Notes from An Alien Read online

  She had read them and was both impressed and chilled by the content. Akla was basically calling for a complete unity of all religious sects as well as asking for a convocation of representatives of all segments of both Worlds' populations, not just the Leadership Councils, to meet, face to face, and institute the measures he spelled out in his writings. None of them separately were distasteful to her but the implications of a Worlds' Government, meant to rule both Worlds, was something she found impossible to implement, no matter the desires of any leaders—in fact, because of the desires of the individual leaders.

  She was having trouble keeping the people on her World unified. What, she thought, except God's intervention, could unite the two Worlds?

  ~~~

  ShipFour arrived at Anla-Purum and the settlers were absorbed into the population. The distribution of settlement took more than a year as each territory kept changing their desires. Especially troublesome was the allocation of the settlers with advanced technological knowledge—all territories wanted all of them.

  The Aklans, while remaining aloof from the political realities, were traveling widely, administering whatever various peoples needed—spiritual counsel, emotional care, and, in some cases, guidance in new local administrative techniques. This last service, especially, led to a growing number of Aklans being shunned or, in far too many cases, killed by entrenched traditionalists.

  Velu and Zena were, over time, increasing the number and duration of their visits to Xela. Their visits were to counsel her in the wisdom of Akla's written admonitions; her response was to try to talk some sense into their inexperienced minds.

  The Corporate Leadership Council on Anga-Param had a constantly changing membership which, in its increasingly inept members, mirrored the decaying conditions planet-wide.

  ~~~

  Velu sat with Zena in their home in the Unholy Lands. No one knew they'd been married by Akla. No one questioned their living together because no one but Akla knew where they lived. Their home was a simple cottage in the mountain fastness near Akla's residence. He often made the climb to visit them. They were waiting for him now.

  "Zena, I feel Him coming."

  "Yes, he's near."

  "Will you tell Him?"

  "I might."

  "Isn't it important to let Him know?"

  "I'll ask him."

  "He isn't just a man, Zena."

  "So you truly believe, Velu."

  "So I truly believe..."

  They both rose to open the door as Akla was rounding the bend in the mountain path. His smile greeted them. When they were seated in the cottage, Akla said:

  "You are both so quiet. Shall I tell you why?"

  They nodded.

  "Zena needs to tell me that he finds no way to recognize my Station and I laud him for his honesty and his vast rational explorations to attempt to find a way to come to the same heart-felt conclusions you have reached, Velu."

  Neither was surprised at Akla's precise verbalization of Zena's inner state. Velu said:

  "My acceptance of Your spiritual Station and Zena's inability to find a similar rest from doubts might seem to compromise our relationship..."

  "No. It makes your relationship a mirror of the conditions prevailing in the Worlds of this system. There are believers and non-believers. There are believers who don't know why they believe and non-believers who mistakenly think they know exactly why they don't believe. You, Velu, are a believer who knows exactly why she believes. And, you, Zena, are a non-believer who is honest enough to admit he doesn't quite know why he doesn't believe."

  Zena looked to Velu, then Akla, and said:

  "You are an unbelievable person, Akla. Yet I know you are sincere and I have no quarrel with the things you say or write. It's all extremely clear and blindingly true. I say you're unbelievable because I don't feel you speak for God. Velu does believe this. Yet I feel that we can work together to further your program for the unity of the Worlds."

  "Yes, you will, Zena. You and Velu will make the Political Peace come about. People will see the power of unity displayed before their eyes by a man and woman, non-believer and believer, who are able to rise above differences and devote themselves to the most important task the Worlds have ever faced."

  "May I ask you a question, Akla?"

  "You mean the one that wonders why I, a person who claims to speak for God, could accept you, a person who can't find a way to account for a person like me?"

  "Yes..."

  "It is simple. God loves you and because of that love I can accept you as you are. You love Velu for the right reasons. You honor my Writings even though you can't see God in them. You are the blind mirror and I am happy that you keep Velu on her mental toes."

  "Blind mirror...."

  Velu hugged Zena and said: "This is so utterly delightful! You are Akla's blind mirror, you reflect His mission as a rational solution for the Worlds' troubles. You are my love and my challenge. You are the second most important being in my life..."

  Zena kissed Velu on her forehead, turned to Akla, and said:

  "I honor you and I'm glad my wife prefers you before me."

