Chapter XVIII

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Within The Union limits, in an unknown location, Yavar Aflir was holding a conversation of great importance to his interests, at the same time that he awaited, now without very high expectations, the report on the mission that Dasslak was carrying out for him.

For a long time, he had fantasised about the idea of capturing The Augur and using his skills for his own benefit, but his recent discoveries caused him to lose hope. His disappointment, however, did not stop him from continuing on with his plans. He had taken a great step, and perhaps he was not going to miss that mysterious ability. He had acquired someone else; someone capable of doing similar things, and although his power did not equal that of The Augur, he would surely be able to achieve great things with him.

This place was one of the many residences he possessed, distributed throughout The Union, utilized for the conducting of his dealings; a custom that he had acquired from his mentor Voill Conner. And it was a good thing he had taught him. He maintained them with a high level of secrecy; a man of his standing could not give himself the luxury of remaining in plain sight. With so many secrets, he needed to have many places in which to sequester himself from the rest of the universe.

The living room, in keeping with the rest of the residence, was loaded with ostentation and luxury. Its interior was finely decorated with extremely beautiful wooden furniture, of Victorian designs. A majestic candelabra situated in the centre of the room illuminated the elegant space, revealing the lovely scene, worthy of the most demanding lovers of luxury. The walls were adorned with beautiful paintings of incalculable value, which, in harmony with the rest of the decor, made the place an utter feast for the eyes.

In his hand he was holding a glass filled with the most exquisite and expensive whisky in the galaxy. A part of him had always been very demanding when it came to celebrations; they always went in accordance with the target which, according to him, had been reached. This was a special occasion. In his mind, he had managed to avoid great problems for his precious Galactic Union, and was not going to miss out on the opportunity to drink from such an exclusive bottle.

He was very polite with his guest. At least, that was what he was trying to make him believe. He had offered him the same whisky that he was drinking himself. ‘There exists no better beverage in the entire galaxy’, he had told him. And he was right; it was not for nothing that very few had access to a bottle of that calibre.

Sitting in that room, they discussed the simplest details of the universe. His guest was not up to date with them, everything was new for him, and as he wanted to convince him to do what he wished, he was being more friendly than usual.

“All of this is very confusing, Lektura,” said the man of young appearance.

“You ought to get used to calling me Yavar, Mr Thoryo,” he said to the young man.

“Hadn’t you said that your name was Lektura?”

“I repeat that, although the part that served yourself and your family was called Lektura, the name of this body is Yavar Aflir. I understand it may be difficult to understand... two minds are fused within me, but that of Yavar is the dominant one. It is who I am.”

“My captors called this body Boryan,” responded the man, getting up from his seat. With an intimidating appearance, he made his way towards a piano positioned at one end of the room, “but my name is Thoryo Dy Oba. If it is true what you say regarding coming from the same place as me, then you will know that I am one of the heirs to power. I will call you what I please,” he told him, and sat down on the piano stool, turning his back to Yavar. One moment later he began touching the keys at random, as if he were carrying out a tuning of the instrument.

“It was not my intention to offend you, Mr Thoryo,” replied Yavar, fighting to ignore the man’s arrogance.

“Don’t worry,” he said, in a friendlier tone, “I’m only playing with you. The truth is that I don’t even remember any Lektura. The only reason I called you that is because that is the name the people you sent to free me from that bastard’s dungeons identified you with. If you want me to call you by a stupid name like Yavar, then so be it. Anybody should be able to choose their own name, without caring how ridiculous it may be.”

Yavar was highly offended; perhaps Lektura, the part of him that had offered his life to Thoryo and to his family in the other universe, had been one of the most loyal and fervent of servants, but the dominant part, Yavar Aflir, was an important and influential person. For him, his superiority over that being, who up until a few days ago was no more than a prisoner, was more than obvious. He fought not to remind him that he ought to be grateful for having been liberated, and continued with his attempts to manipulate him for good.

“It’s a pity that you don’t remember Lektura; that part of me was always loyal to you and to your family. In the other universe, when it was discovered one could send someone here to look for you, Lektura offered himself right away. He was wishing to see you again.”

“He was?”

“He did everything he could, and in the end he achieved it. He was very lucky; that part that came to this universe became ingrained enough to this body to modify my personality. He was very fortunate to join with somebody as influential as me. It is for that reason that...” His words were interrupted by the beginning of a beautiful melody. Thoryo played the piano like a complete professional.

