The Revolutions of Time Part 5

One of the others then interjected, "Our purpose now, Jehu, is not so much to make decisions as to inform you of the decisions we have already made, not that we mean to exclude you from our counsels, but we've been preparing for this moment, your arrival, for many years, since it was foretold long ago."

"Decisions with what end?" I asked of them.

"The reestablishing of an efficient and healthy climate, both naturally and philosophically, one in which tradition, history, and experience reign supreme," Wagner said in such a way that I couldn't help but think that it had served as an idiom of his for many years.

"A termination of the Zardovian conflict, then?"

"Essentially, but not wholly, as there are other, more complicated ends in view, less integrated with the format of a completely ideological conflict."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we wish to return to our original forms," Wagner said.

"Those being, I a.s.sume, the same as my own."

"Yes, you see after the Great War, the atmosphere was so filled with radioactive materials that all life was destroyed, except for that on Daem, which was protected because of our distant and isolated location, and the presence of a group of insects that neutralize radiation. They were overwhelmed in the first few decades, for though they were able to reduce the amount to make it habitable, we degenerated into what we are now, Zards and Canitaurs, based on our habitats, we being mountainous, forest dwelling folk, and they plains people. At first our ancestors grew to immense proportions, as did the vegetation on Daem, but we slowly returned to normal size as the radioactive material was consumed.

I am surprised that Onan did not tell you about it all," he said, looking at me with a slight tinge of confusion creeping into his wayward eyes, formerly filled only with hope and excitement.

"I wish he would have," I responded, "But he said that it was against the rules."

"Ah, yes, I forgot about the rules there for a moment," he laughed, his countenance returning to its former gleeful appearance.

"A foolish law, no doubt, and from whom?" I said, availing of the apparent intra-personal deja vu, that is, the converging of the presents of our two minds into one idea, between Wagner and myself to cultivate a bit of sympathy in my difficult situation. But there would be no harvest, for Wagner checked his mirth and said:

"It was necessary, and the Council of the G.o.ds did well to govern themselves more strictly."

"How so?"

"Well, during the Homeric period the G.o.ds really went at it, using humanity as players in their battles, like a game of chess, actually.

Come to think of it, chess did originate in the realm of the G.o.ds after the laws. Things were quite a mess back then, though, with a whole horde of demi-G.o.ds walking the earth, and it ended up snuffing out the first flames of democracy and leaving monarchies for the longest time."

"Homer's stories were true, then?" I asked.

"Very much so, but after the laws of physical abstinence were adopted things mellowed out considerably, and men went back to their self- obsession, their material minds weren't yet weaned from the physical realm."

"So the very men who claimed mental superiority because they were free from superst.i.tions and divine disillusionment were themselves victims of their own sophism, and while they thought themselves crowned with enlightenment, it was naught but the Phrygian caps of their prejudices toward the material state?" I asked, with more than the average dose of irony and feeling, both for my subjects and myself.

"Exactly, upon disinterested examination one finds the theater of human history to be one defined by a ludicrous melodramaticy, the soap opera of the G.o.ds," he answered. "But we digress far from our point, Jehu, which is a discussion concerning the implementation of our plans of action formed in preparation of our current situation."

"So I had surmised," I smiled at the reminder, "But tell me, what are your plans, and what is the current situation?"

"This is a time of fulfillment, with the events of many of our prophecies coming to pa.s.s. Now is a time of action and of hope. You, our kinsman redeemer, have come, and the time is ripe for victory and domination, ripe, in short, for a return to natural existence, harmony between forces interior and exterior. Our plan, my dear Jehu, is to attack the Zards swiftly and fiercely and break their strongholds like the walls of Jericho, literally."

"It sounds daring, certainly," I said, "But is it not overly so? I was under the impression that the Zards were much superior in force than the Canitaurs."

"In the southern regions, where you landed, yes, they are, but we rule the northern sphere of action. Our forces actually form a soft equilibrium that keeps fate's pendulum from straying from its neutral position, so that a military action previously would not have been predictable, with either side being capable of winning. Under such conditions war is avoided, but now you have arrived. The Zards, as well as ourselves, have been expecting a kinsman redeemer, you see, and our war has been kept from raging by the belief of each side that their G.o.d would propel them to victory with certainty by the sending of one such as yourself. Your arrival changes things, it marks the beginning of our dominance," he told me vaingloriously.

"The muted felicity I have witnessed about my arrival is explained, then," I ventured, "Excitement that the end is near and victory close at hand, yet that feeling subdued by the realization that a period of deeper darkness must first be gone through."

"Your words are true," Wagner replied, "And yet I have a great confidence in our plans, which have been matured through many years of careful deliberation. As the time will never be more ready than at the present, in the present we must act."

"What is your plan, then?" I asked.

"It is calculated to end in the conquering of the Zards, and as such, only an unexpected and unrelenting attack at the very heart of their strength will succeed. Anything less will only bring them to a full alert, and then any battle will have to be drawn out with excessive casualties on both sides. Therefore, we have decided upon an attack on Nunami, their capital city and main strength, being the center and majority of both their population and economy. Yet an outright siege of the city is impossible for those very reasons, it being so self- contained that it can resist bitterly, and its military is so cl.u.s.tered that it can be brought into action almost instantly.

"Considering those problems, it was deemed necessary to draw the Zards away from the city and destroy it in their absence, so that they are left dest.i.tute of the means of war and sustenance, and rendered weak. To do this, we have spent the last several years stockpiling huge quant.i.ties of liquid fervidus flamma, an extremely combustible substance. It is stored in an underground reservoir in the foothills of the mountains, connected via aqueduct to Lake Umquam Renatusum. When the time is ripe, we will empty it into the lake and set it aflame, and our calculations show the flames reaching a height of five miles for a length of six hours, which should be enough to gain the Zard's preponderance," Wagner explained.

