The Book of Ominiue: Starborn

by D. M. Barnham

  ‘Shayne?’ she eventually asked. This instantly grabbed his attention. Astronauts rarely called someone by their name; names were often only said when needed. He looked at her with his dark eyes and she gazed back; a serious but faintly curious expression on her face. ‘What is the point of the Empire?’ she asked him.

  ‘Survival,’ he replied after a pause, though he was not entirely convinced. She sat patiently as he thought, ‘— a collective hinged on resources, growth, and control.’ She turned her attention back to the cat who was pawing a particular leaf but with less enthusiasm than previously.

  ‘And what controls the Empires?’ she continued.

  ‘The governments,’ Shayne instantly answered. Arnahell’s expression subtly drifted though Shayne could not read it. Astronauts were notoriously hard to read; much like himself, but he realised that was not what she meant. ‘What controls the growth?’ he rephrased her question, and she nodded in agreement. ‘What is the factor that holds them back, what stops a runaway expansion?’ her eyes danced with approval.

  ‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘It would seem that the Astronauts play a small role in containing them, but you don’t control them.’

  She nodded and said, ‘We are bound; the Astronauts. We see what happens before us, but there is little we can do. Our ancestors made a fatal mistake, though in their defence they were not truly Astronaut back then, just as I won’t be truly an Astronaut to my descendants.’ Shayne sat silently, giving her time between pauses. She thought deeply and was often conflicted with what she wanted to tell him.

  ‘There is a code amongst our kind,’ she indicated herself and Shayne. Since his coronation she had rarely ever called him Starborn, and others have even called him brother, despite his new status he did not see himself as a full Astronaut, he was more of an honourary citizen, peculiar but never one of them. ‘Any world suitable for colonisation we make public, but there are exceptions. Homosapiens are not the only humanoid people out there, but none are truly alien either,’ she quickly corrected. ‘There are other worlds, planets we’ve deliberately skipped, with what Planetsiders would call primitive humans; if they’d consider them human at all. They are complicated and simple at the same time and by no means typical. When we find a planet that is inhabited by these people we declare the star system dead. We do this because we don’t think these humanoids could survive colonisation. We think they are better off without intervention.’

  ‘Where do they come from?’ Shayne asked.

  ‘We don’t know,’ Arnahell shook her head, ‘but they are human or at least related to humans. We believe it could be divergent evolution, but we can’t determine that either, but all life, simple and complex has a common origin.

  ‘How much early history do you know?’ she changed the topic.

  ‘How early?’ Shayne replied.

  ‘The first hundred years of spaceflight. When we were still bound to one solar system and the astronauts were not real Astronauts yet.’

  ‘Very little,’ admitted Shayne, ‘other than the signal from Mir that triggered deep space exploration.’

  ‘Did you know the Earth was in turmoil at that stage?’ Arnahell inquired.

  ‘I know of a turmoil, but not the factors behind it.’

  ‘Earth and the inner systems can now be called city-worlds. They are fed by the outer worlds not that much different from Iraquis, but before there were any other worlds Earth was in very poor shape. It had reached the stage where the amount of people born on it was the same as the amount of people dying. The quality of life was poor, only the very rich lived comfortably and even they struggled compared to today’s rich.

  ‘The people of the planet faced a choice; to change their ways or to continue on as they have and face oblivion. They chose not to change, or at least choose not to change enough. The middle class collapsed and wars broke out. Space almost completely collapsed. The New America Mars colony broke away from Old America, and many other events occurred, including the Astronauts ancestors moving from their city colonies on Earth and Mars after the requisition. The turmoil was our beginning as a space people.’

  ‘You existed as a people before space?’

  ‘Yes and no. We were nothing as you see today, though they were more like us than they were ever like Planetsiders, even back then. They were an experiment, a highly successful experiment. Until the population wars meant they could no longer be classified as neutral. The small lands they held were too valuable, though if you knew the amount of land that was disputed over you would be amazed that they were threatened over it at all, such was the fear and hatred that the war created.

