Little Cherine Book 04 - BPost032
“What have you done Roberto?”
“What I should have done all along Dommi. I have separated a part of myself which keeps watch. No reason for all of us to suffer for months or years.”
2411
Cherine began to cry. “Please Robert, don’t do it. At least we could share with you, now a part of yourself is suffering and we can’t help it.”
He laughed. “You call moping around helping me? Stop worrying baby. Do you really think I would do that, leave a part to suffer? That would be like torturing a child! It is hardly aware and just stores everything for me. If and when the day comes for me to release it and take it all back, it will be for the purpose of punishing the monsters that sent the fire-world.”
Cherine could not be placated with words and Robbie was forced to take her into the part. She examined it and sensed a sorrow, but she also sensed that it (he) is not really suffering. Robbie has not left any empathy in the part, or if he did, it is tiny, compared to what he is able to feel. I think a tiny part of her still grieves, but she has come to accept that this is the only solution.
It has taken a few days, but things are returning to normal. Candy was the first to climb on his lap, giggling and teasing him, and when we felt how he had thirsted for this, how it soothed him, we all forced ourselves to relax, forget about the part which is gathering all that pain for our Robbie to feel one day, and we organised a party for the anniversary of Robbie and Cherine. It is unbelievable, looking at Cherine, seeing a tiny girl who looks about eight and knowing they are celebrating their eleventh anniversary! Their love for each other has only grown and deepened and because of her, so has his love for us. (Cherine - if you wish to make that statement, Samantha, then you should include the fact that as the love of each of you and Robert grows, so does his love for me deepen and grow.)
We decided to have the party at the taverna and invited the Anadir and Sparklers. I told Solomon that we cannot accommodate all the Sparklers, but up to fifty of them would be welcomed. To make it even lovelier for Robbie, I suggested they come as young girls. Solomon was very amused.
The Anadir have grown fond of our taverna and there always seem to be at least a couple of them visiting. They mostly eat fruit and drink wine or beer. We had not taken the possibility into account and the largest part of the first load the protector brought us was stock to keep them happy. Alki wondered aloud what we needed so much wine and beer for and we enjoy imagining what he must be thinking.
Our party started at lunch and after eating, some went to swim. Robbie called us to make ourselves comfortable along the beach for Wendy and Candy to sing to us. Wendy has helped Candy write a piece that tells a fantasy story of dragons, monsters and a prince. It was fun and had all of us feeling happy at the end when the prince saves his little princess and marries her.
The song had barely ended when the waters roiled, a huge head filled with teeth shot up and a monstrous roar deafened us. The head lashed out towards us and in an instant we were teleported back home, our guests with us, by Cherine - without her even touching us!
Robbie screamed as if his insides were being torn and he collapsed. Cherine appeared, her face contorted by terror. She sat by him and cradling his head began to keen, “Why did you make me do it!”
We felt him coming back, just for an instant and then he blocked himself. He lay in her arms listening to her for nearly a minute. When he spoke she was startled. “I’m going to have to tell Alki that my cub has become a mother lion and has ferocious fangs.”
He sat up, dropping his block. “I wanted to give everyone a scare, in line with the story by the girls. It was just supposed to be a joke, and suddenly the most wonderful thing has happened. Cherine baby, where did you find the power to do it?”
“I don’t know! I thought it was real and had to get everyone away. I’m stupid!! I did not even check to see whether it was you.”
Robbie turned to us. “She ported us without touching us. That is a miracle by itself! A new gift that is precious on its own. Do any of you realise what else she did? The creature I made had substance, it was not just an image. She lashed out with some power I don’t recognise and crushed it to a pulp!!”
“Is that why you screamed and collapsed?”
“You’re damn right Solomon. That thing was a part of myself.” He turned to Cherine. “If you had planned it, you could not have give me a more wonderful surprise my love. What a lovely gift for our anniversary.”
2412
She felt like hitting him for making her hurt him (I know, it doesn’t make sense - not my fault), but she suddenly realised that her new gifts mean she can stand at his side and protect him when needed and her heart and mind blossomed like a giant tropical flower from her fierce joy.
