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48: The Deceiver
"Erats*..." Masterson whispered to himself as he walked down the hallway away from his parents' new quarters within the palace. He took one step after another, his head down, avoiding the gaze of the few people who were traveling this section of the palace halls so that he could think without interruption.
Desslok had given Masterson all the information that the Admiral had passed on to the Leader, but there were other things – pieces of information that Raymond Talan had been gathering for years about their fabled planet of origin – that the Admiral had not given to Desslok.
It was this other information that Masterson now meditated upon.
If the records his father had discovered over the years were correct, then the settlers of Gamilon were from four of the original twelve tribes of Yisrael: Yehudah, Levi, Reuven, and Binyamin. And furthermore, his own family was of the priestly line of the Leviim – the tribe of Levi. And the Leader's family line – though there had been some intermarriage through the years – was of Yehudah. But it was not yet time to reveal that to the Leader. Recent events had confirmed that he was far from ready to face that knowledge yet, for though he might accept it, he was not yet ready to bear its implications.
The Admiral had told Masterson that the time would come when he might tell Desslok of his line's tribal heritage, but for now, it would remain the Talans' secret.
An unfamiliar shadow passed into Masterson's line of sight and he looked up.
The shadow's owner was... a woman, and a thin woman at that with sharp features and short, violet-gray hair. Even her ears were sharp, ending in long points two-thirds of the way up to the crown of her head.
Masterson nodded wordlessly to the woman, but even though she saw his acknowledgment, she didn't return it. Something about her made Masterson's blood feel as though it would freeze in his veins, but just before he could stop her, she walked quickly past him.
Masterson halted, turned and started to follow the woman; though she gave no indication that she knew Masterson was behind her, she turned a corner just up ahead, but when Talan turned the same corner, the woman was gone. Even the echo of her footsteps had vanished into thin air, leaving only a dark chill in their wake.
After a few moments of looking around, trying to find out how the woman had disappeared, Masterson turned and left, a sinking feeling beginning to churn in his gut.
He walked for several minutes, not passing anyone else, until he came to a junction in the halls. He was about to continue on his way when a sudden sense of dread came over him and a voice broke the silence.
"Looking for me, Talan?"
Masterson whirled around and saw the woman again.
Sensing it might be wiser to keep silent for the moment, he didn't reply to her question, but she was not deterred.
"I know you followed me." she said.
Masterson still held his peace, waiting to see just what the stranger might unwittingly reveal. Then she smirked oddly, a dark expression in her eyes. The look triggered his memory and Masterson remembered that he had seen her before – once – in the throne room during Desslok's raid on the palace, and she had had the same look on her face then as she had now.
Praying that Adonai would not let him reveal anything he should not, he kept his composure carefully in place and said, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met. Though you seem to know my name already." he bowed slightly to the woman, trying to ease a bit of the tension, "But I do not know yours. What may I call you?"
The woman chuckled, "Do not be so anxious, Talan. Simply because you do not know me is no cause for alarm. I see that you are... uncomfortable in my presence." she laughed again, "We're on the same side, are we not? I may have been in the palace during that fool's brief reign, but I wanted Deun gone just as much as you did. He was a pompous oaf who didn't know how to properly fill his position."
Masterson nodded and replied carefully, "Indeed, Deun did not know what he was dealing with." then he ventured, "But you have not afforded me an answer as to how I may address you. What name do you go by?"
A look of disdain flickered onto the woman's face briefly, then was carefully hidden again, but it remained there just long enough for Masterson to catch a glimpse of it.
"You may call me 'Celestella.'" she replied, arms folded defiantly, and continued in a taunting voice "Shall I go on calling you 'Talan,' or would 'Prime Minister Talan'' be a more acceptable title?"
"No, 'Talan' will do just fine, Celestella." he replied without any hint of malice. "I thank you for the long overdue introduction." he nodded to the woman again, then dismissed himself from the conversation.
He turned to go, but did not hear Celestella leave; taking a quick glance back, he saw that she was gone. The place she'd been standing was empty. The sense of foreboding he'd had since seeing the woman minutes before began to weigh on him more heavily.
He continued on his way back to his quarters to look through his father's data more thoroughly, then he began to have the strange feeling that eyes were boring into his back; he periodically glanced back over his shoulder, expecting to see someone hovering there, but every time he looked there was no pursuer to see.
He was beginning to feel silly doing it, when, just before he reached his door, he turned his head back once more and, just out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tiniest bit of a shadow disappear.
Feeling very disturbed, he stepped through the door to his quarters, locking it behind him.
"Oh Adonai," he prayed once he was within the sanctum of his rooms, "Protect us from the evil that surrounds us; give me the eyes to see Abaddon and his disguises... And give me the wisdom to be able to discern friend from foe, for I fear that this battle has only just begun."