  ‘To the point,’ Arnahell mused at how easy she was distracted. ‘They chose the old ways. Those who wanted new ways hoped in vain; except the Astronauts who were able to escape to the darkness of space. Not much thought was given to them. They were rich and well educated people when they left the Earth beneath their feet; they spent their money on space colonies and were forgotten for a time. Years passed and the bloodshed grew to horrible proportions. The nations were exhausted but there was little they could do. They needed land to feed their overpopulated people, to feed their workforce which was mostly their armies. Then a message came; a message from space. This you know as the accidental emission of analogue TV signals from a nearby world, they began broadcasting and we were able to receive those signals.

  ‘For the first time in decades the world stopped fighting. They grew in hope and they set out to work together, to venture out to these worlds. The planets petitioned the Astronauts who held the greatest space technology at the time; all their old private companies had long since collapsed and the space flights that sent food from Mars to Earth were now old and their design somewhat forgotten by the Planetsiders. The Astronauts made a treaty with the people of the Earth, it is not the same treaty that we have today, but it was the foundation. Any empty space belonged to the Astronaut and any defined planet of rock and stone to the Planetsider.’ Arnahell paused for a moment. ‘Anyway you know the story,’ she said, ‘you know the disaster that occurred, how the wars of Earth flowed to the Erandi-Star System and the natives were caught in the middle. They moved from warring over food on Earth to warring over food on Mir and the other two planets since discovered. They tried to threaten and bribe the Astronauts, though you will never read about that in their history books. The Planetsiders tried to make their own spacecrafts; some succeeded. Everything looked bleak but a peace deal was eventually wrought. Space was returned to us, and it was separated, first into three sections and then later into the four sections you see today. Each sector promised to one of the great unions.

  ‘Peace has fallen between the empires and nations ever since. Food security has been assured, but they still maintain the old ways. The population of Earth and many other inner planets is so great now, that any imbalance threatens its people. Earth’s population is now seven times greater than it was in the food-wars. The expansion continues, it now has a life of its own and has moved out of the control of the Planetsiders. If their society was to suddenly halt then all of the worlds will collapse in a way never before seen in history.’ They were both silent for a long while after that. The cat lay quietly in the grass, his eyes closed as he warmed himself in the false sunlight.

  ‘You think the lionmen will be susceptible to this growth?’ Shayne asked.

  ‘In time yes,’ she said. ‘The Planetsiders have laws, but to them these laws only last as long as their governments do; even when they are supposed to be forever. I am older than any Planetsider, biologically and relatively. Each time I take a colonisation journey; every time I spend fifty years away from the empire; something happens. As several governments come and go, presidents and prime ministers rise and fall, and every time we complete a Gate and return home another promise is broken and a re-forging is forced upon us. They take us Astronauts for granted, and I am scared that one day I will come home to find my kind displaced again and in their place are great ships of
war.’

  ‘I doubt that will happen,’ Shayne replied. ‘The other empires keep each other in check and the Astronauts are the referees.’

  ‘It is a very thin line. One that I doubt they will play along with forever.’

  ***

  ‘Arnahell?’ The ship captain spun around. Dirac was standing before her, his expression slightly worried. They were old friends and he knew when something was not right with her. He walked to her side and looked down at the planet with her.

  ‘I get the feeling,’ she said to him, ‘this will end very badly.’ He peered across at her and saw the sadness in her eyes.

  ‘There are times when even Astronauts need to have faith, maybe there is someone down there who will change the fate of the universe,’ he said. His voice soft and gentle, as it always was. It reminded Arnahell of Shayne, though there was depth in Dirac’s voice and there was feeling. He barely spoke, and never to a Planetsider unless he could not avoid it. He never smiled, but she knew when he was happy and content. She and Elinor were the lucky few he chose as friends; if you could call it friendship. They both took seats and stared out into the darkness together.