Yavar watched in surprise the ability with which Thoryo played; he would have believed it reasonable for his guest to have considered that instrument as exotic, but he manipulated it with much natural ease. Most definitely, in his life as a prisoner, they had taught him a thing or two. He thought that perhaps Voill, repentant at having his son shut away, had educated him well.

“What were you saying?” asked Thoryo, without stopping the performance of that powerful and masterful sonata.

“I can wait until you finish, sir. In truth, it is a complete honour to listen to you,” he said, trying to conceal his annoyance. He hated being interrupted.

“I can play and listen to you at the same time.”

“Seriously, I can wait.”

“Speak!” he insisted, and the music elevated in accordance with the tone in which he had just spoken.

“I was just saying that the position I hold in this universe is one of much power,” Yavar raised his voice so as to be able to be heard. “It was thanks to that, that I was able to find you so soon.”

“Soon?” The melody from the piano brusquely ceased. Thoryo turned around towards Yavar, and looked at him, irritated by that statement. “I’m not even capable of saying with any degree of precision how long I have been prisoner, and you call that ’soon’? One day, without knowing it, I simply found myself inside the body of a strange being. Barely an infant. In an unknown world in which they called me by a name that was not mine. Me, one of the princes of our species, reduced to this.”

“I’m sorry that you’ve had to wait,” replied Yavar, without being very convincing. “Since you disappeared, you were searched for without rest, until they discovered what happened. You had been transported to another body in this universe. A convergence, as we call it here. A way of reverting the process was searched for. Many were offered for a great experiment. The best scientists created machines that would help connect that universe with this one. People worked very hard to set it all up, and finally one day it happened. Lektura came to this universe. He became a part of me, part of this human body.”

Thoryo looked at him with his large green eyes, attempting to decipher his intentions. Weeks earlier, Yavar had sent for him to be freed, but even so, he was not all that sure that he could trust him.

The story seemed surprising, but it was the best explanation of how he had ended up in this body. Nevertheless, he was not understanding why his advanced species never knew of the possibility of disappearing to another universe. They had always boasted of their power and advanced knowledge, but here he was, learning from a being of another species. His pride was injured.

“These bodies..., this species..., the humans... Earlier you said that it was regarding a civilization of great importance here. Are they the masters of this place, like we were in our universe?”

“The Universe is enormous,” said Yavar. “One barely knows a small part of it. A galaxy, as we call it. Counting, of the known places, two large areas which remain conquered by different groups. One similar to The Galactic Union, with an alliance of planets, all enemies of The Union, and another rife with pirates and thieves. This universe is significantly larger than the universe from which you come. Perhaps nobody will ever be capable of conquering all of it.”

“Our species is the master of everything that exists. The humans, whom you appear to love so much, do not compare in the slightest to what we are... Or to what you were...”

“I am a human, sir, it is true, but do not make the mistake of believing me an enemy. Quite the contrary; I want for your species to become known; it is for that reason that I am here.”

“I continue being a Doryo in spite of being in this human body. What is it that makes you different from me?”

“Your convergence took place with a human child. In the mind of that infant, there did not yet exist great memories, nor a well-defined personality. It was yours that prevailed until now. My personality, on the other hand, was barely affected by the being that was called Lektura. I am Yavar, a human being.”

“This species does not compare to the Doryo; we are far more advanced. Our technology is extraordinary in comparison to that of these primitive beings.”

“The technology of the human species can seem to not be as advanced as the Doryan, but it is not down to lack of ingenuity. If you will allow me to tell you something about the history of this species, you will be able to understand it better.”

Thoryo conceded immediately; Yavar was determined to tell him about the capacity and the ingenuity of the human species. It was obvious to him that this man was not a Doryo, and he was only able to consider as an ally someone of his own species.

“Go ahead, tell me,” he said, feigning interest.

“Over three centuries ago, the planet Earth, from where we humans originate, was steeped in war and poverty. It was a long period in which progress was limited... However, not everything was bad; some scientific and technological advances took place thanks to the wars.”

“And what are these advances you speak of?”

“Several... the greatest, without a doubt, has been the discovery of the wormholes, which are portals in space. Not only did they allow for the exploration of space to be possible, their uses were much broader than that. The human species used wormholes to convert planets, and moons, into inhabitable places, removing gases to diminish the atmospheric pressure, or adding them to increase it.”

