This message is a placeholder for Nikolaj and his new thread, GMed by Tadeusz.

Welcome back, Nikolaj!  -- Oak  :D

Previous game thread here: link to a message in this game

In reply to Nikolaj (msg # 2):

Emperor of the Three Races, the Blitken, the Kringsta, and the Avian, you have a hundred space cadets, the children of the elite of the Empire, on the Cadet's ship, and on Sun Cannon #24 or Louie.

You're heading at FTL speeds through interstellar space, and a Kringsta navigator has just told you of the need to maneuver to avoid 'dark reefs' in deep space.

Are you taking the Cadets back to their academy, or to the Ruling Council's headquarters on Zoboa?

My first thought is to go to the ruling headquarters on Zoboa. I would send the Cadets back from there together with a message to the academy staff that they had done a great job training these cadets as they saved my life, twice. I do suggest a mention in the courses though, that dinosaurs are no suitable pets. (especially the carnivorous ones).

I encourage the Kringsta navigator to avoid the dark reefs and set a safe course to Zoboa.

A Kringsta gunner comes to you, his great face, crumpled and wrinkled more than normal.  He flexes his hands, and looks down on them.

"I am Gunner Morkin. I am troubled by a choice I made in my first year at the Space Academy."

I look up at the gunner's face. I've been on the ship for a bit now and I'm starting to understand these alien expressions a bit I feel. He seems bothered, and his words confirm his actions. I motion for a place for him to sit and sit somewhere close. Ideally in a part of the room where we can have a bit of privacy. (Or did he come to my quarters?) These creatures seem to value honour a great deal, so they tend to take things like choices made pretty serious.

Once we have some privacy I ask him what the choice was that troubles him so, should he want to explain it. If not I'm momentarily content to dance around it, calling it The Choice, while we discus what made him make The Choice and what troubles him about The Choice, trying to get him to feel at ease enough to tell what his choice was.

You find a nook in  the break room.  It has a very sturdy foot stand that is extendable, a high bar that can swing about, a very rigid almost enclosing and slim chair, and a chair suited for a Human.  He climbs up on the foot stand which makes him even higher, but it seems to relax him.

"I am the second son of a Treeplanter family.  My lineage goes all the way back to the Founding when the Alo-likgard brought us to our world.  For unlike the others, we were not made by the Creator, but by his servants, or some of them.

Once we were made, He told them not to do so again, so we fear we were mistakes, but He told them to make us a world.  And so we came upon the World of Home two years after the Beginning.  And the great among us each planted a mighty tree, trees which live to this day.  And those trees had children and children's children, and thus our great Forrest came to be.

One of my cousins is just barely behind me in familial rank, and in scholarship.  Now I know, but cannot prove he cheated.  I also know that he has not the proper care of the Trees.  And so I wonder if dishonesty to save the Trees and to keep an unworthy sort from power is right."

I lean forwards in my chair as I listen to him, looking concentrated on what he says. At times it looks as i I want to say something but I hesitate and ask him to keep going.

At the end I return my hands to my lap. They had been holding my chin as I leaned forward in the chair. I smile and point to him while motivationally saying that "God does not make mistakes. He wanted you and your kin. He has a purpose in what He makes ... and in what He allows."

Then I turn more serious in my expression, no longer smiling. "You seem to be making a serious accusation here. It may be true, I'm not contesting that. But how can you know if you cannot prove it? Let us answer that question before we answer the question of dishonesty possibly having merit."

He might have just misinterpreted something or have come to a hasty conclusion. Let's first see if this is the case or not.

"I believe in the existence of many things I can't prove.  I see my cousin, as smart as I, I see him play all night for a week before the tests, and he scores as well as I, even on severalof the tests he scores the exact same grade as another....whichis not easy."

He shakes his head.

"He speaks arrogantly, says its because he's smarter than me, but I cannot believe that. I've known him all my life.  If anything he'snot quite as smart as me."

"Hmm. I don't know him as you do.", I tell him, "So cannot judge here. I would urge to patience and prudence here, because this is a thing that is hard to know."

I shift my weight in the chair and try to look the Kringsta in the eyes. "I do not know these things, but there is One who does, and we can seek his counsel right now."

If he agrees I will lead him into prayer. It is just a spoken prayer, eyes closed and with the laying on of a hand on the person for whom is prayed. That person has to be a willing participant. The prayer consist of at least one part of praise/exultation (in the ability of God to know all thing and just in his greatness), one part petitioning for guidance and/or revelation and one part of thanksgiving for hearing us, followed by silence and focussing on the workings of the Holy Spirit to reveal, either by word or image or whatever other way, the answer to our question.

I have successfully done this before several times, but never on a space alien (that I know of ;) ).

"Great honor to the God who is strong, and knows all secrets.  He is cunning and battlewise, no enemy can sneak up on Him.

His axe is sharp, his eye is clear, his arm is steady.  He will strike true and just, and right.
And no one, not the well favored, or the rich, or the corrupt can stand against Him from the farthest edge of the Galaxy to the clotted center.  He holds his axe over it all.

Show me, Wise Commander, Chiefest of Spies, show me what I ought to do, what I ought to know.

Thank you, Great One, thank you for this gift of your knowledge."

After a bit he looks up.  "I must confess my deed, and I now realize I have. To my Emperor."  He gets up, bows, and walks away.

You on the other hand saw a Kringsta using an electronic device to spy upon others and copy their work during a test.  And you saw this Kringsta as gifted in words and in manner, and at the center of a vast web of influence, or near the center of it anyways.  To confront him will be unpleasant at best.

Was the Kringsta in this vision a specific Kringsta that I would be able to recognize or was it just a Kringsta, as in that I know it's a Kringsta, but don't know which one?

