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JudeTheObscure59
Posted on Monday, November 29, 1999 - 9:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

ITíS CHRISTMAS AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS CRY

Reprinted here with the author's permission by Jude the Obscure

Around the universe, around the universe, swimming in a celestial coral sea. Only faster than light. Ten billion light-years per second.

You thread your way through the superclusters of galaxies till you spot a certain spiral burning with hundreds of billions of infinitesimal points of light. Each one is a sun.

Plowing through the central black hole that holds together this immense city of stars, you travel out into the suburbs. There, on Herculesís spiral arm, a striking blond sun cradles in her gravitational arms nine fledgling worlds. You choose the third one.

Emerging from hyperspace, you descend through the clouds and hover just above an equatorial savanna. The sunset sky is running red with the blood of the dying day. A hint of sulfur in the air betrays a distant volcano.

The ground below is stripped bare of grass by root-pulling teeth and trampling feet. A fitful breeze kicks up dust devils here and there.

Several dozen 100-ton longneck dinosaurs are busily shearing off the tops of trees seven stories high. Around their heads swarm flesh-eating insects. Web-winged serpents cruise the rising hot air columns.

But these animals are not the reason for your visit.

Sisera is.

Suddenly he appears. Around him is a halo of other high-ranking exiles form Eternity ñ Afreet, Barghest, Dybbuk, Eblis, Gyre, Shedu, Typhon . . . You knew them all well, once, as friends. How theyíve changed. Now none will look you in the eye. They only cringe and draw back.

Not Sisera. Before you can greet him he says, ìYouíve got a hundred billion habitable planets per galaxy, times fifty billion galaxies per universe, times an infinity of universes. All at your command. I have but a single solar system. And youíve come to take that away.î

ìNo, Sisera, my friend, Iíve come to see you.î

ìIím not your friend,î he warns. ìJust leave me alone with my creation.î

You long for him, feel his aching hunger to be something he isnít. ìYour creation?î

ìMy creatures. My experiments. My idea. Natural selection acting on genetic variation. Evolution.î He points toward the west. ìLook!î

From out of the wounded horizon comes the sound of a T-Rex pounding the earth like a drum. The longnecks turn their heads and bellow to one another. The cracking of their 40-foot whip-tails sounds like cannon fire. They begin to run, setting off an earthquake.

ìWatch,î Sisera says.

A baby longneck is running in terrified circles on a crippled leg, screaming for its mother.

You hurt for it, but choose not to interfere with Siseraís experiment.

The T-Rex spies the baby, turns on it, bites into its neck, falls full weight on it, holds it down till its struggling ceases.

ìSee?î Sisera says, triumphant. ìSurvival of the fittest.î

ìSurvival of some requires the death of others,î you observe.

ìPrecisely. Death defines the fittest. It cuts off the slow, the stupid, the clumsy, the crippled, the sick, the aged ñ the weak ñ so that the strong can survive and reproduce. This way I can evolve strength, speed, dexterity, and most importantly, intelligence in my creatures. In time, Iíll evolve a species that will achieve space flight.î

ìAnd then?î

ìThen theyíll master hyperspace and higher-dimensional travel. Their spacecraft will carry them from star to star, from galaxy to galaxy and from universe to universe until they populate the whole multiverse. With me in the lead, they will destroy any civilization that stands in my way.

ìWhy?î

ìTo restore me to my rightful place in Eternity. I was wronged, driven out, humiliated, exiled.î His eyes narrow, his jaw tightens, his fist clenches. ìBut I will see all this through to the end.î

ìSisera,î you begin, ìif only you would . . . .

Dismissing you with a wave of his hand, he goes on. ìThis time it will be different. With the forces of the infinite multiverse united behind my command, Iíll invade Eternity. All creatures there will recognize my power and shift allegiance to me. Your trinity will be left alone, isolated, without subjects. What will you do then? Wipe us all out?î

ìSo what are you trying to prove?î

ìItís simple: my hypothesis ñ might makes right.î

ìItís right makes might,î you say.

His eyes flash like lightening. ìIf you really believe that, then put it to the test. Give up your power and face me, alone, here, on my planet, on my terms, without help from your father.î

Then, without waiting for your reply, he motions with his head to his entourage and leaps off into hyperspace.

THE FOREST WORLD

You leap away in a different direction. An instant later youíre traveling forward in time, zeroing in on a star 10,000 light-years distant. Two of its planets ñ one blue in aura, the other green ñ are orbiting each other as together they dance their way around their sun.

