us to compete with the press the Skyborns receive regularly. I’m guessing father is planning to publically shame some of the Elders who are on the fence about this vote and put some pressure on them to swing over to our side. No doubt I’ll be featured prominently in the episode they’ll be taping for the party because if there’s one thing my sister and I excel at, it’s arguing with one another, and her fans love it when we argue. So it will be the perfect opportunity for me to talk about our message that the best defense is a good offence. But if you were around, at least I’d have someone to talk to whom I didn’t want to constantly strangle.”
“A party, huh?” said Jack. He’d been hoping he could just hang out with Amadeus one on one, without Kimlee around, but then Jack’s mind flashed to the moment they’d shared on the dance floor in Club Cristo. The way her eyes had looked into his as they danced. He suddenly felt a strange urge to see her again, despite his nerves. “Well, as long as there won’t be any assassins attending, I’d be down for that.”
Jack and Amadeus chuckled. “No, no assassins,” Amadeus replied. “Our personal guards will be in attendance providing security. They’re very good. No one who’s not supposed to be there will get by them.”
“Good, because I was beginning to feel I was safer with the Deathlords based on what I’ve experienced of recreation in the capitol so far,” joked Jack.
“Well, you have been hanging out with Mourdock Skyborn,” pointed out Amadeus. “He tends to be a magnet for trouble.”
“Really?”
“Indeed. He’s been training to be a hero since the moment he was born. And you should know better than anybody, Earthman…”
Amadeus gave Jack a sly smile.
“Trouble will always plague a hero.”
Chapter 28
Jack walked from the teleporter in the spaceport hangar toward his ship. He checked the time on his datapad. He was so concerned he’d get lost like he had in the Capitol Tower that he’d arrived early. He hadn’t thought about the fact that the hangar wasn’t anywhere near as complicated to navigate as the tower had been.
The Earthship stood there, its smooth hull seeming to shimmer even with the smallest bit of light. Jack smiled when he saw it. Something about the ship always made him feel good when he was close to it. He couldn’t quite describe the feeling. It was like the feeling one gets when returning home after a long day or seeing a best friend who’d been away for quite some time. It just felt good.
Jack was so focused on his ship, he almost missed the man who was standing in the hangar looking at it. He wore dark blue robes and stood still as stone as he gazed at the ship intensely. As Jack approached him, he realized he recognized the man. “Paragon Hasatan?” asked Jack.
Hasatan turned. There was a slight pause where it seemed the old man failed to recognize Jack, but he quickly recovered and smiled in response. “Ah, Earthman Finnegan,” he said. “Greetings.”
“Greetings,” replied Jack. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I wanted to take an opportunity to see with my own eyes the s
hip responsible for defeating the Planetkiller fleet,” he said. “It is quite a magnificent vessel. I understand you can talk to it?”
Jack eyed Hasatan suspiciously. “How did you hear about that?” he asked.
The old man chuckled. “Apologies,” he said. “Mourdock does not keep many secrets from me. He shared everything the Princess told him about your adventure. She explained to him certain details about your ship’s unique attributes.”
Jack frowned. He didn’t know why he felt strange with people knowing about his link to his ship. He guessed it was because he hadn’t made the choice to tell them himself. “My ship has done a pretty good job of guiding me through some tough times,” he said. “But it doesn’t really talk to me. Sometimes I wish it would, though. I get the feeling it could answer some pretty nagging questions I have.”
“Well, perhaps I could be of assistance with that?” Hasatan offered.
“You?”
“I have been known to answer a question or two in my day,” Hasatan said with a good-natured chuckle. “Just ask Mourdock. I’ve trained him in the ways of the Free Mind since he was born. He often seeks my advice and council, and I’m sure any question he’s had you might have now, as well. I know how confusing life can be… especially when one is struggling to understand powers that normal people cannot.”
Jack was quiet. He did want someone to talk to about some of the things he’d been struggling with lately. But at the same time, he didn’t know the Paragon all that well and felt uncomfortable being that open around him.
“Then again,” Hasatan continued after noticing the hesitant look on Jack’s face, “perhaps one with the power to destroy a Deathlord Supreme does not need the advice of an old man such as me. In fact, you could probably teach me a thing or two.”
Jack chuckled at that. “Doubtful,” he said. “I just tend to make stuff up as I go along.”
“Still, I am curious,” Hasatan said. “How does one ‘make up’ how to defeat the most powerful known Deathlord in all the universe? Surely, there has to be some planning involved? What was the key? How did you do it?”
Jack thought about his showdown with Zarrod in the heart of the Ghost Planet. That strange sensation when time seemed to slow and he could see the Deathlord’s energy and how it moved through the alien’s body. It was exactly the same thing that had happened at the club when he’d been able to see what the Seraphym really looked like and when he had danced with Kimlee.
“I’m… I’m not really sure how I did it,” Jack replied. “Sometimes I just get these… moments. Like, I can see things perfectly, almost as though I’m outside my own head, and I just seem to know the right thing to do. I don’t know what causes them to happen, but when they do, I can pull off all sorts of awesomeness.”
“Interesting,” muttered Hasatan. “Have you ever had any Paragon training?”
Jack shook his head. “No,” he replied. “Paragon Shepherd said he was going to train me when we got here, but he died.”
“Would you ever consider allowing me to train you?” Hasatan asked.
Jack looked at Hasatan, surprised at the offer. “Why would you want to train me?”
“It is what I do,” Hasatan said. “You seem to have a gift, Earthman. One which you do not know how to use yet. You’re seeking answers that you do not know how to find. I could help you locate what you seek, if you let me.”
