This week (like most weeks if I’m being honest with myself), I’m trying something different. A bit like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. What I’m trying is publishing a longer fiction piece that I wrote as a prequel story to the novel that I’ve been working on for several years. It follows three characters who play an important role in the overarching story, even though this takes place about 200 years earlier.
It will quickly become apparent that I’ve set it in outer space, I’ve truly always loved science fiction. However, even if science fiction isn’t your genre (or fiction in general) I ask that you give it a look!
So, without further ado, please enjoy Part One of “The Three and the Dualities.”
image credit to firefly2347
“Don’t try to sell me on another one of your fairy tales, Nadia,” Delphine slammed her glass down and spilled some of her drink on the already slick bar table.
“I swear to you, everything is true,” Nadia replied. “And at this point, what other options do we have?”
Matthias, who had been sitting quietly up until this point, spoke up. “I tell you how many, none.” He stared down Delphine. “If you truly want to make a difference here-”
“I know,” Delphine cut him off. “But I can’t just trust in nonsense like you all can, I just don’t have it in me.”
“Just hear me out, okay?” Nadia reached over and placed a gentle hand on Delphine’s shoulder. “If you think it’s nonsense, that we’ll leave it be. We can either come up with some other plan or let Elisio do whatever the hell he wants.”
It was Matthias’ turn to interrupt, “That can’t be an option.”
Nadia drew her hand back from Delphine and leaned against the stiff red upholstery of the booth’s bench. “Then listen to me.”
For a moment, Delphine couldn’t meet Nadia’s eyes. They had all heard wild stories, both from their alien relatives and from others on the front. Most of the stories, her ancestors would never have believed. But this was a new world, a new universe. Powers and skills that had once been considered magic could now easily be proven true through science and reasoning. What had once been thought of as mere fantasy shaped their day-to-day lives.
She looked over at Matthias. He nodded as if he could hear her thoughts over the din of the crowded and cheerful bar. Delphine screwed up her face for a moment, grabbed her drink, and downed a good portion of it before holding it steady and looking Nadia straight in the eyes from over the top of the glass.
“Alright, fine,” she said. “Tell me about the Dualities.”
Twelve Hours Earlier
Elisio started the meeting once all members of the council had been accounted for and seated around the circular metal table with the center cut out. Several of them were finishing up conversations, and their voices bounced around the room. The entirety of the council’s headquarters was built out of old ships and pieces of scrap metal welded together, which gave the walls a patchwork texture. Some pieces of fabric were draped on the dome of the walls and ceiling in an attempt to diminish the echoes. The large skylight let the light flow in and illuminate the room through the glass and fabric, which painted the room in a different way depending on the hour. The Alliance’s flag hung in a place of honor. It was burnt and shot through in a few places, but it was still together, but the room still felt all too transient.
“There is something to be said about this coming age of peace,” Elisio began his speech as the council quieted down. Delphine, in her seat a couple of chairs down from him, settled in for a long and tedious meeting. “I will do my best to keep this short, and in actuality, there isn’t much to be said.”
This elicited a laugh from the council members, Elisio included. Even the weary members found themselves smiling. There had been a lot of these meetings in the weeks since the Alliance Military Forces had officially trampled the remaining Isolationist Forces. All of them, of course, had been rife with political jargon and intrigue.
While Delphine found this interesting, she hadn’t seen much of a point to it. They had won. Period. What else was there really to do? The people would have to listen to them.
After Elisio managed to get himself and the council back under control he continued, “I know you are all tired and drained from this conflict. And in these past few weeks, we’ve suffered from another kind of exhaustion, politics.”
Delphine nodded along when he said this, as did some of the other members.
“This is a different kind of war that we have to wage on behalf of the people we care about. We now must pick up the pieces and put them back together in a new way. A way that will best serve the people.” Elisio paused.
Once again, Delphine was nodding along. It was hard and tedious and most of the battle-hardened council was unused to the delicacy of politics, but they were doing it. They would be able to lead this new empire into peace and prosperity. That’s what they all had fought for.
She looked next to her at Nadia, who was nodding along in agreement.
“Once we put the well-being of the people we serve first and foremost in our minds, what is the next logical step?” Elisio continued.
Delphine noted how tired he looked. His normally carefully groomed black hair looked unkempt and his shoulders were slumped. He still wore his military jacket, with a sidearm holster on one side, and a ceremonial dagger sheathed on the other. Even when they had been pinned down by the Isolationists for weeks during the times when the fighting was heaviest, she had never seen the man so worn down and tired.
