Mesopotamia - The Redeemer (26 page)

“And to maintain this faith, you
must believe in the nonexistence of God?”

“Yes.”

“That is to say, the temptation to
relinquish personal responsibility is great.”

“It appears to be so.”

“And that is the motivation behind
your version of divinity?” she asked defiantly.

“What are you getting at?” he
countered.

“The Pythagorean version of God is
perfection. I do not disagree with you there. But does your version
of God exempt you from personal responsibility?”

“Yes. According to my view, God is
a refuge from responsibility of desire, from the responsibility of
free will and the cost it entails. My position, which I am trying
to convey to you by means of my life story, is that there is a
price for love and belonging, and sometimes this price is war.”

“First you invented God as an
entity that exempts one from responsibility, and then you rebelled
against him in order to restore that very responsibility?” she
smiled.

“Err... Yes,” he stammered.

“You were the one who invented God
as the entity that exempts one from responsibility, and so now you
must rebel against him in order to restore it. But that is not my
God, and therefore I have no need to rebel against Him.” She
chuckled again.

He had no answer. He was confused;
that point had never occurred to him. But his curiosity was
aroused, just as it was when his students would surprise him with
their insights.

“Urgent call for Sophia. Broadcast
from Octavia.” The audio-visual system rescued him from the
philosophical conundrum.

“I'll be right back.” She stood up
hurriedly.

When she finished deciphering the
coded message from Octavia, she sat opposite the display and read
it again.

To Sophia, master of the station,
and all loyal Pythagoreans of Samos: Greetings!

As per your request, we checked the
data that you provided regarding the aircraft. We discovered that
the single-man ship had been stolen, apparently by the intelligence
services of the Atheist heretics. The directive of the Chief
Council is not to grant anyone entry into Samos' docks, but since
the error has already been committed, your instructions are now as
follows:

One of the Atheists' missions is to
spread their faith throughout all the human communities. Their
belief is in the nonexistence of God in all forms, including the
mathematical Pythagorean God. You must be aware of these intentions
and avoid exposure to their influence, which are aimed at swaying
your faith.

The Atheists are known for their
ability to challenge the weaker links, the ones who are more
susceptible to emotionalism and sentimentality. You must prevent
the guest from coming into contact with your people, for their
faith is not as steadfast as your own.

With blessings of harmony,

Nicomachus, Octavia

Sophia's battle against her
impulses had failed. The dam broke the previous night. They
discovered each other the entire night. Thales made her body aware
of pleasures that she did not even know existed. She experienced
the height of pleasure in surrendering to her body and soul,
without reservation or regret. Thales also discovered the unknown
intensity of love.

She glanced at Thales as he slept,
careful not to wake him. 'Thales, I would never have imagined that
my best friend would become the object of my desire.' She paused
and decided not to switch on her personal communication unit. Her
day would be busy: back-to-back activities as well as the
continuation of her training, but everything could wait just a few
more minutes.

The scout on duty could not reach
Thales, so he tried to contact the station master instead. There
was no response by her either. Having no choice, he called them
through Samos' audio-visual intercom.

“Scout on duty here. The station
master and chief scout are asked to report to the surface sphere.”
They looked at each other awkwardly.

“I'll go out first so that we won't
be seen coming out together.”

“Do you think anyone knows yet?” he
asked nervously.

“I hope not. I don't know what's
going on. Why are they calling us though the intercom?” She dressed
in a hurry, understanding that they would only call them on the
intercom in the event of an emergency. Worry began to gnaw at
her.

“I'll be there in five minutes,” he
said, kissing her on her way out.

First, they dismissed the scout on
duty. They calibrated the computer over and over and tried to
analyze the data on other computers. They checked the numbers with
each other in order to verify that there were no calculation
errors, but the results remained the same. The numbers, as well as
their graphic renditions, were very clear. Over one hundred tiny
flying objects were traveling with precision directly toward Samos.
These were not meteors, which had curved paths. Judging by the
orderly formation and precise direction of the objects, it could
only mean one thing: this was a fleet of aircraft on its way to
Samos. They hoped that it was a commercial fleet but knew that this
was an unlikely prospect. Samos did not appear on any trade route
maps.

The speed of the aircraft was
typical of a military formation, and their number far exceeded the
amount of aircraft sent on any commercial, research or diplomatic
expedition. They wanted to believe that this was the Atheist fleet
that Enosh had told them about, but it was too early. Enosh said
that the Atheists would arrive only in many months' time—in
anticipation of the Gnostics, who were expected to arrive in a
year's time at earliest. Octavia had not confirmed any visits, plus
they would have received prior notice from Octavia. The conclusion
was inevitable.

Thales sat as his throat
constricted and choked. His dream had finally come true; he had
enjoyed a few moments of bliss, but then awoke to a nightmare. In a
short while, the Gnostics would arrive and pluck Samos like a ripe
fruit. His jaws clenched in rage. His fists clenched as if to break
the ring of asphyxiation. When he tried to think rationally, he
only saw one solution: Enosh.

For the first time in his life, he
was not ashamed of the wave of violence that passed over his body.
He decided that he would not give in to the Gnostics without a
fight. He was prepared to kill in order to protect Sophia and
Samos. He would kill, rather than being like the manatee that
grazes on seaweed while he is exposed to the predatory shark.

Sophia felt her body petrify in
terror. Panic crept up her back, encircled her neck, clutched her
head and clouded her consciousness. Only when she filled her lungs
did she realize that she had been holding her breath. The sensation
of Thales hand on her shoulder jolted her from the thick darkness
that enveloped her to the sharp pain of despair. When she thought
about the fate of the galaxy, she was slightly embarrassed that it
had not been the first thing on her mind. Her first thought had
been about Thales. She looked at him sadly.

