Spatium Upended--A Trilogy, page 11
A significant number of Êlkê believed in the Deracination Theory, which argued that all Êlkâr life began in a faraway planet and then planted as a temporary solution on Žøêrhâ pending Ńxhæ's final victory over Qûæ and her fierce rival army.
The ideological and sociocultural gulf between the subspecies further deepened during these once-in-a-decade elections, which were rightfully accorded all of the seriousness they deserved. It was the default state of affairs, notwithstanding the subspecies being phenotypically homogenous.
It was safe to say that the subspecies-led electioneering campaigns presented an opportunity for the subspecies to sharpen their contrasting ideologies while maintaining mutual respect and admiration.
Granted, every Žøêrhâ decade, the Êlkâr rotated elections between the predominant subspecies, this decade, it fell on the Êlkê to elect their leadership. With their well-documented exploits at the recently concluded Spirâ festival, the Qÿêø cultists were on course to sweep the elections but not if the traditional Êlkê orthodoxy had any say in it. It was indeed far from being a forgone conclusion.
Zÿœhń nominated herself and also her ruling team in waiting. She then took this team to the Êlkê people.
Employing her wide-ranging contacts and adherents of the Qÿêø cultists’ metaphysical ideology, she was able to secure local Ńxhæ worship centers on ÊlkêQî. She meant to use them as øûhçæ hubs—electioneering campaigns—for her ambitious plan to be the ultimate voice for all of the Êlkê subspecies.
Before the current dispensation, only scholars and fellows from the Bûreö were nominated and then elected to serve at the Hÿxï. These were the trained Êlkê students who become fluent in the Êlkên specific øûhçæ hum patterns, while also attaining top-level expertise in hyper-quantum mechanics and astrophysics. In so doing, they figured this gave their elected representatives an equal or, at a bare minimum, a reasonable level of participation in the policies being debated and implemented at the Hÿxï.
They now set the stage for a bitter and perhaps consequential battle of wits between, as Zÿœhń puts it, faith and dogma. She believed they were carrying out the commands of Ńxhæ and her anointed army of loyal Ÿâzêø. She assumed an interplanetary intercession from Vrâê would seal the deal and swing the election in her favor.
To kick this into gear, the Qÿêø cultists had embarked on a month-long Lâtøî mission. It was where they sought and then literally interfered with active çwûž spectrum connections.
Their biological irises, besides brimming with nûhç-centric-telepathic, non-verbal cues and abilities, also possessed highly active and polarized electromagnetic fields and properties.
The Lâtøî missions served a dual purpose; firstly, it kept the dedicated Êlkên Èligô monitoring task force busy putting out fires from malfunctioning infrastructure that were all run and powered by çwûž force spectrum variants. Secondly, the Qÿêø cultists had something to which to point; they could distinguish themselves from their opposition—see, we are not just nesting as fungi-heads; we are taking them on and disrupting their reign over us.
It was perhaps a more substantive argument as it was easy to pit the subspecies against one other. The Êlkê essentially considered the Êlkên subspecies, their sworn rivals, and oppressors and that remained the bottom line.
The Bûreö's top strategist and head, Ôxbâ was determined to expose Zÿœhń and her Qÿêø cultists as nothing more than that pseudoscientists and charlatans who had perverted the essence of Ńxhæ and the majesty of her kingdom at the expense of their unbridled quest for power and domination.
Just like Zÿœhń, Ôxbâ had also secured the use of the Ńxhæ temples as venues to stump for their nominated candidates for the Hÿxï.
THE FIRST OPEN air debates saw both camps taking to the skies and over secure nûhç privacy corridors. They intentionally secured them using their unique, ńœhæ embedded bio identifiers to prevent eavesdropping by the ever-present Êlkên youth brigade. They then sought to woo the gathered Êlkê electorate as to who best deserved their trust.
Zÿœhń and her fellow cultists could see that the Bûreö was almost always and without exception, elected to represent them at the Hÿxï. It was the prima facie outcome they have come to expect. She advocated for a radical change, which on its face was considered heretical by the orthodoxy amongst the Ńxhæ adherents.
