A Paradox in Retrograde (21 page)

"Ah yes, Ananda. That was the name he possessed in his youth
before he became king, before he became my husband. He is not
what he seems to be of course. This you will be grateful for when
the time comes for you will be joined in battle by Hector my husband. To survive you must allow him to defeat your enemy. But
while doing so you will have needed to make plans. He can never be allowed to complete his victory, for his planis nothing short
of genocide. If he is allowed to bring his plans to fruition, the
Earth itself will be turned to ash. For he is an anomaly, from the
same din of battle that makes men grow weary, he takes sustenance. With every engagement, he will grow more powerful and
vengeful. In the end he will have become completely consumed
by it. It is then that he will become so unpredictably dangerous.
He will sacrifice all in a mad attempt at victory."

Xora drank in the information she was being told. However it
seemed unbelievable that such things were possible from the man
she knew as Ananda. "How could it be possible? I have sensed
his quiet and gentle soul. How can it he so?"

Samantha looked on at her kindly and said, "The things you say
of Hector are not untrue. However there is much about him that
you do not know. First among these is that he is the last of the
guardians, the race of super beings who in the darkest depths of
time had come from a faraway world. They came and terra
formed the Earth making it the green paradise it is today. And
ultimately they set the human race in motion. Though in form he
is human he is in fact an immortal construct forged from the basest powers of creation."

"How can it be then that he has a history here among us scattered
through time. At once you call him your king, and then he is an
abomination. He is the savior and a destroyer how can these
things be reconciled?"

"To answer your first question is a challenge for me for I am not
a scientist. But suffice it to say that this same crack in the fabric
of time that allows this conversation to take place is what allows
it. All of this, the multiplicity of his existence and the appearance of our celestial nemesis are manifestations this rooms power. Within its facets are reflected entanglements that reach out
into the cosmos and down the long corridors of time."

"Surely there must have been an origin for this could not always
have been so."

"There are some who say this arrow of time to which we affix
our lives is no more than illusion in itself a construct of consciousness. However for the sake of understanding one must
abide by this construct. The most accurate description that
meshes with our frame of reference suggests that this object is a
projection from the future. And as such it has created some
anomalous circumstances by it mere existence here."

Showing some frustrations at what she perceived as double
speak Xora asked again, this time more insistently. "You have
not answered my question. Everything must have a beginning.
From where or whence did this room originate?"

"As simply as I can explain it originated far along on this line
of transit at a point in the far in the future. Take this information
carefully because here there are as many facets to this reality as
there within the crystal itself."

"Ok if what you say is true how can it be that Ananda can not
know these things as you do?"

"That’s an easy one. He can not know these things because he is
a temporal being. Though he lives in incrementally throughout
the greater arc of this timeline, He like you is tied to this momentary existence."

Samantha through the lens of the matrix observed as Xora struggled to digest facts as they were presented to this rather complicated circumstance. So she spoke to ease her mind. "Lady Xora,
do not trouble yourself with such questions for time is growing
short. The raiding ships will soon cross the space between your
two worlds. Your people must begin to make the preparations.
You must warn them about Hector. But more importantly there
is another who even now is within your midst. His Name is
Amida. He is Hectors brother and he is there to help. Soon he
will make his presence known to you. When he does, I beg you
allow him to help."

Xora as the story unfolded recognized there was truth in what she
had been told. She was already well aware of the alien presence
on the Earth, as well the new planet in the sky.

Even those things said about Ananda she knew deep in her heart
were true. She admitted as much. "There is a storyin our mythology called the "Song of Hector". It's a story I've known all my
life. From the moment I first laid my eyes upon him, part of me
not only knew but hoped it to be true. I have it on good authority
that these enemies you speak of already made landfall and the
first blood of this conflict has already been spilled." There upon
Samantha's face came a look of concern. Then she said, "In that
case there is much for you now to do. I wish you luck, till we
meet again my friend, good bye."

"One last question if I may ask? How is it that you can know
these things?"

 

"Xora, as you now know me I can exist only here, otherwise I am
long ago dead."

 

As these last words were spoken, the image crackled and faded
and then it was gone.

The swirling ball of light once again appeared in midair. Before
her James's image again coalesced from the light and tried to
speak but his voice was hampered by a wave of technical messages. "Accessing, record not found. Reference page number is redundant." Xora had never heard James speak in a machine cadence before. She tried to interrupt what she rightly interpreted to
be a technological glitch. "James, end this search reference new
catalogue."

"Last request is voided, redundant entry is null. How may I be of
assistance?"

Again she spoke. "James, can you replay that last message
again?"
Though James had held what had just happened as an occurrence in his active memory of the moment, all reference to its
previous incarnations had inexplicably disappeared. "My Lady I
apologize for though I do possess a record of our interaction,
there are no referenced files associated with it. My active recorders did record a disturbance within the matrix just as I had
begun to play, accessing, accessing."

Again its mind stumbled upon the temporal hole that now existed where the message had resided. To her surprise the message
once revealed, had somehow disappeared from the data base as
if it never existed. Wishing to cause James no additional stress
she asked to hear what he had discovered.

"James you have something for me?"

"Why yes, I must have forgotten. Let me tell you what I have
found?" Though her head was still reeling from whatshe had
learned she was ready for anything.

"Yes please proceed." She said softly.