I don’t think Cherine has realised what a side effect of this will be. Almost unconsciously she had begun to feel that her Robbie has evolved beyond her and she had lost that feeling of being a special part of him, because of her awe of him. She now feels special again and, since he made such a big thing of her new gifts, closer and more equal to the man she loves more than life. All us girls are now suffering and having to adjust to the strengthening of love between us, because of the two of them.
We returned to the taverna and played, danced, ate and stole kisses from Cherine and Robbie as often as we could. I danced with a number of our non-Earth friends and because we all can feel the love we have for each other, even those not of our family, they only laughed when I laughed at their awkwardness. That is until I saw one tiny girl. She was no bigger than Candy and looked just as sweet. She has that fairy tale princess frail and delicate look and when she smiles she has the most delightful dimples and her huge eyes are a lavender colour. Her hair is like spun gold and thickly hangs way past her pert tiny bum. She entranced me and soon as I went close to her all the other girls noticed her.
I asked her, “You are a Sparkler?”
She laughed and it captivated me. She did a pirouette and asked, “You like it? ”
Dommi spoke the words that were in our hearts. “If Roberto sees her, we’ll have a problem.”
She reached up and Dommi picked her up. She hugged Dommi and whispered to her, “I love you.” We felt Dommi’s heart expand with the love she felt for her as she kissed her soft cheek. The way she felt, so unexpectedly, for the magical little creature almost hurt her and she closed her eyes as she pressed her to herself. The little girl giggled.
“Can you let me down now? There is someone special and I want to tell her I love her.”
We all waited with our hearts racing, wondering which one of us it is. She went to Jade.
“You have a naughty heart and I need to tell you I see it and love you very much.” Poor Jade answered, stammering, that she too loves her and the little girl laughed with joy, bringing alive our hearts. She stepped back, swirled around and a golden glow enveloped her so that we could not see her anymore and a voice said, tinkling with laughter, “I love you all more than you can guess.”
The glow faded and Robbie was standing there. “Did you prefer her to my dragon?”
We did not know whether we should laugh or cry, hit him or kiss him. I was pleased when Dommi spoke for us, “Oh Roberto, what have you done, we all love her!”
“Are you sure?”
Dumbly we all nodded.
“Then why not give her to us?”
“What!!?”
“Once Gina is born, so that she too can be a part of it, if all of you get together and create one ova from all your genes, you can then let our Cherine give birth to her as a gift for our anniversary. You have all seen and known her, my healer could create her to look exactly as you saw her. She will have her own personality though, and I’m sure it will be just as delightful.”
Cherine waited, not daring to believe and then she sank onto the sand and began to cry, her heart swelling to fill us with her love.
I laughed, later on. “Robbie, how can we make a girl with lavender eyes! We could never let her out of the house back home.”
He gave me a lascivious grin, “What makes you think she would get out of the bedroom?”
Tit for tat, as they say. “Wouldn’t you get bored?”
“Bored!? You must be joking!”
2413
“Not really. With all of us only paying attention to her, showering her with our love, what would you be doing?”
I’d made him hysterical and soon all the stupid girls were grinning or laughing with him. So, I shouldn’t have said ‘showering’! Anyway! I reckon all the girls are now in my debt - at least I gave him the best laugh he’s had for over a month.
The imps must have decided that since Robbie had been showing off, they should also do so. They danced with each other and let their steps take them over the lake. Dancing on top of the water, we sensed them waiting for someone to notice them, but the Sparklers thought it was a good idea and followed them. Soon half the dancers were dancing on water. When they returned, looking down in the dumps, Cherine hugged and thanked them for their brilliant idea of getting others to dance there as it looks lovely. Cheerful again they dashed off, to hatch a new scheme no doubt. Somehow the rest of the party managed to remain without further incidents and when Robbie and Cherine softly told us they are leaving, we all sent them our love and continued dancing.
The two of them shared with us, but I’ll let Robbie take over again.
