A Paradox in Retrograde (25 page)

Looking around he saw no one. The child feeling entitled, with
all the bravado he could muster responded in disgust. "Humans?
It is unbecoming for a prince to intermingle amongmy specie's
prey. I would rather die here with honor."

The voice in his head again spoke, "I suspect you are too young
to understand the meaning of such a word. However, if your
intention is to die, then that too can come to pass. If that truly is
your will, I will not stand in your way. If that is not your intention, and if you desire to live past this day, you will listen. For
my brother's plan is to use you to draw your people out. In this
plan you and your people will most certainly die. With your help
I will not allow this to happen. So if you wish to survive, you
will obey me. And if you do value your species, you would do
well to carefully follow my instructions to the letter. Do you understand? What say you then?" He waited for some sign after a
brief moment the child nodded his head to acknowledge he did.
"Good, that settles it. Soon the destruction of both of your
worlds will be upon us. So lift up your head and be awake."
There in his cell his head rose up off the cold stone floor. Awaking from a dream within a dream he was confident now that he
was still in captivity. However he was not alone for he sensed
now that same familiar presence. Though he could see no one
there, the door to his cell as if by some miracle, opened wide
before him.
Grunhuf the Lord Mayor had been among those in attendance.
His minor wounds sustained in the fighting had by this time been
well tended to. Though still weary from his ordeal, his spirits had
shown some improvement. It was however evenly possible that
this change in his demeanor was due either to a suggestive state
or the ordeal of battle. Either way since that afternoon his spirit
was energized more so than he could ever remember. He found
himself for the moment at a loss because there was no way he
could help with the technical effort. Despite having followed
Ananda's presentation he possessed no such technical skill. He
found he would have to be content walking about brandishing the
sheathed sword that he proudly wore in a sash around his waist.
Part of him knew this was beneath him. However he was conspicuously drawn to this emotion to somehow participate in this undertaking.

Landaus while staring blindly at the activity swirling around
him, a flutter came to his eye. It was then as if startled from a
waking sleep that he had a sudden moment of clarity. To his utter
surprise he realized that he had willingly surrendered his command, and committed his forces to battle on no more than the
words of a mysterious stranger. The evidence was surely there, he
had let his side down. He wondered by what guile he had been so
dispossessed. He could not even recall when the transition had
taken place. Xora standing by him immediately noticed the
marked change come over him. "Landaus are you feeling alright?
You look as if you've seen a ghost." "Xora you spoke earlier of
Ananda. You said that there was something important you needed
to tell me."

"Yes." she said, "There is something you should hear but I fear
that it's not safe here. We should leave from here and speak away
from prying eyes and ears."

Just then from across the hall Grunhuf as if by precognition
seemed to catch their gaze. He somehow sensed their suspicions.
Crossing the room he approached them in a quick step. He greeted them, "Lady Xora, Landaus how are you both? I hope all is
well." "And you Grunhuf" responded Landaus. The Lady merely
nodded. Grunhuf with a sullen look upon his face asked,
"Landaus how is it that we find ourselves here preparing to meet
our enemy and you are standing in the shadows? I'vegot to tell
you, I'm surprised. You should be there devising tactics or training men. I think that if I had half of your abilities and know
how, I would be at the forefront. What say you Landaus?"

Landaus looked at his old friend and could not imagine who he
was. He had a known Grunhuf for most of his adult life. His behavior though not contrived seemed ill suited to this generally
rational man. He thought carefully for a response before he
spoke. "Grunhuf it is not your place nor is it appropriate for you
to question me in such a manner. But if you must know I am
preparing for a clandestine operation whose planning was well
beyond your pay grade. Despite your ill conceived notions my
first duty is to Baldur and the Royal family, and your need to
know, is a distant last." This exchange had raised Grunhuf’s
blood pressure to the point that his round head had turned bright
red with anger.

He did not immediately respond, he merely stood tapping his
fingers nervously on the hilt of his sword. With aglare in his
eye he said, "I think you've made yourself perfectly clear Landaus. If I could give you a bit of advice it would be that you
should be careful with what you say in the future. Unless you
haven't noticed, things are changing pretty quickly around here.
You may wake up to find yourself on the wrong end of things.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have important work to do." Grunhuf
turned and walked away.