Several hours later Desslok stood alone in one of the smaller meeting rooms several floors below the throne room. He hefted the miniscule weight of Mintra'el's casing in his hand several dozen times before addressing the A.I. "Erats." he said, "full resolution."
The computer displayed the map he had accessed over and over during the past many hours. He would look at it for a few minutes before becoming overwhelmed by the sight of it, but once its image was gone, he longed to see it again. He would resist the temptation to gaze upon it just once more for several minutes before he could bear its absence no longer, then he would order Mintra'el to display it once again. He did this over and over and over.
Mintra'el did not comment on her master's strange behavior, after all, it was no more odd than many of the other things he'd done since her creation.
The Leader stared into the crystal clear image floating before him, trying to stem the tide of thoughts and emotions that seeing this world conjured within him and failing miserably. He was angry; he was elated; he was sad; he was triumphant; but most of all, he was filled with a longing that he could not explain. It was an urge so deep that it prompted him to reach out, just as he had done every other time he had activated this map, and touch the blue and green planet.
The bare fingers of his right hand hovered just above the hologram, then they dropped slowly, trying desperately to touch an object that was not really there.
His hand fell through the projection of light, leaving him feeling just as empty as he had every other time had tried to lay his hand on this world he now found so precious – so precious that the interlopers who now lived there would have to be purged from it before his people took it as their rightful home once again.
The ever-present anger he now felt began to rise up in him again and he deactivated the image.
Just then the door chimed and the Leader gave the visitor permission to enter.
Without turning around to see who it was, he said, "You're late."
"My apologies, Sire," Celestella said, "I had a few... matters to attend to."
"Indeed." the single-word reply held a healthy amount of skepticism, but the Leader did not question her further, for which Celestella was grateful. To admit what she had really been doing would have been disastrous.
Desslok continued, "You have seen the proposed plan. What thoughts have you?"
Celestella held in a villainous smile, "It is most wise of you to do this, Leader," she replied, "The people of Gamilon are in dire need of a new home, and this... this... Erats seems to be the perfect place for us," she carefully used the proper pronoun in include herself, "If it is indeed the fabled world of our origin, then it is ours by right. The ones who occupy it now have no business being there. It is ours, not theirs."
"You have stated my own thoughts for me, Celestella." Desslok replied, finally turning around to face her.
It maddened Miezela that the Leader never spoke to her face-to-face until he thought she had something worthwhile to say, but she endured the belittlement, knowing that soon, everything would begin falling into place.
"Thank you, Leader Desslok." Celestella said, feigning great gratitude, "I had hoped my sentiments would meet with your approval." nearly unleashing the malicious grin she still hid, she started into the most delicate piece of manipulation she had ever tried to pull off, "But, certainly there are those who do not think well of this plan."
Desslok turned his back to her again and the difficulty of her task became immediately much more difficult, "Yes, I am afraid there are."
"But of course I – and surely Prime Minister Talan," Celestella did smirk now as she saw the Leader's jaw clench at the mention of Masterson Talan, "are in support of your efforts."
Desslok bowed his head, his eyes slowly closing as he did so, "I am... sure that that is the case, Celestella." he replied, the complete lack of conviction coming as no surprise to Miezela.
"But in order for this undertaking to be completed successfully, shouldn't the dissenters be... dealt with? Replaced if in positions of power – perhaps sent away if they pose a significant threat?"
The Leader was deathly silent for a very long moment and Celestella could see the man's mind calculating everything – every implication of what she had just proposed – and weighing the good and ill against one another. Then, finally, he said, "You are... most wise, Shêd-scholar. That is precisely what must be done."
Celestella nodded, her inward glee at this triumph carefully veiled until she could return to somewhere private to celebrate such a monumental victory. "Is there anything I should do in the mean time, Sire?" she asked.
Desslok thought for a long moment before replying, "Yes, gather together every former member of my brother's advising council – or rather, those he controlled to make it appear that he had an advising council – and send them to me."
"Yes, Sire." she replied, "Is there anything else I may do?"
"No," the Leader shook his head, "The rest I shall see to myself," he said. "You may go."
Celestella bowed, even though the Leader was not facing her, and left the room. Outside, her sister Mirenel waited.
"What happened?" the younger woman asked eagerly as the door sealed behind Celestella, "What did he say?"
Miezela wanted to shout her victory to the entire planet, but she held it in for a few moments longer, "Let us return to our quarters; there I'll tell you all about the victory we've won today." she smirked, reveling in her evil glee, "And were you able to follow the Prime Minister back to his quarters?"
