Fall From Grace

Xalen with grandson Doros (Fall From Grace, image by James Goudie)

Charian Colony Aleena III

"So beautiful, so serene," Xalen muttered as she watched the sun rising over the horizon. From the balcony where she stood everything seemed so simple. So peaceful. So godly. For a few brief moments the old Charian scientist allowed herself to close her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly her hand went down to the pocket of her clothes. The moment her weary fingers made contact with the small piece inside her pocket an almost childish smile graced her face. She withdrew it, and her smile widened; it meant the world to her. The green glow slowly pulsated, its low hum adding to her sense of serenity. Many cycles had come and gone since she and her team found it, but even now she knew she was holding a piece of eternity in her hands. A piece of history. A piece of greatness.

It made her think of a time before the plague. Before the blue liquid in small vial in her left pocket. Before Pandeus. Before the Fall From Grace as the Charians called it. Xalen knew that the outside world now saw the Charians as vagrants or worse. Drug addicts who were just waiting for their next high, everything else be damned. She frowned, the reality could not be further away from the truth. There was NO OTHER WAY except this. Opening her eyes at the sound of steps behind her back, Xalen glanced over her shoulder.

"Grandmother," Doros, her grandson said with a bright smile adorning his face, not yet ravaged by dependence on Pandeus. "My progenitor has been looking for you," The boy said walking next to Xalen, “Are you well?"

"Yes, my boy," Xalen answered. Seeing his concern, she smiled. "And I heard your Mother's voice echo through the house. But I had to see it." She gestured towards the sunrise. Her eye caught the shard and distracted, she focused on it, running her thumb over its smooth surface.

"Beautiful, is it not?"

Doros merely nodded his head. He walked closer to the edge of the balcony, hands now firmly on the rail. Tilting his head to the side he noticed the true object of her attention, the shard in her hand. He'd seen with her it many times, but he never once inquired about it. However, his curiosity was now getting the best of him.

Xalen's smile deepened as she noticed how Doros was looking at the shard. "I know you've been curious about this device for some time, so go ahead and ask. " she chuckled at his reaction. The boy could not help himself; she knew it.

"I did not want to intrude," Doros replied. "It is obvious that the artefact is of great importance to you."

"Yes," Xalen nodded her head as she picked the boy up and sat him on the railing. "It reminds me of a time when I was a bit older than you are now. Strong body, sharp mind. Reckless attitude," She smiled placing the shard next to the boy. "All of that brought me to it," She tapped the shard with her fingernail, memories still as fresh in her mind as the day when they first set out on the expedition.

"Well...what is its function?"

Xalen hesitated before replying. "Like me it is now a relic," she then sighed and shook her head "But it is also so much more. It may seem like nothing but a simple shard, but it was once part of a search that took your grandmother far and wide in search for answers."

"What answers?" The boy asked.

Xalen remained silent. She glanced towards the sunrise again, letting a heavy sigh. "A simple why," was all she said. It was at that moment that she decided to tell her Grandchild the story behind this shard that meant the world to her. A small shard that told a story, perhaps a thousand years in the making.

Perhaps it was a folk story, a myth. Perhaps nothing but a fairytale from some long-lost civilization. Yet, even fables are rooted in history. Whatever the reality behind it, it meant the world to Xalen. She passed the shard over to her grandson. He grabbed it with both hands, his eyes wide as he stared at it.

As he did so, she opened up her hand, palm facing the sky and a gentle yellow light rose from it, coalescing into the head and shoulders of a male Charian, his hair wispy with age, wrinkles creasing on his forehead.

Noticing the movement, Doros looked at the image as he began to speak. His words were careful and measured as speaker remembering a tale from long ago.

Millennia ago...

Scientist. Father. Brother. Patriot.

Traitor...

Rebel. With or without a cause, no one really cared now.

It had been many years since they left the Homeworld’s luscious forests, sparkling water, the gigantic mountain ranges. These were now but a memory, almost if they never existed. For many cycles, Father pondered what happened. And why?

"Father?" Doros queried, turning to Xalen. The figure stopped speaking, his last word having barely been spoken.

"I don't believe anyone knew his name; in the stories he is simply known as Father. Xalen gave a small nod to her hand, and the figure continued the tale.

Reasons were whimsical, at best. Great spirits always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The High Chancellery. This thought brought nothing but rage inside him. He clenched his teeth, balling his palms into a fist as his eyes gazed through the window and out into the great darkness of the universe itself.

So complex. Yet....so simple in his mind. So nuanced, so.... inviting. The old scientist let out a heavy sigh, as memories rushed into his mind. The Homeworld. The friends that abandoned him. The 'treason' of the High Chancellery. And why?

"Because they did not understand! And they NEVER WILL!"

He knew his kind were the best of the best. The pinnacle of evolution. Perfection.

So it was their sacred duty to guard the other.... less fortunate species. But the High Chancellery always opposed that, citing ancient rules that made no sense. It simply had to be done. If for nothing, but for their own very existence.

