Comes Great Responsibility
Page 11
“Clarissa, this is Tau Orin, the man who maybe able to help us find Vala Grein,” Mandisa said.
Mandisa walked up to the man and bowed. He touched the top of her head, then put his hand on her chin and raised her head to look at him. He smiled and Mandisa spoke to him. He looked at me and tapped on a bracelet.
“Welcome,” I heard over my comm link.
“I thought using a translator program would make communications easier. Please follow me,” Tau said as he turned and walked away. Mandisa walked with him and we followed them.
“What do you think?” I said to Toris.
She looked around as we walked and then said,” I is clear that they are hiding.”
“From what?” I said.
“From both governments and Warriors, loyal and rogue. My lord Forty-Five would have protected them,” she said.
“If they gave him worship?” I said.
She shook her head and said,” He was misunderstood. He wanted to protect people and give them freedom.”
I wondered if her definition of freedom match mine. I found that those who proclaimed godhood often promised freedom, but usually demanded obedience.
We followed the two to a large one story house. It had great room that acted as a living, kitchen and dinning area. There were one bed room with an unmade bed and dirty clothes on the floor. In contrast, the living area was well kept. The floor was swept and the furniture was dusted. The walls were covered by 3D pictures, many with images of Tau and others, usually smiling, others were landscape images The three of us sat down at a circular table. Tau went to a refrigeration unit and brought a pitcher of, what smelled like, papaya juice, to the table. There was a glass in front of each of us. We were expected. Tau pored the juice into each glass.
I picked up my glass and hesitated.
“I am sure you can 'see' that there is nothing dangerous in the drink,” Tau said.
He was right. I tasted the juice and it was papaya juice.
“The drink processor does a very good job,” Tau said.
I looked around the room. In addition to the 3D pictures, there were two plaques on the walls, with words I could not read. The furniture were made of wood, but were clearly printed. A food printer sat beside the drink processor on the counter next to the sink. What looked like a computer tablet lay on a living room table in front of a couch. Underground power lines led to a central underground power plant, which “looked” like it was powered by some sort of cold fusion.
“Since you seem to know about us, why don't you tell us about you and why you may not help us?” I said.
“As I am sure you can deduce, we are hiding here. We do as little as possible to attract attention. Now, why are you here?” Tau said.
Mandisa explained. She spoke in the language used between the Southern visitors. I listened to both her speech and the translation. The language reminded me of Swahili, but it wasn't. Swahili was one of the several languages that I could speak, if not fluently.
“Can you help us find Vala Grein?” I said.
Tau sat back and clasped his hands on the top of the table. His vital signs remained stable. He took a deep breath and said,”Why should I help you? Your world is welcome to The Destroyer.”
Unfortunately, he was correct. The most destructive being on his world was now gone. Why should he care about another world.
“Orin, when I failed to warn about the coming of The Destroyer, you told me the only way I could make amends was by living, my using my abilities to help others. By hiding here, are you doing that?” Mandisa said.
Tau stood up, shaking, his eyes blazing. He turned and walked out of the house. Mandisa got up to follow him, but I put my hand on her arm.
“Let me go”, I said.
I got up and followed the man onto the porch of the house. Beyond where Tau stood, I saw the people of the village in the street. Apparently, being taken into Tau's house was a signal that we, or rather I, were not dangerous. The island was more a large rock than a paradise. Behind Tau's house was a building where fruits, vegetates and fish were stored for processing into the paste that fed the food printers and drink processors. I did not see any raw food people's homes. It appeared that they were so used to using food processors that they did not think about eating the food directly.
Tau turned around, faced me and said,” The people you see on this island came here because of me. They trusted that I found a place where they could be safe. Even if I knew where the healer is, why would I risk their safety?”
I understood his fear. All the major cities I “saw” were in ruins. The infrastructure that kept a civilization alive were mostly gone. Hiding on an island in the middle of the Pacific, far from danger, seemed a logical choice.
“What are you afraid of? I was told The Destroyer killed off the remaining Warriors. Any remaining civil authorities must be consumed with keeping people alive,” I said.
“That is part of the story,” he said.
He walked back into the house and sat down on a wicker chair. He sighed and looked older than he did just a few minutes ago. He waved for the rest of us to sit.
“Toris Sirus, if your Lord regains his full power, what will he do?” Tau said.
She straightened in her chair and said, “He will do what is right.”
Tau laughed, shook his head and said,” It was my responsibility to keep track of anyone with more than normal abilities. Forty-Five said he would lead people to salvation, but did not care who got hurt along the way. He fought the Warriors and armed forces of the Northern Alliance in cities so that he could use innocents as protection.”
Toris Sirus stood up and screamed,” You will not insult my lord.”
I stood up and said,” Sit down or I will make you sit down.”
For a moment her eyes blazed, then looked down in a sign of submission and she sat down. To her, all Warriors were demi-gods.
“What were you told of Warriors?” Tau asked me.
“They were all the result of deliberate genetic manipulation and were inherently mentally unstable, except for me,” I said.
