The Wars of Zegandaria by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (find a book to read .txt) 📕

Gordon wasn't religious, he was even less religious than an atheist ought to be. But this time he was startled. Terrified from the bottom of his soul!

- Actually, Gordon, you are being given the rare chance to fix all the messes you created and atone for your guilt in front of everyone. Do you understand me? Just because time has started to run backwards doesn't mean you're innocent at all, does it? But if you repent, then maybe you'll be forgiven. Maybe!

Gordon listened intently without even a grunt. In fact, he didn't even dare to breathe.

- They're looking for you, Gordon, it's true that they'll definitely never find you here, but you have to decide whether you're a man of dignity who faces up to difficulties and solves them, or whether you're just a softie running from fair justice.

Gordon wasn't used to being talked to like this. To be fair, it was the first time it had happened. At first, he was terribly angry. He was Governor Elmbaum. The omnipotent and omnibenevolent omnipotent overlord of half of Zegandaria. Even in another universe, that fact was a fact!

- Stop your stubbornness, Gordon, and look at the facts. If I damaged your antimatter engine, you would never successfully return to where you should be. Time going backwards means that you will be rejuvenated until you become babies...

- 'And then?,' asked Zonrethis in horror.

- 'And then you just disappear!,' the Voice calmly answered them.

- 'I want to save you precisely because you are so sinful and have so much to atone for. A special mission falls to you. If you, Gordon, do as you are told, I will cure your affliction, which you have created in your quest to live forever. 'As you can see, you lose absolutely nothing,' the Voice insisted.

- 'It's very easy for you,' Gordon tried to keep his composure. 'I'm haunted in so many places. I've had to survive, and it's so hard to keep the balance all this time.'

- I understand you, Gordon, but your survival shouldn't come at the expense of the survival of so many other beings across the galaxy. Too many have died because of your pride and stubbornness. I would go so far as to say that you have long since crossed every possible line.

- 'Then why are you willing to do something so great for me?,' he asked quite sincerely.

- 'Because of your mother,' said the Voice, slightly touched.

- 'What's all this got to do with it?,' almost shouted Gordon. 'He was getting confused now, and not in a joking way.

- 'Your mother is actually Becky Moringale,' pronounced the Voice most calmly.

Hardly anything would have made a greater impression on Gordon than what he heard. He could have been chased by arch-naysayers, even by all sorts of criminals and adventurers. Any number of people could have been chasing him, but such a claim didn't just demean him, it called his existence into question.

- 'Explain it to me!,' he ground out through his teeth.

- There is nothing simpler than that. The moment the watchers of the planet soared into the sky, the moment Paul saw the face of that flirtatious woman. It was all the moment of your conception as a universal being!

- 'Please?', Gordon already felt like he was going mad.

- It's just that the Voices in the universe are of a different order, dear Governor. The Watchers Archanaeans, being the most ancient race, have special senses. They were appointed by the High Council of Voices to monitor what happens on Zegandaria. And I am the so-called Universal Voice. Becky went in with the crazies you kicked out because you thought they were expendable and took away their right to life. To a normal and happy life. You dyked them quite undeservedly, just because they didn't fit your idea of the perfect city-state. They were the dissenters who were simply inconvenient. What Paul saw was just part of the picture. They had already found Jacob Wallace, who I whispered all sorts of things to and helped give guidance to all those who wanted to change things for the better.

- 'But, wait a minute, they're not completely innocent either. They also fought wars and are also responsible for many deaths,' Gordon apologizes, not so much out of meanness as numbness. The voice seemed to have bewitched him.

- Gordon, the issue here is not one of responsibility, but of remorse. Stop with your bureaucratic terms. Even if unintentionally, Becky Moringale has become your spiritual guardian mother, even though she hates you and sees that you have turned the planet into a dump. That's the correlation between good and evil. You should thank her, as her mercy and compassion for a noble cause, though insignificant at first glance, saves you in my eyes. Otherwise there would be no forgiveness for thee.

- 'What if I just hypocritically agree? Then what would happen?,' asked Gordon.

- 'That would be at your expense too! The contrition must be sincere. 'That's all you have to do,' whispered the Voice.

- 'Very well, I repent,' pronounced Gordon, not very confidently.

- 'Ah, not like that,' the Voice continued to speak calmly to him. 'Sincere means that both you and Chris will start helping those you have been persecuting and destroying with your bureaucratic thinking. Then you, Gordon, will be a hero in the true sense of the word. And you will be cured of your insidious disease.'

Gordon bowed his head and wept. He was sincere. He could see there was no way out. The shame was born of the magnitude of his sins. It was too terrible. Chris could see that the glass of the whole suit had become sweaty and he could hardly see the Governor's face. Then for the first time he realized that maybe he hadn't gotten enough love as a child. Otherwise maybe he wouldn't have been so cruel to everyone around him!