“Portals in space? Our species never needed any such thing to conquer our... universe.”

“As I said before, this universe does not compare to yours. Where you are from, in order to travel to another planet, one would only require a ship that could travel at great speed. The distances are not so great, and there is not much to go to. This place, on the other hand, is immense. Even the light is slow when it comes to travelling through the universe.”

“What about these bodies? They seem fragile; why have you not been able to improve them?”

“We have done, but not as much as we would like. During the period I told you about, it drove several investigations. The wars facilitated the modifications in the humans. Pain and fear were eliminated in the soldiers, but that proved to be counterproductive. Those humans lost the capacity to empathise. They virtually became machines.”

“And what about that?”

“Many sectors began to refuse the modifications to humanity. In 2140, the wars ended, the rebellions ceased, and the victorious side, which two decades later would found The Galactic Union, took control of the Earth. Due to public pressure, laws were established that prohibited studies that would attempt to modify human nature, once more limiting the advance. After that, there were more problems. Experiments with intelligent machines that ended up badly, technology with hybrid humans that turned out to be unsafe, and other failures, forced the prohibition of any explorations. Nevertheless, it has been advanced in many other areas. Now, we do not fall ill so easily, we live very long lives, and we are capable of curing almost any bodily affliction. The human species is the most powerful in the galaxy.”

“Who makes the decisions here?” asked Thoryo.

“When the wars on Earth finished, the winning side got ready to create a system that would be capable of governing the whole planet. That was how The World Union was born, which came to control all the nations of the Earth. At the head were the World Leader and the High Council. When the conquest of planetary systems advanced, some people decided to claim the power that the Earth’s government had over the rest of the planets and colonies, and that is how The World Union became The Galactic Union.”

“Do the World Leader and the High Council still continue to have power?”

“Something like that. When The Galactic Union was on the cusp of being born, there was pressure for the one who had the power to be chosen by vote of the principal planetary systems belonging to The Galactic Union. Thus was created the post and title of Supreme Leader, which together with the High Council defines The Galactic Union Government.”

“Supreme Leader, eh? How many systems vote so that somebody becomes the Supreme Leader?”

“Only a few. The so-called primary systems... You seem very interested in the subject.”

“I’m only curious... Is the title of Supreme Leader for life?”

“No, a Supreme Leader can lose their power if the primary planetary systems so wish it. It only requires a vote. The first Supreme Leader was removed from his post after the things that occurred under his leadership.”

“What happens if a Leader ceases to live. Who substitutes them? A family member?”

Yavar knew that this man was only interested in power. These questions confirmed it. He did not see any problem in answering them; he did not believe the man would be capable of becoming a threat, and if he did, he was prepared to stop him.

“If a Supreme Leader dies, a substitute is chosen in a normal public vote. That is how the current Supreme Leader was chosen, just after the death of our Second Leader.”

Thoryo could detect a small change in Yavar; perhaps he had suffered from the death of the second Leader, or maybe it was something else. He did not want to ask; he was going to be as cautious as he could, and would only try to take advantage in the moment when he felt sure about it.

“Why did you search for me?”

“You already know that your universe is dying. Perhaps there is not much time left, therefore...” The notification of an incoming call in his eye device interrupted him. “...I’m sorry, it’s a call from that person I spoke to you about earlier. You know, the one who is carrying out a mission for me,” he said, making himself important.

“Go ahead, answer,” he said, annoyed.

It was Dasslak who was calling. He was about to share the results of his mission with his contractor. It may not be great news, but it was definitely the best that anybody would have been able to get.

“I’m listening,” said Yavar, accustomed to not naming Dasslak through a call.

“I found The Augur.”

“And what happened?” he asked, without much excitement.

“I was able to talk with him regarding everything I wanted, but in the end...” The Assassin hesitated for a moment, he sounded somewhat disappointed. “... It wasn’t possible for me to capture him.”

“Oh, come along now! Don’t feel so disillusioned, I knew you wouldn’t be able to do it.”

“That’s what I wanted to ask; why were you so sure of that?”

“Do you remember that location you got for me? You know, Boryan’s location,” he said, looking at Thoryo, who was still sitting in front of him.

“Of course!” replied Dasslak.

