Chapter eight: The Prana-Bindu Way.
Cargo Bay1 was empty except for the thirty crew members sitting in the center of the room and Duncan Idaho. The recording of what he did last night in Ten Forward had spread at Warp Speed inside the Enterprise.
It was no surprise that when in the morning he made the offer to teach the Bene-Gesserit way of control over the mind and the flesh, half the ship asks to take the class. Not knowing what to do with that many students, Idaho asked and got a Yeoman to draw up schedules, form groups and handle all the administrative part of teaching to a ship of over two hundred's soul. This was the first class of the first day of the first month of many to come in the next ten years for Duncan Idaho and even he suspected this of course.
He said. "By now you all saw recording of what hapen last night and you have many questions I shall answer them before we begin."
"First I am not an android. I am completely human. Of a sort you never seen before and may never see again but still human. And Ensign Tagart you may scan me openly I will not be offended."
"What are you?" Ask LT Seled the first Vulcans of many to take this class.
"I and everybody else on New-Rakis... Well we are refugees from a parallel Universe." The silence following this statement was long and hard to take.
"I assume it is very diferent Universe." Said Seled the first to break the silence.
"You are right. One difference is that human are the only sentient species we know to exist don't ask me how or why we don't know, we searched many galaxies and we found nothing not a trace. We found millions of planets who sustain all sorts of life but no sentient."
"Did you just say many galaxies?" Ask Tagart.
"I will explain everything about foldspace later but let just say we have a superior form of starship than yours."
"What are the others difference?" Ask Seled.
"Our civilisation is much older." Respond Idaho
"How much older?" Ask Seled getting the feeling the answer will be interesting.
"By my comparative study of human history in both Universes I estimated at about 200,000 S.Y years give or take a few thousand, unfortunately record are sparse at best in my universe. Earth itself is long gone."
"Are you sure you are not a time traveller from our distant future?" Ask Tagart.
"For one thing we never developed teleporter, replicator, we never heard of Zefram Cochran. Aurelius Venport is said to have developed the foldspace technology and I have a Van Goth that you will never find in any museum of this Universe."
Idaho actives a wall screen and said. "We have something in common these."
On the wall screen a Borg drone appears, after a second to make his last words sinks-in Idaho said. "The thinking Machines enslaved most of our humanity for thousands of years' his very similar to the Borg of this universe. The war that we fought to free humanity lasted for centuries. Billions of deaths, many worlds completely devastated left traces that remained to this day even if that war was over about 100.000 years ago."
"Are you saying that you defeated the Borg in your universe?" Ask Seled.
"I never say we defeated the Thinking Machine... The Butlerian Jihad eradicated them completely. Technology was held back for thousands of year, computers are still outlaw on most planets. The religious fervor behind that had only one equivalent in my universe. But the subject of Mua'Dib can wait for a later date. The Q&A section of this class is over."
"I want you to repeat and memorise this sentence." Idaho waited for a second to let his student get ready then he said.
"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear's path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Idaho made them repeat these words for about ten minute when he was sure it was deep in all of his student mind he said.
"Now that it is done, we shall start basic training in Prana-Bindu control over the flesh and nerve. I want you to look at your right hand from all angles, imagine it growing old..."
End of Chapter Eight