Ascension by Drew Wagar (i read a book TXT) 📕

Ascension

A short story based on the space trading game Oolite.

Written by Drew Wagar.

Formatted for Ebook Readers

www.wagar.org.uk

License

Ascension is licensed according to Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.

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Thanks to:

The Prophet Ezekiel for a bit of honest plagiarism. I often wonder if he saw some kind of spacecraft. His description in the first chapter of his book in the Old Testament invites a re-reading with the eyes of modern technology.

All those who enjoyed ‘Nine’ and wanted more!

Author’s Note

This is another ‘very’ short story. I like to juxtapose religion, space and science, as you get a rich vein of ideas and situations.

Miri and Meru have also been borrowed from my teenager rambles. At least I had a usable cast of spare characters! Inventing all the names can get a bit tedious.

I originally wrote an extra bit at the end to indicate what happened next, but I decided to remove it because it changed the point of view from where it had been during the rest of the story.

As a result the reader can interpret it one of two ways depending on their outlook; either it is a simple accident with unfortunate consequences, or it’s part of some greater plan. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Ascension

Miri smiled at Meru’s clumsy attempts to control his herg. To be fair it was newly broken in and still a young beast, yet Meru was not the best of riders and the herg seemed to be aware of this. Miri watched, amused, as the beast circled on its hind legs, bucking and rearing as Meru coaxed it into reaching the crest of the hill.

Miri watched as the herg caught sight of the endless ocean, the bright red glare of the setting sun forcing it to squint before a nictitating membrane flashed across its eyes. The beast snorted and fidgeted. Meru almost slipped off, grabbing the exposed third vertebra just in time to steady himself, but losing his shoulder bag in the process.

‘Flares and droughts!’ Meru cursed, struggling to reach the bag and retain his precarious balance.

Miri stifled a laugh with her hand, ‘You should become a jester!’

‘You could… help!’ he snapped.

Miri dismounted her herg and walked quietly across to Meru. A touch and a soft whisper and the herg was calm a moment later.

‘How do you do that?’ Meru demanded.

Miri shrugged, she’d always been good with animals. She understood them better than people. Animals never lied and deceived, unlike people.

‘Why have you brought me all the way up here anyway?’ Meru demanded, stretching out his back and rubbing his posterior. It had been a long ride. ‘What was so important that you…’

Miri silenced him with a wave and put a finger to her lips. She was like that, she spoke more with her hands than her voice. Meru knew better than to hurry her; she could never be rushed.

She was looking up into the heavens, her gaze fixated on the winking star.

Meru counted himself as her friend, one of very few, but in truth he didn’t know her well. She was one of those people who could be around for a long time, yet if someone had asked you some basic questions about her, you would find it difficult to answer them. Meru knew little of her background, her family or even her ambitions. She was small, neat and aloof, methodical in everything she did. She had come to the Cathedral to study, and that was that.

‘What do you think it is?’ she asked, suddenly turning around and gazing directly at him with her large brown eyes.

Meru looked up. The winking star, so called because it occasionally disappeared for a few hours at a time, shone gently in the sky, its brilliant white light in sharp contrast to the huge orb of their familiar red sun. Already it was brighter than when they had arrived at the hilltop, its intensity growing as dusk proceeded.

Unlike most other stars it never twinkled and it moved around the sky in a curious retrograde way. Occasionally it was possible to make out other fainter stars around it that seemed to come and go with a flash of blue. Many people claimed to have seen a ‘blue flash’, but few had. You need to be far away from the cities and the lights, and the sky had to be dark and clear.

‘The Words tell us…’

‘I’m not interested in the Words,’ Miri snapped, almost angrily, her hands clenching and unclenching, ‘What do you think it is?’

Meru frowned. He knew Miri had been reprimanded by one of the Masters for speaking out of turn in recital recently. Her direct manner often caused friction. She obviously had something on her mind. He sighed.

‘I remember my children’s tales.’ he said. She looked at him expectantly, a half-smile on her face.

‘Go on.’ She nodded. With slight embarrassment, he mumbled the doggerel from his childhood.

‘Light above

Light beyond,

Flash of blue

Come and gone.

Holy night

Star so fair,

Shining bright

Take me there.’

‘An ancient rhyme.’ Miri acknowledged. ‘But not your thoughts.’

‘It’s a beacon, a guide,’ Meru replied. ‘Reminding us that what we have isn’t permanent and we should make best use of the time we have…’

Miri threw her hands up in frustration. ‘Oh! Have an original thought, Meru!’