  ***

  Kíe sat in the great library of the Teaching Halls. The dusky old room was but one of countless archives and was by no means the grandest room of the facility. There were a few tinted windows to let in the evening light, but even when the sun shone through the room was still gloomy, only where the light directly fell was it sufficient enough for reading. Kíe sat with one of the books before him and a reflector lamp to focus the light and brighten the pages.

  Tirelessly he pulled book and scroll from the many shelves and then returned them carefully to their places. He opened the wooden boxes that the loose pages were concealed in and gently went through them. Reading and searching the ancient texts before returning them in the right order, but often he found himself frustrated as he searched. Hours passed and he made his way through several books, finally he leaned back in defeat, rubbing his eyes and the bridge of his nose with his hands.

  ‘I do not recall you being this interested in the Room of the Prophets, young Journeyman,’ came a familiar voice from behind him. Kíe spun on his seat to face another young lionman. He was older than Kíe, with his mane and beard more developed. The way he leaned on the old stone wall suggested he had been watching him silently for a while.

  ‘Tayos, It has been a long time.’ Kíe laughed. Lifting himself from the table to greet his old friend, the other lionman raised his hand to stop him from coming any closer.

  ‘It is Master Tayos’darka,’ if you do not mind,’ he said with a gleam in his eye as he clasped his master broach for Kíe to see. Kíe laughed, his grin broadened as he inspected his friend’s robe, which displayed his rank.

  ‘So I can see, well an under-master anyway.’

  ‘Still greater than a lowly journeyman.’

  ‘The teaching guild would be nothing if not for the journeyman’s travels,’ Kíe retorted. His friend smiled in return and they grasped each other by the shoulders in the lionman fashion.

  ‘A mighty hide for such a small Fa’Orian,’ he joked but in great awe of his friend as he examined him in his new cloak.

  Kíe beamed back with pleasure. ‘Shot an arrow through its throat, after sending many others into its hide. I’ve never seen a creature so formidable; it is like they wear armour underneath their fur.’

  Tayos’darka slapped him on the shoulder in pride and turned to the papers before him, ‘You seem to have a new lease on life.’ He sat next to Kíe and lifted a page in front of him. ‘Ah, the grey wizard scrolls,’ he smiled. ‘Why would you be looking into these?’ Kíe looked rather embarrassed as he lifted the page from Tayos’darka and returned it to the box it came from.

  ‘You have heard about the Afra’hama?’ Kíe asked him.

  ‘As all have, is he really the one?’

  ‘Who else could it be?’

  ‘You know how prophecies are, old friend,’ Tayos’darka looked fondly at Kíe as he spoke, a hint of concern printed upon his face. ‘How many times have people come forward claiming to be “he who is mentioned” and how many times have they been false? Likewise, how often has someone risen and we spurned them only to find that they truly were the ones?’

  ‘But you have not met him.’ Kíe retorted. ‘There is fire in his eyes and darkness in his soul. He is no more Ta’Orian than you or I. There is comprehension beyond all else, he is far greater in intellect than any of the great masters. He is beyond us all yet missing so much at the same time,’ Kíe stumbled for a moment while trying to describe him. ‘It is like he is empty and needs filling.’

  ‘The Undin?’ the young master inquired, the curiosity flickering in his eyes.

  ‘From the DragonLord scrolls I would say yes, but words written by them do not go into depth of the Undins of old.’

  ‘It is curious none-the-less. I could help you research if need be. When do you return to your duties?’

  ‘A date has not been set. I must meet with the masters first and discuss the journey.’

  ‘Ah, that reminds me,’ Tayos’darka smiled. ‘I was to give you a message; the UeShádarn’s have requested you to meet them at the second quarter of the High Half Moon.’ Kíe stumbled a moment in panic. ‘Relax,’ Tayos’darka laughed. ‘It is still the hour of the Rising Crescent,’ Kíe sighed in relief. ‘You have been cooped up in this room for too long; you have lost sense of the hour, come out into the gardens with me. My sister would be glad to hear you have returned.’ He helped Kíe return the books on the table to their shelves before they walked out together, happily talking about their adventures.