“It turns out that in that place there was not just Boryan. I found some very interesting things there. One of them is a seer. You know, like The Augur... only much less powerful. He told me how your mission would go.”

“What?” asked the assassin, startled. “A seer? If Voill had something like that, why would he be needing The Augur?”

“I understand it may seem strange, but if you had been able to see him, you would understand that his power does not compare in the least bit to that of The Augur...”

“But he was capable of predicting that I would fail?”

“Yes. Some hours before you called from Ranore, I spoke with him. He was able to predict everything that would happen to me in the following hours. He told me that you would call with the report of the mission, telling me that you had failed in trying to capture The Augur.”

“His power sounds fairly interesting.”

“It is. Unfortunately, it is very limited. He is only capable of predicting events that are not very far in the future.”

"Now that I think about it, I think that your old master mentioned something about that to me," said the assassin. He revealed that he had a seer, but that he had proven to be of little use."

"I understand why he said that. Those sorts of predictions are not of much use. I would have to walk around with the seer all the time for him to be truly useful. But I have something... or rather I have someone... that your old master did not have. I think I will be able to augment his power; we’ll see yet what comes out of all of this.”

“Is it necessary for me to inform you of anything else, or did he tell you everything that I would find?”

“I only know that you did not uncover much about Bornew. Is that right?”

“Yes. The Augur said many things that I did not come to understand. The most detailed of which was that I will continue searching for Bornew, and eventually will be able to find him. Of course, according to him, a few years will pass before that happens... Oh! By the way, he also said that he is a convergence.”

“Bornew? A convergence?”

“So it seems. And that isn’t all; he claimed that upon having stolen that robot, he had offset enormous changes in the destiny of the universe."

After hearing that notice, Yavar was profoundly shaken for a second; now he truly was concerned about finding Bornew. What was bothering him was regarding a threat for The Union, and without a doubt it was necessary to catch him.

“Do you plan on continuing with the search?"

"Perhaps," replied Dasslak, after a short pause. "I'm somewhat curious about the place in which The Augur said that I would find him... It intrigues me to know why he will be there. Even so, you already know that I will only search for him if you pay me for it, otherwise I have no real motivation to do it."

"What place is that?"

"Forget it, that isn't important... You can read the report I'm sending right this moment. In it, I give you all the information regarding the task you entrusted me with."

"Excellent... I really hope you can carry on with the search."

Whilst Yavar had been talking, Thoryo Dy Oba had been feigning disinterest, but listening attentively, to everything he said. Indeed, it had nothing to do with the Doryo, it was obvious that Yavar did not look at them as a priority. The old monarch was looking at him increasingly more as an enemy.

"We'll talk about this in a few weeks," responded Dasslak, "first I have to take care of a personal matter.”

“All right... You completed the task, you found The Augur, and you found out what we wanted. In spite of the fact that we don't know much about Bornew, we already have a few things to start us off. The seer I acquired can help us improve our options."

"Need I remind you that The Union doesn't interest me?"

"I understand... I'm very satisfied, so much so that I will include a bonus. I can leave a package with payment in any location in space, just give me some coordinates."

"That will not be necessary. This payment can be electronic.”

“Eh?” exclaimed Yavar, surprised. “Electronic? Have I heard you right?"

"I had to use one of my accounts to make a payment to Alpha, so I will have to get rid of that account anyway. You can transfer the payment there. I attach the details in the report."

"You had to use one of your accounts? That must have annoyed you," he said to him, somewhat cheerful.

"I'll get my own back yet.”

“Oooh! My most heartfelt condolences to them..." he said, and let out a guffaw. "...When you finish with your business, call me to carry on with the matter of Bornew.”

“I will do.”

The call ended. In the report that Dasslak had sent to Yavar was detailed everything that The Augur had said about Bornew; including what he had said about Voill’s son, who in reality turned out to be a body inhabited by a being from another universe. The only thing he decided to omit was everything regarding what was said of himself and the anomalies. He did not want to share that information until he was sure of what it meant.

Yavar had a lot to think about; several weeks on since the hijacking of S4-07, he was no closer to deciphering who Denn Bornew was. What were his motives? Was he a real threat to The Union? What changes to destiny had he triggered? He wanted to read the report immediately, but he was prevented by Thoryo.

"What's all that you were talking about?"

