Authors: Kyle B.Stiff
The others perked up, and Korliss continued. “An individual can only do so much, and an individual senator can do even less... especially when he’s dealing with other individuals posed against him, who shut down his ideas because there’s only so much of the pie to go around for only so many ideas. This man is gathering a group around him called the Rabbit Party, and they’re all going to run for office. If any of them take office, and the chances of that are good, then they will work together to promote similar far-reaching programs.”
“
But the government of Haven has always been weak,” said Didi. “I thought we kept it weak for a reason - so that less-parasitic systems could flourish.”
“
And how can you say that, Didi, when your own system is being withheld its lifeblood by petty men pandering to a group of people afraid of what science can do?”
Didi and Sevrik were silent. “I’ve already spoken with some of the Rabbits. Didi, if they take office, we can get the Department of Science more funding than it has ever seen before. No one will be able to fight them, because the Rabbits will be a unified front. And if the DoS gets more funding, then that means nothing will be withheld from your scientific ambitions. It also means there could be more trips into the wasteland - and, Sevrik, that means more opportunities for you to show the system that you’re a powerful man who deserves responsibility and reward.”
They debated long into the night. Sevrik instinctively distrusted political change, or even meddling in politics in general. But he could not argue that his own organization was not parasitical, especially in times of peace; eventually he agreed that he could not fault the Rabbits so long as he was allowed to continue to protect peace with violence – especially if the men who ran Haven knew his name. Didi was unused to thinking in political terms, and even admitted that he believed politicians and their games of power were a silly remnant of a bygone era. But the DoS needed greater funding if his own dreams were ever going to be anything more than stillborn, and his own life and work over before it began. He agreed that he would support a change in the ruling format so long as it secured funding for the DoS, and would speak to his colleagues about the matter.
Korliss agreed to speak with the Rabbits, and would keep in mind the interests of their circle. Eventually Didi parted from them, and they heard the creaking of his metal brace as he crossed the stone avenue below.
Korliss and Sevrik sat in an open window and looked at the scarred moon. Korliss took a long drag from his cigarette, said, “Sevrik, you and Didi have been back from the wasteland for a long time now, and Didi finished his follow-up experiments months ago. We used to talk about everything, but it’s like pulling teeth to get anything out of him about what happened in the valley.”
Sevrik turned his head about, an animal shackled with discomfort. “It’s not that the mission was botched,” he said. “And it’s not that he saw people die. Didi’s strong enough to cope with that. You’re right, though. He’s withdrawing. I think it might have something to do with… with the results of his studies.”
“
His examination of the demonic genome?”
Sevrik nodded, then tilted his head.
“
But there’s more?” said Korliss.
“
There was... this place,” said Sevrik. He laughed. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“
Please, try. What kind of place was it?”
Sevrik focused his eye on the moon, then said, “It was... a cave.”
* * *
Blindness pulled the memory out of Saul like strands of slippery innards.
Show me
, he said.
Show me the place where my kind cannot go
.
The stream collected into a shallow pool around an outcropping of upended flat stones. Saul and Wodi picked their way over the pool and knelt down to peer into a dark niche. The cave exuded an overpowering aura of fear and repulsion. The land was silent, as if holding its breath in dread and expectation. The two boys looked at one another, then climbed down into the hole.
They crouched in the dark and let their hands guide them along a damp, cold wall. Neither was brave enough to turn back for fear of looking like a coward in the other’s eyes.
Saul’s head began to ache. The pain spread from a needlepoint in his forehead to a burning coal that rested at the base of his skull, then turned into an ache in his jaw and teeth. Like a dull, persistent electric shock. He heard Wodi hissing beside him and knew that he felt the same.
Saul closed his eyes for a long time. Wodi touched his shoulder, and he opened his eyes and saw that they had crawled into a square tunnel lit by a dull, red blood-light that radiated not from a single source but seemed to ooze from the chamber itself. The tunnel stretched straight before them, and they rose and walked the red path together. Their pain grew with each step. Wodi gritted his teeth and took the lead. They did not know how far they walked. As in the tree, time and distance lost their meaning. There was only bleeding red, an endless corridor, and a feeling that rooted under the skin:
Go away
.
Eventually they reached what appeared to be a dead end. Saul watched Wodi turn and enter a cleverly concealed turn. He gasped and stepped back suddenly. Saul went to him, looked, and saw
What?
said Blindness, riding atop the experience.
What was it?
The tunnel turned into a chamber of red rock. A large, feral, almost bovine skull hung upon the far wall, and chaotic wreaths of long-dead honeysuckle and lilac were laid about the thing. Darkness stared out from the jagged, empty eye-sockets. A powerful, malevolent forced radiated from the skull, and Saul felt his ears hum with deep discord as he looked upon it. The room shivered, and the blood-light clotted in Saul’s eyes. He thought he saw Wodi falling into a pool of blood, then realized that he was slowly approaching the skull. Saul fell against the wall for a moment and closed his eyes against the sickness. He opened them suddenly and saw that Wodi’s hand was stretched out to touch the skull.
“
Don’t do it!” Saul rasped. “Don’t! We shouldn’t be here! That thing is the king of the dead!”
He felt dizziness seize his guts and vision, and fell to his knees. He stared down at Wodi’s feet, heard him yelp and back away from the...
What did he do? Why couldn’t you watch him?