The stage was set for the Êlkê subspecies to determine its path forward—Ńxhæ as seen from the eyes of Ôxbâ and the Bûreö or would it be Zÿœhń and her Qÿêø cultists with their interpretation of Ńxhæ's power as fiery, punitive, and vengeful.
“Qûæ isn't in a loop somewhere.” Zÿœhń contended, referring to the fact that Qûæ being an invisible and higher energy force field, never fell asleep as did the Êlkâr. “She will not quietly go out and into the night without eliminating Ńxhæ and every last of her majesty's Ÿâzêø and you all know it!” She added emphatically.
“What we are up against is not just the fight between purity of faith and resolve on one camp over the other, tethered on the trenches of the endless void.” She hammered away in the secured nûhç corridor, with the iris in her æńê sharp as a knife and cutting into the crowd, engrossed and reacting to the intensity and passion behind her hum. “Instead, what belies this insurgency is the quest for the future of what it means to be an Êlkê in a world dominated by hbâz, Vÿxhî and all of these barren Êlkên.” She continued forcefully and spiritedly. “How much more faithless do we have to be, to allow these barren souls, with no link whatsoever with the source of life, her majesty, Ńxhæ, to continue to determine what it means to be an Êlkâr?” She banked her wing, reducing her flight altitude in the process.
Her piercing eye spun around in her æńê as it scanned the thousands of gathered Êlkê subspecies in the Ńxhæ temple.
She then instinctively glanced over at Ôxbâ. He froze mid-flight by the podium where he has been hovering.
“You know this to be true, Ôxbâ.” She concluded her nûhç speech as a seemingly captivated audience below now turned their attention to Ôxbâ.
They were eager to hear anything that would soothe their flailed nerves, the uncertainty around their future, especially with the conjoined moons recently separated. The Êlkên subspecies pushing science and all of its outcome to the limits seemed to be doing the same to the anxious Êlkê psyche.
A consensus was that the exploits of the Êlkên in the fields of science and especially space research and robotics not only pushed them farther from the protection of Ńxhæ but may have inadvertently succeeded in handing over the reins to the øāńx and other machine types which they helped create.
The typical Êlkê has no illusion over the efficacy of these øāńx, and they referred to them. They had acknowledged the øāńx were eons way smarter than the Êlkên, whom were considered bright in the first place.
Ôxbâ engaged the audience at the designated Ńxhæ temple by reminding them of what was really at stake. A Bûreö's continued rule of lasting peace, he had argued, allowed the Êlkê to be left alone to worship in harmony. This he maintained, contrasted with the potential of Qÿêø cultists led rule, which will most certainly force the Êlkên to legislate their faith and how they were allowed to exercise it.
He landed atop the transparent lectern then activated a secure telepathic privacy corridor.
Some of the present Êlkê subspecies rejected the secure key and opted out, rather taking to the sky and flying out of the temple. About several hundred from the gathered group had left after Zÿœhń's speech.
It was not the start for which the Ôxbâ had hoped. He had his work cut out, he reasoned.
“What's truly at stake here isn't what separates us but what binds us together.” He began while slowly scanning the large silo from side to side.
“An impassioned and fiery rhetoric, mixed with an impatient disposition might accord us short-lived gains but we will surely be the worse for it in the long term.” He added, rather passionately. “What do I mean? Think of it this way; the Tœmńâk will never surrender power to the Êlkê. They would rather the extinction of our civilization than for that to occur.” He seemed to have gotten their attention.
All eyes remained peeled on him.
“Zÿœhń means well, clearly she's one of us. What she doesn't bring to the conversation is the fact that I, both in my capacity as head of the Bûreö and elected representative, have more insight into the working minds of the Êlkên and by extension, the Tœmńâk, than the Qÿêø could ever hope to bring. These are the facts.” He added calmly but emphatically.
Zÿœhń had heard enough. She suddenly lunged in the air and, in a crazed fashion, briskly flew to the top of the dome-like temple. With all attention on her, she again engaged the audience within the secured nûhç spectrum.