I would have liked Cherine to write of our time, I’d enjoy reading of it from her point of view, but she is terrified of writing in the diary - the thought of countless generations reading it and (as she thinks) laughing at the way she writes, makes her mind go blank soon as she sits at the computer.
There was no way I was going to try anything on the grand scale of our last anniversary, so I chose a gentle hillside, arranged some cold drinks and chocolates, a soft blanket and, putting a ‘dome’ over the area created the illusion of our moon, the stars and clouds slowly drifting by. If she is homesick, I thought, she might enjoy it.
We lay down on the blanket, on our sides, our upper bodies raised on our elbows and chatted. Every now and then one of us would lean over and kiss the other. She was running her fingers over my arm and both of us were relaxed. It seems that without communicating about it, both of us wanted to enjoy being together, rather than trying to have a night of extraordinary passion.
I was therefore surprised when she gave our privacy sign to the girls.
“Robbie, we’ve never talked about it, it has been almost as if we are pretending it never happened. What I did tonight reminded me of it.”
“Our Wendy?” She waited, not needing to confirm it. “I was hoping she would talk to us about it. I get the impression she has buried it in the hope that it will go away, as if it never happened.”
Cherine shuddered. “I’ve never killed, but if I did, even if it was to save you, I’d need to talk about it.”
“Use what happened to ask her about it.”
“Why me?”
“I think it should not be me. Either Dommi or you should. Do you want Dommi to do it? I think she would prefer you, because she knows that you would kill to defend us, what happened is too alien to our sweet Dommi.”
She grinned. “If I’m the mother lion now, I’ll tell her she is our lion cub.”
I stared into those dark eyes of hers that reflected the moon and felt a slight tremble inside me. “How is it I love you so much!? What is it about you that makes me feel this way?” My fingertips traced a path gently over her face. “You’ve made Diana for me. The twins share my soul. Jade is a female reflection of myself and we are bound to each other. Gilli, Dommi, you name them, there is not one of them that is not special to me in some way and yet…” I stopped, lost for words.
“I wish it was because of the way I love you, but I don’t think it is. Robert, if you find the reason and decide it is a silly one and stop loving me so much, something inside me will die.”
It was as if a dark flower blossomed within my mind and I heard myself speak words I was not thinking.
2414
She had been partly, as she usually is, within my mind and we both stared at each other in dismay. She knew that it was no fear of mine, no complex, and the alienness of the source frightened both of us.
She cried out and threw herself at me. “No Robert!! Never!! I love you.”
We held to each other desperately, but even the warmth of our bodies, the desperate way our minds joined and felt our love, could not dispel the chill of the words. Within seconds, despite our privacy sign, we were surrounded by all the girls. They did not know what was happening, but had picked up our distress and were afraid. Cherine threw herself into the arms of Dommi and let her hear the words I’d spoken, while also showing her my mind and where the words came from.
“A prophesy Roberto?”
“I haven’t a clue Dommi.”
The girls were all crying, but Dommi sat buried deep within herself. “If Cherine could stop loving you, leave you, who are the four who would stay by you?”
Frustrated and angry I called out, “I don’t know! Curse the thing whatever it was. If the knowledge or warning had to come to me, why did it have to come in this way? It will only serve to poison our lives.”
My heart was breaking for I could feel all of them and their terror that they might not be one of the four. As could be expected Sol arrived. She took one look at us and disappeared, Solomon now standing before us.
“What has happened?” He must have been inundated by the girls. Visibly shaken he awkwardly lowered himself onto the blanket opposite me, his eyes trying to pierce me to my soul.
“Do you mean your family, apart from the four, will leave you?”
Somehow I just knew. “No Solomon. Everyone.”
“Your prophesy cannot be true, for not one Sparkler will, ever!!”
“All Solomon. You shall turn from me, as shall the Anadir and the Gillians. Just four shall stand by my side. Those four I shall condemn to a suffering.” I did not know where this knowledge was coming from and I felt a dizziness and fell down, the world turning dark.
When I awoke I stared around me in shock.
