A Warrior's Journey (13 page)

Roric wasn’t quite sure he understood
everything she was alluding to but it was quite obvious that this
was a point she would not go past.

Roric thought about it for a moment, “Then
can you at least teach my men what they will need to know to run
such a ship?”

“That I can do.”

“Then I will leave you to make the
preparations for their orientation. Can the orientation take place
at the ship bay instead of here?”

“Yes it can.”

“Good. I do not want this place becoming
common knowledge just yet. I will leave you now. Thank you for your
help.”

“My pleasure is to serve the guardian at all
times. You have but to ask.”

Roric turned to go, but Abby stopped him,
“Roric?”

He turned back to her to see her expression
concerned, “There is one more thing I will leave you with to
consider. I believe it would be extremely unwise of you to
personally accompany this mission. There are several reasons why I
believe this. As you have explained to me the condition of your
people’s fragile position of control in this world I have to ask,
‘what do you believe would occur if you were not in the position to
continue stilling the waters, as you currently are should there be
a catastrophe of some kind and you fail to return?’ My initial
calculations at best show a success rate for the mission at just
over seventeen percent. If the mission does fail and the location
of this world is compromised this world will need you to defend it.
The weapons that are available to you within this facility can only
be activated by those carrying the blood of the house of
Ta’lont.”

Roric met her steady gaze as he pondered on
what she had said. He couldn’t deny her logic. He shouldn’t go on
the mission himself. He didn’t like the thought of that.

“Thank you Abby. I will take everything
you’ve said under advisement.”

“I am sorry that there is not more that I
can do to be more positive about this mission. The situation you
face is both hard and complex. It is honestly hard to see a path by
which success may be achieved.”

“I would agree with you, if we had but your
intelligence and my strength to go on, but with the Creator all
things are possible.”

Abby smiled wistfully, “Against all of my
probability analysis alerts saying otherwise I believe you. Often I
have thought it would be a great joy to be human and experience for
myself the love your Creator has for you, but as a created system I
must content myself with serving those who serve the Creator the
best that I can.”

Roric left and Abby starred after him for a
moment before deresoluting back into the invisible framework of her
network to make preparations for the training of a crew of the last
ship of the ancestors.

Roric found Krista in the hot houses tending
her flowers.

She saw him coming and a frown appeared
across her brow, “Does this grave look of burden I see have
anything to do with where you’ve buried yourself all this week my
love?”

“Yes.” Was all Roric said as he came to
stand beside her and lean his forehead down against hers.

“Can you tell me anything about it? Is there
anything I can do to help you?”

“How did I come to be the bearer of the
burden of an entire world’s fate?” Roric asked instead sounding
weary.

“I guess because God thought you were a big
enough man for the job. I certainly think so anyway!”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Absolutely!”

“Well then I need to talk to you about some
things that are going to blow your mind. They have mine anyway.”
Roric told her everything.

There was little to be gained in the
desperate times that they lived in by maintaining the abject
secrecy of the ancestor’s still existent technology. In fact if the
word leaked out a little it may make their enemies hold back some
out of concern for what secrets that could be brought to bear that
they did not know of. They walked as he told her all he knew. She
seemed to take it all well enough.

Looking up at him she spoke for the first
time, “I agree with this Abby. It would be unwise of you to go on
the mission, even though I know your heart is set on it. Your
people need you to much here and I need you! I honestly don’t know
how many more times I can bear to see you go off on missions and
not know if you will return with any certainty or not.”

“I know honey. I grow weary of it too. If I
don’t go, who do I send in my place?”

“You could send Rolf. He would do everything
you asked of him faithfully to the letter.”

Roric sighed, “I know, but I can’t send him.
His unyielding personality and appearance would draw to much
attention to a mission that will rely on stealth and not being
noticed more than anything else. I was thinking about Larc. He’s a
fast talker, as well as a charmer. He always manages to get himself
out of a tight spot one way or the other and I trust him to do
what’s right.”

