by Dale Musser
The descent went smoothly and a bit slower than I anticipated, but definitely much quicker than we would have traveled on foot. While descending, we could see clusters of lantern lights glowing in the string of villages that rose from the jutting terraces. Occasionally we would glimpse the movement of a pedestrian walking along one of the paths. The journey up the mountainside had taken us nearly an hour, but our descent was completed in less than ten minutes. Once the gondola stopped at the perimeter of the hangar, we quickly boarded the transport and were airborne on the return route to the spaceport.
Shortly after departing the Haljmat, Padaran and I sampled morsels of food set out for us in the lounge, while Lood stood alone by a window with a cup of tea, looking into the darkness and Asalott sat at a distance, also lost in thought or prayer.
Padaran turned to me and said quietly, “Tibby, I nearly lost it when I saw your image on the frescoes in the cavern. I even saw my own image in one fresco that looked like a scene from Goo’Waddle.”
“I know how you feel. Looking upon those statues and paintings was utterly amazing and eerie. Nothing I have ever experienced could have prepared me for that moment. It was as though every major event that happened to me since I reached Federation space was detailed on those walls.”
“Do you really believe those scenes were painted over a thousand years ago?” asked Padaran.
“I don’t know. They certainly looked like they may have been.”
“But didn’t you find it suspicious that the one event depicted on the wall that would enlighten us most in the present time is also the one that was damaged? Anyone could have painted what has already happened and claim prophecy and create images of the future that may or may not prove to be true.”
“Yes, but enough detail remained to make out an immense amount of debris dispersed throughout a large battle scene and the Federation’s impending attack on the Brotherhood. Maybe that’s all it is. According to the prophecy, I obviously survive, because I’m still depicted in the images that represent events later in the timeline… though I have no idea what those events are all about.”
“I still find it strange,” said Padaran. “What about that last panel – the one of the nebula? How does that relate to you?”
“I don’t know. I can’t answer that one.”
“I trust both of you are comfortable,” said Lood as he approached us.
“Uh, yes, quite comfortable,” I said. “Padaran and I were just discussing the frescoes in the Haljmat cavern temple. I noticed that, based on the events which have happened thus far, only a few remain to unfold in the future. Does this mean that the war will soon come to an end and that we will be victorious?”
“I am not the religious scholar that the Gom-Pasha is,” answered Lood. “However, according to Migallie’s prophecy you are indeed victorious and, as the prophecy’s conclusion details, you and those with you at the moment of victory are gifted with immortality.”
“I really don’t care about immortality, just as long as the Brotherhood and Ming’s rule are brought to an end,” I stated.
“According to our beliefs, one can only achieve immortality by not wanting it and still doing all the right things. If immortality is your goal, you can never achieve it.”
I laughed. “Well then I would imagine that heaven is not very well populated.”
“I do not understand? What is heaven?” Lood asked.
“Ah, yes. I keep forgetting I’m not on Earth and not all religions share the same elements in their belief systems. Heaven was a concept held by many religions as being a place where you go for eternity, if you lived a righteous life and obeyed the rules of that religion.”
“Ah, I see. There are many such religions throughout the galaxy,” said Lood with a knowing look. “We Neovian Universalists do not believe in a life after life that involves an eternal heaven; rather we see an individual’s existence as a progression of lives that ascend incrementally toward universal oneness as the individual grows in the spirit.”
“You sound a little like Thumumba,” I said.
“I heard you mention this Thumumba earlier, but I am not familiar with him in the prophecies concerning you.”
“Well, I’m no theologian, so I won’t try to describe Thumumba,” I replied, “nor am I familiar with the details of all the prophecies that concern me, so I don’t know what kind of role Thumumba plays in all of this.”
Perhaps it is best that you do not know, otherwise, your knowledge might alter your actions.”
“I’m not sure I believe enough in prophecies to allow the prophecies to influence me.”
“But surely, after seeing the walls of prophecy in the Haljmat, you cannot have any doubts?”
“I’m confident that events will happen somewhere in the infinity of time that match any prophecy almost perfectly, if you wait long enough,” I answered. “I will admit the coincidences are incredible, but I’m still skeptical.”
I had planned to catch a short nap before we reached the spaceport, but I found I wasn’t all that tired. After the others retired, I watched Asalott fidget and sweep back his long hair as he grappled with the unknowns that lay before him. I decided this was a good time to speak with him.
I expected Asalott to be more grounded and spiritual than he was. There was a certain hardness about him at first that was a little unnerving. For one thing, his open disgust and hatred of Ming seemed to dominate his reason for living, at least up to the point where he joined the monastic order at Eh-Netta. He explained that he decided to join the priesthood in hopes of overcoming his hatred, so he could move forward and live a life centered in love and harmony rather than hostility and revenge. Asalott expressed that he had already come a long way in overcoming his bitter past. I found this difficult to believe, based on the vitriol that exuded from him when talking about Ming.
