Mesopotamia - The Redeemer (18 page)

“To get rid of him?”

“Maybe send him to Octavia. Let
them decide what to do with him.”

“I am not sending him anywhere.”
She drank a sip of water, cleared her throat, took a deep breath
and continued. “We are obligated to care for him out of basic
hospitality. And what's more, it's likely that he was specifically
sent to us for a reason that we do not yet understand.”

“It is my duty to warn you about
any danger that I see, be it a danger to you or to the station. But
as you said, you are the ship's master and you make the
decisions.”

“Don't you forget it,” she said
angrily.

The stranger examined the database
in the sample room. He read more about the details of the
Human-Gods' Wars. He watched media clips about the Gnostic,
Pythagorean and Atheist cultures. He looked for hints of his
mysterious identity, but nothing rang a bell in his blank memory.
Frustrated and exhausted, he fell asleep at the computer
station.

In his dream, he saw people who
approached him as if they were old acquaintances though he could
not recognize them. Something that he intended to do—that he must
do—was bothering him, but it may have been too late since he could
not recall what that task was. Sophia appeared before him in a thin
and airy cotton dress deep inside a green and flowering garden. Her
melody could be heard playing in the background. She came toward
him with open arms but when she got closer, he noticed a gaping
hole in the center of her body. He could see the green grass
through the hole. When he asked her about the hole, she dismissed
the matter. He insisted that this was something she should take
care of and she began to move away from him. He chased after her,
but the faster he ran, the farther she became. He yelled her name
and woke suddenly to the touch of her hand on his.

“Were you dreaming?”

“Yes.”

“Something scary?”

“I don't remember,” he lied.

“You were screaming in you sleep,
so I woke you up. Are you feeling ok?”

“I'm ok now, yes. Thanks.” It was
obvious that he was still upset.

“Pythagoras said that the way to
achieve inner peace is through the eternal timeless beauty of
music, mathematics, geometry, philosophy, nature and astronomy.
Pythagoras invented the term 'philosophy', meaning the love of
wisdom. What is more beautiful than the eternal splendor of the
divine wisdom? You are welcome to find peace in beauty, harmony,
unity and order. The most supreme form of beauty is a perfect
sphere. All of its sides are equidistant from the center, without
conflict or difference, without sharp angles or gaps, without
disharmony or deficiency. In the meantime, let's enjoy the beauty
of wholeness. I am sure that your memories will return soon.”
Sophia spoke enthusiastically without paying much attention to his
reactions.

The stranger did not recover from
his nightmare and felt even more disconnected and alone after what
she said. The concept of perfect beauty did not speak to him. Had
she told him that she too felt detached at times, he would have
felt less alone; but she only spoke of perfection. Where was she
hiding her distress?

Although he did not want to offend
his hostess, he was unable to contain the unease that he felt.

“There is something unreal about
this concept of perfection. The colors, the sounds, the incredible
order of the station, this way of life. How can it be that you
don't feel any sense of loss toward your father?”

“What is unreal? During our
Pythagorean training, we learn to identify the noise created by
desire and to direct our feelings toward perfection, wholeness and
fullness. We distance ourselves from desire, which is a deceptive
form of suffering,” she explained patiently, while wondering why he
kept fixating on this issue.

“Can you genuinely say that you
don't miss your father? That you are genuinely satisfied with the
hero myth that surrounds his memory instead of him?”

Sophia held back her feelings of
anger and asked him in a cool Pythagorean tone, “Why do you keep
coming back to this issue?”

“In my dream, I heard your melody
playing and I saw you deep within a verdant and flowering garden.
There was a large hole inside your body. I asked you about it and
you dismissed it just like you are doing now. I see that you are
saddened when I mention your father, and I apologize for causing
you distress, but something just doesn't sit well with me here. I
can't remember anything about my own past, so I practically have no
mother or father, or anything else that I may call my own for that
matter. I don't deny that I miss these things. I miss them very
much. That's why I can't grasp how you manage to live with such a
great void in your life,” he answered sympathetically.