“Yes, we have to set up a good government. But that government has to be a peaceful one as well. The Central Ring has been ravaged by wars between the planets for years. We all know the people are tired.”
Just like I’m tired of hearing you talk circles around what you want to say, Delphine thought to herself. Elisio was great, and when he was commanding forces or charging into a fight, he did it with no question or hesitation. But if he had to talk about an issue that he couldn’t actively shoot down, he would find the most convoluted and indirect way to do it.
As if he read Delphine’s thoughts, Elisio continued, “I know, I know. I should probably get to the point.”
This elicited another laugh from the gathered council. Over the past years, they had all grown close. There were only 16 of them, and they had all stumbled into leadership in one way or another. Together they had changed--they would change--the Central Ring, maybe even the universe.
“We never set out to create an empire,” Elisio said. “We asked ourselves how we could make the Central Ring a better place, a safer place, and we decided that the Alliance was the best answer. And so did a lot of other people. Which leads us to today.”
There was another pause as Elisio looked around at the council as if trying to gather his thoughts.
“We fought hard. We gained a lot in our battles. We also lost a lot of people. Our hands are stained with the blood of our friends and enemies alike. We thought the best solution was to fight for the coming of the Alliance. We fought for peace.” Elisio let out a small humorless laugh, before continuing in a quiet voice. “Isn’t that stupid? Using violence to make peace. In truth, we were only the ones who created a foundation for peace. We can do our best to construct it, but how can we with our history?”
Delphine leaned forward and looked around at the rest of the council. A few were nodding their heads in agreement, some were motionless but with light smiles on their faces. Only a few mirrored the expression that Delphine wore: confusion, discomfort, and a hint of anger.
She finally spoke up, “What do you mean Elisio?”
He looked over at her with a faint, sad smile on his face. “We are too tarnished by war and violence to truly be able to facilitate a peaceful Alliance between our planets.” He turned back to the rest of the group. “Yes, I think we must be part of it, but we cannot be the face of peace here. The Alliance deserves a group of fresh leaders who are innocent to what a life of violence can do to a being.”
Matthias, across the room, spoke up this time, “Are you implying that we should just wash our hands of the whole affair? That we should just give up and go home?” His voice was even, but his expression betrayed growing anger.
“I don’t think that,” Elisio was quick to placate him, but he wasn’t the only one becoming frustrated. “I just think that, because we were the faces of the war, we shouldn’t switch to try and become the faces of peace. It doesn’t make sense. We are a key part of the growing Alliance, but we are not what holds it together. Our people and their desire for unity are. I think it would be best to step down.”
It was as if a bomb had gone off in the council room. Almost the entire council started to talk over each other. Accusations and insults were flung across the room just like they had once thrown grenades. Strategy and tactics were out the window, and the focus was on melee. It was hard to hear what anyone was arguing for or against and the result of that was just more chaos and anger.
Delphine herself leaned back in her chair, observing the sudden chaos, it unsettled her. But despite this, rage twisted up inside her. They had been so close to determining how they would run the Council and the Alliance. Elisio had just decided to throw a wrench into all of that at the very end.
Elisio shouted, “People please, control yourselves.” His voice reverberated across the room, “I’m not here to decide for everyone. I’m here today to call a vote to decide what we should do.”
“How can we trust people who didn’t go through battles and war to govern our people in a way that prevents war?” Delphine finally stood and spoke up.
“The thing you have to remember is that they did experience war.” Elisio said, “War at our hands.”
The room was silent.
While it hadn’t been an unjust war, that didn’t change the fact that people, innocent beings across all planets, had been harmed. It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t good. But it had been necessary, Delphine thought. With the Central Ring united now, there could be peace.
“You don’t have to agree with me entirely,” Elisio first looked at Delphine, and then at the rest of the council. “But you have to acknowledge that our hands are part of the violence that has torn the Ring apart.”
Rage still grew and twisted deep inside of Delphine.
“We don’t have to vote now. In fact, it’s probably best that we take some time and think about it on our own for a little bit. Let’s call the meeting for the day and reconvene in a couple of days.” Elisio finished.
“I managed to get around and talk to everyone about the vote,” Nadia said as she slid into the bar booth next to Delphine. “Almost everyone else is thinking about voting alongside Elisio, either because they are coming around to agreeing with him, or they’re exhausted with everything.”