He related to me how the Brotherhood came to Domagota under the guise of seeking to establish businesses and trade and to launch a shipbuilding operation. Word of their aggressions and war with the Federation had not reached Domagota at that point. Hence, the government of Domagota welcomed Ming and the Brotherhood with open arms and made an agreement with them that would allow them to move forward with their declared plans. However, instead of setting up businesses, the Brotherhood used the facilities and spaces provided to them to set up bases and amass troops and military equipment. Ultimately, the government officials woke one day to find themselves surrounded by armed Brotherhood troops and large, menacing asteroid-ships patrolling in orbit around the planet. Domagota had banned the personal ownership of weapons years earlier, in the belief that such legislation would benefit their society; so, surrounded by armed invaders, they were helpless to resist or defend themselves in any way. In less than two days, Ming and his minions had taken over the entire planet with almost no opposition.
As with all their other conquests, the Brotherhood immediately began seizing the best homes and estates for use by their officials and ranking officers. People were taken into slavery and family members were separated. Anyone who resisted died. Asalott’s brother had been one of those who tried to resist. His face twisted in anger when he described how he learned that his brother had been flayed alive. Asalott had been off world when the takeover took place. He was on his way back from a business trip in a private merchant ship when he learned of the Brotherhood occupation. The captain of the ship helped him acquire fake identification, so the Brotherhood would not realize he was a citizen of Domagota and take him into custody. This merchant ship made regular stops at Domagota, so Asalott made arrangements with the captain to take him off-world again on his next visit.
Over the following month, Asalott collected as much data as he could get his hands on and planned to give to any enemies of the Brotherhood he could find after departing the planet. Eventually, the merchant ship returned to Domagota and he escaped with his intelligence, hoping to quickly find the right people to act on the information and turn the tables in the fight
against Ming and the Brotherhood.
The captain of the ship was sympathetic to Asalott’s situation and gave him a job with the crew. This arrangement facilitated Asalott’s search for Ming’s adversaries across the numerous ports of call where the merchant ship conducted trade. Ultimately, the ship arrived at Domagota.
It was shortly after landing at Eh-Netta that Asalott learned about the Federation’s longstanding battle against the Brotherhood organization. While the Federation was not unheard of in that part of the galaxy, Eh-Netta had suprisingly little direct contact with Federation citizens or traders. Still Eh‑Netta was the merchant ships nearest port to Federation space and the captain could not deviate from his route for the sake of Asalott’s purpose. Hence, Asalott decided to end his employment on the ship and stay on Eh-Netta with the hopes of finding a secure way to reach Federation authorities and provide them with his cache of information about Ming’s whereabouts. Asalott went on to work in the security division of Eh-Netta’s main spaceport, where he encountered a criminal caught in the act of an illicit trade deal within the facility. During the interrogation, the criminal identified himself as a regular informant to the FSO. Asalott used this fact to leverage some leniency for his prisoner in return for the FSO agent’s contact information. After relinquishing his data to the FSO, he applied to the priesthood, believing that his role in the struggle against the Brotherhood had come to an end; that is, until our arrival at the Haljmat.
I was impressed with Asalott. As he continued to talk about his experiences, I could see a softening in his expression and countenance. His earlier dialogues about Ming and the Brotherhood were harsher than what he displayed later on, perhaps because he was finally beginning to comprehend that his efforts were coming to fruition with his new mission and his alliance with me. It was obvious that he still struggled with his emotions regarding the events that had happened; but in spite of his fierce determination, he remained humble about his role in bringing an end to the Brotherhood’s galactic-wide tyranny. He expressed how pleased he was that the Gom-Pasha had decided that joining us was a religious undertaking and that he was worthy of this historically and spiritually epic mission.
I was a bit nervous as to how he would react when I explained that the planned attack was not officially sanctioned by the Federation government and that our activities had to be treated with the utmost discretion and secrecy – the kind of secrecy that might meet with reproach from the Gom-Pasha. The revelation did not seem to disquiet him. In his eyes, government authorization meant nothing, as the lack of discernment and defenses exercised by his own planet’s government essentially facilitated the Brotherhood’s oppression of his home world and the destruction of his family. In his eyes, there was no secret and no deception in moving forward without the government’s knowledge.
The trip back to Federation space went quickly, once we had reached our freighter and said our farewells to Lood. Asalott was awed by the Cantolla Gates. People from the outer worlds, beyond Federation space, had heard of the Cantolla Gates, but few had ever seen or traveled through one. Asalott was surprised that the only thing he noticed or felt when passing through a gate was the change in gravity. He said he expected a tingling sensation or some other physical manifestation of the transition, but there was none. It was simply like walking through a doorway from one room to another.
Once aboard the MAXETTE, Padaran and I took Asalott straight to the War Room, where Marranalis was about to go off duty.
“Admiral, welcome back. I trust the mission went well…?”
“Yes, very well indeed. I’d like you to meet Asalott. He's been granted permission by the Gom‑Pasha to assist us in our campaign against Ming at Domagota.”
“That’s good to hear,” Marranalis answered. “It’s a pleasure to have you with us, Asalott.
“Sir, do you wish me to find quarters for him?”