You choose the green one, the forest world, planet of the Seraphians. As you wind downward through the oxygen-rich atmosphere you change form to look like one of them ñ a dozen feet tall and clothed in silver-gold down.

Their little ones see you coming. ìKingu! Kingu!î

They climb on you, pull you down onto a living fabric of vines woven over the tops of trees miles in height. With wide grins and nonstop laughter they roll you over and over, jump on you. ìThrow me! Throw me!î

You pick them up, toss them high and catch the gently on the way down. They stroke you, pet you, hug you. ìKingu! Kingu!î

From pole to pole this world is blanketed with interconnected plants. Many miles deep in places, this living fabric holds most of the planets water, much of it stored in open, living pods hundreds of miles across. Fruits and nuts and animals and birds of endless descriptions abound ñ all peaceful.

Within the planet-wide forest are arboreal cities powered by living electricity-conducting vines. High on the surface photovoltaic leaves keep their faces turned continuously toward the systemís sun on its daily journey across the sky. Other leaves radiate excess heat away into space to maintain energy balance. Rainbow flowers illuminate green cathedrals. From city to city the Seraphians travel on peristaltic force fields through green tunnel freeways.

After sunset, the elders point to the twin blue orb that hangs like an ornament in the night sky. ìBlue Moon,î they say. ìTell us about Blue Moon.î

ìYou know itís an ocean planet.î

ìYes, of course, from our spectrographic analysis, but does anybody live there?î

ìIndeed so,î you say. ìThe Cherubians. The gravity of our world raises gigantic tides on theirs. There you can surf nonstop completely around it. Youíll enjoy them, conversing, sharing your technology, joining with them in space travel to other worlds in other solar systems and other galaxies.î

They grin. ìWhen?î

ìIn good time, my friends. Youíre already starting to grow the necessary rockets, arenít you?í

In reply they only grin more widely.

As you bid them farewell, rise into the clouds, and slip into hyperspace, the echo of their parting chant, ìKingu! Kingu!î fills you with delight.

RESCUE ON DURA

An instant later, again leaping forward through time, youíve arrived back at Siseraís planet. You ease down to the northern hemisphere, to a continent close to the equator, to a strip of land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, a land called Mesopotamia.

Coming out of hyperspace you plummet on down through a cloud of Siseraís hovering spirits. You hail them ñ Asmodeus, Belial, Daeva, Lilith, Loki, Mainyu, Putana . . . .

They donít reply, but whisper among themselves ñ ìHeís back! Heís back!î ñ then shrivel away and disappear.

On down to the plain of Dura. Itís nighttime. In the fierce light of an open furnace shimmers a giant gold image cast in the likeness of the king of this land, a mortal called Nebuchadnezzar. He stands beside it, feet planted wide apart, arms folded, looking frustrated, angry.

In front of him stand three young men fettered at the ankles and wrists.

ìSo, you still wonít bow!î He lowers his bushy black eyebrows in a glower, then raises them again, and juts his hands out palms up in a pleading gesture. ìIf you will just bow down a little bit, you will prove your allegiance to me and my gods, and you will rule with me in my kingdom.î

ìO king, live forever,î says the prisoner on the right, Shadrach. ìItís not that we wonít. We canít.î

ìBecause your gods won't let you?î

ìOur one God, your majesty,î Shadrach says.

ìBut if you serve him, how can I trust you to serve me and my gods?î

ìWe will serve both our God and you, but we canít serve your gods.î

ìImpossible,î says the king. Canít be done.î He turns, jerks his head toward the furnace and orders the lead guard, a huge man named Arioch, ìThrow them in.î

As the guards hurl them in, one by one, headfirst, you throw around each a cushioning, oxygen-supplying, heat-shedding force field. It clings to them and their clothing, but not to their binding cords, which quickly burn off. Then you leap in with them and assume visible human form.

Wide-eyed they stare at you. ìWho Ö who are you?î

ìDonít worry,î you say. Youíll be all right.î

You watch their kingís face, gone suddenly white, peering in. ìDidnít we throw three men in there.î

Yes, O king, live forever,î answers Arioch.

