A Paradox in Retrograde (12 page)

Xora who had been the keeper of the books for more than twenty years had not in all those years seen such a display. She called
impatiently out into the room that had now grown dark. "James,
what was that exactly?" After a moment its boomingvoice responded.
"I'm sorry Lady Xora but all I can tell you is that this room in

which I have existed is not what you thought it to be. It is not primarily a memory bank, although it can serve that purpose. It is
also a communication device. And I, as you have for so long suggested am merely a set of sophisticated programs. This truth has
only now been made evident to me. This place is what had been
called by the forerunners a temporal displacement field. Through
such a device communications can be transmitted between two
points at great distances in either space or time."

"Are you telling me that that conversation was no illusion?"

"To that I cannot answer. The nature of such things is beyond my
parameters. I can however say there was much more transmitted
to Ananda than was made plain to you and me. I sensed though I
could not read a set of data hidden within a stream of neuronelectric energy as it passed through the doorway between them."

She turned to look onto Ananda's face. His eyes had grown darker and wearier as if a great weight had been placedupon him.
Though he seemed ill prepared to provide much in the way of answers, she wanted to learn what she could before his fragile
memory faded. Xora was filled with questions. So she wasted no
time and so began a subtle interrogation. "Ananda I want to help
you. But to do so, I'll have to ask you some questions. Do you
feel up to it? You are one of the forerunners, are you not?"

He lifted up his head and looked at her with ghostlike eyes. On
his expression where once a playful spirit resided now hung a
mask of anguished purpose. "Yes, I suppose I am." he answered,
"We obviously would not call ourselves by that name. As I said
before I come from the city state of Atlantia. However we in our
era did not name ourselves for the land of our birth as you do. We
were citizens of the world. You saw there an image of my long
dead wife Samantha. Yesterday the woman I spoke with lived
several decades after the one you just saw. Yet they were one and
the same person, existing in different times." She deferred for a
later time her questions on that matter. She preferred rather to
speak about the emergency at hand. "Tell me again about this
warning. Who are these eternal enemies you earlier mentioned?"
He decided he would rather show her then, and be done with it
rather than narrating its description. He pointed toward a vacant
space in the room and said, "James, show me here charts of the
night sky." The room again grew dark as an inky blackness studded with pinpricks of light representing the stars filled the entirety of the room. He then recited a string of numbers that represented a vector coordinate to a corresponding place within the
set of the three dimensional charts. The image grew brighter and
larger until a representation of a wandering planet filled the
room. "This planet like the others in our solar system revolves
around Sol at a predictable rate. However where our year lasts
three hundred and sixty five days, its irregular orbit brings it into
the realm of the inner planets every twelve thousand five hundred of our Earth years. There are many names for this world. In
my time it was called Nibaru. Its presence is heralded by great
natural upheavals such as the ones you have now been witnessed
to." She stared into the image of the great orb spinning slowly
on its axis. High in its atmosphere red gossamer clouds floated
high above the rusted chains of mountain that girdled its equator. "She has given me this warning, so I may now give it to
you. Soon the fiery ships of the unnamed ones shall be within
range of the Earth. Even as we speak, scouting parties may already be heading this way." She stuttered in disbelief as her
mind reeled. "I don't understand. Who are these unnamed ones,
and why would they want to come here?" Ananda seemed to
grow weak and let the weight of his body lean along the edge of
the wall. "James, reference the following files under the heading
Archaic Mythology, Nibaru and Omega."

The room seemed to glow as James accessed the files he
named. Then he spoke, "If I may Madam, I believe I can answer
your questions?"

"Proceed"

"In form the creatures of Nibaru are humanlike, though there are
some obvious physical differences between your races. Despite
these differences, it is believed by some that hidden within the
dark mists of time there may have been a common ancestry between the species. This conjecture derives from the fact that the
conditions that exist there preclude any possibility that complex
life could have independently evolved. How then they came to
make Nibaru their home is an eternal mystery. The conditions
there are such that adaptation has developed in them a unique
survival strategy. There on the icy fringes of the solar system
their seasons within the cold darkness last many millennia. By
necessity then their life cycles are quite different from ours.
Through their long dark winter they exist in a state of suspended
animation. Therefore in isolation they have evolved a cyclical
predatory existence to which the people of Earth have been their
quarry."