“Why are you all here? What is wrong?” I was in a panic.
Before I could try to find the answer from their minds they all blocked themselves.
“You fainted Roberto and we were worried.”
“Dominaki mou.” The sadness in my voice broke her heart. She knew I’d seen her lie for what it was, but she could not speak.
“Do not judge those who would protect you out of love Robert. You need to rest and love your Cherine, let tomorrow bring whatever it is to bring. Let tonight make you strong.” I saw the grief in his eyes and was silenced. He left us and I looked around.
“I can feel that you all agree with him. Cherine, if there is no danger I’ll do as he says. Speak, what should I do?”
She nodded, still trying to muster the strength she seemed to have lost. “Yes Robert, tonight is for us, but not just for you and me. We all need to love and hold you.”
2415
I sensed the relief in the others and thought to myself, ‘They are acting like a family who have just been told their loved one is dying of cancer and don’t want him to know. Whatever is wrong, I better let it be for tonight, they need time to get back their courage.’
Just like after dancing in the void, each body, from Candy, the tiniest upwards, needed to be held, to lie warm skin against warm skin. My fingers gentle, I took them one by one, tenderly I rid them of their clothing and held them for a while. We kissed, but the kisses were of love and tears held back. I could feel in each tiny body a raging inferno of need to have me within them in denial of whatever had brought the distress, but not one of them asked for more than a cuddle and the exchange of breath during our kisses. The last to come to me was Cherine and I held her tightly, her slim body against mine.
Our hips began to thrust, but there was no pleasure in her, only need. When the white fire burst within me she also had her orgasm, but it left her in tears. Something warned me not to probe and I held her tightly to me, surrounded by small bodies trying to touch me as we lay there silently. I was the first one to drift off to sleep.
When I woke up I recalled everything, but it seemed to be something that happened to someone else, not me.
“I have to check on the fire-world. We’ll talk later. I want all of you to have a shower and make breakfast.” I looked into the eyes of my Cherine and saw she had not slept. I kissed her softly. “You too my love. Do you need strength?” She nodded, grief briefly darkening her heart. “I have told all of you many times, the future is not fixed. We’ll find a way to chose the future we want.”
They all took heart from that, so I closed my eyes and entered my probe into normal space. We had already travelled past the planet I’d aimed for. I checked with the part of me that held the memory and with an exclamation I stopped us and moved back. We’d need about three hours so I opened my eyes and stood up.
“Sam baby, tell the Anadir and Sparklers to stop working and go to wherever they can see the windows clearest and watch. This is amazing! I’ll join them after our breakfast.”
Of course I shared the news with my family first. It helped dispel the gloom and livened our breakfast as they questioned me and marvelled.
We stood by a window and looked at the world below us. All were standing by, most of them eager to leave for other windows for a better view.
“Thank you for coming. We will be here for many days so please be patient with me. I need your opinion. To start off by stating the obvious, this world does not having any sentient beings of flesh. It must be a truly ancient civilisation, for all that is left are the machines. The machines are obviously self-aware, sentient. On our world various writers have suggested this could happen on Earth within the next hundred years so I am not surprised to see sentient machines, just saddened that none of the biological creatures of this world survived.
I will let you watch what happens, but I do not need to keep the outcome a surprise. They beat the fire-world. It was forced to leave without succeeding!
Watch carefully and then tell me, should we contact them? If they are friendly, making them aware of our existence would not be damaging. If they are unfriendly to creatures of the flesh, it could be dangerous.”
“I thought Lynda said this reality does not hold any life, apart from the fire-world!”
“She spoke correctly, from our perspective. Even if they are sentient, it is not likely she would have sensed them as humans. I also think that what she said only refers to our galaxy - at least I hope so.”
Strictly speaking it would not be correct to say they beat the fire-world. They were not able to harm it, all their weapons used energy, which could not have caused more than a mild discomfort - the energy I’d used from the void was far more deadly and had not been effective either. I think the fire-world was confused. We had already seen by the way it tracked me, that it is able to not only identify the existence of a soul, but also recognise individual souls. I theorise it must have been ‘programmed’ to attack creatures that have souls and are sentient and even identify individual souls which are aggressive or a bigger threat. Perhaps it only attacked this planet (actually this solar system, as the machines have occupied more than one planet) while it searched for the second part of its target, the souls.