Was the Kringsta I saw in the vision one of the crew, or one of the academy that is not on this ship?

The reaction of gunner Morkin to the prayer, one of confession, puzzles me a bit. He probably has had a revelation of his own, and he confesses his ill intent towards his nephew. But it might have been otherwise. He might have already taken steps and set something half in motion before he came. I get the impression that he, and perhaps the others of his race, are a people of little words, but speak more through actions. I am glad he chose guidance here.

But now I am with a dilemma, I know of someone who cheated, but have no proof. And now I wonder if I should act without proof, even perhaps breaking a law, to do the right thing. Surely even the bible has precedents for that. The prostitute who lied to keep the Israeli spies safe, Jehud killing a wicked king, David taking the showbread from the tabernacle ... But when was it right to break to law, and why should I do this? And what should I do, were I to act?

A dictatorial decision would make me seem arbitrary and would set a precedent for all kinds of people to come to me, accusing their rivals. A lie is hard to be proven, I doubt even the current technology can detect lies of a trained lier. I should look into that.
I wonder what function he studies for, and what position he's hoping to fill with it. Let's first research lie detection on the computer's database. I wonder if this is a matter that would warrant a personal action from 'the emperor', which I'm still getting used to being called.

Its specific, but not on the ship, but in the academy.

Heh. I just re-read it, and I realize he did not tell you what decision he had made that troubled him.  But he thinks he has, and so his conscience is clear because he's confessed to the Emperor who will take whatever actions are fitting.

The current tech might allow you to detect a liar, but without evidence of a misdeed, its use is forbidden by the authorities for fear that such will be used dictatorially.

The ship does not have files on all the students in the Academy.  And when you check out the local computer systems you're bemused to see a large, air conditioned room with a huge metal box ten yards long with according to its attendants the 'phenomenal capacity of two hundred megabytes'.  And then someone walks by with a large stack of rectangular yellow cards, and feeds them into a machine which reads them very rapidly.

Tadeusz:

The current tech might allow you to detect a liar, but without evidence of a misdeed, its use is forbidden by the authorities for fear that such will be used dictatorially.

I thought I was the authorities? Being intergalactic emperor and all. This is just like star wars. Being called emperor or princes or whatever and actually not be a monarchy. Weird.

Tadeusz:

The ship does not have files on all the students in the Academy.  And when you check out the local computer systems you're bemused to see a large, air conditioned room with a huge metal box ten yards long with according to its attendants the 'phenomenal capacity of two hundred megabytes'.  And then someone walks by with a large stack of rectangular yellow cards, and feeds them into a machine which reads them very rapidly.

Hah, cool surprise! I suppose this ship is really fueled by prayer or something then. Or they just never developed an electronic computer but got this far just mechanically. Interesting!

---------------

In character: I close my eyes and reach out to Louie, our ship. Is it available?

You are the Authority, but before you were here, the Ruling Council was, and this was their law.  Sorry.

No, its an Imperium, and you're the Emperor.  However, you will have certain limits on your power (if you ordered genocide, your military would mutiny.)

"Hello, Sire." Louie says. "I power the Sun Cannon ship.  Other lesser ships are a mixture of miracle and machine.  The interstellar drive is purely miracle. And I am always available to you, my Emperor, provided we are in range."

"Much of your power is based on your personal control of the Sun Cannon ship fleet. There are thirty of them, or there were.  I am, of course, no. 24. We have greater speed and durability, more maneuverability, and much, much greater firepower."

Genocide is not on my agenda, as I hope, it will never have to be. Even roleplaying, having a character have this much power is rather daunting. Any mistake made in an order or a decree can potentially cause massive destruction (and I'm not only, nor even mostly, speaking of physical destruction. But hierarchical, society-wise, politically etc. etc.).

Is Louie's voice in my head or audible? Can I contact it in thought alone or do I have to speak? I am assuming this is silent, just as prayers can be silent. I ask Louie if it can make a connection with the college database. (only if he can, not to actually do it ... yet) I stop dead in my tracks, realizing how much this question entails. Will I be Big Brother and watch each and every potentially dangerous individual? I do NOT want that. Dangit, these decisions are hard to make. And this is just one case. I wait for the answer Louie will give me and thank him, asking to not make a connection yet. I'll break the connection then, but before that I'll give him leave to alert me of any threat to the ship's safety and that of it's crew if it detects something.

Then, regardless of it's answer, I will go to the captain of this ship, if there is one, or the previous one since they had the ship here before I ... arrived. Is that person available?

Louie's voice can be either.  You also realize that he can read your mind a bit.

You can contact him either way, although a voice will get his attention sooner.

"I would burn up the mainframe. So, no, I can't.

The captain of the Cadet ship is an Avian anamed 'ahroooi', and he's glad to sit down in a nook, order a tea, and talk with you.  He has no duties now.

I try to start with a bit of chit chat, which I'm not good at. I ask if the voyage seems to be going well and how things are going, only to afterwards just asking him the question I asked him over for. He's having tea, and I'm slurping coffee. (Just black, no sugar, no cream)

"What I actually want to ask you, captain, is a bit of advice. Before I got involved with this ship I never really had to take command over large groups of people. Now I'm suddenly an Emperor while the biggest group of people I used to lead were 10 teenagers at a camp. Do you have any tips and pointers, since I want to do this well. How do you lead your ship and it's crew?"

I then sit back and take a sip of my coffee, anxiously wondering if it was such a good idea to show insecurity to a person that has no real reason to trust or follow me. It could hurt my authority.

He stares at you in surprise, and then reflexively sips more of his tea up his beak.

"Its true what my professors said at the academy.  Even the great ones have fear.  They said Twantionne would spend the whole night before a battle throwing up, and then clean it up himself as he did not want any of his men to know bout it."