She turned to Ananda with a hysterical look upon her face and
asked. "What does this mean Ananda?" Ananda in his weakened
state answered her coolly,

"They feed on us. They drink our blood! They would swallow
every drop if they could."

 

"How could this be James?"

"It seems there was a good deal of thought recorded in ancient
times to the how. The period while Nibaru resides within the
realm of the inner planets lasts only for several short months, before it again recedes into the cold darkness of space. It is during
this period then that the raids begin. During the last period of
alignment they managed to make a toe hold here that lasted for
decades. The ensuing war dragged on until they were ultimately
defeated by the armies of the great king Hector."

"Hector from the song of Hector?"
"I do believe that is correct."
"Why haven't I ever heard these versions of these stories?"

"Firstly these are not in the strictest sense stories. But rather they
represent factual accounts buried deep within volumes of journals. To our current classification system these stories were not
mythology in the classic sense. Not fitting neatly within any one
category and being intrinsically insignificant they were sub classified as Archaic and so given little validity. Thusly they never
rose to my conscious memory."

"So then, thanks to an error in categorization this and lord knows
what else has been sitting dormant in your memory for centuries.
Is that right?"

"Essentially that is correct. With all due respect Madam, you
are the keeper of the books. If these things were of interest to
you, you should have enquired. You must also ask yourself
madam, would you have believed such a story?"

"I honestly don't know."

As the last of Ananda's spell had worn off he tried to stand
without the support of the wall. Before him Xora paced anxiously. Ananda listened while she tried to make sense of what she
had learned by engaging James's bodiless spirit in discourse.

"Many an old tale had been told of such adventures none of
which that would hold up to any degree of logical scrutiny.
However, among our oral traditions there are legends that speak
of a creature known as the vampire. Could such legends have
arisen from some racial memory encoded into our genes?"

"To this I cannot answer. I apparently never possessed any so
called racial memory." Ananda now fully joined the conversation as the fog within his mind had lifted. His voice rose to answer her. "These traditions you speak of, they undoubtedly descend from some hidden ancient voice. They have left upon us
an indelible scar. There is no doubt that even as the conscious
memories have faded there should raise from time to time, an
echo."

Xora was pleased to again see Ananda again amongst the living.
"Ananda, come we must go now to tell Landaus and Grunhuf of
our discovery here." She took hold of his hand and turned to
walk. In an instant she found he was immovable. "Come on,
what are you waiting for?"

"Xora please, we must wait. There is still much we must learn
before we deliver to them this message they may not be ready to
receive. I must ask you to delay this action. In a few days we
should hold all the cards we need. Then we can share what we
have learned."

"I don't understand. How can you ask me to keep a secret of
such importance?"

 

"For only a few more days, then they will be forcedto believe it.

I know you don't know me and that I am a stranger in this land.
But I would ask you to trust me." She looked into his eyes and
saw there a look of kind generosity. She held no yard stick that
could help her see the right answer. She would have to trust her
instincts. She felt she could trust him. However she questioned
herself, "Am I seeing what I want to be seeing?" After a moment
she decided she would take a leap of faith and trust the words of
this forlorn traveler over her better judgment. "I know I'm taking
an awful chance here but, you have my word. Two days, that's all
I can give you. In two days we share what we have learned."
Though she felt unease entering in this unusual bargain she none
the less agreed to it. She reached her hand out toward him. He
looked at it quizzically as she mimicked the shaking movement.
Recognizing the gesture he joined together his hands with hers in
acknowledgement of their agreement. "You should call me by my
adopted name, please if you would call me Hector." She held
since childhood a private thought that she would one day meet a
man the likes of Hector. She could barely believe that here before
her stood the original in flesh and blood.

