Note: This is chapter one of Book 3 – if you haven’t read Book 2 yet, go Here.
Chapter one
Cylaris, Kristorian Dynasty
In a deserted star system with only three planets, a single ship orbited the outermost. The single passenger was only slightly startled when the figure appeared before her.
“Well Dipchet, this is a surprise,” said Cylaris.
“Actually, I have been using the name Samuel lately and I have grown rather fond of it.”
“I don’t care what you call yourself. I travelled three days out of my way to come to this backwater star system because I thought I was going to be able to trade for the data on bioware hacking – I should have known it was too good to be true.”
“And you feel cheated,” Samuel said. “Well, I am truly sorry to put you out but I thought you might appreciate keeping this meeting circumspect.”
“Everything you do is circumspect,” said Cylaris.
“Now, now… haven’t all our interactions been profitable for you? Hmm? You really should show a little more respect for your betters, Cylaris.”
“Samuel, you may be a Lower House and you may be able to do things that are beyond me and my dynasty, but I am really starting to doubt whether you are better. As a matter of fact, the way I hear it most of the other Lower Houses have turned on you.”
“That is a vicious rumor! Many of the Lower Houses stand with me; and you would be well advised to do the same.”
“Me! I do not want any part of a dispute between Erkandel. It has nothing to do with me and I want to keep it that way.”
“Even if doing nothing means the destruction of your entire dynasty?” Samuel said smoothly.
Cylaris stared at Samuel for a long moment and then said, “Samuel, I do not trust you whatsoever, but there has always been at least a grain of truth in all your machinations. Explain your statement!”
Samuel idly picked lint off of his black shirt sleeve and said, ”You have heard of the Earthers?”
“Of course. They are the short-lived half-breeds that claim to be Chosen, or special, or something like that. Word is they are what you Erkandel are fighting over.”
“But do you know why we are fighting, my dear Cylaris?”
When she didn’t say anything Samuel went on, “Because when they die they have the ability to Transcend.”
“Transcendence? You mean that is real?”
“It is very real… and very deadly for the rest of us.”
“What do you mean?”
Samuel sighed, “When enough Earther souls have transcended they will coalesce to form a new Creator. Once that happens there will no longer be any purpose for our universe. Everything you know, your dynasty, your universe itself will be destroyed.”
While Cylaris was trying to process what she had just heard, Samuel continued as if he were speaking to himself, “The Earthers even have a word for it – although they have confused its meaning just as they have confused everything else. They call it Armageddon.”
“But that does not make sense!” she protested. “Why destroy the universe?”
Samuel grimaced and then explained, “Because the universe, and the Earthers, were created in His image – we were not. I know you do not understand this but take my word for it, on Earth once a person or even an animal gives birth they start to die. Once reproduction is accomplished, there is no more reason for the host to survive. The universe is no different, once enough Earthers have transcended all we know will be erased.”
“How much time have we got?” Cylaris asked.
“Who knows? They breed like rodents and even though they have short lives they are starting to spread across the galaxy like bacteria. Thousands of them, soon millions of them, die every day. It might take ten thousand years for enough souls to transcend or there might be enough tomorrow.”
“So what can I do about it? Why are you telling me these things?”
“Because Cylaris, our only hope is to destroy the Earthers. If we can do it quickly enough they may never reach the critical numbers needed.”
“But, The Accord…”
“Yes, there is that Accord thing standing in the way… but if you do nothing you die. For reasons you cannot understand our Erkandel cannot take direct action against the Earthers, but your dynasty can.”
“So you want me to embroil my whole dynasty in this mess. It sounds to me like you just want us to take all the risks – we have heard what happened to the Noridians when they went up against the Earthers.”
“The Noridians were stupid. And yes, you will need your entire dynasty working together on this, but you cannot go to war with the Earthers. Over the last twenty years they have spread to too many star systems. You would never destroy enough of them before others intervened. No, you must be much more subtle than that.
“If you follow my plan we can have the Earthers turning on each other. You see Cylaris; it will be all the sweeter to have the Earthers destroy themselves.”
“Very well, Samuel of Erkandel Del Asdeum, tell us your plan…”
The Audio Book for Here Comes Earth: Emergence (Book I) is now available HERE
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