“And how would you do that, exactly?”
“A free mind is able to tap into unlimited knowledge,” said Hasatan. “This includes knowledge of any number of things. How to fight. How to kill. How to survive. I’ve been training Mourdock on how to achieve mastery of these skills for many, many cycles. He is probably one of the most gifted warriors I have ever trained. But he never had as much raw potential as you seem to. With the right guidance, you could indeed be a warrior unlike any the universe has ever before seen.”
Jack remembered how amazing Mourdock was when they were attacked at the club. He’d always dreamed of being able to know how to fight like that. Suddenly, Hasatan’s offer seemed pretty appealing.
“How would that work?” asked Jack. “Don’t you have to spend all your time training Mourdock?”
“He is my primary pupil,” Hasatan replied. “But I was thinking I could train you alongside him.”
“Alongside him?”
“It was my understanding you two were becoming friends,” Hasatan said. “And Mourdock could help foster you down the path of the Free Mind just as I could. In fact, his assistance would most likely speed up your development.”
“You think so?” asked Jack. “How long do you think it would take me to learn to fight like Mourdock does?”
“I suppose that depends on your willingness to shed the beliefs that hold you back,” Hasatan said. “The mind is an interesting and complicated thing. Mourdock trains and studies and tries to learn to free himself from the shackles of his limitations, but he truly only seems to be able to accomplish this in times of crisis, when he needs that type of freedom the most. It seems to be in those moments of extreme danger that one’s mind can stop worrying about its own limitations. When death stares us in the face, we start to question our own beliefs. And it is the shedding of those beliefs which gives us the ability to become truly free. To set aside what weighs us down and break loose from our bondage. Such is the power of death. The great unknown. To stare in the face of that which we do not understand and cannot comprehend… it can be the ultimate form of liberation. Tell me, have you ever stared into the face of death, Earthman?”
Images of Shepherd, as the life faded from his eyes, flashed into Jack’s mind – followed closely by images of Zarrod, tearing away at Jack’s soul with his evil magic, the Deathlord’s fiery gaze mocking him. “Yes,” Jack replied.
“And what did you see?”
“Nothing I care to remember.”
“It is probably that urge to forget which prevents you from progressing…” Hasatan said, “the urge to be comfortable… to return your mind to those places you are familiar with, rather than to face that which you do not understand. But there is a certain order to be found within chaos. A purity to the void. Have you ever wondered why it is death exists?”
“Not really.”
“I’ve thought about this at great length,” Hasatan said. “If life is so precious and wondrous, why would nature have a mechanism in place to rob us of it? Why would death be a natural part of the universe? Unless death was a necessary aspect of it. Perhaps it is the embodiment of something far beyond our comprehension. And if that is the case, then imagine what type of power it must wield. Just think about it. Everything dies. Plants. Animals. Men. Even stars die at some point. Nothing can stand against its power. And yet, as incomprehensible as death is, man is still able to harness it… to wield it… to use it to further his own goals. You used death to achieve victory over your enemy, and look at how powerful it has made you.”
Jack shifted uncomfortably at the Paragon’s words. “I don’t know if I really agree with that,” Jack said.
“Oh?” Hasatan replied. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. I mean, what you say makes sense, I guess,” Jack said. “But it sounds like the kind of thing a Deathlord would say.”
“Well, I’m afraid I’ve never had the opportunity to speak with a Deathlord,” Hasatan replied.
“All I know is that every time I’ve achieved something having to do with a free mind, it’s not because I was worried about dying,” Jack said. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I do worry about it. But it’s more like… it happens when people I care about are in danger. Not necessarily me. It happens when I think about my mom, or my friends, or people I care about. It happens when I want to help them. To save them. How I feel about them… it inspires me somehow. Makes me want to be something more than what I am. Something better. It’s not death that causes it. It’s… it’s love.”
Hasatan looked at Jack curiously. “Love?”
Jack sighed. �
��I don’t know what else to call it,” he said. “It’s just the feeling I get in my chest when it happens. I’ve seen too much death to believe there’s any real power in it. Cried too many tears to believe it’s meant to be natural. Life… life’s natural. Life’s what is worth fighting for. Maybe death is just some limitation we put on life, just like the limitations we put on our own minds – something we create because we just don’t know any better. Back on my planet, people believed in something called Heaven, and death was nothing more than a gateway to a different kind of life. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I like to think it is. Heck, I hope it is. But every good thing I’ve ever had has come from life, and the love others bring into it. Without death, there would be no pain. No sadness. No loss. So don’t tell me there’s power in any of that. The people I love… they give me power. Their lives are what give me strength. That’s what feels natural to me.”
Hasatan stood quietly for a moment, studying Jack, before nodding his head. “Perhaps there is something to that,” he finally said. “If there is power in death, then it stands to reason there is power in life, as well. Light and dark, love and hate… equal yet opposite. Two sides of the same coin. If what you say is true, then that is the thing that will free your mind, and you must learn to tap into that resource when you need it.”
“And how do I do that?”
“When I do it, it always starts with emotion,” Hasatan replied. “In battle, it becomes easy to channel one’s hate, anger, and loathing for an opponent. That’s always been the key for me. That raw emotion which I can focus on as the catalyst to unlocking my abilities. But you obviously must focus on different emotions. Find this love you speak of. Feel it. And once you do, let your mind be consumed by it. Allow it to free you from the limitations you’ve placed on yourself. Changing how you feel can change how you think. And changing how you think, can free your mind.”
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 31
