Shalilayo, p.40
Shalilayo, page 40
"So what's going on with our rowdy neighbors?" Lendel asked Morindessa with a half smile.
"So far everyone is remaining peaceful," Morindessa replied in her rich voice. "However, there are still a lot of fundamentalist religions laying plans for an uprising once an opportunity presents itself. Their ministers have convinced them we are demons sent by the devil."
"Just call me Satan," Terrance said wryly as the youth's from Tenral looked at him in puzzlement. "It's one of their traditions mixed in with their belief in an all powerful deity. They believe the devil is a fallen angel who tempts humans to sin against their god's laws."
"Sounds like shirking responsibility for their own actions to me," Li commented with a frown.
"Indeed," Terrance replied with a sigh. "Their history is rich with myths of other deities, and every few thousand years a new one arises. It is one of the side effects of progressing toward sentient thought without the ability to use yar. They have to rely completely on their mechanical instruments to observe the world around them. When events occur which their sensing instruments cannot explain they begin to comprehend that there is much more out there beyond the physical realm. With yar, they could identify what exists beyond the physical realm. Without yar, they have to use their own imagination, which has an amazing capacity for forming incorrect conclusions.”
“So what do you want to do about the remaining religious people who plan to make trouble?” Chale asked intently. “Are we going to just send them to the other worlds where we sent the first wave of fundamentalists?”
“I think we need to address them first,” Terrance replied thoughtfully. “There are some among them who may break away from their original programming. I think if we identify the individuals involved in these groups, we can give them a choice. They can either learn to live in peace and accept that holy wars are not representative of any benevolent god, or they can choose to join their fellows on the new worlds.”
Morindessa wrapped her arm around Terrance’s shoulder fondly. “I also meant to tell you Lori’s parents will be visiting soon. They want to meet their daughter’s link.”
“Very good,” Terrance replied approvingly. “I am looking forward to meeting them as well.”
Chapter 47 Sorcery
Jason squirmed around in his seat, futilely trying to find a comfortable position on the church pew. Rod was not having any more success, causing Penelope to hiss at him to hold still. She had finally given up on the elbowing since the invincibility suits blocked any pain a good ribbing might cause.
“What’s the name of this church?” Rod whispered as the congregation went through the ritual spasm of groveling and sitting back again for the next five minutes.
“Lady of our Consumption, I think,” Jason whispered back with a grin. “Why?”
“Are you serious?” Rod asked with an irreverent gleam to his eyes. “No wonder Americans are so fat. They are worshipping food!”
Penelope forgot about the suit and jabbed her elbow into his ribs with a hissed, “you two shut up, for God’s sake!”
“If it is for God’s sake, you better shut that priest up as well,” Jason replied with a nod in the direction of the highly decorated priest droning on in a monotonous voice. “God’s going to fall asleep if someone doesn’t do something to lighten the mood in here.”
Someone giggled on the row behind them, followed by a swift admonition by the parent to be quiet. Quite a few of the congregation members near them looked ready to do violence if they did not shut up, though there were a few who appeared to agree with Jason. After several minute of groveling, the priest began to pontificate.
“My children, it is a heavy cross you must bear in these latter days,” the priest began with a slightly overdone sense of melancholy. “The Lord has chosen us poor sinners to be tested by the greatest temptation of all. What is this temptation, you ask? It is the temptation to be healed by the evil one, to put our trust in the imposters who seem so benevolent on the outside. It is the temptation to believe in the lie that there is no Hell, and that your sins are not sins at all. It is the temptation to believe that heaven can exist on this sinful earth. Some of you have begun to question the very existence of our eternal father, accepting the imposter’s claims that there is no Supreme Judge. The very idea that your souls have always existed before our Holy Father created them in your bodies is blasphemy. This is truly the test of our age, and I fear very much that many of you shall perish in everlasting hellfire. Do not let the Master of Lies take you without a fight. We are here for you, my children. You can confide in us. The time will come when the Lord our God shall call forth his saints to cast off the evil yoke binding them to the devil, and you must all be ready for that day. We have set aside time after services to speak to each of you individually for several minutes in order to assuage any personal fears you may have. Please take this time to visit with each other as you wait your turn to speak with us.”
After some more singing and chanting, the congregation finally arose and began forming a loose line outside the priest’s offices. Some of the youths gathered near Jason while the older people stood in the line talking to each other in sober tones about the aliens occupying their world.
“The priest told us earlier that we shouldn’t eat the scones that are appearing on the ground in the morning and evening,” a slim dark haired woman told another woman with concern. “How are we supposed to eat? None of the grocery stores get food anymore.”
“I know,” The short chubby blonde woman replied nervously. “I don’t have any food storage, and the only thing we have growing that is edible is tomatoes.”
“Have faith ladies,” an elderly man in a priest’s attire admonished them loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “This is but a temporary fast before the Lord. He shall provide you with the nourishment you need so long as you remain firm in your conviction of the Lord Jesus.”