“At first, the Warriors were just enhanced soldiers. Then, when the Alliance created just as enhanced soldiers, the leaders of the Hegemony demanded greater enhanced soldiers. It was then that the mental instabilities became evident. At first, only as the Warriors reached adulthood, but as the Warriors' abilities grew, the instabilities showed up earlier. That was when the first rogues appeared,” Tau said.
“I was told that there were ways to maintain mental stability in Warriors,” I said.
“The North discovered that the healer could “fix” the Warriors, we did not investigate any other methods. The Alliance never found such a healer, so they found other ways,” Tau said.
“Discovered? I was told that people with extra-powers were all specifically engineered,” I said.
Tau sat back, pointed at Mandisa and said,” At first, that was correct. But, despite our arrogance, Nature decided otherwise. Over time, people like Mandisa and the healer were naturally born. Those children who retained enhanced strength lived, unfortunately, for every healthy such person born there were several born with physical or mental handicaps. The number of miscarriages began to rise. It began to affect the population growth. The authorities, even to in the Alliance, tried to cover this up.”
“On my Earth, the power virus caused many miscarriages and maternal deaths, but that has nearly gone away. Also, the tendency, is for people with extra powers not to have standard powers,” I said.
“Yes, the great experiment! They wanted to see how the modified enhancement virus would work on a non-enhanced population. They hoped that the if the results were good that a version of the virus could be used to correct the problem here,” Tau said.
“That is why The Destroyer began to kill non-warriors. It is part of her goal to eliminate all Warriors, even possible ones,” Mandisa said.
“Why?” I asked.
“She is insane,” Toris Sirus said.
“Are there any non-genetically modified people left?” I said.
Tau shook his head.
“You must be happy she is gone?” I said.
Tau smiled and nodded. Then his face grew grim.
“I am sorry, but I can not help you find the healer. Now that The Destroyer is gone, we need all the help we have to restore this world. Vala Grein is too valuable,” he said.
“And what about the other Earth? It is our fault that The Destroyer was created. We have a responsibility to help,” Mandisa said.
“Alta, give a short bio of Vala Grein,” Tau said.
A woman's voice said,” Vala Grein, age seventy-six years, born in the second month, tenth day of twenty-six eighty one modern calendar. She is the most powerful healer discovered. She is the only one known to be able to correct the Warrior Madness. She was employed by the Northern Alliance until she disappeared in the thirteenth month, sixth day of twenty-fifty one.”
“What happened to her?” I said.
“Shortly before she disappeared, The Destroyer came to her and asked to be healed. After the healer was done, The Destroyer thanked her and then killed everyone around them, except the healer. Then, the Warrior just flew away,” he said.
“After that, I could understand why the healer wanted to go into hiding, but where could she hide from The Destroyer?” I said.
Tau said,”Alta, display the last know location of Vala Grein, split screen.”
A display of the Earth from high orbit appeared, then the display expanded to show, what on my Earth was Great Britain. A flashing light appeared over London.
“It shows her last known location was at an altitude of eighty thousand feet.” Tau said.
“She just vanished?” I said.
“The Hegemony implanted tracking devices in their high valued assets. Unfortunately, Warriors were able to block the devices' signals with their bio-shields. It seems that either Malko was able to block Vala Grein's tracking device or it was blocked in another way,” Tau said.
“Could she have been teleported?” I said.
“Teleportation is not possible,” Tau said flatly.
I said nothing and his eyes widened and he said,”They exist on the other Earth?”
“They are rare, but we have a few. I thought you monitored my world,” I said.
“Such information was restricted,” Mandisa said.
“So the Great Experiment was more successful than anyone could have dreamed,” Tau said shaking his head.
Mandisa took over the search of Vala Grein's data in an effort to find a clue to her whereabouts. The information was about five years out of date, that was when Tau, and his followers, escaped to Pitcairn Island. Alta seemed more of an AI than a search engine. Although, it could not find the location of the healer, more than once, it suggested search strategies that might be helpful.
I asked for a display of all known portal sites. When Tau asked why, I told him I wanted to know where others from his world might come to mine. That seemed to mollify him. I did not like the idea that our only way back depended on Jacobs' good will.
I caught, what I thought was a promising lead. The healer had once visited Tibet, or what I thought of Tibet, A religion similar to Buddhism exist on this world, and Vala Grein had gone to heal one of its last leaders. The authorities of the Hegemony did not approve, but the healer threatened to stop working unless she was allowed to go and heal the leader. She was so valued an asset that they let her go, with multiple Warrior escorts.
“Just as you thought this isolated island as a good place to hide, perhaps, Vala Grein thought the the Himalayan mountains would be a good place to hide. Also, given her value, why didn't both the Hegemony and the Alliance did not spend the resources to find her?” I said.
“They did, but understand, The Destroyer had just appeared. She and the other rogue Warriors were a higher priority,” Tau said.
I could understand that. An attempt to defend against a being whose ultimate goal is to destroy all human life on the planet was more important than finding the healer. If everyone was dead, the healer would be a little value.