"Union things. My post obliges me to monitor security, and that person is helping me to find someone who poses a threat to our interests."

"Our?"

"Those of The Galactic Union," replied Yavar, who was progressively noticing how threatening the man was beginning to seem.

"You were going to talk to me about your purpose in this place. I am referring to the part that came from the same universe as me."

Yavar decided to be direct. He did not want the situation to get out of control. He made the decision to be as categorical as possible with Thoryo; only that way would the man understand his situation.

“When the search for you was planned, there was no intention of taking you back. The universe you come from is dying. It is very small, and there is no other place to go to. What your brother was intending was to bring everybody here.”

“Everybody?”

“Everybody. Your entire race. He wanted to come to this place and conquer it for himself. Just like he did there. Lektura was sent here to create a machine that would make it possible to connect both universes, and thus bring all of the Doryo; but your brother has no idea of the power that The Galactic Union has. To attempt to come to this place to begin a war would mean the extinction of your species. Even with the advanced technology that your brother has, it could not in any way guarantee his victory. He does not know it, but I do. We were lucky that the being that came from your universe inhabited this body.”

“To what are you referring?”

“A war is not necessary. I am about to finish the creation of a machine that will allow us to communicate with your universe, and you will help me to convince your brother to come here peacefully. That is the reason why I searched for you so zealously, Mr Thoryo. Knowing that in the other universe there are people plotting to come to this place to cause problems, should assure that that would not happen.”

Thoryo Dy Oba now understood it; this man was not really his ally. He wanted to use him for his own plans.

“What is it you’re planning to do?” he asked, intrigued.

“I will help even the very last Doryo to establish themselves throughout The Union. They will live in the same way that many species co-exist amongst them currently. If your brother accepts, I will help to organise the whole thing. I don’t know if they will have sent more people here. They could be trying to construct that machine to connect the two universes. We must act quickly. When your brother agrees to come in peace, we can create a portal that will bring them as individual beings to this universe. They will live, distributed throughout various planets and colonies. That way we will avoid the war, and the certain destruction of the Doryo.”

That statement had been the worst insult that Thoryo had ever heard in his life. To him, his species was infinitely superior, but Yavar was speaking about them as if they were ants waiting to be squashed.

“Do you think my brother will accept this?”

“He will have to be grateful; I am prepared to offer life to your whole species. It is the best deal he will have. I am a servant of The Galactic Union, and my interest is its development. He will have no other option than to accept my terms... To tell the truth, I would not even move a finger to contact you if I did not know that there could be more of your own in this place.

Thoryo Dy Oba remained silent for a moment. Everything that Yavar had said confirmed his suspicions. He would still continue to be a prisoner; the only thing that had changed was his captor. His current state was not at all favourable. After a few uncomfortable seconds without a response, Yavar spoke again:

“Look,” he said in a friendlier tone, “I don’t want you to feel as if I’m imposing anything on you. My mentor had to die just so that I could liberate you, I am not your enemy.”

Yavar was trying to calm his guest, he did not care about lying regarding having wanted Voill Conner dead. His prime motivation had definitely not been to get the location of the being from another universe; it was rather more the case that Voill was just in his way. Thanks to his death, he had advanced to a position that would make him one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. He was definitely an ambitious person.

It was not the first time he had managed to advance at the cost of the death of other people. He had won his entry to the council, thanks to an assassination; the assassination of the second Leader of The Galactic Union. He, from outside the council, and Voill from within, had both planned it in concert, contracting the best assassin in the galaxy to achieve it. So professional was his work, that still nobody was capable of even guessing as to who had been the cause of that horrible event.

Yavar Aflir was one the most dangerous people alive; not even his old friend and mentor had been immune to his ambitions. Unfortunately for him, he was now facing a great danger.

“Very well,” said Thoryo, “contact my brother. I will do what you say. I will convince him to come in peace.”

He was lying; he would try to gain the confidence of his new captor, it was the only thing he could do for the moment. The Augur was right; Voill should have killed his son. He never should have been born. Inside of him there lived a dangerous being. Now it was Yavar who was committing the mistake of letting him live. That being would be the cause of a great suffering.

“That is an excellent decision, Mr Thoryo,” said Yavar, smiling. “You’ll see that I will treat you well. We must leave for Earth as soon as possible. I want to introduce you to a little girl whom I am very proud of.”