"Xora, I should like to examine this island of yours would you
care to show me around?"

"Yes Hector of course I would love to." He lent her his arm and
she locked hers with his. Together they walked through the antechamber and past arched entrance into the afternoon sun. A mere
second after their departure the oracle sparked back to life as if
controlled by some unknown entity from beyond the other side.
Unseen by anyone the sphere was manifest. From the void a
flickering image of the old woman from the previous day again
appeared. No longer in possession of the finery of state, she was
an old and broken woman. On her face she was possessed by an
abject fear. She called out though no one was there to hear. "Lady
Xora, Lady Xora, are you there? I must warn you!" The picture of
a poorer quality than before fluttered and crackled and then it was
gone, replaced by an empty blackness. James sensing the importance of this message recorded and catalogued it for Xora.

Grunhuf had arranged to meet with Landaus in the great hall of
the citadel that morning prior to Ananda's arrival there. When he
arrived he was surprised to find he was not the first there present.
There within the air was heavy with the sounds of activity echoing from the cavernous rooms. Amongst a flurry of activity,
crates of all sizes were being delivered and opened on the long
tables by the citadel guard. Being that he had not authorized
such a usage of the hall for any such purpose Grunhuf became
agitated. Landaus had not yet entered his field of sight, so he
sought out the next highest ranking officer. There he found Captain Starling and immediately went into a Tirade. "Captain Starling, What is the meaning of this intrusion onto town property.
No one but myself, or my designates can authorize such arrangements. Who, and for what purpose has this space been
commandeered. In an attempt at intimidation, Grunhuf faced the
captain eye to eye. Captain Starling was young but he was an
able officer in his own right. He knew his orders and wasn't shy
of a confrontation. With an unblinking eye the captain stared
back at the mayor and calmly said, "With all due respect Lord
Mayor this operation is classified. It is you, who does not have
the right to be here."

"I am an elected official. I unlike you rabble found my way to
office by the free will and consent of the people of this burg.
You have no rights here that aren't given to you." Lord Mayor
with all due respect, I do not require a civics lesson from you. I
have all I need, my orders. Sergeant, please escort our honored
guest from these premises." Two rather burly guardsmen came
to attention about each side of him. Just as they were about to
grasp onto him, Landaus appeared behind Grunhuf. He was
quick to intercede on the mayor's behalf. If you wouldn't mind
unhanding our honored guest please, we could get down to business." They did just as he said. Grunhuf was furious with what
he considered a serious abuse of power by the Captain. "What is
the meaning of this intrusion on our sovereign rights?" Landaus
responded apologetically, "Please Grunhuf, try not to over react.
The Captain is just following my orders as he understands them.
He doesn't know who you are nor does he know that I've asked
you here. Now Captain Starling if you would be so kind as to
apologize so I can get down to business?" Starling turned toward Grunhuf and said, "Please excuse my error Lord Mayor I
as the Colonel says was merely following orders." Grunhuf begrudgingly accepted his apology, but he would not let Landaus
off the hook so easily. "I suppose I can accept the apology of
one who was doing his duty. As for you Landaus you have some
explaining to do."
Despite Grunhuf''s position as lord mayor, Landaus was the de
facto head of the citadel's constabulary force. This was due to the
fact that the citadel was traditionally a royal palace and the
guards answered to the king or his officers. These traditions still
held sway amongst their ranks. Landaus being the closest thing in
Breideblic to a military officer made him the commander. Upon
his father's death he had inherited this position, with all of its
rights and responsibilities. His father was the king's second
cousin. Landaus though of royal lineage held no title of his own.
He did hold on to his military rank of colonel as his one mark of
distinction. Though this force's function had once been a military
one, they now functioned primarily as a police force. However
by his insistence this unit still drilled and trained as they had in
days past. Maintaining all of the centuries old traditions and capabilities would be his own legacy, one he hoped one day to pass
down to Ibsen.