Sons of Man
Epilogue.
Jaga sat in his chamber in Claudis' northern
residence, looking out the window at the night sky. His chamber was lushly
furnished and appointed; downstairs a party was well underway. But Jaga's
thoughts were nowhere near any of it.
The Sword of Omens rested on an ornate rack
on a table by the bed. The Eye (some were calling it "of Thundera")
was still. Jaga found he was always aware of the sword's location, knew that a
thought would bring it flying to his hand. With it lay the hope of his people,
and he was never far from it at any time.
He had denied the Ministry of Science's
request to examine the weapon; there was nothing to it they needed to know.
Jaga understood it's capabilities, the energy
absorbption and redirection, force field manipulation and sundry other obvious
traits. So could anyone who saw it in action.
What was not so obvious was that the sword
lived. Artificial though it was, the Eye had a structure not unlike any other
organism, save it's cells were fashioned from crystal
rather than protoplasm. It perceived, thought, reacted. In Jaga's hand, it
became an extension of his own nervous system, expanding his perception,
thinking parallel to him, enhancing his reactions. Together they were less
weapon and weilder than a lethal unstoppable team.
But even this was not the sword's greatest
secret, or Bast-Et's greatest gift. That mystery, while tied to the Eye, rested
not in it, but in Jaga's own veins. There, along with his own blood, flowed a
strain of microscopic organisms fashioned from the same material as the Eye.
They increased his metabolism, improved oxygen use, sped healing, increased his
strength and reduced his reaction time.
As he passed among his people, this organism
spread from him to others, and then to others from them. It would take a year
or two before every possible Thundercat was exposed, but when that time came, a
signal would pass from the sword to the population, activating the technology
dwelling within them. Then every member of his race would find themselves
possessed of enhanced physical abilities...and gold-flecked red eyes.
Powering these millions of people would be a
tremendous drain on the sword's energy-processing capabilities. The
earth-shaking feats that had so-impressed the mutants would not be possible
after this. But the combat aspects would not be affected, and there were other
compensations. After the change, Jaga would be able to issue a summons via the
Eye, which any Thundercat in reasonable range would feel, even if they could
not see the sigil in the sky above. But even more importantly, he could then
use the sword to invoke what Bast-Et had called "sight beyond sight".
With this, he would be able to look through the eyes of any Thundercat, seeing
whatever they saw.
Of course, it took more than one man to win a
war. Jaga looked across the room to a case lying by the dresser. In it lay the
other gifts of Bast-Et, one for each of the noble houses of Thundera. Tomorrow,
he would be on his way to the equatorial forests to deliver the first of them
to Gideon, Lord of Panther Clan.
He heard the chamber door open and looked
towards it. Chetnya stepped into the room, dressed in a silken dancing gown.
She was an exotic cheetah beauty, tall and shapely. She had a fearless nature,
a razor wit, a brilliant intellect. She had been Claudis' personal assassin
until today; now she was his personal assistant and bodyguard. She closed the
door and smiled at him.
"Are you ever coming down?" she
asked, then spotted a folded piece of paper on the bed. She picked it up and
glanced at Jaga. When he raised no objection, she opened it and began to read.
“Lord Defender”
“House Panther bids you welcome and prays safe travel to you. A welcoming ceremony has been
prepared in your honor. Lord Gideon looks forward to your arrival.”
Chetnya frowned. Jaga said, "You noticed
it too."
"'Lord Defender' rather than 'Lord
Jaga'," she replied. "They address the office, not the person."
Jaga sighed. "Claudis warned me about
this. The ancient nobility will not warm quickly to a young upstart, backed by
the Lord of the Thundercats himself."
Chetnya approached him, resting her hand on
his shoulder. Her breath smelled faintly of wine and mint. "They'll see
soon enough."
Jaga smiled at her, nodded, then looked back out the window. Chetnya stood there a
moment longer, than took her hand from his shoulder and left the room, a little
disappointed.
Jaga gazed up at the night sky, and wondered.
********
She looked out at the starscape from the
portal aboard Bast-Et's vessel. One of those flickering lights was her homeworld
of Thundera, now light-years away. In another few days, it would be obscured
completely, left behind her forever.
She thought of Jaga. She had witnessed, via
the Eye, the battle for
Even so, her heart was heavy, but not for
Jaga. It was those coming generations for whom she grieved.
She knew now why those Man had called
"Missionaries" had come to this galaxy.
She knew now why Man had fled, abandoning his
offspring races to endless war and destruction.
She looked now in the direction of a galaxy
so distant, even hyperspatial travel required thousands of years to traverse
the intervening space. Eighty to a hundred years, no more than that. Then Thundercat
and Mutant alike, all the Sons of Man, must have reached a sufficient peace to
allow them to face the approaching storm together. Otherwise, none of them
would survive.
She shuddered.
The Kr'Lai were
coming.
--The Beginning--
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