Both women looked down and avoided anyone’s eye, looking ashamed for doubting the priest’s words. Jason new he should keep his mouth shut, but his mouth was just not listening.
“So how long do we wait without food?” Jason inquired with raised eyebrows. “Is there some reason the Lord wants us to starve before he arrives?”
The priest’s eyes hardened as he looked at Jason coldly. “Fasting shows the Lord your willingness to sacrifice your needs in his name. After all he has done for you, can you not give such a small thing back?”
“I wouldn’t mind sacrificing my needs for him,” Jason replied conversationally. “However, I want to know the reason for the sacrifice before I do it. Why is starving yourself the way Jesus prefers you prove your love to him? Couldn’t I prove it to him by feeding the hungry and helping the sick? Besides, Jesus can see into my heart; he knows my thoughts and feelings toward him. I don’t think he needs demonstrations, not if he really is a loving God, because he wouldn’t want to see me suffer.”
“You have strayed very far from the path indeed,” the priest proclaimed loudly. “Be very careful, for I very much fear the Lord shall cast you into the lake of fire if you do not change your ways. The devil has taken your heart and is speaking through your voice, even now trying to lead God’s people astray. Be wary of this serpent my fellow brothers and sisters; this man is a liar and a child of Hell.”
“I think you might have a better understanding of your God if he actually talked back to you,” Jason said with a smile as he gazed around the room. “Therefore, I am going to take the blinders off each and every one of you so you can see the truth for yourself.”
“This is a house of God!” The priest protested shrilly. “You shall not practice your dark sorceries here, spawn of Satan!”
Jason ignored him, reaching out with his yar to begin the healing process in the congregation’s minds. As each person was given the ability to sense yar, their faces took on a look of awestruck wonder. As the priest watched the people’s faces light up with the enjoyment of their new senses, he began to sputter and try to force them out of the church. He grabbed Jason’s arm and tried to drag him to the door. He might as well have tried dragging a stone pillar. Jason did not even pause in his work of healing the other members. Once the members all had the ability to use yar, Jason turned to look at the priest who was still tugging on his arm while chanting prayers as if they would break the demons strength. Jason smiled and then healed the priest.
“What did you do to us?” A tall dark haired woman asked in amazement.
“We restored your ability to sense the world with your spirit, as well as your body,” Jason replied gently. “Now you can see with your own mind what your spirits truly are.”
"This is amazing," the woman said in wonder. Her eyes were bright with excitement as she eagerly studied her surroundings with her new ability. "This is my spirit's way of sensing things?"
"Yes," Jason replied easily. "This is the missing link between religion and god. You will never again need to doubt the eternal nature of your soul."
"I don't understand," the priest whined in consternation. "Why hasn't the Lord protected me from your black sorceries?"
"Because there is nothing black about them," Jason replied gently. "For once in your life, think for yourself and question the reality you have been programmed from birth to accept. Stop wasting your time on silly rituals and frilly clothes, and just teach people how to be nice to each other."
The priest's eyes filled with doubt as he finally tried to look at his beliefs from another perspective for the first time in his life. He could feel the joy of his congregation as their minds found reassurance in the evidence that they really were eternal beings. Evil could not produce such joy. "What am I supposed to do with my life? I've spent my whole life training for this role in life."
"You won't be alone in your search for purpose," Jason assured the priest comfortingly. "The majority of jobs on this world are now obsolete. There will no longer be a workforce required to survive in human society. You will need to find purpose in learning how to use your new abilities to help not just humans, but the other species sharing this world with us."
Epilogue
The first thing Dennis noticed when he went outside to fetch the morning news paper was a thin covering of white donut shaped cakes on the ground. He grinned to himself with anticipation. Maybe he wouldn't be losing his favorite food group after all. As he reached down to pick one up for sampling, he could see neighbors up and down the street gaping in awe at the fine dusting of pastry-like cakes. He did not feel any hesitation at all about trying it. After all, if the aliens wanted them dead, they certainly could have done it a lot easier than poisoning them. Dennis closed his eyes and savored the rich, sweet flavor filling his mouth. It was by far the best donut he had ever had, and he was definitely an authority on fine confections. Apparently life was not going to be so bad after all without animal products. He fully planned on eating a dozen of the delicious cakes, but by the time he finished the first he felt as if he had finished a three course breakfast.
Dennis looked around for the paper for a few minutes before sighing and going back inside. Apparently the current events were a little too dramatic for the newspaper delivery kids to bother with anymore. This brought him back to something he had been thinking about throughout the night. What was he going to do with his own police career, now that there was obviously no need for law enforcement? The drones took care of any criminal acts far swifter than any law enforcement agency could ever hope to match. For the first time in his career's life he did not get dressed in his police uniform. Instead, he walked into his back yard to look at his dismal garden. Feeling a little guilty, he brought his police radio with him in case there was an emergency.