"Our species, regardless whether we accepted it or not, are slowly but surely dying," He remembered one of the speeches he made to the Science Bureau. "If we are to preserve our legacy, we must act before it is too late. Because if we do not, then I am afraid that nothing but dust shall remain of us. And with time, even that dust shall be no more...."

But they didn't listen. None of them did. Instead, he and his followers were simply driven away. Far away from their society, from the Homeworld. Their names, all but forgotten, if it weren’t for the shard that told their tale. With a heavy sigh he looked towards his wrinkled arm. Time was catching up with one of the greatest minds to ever live. The trademark boyish charm that he always radiated was no more. His dark blue eyes were now almost pale.... empty. His skin, as white as the snow that graced the Homeworld mountains. What was once perhaps only a mere distraction in his mind, was now the ultimate driving force behind his actions. Behind all of their actions.

Death.

He could feel it coming. Slowly but surely, he could feel the reaper making its way to collect. You could not outrun it; you could not bargain or reason with it. You could not.... cheat.

Or could you?

A small smirk all of a sudden graced his face. The discovery his team made was a welcomed one.

Two cycles ago the Box was found. Some thought it was by mere coincidence, but Father, Father knew better. It was fate. It was his perseverance and belief that guided him to the discovery of the ruins, and within them...the answer to the equation. The final piece of the puzzle that he needed. To show them. To make them realize just how wrong they were!

And he was about to open it...

Slowly, he spun around on his heels walking towards the doors that led out of the Observatory Room. His boots clanked against the plates of the old, decrepit science vessel, his home for many cycles now. The scientist began his walk towards destiny. He made his way through the dimly lit hall and towards the elevator shaft. There was an aura of silence, mixing with memories present here, and inside the ship itself.

Joy. Excitement. Sadness. Tragedy. Death.

The walls of the ship spoke a thousand tales. Some more happy than others. He bore witness here to the birth of perhaps his greatest creation ever. His son.

"Father," the young man bowed in front of his father. "We are ready,” he said, chin held high as he looked towards his father, determination in his eyes.

Father smiled. Looking around the room he gave everyonel a small smile and a nod. "My friends," he began. "I am honored to be with all of you today. For many cycles we wandered the galaxy. Enduring. He slowly began walking towards the center of the room where, on a small pedestal, a small, ornate box stood. "Despite all odds, we persevered. And today...." Head held up high he gestured towards the box. "We embrace immortality."

A small, but audible applause echoed through the room as he stood in front of the box. It was breathtaking that this box contained everything he sought all these years. It looked so.... innocent. Yet the power that it contained was enormous. Slowly he placed his hands on both sides of the cold steel.

"At last...," Father whispered, then glanced towards one of the scientists nearby, giving the woman a nod.

Everyone held their breaths. This was the first time that he was going to go through the entire process. There was no more time for simulations and calculations. The enemy was near. It had to be done. And it was to be done. And the result would be...

"Glorious," he muttered as a small beam encircled the box. He felt the warmth of it rising. Slowly he brought his hands up, then cracked it open. A slow, audible hum filled the room. Then came the red light, as bright as the Homeworld sun. It was as if he was staring into perfection itself. Time stopped. Eternity awaited...

He was tingling, feeling his entire body shake with excitement. This was it, the end result of many cycles of endurance and hard work. This was the answer to EVERYTHING! This WAS EVERYTHING!

But then....

A single voice spoke. Soothing. Endearing. Methodical...

Insidious...

He tried to close the box, to stop the voice. To make it go away. But he couldn't. It was too late. He felt his body spasm. His mind was filled with millions, perhaps billions of thoughts. A cacophony of sounds streamed through him. But there was one prevalent thought that he was able to utter...

"What have I done?"

"So, what did he do?" Doros asked as the figure fell silent. He had been carefully listening, absorbing every detail of it. The story of Shard. Once part of an alien device Xalen and the expedition found in ruins of a deserted planet, the shard he held in his hand was all that remained. Xalen took the object back off him, dropping it in her chest pocket.

"No one knows," Xalen answered in reply. "Some claim that Father looked into the abyss and blinked when the abyss looked back. Others say that he found the answers to everything in the universe....and beyond." She looked into the distance, frowning as she patted her pocket and the hard surface of the shard. "Then there are those who claim that it was he who began our fall from grace...." Slowly, the elderly Charian turned towards her grandchild. "But nothing was proven. For all we know this little shard was perhaps an entertainment device used by some species."

"Well if it was that.... how come it means so much to you?" Doros asked. "And the others." There was no doubt in Xalen’s mind that the boy was inquisitive and that he perhaps already knew the answer.

She held her chin high up, facing the sun that was high on the horizon now. For a few brief moments she was young and full of vigor again, as if she was absorbing the sunlight, feeling rejuvenated. But....the moment came and went. Xalen knew she was old and that her time was coming. No shard would help. All she and the others had was a story to pass on to the next generation. Hopefully one day....one day someone would figure it all out. If it was true or not. Someone would find the ultimate answer. With a tired smile she looked towards the boy, patting him on the head.

"Destiny, my boy. Destiny...."

By Bojan Sekulic