Delphine nodded and then looked over at the other person sliding in to sit across from them. “And why is Matthais here?”
The short man across from them managed a humorless half-smile, “Cause I agree that Elisio is making a mistake.”
With everyone seated, Delphine raised three fingers and nodded at the barkeep, who nodded back. “It can’t be too much of a mistake,” she began before looking back at Matthias. “Seeing how everyone is going to be voting yes when the time comes.”
Delphine scrutinized his expression, trying to get a read on him, but he was as placid as ever. She had never been especially close with Matthias. She liked him well enough, of course. She had to. But, she had never really gotten as close to him as she had with Nadia and Elisio.
The trio of glasses arrived at the table, filled with some inscrutable liquid that the barkeep chose for them. Hopefully, it’s alcoholic, Delphine thought.
Matthias gripped one of the overfilled glasses and picked it up, accidentally sloshing some on the table. He took a sip, and then said, “That’s why we’ll have to take a stand.”
While Delphine let out a small, cynical laugh, Nadia remained earnest. “He’s right, Elisio is making a mistake and you know it,” she said. “He thinks we can’t handle power, but he’s the one who can’t. I, for one, refuse to let the Alliance suffer and die because he’s scared.”
“And how do you plan on taking this stand, Nadia,” Delphine looked at the woman she had called a friend for years. Her skin had taken on a grey pallor over the past months, likely from the stress. And her normally vibrant and shifting hair had faded away. Why hadn’t I noticed that before? She wondered.
“How do you plan on taking a stand against the people you fought for and fought with for years? I’d really like to hear about that,” Delphine finished.
It was Matthias who answered. “We have to show them that we can step up and take responsibility, even though they don’t want to.”
“How do you mean?”
Nadia and Matthias shared a glance. Delphine thought that maybe they had discussed this plan together before they came to her. It made her a little uncomfortable, but she couldn’t figure out why.
“Eight of the council members I spoke to aren’t necessarily thrilled with Elisio’s plan,” Nadia started. “They are mostly tired or think that they might not be the best people to lead.”
Matthias picked up where she left off, “That leaves only five members, counting Elisio, who are truly sold on voting yes.”
“I know how math works,” Delphine said. She knocked back some of her drink and was pleased to discover that it was, in fact, alcoholic. While she couldn’t determine what exactly it was, it left a pleasant burning sensation that ran down her throat and up into her nose. “What’s your point?”
“We need a show of force. A show of strength,” Nadia finally explained. Her hair lit up faintly blue: a sign of confidence and excitement. “We’ll show the majority that they can trust in us to lead and that they wouldn’t have to.”
“Good luck with that. The last time I checked, none of us have any sort of special powers.” Delphine looked out at the rest of the bar.
All around them were people celebrating life and the people that they chose to spend it with. Births. Unions. Friends. Units. Deaths. Even just the sheer fact that they were alive and present in this new world. A new universe that Delphine and the others had brought to life. If they weren’t fit to govern and guide them, then who was?
“We don’t have anything special. No tricks or hidden powers like I’ve seen from others. I mean to say, I know there are people out there with incredible powers but I’m not one of them. Nadia, unless you’ve been keeping secrets from me all these years, I can’t imagine you have anything.” Delphine desperately wanted to believe that they could convince the others, but at this moment, she felt all that they had fought for slipping away. “Unless Matthias over there has some sort of secret ability, I’d say we’re out of luck.”
Evenly, Matthias said as he ran a hand over his shaved head, “I don’t think that I have anything new. Unless-”
“See,” Delphine cut in. She looked again at Nadia, and let her tone soften just a bit more. “As much as I’d love to believe that we can do anything, we aren’t much of a match to the rest of the council. It was brought together by chance and held together by a certain measure of balance.”
Nadia finally took a drink from her glass. After, she looked straight ahead and pursed her lips in a thoughtful expression. “What if I told you there was a way to tip that balance more in our favor.”
“I’m not following.”
“There’s a lot in this universe that isn’t fully understood. A lot of legends and folklore that go unexplored because of claims of magic and trickery.”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“The Dualities,” Nadia said quickly. “I have information, evidence, that proves they exist.”
Even though the small, crowded bar was loud and raucous, Delphine imagined that the world around them began to dampen in sound and dim in light as she reached over to her glass to down a big swig of her drink.