Landaus stood silent for a moment until Grunhuf’s ear was out
of shot range. Then he whispered to Xora. "What was that
about? I've got a strange and creepy feeling from him. It's as if
he were possessed."

Xora caught a similar vibe and said, "I'm feeling it too."

It was for this reason that as they exited the auditorium, Xora
and Landaus would be careful to do so quietly and out of sight
to Grunhuf. Though they wanted their absence to go unnoticed,
it was however to no avail, for Grunhuf had already been watching them. Doing his best to act natural he watched them as they
attempted to slip out of the building. Being that there was little
else for him to do there; he decided he would do abit of detective work by discreetly following them. As to not be noticed, he
allowed them a good fifty meters head start. Hidingin a doorway he observed them as they exited the hall and made their way
toward the temple complex of Breideblic. He thought it strange
that these two should be such allies. He suspected that there
among them was perhaps the seed of dissent. As they passed out
of sight under the stone entry of the temple, Grunhuf raced as
best as he could across the avenue after them.

After several minutes Xora and Landaus had arrived at the entrance of the crystal room, only to find that there were others already there waiting. Xora was surprised that the room had recognized others outside of her presence. It was difficult for them to
see through the pulsating light whose images were there silhouetted. There was also something there she could only sense. A
moment later there suddenly within the light of the chamber there
appeared a presence Xora had never before felt or seen. She
called out to James, "James report, what is happening here? She
listened as the halting stutter of machine consciousness blinked in
and out of existence. Power levels fluctuated wildly and the
room was alive with sound and light. After several minutes of this
the power abruptly fell to zero. All within the room was then quiet and dark, save for a growing ball of shimmering blue light. An
instant later the power came back up and a cacophony of voices
rang out like a chorus of bells. The voices settled into a murmur
and the ball of shimmering light transformed into a rather convincing avatar of a man. His features like Ananda's were dark
with piercing eyes and an angular face. Beside it, there within the
Illuminated sphere of light were the figures they had earlier
glimpsed. Landaus was momentarily at a loss for words as he recognized those figures to be those of his son Ibsen and the captive
child. Though still confused he forced his words to return. "What
is happening, and how can it be that my son is here? You had no
right to take him here. He is only a child." Landaus in a rage
lunged forth to attack the apparition. Though he should have
known better he was surprised as his hands passed unhindered
through the body of the ghostlike image. He stepped back in confused amazement. The spirit spoke, to allay their growing dismay.
"I am sorry for taking such liberties however the circumstances
now dictate that action be taken as soon as possible. I assure you
that no harm will come to either of these boys. I have come only
to offer assistance so that your world may avoid the destruction
that had befallen my own."
Landaus still smarting from being tricked by the illusion spoke.
"Whoever said that we would require assistance from the likes
of you? Besides we've already obtained the help of a flesh and
blood version of you. He's pretty handy with a sword too. On
you I would wager not so much. "

"That much is true. My brother has always been quite handy
with any sort of weapon. However I feel even now you have
many unanswered questions. I fear there is much I must tell you.
But first you should deal with the more pressing issue of the
man who has been following you before I continue."

"What are you talking about?"

 

"There has been someone following you for some time. See for
yourself even now he eavesdrops."

Landaus did not hesitate. He bolted into the darkened hall only
to see there a figure running awkwardly in the opposite direction. He gave chase and in less than four strides he had gained
on him. Throwing his full weight at him, he knocked easily to
the hard ground. He rolled him over to discover he recognized
him. "Grunhuf what are you doing here lurking about like this? I
could have killed you."

He responded angrily as he stood to his feet. "I could ask you
the same thing Colonel. You have been acting rather strangely,
and as you know, I have little trust for your Lady Xora. From
my perspective she's got you up to your ears in it."

"You obviously have no idea what you're talking about
Grunhuf. And this for Lady Xora you are way out of line. "

"Am I, from what I understand she’s been spending a good portion of her time plotting lord knows what. And now I've seen
you there cavorting with the enemy. When word of your treason
gets out your thinly veiled references will not save you from the
gallows."