"Thank you my lady. Firstly I am at a loss to explain why only
now these things have been revealed. As I had previously alluded to, there is much here hidden within the deepest memories of
the crystal room. These memories have long lain forgotten.
Pieces mostly, like shards of pottery they tantalize the imagination. These pieces may intrigue us; however they may forever
deny us their full narrative. Until now the origins of this very
room, have been the stuff of this missing history. What I'm
about to tell you may seem unbelievable but its truth, you shall
see is undeniable." It was clear to Xora that James was somehow disconnected from what had just taken place, so she made a
point to remind him.

"That may be true. However I'm of a mind to think that your
perceptions are being subtly influenced by these temporal transmissions. By receiving these warnings we may be unintentionally recasting our fates. Its very use may have been a factor in
much of what is now happening. So it is possible that what you
have learned has been subtly altered or even erased as if it never
happened. I give you this warning for we may not have been
meant to learn such things."
James puzzled over this question for a moment before he responded. "It is not for me to judge the validity of what is found
here. That honor goes to you. I have mapped no changes within
the matrix. Besides, would it not then also alter my memories?"

"James, I don't pretend to know the answers to such questions.
However you are part of this machine aren't you? Perhaps these
shards are all you need. Or perhaps it doesn't matter at all."

"Very well, I will tell you what I know. Things here are not at all
what they may seem. My self, this crystal room, the ancient artifacts, even the great tower of Breideblic itself are not products of
this world. You may discover that the most disturbing part of this
may yet to come. There is reason to believe that the very cells of
your body may be the living legacy of an extraterrestrial event. In
a degraded strand of code I learned of a venture set in motion
eons ago from a world far off from this solar system. Its implications put simply, are staggering."

Xora's eyes widened to catch the fading light as in the air before
her appeared, a representation of a family of stars, floating as if in
motion. Glowing there within the light emitting crystal, his avatar
pointed up toward the image of the swirling cluster. There in the
corner of the image, his virtual index finger touched onto a cluster of middle aged stars. There the view exploded to a ghostly
image of a cloud shrouded planet.

"Long ago in the system of this far off star, a technological civilization had risen. Over many millennia, this civilization had
grown technologically mature, free of strife and disease. However
In the fullness of time, there came a day when signs were becoming evident that their star was nearing the end of its life. For generations the inhabitants of this system in successive waves had
moved outward away from its expanding star. In the end backed
up to the furthest edge of their system, there was no place left for
them to escape to. On a razors edge those survivors to their last
outposts would cling precariously. They knew however if they
were to survive they would need to take a great leap of faith. For
centuries learned men have looked out onto the vast expanses of
space in wonder. However, in all that time their questions have
produced few answers. And these answers in turn drew only more
questions. According to what I have learned, there have been others like us who have looked up at that same sky. In the end their
conclusions were the same. To truly possess knowledge one
must often venture beyond the bounds of safety and witness it
firsthand. It was their experience that to face willingly the unknown requires either a fearless heart or desperate necessity. It
was the latter that forced these reluctant travelers from the lands
of their birth.

Their scientists fore saw a time when their life giving star
would end its life in a cataclysmic explosion. To this end they
would endeavor to avoid. As this time drew ever nearer, plans
were set in motion to escape the coming holocaust by means of
a great arc. In their last best hope they searched the heavens for
the tell tale flicker against the backdrop of a star. For there at a
great distance their scientists had seen the slight dimming light
of our parent sun. There in its wake they found nine planets,
four of which resided within the habitable zone. Against all
odds, it would be on one of these worlds that they would make
their new home. To complete such an under taking would require a monumental array of resources unparalleled in scope and
conception. In a great flurry of activity over a period of twenty
years, the construction of the orbiting ship went on unceasingly.
As it grew nearer to its completion the great mass of the ship
could be easily seen from the planet's surface. Several hundred
thousand volunteers were recruited to sleep for untold millennia
as the ship awaited arrival at their new home. The ship was
stocked with all conceivable provisions that would be needed
upon their arrival.

The primary ships thrusters were powered by a nuclear plasma
ion drive. This rocket type though initially slow, had the benefit
advantage of an increasing velocity over time. It was time that
they had in abundance. It was theorized that this drive could approach a velocity that equaled ten percent of the speed of light.
At this rate they would reach their new home well within their
technology's design parameters. There were also a few experimental tools that would be employed that were to be used under
the right conditions. Among these was a device that created a
spatial displacement field. Its job was to create a slip stream
along the leading edge of the craft through which the craft
would counteract the mass increasing drag that accompanied
speeds on this scale. With tools such as these they hoped they
could perhaps trim their journey, by many hundreds of years.

As the imminent catastrophe unfolded the ship was made ready.
To those about to be left behind were bid tearful goodbyes; for
upon it's leaving their fates were sealed. For the first time the
engines fired. Slowly the ship turned, climbing out of its high orbit. Once safely beyond the gravitational influenceof the planet,
the ships main drives were initiated. They watched as their lonely
world disappeared into the darkness. Over many months the ships
acceleration increased to near its target speed. Preparations were
then made for the slip stream device to be activated. After many
hours of calculations, the Captain after checking the system gauges one final time. He made the decision and the activation sequence was initiated. An invisible field of energy strung in bands
running aft to stern glowed, forming a halo about the ship. Before
them the shape of space around them seemed to compress as the
ship fell into an invisible hole in the universe. Unfettered by the
mass effects of gravitation the slipstream propelled the ship to
unfathomable velocities. The light of the background stars
stretched into a kaleidoscope of streaming spectral lines. The captain was unsure of the wisdom in allowing the ships computer to
take control for the remainder of the journey. He however had
little choice in the mater, for their destination was indeed very far
away. So with reluctance the captain entered his sleep chamber
and wished the computer good night.