I joined Mandisa in scanning the Himalayan location that the healer had visited. It was almost midnight there, but I could “see” nothing there but a burned out crater. I “looked” under the crater, just to make sure there was not anything hidden underground, but all I saw was rock. I scanned the area and “saw” a village in a valley about ten miles away. I wondered why it had been spared. A closer look showed that, although the village looked old, the buildings were printed like the buildings on the island. I could not “see” any modern technology. I narrowed my focus and saw most of the thirty or so people sleeping. One person was awake. He sat in one of the huts in front of a small fireplace. He had a bio-shield, about half the strength of mine. He looked Polynesian and reminded me of an old American Football linebacker. He had shoulder length straight black hair and brown eyes.
“Mandisa, focus on the village to the south. One man has a bio-shield,” I said.
Mandisa's narrowed her eyes and then she said,” You are correct. It is Malko.”
“He we fight you to defend the healer,” Tau said.
“That does not matter, we must retrieve the healer,” Toris said.
It did matter. The last thing I wanted was to fight one of the Warriors, especially one who might, if only for a limited time, be more powerful than I was. At least, if we fought it would be in an an isolated area. A fight I would try to avoid.
I scanned the village and the area around it and did not “see” the healer.
“Mandisa, can you 'see” Vala Grein?” I said.
She shook her head and said,” No.”
We accessed Tau database to find out exactly how powerful Malko was. His base strength was about half that of a standard warrior. He could, for limited time, he could far exceed that, but that would quickly exhaust him and leave him virtually powerless. With my full powers, I could probably have worn him down. However, with my reduced powers, he might be able to hurt or even kill me with his maximum powers. Unfortunately, Toris was correct, it was our only lead to the healer.
“I should go alone. It won't be able to protect you two if we are attacked,” I said.
“You need me as a translator,” Mandisa said.
“I can do that and convince the healer to help us,” Toris said.
“You two are insane. Let Warriors fight it out,” Tau said.
She was right about Toris, but I was not sure I could completely trust Mandisa. She had not given me any reason to not trust her, but as Tau correctly said; this world needed all the help it could get and a healer like Vala Grein could be a great help, but not if she remained hidden. Mandisa might choose to try and convince the healer to stay here. I might have been able to force the healer to come with me, but was it something did not want to do.
“All three of us will go,” I said.
“If so, you should wait until it is daylight there. A night approach might be seen as an attack,” Tau said.
My first instinct was to leave then, but Tau was right. If Malko did attack us, I would have to distract him long enough for the the two of them to land the lifting body. That would be enough of a problem in daylight. It would be over seven hours before dawn at the village. We would leave then.
We spent the time trying to relax, which turned out to be a mistake. Tau supplied us with clothing, produced to our specific shapes so we could get our of our uniforms. Mandisa enjoyed the equivalent to cabbage rolls that was printed. Toris made the comment that she had gotten used to the unprocessed food on the Other
Earth. They managed to produce something similar to a ham sandwich for me.
I used the access to the database to look over the history of this world. It was similar to my Earth, with a major difference that the equivalent to ancient Nubia spread its control north to the Mediterranean and south, along the east African coast to the Cape of Good Hope. A northern offshoot of that civilization spread east to India and around the Mediterranean. It replaced the Roman, Greek and Persian empires. There were no Dark Ages and technology advanced faster than on my Earth. The equivalent of the European nations appeared and were conquered by an empire that ruled most of central Asia, the predecessor to the Northern Hegemony. Successor states to ancient Nubia expanded to control all of Africa. That alliance of states extended to what I knew as the Middle East, India, Australia and South America. The Hegemony ruled the rest of Europe, Asia and North America. The Hegemony was ruled by an autocracy with the belief that they had the true civilization and forced its people to the one rule. The Southern Alliance allowed more freedom for its individual states. While most were functional democracies, kingdoms and dictatorships were tolerated, as long as they were loyal to the Alliance.
We brought up a display of all known portal generators. They were all listed as destroyed.
“Is this a complete list?” I said.
“As complete as it was before we came here. Why?” Tau said.
“When I get home, I want to check if there is any evidence of any more visitors came to our world,” I lied.
Chapter 18: Saturday, July 24, 2:05 PM, Pitcairn Standard Time
After a couple of hours, I was tired of the research. I decided to bathe. I was a little surprised that it looked a lot like the one's back home. The toilet had no lid or flush tank and was a bit lower than it was used to. When I stood up after using it, an iris door closed inside the bowl and ultrasound powdered the waste and it and the urine was sucked out. The sink had no controls and the water came out when I put my hands under the water. I pulled thick cloth towels from a wall mounted unit. The shower looked normal, and I went in. Tau had told us that it worked by voice commands. Mandisa gave me the commands to start, stop the shower and control it's temperature. I turned it on and set it for warm. I just stood there for a minute under the flow of water. Then I felt pressure around my body, through my bio-shield. Through the transparent shower door, saw a teenage girl. I concentrated and she screamed as her body temperature dropped and she fell to her knees. The pressure went away. A man entered the bathroom. He was tall, well built and wore a white shirt and pants. He looked down at the girl and then up at me. He was angry and scared. I slid open the shower door and stepped out. He kept his eyes on me as he knelt down and helped the girl up.