The Fall of the Infinite Empire

Chapter Four

Za-Hell had watched with his one remaining eye as Fa-Rush took the injured juvenile native and his family to the medical bay, wondering whether he was about to die. He had killed one of the natives. Worse, he had lied to the Elder about it. For this he had paid with his eye. Za-Hell had been sure he was going to die earlier that day, as he hung there suspended above the glass. The Elder was toying with him before ending it, he had thought, like the bored predator he was.

Then, instead of death he had been told that he, along with the other guards, was being rewarded, that he was going home. He had been foolish enough to think for a moment that was true. On the journey back to the capital city he had thought about how he would explain his disfigurement to his family. In whose service could he now work, a one-eyed warrior who had never seen war? Perhaps on Lehon he could find his way into some job like Fa-Rush's where one could dress like a fool and do errands for the powerful. But jobs like that did not go to families like his. It took generations for a family to work their way out of the kind of social hole his family found itself in. For generations they had been filling the positions they could and hoping time and mortality among those with more standing would open a route to some kind of advancement. Now, Za-Hell had thought, he would have to explain why, after all the excitement there had been at his posting to Zhed-Hai's entourage, the upward ascent would not begin with him after all.

But then he had exited the transport skimmer to find the young native bleeding, its mother crouching over him as though to place her body between the boy and the next blow. Za-Hell felt certain he would be blamed. He could feel it in his stomach. One mistake could perhaps be forgiven. But to show up at the Elder's residence with another dead native? It would not matter who had actually done it. Why would the Elder wait for an explanation?

And now here he was in this garden, waiting for the blow to fall, because that fool guard had lost his temper. Za-Hell turned to look at him. The guard looked as terrified as he had been the entire trip to the residence. Everyone on planet knew whose aide Fa-rush was. That had all, while growing up, heard stories of this Elder. He was older than Za-Hell's grandfather, and showed no signs of slippage. Through all the rises and falls on the Council of Elders, Zhed-Hai had endured. He had survived all the attempts to dislodge him, and had been on the Council so long that now no one seemed to even think of removing him. Generations to master every aspect of the Gift, to accumulate power, to make others depend on him. And Za-Hell had lied to him. And then that fool had gored the boy because he had moved too slowly.

For all the threat Zhed-Hai the Elder posed, he seemed very content to keep observing his plants. The plants were native to this world. Or they had been long ago. None of them grew here anymore except in this one spot. Za-Hell had heard the story. Upon arriving Zhed-Hai had sent scouts out to find old dead plants and gather their seeds. Several of the scouts had died in the search, but those who survived brought back enough for the Elder to work with. The seeds themselves were dead, but they had still contained secrets about what life had been like on this world before the bombardment, and no biological secrets could be kept from Zhed-Hai. So now the plants grew again on this world, centuries after they had gone extinct. But they would soon be gone Za-Hell supposed, for when the Elder returned to Lehon, as he seemed intent on doing, who would maintain them? They would outlive Za-Hell himself though, he was sure.

The important thing now was to acquit himself well. If he should struggle, or should his courage fail him in some especially conspicuous way, then it was not inconceivable that the Elder would decide to wipe out his entire family. Za-Hell had heard of such things. Warriors who showed cowardice being made to watch as one by one their families had been eaten by those who had showed bravery. Such things were common long ago. Eating other Rakatans was one of the things that his people had grown beyond; mostly anyway. But with an elder this old, who knew what traditions he still clung to?

Za-Hell was shaken from his musings as all the other guards left the garden, leaving only himself and the guard who had injured the boy. Had the elder said something? Had Za-Hell missed it? He looked to the other guard, who appeared barely able to stand as he leaned on his spear.

"Look at me Za-Hell," came Zhed-Hai's voice, soft and calm. The elder had turned from his plants to look at them but Za-Hell had not been able to tell. Perhaps if he still had two eyes, he thought bitterly to himself.

"You will do better without the eye Za-Hell, I assure you."

There were no secrets from elders, not this one at least. The Elder began to walk around his garden, as though inspecting the plants, while he spoke.

"After all it was only this morning that you yourself failed to treat the specimens with due care. And now this evening, I am told that you reprimanded Pad-Toch here for his gutting of the young native."

Zhed-hai rubbed a leaf gently between two of his three fingers, while looking up the thin trunk of the sapling to which it belonged. He seemed pleased.

"So you see how you have already begun to make progress, with only one eye. You are better than you were this morning. Of course I had not expected one such as yourself to need humbling. Your family being so humble already. But even the lowest Rakatan feels himself a king when around these primitives. It is only natural I suppose."

Zhed-Hai left the sapling behind and walked around the bed of soil out of which it grew. This brought him closer to the other guard, Pad-Toch. Zhed-Hai did not look up at the still trembling guard, but rather down at the bushes and ferns.

"Of course it is important to remember, as elevated as you feel when interacting with such beings, that you are not kings. That you serve others. That you serve me. All life on this planet is under my authority, by declaration of the Council."

Zhed-Hai now looked up and turned towards Pad-Toch.