2416
I explained my thinking processes on this and pointed out that if they are willing to bear with some wild extrapolations of mine, I have reason I think, to feel very pleased by these facts. I saw that even Sam was confused.
I’d decided that the fault in their ‘programming’ of the fire-world is likely to be due to the ‘programmers’ belonging to a society that does not use machines and computers. Even the fire-world had not had any kind of hardware, whatever changes they had effected were biological. I stressed that this does not make them less dangerous, after all, it should be possible to duplicate most machines, even highly sophisticated computers, biologically. To make my point I reminded them that Keith had been working on creating a protein chip and success would have meant a leap forward in computing technology.
The reason I was pleased is because every hint or clue I find as to the probable nature of our enemy strengthens us. The Anadir have advanced beyond Earth technology and they agreed that biological science can be as deadly as a machine based science. Even more deadly, as breeding a machine is faster and cheaper than building it. They left us deep in discussions, and my pleasure must have been made too obvious, for Solomon stayed behind.
“You are keeping something to yourself Robert. Why are you so pleased?”
I chuckled. “Nothing to do with the planet or the fire-world. Solomon, you will probably find the cause of my pleasure insulting.”
He thought about it a moment and then nodded. “I see. I’m actually a little confused Robert. Is this expedition truly for the declared purpose, or did you organise it solely for causing these changes to my people and the Anadir?”
“It was a side effect I was hoping for.”
“Robert, I am troubled and have questions but …”
“About the prophesy?”
“Yes. Our Thinkers are considering it and we have sent Sparklers to all the alternative realities and asked that their Thinkers consider it also. There is one question that is extremely important. If this happens, do you know whether you will have your powers?”
I sighed. I’d been trying to bury my head in the sand and avoid thinking about it, as it makes my loves unhappy. I had to be honest though.
“I don’t know. Solomon, I have the feeling that nothing can make my loved ones turn away from me. If I were to become insane and my personality changed to the opposite of what I am now, if I took pleasure in hurting and killing, they would leave me, even fight me. In that case I do not see that any would stay by my side. Thinking about it, I would say that it is more likely something outside of myself will be responsible. For that to happen, for my protector to allow this…I don’t know. If I had said I will leave all of you, taking only four, I could postulate a situation arising, as with the old man, where I had to do it to save my loved ones. For them to reject me though, that I cannot understand or believe.”
“I know it pains you and the girls and I apologise. I will not bring the matter up again unless I have an important reason. It is better we concentrate on completing this mission successfully.”
The girls were all subdued and hurting, but my Cherine is suffering the most. Her heart is breaking and I do not know what to say. If I had prophesied that I would leave them, stop loving them, I know how I would have suffered. I turned away from all else and spent all my time with my girls. We played games, talked, made love. Mostly though, I found myself having to hold them.
We had stopped moving backwards in time and viewed the planets in normal time. On the fourth day the fire-world left. I called for Solomon.
“Could a number of Sparklers leave the void? I’d like them to examine the machines from close up. I would be interested in knowing how they communicate.”
“You have decided to contact them?”
“No. Just preparing for it should everyone agree we can make allies of them. Even if we don’t, the more we know about them the better.”
2417
Ordinx told me their scientists are divided on whether we should contact the machines. He also could not understand why I would want to.
“I could give you a long list Ordinx. We do not know how strong the enemy is, we may need help. If we are able to stop the enemy from ever attacking again, should we leave this reality as it is? How many species over-populate their worlds? On our planet we are only beginning to develop nano-technology. If they have advanced along those lines here, they can help bring life back to the burnt planets and then we can bring settlers of that planet from other realities. To do so the machines must see them as partners, complementing their existence. If they, or the humans, see each other as being competitors in any way, we cannot do it.”