Her lips tightened and her brow
furrowed. “What are you, a dream interpreter? That is your dream,
not mine.”

He regretted what he said and tried
to understand why he felt so compelled to bother her, to cause her
distress, to invade her private pain. But nonetheless, he was
unable to stop himself. “Tell me that my dream has no meaning for
you, that you don't carry a great emptiness inside of you. Tell me
that I'm mistaken and I will leave you alone.”

“Enough!” she bellowed.

“I'm sorry, Sophia. If you decide
to believe in harmony and perfection as your way of life, even if
that means you must ignore feelings of missing a deceased loved
one, then I will not interfere.”

She wanted to say, 'It is better
that you don't interfere. It's none of your business and you are
rude. How dare you invade my privacy?' Despite her anger, however,
she did not forget that he was a man devoid of memories who was
dependent on her, as she was the only relationship he had in life.
She stood up straight and repeated the same words in a stern tone:
“My father was a hero and I am proud of him. It's not my fault that
you had all meaning ripped out of your life, so don't try to steal
mine in its place!” Her shoulders were shaking.

He turned to look away from her.
She went on her way and he was left alone.

Thales was livid with frustration
as he watched them via the mechanical mosquito that blended in with
the colors of the dome. 'Not only is he a spy, he's also a con man,
trying to sway her from her Pythagorean lifestyle,' he thought.
'First he invaded her life under the guise of a sick man, then he
caused her to become attached to him. She's likely to lose her
sense of judgment. Later, he will set the stage for a Gnostic
takeover. Is it my duty to open her eyes, as a Pythagorean as well
as scout of this ship, even if that task requires a confrontation?
Does my responsibility obligate me to point out the plot that is
being hatched? Will Sophia perhaps realize this on her own?'

Thales wanted to avoid an argument,
which would eclipse the magical moments that he had shared with her
in the simulator. Although these moments did not constitute the
true intimacy he desired, that was specifically why he did not want
to take that risk.

“Take this,” Barman said to
him.

“What is it?” asked Thales.

“What else could it possibly be? A
drink.”

Thales downed a small sip and
rolled the liquid around in his mouth.

“Well?” asked Barman.

“Not bad,” he said, drinking in
large gulps of the viscous milky-orange liquid.

“Eat the thing at the bottom of the
cup too,” said Barman, handing him a spoon.

“If it's such a secret, I promise
not to tell anyone. What did you put in it?”

“You promise not to tell?”

“In the name of holy Orpheus.”
Thales placed two fingers over his heart.

“Ground flaxseed, St. John's wort,
pomegranate juice, grape sugar, a pinch of hot pepper and saffron
essence.”

“Give me another one.”

“One is enough. I'll give you some
pineapple juice.”

“Why is one enough?”

“It's not good to get carried
away.”

“Why not?”

“So that you won't lose your
senses. It seems like you need to stay focused.”

“Why, then, did you give me a
glass?”

“To improve your mood.”

“What, is there something wrong
with my mood?” Thales asked defensively.

Barman did not answer and placed
the juice on the counter.

“Is it that obvious?”

Barman remained silent.

“Yeah, I'm a little upset.”

Barman's eyes silently asked, 'Do
you want to talk about it?'

“We must seem weird to you, us
Pythagoreans.”

“Weird? Not weird—very weird,”
Barman laughed.

“I admit that, even in my own eyes,
we are starting to seem weird. But what compelled you to spend your
days surrounded by pure and innocent souls, without jealousy,
hatred, anger bitterness or love?”

“Welcome to humanity,” Barman
commiserated with a sad smile. “I'll make you another drink
anyway.”

“No, no,” Thales smiled
faintly.

“I'm making one for myself anyway,”
said Barman.

“No thanks, I've still got work to
do,” said Thales and took the glass anyway.

“Cheers!” Barman's glass clinked
with Thales'.

“Cheers!” Thales replied.