"Do you deny the authority of the Council Pad-Toch? Do you deny my authority?"

Pad-Toch shook his head. His mouth moved as though he were trying to say something, but whether his voice failed him, or he was unable to think of what to say, no words came out. Zhed-Hai raised a hand to Pad-Toch's face, cupping the side of it gently, as a parent would a child.

"You were aware that I had ordered those specimens brought to me, for my use?"

This time Pad-Toch managed a weak and whispered "Yes." As he spoke Zhed-hai gently dragged one clawed finger across the guard's face. If Pad-Toch had planned to say any more than 'yes' he was prevented as the claw scraped its way over his mouth.

"I know I have a reputation for leniency. I find it is helpful, for the kinds of tasks my servants need to perform, to not have them walking around terrified and aggressive all the time. It is precise and delicate work we do here for the Empire," said Zhed-Hai as he continued to trace unseen lines across Pad-Toch's face. Za-Hell felt his own anxiety rising. This kind of familiarity, almost intimacy, was not common among Rakatans, not outside of the home.

"The Empire requires much of us. Protecting our people's strength, their freedom, has made terrible demands on us in the past. We live in a gentler age, it is true, but sometimes there must be reminders."

As he spoke these words Zhed-Hai's hand opened up until it covered most of Pad-Toch's face, and at the final word a flash of purple light erupted from the Elder's hand. Pad-Toch fell to his knees, and as he did his face emerged from beyond Zhed-Hai's hand. It was a blackened and smoking wreck. Blisters had appeared around his mouth and even on his lips. His eyes looked unfocused, and as he moved his free hand up to touch his face he missed it entirely.

Zhed-Hai now turned on his spot to look at Za-Hell.

"Do you think you have learned the lesson I tried to teach you this morning? Do you understand your place?"

Za-Hell tried to keep his voice as calm and clear as possible in answering "Yes, Elder." He involuntarily looked down for a moment at Pad-Toch whose body was swaying slightly side to side as he continued to fail to find his face. His hand was grasping slowly at the air in front of eyes that seemed no longer to see.

"There are rewards for learning Za-Hell. They can be very great indeed. I wonder, do you keep to the old ways?"

Za-Hell looked up at Zhed-Hai and straightened his back, trying to give himself as professional and disciplined a bearing as he could while saying "No, Elder." He dared not lie again. But, he reasoned, as he did not know for sure what answer Zhed-Hai wanted to hear, there would have been little purpose to doing so.

"You have never consumed the strength of another then? In my youth it was still expected. As you worked your way up there would be those you had to tear down. And when you had torn them from their spot above you, you were to ensure that even in defeat their strength did not leave the Empire. That nothing went to waste. We waste so much these days."

Za-Hell did not know what to say, and felt the wisest thing was to remain silent. Pad-Toch had finally found his face, and had begun to whimper has he gently explored the half-melted skin around his mouth.

"This one has failed, and to ensure that no similar failures happen in the future he must be made an example of. But you can save his strength for the Empire Za-Hell."

Za-Hell's mouth hung open as he came to realize what he was going to have to do.

"Perhaps, to take account of your youth and the changing times, it would be best if your meal was properly prepared," Zhed-Hai said mockingly.

At this, lighting erupted from one of Zhed-Hai's hands and struck Pad-Toch's body. He finally let go of his spear, which clattered on the floor. He tried to curl himself into a ball, but the energy coursing through his body was causing his muscles to twitch and spasm. He was screaming. He sounded like an animal. He wasn't begging. He wasn't trying to speak. He was just screaming. The screams seemed not to effect Zhed-Hai, who was still looking at Za-Hell. Pad-Toch writhing and shrieking inarticulately on the floor below him seemed to command far less interest from the Elder than the plants had.

When the lightning let up Pad-Toch still seemed to be alive. His limbs moved. They made a cracking sound as they did so, for the skin had blackened and grown hard and brittle. His eyes were gone, and there was no way to distinguish his skin from his clothes, which seemed to have melted into the rest of him.

"Are you wasteful Za-Hell?"

He must not lie. He must not dissemble. Za-Hell felt sure that if he did the wrong thing now, it would be him next trying and failing to move his smoking, bubbling body on the floor.

"If it is your command that I consume Pad-Toch, I will do it Elder," he said.

Zhed-Hai cocked his head slightly while looking at Za-Hell. He seemed amused.

"You do not want to do it though, do you Za-Hell?"

Za-Hell looked down at Pad-Toch, who had stopped moving, and then back up at Zhed-hai before saying, "No, Elder."

Zhed-Hai gazed at him in silence. After a few moments Fa-Rush entered the garden hall, and stopped in his tracks as he saw the now corpse of Pad-Toch. Zhed-Hai then said, "No matter, Fa-Rush will be pleased to do it, won't you Fa-Rush?"

"I am pleased to abide by our most glorious and ancient traditions, most honored Zhed-Hai."

Za-Hell felt as though he had been tested but could not tell if he had passed or not.

Zhed-Hai smiled at him.

"You may go. Rest. You will accompany me tomorrow, to the Star Map."