“Do you know what you are dreaming of!? To re-populate one world would take resources no planet can afford to expend. You want to re-populate a whole universe!!?”
The girls teased me for the first time, for a long time. They are convinced I have re-established myself as being the ‘crazy’ leader again. I had become too familiar a figure, they said, and had become gradually accepted as being rational, even if they could not always see or understand my thinking processes - till now!
The Sparklers reported that the machines use a form of telepathy and feel we will not have any problems communicating. It was decided by all that there is no way we can pre-determine whether they will be hostile or not. They have thrown the ball in my court and this time I took pains to try and think it through. Basically I only have to plan for the possibility they are hostile.
I asked the scientists, “Do you think the machines analysed the fire-world? Do they know it exists in two realities simultaneously?”
“We do not think so Robert.”
I made my decision.
“Ordinx, you were shocked at my suggestion. I may be over-simplifying things, but I think the greatest task is in bringing a planet back to it’s original condition. That could take a hundred thousand years or more. Am I right?”
“It is possible over that period…or less.”
“We have travelled back approximately 800,000 years. Planets we find from now onwards will be even further back in time. If we return to our time and need a million years, does it matter? To be honest, even if we could regenerate fifty worlds, at least this would not be a dead reality and we would have another fifty worlds friendly to us.
My greatest fear has been that if the machines are hostile and they learn from us about the void, we will be creating a worse problem than the fire-worlds are. If this is to happen, why have we not found any signs of them in the future? I suggest we contact them, but keep our origins a secret, we do not let them know where or when we are from or how we travel.”
Sam asked me, “How do we visit them Robert?”
“Not in our bodies. I’ll carry us in an energy pod and we will create images of ourselves. That way, if they are hostile, we will have suddenly appeared and just as easily can suddenly disappear.”
I saw into their hearts and knew they did not want me to go with, but none of them wanted the responsibility of handling the negotiations. The Anadir and Sparklers can travel there without my assistance, so I decided it is time I force them to handle it.
“Solomon, if you go, can you remain in constant communication with me if I stay here?”
“You are maintaining your extension into their space?”
“Yes.”
“I do not foresee a problem then.”
2418
“In that case, I ask that you lead this expedition. Please choose volunteers from the Sparklers and Anadir only.”
“Robert,” he asked, patiently, “if they are friendly, what do you want us to negotiate with them?”
“Explain our theory about the fire-world and offer them the few reasons we have for searching for their creators. Then ask whether they would like to take part in our mission. Find out the minimum numbers that could survive without further company; total weight and size. I do not intend bringing them here. Within the energy field I extend to their reality I will include a pod. I presume they need energy, find out what and how they will bring along a supply - for about a year. We will send the protector once a month to collect further supplies. I think that covers that part for now.”
“We know what energy they feed off. You could supply that through your pod.”
“Perhaps they also need minerals. Please ask Solomon, I would find it difficult to supply matter from the void.”
“Would you like me to leave a translator with you so that you understand our negotiations?”
“That would be thoughtful of you. Ordinx, would you stay with us for the same purpose?”
Each Anadir partnered with about ten Sparklers and they left. At the same moment Sol arrived. She had a teasing look to her and she waited for me to ask the obvious question, but I had no need to since the answer was also obvious. Then I realised how disappointed she will be if I do not ask her. I frowned. “Sol, I thought you were going as chief negotiator?”
She grinned. “You mean Solomon? He did go. You did not know a Sparkler made of most of the Thinkers can split into two beings?”
I looked suitably impressed and my little darling was delighted. The girls put on a show also and she felt really special for a while. Everyone expected me to sit there biting my nails. Instead I took a long walk with my girls and we chatted and teased. We sat at the river bank, where I brought us some refreshments. Soon a number of girls were asleep, Noelle and Cassie in my arms.
Sol sat by me and kept up a running commentary in my mind. I did not need a window as I could also see what is happening, thanks to the shaft. For Sol and a few of the girls I sent what I could see to them, giving each person two viewpoints; how Solomon is experiencing his visit and how I see it from the lance which reaches into normal space.