"Yes," Mirenel replied, "He didn't even try to lose me. I don't even think he knew I was following him."
"Very good; very good." Celestella nodded in approval, "but let us leave this place, lest we be discovered." she motioned for her sister to follow her back to their own quarters, "I do not welcome the thought that the walls may have ears that are not our own."
Mirenel nodded and followed silently.
"Erats?! Are you most certain?" Adrianna exclaimed when Starsha told the Jeshurunian of the conversation she had just concluded with Masterson Talan on Gamilon.
"Yes!" Starsha replied excitedly, "They have found it! After all these years of searching, we have finally found the world we've been seeking – the point of Creation." the queen's eyes began to mist with unshed tears of gladness, "And it is populated! There are others like us in the universe – other peoples besides our own. Masterson said that the map they found was divided up into sections that were called 'countries.' Have you ever heard of anything like that, Adrianna?"
"I have heard of something similar, Mistress." the plant replied, "On many of the Bolar worlds the land is divided up into sections they call 'provinces.' The sections are governed by prime ministers – but not like Masterson Talan's position of 'Prime Minister' on Gamilon – it is more like a governorship. Perhaps these 'countries' on Erats are something like that."
Starsha nodded, "That would make sense – except for..."
"Except for what, Mistress?'
Starsha's face clouded a bit, " The B'riyt HaHhadashah* says that Erats will remain in turmoil until the return of Mashiach – when He comes back and his feet come to rest upon Har HaZeitim* – when He rules as King and Yerushalayim is renewed." the queen's brow furrowed, "Perhaps that is the reason that Erats remains divided into these 'countries.'"
"Yes, yes this could be the reason for it." Adrianna's leaves rustled, "But do not be sad for an Erats divided, Mistress. If Adonai has said that she will remain in turmoil, then it will be so and there is no need to weep for it."
"I know... But... It's just that..." Starsha tried to find the words she was looking for, but failed.
"Yes, I know, Mistress... You feel as though you must care for Erats, now that you know of her."
The queen nodded, "Yes. And if she should ever require my help, I will gladly give it to her, though I do not know how I could ever be of service to my world of origin from here... We are so very far away..."
"Adonai knows this, Mistress." Adrianna's leaves rustled comfortingly, "And He knows your heart for the world that you long to be your home. I am sure that there will come a day when you will set foot upon the shores of Erats – though it may be a long time before such an event occurs."
Starsha's eyes recovered their spark of happiness, "But it will happen, Adrianna." she said with wonder, "Adonai has promised it.* When Mashiach returns to reign upon Erats, after the Last Days have come upon us, those who follow Yeshua will reign with Him over Erats – and there is no other way to do that besides going to Erats."
"Indeed." Adrianna agreed, a jovial tittering sounds coming from within her foliage.
"I wish I could see her..." Starsha said wistfully, stepping over to her window to stare out at her own beloved Iscandar, "I love my home... but I long for Erats more than I ever thought I could wish for anything. It is as though something was awoken within me that I never knew was there – a desire so deep that I cannot quench it, no matter what I do."
"That is as it should be, Mistress." Adrianna rustled, "If one day the children of Yisrael are to return to Erats, then this longing is of Adonai." the plant's leaves rustled again, "Rest assured, Starsha, I am convinced that someday, you will indeed see Erats, and stand upon her ancient shores."
"It is as you've said it would be, Malha." Celestella, kneeling, said to the hologram of her mistress, "Everything is in place; I am confident that all of the barriers that are now in place will soon be gone, and we may begin our master plan."
"Very good, Miezela." Aurelia crooned, "Very good. Now... has Fiske arrived yet?"
"Not yet, Malha." Celestella replied, "Though he did send a message saying that he would be along shortly, but that he had to stop off to 'procure the proper equipment' for the task at hand."
"Yes, that is a distinct possibility." Aurelia nodded. "In any case, be ready for him when he arrives. He will need to accomplish his task quickly so that we will not be suspected."
"Yes, Malha." Celestella bowed her head to the woman. "Though with the number of zealots still in the capitol, it would be easy enough to assign the blame to one of them."
"True, but I would prefer to not take that particular action if it is not absolutely necessary." Aurelia replied.
"I understand." Celestella nodded, "I shall ensure that Fiske takes the utmost precaution."
"I know you will." Aurelia smirked, "You have never disappointed me, Miezela, and I am sure that you will not start now."
* Erats - Earth
* B'riyt HaHhadashah – The New Testament of the Bible
* Har HaZeitim – The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel
* A reference to what is known as "The Millennial Reign of Christ" which will occur after a seven year period of severe hardship and suffering on Earth known as "The Tribulation." Followers of Jesus will return with Him to help govern the Earth during the next 1,000 years of peace.