  Akla said nothing but smiled and included both of them in His warm embrace.

  ~~~

  The Aklans continued their ministering services to as many as they could reach on Anla-Purum. They also continued to die at the hands of those trapped in the past.

  The double-implants from Anga-Param continued to sow dissension and distrust amongst whoever they could befriend.

  Xela continued her work to keep the still-contending factions in some form of lasting unification.

  Velu and Zena continued to help Xela in her efforts.

  The Harians on Anga-Param had accepted their new name, Aklans, and, because of the belief that there were still safe places on the planet, met their deaths as a group, during their yearly gathering to celebrate the Revelation of Akla. The children who had been sent to them for safe-keeping and the parents of those children were also killed but not in an out of the way place. They met their physical end in the town squares and office parks where they had lived and worked.

  The double-implants were eventually discovered because of information that Zena had passed on to Xela to scan for devices that had irrevocably broken the treaty between the two Worlds.

  Xela met her death at the hands of one of the double-implants—member of the Leadership Council. Xela knew the information from Zena was, in reality, from Akla. Her last trace of doubt about his Prophethood had made her begin scanning in the general populace, even though she had a recent Angan arrival on her Council. She reasoned that, if the information wasn't true, she wouldn't embarrass a Council member.

  Her last thought as she died was the echo of a Lordly voice: “I forgive you for that now."

  The Leadership Council on Anga-Param issued a threat to the Council on Anla-Purum and Anla-Purum sent ShipFour back to Anga-Param. It halted its flight just out of range of weapons, on land or in orbit, and delivered four deadly plasma blasts to the Leadership Council's building, then retreated to Anla-Purum.

  ~~~

  The ecology of Anga-Param continued to deteriorate, everyday people and Corporate workers dying in the millions.

  Zena became the adviser to the newly-formed Settlers' Leadership Council and Velu became advisory to the Religious Leadership Council.

  Citizens on Anga-Param, those who had particularly strong physical and mental constitutions, organized themselves into a Planetary Leadership Council. The Corporate Leadership Council had become just a name.

  Members of the various Leadership Councils began to visit each other. All were ready to find some way to end the divisions, to find the path toward unification—to try, beyond hope, to stop the death and destruction.

  5 ~ Light

  Exploratory talks between members of the various Leadership Councils continued. Face-to-face meetings became the norm because a smaller LightSail craft was rapidly developed and nine were initially bui
lt, on Anla-Purum. The deteriorated conditions on the corporate World of Anga-Param made any construction of spaceships a non-priority when just keeping the basic infrastructure intact was the only task possible; and, even that was severely hampered by the wild swings in weather conditions and the virtual non-existence of a government. Everyone was willing to do whatever was necessary. Angan life was stark and utterly confused.

  Anlan life, however, was ripe and evolving. Not having had an ecological disaster to deal with was a distinct advantage. Having four different religious groups to unify was a supreme challenge. The settlers, as a group, were the most eager to work toward unifying the two Worlds.

  ~~~

  Velu and Zena were back in the Unholy Lands, after much traveling between Worlds, to be with Akla as he prepared to die. They were the only two permitted to attend to Akla's final physical needs. Akla was comforting them as they did what little they could to make this passing peaceful and easy. They could do small things like fetch a drink or open a door for a breeze but Akla poured out such blessing on them that the three would often share laughter at the ironic nature of the normally dire and dismal event.

  After Akla's last physical breath, Velu and Zena prepared the body for burial, as specified by Akla in the Aklan Book of Laws. After the body was secure in its elemental rest, they lingered at the site. Zena, after many long minutes of silence, said:

  "He died."

  "His body died, Zena."

  "His spirit will live on in the Book and writings left to us."

  "His spirit is very active in the Eternal World, Zena."

  "We have long ago agreed to disagree."

  "Yes, my love."

  ~~~

  Velu was attending another meeting of the Religious Leadership Council on Anla-Purum. Her plasma-communication talents had grown much stronger since Akla's passing and she was much more careful to use them with discipline and compassion. The representative of the Lord's Army, the priest, Urnun, was finishing his report:

  "Our numbers seem to have stabilized. Our births are infrequent and God has demanded few Gifts. Also, our position on accepting the decrees of Akla have not changed."

  Velu sent Urnun a compelling burst of acceptance and he continued with:

  "We... still... do not see... how we can reconcile Akla's words with our beliefs."

  Velu sent Urnun more feelings of acceptance and said:

  "You are at least clear about what you cannot accept."

  "Yes, Velu, we have made specific mention of which words trouble us."

  "Yes, Urnun, and you have also said that most of Akla's moral or ethical sayings are completely acceptable, right?"

  "That is true but coming to an awareness that the Lord's Army or the Faith of Eternity or the Disciples of Faith can agree on simple moral laws does not bring us to an agreement with the Aklans that all our religions are one Faith."

  "How many Gods are there?"

  "Velu, do not play with me."

  "How many?"

  "There is but one God."

  "Why would one God want various religious groups to disagree about the means of providing for a safe and secure life on this planet?"

  "The rules of life, as opposed to the rules of spirituality, are determined by priests."

  "Who determines who is a priest?"

  "Velu, we are going around in circles. We have been down this path before and now you want me to travel it again?"

  The priest from the Faith of Eternity, Vaozur, spoke up:

  "Urnun, you know as well as I do that Velu wants you to become an Aklan, to throw away your priesthood and align yourself with what she determines to be the correct path for surviving in the physical realm."