"But wouldn't it catch the forest on fire and burn down your whole empire in the process?" I asked, alarmed at his apparent lack of vigilance.

"We have been treating the trees on a ten mile radius with an anti- flammatory solution for several years as well, and it is quite impossible to set them on fire."

"Which explains why you dared to have a fire pit in the trunk of a tree outpost."

"Yes," he laughed, "We aren't so foolhardy as we may seem. Appearances can be deceiving."

"The exodus of the Zards from Nunami is almost guaranteed by the mortal's natural curiosity and delight in the calamities of others," I said, "But how do you plan on leveling the town before the remnant raise the alarm and the ma.s.s of the people return?"

"Atomic anionizers," he returned.

"Which are what? They sound like they are beyond my level of understanding."

"Not at all," Wagner told me, "Do not be fooled by the technically complex sounding name. An atom is the smallest form into which matter can be broken down into while still retaining its ident.i.ty, and an anion is a positively charged ion, or in other words, an instance of an atom in which there are more electrons than protons, resulting in a charge of negative electricity. An atomic anionizer is just what its name would imply: a device that morphs normal atoms into atoms with an extreme negative charge by emitting ma.s.sive amounts, to the tune of many millions of moles, of solitary electrons into the air through a bombing device."

He went on, explaining the consequences of the weapon, "An atom, and therefore all matter, which is made up of atoms, is engaged in a constant revolution around the nucleus, in the same way in which our solar system revolves around our sun, and our sun around the black hole in the center of the galaxy. This revolving motion is the basis for the formation of all matter that we know of, both in its smallest form, like the atom, or its larger forms, like the galaxy. The electrons emitted from the atomic anionizer are drawn into an orbit around the nuclei of the atoms of all the matter near which they are detonated, much like the way planets catch satellites and s.p.a.ce debris into revolving rings around them. This addition of electrons gives the atoms such a powerful negative charge that the poles of the atom, which regulate its rotations in much the same way that the earth's axis, or poles, regulate its rotations, are thrown from their natural equilibrium, causing the poles to reverse. This, in turn, changes the direction in which the atoms rotate, and in the brief instant in which the force of the revolving movement, or gravity, is not strong enough to retain the atom's shape, it lapses, bringing the materials they make up crashing down in disarray.

"We will plant some of these 'atomic bombs' inside the city of Nunami, and when they go off, the buildings themselves will implode and tumble to the ground. One hand-sized capsule can easily level almost ten square miles, and we have enough of them to bring the Zards to their knees, with plenty to spare for any circ.u.mstance."

"Wouldn't the bombs kill those who set them off, though?" I asked him anxiously.

"We have electron deflecting suits that negate the effects of the anionizers."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"And well you should be," he grinned, which, as out of place as it would seem, looked completely natural on his countenance, "For you and I shall be among the bombers. Our meeting must end here, though, my dear Jehu, for we each have things to attend to in preparation for the attack on Nunami. I will see you soon, until then, farewell."

"Farewell, Wagner," I replied, and we each stood and bowed as we prepared to depart, each to our own occupations.

With that our council ended, and, in the company of Bernibus, I was sent to another area of the fortress to be measured for an anti-electron suit, in order to protect me from the effects of reverse revolution. We didn't converse in the beginning of our walk, for my mind was too busy subconsciously thinking over what Wagner had said to have any conscious meditations.

We walked through the fortress towards the northern section, which held the technological rooms, so as to get an anti-electron suit in the making for myself. Realizing that the fortress has been little described, I will do so now. It was broken into six different sub- divisions, each branching from the only entrance, which was in the center of them all, the different divisions connecting to it through long, narrow defiles, or gorges, like the one at the entrance. This was for security, each area being independently contained within the whole.

The six areas, or departments, as they were called, were as follows: the Northern was the technological and industrial research and production facilities; the Eastern was the residential department, containing also the civil services, such as medical care and distribution centers; the Southern was the agricultural and other food production areas, though there was little besides agricultural, for the Canitaurs were strict vegetarians; the Western was for mining minerals and other raw materials to be used by the other departments. The other two departments were below the others, being differentiated between by the names Left and Right, the Left being the governmental offices, and the Right the military headquarters, providing protections both civil and foreign (this was, incidentally, the beginning of the expression of the terms Left and Right to denote ideological preferences, but I digress).

Uniform in all the fortress was the architecture, it being a strange mix between elegant and gentle arches and curves and brute practicality, for while the ceilings were high and open, and the walls wide, they were rendered homely by their plain surfaces and the absence of small triflings, conditions that were necessitated because of its ident.i.ty: an impregnable fortress containing a highly organized and self-sufficient governmental society, each citizen having a particular duty for the common good, and each kept from an unfarcical personal ident.i.ty by the means of a statist society.

From the lower, governmental offices we went up a flight of stairs that wrapped round and round a tower-like tunnel, and soon reached the departmental portal. Once there, we took the northern tunnel, which opened into a large hall that stretched on almost endlessly, with hordes of tunnels branching off to the various agencies. There were a great many Canitaurs working busily, preparing for the attack on Nunami and its possible results, which, though long prepared for, had a few last moment components to be finished. Walking down the central through way, we went to the far end of the hall, which, as it was a walk of at least two miles, afforded plenty of time for observation and reflecting, two things that I am naturally given to. Accordingly, I turned to my companion, Bernibus, and offered in an almost philosophical way:

"Your society seems to be flourishing, though I am not surprised, as you all seem vigorously industrious. I am amazed, however, that no one shirks from their job, no matter how menial or trifling."

"We all have our a.s.signed jobs, and all know that one slovenly job may cost us dearly," he said.