According to the aliens, they were going to share some of the seeds from Shalilayo that they used in their own gardens, which produced enough food for an entire family in less than a quarter of an acre. He smiled at the thought of himself living off of garden food for the rest of his life. It was the last thing he would have expected to see himself do before the aliens came. With a sigh, he began preparing his small plot of land for the new plants.
***
"Why are you still looking at stocks?" Nicholas asked his dad curiously. "Isn't the world of money coming to an end?"
"Nonsense," his father replied abstractedly. "Just another hiccup that will soon level out again. You see this happen all the time in this business. You just have to learn to ride them out."
Nicholas shared a look with his mother, who just shook her head slightly. His dad did not seem able to cope with the new reality that had just replaced the old one, so he just pretended nothing had changed.
***
Chale looked over the city of New York with a sense of pride. It had taken fifty years, but the last of the towering sky scrapers were completely gone, recycled back into the land they were torn from. In their place were dozens of towering trees almost as tall as the sky scrapers had been. The nuclear plants supplying power throughout the East Coast were part of Li and Celdic's project. It still amazed her that this world had been capable of rehabilitating after all of the damage the human inhabitants did to it.
Chale looked over at Lendel with an approving smile. Terrance's final gift to the four of them had been the ability to choose when they would die, without ever aging. Lendel still looked the same as when they first left Tenral over half a century ago. The only thing she could see different about him was a more pronounced depth to his eyes, a maturity that only age and experience could bring.
"Do you think we will ever have to come back and do this again?" Chale asked with a small smile.
"I sure hope not," Lendel replied with a role of his eyes. "If they can't figure things out now that they have the ability to use yar, then there probably isn't much we can do for them."
There was a sudden sparkle behind them, followed by Celdic, Li, Lori, and Riah materializing out of the air. Terrance had further developed the suits they wore so they did not need a flying vessel to move through space and time.
"Looking good," Li said approvingly as she studied the lush landscape that used to be covered in concrete buildings as far as the eye could see. "I thought we were going to need a volcano to swallow the whole city up."
"We thought about it," Chale said with a half grin. "But Terrance didn't want to risk harming any of the insects living in the buildings, so we had to be very careful breaking it all down."
"How are the humans on the other worlds doing?" Lendel asked Riah curiously.
As usual, Riah's emotional aura saturated the area around her, filling anyone near her with a sense of unconditional love. She was a few inches taller a half century later from when they began their adventure. She stood with one arm wrapped around Lori's waste, her head barely reaching her Link's shoulder. Her brilliant lavender eyes turned to regard Lendel thoughtfully.
"Most of the people who lived in this world have died of old age," Riah said without any hint of sadness in her voice. "The new generations don't have any trouble at all adapting to their new world because they were raised with the ability to use yar. Most of the religious traditions that caused so much conflict before have evolved to the point that they focus on how they treat each other now, instead of trying to decipher cryptic meanings from ancient texts."
"Wow," Lendel said in amazement. "I didn’t think they would ever stop fighting each other over semantics."
"It is very strange," Lori said with a small crease to her brow. Her brilliant yellow eyes seemed to glow. "I never understood why they would get so caught up in the letter of their laws, as they interpreted them, instead of just following what their hearts knew was right or wrong."
"I think if the selfish individuals who were responsible for creating the institutions that perpetuated those beliefs could have seen how much better life would have been for themselves, in addition to everyone else, they would have shifted their focus to the Golden Rule." Riah mused. "Without yar, humans were so unsure about what really happened after death that they were willing to follow anyone who could offer them a better picture than what their limited senses told them to expect."
Chale nodded in agreement. She had thought the same thing after learning more about the religions created by the Earth humans. The need for justice in a world so full of inequality was intensely strong, and the poor among the humans had taken great comfort in the belief that all of their enemies would burn in a lake of fire for all eternity after they died for their crimes against the lower class.
"How are the Reptilians taking to their reformed neighbors?" Chale asked with a small smile.
"They were very pleased to see the humans put back on the right track." Riah replied thoughtfully. "They were worried we were here to start tampering with their world. Once they realized we were not interested in resources or slave races, they became much friendlier. Some of them have even been helping Jason and Rod teach the remaining Earth humans how to use their yar in new ways."
"So how long do we want to hang out in these immortal bodies?" Celdic asked wryly. "Not to change the subject…"
"I think I'll just play it by ear," Lendel said with a grin. "A few million years should be enough, I think. Just in case some future humans come along and redo everything we just undid."
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The End
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Email: mitchej0@gmail.com
I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have continued writing novels with the same characters, but on different dimensions. Each novel will have its own unique adventure, but the personalities and core characters will remain very similar. I love hearing feedback with ideas and critiques from readers, so please don't hesitate to contact me.