He grooms his neck a bit, lost in thought.

"I was, or am, maybe if I don't lose points for this misadventure, the highest rated student in my class at the academy. So therefore I was the captain.  I told everyone to go to where they were the best traiend, and then I wandered about checking.  I had some who were the best at two things, so I had to clarify.  I had a few, not many, who did not get along at all with their team.  I had one thaat I simlply did not trust in his job because he tended to groom when panicked way too much.  But then in an academy, we all know our scores.  We all know who's the best and second best at piloting for example."

He scratches his beak.

"Once they get over the shock, you'll have the same sort of advabtage I did.  The Three Peoples have been waiting for you to come back.  They expect to be told what to do."

So the key is in knowing the people you work with...

In smaller teams, that will indeed be the way to go, but I can't personally know everyone, can I. I think I'll have to take the advise Jethro gave Moses, and delegate. That way I only have to know the people that are directly under me. My care would then have to be to see they have more or less the same vision I have and are trustworthy and capable of doing their job.

Their job would have to be taking decisions in my absence. So they would need to be of good judgement. So as not to seem to prefer one of the tree people above the others I would also have to keep in mind to have to have an equal amount of all three of them in every function I assume. I dislike letting go of control in giving it over to others, but I would dislike keeping control even more. I'm so used in doing things solo, because I could usually do things better if I did them myself.

But this is not an art project, this is running an empire.

"Thank you for your advice." I answer after drinking another gulp of my coffee, emptying the mug. "I have things to think about now. It seems very logical and simple, but the scale is so vast." I smile suddenly. "But with God's help, I'm sure we will succeed. Have a nice day ... or um, cycle?" I say, finishing the conversation and standing up, getting ready for a walk through the hallways.

My main concern though, was that I had this person that I knew was bad, but that I didn't dare to approach personally. I did not want to give the impression that I'm the kind of emperor that operates on the basis of instilling fear. Not acting on anything that I know that I should not be able to know is part of this. If people can't make mistakes, then no mercy can be given.

Anyway, I would need to see what I would do with this piece of information when I get planet-side. I should probably see who my representative is on the college's planet. Also, I should probably get to write some sort of letter of recommendation for this crew to send to the academy. They did save my life, perhaps twice even. Once while I ran from the T-Rex, and the second time in dealing with the space pirates. I wandered over to my cabin and saw to how to do this here. I think I still had some paper and a pen. If computers where the same all aboard the ship as that machine that was considered powerful, then I guess an e-mail would be out of the question. Besides, if I wrote it on fine paper, stuck it in a magnificent envelope and perhaps sealed it in some fancy way it would have quite a bit more panache, hopefully impressing the board at the academy.

*2nd post* Ready to move on with the journey, speed up time or have another event pop around the corner.

There is a signet ring, and meltable wax.r

Two more days, and your two ships are entering Zoboa System.

Soon, you're called to the bridge and told....

"A quartet, four System Defense ships, light, but also Regent's Cruiser is coming our way.  Both the ZSD toknow who we are."nd the Regent's personal guardship are demanding to know who we are."

"Do tell them please. You are also tell that you are escorting the emperor to his home after finding him. I'll understand if they'll want to talk to me so be sure to have coffee ready if they want to come over for a check. Do we have cake? Prepare yourselves for guests."

Once everyone is ready and bustling I try to mentally get Louie's attention.
(("Louie, what can your senses and sensors tell me about those ships and those that are on there?")), I ask him. (("Please reply silently in my head."))

"The Regent's Cruiser, Peaceful Sword, has a Kringsta commander who responded with a snort of laughter, and then a demand to stand by and be boarded.  The ZSD are moving into postion to block our escape."

===========

"None of the ships are Sun Cannon.  If you stay away from the ZSD, you should be fine as their heaviest weapons are very close range, or boarding.  They are as fast as I am, if far lighter.  The Peaceful Sword is much heavier, but in a straight up slugging match we would defeat it quickly.  However, it has superior ship handling skills and if we get into some sort of tactical bind its not impossible for them to checkmate us."

===========

You have two ships, what are you doing with th eother?

I thank the captain of our ship for his help, but as they don't seem to cooperate I'll take a stand in front of the screen and hail them personally.
I should have expected they would not believe us straight away. That was silly of us. I take a pose that I hope is authorative, if not a bit intimidating in it's self awareness.

"To the Regent's Cruiser, Peaceful Sword, this is your emperor speaking. What seems to be the problem that you are contemplating high treason against your very own emperor?"

ooc: Is he the Kringsta from the vision?

His mouth clatters, and all  his hair puffs up, and he stares and stares...

"What are you?" is clearly what he wants to ask, but instead he says.

"That is a mighty claim.  Do you offer proof?"

He's clearly rocked back on his heels, and any impatience in him is now gone.  He's very cautious now.

He seems familar, like he was associated in the villain's web of influence, but not the villain.

I close my eyes and silently pray for a word of wisdom/knowledge over the Kringstra I am addressing, hoping that a show of God's blessing is enough.

Do I remember hearing about how the prophecy regarding the return of the emperor or something like that goes? And if so, what is the summary?

One of the key supports of the Emperor is the Sun Cannon fleet, and you have #24, Louies,with you.  And as you pray, you realize that the opposing commander does not realize what type of ship he is facing.

"Please Captain, take a look at this ship.", I tell the Kringsta Captain, maintaining my authoritative stance, somewhat bolstered by the Kringsta's reaction.

He turns his head to study a monitor, you assume, and frowns, which is what Kringsta do inmp profound agitation.

"That's impossible. How do you commit this fraud? The Emperor, may the Living God grant him peace, is dead.  Surrender and face the justice of the Regency Council, strange being."

