Condition Evolution 4 by Kevin Sinclair (parable of the sower read online .txt) 📗

Jezai genuinely didn’t look or sound affected by the news. “Believe me, Zarime, my spine is in superb condition, and with the arrival of the Vakuna, our resolve has hardened. We entered into this encounter to deal a blow to your corrupt and poisonous culture, but we knew it would not end here. If you wish to speed up your inevitable demise, then that is celebrated by us.”

Zarime appeared to ignore everything that Jezai had said, but for one word. “Vakuna! What nonsense is this, traitor? You expect me to believe you have spawned the Vakuna?”

“Not us, but you. I believe you have already met him,” Jezai smiled.

“Hey Zarime, you big-headed bastard,” I said with a two-fingered salute.

“You! You’re this supposed Vakuna?” he said, his face a mix of emotions I wouldn’t like to decipher, other than to say he wasn’t fucking impressed.

“Apparently so. Am I as big a deal for your lot as I am for the Apochros? I mean, 99 percent Potential beats 95, right?”

His facial gymnastics had settled into a thoughtful expression. “This makes a certain amount of sense. There is no way any of you should have walked away from that ship. If you truly are the Vakuna as our prophecies predict and you have the potential to ascend, then yes. You are the single most important being for the Fystr to destroy.”

“Wow,” I said, fanning my face with my hand, “I feel a little embarrassed from all this attention.”

He didn’t rise to my mocking this time. He just kept talking as if I hadn’t said anything at all. Finally, the prick was learning. “Until you are dead, there will be no peace in this galaxy.”

“Uhm, there’s already no peace.”

“You are a child! What do you know of peace? All you have done so far is create chaos. That is the true nature of the Vakuna.”

“Nah, it means I’m the savior, or some shit like that.”

“No. It means the great leveler.”

“Huh?” I said, confused, directing my question to Jezai.

It was Zarime who answered. “The universe is at peace. The Fystr were content with their plot in the Galaxy. We have not expanded in millennia. The Galactic Empire is similarly balanced. I imagine this place the rogue Fystr inhabit is balanced and stable too. If it were not for you, we would never have exercised the effort to find them, nor would they have mustered the courage to come and face us. If our prophecies are to be believed, you will not stop until the entire galaxy is reduced to little more than rubble and ash. You must be removed by any means.”

Funny thing was, when he said it, I actually had a flashback of me saying that ‘as long as I had Ember, the whole Universe could burn’ in book two at 57 percent, and I fucking meant it! I saw Jezai in his little square looking thoughtful, and I felt real doubt. “Jezai, what the fuck, man? Is this true?”

“Only partly, Shaun. The truth is far more complex, unless you’re a power that is threatened. The major societies of the galaxy are indeed stable, and they balance each other out, but as you have seen that is not necessarily a good thing. It leads to the great abuse of many peoples. We believe your arrival is a catalyst that will cleanse the galaxy of its corrupt, controlling bodies. That is why I wish to support you. Power is not my goal, only fairness. The Fystr and the Galactic Empire, have acquired much power, and you pose a very real risk to that.”

I turned back to Zarime. “I’m not trying to fuck everything up. I’m just looking for people to be treated right! This is so much utter bullshit. You guys have got all this shit going on from thousands of years before I was even born, and you're trying to pin all this on me? You absolute bunch of wankers followed me here! You could have stopped at any point and just left us alone.”

“You all should have been stopped an awfully long time ago when Jotun’s crew caught up with you. No one could believe the result of that event. That is why I was sent out with the fleet. I see now why so many who have come close have failed, including myself once now. The emperor and I blamed incompetence, yet it seems that there are darker powers at play.”

“Dark powers! You have got to be kidding me, right? You’re literally a race of near immortal psychos. How about this? Fuck off back home, free the people you keep suppressed, and treat them with respect and dignity. Let them crack on in their own way and we’ll call it quits. I won’t even try to come back there, if you do that. I’ll just find myself a planet in the ass end of nowhere and relax.”

He laughed. “Don’t you see, in time that will just lead to conflict in our empire. If those planets are allowed to evolve, soon competition for resources and power will grow. I have no doubt war will quickly follow. It will no doubt reach into the Galactic Empire, destabilizing them again. The only answer here is that you must die.”

“You would say that,” I replied.

But he ignored me, continuing to speak to Jezai. “Fystr traitor, you have made a grave mistake supporting the Vakuna. I will amend my original terms. If you agree to assist in the destruction of the Vakuna, we will leave, and you can live here in peace.”

Jezai mulled it over for endless seconds and he had me worried; they wouldn’t turn on us again, would they? He eventually responded, “Zarime, while I understand your desire to retain your comfortable lives, the Universe has seen fit to create the Vakuna. Who am I—who are you for that matter—to deny the will of the Universe? He is here because he is necessary, and we will support him. He has offered you a chance to