“I beg to differ but the Bûreö has been responsible for sending representatives to the Hÿxï for the past several million mûlêvâ. Has it stopped the barren Êlkên from acting as they saw fit? I ask you my noble Êlkê, has it eased any of your tensions about our collective future as a civilization?” She then slowly eased her wings and fluttered downwards. “Of course not, it hasn’t,” She added as she slowly landed on the transparent lectern besides Ôxbâ. “We can pretend it doesn't matter and continue to send more of these Êlkên imposters back to the Hÿxï.” She added referring to the Bûreö's philosophy of training Êlkê politicians and tacticians in the ilk of their Êlkên opponents. “Or we can do what the Qÿêø leadership has proposed—tuck-in our wings, regroup and fight. The barren Êlkên will only respond to strength and you all know it.” She stepped down from the lantern, lunged in the air, and hovered over the crowd.
“I'm going to close by reminding you all of what has inspired this run. What bought us here was not some empty ambition and quest for power by any means necessary. What brought us here was the continued blatant disregard for our opinion, our valid input as again demonstrated in the recent sacrilegious act of diving up the Vøhçû-œ twins.” She concluded, rather solemnly, referring to the splitting up of Vøhçû-œ's conjoined moons.
“Ńxhæ creates and only her majesty can divide. The barren Êlkên can play the Almighty all they want, they can never be measure up to her infinite reign and power.” She added, rather emphatically.
There were muffled sounds of wings fluttering, signifying accordance with her petition.
“They clearly vouch for Qûæ and the endless void. We can't be partners with that! We have to forge our own part. We can do it! Let's do it for the billions of souls looking up to the void from billions of light-years away from the hñêø Nebula.” She said as eyes remained peeled on her. “Their only hope is what happens to our civilization. They are relying on us not to be of weak æńê. They are depending on us to win for all the millions of planets, suns and their clusters, dotted across Ńxhæ's beautiful galaxy. Win we must!” She ended rather forcefully.
It was now clear to Ôxbâ and every member of the Bûreö present that this was not going to be business as usual. They did expect Zÿœhń to be a formidable opponent, but nothing prepared them for the passion and conviction shown by her during this first sparring session with the Qÿêø cultists. It was clear they needed a more powerful and more compelling message and overall strategy.
A SIGNIFICANT ŒLÊV had passed since the incident beneath the White River. Øicârô had returned to work but with a—clipped wing—Vÿxhî had put him under intense scrutiny and surveillance. He had denied having anything to do with what transpired during the festival and maintained he was indeed a victim himself; Vÿxhî did not buy any of it. She found his explanations unsatisfactory, especially as they related to what he was doing there in the first place. Ôhrâç had made sure to emphasize this point when he delivered his report.
He was stripped of his very high-security clearance and ordered to report daily at the very junior Êlkên brigade precinct, headed by Ôhrâç, himself, one of the Êlkên secretly tasked with watching him. Vÿxhî had personally told him that she would consider reinstating his rank and status only after Qâhnâ was found and safely returned home.
This punitive development did not sit well with a few øāńx types that were loyal to him. It triggered an uneasy discord as a result.
SOMEWHERE IN ÊLKÊQÎ, Qâhnâ was being moved again to a new undisclosed location. An increasingly paranoid Zÿœhń restricts to a tiny and trusted circle, the number of Qÿêø cultists delegated to her watch.
Having had time to mull over what transpired beneath the White River, it was clear Zÿœhń had orchestrated the entire episode—from her abduction right until the induced pregnancy. Øicârô provided the required male protein enzymes necessary to kickstart the reproductive process within her.
In this regard, Qÿêø used him as nothing more than an enzyme supplier. Qâhnâ, meanwhile, remained in a pregnancy-induced hibernation.
It was escalation as never had occurred in Žøêrhâ. Zÿœhń was setting her markers and forcing Vÿxhî to come out and play in her game. She was defining the battle rules before her opponent had any chance to partake in them.
What could this mean for the Qÿêø cultists and their cause?
The raw implications of both Qâhnâ and Øicârô birthing an infant fungus could send shockwaves across the entire Žøêrhâ-sphere.
It would abruptly terminate lives without any hopes of attaining âhjâ while also threatening the esteemed positions and the prestige of an erstwhile aristocratic Êlkên.
Notwithstanding the rationale for abducting Qâhnâ, Zÿœhń was dead set on seeing it through. Her life and those of her fellow cultists depended on not letting up. Qâhnâ, in the meantime, remained in hibernation, unaware of the intense controversy and politics surrounding her pregnancy and unborn fungus.