I smile.

"I am clearly alive. But I'll follow you. We will let the Council decide wether I'm a fraud or not then. There's no need for violence here. An empire divided amongst itself is no good empire at all. History has shown us this."

I turn to the crew from both our ships (if possible) and say: "We will follow these people willingly and peacefully. I am sure this is all a big misunderstanding."

I turn to the Kringstra again. "Lead the way, captain ... eh, I didn't get your name I think."

You're able to screen both ships at the same time.

Its clear you've surprised the Captain named 'Tallok'. He's not sure what to make of you.

"My fatheris on the counsel." One of the Avian's says after the screen goes off.

And as your ships go in, you see a number of signs of prayer among a minority of your crews.

"Say the w ord, Sire, and I will burn a hole through the walls of the Regent's Palace and come rescue you." Louie says in your mind.  "They do not realize my power. I think.  It has been so long since the Sun Cannon ships saw real combat, that none alive know us, as we are."

Your two ships land at Naboul Spaceport, just north of Zoboa's First Landing city which holds several million, primarily Blitken, so there is a LOT of blue about.  Even the spaceport runways are painted blue.

Three armored and armed hovercraft wait outdside.

I join, and even lead the crew in a short prayer as I see the people's need for prayer.

"Father God, you are the King of Kings and the source of all wisdom and peace. I pray that, through Your Holy Spirit you would lead us today, both in words and in actions, in the steps I'm supposed to take. Shine Your holy light upon this situation, be it misunderstanding or something darker. Your light has the power to reveal, not only to us, but to the world, the machinations that go on in the darkness. Protect us and guide us, as we search to walk Your way. I thank you Lord. Amen."

I also thank the avian for his peace of information. Having one of the students be a father in the council could be important, depending on how the talks would go. All in all, things have rather improved. Instead of being boarded, we were being escorted to the council. No lives were lost, no blood was shed, no families destroyed. A small victory.

I do wonder why that Kringsta immediately talked about boarding. This hardly looks like civilized protocol.

Now was the time to wonder how to approach the people waiting outside. I could select a sort of bodyguard to accompany me, it would show of power and make me regal. But it would not give a good message. It would signal a willingness to fight. A willingness of confrontation or an expectation of opposition.

The captain of our ship told me that the three peoples have awaited my 'return' and were willing to hand over command. I could imagine though, that some of those in power will be unwilling to hand over power.

"Thank you Louie, I hope we won't need to use it though.", I think to Louie, while looking at the screen.

Was there a crowd gathering, or was everybody just minding their own business?

As you pray, you sense a gathering attention.

There are several hundred curious beyond the outer ring of airport workers and the inner ring of officials and guards (few officials) to greet you.  More are quickly arriving. Almost all are Blikten.

And you can feel the pressure of several hundred Blikten minds on your own.  Each is soft, but they add up to a great deal.  The feel is gentle and curious.

I wonder about the pressure on my mind that these Blikten seem to have. "Can I send a message to them by thinking? Is it like talking to Louie?", I think to myself. Not sure what I would send them, I try to send them the mental equivalent of a peaceful and warm smile. A single that I am of good intention to them. A greeting of sorts.

Then I walk out. Alone and unarmed. It is a message that I trust them. I do not want to be a threat, and I am not afraid of them. While kings and emperors over the entire world (and probably the galaxy) always had bodyguards, the King of Kings never had a bodyguard while he walked the earth, and nevertheless He had succeeded in doing the task for which He came. While I don't really understand my task fully yet, I do put my trust in God rather than in men.

As I walk towards what seems the most obvious place to be I wave to the people and see what happens. If officials approach me I hold my hand out in greeting. If Louie had some kind of emperor clothing stored somewhere, an official garb of some sort, I would be sure to wear it.

When you walk out, the Blitken all go to one knee in a unified wave that is indeed a wave as they have no long bones so they ripple into the new form.

Its hard on the eyes as the mind keeps trying to say 'no, does not compute' and the eyes keep insisting on what they saw.

About thirty officials in gorgeous outfits approach.  And there is the regular plan you see which was to have you shackled, and some try to go ahead with it, but others of them point out the Blitken behavior and tell them to stop.

Meanwhile, one of the RC Blitken walks up to you, and extends his hands.

"On behalf of Landing City and the Regency Council, welcome Emperor of the Three Races."  And you can tell the rest of the RC meeting party really did not like that....

Overcome with awe over such a group bowing in unison (let alone in a seeming unnatural way), I cannot resist a surprised and thankful, smile. It's a bit hard to cope with. One day I'm just a graphic designer, the other day I'm suddenly an emperor with people bowing to me. It's overwhelming.

Seeing the shackles being put away I have to frown though, but my God has indeed provided. When we are weak, He is strong indeed.

I gratefully take the hand of the Blikten and shake it. "I thank you for your warm welcome, I am overtaken with gratitude for your welcome." I do not only say that to him, but also think it to him/the blikten collective presence. "I praise God for you."

I turn to the other 29 councillors. "I am honored to be welcomed to this planet, yes, to our empire. I am sure that we, together, under God's guidance, will find and keep the straight path He has for our empire."

I turn to the crowd and hastily give them a signal that they can stand again, as I see them still kneeled on the ground and hold my hands high in greeting and celebration.

(Is there a speaker system or anything? I suppose not, as it was not the plan to officially welcome me. If there is no further reaction from the Council, I want to see if I can somehow use Louie to broadcast my voice, as he seems to have some link to me. Perhaps he can replay what I say through the speakers?)

