The Broken God Machine (29 page)

“I’ve missed this place terribly, and there are many reasons to be glad, but
it isn’t the same place I left.”

“And you are not the same person who left it.”

“I am not.”

“Some things are still the same, no? Sili is still here … and she is still
ample.”

Pehr laughed. “I was too late for Sili. She visited me earlier and
introduced me to her new baby.”

“Poor Pehr. Don’t lament it … she’s not your type anyway,” Tasha said.

Pehr shrugged. “Tasha … you’ve not come here to talk about Sili. What is it?
Is there more that you would have me do?”

Tasha shook her head.

“I’ve come to say goodbye.”

Pehr shook his head, unable to find words to express his dismay. The path he
had chosen might bring him many followers, but he thought there would be few
friends. He could feel the pain of her loss anew, as if it had been hours and
not weeks since she had died.

“Must you?”

Tasha nodded. “I will live in your memories, Pehr, but not in your
dreams.”

“But I need you. I need your knowledge, your conviction …”

“You have a flood of tiny computers attached to your neurons now, my
friend. Don’t tell me you actually believe I am some spirit made manifest
through your dreams.”

“If you’re merely a projection of my subconscious, I value your presence no
less,” Pehr said.

Tasha laughed. “I understand, but I must go. From here there is only the
path you make, and it is not my part to guide you on it. I can only wish you
well and give you my love. I’m your sister, Pehr, and so I will always be, but
my time with you is done. You belong to Uru now.”

Pehr felt a great sadness weighing down upon him, but he knew there was no
argument he could make that would change these things. He took a deep breath
and said, “I love you, sister. I will
always
love you, and I will
honor your memory – and Jace’s – by doing what is right for our people.”

“I know,” Tasha said. “I have faith in you.”

Pehr was silent for a time, and Tasha let him be, closing her eyes as if in
meditation.

“Do you know how it all ends?” Pehr asked at last, and Tasha opened her
eyes. She shrugged.

“It ends as it begins … there is darkness, and then there is light. We have
no control over the end, Khada’Pehr of the western lands. We have only the time
that is given us.”

“Goodbye then, Tasha. I hope I will see you at the end, and I hope you’ll
have found your answers.”

Tasha smiled at him, beginning to fade, becoming dark and translucent like a
reflection in a moonlit pool of water. When little was left of her but a wisp,
like smoke in a dim room, she held her hand out to him, palm out, fingers
spread. Pehr reached forward and pressed his hand to hers, but there was
nothing there to touch. Tasha was gone, and once more Pehr found himself
surrounded by blackness. Exhausted, he gave himself up to it.

Khada’Pehr, heir to the Mombutabwe line and the last, best hope for the
remaining people of Earth, slept in peace.

In the year 11,345 of the Great Destruction, the warrior king Khada’Pehr
A’Mombutabwe led his army through the jungle, reuniting the split halves of his
people and bringing them to the city of Havenmont, where they set about
restoring the greatness of years long past. In time they built anew a great age
of men, and Khada’Pehr became the first of many Prime Ministers, and a trusted
advisor to those who followed. When at last he came to the end of his path, he
was burnt in the old way by his wife of many ages, the queen Kissha A’Samhad,
and scattered by the winds to the corners of Uru.

We, his former subjects, erect this stone on our day of departure in
celebration and in mourning. Khada’Pehr has gone to a place beyond the stars,
and we pray that he watches over us still, and will guide us on our journey. We
leave today for the heavens, as he had always hoped we would, and this stone
shall mark our passing. What the future holds for mankind, or for the world we
leave behind, we cannot know.

We can say only that we were, we are, and because of our great King, we
shall continue to be.

The Citizens of Havenmont

12,234 GD