Zÿœhń had made sure to disengage her çwûž communication apparatus. It interfered with her vital Êlkên-only geo-positional antennas, thereby rendering her tracking system blind and her seekers completely lost whenever they initiated any sophisticated tracking regime.
In all of Žøêrhâ, she was the most sought after Êlkâr, and Zÿœhń knew this to be the case. Vÿxhî had put together a small but competent team that had eyes all over ÊlkêQî and every other continent where the Êlkê subspecies lived and worked.
They had briefly captured Zÿœhń and quizzed her about Qâhnâ's whereabouts. She emphatically denied ever coming in contact with her. She then sarcastically suggested perhaps she had been abducted by one of Ńxhæ's impetuous Ÿâzêø as payback for her mother undoing the Vøhçû-œ twin moons.
Knowing fully well they had ratcheted up surveillance on her, Zÿœhń made a calculated decision to delegate a trusted Qÿêø cultist named Rœhš to Qâhnâ's watch. She then threw herself back into campaigning and trying to sway public opinion and potentially votes in her favor.
The Tœmńâk kept a close eye on the heightened political activity going on in and around ÊlkêQî. At other times, they considered this a foregone conclusion; this time, however, was different.
The Tœmńâk was first shocked by the Êlkê acquiring some capability that could interfere with their highly complex, çwûž based infrastructure. It was especially troubling seeing how this technology essentially powered their civilization and all of its allied technologies.
Several recent reports of more minor incidences and the fact that Qâhnâ went completely black—in çwûž-tracking terms, had raised serious questions about the exact type of capabilities the Êlkê had acquired and if there was an extraterrestrial or alien component to it.
THE BÛREÖ HAD a high-level security clearance as active members of the Hÿxï. It allowed them to hop on spaceships that flew Ôxbâ and his team to any of Žøêrhâ's moons that had Êlkê population living and working alongside the Êlkên and øāńx types.
Zÿœhń and the Qÿêø cultists protested this as an unfair advantage. However, the Tœmńâk countered by reminding them of the Bûreö's access as current and active members of the governing Hÿxï.
Even with this apparent advantage, the Qÿêø cultists appeared to be gaining new followers. A secret poll conducted by a special øāńx brigade, working clandestinely amongst the Êlkê, discovered and then reported this back to the Tœmńâk.
Vÿxhî knew she had to escalate this contentious and potentially treacherous situation; otherwise, risk allowing this out-of-control cult to derail millions of mûlêvâ of progress made by her ancestors before her.
Retiring to her hœç that night, all she could think about was Qâhnâ. She missed her terribly. Strands of golden orange-colored tears streamed down the side of her imposing æńê as the loop picked up the pace and pulled her into a sleep-induced hibernation.
Having discovered an angle to steer the face-off with Zÿœhń and her cultists, she timed the loop to wake her up a few hours before she usually did as she had a big meeting planned the following day with Ôxbâ and the entire Bûreö team.
THE NEXT MORNING, Vÿxhî had summoned Ôxbâ and his entire team.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice.” She started the meeting that took place at her office on the delegate silo of the Hÿxî. “I'm certain you all know where we are.” She added, referring to the Hÿxî being their primary place of work.
“That would be an affirmative.” A visibly irritated Ôxbâ panned the silo, trying to appease his equally irritated comrades. “You didn’t mention what this was about” He ventured.
“If they send you back to the Hÿxï, the Tœmńâk has agreed to nominate you as the leader of the Êlkê High Council to the Tœmńâk. No preconditions.” She replied, stunning the silo with the grant proposal.
Ôxbâ and the entire Bûreö team were left speechless. He eagerly accepted the proposal and hurriedly excused themselves from the meeting and then back on the campaign trail.
If Vÿxhî thought this was a winner, she underestimated by how much. The Bûreö were back on top, and the chatter amongst all manner of Êlkê subspecies was that Ôxbâ arm-twisted Vÿxhî and came home with a well-earned win for his fungi subspecies. His stock rose, and it did not take long for Zÿœhń to catch wind of the situation.