The shackles bothered me, signifying that trouble is far from over. It would be naive to assume otherwise anyway. Anyway, the Blikten reaction was decidedly more than expected. One race down, two left to convince. And the other two did not have the unity the Blikten seem to have. This will take some work. I am assuming that the Kringa will need some kind of show of power or feat of courage to be convinced, while the Avians ... I'm not sure. I think they will appreciate attention to culture, the arts and science. I need to find a way to communicate that I am capable of this appreciation, and am willing to invest in it, if possible.

There is a waver through the crowd under that big dome of sky when you smile at them.

You feel Anger/Doubt from the assmebled Blitken when you view the modern shackles.

"Some of us suspected you might be of a Fourth Race.  It is good to have my grandfather's speculations confirmed.

The RC show mostly noncommittal faces although one Avian strikes you as glad to see you.

"Are you suggesting we have not been on a straight path already?" Snapped almost roared one of the Kringsta.  Who yes, you recognize as one of the supporters of the villain in the vision.

"Speak, Lord of Thirty Suns." Louie's voice booms in basso thunder across the spaceport's empty spaces to wash up against the more distant towers of the city.  "And I shall vibrate the air for you, O Great One."  Yep, Louie's decided that a little laying it on thick is called for.

Before the RC freeze back into noncommittal, you get a decided sense of shame, of fear, of understanding followed by raw terror, of yearning for fairness from the RC's various members.

I smile.

"Thank you Louie. I will keep this in mind once I address the crowd."

I look back upon the cowering council and pick out the courageous Kringsta that dared to confront me.

"I honestly don't know my brave Kringsta, but I have seen you and the one you actually follow in a vision, and I doubt the two of you will lead us on a straight and narrow path." I look him right in the eyes as I say this, as if looking into his soul. I quickly and silently pray for a word of knowledge, should I need to prove myself to him.

As the proverbs say: The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. Depending on wether he reacts wise or foolish, there may still be hope for him.

"What madness is this...?" He bellows out, which is a mistake as you've got more than enough volume to win a shouting match.

And you say the word that comes to you.

"Inlys."

And fear, followed by rage...

And he's charging you with a giant battle axe in hand, after leaping over, and plowing through those in front of him....

"Time to test the power of the Lord's Name." I think, as moments reading about missionary stories featuring just what I'm attempting now flash before my eyes. I hold out my hand in a stop sign towards him and shout: "Stop! In Jesus' Name!"
And then hoping that my authority in Christ punches through.

As a backup plan I'll call on Louie's power if needed. If possibly only stunning, not blowing him up.

You yell, and realize he's not demonic, simply angry and afraid and determined not to give up what he has no right to claim.

Being charged by a full-grown Kringsta, who is larger than most of the ones on your ship, in full battle rage is like facing an avalanche.  You yell for Louie...

And fire blooms, but the axe comes down...

====

You wake....floating.  Your head aches.  You're in a dark gray room, above  a healing bed.  There is a doorway.

I look at the bed. Am I in it?

You're floating above it, and looking down toward it gives you a spiral or corkscrew spin in mid-air.  You tumble over twice before gently bumping and rebounding from the rock wall.

And in so doing you catch a glimmer of your face in a stainless steel table.

Your left eye is now red, plastic....just like the Emperor in the vision.  And you can see a scar running down the center of your scalp, upon closer exam, and almost to your nose.  It looks like the Kringsta nearly cut your head in two.

Around you is much silence.

You're floating above it, and looking down toward it gives you a spiral or corkscrew spin in mid-air.  You tumble over twice before gently bumping and rebounding from the rock wall.

And in so doing you catch a glimmer of your face in a stainless steel table.

Your left eye is now red, plastic....just like the Emperor in the vision.  And you can see a scar running down the center of your scalp, upon closer exam, and almost to your nose.  It looks like the Kringsta nearly cut your head in two.

Around you is much silence.

Well, this is weird. It's an out of body experience. I think about all I've read about these kinds of experiences. Do I have some kind of thread connecting me to my body? I wonder if I can survive long outside my body, if my body needs me to survive.

After a bit, you realize  your nose is snotted up, or well and truly congested.  You see no cord.

My physical nose or my spirit-nose?

You only have one nose.

Okay. The one on my body I presume then. It's not that I have the feeling of a congested nose as a spirit floating above my body.

Right, biblically spoken life was breathed into man by the nose. Since it's congested I might have to find another way, or maybe not. A spirit has no trouble with physical obstacles I think.

I try to enter my body via the nose.

If that does not work I'll try via the mouth. Airways are airways, right? I that proves difficult there might be another loophole.

The ear connects to the mouth via a tube to regulate pressure. I might be able to wriggle myself in through that.

If none of the above work, I'll have to see what I can do. A spirit is not meant to be outside the body, at least not without a guide. Ezechiël and Daniël both had angelic assistance, and Paul (or 'somebody he knows') was taken up into the third heaven (or something like that), suggesting he's had help. I haven't blindly been ignoring an angel, have I?

Perhaps its English translation errors.

At some point, you realize you're not a spirit floating above your body.  Your body is floating in micro-gravity above a healing bed.  Your nose is clotted up (which happens in micro-gravity).  Your spirit is fully inside  your body.  You've just woken up, and have evidently been recovering from some very serious damage, which involves doing something to your left eye (which matches what your future self had).

You seem to be all alone.

Last you remember, you were on a planet, with Louie, your crew, the Ruling Council, and lots of spectators.  Someone attacked you, and you wake up somewhere else, alone.  It could be that you versed out, but that seems unlikely with the healing scar on your head and upper face.

No spirit travel, no angel, just you floating in a rough room with a healing bed.

Alright, so I'm not out of body. I'm in my body, floating above a bed. I'm in a weightless situation.

If it doesn't hurt I'll try to stretch my arms and yawn. I guess I survived. I wonder what happened back there. Can I sense the blue people nearby?