  Velu sent a burst of acceptance to Vaozur and said:

  "There are large numbers of people on this planet who abide by no formula of religious rites yet accept the Words of Akla about the most equitable manner of organizing our physical lives."

  "Settlers..."

  "Yes, settlers who have freely shared their knowledge of many of the secrets of material existence and made all our lives more comfortable, even yours, Vaozur, and yours, Urnun. You can enjoy the fruits of their physical prowess and they can accept Akla's injunctions for physical security yet you want what? That they agree with rules of living that, even if they once met the needs of your followers, are now increasingly being left behind by those same followers?"

  "Sin is a condition that is inherent in our lives."

  Velu sent all present a huge burst of love and said:

  "Sin is not doing what is necessary to get along with other children of God, no matter what rites or practices they feel are correct."

  She walked, in turn, to each of the representatives—Lord's Army, Faith of Eternity, Disciples of Faith, and Aklan—hugged them, and, as she began the walk to her tent, Morna, who was always with Velu though usually quite silent, said:

  "Patience is our weapon of choice."

  ~~~

  Zena was on Anga-Param thinking that to call this the Corporate World was completely inaccurate. He made a mental note to begin a personal campaign to end the too-common practice. Seeing people struggling to keep the fruits of high technology working, in spite of horrendous weather and disabled infrastructure, was heartening but the reality was that Anga-Param was a World that was very sick and needed a completely new form of government. His imminent meeting with the current head of the Planetary Leadership Council was going to be the beginning of his attempt to change the words people used to refer to this planet. The Corporate Leadership Council still demanded negotiation time and considered themselves the voice of the planet but the representatives were the saddest and most confused people on the planet—prone to emotional outbursts and irrational displays of incoherent demands. Zena was most pleased that they were so incompetent, mostly because they had no effectual means left to continue the endocrine alterations of the citizens. He hoped the scientific and technical people who were still capable of rational action would swiftly alter the nature of the simulated recreation available to the populace. Having been acclimated to emotional swings that necessitated the simulated recreation didn't mean that the average person could cope with only simulated recreation—they had also become addicted to the emotional swings. An improved simulated recreation would aid stability.

  The Planetary Leadership Council representative had arrived. It was always a guess as to who would show up for the meetings since each member of the Council was critically needed for the seemingly never-ending tasks of keeping the planet alive. Zena was happy to see that it was Keloz, a former scientist with the Corporation's meteorological department.

  "Keloz! How badly are you doing?"

  Keloz deeply appreciated Zena's constant focus on reality and decided to give him a back-handed compliment.

  "Worse than you, my friend, but, considering the fine line you always have to tread, what with you acting like the Worlds' peace ambassador, I may be in a better position when this state of emergency is over and you begin to unravel into a normal person again."

  "Ha! I will never be normal, Keloz, but unraveling sounds like a wonderful occupation... Give me the latest."

  "Well, the Corporate Leader—"

  "Wait, Keloz, I have a new campaign to get rid of the word corporate in discussions of governmental reorganization."

  "Bravo! I will tell those who think you have influence that this is your wish."

  The men shared a welcome round of raucous laughter.

  "O.K., Zena, the latest. That group of imbeciles that used to run the government are getting so desperate they tried to forcibly take over the Science Institute, by themselves, of course, since no one listens to what they say. We gave them a lesson in plasma stunning and set them up in a secluded area where they can use our newest version of the simulated recreation options—perfect test subjects."

  "I agree. Even though they didn't let themselves have their emotions altered artificially, they did a great job of bringing
on endocrine imbalance all by themselves. Do let me see your reports on how they get along. We just may be able to save them from themselves. What else?"

  "We think we have the beginnings of a plan to moderate the swings in weather. It means transporting people and playing with the plasma fields of the planet in ways we haven't yet risked but the consensus is almost there for giving it a go."

  "What's the worst that can happen?"

  "We all die a little faster."

  "Alright, what else?"

  "We need more food from Anla, uh, Purum."

  "How much more?"

  "At least half a pound of basics per day per person. Do the math."

  "I'll get to work on it. I think I can get an agreement to add three of the smaller LightSails for permanent duty."

  "Also, we'd like to have more meetings with the Settler's Leadership Council. There are a growing number of people who want to go to Anla-Purum."

  "I've heard some comments that could mean two-way citizen traffic. I'll radio more after I consult with Velu."

  "How is your wife?"

  "Extremely pregnant and ridiculously happy!"

  ~~~

  The Aklans on Anla-Purum continued to minister to the needs of whoever they could reach. They were still being killed by outraged priests of the Lord's Army and the Faith of Eternity but their selfless actions and utter lack of fear had its effect on the followers of the two religious groups—a growing number of them simply left their territories and settled with the Disciples of Faith. The Unholy Lands still raised superstitious fears.

  The settlers were constantly busy improving the standard of living for all groups. It was hoped that better sanitation and basic labor-saving devices would help the most tradition-bound religionists become more reality-oriented as well as speed a population increase.