Kaldean Chronicles: Kaldean Sunset (Book I) Read Free Page A

do you think they chose that term?”
    “Because they believed that it was man's right to rule.”
    “No. It's not just that. That was what they said, but it's also because of the feeling that people get when they look out at the stars. It's a part of all of us, so many believe it to be sacred.”
    Antoni turned to Magnus. “I want to explore a planet.”
    “Out of the question,” the guard grunted.
    “We can't make that decision, Antoni. Eventually, when you are older you will be allowed more freedom, but you are far too young. You don't know what it's like out there.”
    “So this is the lesson. You want me to feel what it's like to want to explore.”
    “Yes, but why?”
    “So I can understand what people felt like before the Empire was established and the sentiment that led to its establishment. Can we leave?”
    “No, but you're right.”
    Antoni sighed. He didn't want to sit and look at something he couldn't have. It wasn't fair.
    “The people felt the same drive you do now, and it's hard. Isn't it? That's what it feels like to want to reach the stars, and I want you to understand that.”
    “Okay. What else then?”
    Cornel began tapping his foot softly. Antoni wanted to get up and sock him, and something told him that the guard would've let him, but he didn't. He just waited to hear what the old man had to say. “What is Artemis?”
    “Artemis is the artificial brain that was developed after the discovery of the particle that allows ships to fold space.”
    “Oh,” Cornel laughed. “It's so much more. Artemis has long been referred as a lesser deity because of its ability to surpass the cognitive reasoning of mankind. This set of quantum neurons, as they are called, can fit into a data stick the size of your thumb, which allows ships to move through the galaxy without being connected to a network. But that's not the most important thing about the brain. It is capable of clairvoyance, something that has alluded man for most of his history. It can sense things before they happen.”
    “And?”
    Cornel went on tapping his foot, and Antoni nearly stood up to stamp it down. “And there's a lesson to be learned. The human mind is not capable of foretelling the future, which is based on any number of factors, many of which we might not be aware of.”
    “What does that mean?” he prodded. At this point, the walls were getting closer, and Antoni just wanted to leave. This was pointless, and the old man's oratory style was grating on him.
    “That you can't be rash. You need to think everything through. You don't know what's going to happen. The Crusaders thought they ruled by divine right, and that they couldn't be overthrown, but they were. The republics of the twin systems and the Lorian Sisterhood thought they had built a Utopian society that would last forever, but it didn't. They didn't expect a coup. You don't know the future. Even Artemis, for all of its processing power, can only tell what's going to happen right before it happens.” The old man bent down and got in the rebellious boy's face. “Don't get cocky. Do things right, and remember that no ruler has been able to stop a rebellion if he goes too far and gets too sloppy. You don't know the future, but you can prepare for it.”
    The boy nodded his head and said, “It's time to leave.” The man was crazy.
    “Yes, it is.”

Chapter 3: Pacifism
    Antoni preferred to eat alone in his small recreation area. It was outfitted with a number of holographic projectors. He wasn't in the mood for much stimulation, so he decided to use a simple ancient library with walls of books and an old model of Earth. He'd seen one in a bookreader once, and had a model created so that he could visit it whenever he wanted to. He even added in a domed ceiling made of made of glass that gave him the perfect view of Earth's blue sky.
    He'd never been to the planet, but he had been told it was once a green wonderland, filled with various landscapes that ranged from