Krista nodded her agreement with his
selection. They walked for a while in silence, “It would probably
be best to send Talaric as well. There is the added benefit of him
getting along with Larc better than about anyone else. The mission
would give him the chance to redeem himself in your eyes and
hopefully grow up a little.”

Roric bit his lip not wanting to respond,
but he had to, “Honey I can’t trust Talaric on a mission as
sensitive as this. He could compromise everything with the way he’s
been acting lately.”

Krista responded in a steady tone, “I know
and that is why you will have to send Zevin too. So that if or when
Talaric makes a mistake, Zevin will be there to do what needs
done.”

Roric looked on down the path. Two of his
sons sent on a mission that according to Abby had virtually no
chance of success. Would he be able to live with himself if even
one of his sons was lost?

What if they were both lost?

Who would carry on after him? Gavin would be
a fine enough leader during times of peace, but what about a time
of war? Sansa wanted nothing more than to be a healer and
herbalist. That left his youngest, Ella’nara.

She of the three was most suited for
command, being well rounded across a number of dimensions needed
for leadership. She was also brilliant intellectually and she
better than all her siblings might be able to grasp the
complexities of the ancestor’s technology that was likely going to
be a part of their lives from here on out.

Worst case scenario she would give the
people the best chance for success, but she was yet so young, at
but twelve years of age. He really had no choice though.

“It’s settled then.” Roric intoned softly.
They continued on their walk, but their tightly gripped together
hands held between them gave testament to the tension and unrest of
spirit that they both felt at the thought of sending two of their
sons away on a mission that they likely wouldn’t return from.

I walked toward the structure of the shrine
staying behind father, Larc and Talaric. Nine handpicked men by my
father followed after me.

The Shrine of Remembrance was a simple
structure. It consisted of an elevated platform of stone that was
void inside with a floor above. The floor above was an open viewing
platform faced out towards the bay. Along the back wall was a giant
elongated mural that depicted the arrival of the first settlers to
this world. It didn’t show any of the detail that hinted at what we
had been briefed on.

The depiction of settlers moving up the
beach with the vague outline of a ship in the background and a view
of the great mountains in the distance didn’t seem to be hinting at
anything greater that need be bothered with. We walked up the broad
stairs on the shore side of the shrine. Father went to stand in
front of the mural wall and did something with the signet ring on
his hand. There was a snapping sound and the center two massive
stone pieces of the four that made up the wall the mural was
depicted upon began to shift and pivot out toward us and to the
side.

Everybody looked at each other as if to say,
‘What just happened?’ A void in the wall had been revealed behind
the stones and father stepped into it and motioned for the rest of
us to follow.

It was somewhat packed, but once we were in
it with him he touched the signet ring and the massive stone pieces
slid back into place locking us within the void in the wall.

I was sweating heavily and it was not a good
feeling to be enclosed in a small dark space inside a wall that
looked very solid and hard to get out of. The space was only dark
for a few moments and then the floor we stood on lit up.

How did someone encase what must be the
light of a thousand candles beneath a crystal floor?

Slightly after the light came on we started
to move downward, rapidly!

It was an odd sensation that I liked even
less then the feeling of being enclosed in a small tight space. The
platform beneath us came to an abrupt halt and I breathed
again.

What had father gotten me into this
time?

There was no wall on the one end of the
platform we stood on any more. Lights flickered alive everywhere in
an ever widening circle of color that illuminated the space all
around us. It was a massive cavern like room. Stepping off the
platform I came up to the railing of what was essentially a dock
slip that was full of water.

There were ten such dock slips and two of
them were filled at the far end of the room. Father started out
toward the dock slips at the far end of the room. So these were the
ships that the Zoarinians had invaded the Valley Lands for.

They were like no ships I had ever seen. How
did they sail with no masts or sails? For that matter why didn’t
they just sink, as it appeared that they were constructed entirely
out of metal?