‘Like I said, it’s mentioned in the Words.’ Meru complained, ‘That’s all I know.’

‘The Words!’ Miri scoffed, ‘The canticle of the high priestess I assume? I’ve heard it before! Go on then, if you must.’

‘I looked, and I saw a wind-storm coming out from the winking star - an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like a woman. She ascended to the right hand of the Gods, there to become the glory of their likeness.’

She scowled at him, ‘Well recited.’ she said, her tone indicating disapproval and disappointment, ‘You’ll make an excellent intermediary!’

It was plainly not a compliment.

‘Elucidate your thoughts.’ he said, biting back a rebuttal.

She walked forward to the very summit of the hill, raising her arms and spinning around on the spot. Her herg shuffled away, confused by her movements and then went back to munching on the soft red Soofla bushes around them.

‘I think it is… a place.’ she said, eyeing him warily, her long black hair streaming away from her in a sudden gust of wind.

‘A place?’ Meru replied, ‘What sort of place?’

‘A meeting place, a place of commerce, a place of stories from across the heavens, like a forum, but amongst the stars.’ Miri was gazing up with an almost rapturous expression on her face.

‘A forum.’ Meru said cautiously. Clearly Miri’s imagination had run away with her this time. If she had been spouting such nonsense during recital it was no wonder the Master had been aggrieved!

‘And no doubt there are people there too?’

He’d said it as a friendly joke, but she nodded enthusiastically.

‘Oh yes, those fainter stars that come and go, they are the messengers, travellers from far, traders of rare and precious gems made from dreams and visions.’

Meru frowned, but decided to pursue her ridiculous train of thought until she tired of it. ‘Poetic, but not realistic. How does one live on a point of light?’

Miri gestured back at the faint lights of the city, ‘You might ask how we live inside those lights, perhaps the star is very far away.’

Meru conceded the point and then gently presented his definitive argument, ‘Yet these people never visit us. In all the years the star has shone, never once have these people come here. Surely they know we’re here, why do they stand aside?’

Miri looked longingly up at the star.

‘Perhaps they know we aren’t worthy of a visit.’ she said bitterly, ‘Perhaps they know how we suppress new ideas and ridicule those who think them!’

So that was it, Meru decided. Miri had been caught postulating her ideas by a Master. She said little, but when she did decide to talk she frequently timed it inappropriately.

‘What did you say?’ Meru prompted quietly.

Miri placed her head in her hands and took a deep breath, ‘Why ask for ideas if you’re not prepared to hear them?’

Meru favoured her with a look of sympathy. ‘You’re supposed to answer according to the Words, not to dream up…’

‘The Cathedral is a centre of learning, no?’ she exclaimed, waving her arms around and becoming unusually vocal. ‘What is the point of rote learning? Recycling the thoughts of scholars from years eternal? Preparing pat answers to set questions? All they do is teach to the test, there’s no room for any original thinking…’

Meru actually agreed with her sentiments, but he was far more practical. Original thinking could wait until one had earned a position. To do that, you needed to tread a well trodden path, and hold your tongue when appropriate, perhaps even say one thing and mean another. This little detail seemed to have eluded Miri.

Something caught his attention. He looked up, frowning.

‘….the whole system is wrong.’ She concluded, fuming. Then she glared, ‘Are you listening to me?’

Meru didn’t respond. This time it was he who gestured. He pointed, his hand trembling as it rose, to indicate something behind her.

Miri turned and gasped.

Near the winking star was another star, slowly moving away from its neighbour in the heavens. As they watched it grew brighter and took on a slightly greenish hue, a garish unpleasant colour, much unlike the soft reds and oranges that characterised their planet.

It continued to grow in intensity. Miri began to fancy that it had a faint tail behind it. Soon it was obvious, the tail becoming distinctly yellow, floating in the sky like the wake of a ship.

‘What is it?’ Meru breathed in fear.

Miri’s face reflected the strange glare of the falling star. She turned and smiled, her eyes wide.

‘They’re coming! They’re coming! I knew it!’

The star had now become a glowing sphere. Miri fancied she could see flames trailing behind it. Was this some kind of chariot? A conveyance of some kind?

They heard two dull claps of thunder, far off in the distance, but there were no storm clouds. The evening was otherwise quiet, the sun sinking quickly into the ocean. The hergs looked up nervously at the sound, stamping their clawed feet and cringing, their shoulders raised in alarm.

‘It’s coming this way!’ Meru gasped, turning about and preparing to flee, ‘Miri! We must leave! Miri!’

Miri was frozen to the spot in