  At the appointed time Kíe made his way to the UeShádarn’s residence. They called him in after he knocked and he found himself in a circular common room. The walls were covered in bookshelves that reached three stories high. A metal ladder was set in a groove that circled the room, stopping only at the main doorway. The ladder’s path crossed the three doors to the private quarters of the grandmasters so that one had to be careful when entering or leaving these rooms, making sure the ladder was not left before their respective rooms.

  A table rested in the middle of the room along with some comfortable couches. Three of those seats were occupied by the three masters, all whom watched Kíe enter. The table between them was covered in various objects, in fact the entire room was cluttered with strange and odd things. The overwhelming amount of objects and the lack of shelving to store them meant many books and things were piled onto the floor, leaving only a narrow trail to navigate to the centre of the room. Amongst the objects on the table was a tea-set and a game board with pieces set upon it; the game looked to be at an intense stage, with both sides intermingled in a struggle for dominance. Other items included metal puzzle rings and other oddments of entertainment that one did not quite expect to be in the room of the leaders of the Great Teaching Halls.

  ‘Ah, young Journeyman!’ Dun’karter called out; his black cat lay between him and the armrest, it’s green eyes staring intently at Kíe. ‘Would you like tea?’ he asked picking up a pot from the centre of the table, almost knocking over a piece on the board game in the process. Kíe squeezed passed various objects to reach them.

  ‘No thank you UeShádarn,’ Kíe formally bowed.

  ‘You sure? It is a very good brew,’ the old lionman grinned.

  ‘I am sure,’ Kíe smiled.

  ‘Please, journeyman,’ the third UeShádarn; Day’kídan, signalled towards one of the empty chairs. She was a very small human native, much smaller than most humans and the chair she sat in was made just for her many years ago by a carpenter who later became her husband. Kíe took a seat, sinking deep into it. He unsuccessfully tried to hide his nervousness as he searched the faces of the masters before him.

  ‘I have been talking to two of my best scribes,’ Tal’dorfin casually spoke, attempting to put him at ease. ‘It has been organised for them to transpose the Hama Ta’Ori
ans proposal tomorrow.’

  ‘You mean they will be visiting here?’ Kíe brightened.

  ‘They will,’ Tal’dorfin faintly laughed at the young lionman’s enthusiasm. ‘I must admit that I am deeply curious. They informed me that once the first transcript has been translated they can then print out several copies; much faster than us. They insist they will have sufficient time; they did not even want any paper from us. They wanted to know how many copies needed!’ the female lionman laughed. ‘As if it was nothing to make them.’

  ‘Their copying secrets would be an advantage,’ Kíe mused as he remembered the countless hours he had spent as an apprentice transposing the text of ancient books.

  ‘Then what would be done with our apprentices?’ Dun’karter joked.

  ‘They could waste their time actually learning,’ Day’kídan replied as she poured herself a drink from the still steaming pot. ‘Are you sure you do not want a drink Journeyman?’ Kíe hesitated as he thought about it. She took this as a yes and poured him a cup.

  ‘What else do you know about them?’ Dun’karter queried. ‘The metal Orians they have with them and the metal dragons, the Falá’arah?’

  ‘I do not think there is much I can say. Afra’hama says they are built from the foundations of science and mathematics and we need to learn those laws to understand them. They did show some of their wonders. They have the oddest things, items you could not possibly imagine and promises that we could only dream about. They told us that we too could make such things under instruction. They could cure many sicknesses and promised that many born will see old age.’

  ‘Is that why you pushed for them to come to Karmon first; to cure the UeVarda?’

  ‘It is,’ Kíe admitted. ‘I thought it was worth the attempt. I saw the most amazing things in their village. I thought if they could heal him, then his reign would continue and Shard’ídarha could grow further and be anointed, or at least another candidate present itself. The UeVarda deserves a full reign,’ Kíe finished.