When the team arrived, they were attacked. Solomon realised their reasons and did not react with hostility. Their weapons could not penetrate my energy pod so there was no risk. By the time some of the girls were sleeping, Solomon had managed to broadcast his message and he was answered. Of course the first thing they wanted to know was who we are and where we come from. Delicately Solomon avoided answering by feeding them information about the fire-world. When he told them about all the planets we have seen destroyed, the countless biological lives lost he asked, *By our time in the future there is no planet with sentient life on it. The fire-world has destroyed all biological life. We had not found your solar system at that time so cannot answer the question about your own survival. Does it please you that your universe is empty of life and therefore yours alone?*
His question caused such an upset that I did not need their reply to know the answer. Those who had created them they considered friends lost in the mists of time. They had taught their machines their own gentle philosophies and helped them feel that they are part of the tapestry of life. They asked our party to join them on the surface of their mother planet where they showed them that though they had no need of nature in all its glory for their own survival, they had carefully tended all plant, animal and insect life. They also showed them how they have preserved the bodies of their creators and friends, still grieving for them. When the fire-world attacked, they had not feared for themselves as they can exist in space, but for their planets and all they hold.
I sent my healer to examine some of the corpses and my suspicions were confirmed.
*Solomon. Their creators were murdered. Find a way to ask for the truth please.*
My message upset the Sparklers and Anadir. The machines saw it and wondered. Solomon waited until he was in control of himself and then gently asked, *I feel you bear a terrible guilt.*
2419
*You must be wise as our friends were to sense that in us, since we are machines.* There was silence for a time. *You speak correctly. A machine was created and they killed it, without explaining to us. We attacked and destroyed them. Afterwards we saw the reason they killed it and understood. It was too late! We have tried to find a way to return their bodies to life, but have not succeeded.*
*Tell them please, that if we survive our mission, we undertake to return to their system about 800,000 years from now so as to bring back to life their friends. Explain we cannot do it now, for we would only be creating an alternate future and in this one they would remain without their friends. We saw their universe had no biological sentient life in our time.*
I told Solomon I wanted to sleep and cut them off. Sol and my girls were amused and asked if they can watch, so I had to let them. In the end I was glad I did, for I sensed how the Sparklers and Anadir cringed at the reaction of the machines. Somehow I then did sleep.
When Robbie fell asleep I also slept, we all did, for we could no longer watch. What Robbie did not mention was that he asked Solomon whether this moment showed them that the Sparklers still have a purpose. There was an explosion of movement above us and all the Sparklers disappeared. That was when Robbie smiled to himself (sweetly, but a little smugly I suspect) and went to sleep.
The machines are created out of energy and have no weight and the energy we can send them is satisfactory, though even that is only needed in minute amounts. Basically the only need is for space, which is considerable. We had already returned home and eaten when Solomon concluded his discussions, a cloud of machines that must have numbered in the millions flew and waited close to the beam of energy Robbie used for watching their reality. He formed a pod of energy that surrounded them and attached it to his spy-hole. Solomon and the others returned to us.
Sol left and Solomon stood before us.
“Robert!!”
“Don’t start on me Solomon, I only asked a question.”
He struggled within himself while Robbie glowered at him. Finally he relaxed and grinned. “Fine, I will not speak of it. I do not promise on behalf of the Anadir though. Their scientists and our Thinkers are extremely excited. They want to learn how to create such machines of energy.”
“What for? What could you use them for in the void?”
“As partners Robert. Such as the Earth that was destroyed in another reality, the one where Cherine had a fight with the Sparklers. They still feel guilty. With such machines they would be able to help rebuild the planet.”
“Ahh.” He was pleased. “So your people are beginning to dream! Solomon, it may be necessary for such machines to be created within the reality of our universe; I suspect they may not be as effective if they are created in the void or of the void. What if there is a misunderstanding, as happened here?”
I asked, “Robbie, what if they built in a trigger, something that would force the machines to auto-destruct if they become a danger?”
“Would they be partners or slaves Sam?”