Your arms are stiff, but from disuse.  Your stretch sets you to moving slightly, and soon you bump into a wall.  It has handles in various spots, all painted like a barber shop pole, but blue and green instead of red and white.

No blue people are sensed, but a blue ball floats up from the floor.  From it s hines a light which creates a hologram.

"Emperor." There is rush and noise in the background as the Avian speaks. "I apologize for leaving you, but pirates have attacked us at this hidden base of the Great Ships of yours, and we go to draw them away from here.  They have sensors to detect us, of the Three Races, but not you, so we cannot leave anyone behind.  We pray to the Creator to see you again, your loyal servants."

You hear shouts, and see a rough Kringsta face you recognize even with its bandage.
"You done? then hurry, for our lives."
BOOM. Sounds in the distance. BOOM. And you see dust shiver from the outer walls of your chamber through the viewing field.

"Transmission shut down for lack of further content. Do you wish replay, storage, or deletion of message? As you are Emperor, you have the legal right to re-transmit any stored message as well."

Shock.

That's what it feels like.

Shock and panic.

These are my people, my responsability! From the bottom of my heart I sent out a prayer. "Oh God! Please save them. Protect them!"
I sit in silence after it's over and stare at the blue ball.

"Replay", I say. And I sit there, taking in the image, constantly praying the same prayer over and over. "Please, God, protect them. Please God, Save them."

I can't remember how many times I reviewed it and for how long I prayed. But at one moment, the message at the end repeats itself saying that I can re-transmit any stored info.

"Where am I exactly?" I ask the orb, hoping that it has info stored about that.

At the end, you are transported from your body.  You see five ships that cause fear in your soul to look on them, and your two ships fighting back as they rise from a cluster of asteroids very far from the local sun.  Looie is terrifyingly  effective, and could have won free, but he hangs back to protect the lesser ship with its crew of cadets.

And one of the pirates is about to ram with its pincer front, and another is about to fire its forward cannon which is a one use weapon, butvery powerful.  And things look bad.

Something changes. You're not sure what.  Its like the universe has been edited.

The shot inexplicably misses, hits a neighboring asteroid as it turns, right on a vein of ice.

Instant cloud.

When it disperses, your friends are escaped.

Am I still out of body or have I snapped back?

Regardless of the answer I praise God, a bit dumbfounded. This is an experience alright!

And you're back in your body, rejoicing.  Your voice echoes down the empty halls and tunnels of the interior hidden base of the the asteroid.  But even being so very far from anyone else does not bother you, but instead reminds you of David saying he could not flee from God.

Ah, that famous psalm. "Even if I'd flee to the highest mountaintop or hide me in the deepest depths of the ocean. Still He would find me, still His eyes would see me." It was a paraphrase, but that's kind of what was there. Nobody can escape God, is what it means, but indeed, it's not only from His judgement, but also from is love that there is no hiding.

"Where am I exactly?" I ask the orb, hoping that it has info stored about that.

"Imperial Solar Storm Base, a Hidden,,,Top Secret level facility, sire."
i
Further questioning reveals its factory of origin, its estimated duration of use before failure, and the nearest relay which is several hundred thousand klicks away.  Its 'eager' to serve, with you have sysadmin privileges, but its a very limited device.

I'm not really a tech-head, allthough I'm generally better with the computer or machineries like copiers than the average teacher. Some teachers, however, have been around a considerable amount of time before the first personal computer was around...

I spend some time with it, trying to learn to handle it. Perhaps it has a tutorial or manual or something. Having nothing much I can do at the moment I'll spend my time exploring the base, learning to speak 'computer from the future' and praying formy crew and my people.

Let's say we pass a week of time like this unless I get interrupted somehow.

It has a tutorial and a manual.  Neither is that extensive as the machine is rather simple.  And its rather easy for you to grasp.

+@1 to Computer use or similar skill.

You find access to its source code as well...

The base has three levels connected by 'float thru' tunnels.  Its again fairly easy for you to grasp the design.

Most of the twenty rooms per level are globular and small, but there are a few larger rooms.  One is a cafeteria, another is clearly a prayer room.

The primary purpose of this base seems as a waystop for ships like Looie.

Lets spend another week. I'll try to read up on the files the computer has about the station, learning it, and keep praying for the return of my friends. I suspect the computer will have some sort of bible version on it. I'll study some out of it. I also try out my new eye. Does it have any special functions?

1@4 Zero G Movement.
+1 to Newtonian Physics.  All this action-reaction movement is giving you a deeper, and very practical understanding of Newton.
The computer has your favorite Bible version on it.
It also has questions linked to it. You can see only one now.

"If a man saw someone completely happy, and he knew by honest manipulation that he could lead that  being to interfere for the good of many, but it would cost that perfect happiness, should he?"

The eye has ten power units.  These can be wholly rnefreshed by a electrical connecti slon or a night's sleep.
Dangerous laser. 3 units.
Hologram projection. 1 unit.
Lasercom for one minute. 1 unit.

I sit and think about it, probably for a day or two, and reply to the computer:

"Humans are social creatures by design. As such it would be a good thing for someone to give up his perfect happiness for the sake of the common good. We have seen the ultimate example of this in the incarnation of the Christ and His subsequent Sacrifice. That, however, was a personal choice of the Man in question, and even then of a perfect Man. It was a personal conviction from which the Man acted, either by the choice to obey the Father or the choice of obeying His personal compassion for the people They had created.

"That Man was also at the same time God and as such had the authority to do so. But for a fellow man to manipulate someone for the greater good is something I don't know is good. I am confused by the term 'honest manipulation'. Please define honest manipulation. The term manipulation could be used in various ways. Some good, some very, very bad."