Landaus reacted incredulously, "I must say Grunhuf, from what
we’ve been through, paranoia I can understand. But to so easily
betray a life long friendship is unbelievable. Lookhere, frankly
all of what you have said about Lady Xora and me is absolute
nonsense and I'm surprised to hear it come from your lips. The
fact here is that all of us have somehow been to some degree
glamoured by the will of Ananda. Just a few short days ago, you
wanted him exiled. Do you not remember? "

Grunhuf appeared confused as he tried conjuring a clear picture
of the last few days. His eyes darted to and fro as sifted through
the clouded memories. He looked down at his waist and was surprised there to see he was wearing a sword. He correctly saw that
for him this was indeed peculiar. Landaus could see now that
Grunhuf’s defenses were dropping. Again Landaus spoke this
time in a more reassuring and conciliatory tone.

"Grunhuf, I suspect our minds have been somehow affected. Now
because you are my friend, I would ask you to listen for a moment. There is something here that may change your mind. Besides, would you not deny that now I am in control here? So I
will make you this offer. If you listen for a moment to what this
stranger has to say, and afterwards if you still doubt my theory, I
will surrender to you. You can even lead the firing squad. Do we
have an agreement?"

Having nothing to lose and everything to gain he decided he
would listen. He shook his head and said, "Agreed."

Together they walked into the room. Arranged there within were,
Xora, Ibsen, the captive child and a hologram of a rather smartly
dressed stranger. Grunhuf forewent the greeting and instead to
those assembled he nodded discretely. Startled by the stranger’s
other worldly appearance he asked, "Who is this stranger?"

The spirit answered him directly. "I am Amida. In another time
and place, I was both a King and a hermit. Now in this form I am
but a humble caretaker to my brother. That is however enough
about me. Please the time grows short; let me explain what is
now happening." Having in such a short period seen so many unbelievable things come to pass, this explanation had seemingly
satisfied his curiosity.

"By all means continue."

"Very well, I will be brief. Since before the time of my forefathers, there had been a natural rhythm to the cycles of the universe. These cycles, like the tides of the sea recur with a regularity that in my time was well understood. One of these cycles was
the convergence of the planets, Earth and Nibaru. On these planets long ago arose from a common seed two distinct races. In
times past, during these brief convergences there had always
existed a good deal of strife and animosity between these two
distantly related species; However during the months long convergence, it had not always devolved to war. At one time there
had actually been trade between the races. Violence however
even in times of relative tranquility lay just below the surface.
However the black heart that resides in men of both races would
not long lay dormant. Peace therefore had been short-lived. To
those on Nibaru with each successive awakening into this state
of perpetual war the stage was set for an evolution of culture as
well as of the body. There the Art of war and the official mythology had intertwined into a ritualized religion in which Hector now plays a central role. "

"As for Ananda though I suppose he is to blame, it is partially
my fault. For I was the high king of Atlantia and it is to my eternal shame that there one day I abandoned my crown, and my
responsibility nation and to my brother. To my disgrace, I abdicated my responsibilities to follow the life of leisure. He was ill
prepared for what would happen next. During one such convergence while attending one of these ritualized battles, a seemingly careless insult led ultimately to a blood feud. In secret he
planned. He had as it would later be found, orchestrated the entire situation. It was not until that moment that we did discover
that my brother had gone utterly out of his mind. I was called to
return, but unhappily I was too late. Soon we found ourselves in
a situation where in, all our lives hung in the balance. Hector as
Ananda was then known, chose then to marshal all the technology of the world to bring the cycle to a decisive end. The war was
brief and violent. There in that time the civilization that
spawned such technology as you see before you, was swept
away in the blink of an eye. In an instant all that was left were
scattered remnants, inhabited by desperate survivors. Unfortunately a great number of the warriors of Nibaru escaped with
most of their ships. In a generation the civilization of Earth had
crumbled completely into ignorance. You are their descendants.
Soon if we do not act, the scenario will be repeated and you too
shall be swept away."
As they listened they knew deep down despite their infliction,
that the words he spoke were the truth. Like a veil dropping from
their eyes, the last of the spell they had been placed under began
to fade. Landaus was the first to speak. "We would seem to have
two problems. The first is to defeat our enemy and the second is
to defeat our greatest warrior just as he defeats our sworn enemy
in the midst of the battle."