“No. I think for now I will provide him with a suite on the NEW ORLEANS. Padaran, why don’t you see to assigning Asalott’s temporary living quarters,” I said.
“Right away, Tibby,” replied Padaran.
I noticed a confused look on Asalott’s face.
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so, but I am puzzled. Isn’t Padaran part of your military forces?”
“No. Padaran is head of my personal security forces. His authority is limited to security measures maintained for my family and employees, as well as my private ships and estate. He has no military rank. Captain Marranalis is my personal military aide. He manages all my military affairs.”
“Oh, I see,” he answered. However, he clearly didn’t, as I could still read the bewildered thoughts in his expression.
Padaran and Asalott then left for the NEW ORLEANS, leaving Marranalis and I to catch up on the activities of the past day and a half.
“So, Captain,” I said returning my attention to Marranalis. “What’s the news?”
“Admiral Regeny plans to begin his attack at Glomar Rosa day after tomorrow. Also, as of today, our scout ship has set up stellar gates just outside of sensor range at Domagota. Federation troops and fighters are at the ready and the android and Ruwallie Rasson forces are in position. All that remains is for you to give the orders.”
“Alright, we’ll initiate our attack simultaneously with Regeny’s assault on Glomar Rosa. Maybe the distraction of the two attacks will disrupt Ming enough that he will get sloppy, allowing us to overtake him with a surgical strike that results in minimal civilian casualties. I’m sure Ming will learn of Regeny’s assault on Glomar Rosa almost immediately. His commanding officers there will no doubt contact him using the Deep-Space Communicators. Hopefully, we’ll hit Ming’s palace at the same time and he won’t be able to focus on either battle front. I wish we had Slater here to advise us, but he’s with Regeny and we can’t take the chance asking him for advice.
“Before you finish your shift, set up a meeting on the MIZBAGONA to take place first thing tomorrow morning. Include Captain Mareoparen, Captain Felenna, Captain Nybidong, Padaran, Andy and, of course, Asalott. We have a lot to discuss. Right now, however, I need to get some sleep. Do you have any idea where Kalana is at the moment?”
“Yes, sir. I believe she is still at your estate on Megelleon.”
“Good. I’ll be there if you need to reach me before tomorrow,” I said.
I had snacked enough on the transport that I wasn’t hungry, which was just as well, because Kala and Lunnie had already finished eating.
“How did your trip go?” Kala asked after greeting me with a kiss as I entered our suite at the estate.
“Very well – though I did have a strange experience,” I answered.
“Anything you want to tell me about?”
“Kala, you’re not going to believe this, but the Neovian Universalists have an ancient temple at the Haljmat filled with frescoes of prophecies and statues of people made by a monk over a thousand years ago.”
“That should be no surprise. Most religions include prophecies that are depicted in some kind of artwork,” said Kala.
“No, let me finish. This artist monk was also the prophet. He made all the frescoes himself. But this is the surreal part of it; the last series of prophecies depicted in the temple show images of you, me, Roritat, Ming, A’Lappe and others. I mean, we’re shown in great detail and there is no mistaking that it’s meant to represent us.”
“You mean they look sort of like us, not exactly like us?”
“No. I mean exactly like us. No one could possibly mistake them for anyone else. Not only that, the scenes in the frescoes clearly represent events that have unfolded since my arrival in the Federation – events at Alle Bamma, Goo-Waddle, Desolation and others, all in a timeline that leads up to current times. They’re there for anyone to see.”
“But there is nothing of our future?” Kala asked in a skeptical tone.
“There is, but the fresco showing the prophecy of coming events was damaged wh
en part of the wall collapsed. The only surviving segments of this image are battleships engaged in a vast space war around what was probably a planet. The monks have no idea what it means. There are two other frescoes after that which aren’t clear either. One is of me before the Senate and the last is a nebula with three stars in it.”
“So what’s that supposed to represent?” Kala asked.
“I don’t know. Even the Gom-Pasha has no idea.”
“And you don’t find that a little suspicious?”
“Kala, I’m not sure what to think. I’ll grant you, I am suspicious but I’m trying to keep an open mind about it.”
“Well, if they have a religion centered on us why have we never heard of them before and where are our followers?”
“No, they don’t worship us or anything like that; we’re just part of their prophecies. The Gom‑Pasha sent a Neovian Universalist neophyte named Asalott with me to verify and document the prophecy’s fulfillment.”
“So how much longer is it until all these prophecies come to an end?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s too much longer. Maybe a few years.”
“But in the end, you prevail over Ming. Right?”
“I don’t know. It seems that way, but it’s unclear.”
“That’s the way it always is with prophecies. They’re unclear so people can twist the results to fit the prophecy,” Kala said.
“Maybe, but it was mighty strange to see statues of you and I that were sculpted over ten centuries ago.”
“Dad, were Reide and I in any of the scenes?” Lunnie asked.
“Yes, both of you. Jenira and Padaran, too. There was one scene of you and Reide in the water bubble on Epsirt and another when we were on Desolation,” I replied.
“I wish I could have seen them,” said Lunnie.