The stranger went out to roam the
station. Its walls bore shades of an artificial sunset. He finally
stopped on the observation bridge. The bridge rose above the
station's recreational plaza, a central intersection between the
various residential quarters. The plaza was filled with ornamental
trees, a small waterfall, a lawn and benches scattered here and
there. Above, through the colored beams of light, stretched an
infinite view of outer space. He watched the inhabitants of the
station below enjoy the serenity of the garden. For a moment, he
felt a glimmer of hope that he was on the brink of remembering
something, but it passed immediately.

He watched a couple stroll by
slowly. Although they did not display any outward expressions of
affection, as was customary for Pythagoreans, he noticed their
restrained love.

He thought about Sophia. 'Could I
be in love with her? Hold on, I need to take a step backward here.
What's happening to me? Have my loneliness and fear caused me to
attach myself to Sophia? Are these emotions not truly genuine?' He
stayed on the bridge for a long time and his mind swarmed. He
remembered love; he could not remember who it was that he loved,
but he did recall the pain of love and felt its sting once more.
From the observation bridge, he looked out into space.

Sophia sat opposite the display in
the control room of the station and tried to calibrate the movement
of the spheres. The station, swathed in rays of light, peered at
her from the screen. She lightly touched the sound calibrator and
tried to reach the exact tone that would achieve harmony in the
spheres' movement. The station's computer rejected her again and
again. She understood that she would not succeed as long as her
emotions were raging inside of her. She continued anyway despite
her agitated state. The stranger awakened feelings in her that she
did not even know existed. She was overcome with longing for her
father. The beams of light on the display shone more brightly than
usual. The deep blue reminded her of the underwater cave that
Thales had shown her. 'What has he got to do with this now?' She
tried to push the thought of him out of her mind. 'What does that
man awaken in me? Why do I have to exert all my efforts to restrain
myself from bursting into his room? And if I were to do that, what
would I even say to him?'

The station's computer rejected her
again. She felt a tingle in her right forearm and touched it
lightly. When she remembered how Thales had held her arm in support
when she stepped off the boat onto the banks of the canyon, the
tingle began to burn. She was astonished by the sensation. The
words clamored in a dizzying cacophony inside her head: 'Father,
hole, pain, stranger, desire, Thales. Enough!' She set the computer
for automatic calibration, shut off the display and left the
control room hastily.

Sophia took another deep breath.
The feeling of the water under her floating body did not
disappoint. After about half an hour of relaxation attempts, she
finally felt at peace. The storm quieted but she still felt the
burning sensation in her arm. When the automatic dryer finished
drying the last drop of moisture from her skin, she knew where she
was headed.

The stranger continued to look out
into space. He wondered if one of the suns opposite him was shining
on his home, wherever that may be. He longed for something—though
he sadly did not know what that thing was—but did not know why.

Again his thoughts turned to Sophia
and the sensation of her touch. She appeared in the garden below
him, as if he had summoned her with his mind. His eyes lit up. For
a few long moments, he garnered up the courage to approach her. 'I
should get to her before she crosses the garden.' Instead, he froze
in his tracks when he saw Thales approaching quickly from the
opposite side of the garden. Sophia noticed Thales before Thales
saw her and smiled broadly at him. The stranger noticed the
surprise on Thales' face when he greeted her. Thales looked tense
and said something to her. Sophia gestured toward an empty bench
and they sat down. The stranger observed their body language and
facial expressions. Even though he did not remember where he had
acquired this skill, he found that he was able to decipher what was
going on between them.

It seemed like Thales was hesitant
to speak. He looked down at his hands and muttered something.
Sophia silenced him with a finger to his mouth and drew closer to
him. Thales looked up at her in surprise. Sophia's eyes sparkled
and a stream of whispers gushed forth from her like a dam that had
had burst open. The stranger understood that she was very excited
judging by her quickening breathing and flushed face. Thales
appeared to be mesmerized judging by the look in his eyes and the
way his stomach muscles tightened. While she was talking, a change
materialized in Thales' composure. His eyes widened as if in
disbelief of the words he was hearing. A faint smile crossed his
lips, replacing his usual forlornness. His smile slowly widened as
she continued speaking and he sat up straighter. Sophia held his
arm. He looked into her eyes. The stranger tried to convince
himself, with little success, that this was not love.