ìBut now there are four. And nobodyís getting burned!î

Weíre sorry, we apologize, your majesty.î

ìApologize! This is an execution! If theyíre not destroyed my people wonít respect me.î King Nebuchadnezzar shields his eyes against the heat and peers into the flames. ìHold it!î he roars. That fourth one. He must be a god!î His face goes white. ìOnly a god could keep those men alive in that thing. Look at him! Stronger than all my gods! Get them out of there! Now!î

ìBut, O king, live forever,î says Arioch, ìthe heat will kill us if we try to go in there.î

Brushing Arioch aside, the king rushes up as close as the heat will permit. ìShadrach! Meshack! Abednego! Come out! Come out of there!î

They emerge looking unharmed. ìThank you, O king, live forever.î

ìAll right,î says Nebuchadnezzar. ìYour god is stronger than mine. Prostrate yourselves to him. Tell him Iíll serve him from this day on.î They turn toward you, but youíve already disappeared into hyperspace.

SISERAíS CHALLENGE

Only to be confronted there by Sisera, his face contorted in fury. ìSee? You just proved my hypothesis. You resorted to might to make right. You used superior force to protect your men and intimidate mine. And as a result youíve won their king. You just canít fight fair, can you?î

ìYou really think Iíve won King Nebuchadnezzar?î

ìI certainly do! Absolutely!î

ìFor how long do you think his loyalty will last?î

ìFor as long as you continue to demonstrate the truth of my hypothesis ñ might makes right. The same goes for Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. Remove your protection from them, and then youíll see just how long theyíll stay true to you.î His lip curls into a smiling sneer.

ìI removed my protection from Job,î you say. ìAnd he stayed true.î

ìAlways somebody else, isnít it?î he says. ìYou wouldnít dare remove it form yourself.î

To emphasize his point, he departs without waiting for a reply ñ faster than light.

DECISION IN ETERNITY

You leap again, through higher and higher dimensions that take you completely out of this universe, out of time, out of the multiverse. And into a place that holds all universes and all times. A place called Eternity.

You emerge into Effervescent Garden. Here an infinite number of universes ñ relativistic quantum bubbles ñ big bang out and big crunch in all the time. Here yet-to-be-born universes are tailored to suit the infinitely precise conditions necessary for infinitely specific varieties of life. Here the inhabitants of a contracting universe approaching a big crunch could be transferred into an uninhabited expanding universe, if such action should ever prove necessary, all in less than an attosecond.

There you find him ñ ìAbba!î

ìOver here, Iam.î He appears under a tree of life. He looks good. His embrace feels good, like home. How was your trip?î he asks, as if he didnít know.

ìAbba, about Siseraís planet . . .î

Theyíre all hurting,î he says.

ìI need to go, without my power. But I need your permission. I canít go unless you send me.î

ìYouíre not doing this just to prove Sisera wrong.î He gazes intently into your eyes. ìThereís a deeper reason.î

ìJob, Shadrach, Meshack, Abednego. I just canít let them go.î

ìAnd King Nebuchadnezzar?î

ìItís true he was swayed by the power, but after he was humbled and ate grass like an ox, he gave his heart to me out of love.î

ìAnd Arioch, who didnít?î

ìYes.î

ìAnd all the slow, the stupid, the clumsy, the crippled, the sick, the aged, the weak?î

ìYes.î

"The drunks, the prostitutes, the drug addicts, the street people, the thieves, the murders?î

ìYes.î

ìAnd all the outcasts, the pariahs, the abandoned and the shunned?î

ìYes.î

ìAnd those who will never love you, who will only hate you and kill you?î

ìYes.î

ìIam, you donít have to do this, you know,î he says.

ìI know, Abba.î

ìThen I will take you, son.î

THE DESCENT

Your fatherís face fades . . . .

Your mastery of dimension, time, space, matter and energy disintegrates . . .

Your IQ spins dizzily down from infinity to zero . . . .Your infinite memory and knowledge shrink and vanish . . . .

Your habitation of every particle in every universe dwindles to nothing . . . .

Your consciousness ceases . . . .

You are utterly unaware of your fatherís mighty leap from Effervescent Garden . . . .

Unaware of his carrying you in his arms . . . .

Unaware of the faces of all the beings in Eternity as they watch in stunned amazement . . . .

Of the journey down into the one universe out of all the infinities of universes . . . and on down to the one supercluster . . . the one galaxy . . . the one solar system . . . the one planet . . . continent . . . country . . . river valley . . . small town . . . family . . . person ñ a teenage virgin girl . . . .

Of the mysterious act . . . of the purpose and reason . . . .

Aware only of the birth pain . . . .

Of the donkey braying for its dry grass breakfast . . . .

The clumsy calf bumping up against the creaky wooden wall and bawling for its mother . . . .

Here, wrapped in coarse cloth and lying in a crude wooden box full of dry grass . . . .

Hungry for your mothers breast . . . .

Wetting yourself . . . shivering . . . .

Itís Christmas and all you can do is cry.

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