There is no way out, she reflected.
Octavia's forces will not arrive in time and in any case would be
unable to veer from their sacred ideal of pacifism. Needless to
say, the Atheists would not arrive in time either.

Enosh burst into the command
center. “Oh hell,” he blurted, breaking the silence. He scanned the
screens. "My fears have come true."

Thales alerted him while he was in
the midst of preparing for the rest of Sophia's training.

'This is the end. We are too late,'
he thought. 'The Atheists will not arrive in time and there is no
way that I can finish training Sophia.' He imagined the Gnostic war
machine careening toward Samos and crushing it. He began to think
about the annihilation of the galaxy. Fear seeped through his
limbs. He inadvertently bit his lips.

The pain lurched him back to his
task. He donned the armor of Socratic knowledge, with the awareness
that the Socratic Method would shield him from despair and fear.
'The Gnostics are on their way. I must act. Death will come sooner
or later.' He repeated: 'Death is the only certain truth.' The
Gnostic threat became slightly less intimidating. The aim was not
to avoid death but rather to delay it.

All of the Gnostic warriors in the
father ship, those in their aircraft on their way to Samos, those
in the Uruk compound as well as those in their strongholds in the
conquered cities from the Arabian Peninsula up to the Mediterranean
Sea, sang the battle hymn throughout the audio-visual system in
unison.

Vainglorious Demiurge,

The blind, the brutish,

From the lofty heavens

Fell to the gutters.

Demiurge the progenitor,

The deviant and sinful,

The deletion of Ishtar,

Devoid of soul.

Cursed Demiurge

Samos is his home,

Pythagoras his messiah,

Orpheus his prophet.

The spark of light

Was packaged within a body,

Foul and soiled,

And flung into exile.

We possess within us the
knowledge

Of the superior worlds.

We are the visionaries

Of the hidden spark.

In the darkness of matter,

In the crude shell

Of the kingdom of Earth,

We know the light.

By the Tablet of Uruk,

Our destiny is to liberate

The kingdom of Earth

To the empire of heaven.

“I
sent a
message to Dust. I hope that they're on the way or that at least
that they sent a messenger probe to relay the message. But in any
case, we must reevaluate our plans. The Atheists will not make it
here in time. We are alone. Thales, how much time do we have?”
asked Enosh.

“I believe that the Gnostics will
not accelerate because they are already traveling at top speed, and
they must decelerate before docking in Samos. Assuming that their
speed will progress at a constant rate, we can expect their arrival
in about ten days from now.”

“The original plan was to prepare
you for a diplomatic dialogue under conditions of a military
threat. We currently have only ten days, at best, to prepare for a
consciousness-to-consciousness dialogue,” he said with an air of
confidence that he did not feel at all.

“Can you manage it?” asked Sophia
apprehensively.

“You must ask yourself that
question.”

“Me? You don't think that, in light
of the circumstances, it would be better if you spoke with them?”
she said worriedly.

“I have the skills to do it, but I
am of no interest to them. Our one chance has not changed: only a
Pythagorean can penetrate the Gnostic armor of faith.”

“With influential abilities,” added
Thales.

“Yes,” Enosh agreed. “Sophia, you
must learn the job quickly.”

“I must learn in ten days what it
took you years to learn? But that's impossible!”

“But you have one advantage that I
didn't.”

She looked at him
questioningly.

“Our lives are dependent on
it.”

“I simply cannot fathom how I will
accomplish this.”

“If that is true, then we must
destroy the processor before it falls into Gnostic hands,” said
Enosh.

Thales and Sophia were grimly
silent.

“And if we destroy the processor,
it can never be recreated without reviving the threat of the
Gnostics using it. Even if it takes another two hundred years, it
will happen. But if we succeed in influencing them, we can attain a
change in consciousness that will eliminate the danger instead of
just postponing it.”

“If we succeed,” said Sophia
apprehensively.

“In any event, we can always
destroy the processor at the last minute,” said Thales grimly.

“That is, on condition that we are
prepared to be destroyed along with it,” said Sophia. “You cannot
destroy the processor without destroying Samos entirely. At the
last minute, it will already be too late to evacuate Samos. If we
destroy the processor, at least the Atheists, and maybe even the
Pythagoreans, will have an opportunity to better prepare for the
future.”

“Practically speaking, there is no
difference between destroying Samos now and destroying it at a
later time. Based on their rate of progress, it's clear that they
would catch up with our ships on the way out, even if we were to
leave this very moment,” said Thales. He turned around and his
shoulders slumped.

But Enosh was undeterred. “If we do
not act now, we risk the possibility that the Atheists and the
Pythagoreans will fail the next time around. The Gnostics will
pursue their goal of annihilating the galaxy. Even if a portion of
the Gnostic fleet is destroyed, the danger will return as long as
they continue to exist. The Atheists and the Pythagoreans are not
prepared to commit genocide,” said Enosh.

They were silent.

“We have no choice!” declared Enosh
finally. “We must initialize the chain reaction of one-on-one
influence, from me to you, and from you to one Gnostic. I must
transfer all of the knowledge that I can to you in the little time
that remains and prepare you for your meeting with the Gnostics.
You must use this knowledge along with everything available to you
in Samos.”

“The processor, the simulator and
the audio-visual system,” added Thales quietly.

Sophia bit her lip.

“Let's go!” said Thales and his
eyes were suddenly seized with determination. “You must begin your
work. There's no time to lose. You must refrain from any other
activity until the Gnostics arrive. And as for me, if the situation
reaches such a point, I intend to fight and even to kill.”