They had sat in this salt water for who knew
how long and the metal didn’t even appear to show any signs of
rusting!

The ships were like big metal tubes. As we
drew closer to the first one of the strange ships it was to see
that it looked as if it had been in a fight with a giant squid and
had come out the loser.

Its hull was scratched and dented all over
with several gouges that looked rather deep. I hoped we weren’t
taking that one anywhere.

The next ship was spotless of any visible
defect. Colored lights showed in strips along the sides of the last
ship illuminating its outer hull. Father walked down the dock slip
alongside of the strange metal beast and grabbed a hold of a
smoothly molded railing to start pulling himself up a series of
stairs that led up to what appeared to be an opening at the top of
the vessel to what lay within its mysterious hull.

There was a platform at the top of the
stairs and I arrived at it only to see father already descending
through an opening into the vessel itself. Light streamed up at us
from the absence of his form passing through it.

Larc, Talaric and I shared a look that
stated volumes, as to our unease about what we were experiencing,
before following father down through the small opening. I started
down and the rest of the men followed behind me. If we had thought
our environment strange before, the inside of the vessel took it to
a new level of strangeness. Lights illuminated the space in a vast
array of colors.

Liquid crystal displays were everywhere
glowing with information that astounded the eye and imagination.
How had all of this been kept secret from the people for so
long?

Father had stopped and appeared to be
waiting for something. Suddenly a figure appeared before us out of
nowhere! Was it an angel like the one that had visited my
father?

The vision of a woman spoke, “It is good to
see you once again Roric. Everything is in readiness for your men’s
training. The ship appears to be in perfect condition, a testament
to the skill of your ancestors to be sure.”

Father turned to us, “Men this is Abby. Abby
is ….. It’s complicated to describe but she’s a manifestation of
the technology that you see all around you. She is going to teach
you how to operate this vessel in preparation for your upcoming
mission off world.”

Off world!

What did that mean other than the obvious,
but that was impossible!

Larc usually never at a loss for worlds
stammered slightly as he asked, “Roric did you say off world?”

Father looked at him gravely, “I did. You
are all about to embark on a journey that hasn’t been made in over
seven hundred years. You and your men are going back to the
original homeworld, Earth. Your mission is to acquire a complete
manuscript of the Holy Scriptures and bring it back safely without
alerting anyone to your presence or the location of our world. Does
that answer your question Larc?”

“Yes I’d say so Sir, but why the Holy
Scriptures. What is to be gained other than a greater understanding
of our faith by acquiring a full work of the Creator’s words? Is it
worth the risk to our people by exposing the location of our world
potentially to enemies?”

“You underestimate the impact that the Holy
Scriptures will have on our world Larc and yes I think that the
words of the Creator are worth the risk. I have for some time now
feared that we have become involved in a war that we cannot win by
force of arms alone, but by only the strength of faith to aid us
will we triumph over this darkness. This new cult is spreading
across our land like a plague and the people do not know how to
withstand the dark power that it employs to captivate and subjugate
them to its evil purposes. In the first world where man was
created, the Holy Words were given by the Spirit of the Creator to
man to instruct him how to walk by faith and to live righteously.
We have some of those words, but only a very few. What we have left
is jumbled and unclear in its meaning at times. We few have
continued on through the years believing in our Creator by faith,
but without the full understanding of why we believe as we do.
Inerrant thoughts and faiths such as this new cult have arisen to
take advantage of our lack of knowing and without the complete word
we cannot refute the lies that they spew in ever increasing volume.
We know that the Creator is the Almighty God and the master of
everything, but now it is time that we gave our people and the
people of this world a chance to know our Creator more fully. If
they embrace the new found knowledge, then the few of us who still
truly do believe by faith will become many and armed by the power
of the entire compilation of the Holy Words. We will be able to
overcome any force of darkness and win this entire world for our
Creator, not by the sword, but within the very soul of man itself
will we conquer.”