“
It’s going to eat your soul!” Saul screamed, but could not hear himself over the skull-shaking hum that jarred inside his head. “It’s bigger than we are, it’s going to eat us and change us!”
Saul away crawled on the stone floor. He was half blind and felt the floor turn soft in his hands. He forced his eyes open and saw that his own intestines were streaming out all around him in thick, wadded cords. He crawled through himself, breathing in his own blood, choking on it, drowning in it. He felt Wodi move away from him. He knew that Wodi had disappeared into a great and unimaginable darkness, a place that should not exist.
He was alone. He crawled with his eyes closed until he was in darkness. The pain receded. He rose onto his knees and crawled upwards. His body was whole and intact. When he felt the cool mist of the stream and the kiss of the night sky on his cheeks, he laid down to sleep.
* * *
Thirty-Four Years Ago
“
Oh, please don’t tell me you’re writing science fiction,” said Didi.
He shook his head and chuckled, and Sevrik threw his head back and thundered laughter, but Korliss beamed with patronizing pride. “It’s a misunderstood art,” he said, “and besides, I’d go insane if I didn’t work on a steady stream of multiple creative projects.”
Men in fine suits cheered and laughed in the ballroom, and Rabbits popped open an unending battery of Champaign bottles. They cheered and sang old Guardian songs of victory, and red-faced they chased one another while the ladies laughed. Even the Rabbit who had lost his bid for Prime Minister shook with the thrill of conquest and slurred a rousing speech into a microphone he had snatched from the live band.
“
But Korliss,” said Didi, “that’s the stuff the laborers read so they can forget the tedium of their lives.”
“
Like I said, it’s misunderstood. It’s only become escapist because even artists neglect it! Look at it like this. I want to popularize the idea of the hero, but can I do that by teaching students who’re worried about cramming for exams, or by writing papers seen only by my over-the-hill colleagues? Take yourselves, for example. You, Sevrik, have put your life on the line for your people and our way of life, but this goes unnoticed by many because of their misconception of the Guardian as a brute, shallow man. And you, Didi, work diligently to add quality to our lives through the advancement of knowledge and technology, but you work so quietly in your underground lab that nobody really understands where those life-enhancing drugs and gadgets come from. And I’ve worked to spread a pro-human ethos that the founding fathers would be proud of, but while I influence a life here and a life there, the majority of Haven doesn’t know and doesn’t care. But when I hide my philosophy within an action-packed novel, the common man who reads them will absorb a strong ideology - even if it’s on a level that he doesn’t consciously understand.” The two thought for a moment, and Korliss said, “I want to raise us above the level of the demon and the demonic culture of fear and obedience. Art may be the best way to do that. I can’t help it if it’s not boring!”
Sevrik said, “You’ve got a quicksilver tongue, professor.”
“
But still, it’s fiction,” said Didi. “It’s made-up. Real life is exciting enough.”
“
Art
is
real life,” said Korliss. “Art is entertainment, entertainment is culture, and culture is a facet of the human experience. And we can all agree that
the advancement of the human is the agenda of our circle.
”
Sevrik nodded vigorously. Before Didi could respond, a Rabbit stumbled into the friends and said, “I just wanted to thank you all most rightly!” He grabbed Korliss’s hand and shook it, shook Sevrik’s hand, shook Korliss’s again, then hung an arm around Didi. “We couldn’a done it without you guys!”
He leaned his face into Didi’s as he spoke, and Didi moved away, for he smelled an entire distillery inside the Rabbit. “I thank you, too,” said Didi.
“
And I thank you too, too! You just wait, Dada, we’re gonna reinjuvinate the sciences! We’re gonna, you’re gonna have so much to do with, you’ll... head’ll spin!”
Sevrik pulled the Rabbit away from Didi, then crushed him in a bear hug and said, “Just make some changes, boy!” and pushed the man into the crowd. The Rabbit ran and plowed into a group of drunks, cheering even as they slid across the floor.
Korliss and Sevrik laughed. “Even though they didn’t win the prime seat,” said Korliss, “they took nearly half the senate. And since their opponents aren’t unified, that means they control the government. Thanks to our help.”
“
Thanks to
your
help,” said Sevrik.
“
I spoke to many groups,” said Korliss, “but you two got my foot in the door with the scientists and the Guardians. And now that we’ve helped the rulers come to power, they, too, will help
us
.”
The three were silent for a time, then Sevrik said, “We’ve always watched after one another. We’ve never made a move without the counsel of one another, and we’ve never been in a pinch that the others couldn’t help with. That’s... true friendship.”
“
And more importantly,” said Didi, “we’ve never dragged one another down.”
“
That’s what separates us from normal friends,” said Korliss. “We have strong egos; I’ve heard Sevrik say this many times, and it’s true. Our egos don’t need to be supported. They don’t need to be patched up. We’re strong, and we help each other become stronger.”
Sevrik laughed and put his arm around the two. They watched the politicians dance and sing like children.
“
An alliance,” said Didi.
“
What?” said Korliss.
“
It’s called an alliance. Comparable to friendship. Different from friendship. More than friendship.”
They looked at one another. Though the revelers danced and the horns and drums of the band blared around them, they seemed to sit within a shell of silent stillness.
“
Let’s make a solemn vow,” said Sevrik. “We’ve done well so far. You two have added more to my life than any other - and I want to do the same for you. Let’s make a vow of brotherhood, a sacred pact. An alliance.”