(also, can you PM me my sheet or something? So I can take the burden of updating my sheet of off you.)

...to openly seek to 'press the buttons' of another.  Especially of one who is not human, and not aware of human needs....

"In that case I think it would depend on the authority of the manipulator over the other's life. If the person has authority, either hierarchal or social over the other then the answer is yes. If not then I'm not sure. I think it will depend on the need for it. So I think my final answer is generally yes, but there may be exceptions. Contextual variables and stuff."

(Sorry, my brain is not good in binary thought :))

The computer then goes to Gen. 1:1....

"All universes in the Multiverse are sustained by the will of the Creator. In essence, by magic which is just another name for miracle.  In this universe such is considerably more obvious, although it has been hid for good reason."

'Your next test..."

The lights go out.

Its pitchblack.

I smirk, this is obvious: "And then God said: 'Let there be light.'"

"Conditions established for existence of light." Echoes out of the dark. Its like you're in a far wider space than you were.

Not really feeling threatened yet, since I'm still feeling alone, I am a bit curious as to the change of sound.
Computer tells me that the conditions for light are established, so I opt to finish the bible verse: "... and there was light."

Should that not turn the lights on I would just ask the computer to please put the lights on.

"Incorrect response."  Its still dark, and out of the Vast Deep, you sense Possibilities trying to seperate themselves from the All Potential, the Utter Chaos.  And some of those Possibilities have a lot of teeth.

Not quite sure if those creepy things are just my imagination or not I push on. "What kind of training simulator would just eat me, right? This is not real." Also concerned that this computer is trying to teach me things God has strictly forbidden I refuse to take God's place in creation. There are different sources to power. God wants us to rely on Him alone. So I keep going through what I can remember of the verse by memory. "And God separated the light from darkness. The light He called Day and the darkness Night." If nothing happens I just continue: "And God looked at the light and the darkness He created and saw that it was good. It had been morning and it had been evening. The first day."

There is no tone, no echo, but at the same time its as if there were.  Spreading out is a vast sphere from which the Potentialities flee, leaving only one Thing in the plain dark.  But its still completely dark.

And then far, far away you can sense the Potentials.

And it occurs to you that this whatever this is has been divided into two things.  One a darkness and the other a Greater Dark teeming with Potential.  And you are in the center of the darkness.

"Next action?" The computer says.

Well: Two types of darkness doesn't fit with the text. So I try to say the same verse, but in English now. If that doesn't work, in French.
If these don't work I just ask God to make light. Eyes closed while praying and hands raised.

After you try the multiple languages, but before you finish the request, the room turns back to an empty immensity of carved out stone, lit by electric lights.

A desk and chair are brought in front of you, by a robot, and then a copy of the Bible opened to Genesis with part of Chapter 1, that is, v. 3-18 highlighted.

Reading it I nod. "Yes computer, I know the order of creation. But since there was no light to be seen after the creation of light, only two kinds of darkness, I assumed things to be wrong. Hence I did not continue up till the creation of sun, moon and stars. Is there a fault in this reasoning?"

"It is the view of this system the first 'light' is not 'light', but the substructure of the Universe that allows light to exist."

"hmm... interesting... " I say, rubbing my lips ponderously as I reread the text. "Still, here it says that there was light. And that light and darkness were separated. Two things were separated and got their proper place. At least that is how I read this. Could you explain how you come to your point of view and why you opt not to take it literal."

"Start with the point that later light is given to the earth by the sun and moon, so we are either dealing with different things or a redundancy.  Once you arrive there, the most logical thing is that the fabric of reality is what is being discussed in the earlier section.  Once there, the ancient Greek notion of Chaos starts to apply, but not as Chaos is ordinarily understood, but as a play of Total Potentiality.  Thus by choosing Our Universe, God is limiting things down.  When he said 'Fiat Lux' he was more limiting than building up.

Thus the first dark is the Primeval Dark, the dark of Potential, the Dark before Evil.  The second dark is the dark of Space before the Stars."

It explains.

"Hmm... Scripture should be able to explain itself without relying on heathen concepts, wether or not they contain seeds of truth.", I say.  As such, seeing that scripture itself does not seem to say that, at least not to my knowledge, I do not think this assumption is correct." My fingers glide over the page of this bible until they reach the first verses of the first chapter.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.", I read aloud and comment. "We see no mention of light, only darkness, void, waters and the deep."

My finger lowers to the next three verses. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

"Here we see the first mention of light. And that it was made by God. He spoke and it was. And He saw that it was good! How can you see something that is only still potentially there but not really? No, He saw that it was good, and so good that He set is aside from darkness. The two were separated. Later on He would shape them into stars, moon and planet and give them all their rhythm, but the light was already there.", I explain. "Imagine a potter. He does not make a pot from potential clay, neither did God make the sun, moon and stars from potential light. He took the raw resource that He had made, and refined it, added upon it even."

And there I stop, feeling silly about arguing with a robot, and quite unsure if it can make the link between theory and example. I know science is advanced here, but that would seems as if it would need a consciousness, since it needs creative thought to imagine an example and apply it to theory.

"Like Paul of Tarsus quoting Cretan poets?  If the Universe is young, then much of ancient truth will not be too distorted."

"Indeed." It replies and suddenly you're in darkness, and a sphere of water is below you, a sphere you somehow know is two lightyears across, an enormous distance, many thousands of times further than from the Sun to Pluto.  Even though you can't see it, you know its there.

"You do not understand my usage of Chaos.  It is a state of a million billion things existing all at once.  Many of these things are contradictory to each other, as an antimatter galaxy and a matter galaxy are. Chaos exists.  Its a reflection of the Infinite Power and Versatility of God.  The creation of Light is the paring away of other possible choices."