I thought about that and went and opened my stupid mouth. “Is the protector a partner Robbie?” No sooner had I spoken than I was kicking myself. I did not need to feel his distress to know what I had done. The protector materialised, knelt on one knee as he put his hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes, with a deep and terrible sorrow he asked, “What have you done Samantha?” I began to cry and he pulled me to him.
As the protector held me, a warm and gentle entity for once, he looked up at Robbie. “Not yet Robert, the day may come, but not yet. I am too young - I also have a need to belong.” Robbie nodded and looked into my eyes.
“Don’t cry my little butterfly. You spoke well and the question will have to be answered. Since he asks that I wait and he is the protector, I have to wait. You do know that in my heart I want him as our partner?”
“Yes.” In my heart though I had a childish feeling that it was still not right.
2420
Two thumbs wiped under my eyes as the protector asked of me, “Ask for privacy and walk a way with me sweet Samantha.”
With my hand in his we walked until we were out of earshot.
“What I say I would only say to you. Promise me on your love for him that you will hide this information.”
I became afraid, quivers running through my tummy as I promised to do so for a while.
“The prophesy. If I were not part of him anymore I could be used against him. This way, I might not be there to protect, but at least I cannot be used against him.”
With senses reeling I dared. “Will I be of the four?”
“I think not Samantha. Those you least expect will be and yet, at the time, it will be seen that they are the most obvious.”
I was devastated. I will abandon my Robbie, my father and husband! I think I could not have borne it if I had not recalled that his lion, little Cherine and his mother, Dommi, will also desert him.
He smiled, as if watching my thoughts. “You will have to be their strength Samantha.” He put his arm around my shoulder and we returned to the others. I tugged at him and when he leant down I kissed his cheek. I saw something of my Robbie in the tenderness in his eyes.
Robbie made a point of keeping a watch on the machines and because of that we ended up benefiting also. Instead of only the scientists keeping vigil at the windows to marvel at sights never seen before, now all of us did so. Suns of various sizes, colours, from white to dying suns, most of their surface dark, looking like a stream of lava does, the red veins of the fire inside cracking through the cooler surface. We saw a world the fire-world had examined. Ruins could still be seen, but nature had mostly reclaimed the planet. Since the fire-world did not attack, we took it for granted that the dominant species had died out. There were no signs of violence and if their civilisation had degenerated, any signs of that had been wiped out a long time ago. Robbie stayed at this planet, a little too obviously I thought, but not a word was said by either the Anadir nor the Sparklers. We all felt a sadness for the humans of this world who had allowed themselves to reach a dead end. We left this world in love with the beauty of it and perhaps a little wiser.
A week later Robbie told us he is returning to that world. When questioned he explained he cannot rest, he needs to find out why they died out, in case the same threat affects our planet someday
We all went with Robbie, not in our real bodies. Solomon made replicas of our bodies for us. We split up, each group travelling to one of what used to be three centres of their civilisation - which we thought is strange, for over eighty percent of their planet had no signs of farming or of cities, not even houses. We arrived at our chosen centre and as we entered the city we found ourselves surrounded by machines. We were informed that we are under arrest and documents showing our identities were demanded.
We did not jump or abandon our bodies, since Robbie did not. We allowed them to take us into a building. Walls had cracked open, furniture has long since collapsed and even the machines showed signs of malfunction. We were told we will be held until we can appear in court. Claudia asked when that would be. The machines did not know, but they were confident a judge will appear.
“I think we have learnt what there is to learn here. Spread out, keep jumping and the first of you that find anything that looks like a library, call us to you.”
That night we returned to our spaceship-world.
The other two groups told us of similar experiences, though the Sparklers had not seen any reason to obey the machines and had spent all their time examining the ruins.
“One thing struck me Robert. All the buildings, in the majority, that seemed to be dwellings belonged to two categories only. Having been to Earth and seen the differences, this struck me as being of importance. The two categories were very similar, the one only slightly more comfortable than the other.”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)12th October, 2019
- posted on Steemit: 12th October, 2019
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 04, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
