Chapter 10: Viewpoint

Eta Boötis 4, 6712 AD

He stood alone on top of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. Far below him, the azure waves of the Coral Sea crashed against the black volcanic rock, the sound echoing through the emptiness. In the west, the last remnants of evening still brightened the summer sky, and to his left, the blazing star of Arcturus was just peeking above the trees that dotted his little island, shining strongly enough to cast a faint shadow. The wind brought with it the smell of seaweed and salt.

For four millennia, this had been his home. For four millennia, he had carried his burden.

Four thousand years ago, he had condemned them to barbarism. A hundred thousand individuals were not enough to sustain a technological civilization. A colony the size of a small city didn’t have enough experts to support every facet of its society when they suddenly and without warning were permanently cut off from the rest of the galaxy.

They hadn’t been entirely without experts, of course. There had been a team of xenobiologists stationed at Millertown Base, and there had been more than enough computer technicians available. But what use were any of them when the first fusion reactor failed? None of them knew how to repair it. It would have been like asking a brain surgeon to repair a car. It didn’t matter how good they were at their jobs if the task they were assigned to fell outside their field of competence.

Fortunately, the loss of a fusion reactor hadn’t mattered much—the people of New Caribbean still had wind power.

A generation later, the last turbine ground to a halt because there was no one left who understood the concept of an electromagnet. Then the steam engines ceased to function, and the waterwheels no longer spun. Iron turned to bronze, and bronze to flint.

Through it all, Myan Lami was there. Walking among his people, he did what he could to cushion the fall. While he couldn’t stop civilization as a whole from collapsing, he could still be there for the individuals affected by his choice. He guided and helped to the best of his abilities.

But in the end, New Caribbean was no more. The people of the Terran colony on Eta Boötis 4 eventually forgot where they had come from. They even forgot the name of their own world. History became rumor, and rumor transformed into myth.

Moving between the islands of the Coral Sea—and later between the nations that arose on the three continents of the world—whenever it became apparent to those around him that his lack of aging was unnatural, he hid his true nature as he lived among the inhabitants of Newca, slowly guiding them back to a modern society, but on a path he hoped would allow them to avoid the bigotry and hate that had once condemned their parent civilization.

First he was the Oracle, then the Wise Man, and centuries later, the Philosopher. Of all the names he had gone by, the latter was the one he had liked the most.

For the first half millennium, he had been convinced he had done the right thing. But Ellie had scolded him for his deed, and eventually, he had come to see that she might have been right. Privately, he admitted he could have been wrong.

No, not wrong to do something. Standing up against the racism and lies that had permeated the Terran Federation near the end had not been wrong. Ellie and the other Special Agents agreed with him on that. But his actions had been too rash, too extreme, and they had not only doomed the colonists of Eta Boötis to four thousand years of barbarism, but had also almost exposed the Special Agents themselves.

It was possible it had not been worth it. He still believed it had been, but one day, the people of Newca would have to judge his actions, and he wasn’t sure the outcome would be favorable.

But it didn’t matter. He still had to live with his choice. The well-being of the people of Eta Boötis 4 was his responsibility, and for four millennia, he had protected them diligently.

It had been a lonely life. For the first few thousand years, he had enjoyed the company of the biologicals surrounding him, fleeting as their lives were. Friendships had been forged and lost in the blink of an eye, swept away by the indomitable current of time. Then, as the people of Newca began to rediscover technology, he had retreated, fearful that their newfound understanding of science and engineering would eventually expose his secret identity.

For the past five hundred years, he had neither seen nor spoken to another human being, except for the handful of Special Agents who still came to visit him from time to time.

He had come to cherish those calls more and more over the years. Myan Lami cared nothing for food. Throughout his long life, he had never eaten unless it was necessary to maintain cover. But when Ellie came to talk to him, she always brought pastries from faraway worlds, and over the centuries, their little talks over coffee became a lifeline he looked forward to more than he had ever thought possible.

Myan looked up at the sky. The tropical night arrived quickly, and it was noticeably darker now. Up there, he could see a thousand stars glittering in the heavens. It was comforting to think of those pinpricks of light as messages from his friends, still out there, serving on countless worlds orbiting a myriad of stars. Every beam of starlight was a physical connection to the wider galaxy he had been lost to for eons.

His vigilance would soon be over. In a generation or two, his people would once more touch the vacuum of space. They were close now, close to the technology that had doomed their predecessors. But this time, he would allow them to make their own choices.

Because out there, the Terran Federation was no more. Despite the close call his severance of the colony of New Caribbean had been for the Special Agents, their plans had not been exposed. They had continued on their path, silently watching over the soul of the Federation. And when that soul had been blackened and corrupted beyond recovery, they had stood in support of the people—the ordinary people of all the races—who had demanded that it be torn down.

The Terran Federation was no more. Up there, every glinting light he saw in the night sky now belonged to the Interstellar Council of Worlds, stretching to the limits of his enhanced vision and beyond.

The secrecy surrounding New Caribbean had fallen with the Terran Federation. To the worlds of the Interstellar Council, Eta Boötis was off-limits not because the events that had transpired here were a threat, but out of respect for its people.

They were waiting out there. Ten thousand worlds were waiting for the citizens of Newca to join them, when they were ready. If they wanted to.

If they were ready. He wasn’t sure they were.

Myan Lami longed for the day when he himself could shed the façade and reveal himself to his people.

Soon, he thought longingly. Just a few more generations.

Soon I’ll get to rejoin my friends.

Author's Note

The story you're reading is one of many set in the Lords of the Stars universe I've been creating over the past 30 years, where familiar characters and places reappear, and new favorites await discovery. Check out my profile to explore more stories from this universe.

While all my Lords of the Stars stories are standalone and can be read in any order, some of them can be considered prequels or sequels to Guardian of the Wolf. Perhaps you’d like to know what happened to Myan during his early years, the events that shaped him and drove him to do what he did? If so, Soldiers of Heart and Steel and its direct sequel Choices of Steel are a great place to start. Or maybe you want to know more about what eventually happened at Eta Boötis? From My Point of View tells the story of Newca. And if you’re interested in learning more about Ellie, Conscience of Steel, which takes place during the fall of the Terran Federation, might be right for you.

Visit the official Lords of the Stars blog for more information about this hard sci-fi universe: https://lordsofthestars.wordpress.com

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