Tag Archives: Creative Commons

24.XIII \ 206

Posted on by under Greater Beyond, Uncategorized

The two progressed along this business thoroughfare with residential side streets. The hills were on the side of the reservoir where they came from. “I suppose I hadn’t reached an active enough role to be given the confidential information regarding these issues,” mused Soleil. At six, there was no way she could have been relevant, and at twenty-four they’d hoped it was long buried.

“They were wise enough not to include additional people in the decisions of wrongdoing. It’s part of why I was willing to give you half a chance.” Raev glanced to his side, regarding Soleil. “You’ve thus far shown yourself to be decent, and honest. If you were hiding something nefarious, like what we’re discussing now, the Aureny would have tossed you over the edge when you were matching forces.”

She recalled clarifying her intentions before walking into the chamber. “You’d have been just as happy if they did away with me in the case of my having compromised integrity.”

“You are right about that.” Sturlusson’s voice was steely and ruthless, though not cruel. “But they didn’t. You also made no misstep throughout the Tempering, which means you were able to respect them as well. So, I’m giving you that much.”

24.XII \ 206

Posted on by under Greater Beyond

This street ended at a t-junction, facing a defunct corner store bearing a sign that read Convenience in large script.

Here the Princess stopped to speak, and her guide regarded her. “I know how this might sound, but – the Imperium is founded on cooperation and inclusion. It can’t even exist today without the collective skill sets of different planetary peoples. Cooperation is the force that propelled it to the present moment, even the spark of its inception. Relation is the mandate. That includes all known… all known…”

Soleil let out a sigh and dropped forward, empathetic pain wrenching her face where it could scarcely be seen. Her brow remained furrowed, gaze on her thoughts. “I know it sounds like I’m harping on an ideal, yet – any civilization is little else than an ideal. That I can name it means it exists, though it mightn’t have guided every action. I’m not the only one who knows where the backbone lays. But the power…” She looked up and faced Raev to show him her expression: the internal accumulation of assessment, graced with stunned acknowledgment of all the reality she’d faced. “…The power is acting against itself.” Her continuing readiness to act held her together, and her sword of logic sharpened as she continued applying it in cogitation.

He took this in with a frank and direct gaze before replying to the skyline. “How often does an established power structure depart from the ideals which created it? It happens, when those with power are afraid they might lose it. They can betray what empowered them, which may empower another.” Sturlusson lifted his hand to direct them to the right, where a wind whistled down a long, hard road.

24.XI \206

Posted on by under Greater Beyond

This neighborhood had front gardens, running rampant with this planet’s successors to civilization. The wildlife population was nonplussed by their human guests. Doors, windows, and vehicles lay in unnatural positions, absent of citizenry. The breeze was fresh and light.

“So the Vedani…” Raev was massaging both his shoulders with his left hand as they walked, “they’d been trying to achieve contact for a couple generations, since before Celeste was Queen. Results ranged from discouraging to horrific – talk to them about it sometime. Many incidents of theft and murder convinced them they were being treated as harvestable. They were left with little choice but to create a channel before they were further aggressed. This allied action was a matter of defense to them, particularly after understanding the more recent experience of the Aureny.”

24.X \ 206

Posted on by under Greater Beyond

[Note: this lengthy chapter being released in many small pieces has turned an unprecedented corner, and so shall I by using numeral decimals.]

The trail was reasonably long by the reckoning of a child, easy switchbacks descending the face of the hill. The trees thinned against the edge of a cul de sac. The two stepped out into a semicircle of modest yet comfortable dwellings. “Like most of us with a miracle resistance, I lost my entire family.” He hung his head for half a beat and led them down the center of the street. “The Affliction created its own vengeance that way.”

“Once I was old enough, I dug it out. I gouged the secrets out of hiding, with unparalleled resources via my allies. The blood costs I incurred were… small in comparison. Yet, I bereaved myself again, through my own actions. I know very well what I’ve done.” Raev walked with floating steps as through the mists of time. Soleil glided with him, focused, letting the block roll slowly by. “Many agree the regime must fall. While you are almost convincing enough to make people believe there exists something redeemable.”

“Not all Hirylien survivors wanted to pursue vengeance. Pliskin for one, he was content to bring advances to market… in clever silence regarding the Vedani. The Pan-Galactic Imperium benefitted as they had before, scavenging under denial.”

 

24.9 \ 206

Posted on by under Greater Beyond

Raev brought them along the path into the trees riding up toward a short crest. Branch tips curled in vibrant tender spirals. “They made a lot of claims to innocence, lies that we’ve proven. I already knew it because I watched the chain of discoveries here on Hirylien. I had a deep grasp of the social dynamics, with solid knowledge of all the changes taking place. It’s what I did with all my time in that year, with the unbiased absorption of a preteen with full linguistics. I observed when and where everything fell apart. I knew.”

They reached the crest at the end of the copse, which revealed a promontory overlook of the nearby neighborhood. Houses were aswim in greenery, collapsed rooflines and choked roadways blocked with immobile wreckage. A sagging bench was set near a trail that wound down the steep hillside, the local shortcut. Raev stood still in the clear space by the bench, facing the view. Soleil drew level.

“The Hirylien Affliction is an advanced mutation that came from a lab. They were confident they could contain it because they had a counter-agent ready when they released it – though they scrambled conspicuously along expectable timelines, which were too long to save most of our planet given the pace of the disease. Vedani are incredible information trackers, beyond our concepts of safeguards and destruction. They already possessed clarity into most of our systems at that time, and more so now.” Devoid of solicitous gestures, he walked over and started down the trail, making it clear this was not the end and that she should follow.