^^^

Spending time in the new reality, which could be called by the term anti-time, had affected both of them in a special way. They came back from that anti-universe changed. It was as if they had slept a long and deep sleep and had suddenly awakened. Chris, who was the financial brains, realized that Gordon had to decide what to do with his money. He could help a lot if he wanted to. He was already aware of the Governor's shameful secret and the mixed background he was trying to hide.

The Voice had kept his promise. He hadn't damaged the antimatter engine and they had returned without incident. That was the good news.

The Governor was utterly changed. He decided to return to Osonia first. He was safe there. His money was there, too. It was not so safe on Sebur Nag, because they could find him there much more easily than before. On the other hand, there was also the fact that so much had changed while they were gone to consider. The transition from Universe to Antiverse had been made for the first time. Many scientists would have written too much on the subject. Gordon would have contributed to that as well. Now he would be a celebrity again. But unintentionally. He had vowed to help others. That would henceforth be the meaning of his life. He'd just gone down a bad path. But he could fix himself. He could change his life. He could and he had to. He'd been through so much, and only now was he realizing that true salvation was just within reach. All he wanted was contrition.

The Governor stopped in one of Osonia's largest settlements. There were as many as six space colonies on this planet with the status of polis. In the largest of them, Ozin Tun, he made a sort of memorial to the victims. The locals looked at him and wondered if he was crazy to give so much money. They thought it was kurtoasia, but it wasn't. Gordon was doing it because he wanted to.

On an altar made of the purest obsidian he laid elurian skins, which he liberally poured with blood. This was in the old Guarron tradition, and the hidden meaning was that everything was going back to where it came from, that is, to mother earth.

He then freed the captured Archanayans. They could not believe it. Their leader, Ezek Ru - second only to Voltarian - looked on in amazement. The Archanayans looked a little lonely, but under their wise brows, eyes full of sadness peered out. The human birds hugged Gordon. He fell to his knees and asked for forgiveness. His tears did not go unnoticed. The Archanayans wondered what had caused the sudden change, but they were sure it was genuine.

So many destinies had been put to the test. Gordon knew what to do, and he would do it. This time he had decided to atone for his crimes.

With part of the money he supported all of them. He sent for treatment the representatives of this race who had spent a long time in the prison of Osonia. As it was known, they were almost immortal, so the time they had spent hadn't affected their appearance much. During the time Gordon and Chris had been in the Antiverse, several generations had changed on Osonia. The previous inhabitants didn't remember Gordon. He walked the streets of the polis. Mothers walking their children looked at him strangely. Osonia was a fairly peaceful planet, so the locals didn't seem impressed even if a stranger like Gordon showed up. The only ones who recognized him by name alone were the descendants of those guards he had handpicked to guard his riches.

The Governor's entire fortune was stored in the cave of Tubur Nog. Only a handful of people had access there. This cave wasn't particularly large, but on the other hand, the two dozen small caverns within it had stored the governor's various valuables. He knew well where to store his possessions.

- ‘Shall we load up your treasures, sir?,’ the head of his guard, who probably hadn't been born when Gordon left Osonia, barked.

- 'Certainly, my boy,' Gordon spoke kindly, grinning ear to ear. Now his smile was genuine. He wanted to be good and he was trying his best to that end.

- 'It might take a little longer,' the guard fretted.

- 'You've got all the time you need,' Gordon said calmly. 'No-one's arguing with you.'

The people of Osonia had found out about the Governor's intentions and his grand plans. He had been invited to make a speech. The inhabitants heard with shock his confessions of the terrible crimes committed on his home planet. Gordon was naturally to blame for most of them. His status as governor of a planet and his immense wealth guaranteed him the personal inviolability of Osonia, but not of Sebur Nag, which was on friendly terms with Zegandaria. He had to tread carefully. He couldn't afford to be imprisoned or killed before completing his mission.

Osonia was the perfect planet to start a family, which might have been a good choice with another human, but Gordon Elmbaum was definitely not your average specimen. Such a selfish man had rarely been born. Gordon sometimes loathed himself. And there was reason why.

The remorse expressed by Gordon for his deeds was heeded by the people of Osonia. After all, they were appalled by the various crimes and agreed that the governor should show some morality and serve his punishment in a prison cell. They did not even suspect that he was one of the founders of Labor Colony 206.

Although he didn't want to stay too long on Osonia, Gordon was forced by circumstances to stay a little longer. Chris Zonrethis was his right-hand man. Still. He also felt it his duty to help.

On what happened to Paley. Gene Paley, who was also one of his main associates. When they had left Sebur Nag, the admiral had firmly stated his opinion that he did not wish to continue with them. In the ensuing scandal, he had even