"Saw is a metaphor."

The computer seems easily able to keep up with you. Your being on one of your secret bases suggests possibilities.  And you already know your other self hid secrets from his people.  He did not tell them that the power source for his special fleet of super starships was Beings like Louie, who seem to be Star Angels.

"It being a metaphor is an opinion, not a fact. I do not believe this."

"Besides, Paul used a Cretan poet as a jumping board to show their unknown God they worshipped and went on to reveal God to them from Scripture, showing them that God is not made of silver, stone or any material fashioned into an idol, and he corrected the faults in their poets thinking. Here you suggest we take heathen lore to "fill in" or even correct scripture. I am adamantly against this. Scripture says there was light, so there was light. It's really not that hard."

By this time you've noted that the computer had started out very simple, and now was as fast as you.

"It is not my place, my Emperor, to force you to wisdom or learning.  You have physically recovered, and mentally recovered from your near fatal injury.  If you wish, I can prepare a one way ride to the nearest habitable planet, or we can continue to wait here in hopes of your allies return.

In either case, my name is Hector. At first the computer spoke to you, but after a while, I began to speak to you with its voice.  I am, as Louie, although he is far more frivolous and sympathetic to Cold Beings than I am. But, even so, you are my Emperor."

"Oh, so you are not a computer, but something like an angel? How come you are bound to this?", I ask.

"I believe I am an angel as I've discussed this with your future self, just of a different order than messengers such as this Gabriel, or warriors as this Michael.  We are Star Shepherds.

There is a computer here, but I took over from it.

I am bound to this because some little time ago, you requested our help.  That is, your future self.  After a time, this bothered you, which led to one of the computer's earlier questions."

"Of course this bothered me! What was I ... will I be thinking?", I exclaim. "Angels are not meant to be bound. I hereby grant you your freedom. The only will you are to be bound to is the will of the Creator."

"But what is the Will of the Creator?  We were given the job of tending certain stars, and we can easily handle that, and have plenty of other time for other endeavours.  We have not heard from the Creator in thousands of years, so it is His Will that we make our own decision on this.  And we felt that helping the Three Races unify into an empire instead of fostering interstellar war was the right thing to do."

Pauses.

"But thank you for the kind offer."

At this I'm a bit tongue tied. "Not heard from the creator in a thousand years", I think. That doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound like the God I know. Then again, there was a third of heaven that was exiled, the fallen angels who fell out of heaven. But I wasn't ready to make this conclusion yet. Still, it was on my mind.

"Is there a way to receive news from the outside here? Like how my allies are doing?", I ask the computer/angel/being.

"To some degree."

It then shows you a datacache of recent stories in order.

1. "Mysterious Starship Threatens Planet."
2. A view, unedited of your landing, axing, and leaving.
3. "Just One More Fake Emperor." News Pundit.
4. "I Demand the Axe User Be Arrested for Treason." Councilmember.
5. Disturbances in the streets with giant gorilla like police restoring order, very forcefully.
6. Blikten work strike. "Bring back the Bony Lord" reads their signs.
7. "Battle in Space with Space Pirates." News Piece.
8. "Pursuing Space Pirates." News Piece.
9. City looks calmer, unedited.
10. "Council THreatens Blikten on Planet."

"Most of our data net is fiber optic or laser com, this is the Whole System Radio Blast which is an archaic system not yet retired."

Trying to ignore the News Pundit pieces, since the news always wants to report sensation to sell and is thus subjective. I think I know which ship is the ship in the first article. I see most trouble seems to tie in with the Blikten, which is kind of logical, since they seem to be some sort of collective. Sleight one, sleight them all. I kind of made some sort of link with their consiousness before, which makes me worry for them the most. I will read/listen/watch the articles regarding them first. They seem to be most prominent, but also the most organised. Perhaps they do not need imminent help. If so I can focus on other troubles, like the gorilla's.

"Could you please sort out any articles regarding Blikten for now please, even if there is no mention of Blikten in the title?"

"I have these ten articles in the Ready Access Datacache.  Its only meant for temporary storage, and most of your civilization's news articles did not seem worthy of long-term storage to me.  I apologize if I've misjudged, Emperor."

Hector says slowly.

He shows you #6 and #10.

The Blikten decided in one day to not go to work, but go to the park instead, and have a vast picnic.  At various locations they put up signs, some asking for more representation on the Council, and others to 'Bring back the Bony Lord' which since they have no longbones seems to be their name for you.

Watching them play, as they run slowly after a ball, and then twist and tumble in the air in a graceful move that would make Olympian gymnasts jealous is often a bit eerie.  They're close enough to Human to almost be, but far enough to be a bit freaky.

The second article claims that Blikten were involved in street violence, and that their continuing strike is 'treasonous' and must be put down with 'all due force'.  An Avian councilmember is saying this.  The single Blikten councilmember 'I refuse to dignify this naked agreession with a response. Long live the Bony Lord.'

"No, this is good, thank you Hector.", I reply.

"I just wanted to make sure that any of these other titles that did not have Blikten in it's name were in fact not about the blikten in some way.
Next I'll read the parts about the gorilla men, which I guess includes the axe wielder?"

An Avian councilmember has publically demanded that the axe user be arrested for treason.

"If, as he claims, the being is not the emperor, the attack is illegal.  If he is wrong, it is treasonous. In either case, he needs to be arrested and held in maxsec lockup.  Not living in a fine mansion on the edge of a greenbelt."

The unedited video shows incidents of bad behavior mostly on the goriilla men sides, but by everyone.

"Ah yes...", flashbacks of the attack come back. "Thank you. Could you show me the space pirates now please?"

There are no pictures, and you recognize the account as an inaccurately reported account of the space battle that left you stranded on this secret base.