The Vindication of Man (The Eschaton Sequence) by John C. Wright

Author:John C. Wright [Wright, John C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780765381590
Amazon: 0765381591
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2016-11-21T23:00:00+00:00

3. The Hermeticist

Vigil Lord Hermeticist stood for a moment, unswaying, eyes upward, unable to continue. He commanded an internal to steel his resolve.

In a voice like a glacier of ice, implacable, unstoppable, he spoke:

“We of the Table are all selected from different constituents by different methods. Some are elected, some appointed, some commissioned, some must pass trials of combat or tests put by electors. My office is selected by two criteria. First, we must have passed to us from the commanding officer of the previous vessel her command codes intact, including the code that arms the self-destruction. Second, there is a psychological qualification, that the Lord Hermeticist must be willing to burn a planet just in the same fashion as the First Lord Hermeticist, Ximen the Black, commanding the first starship, was willing to do when the barbaric rulers of Eden in those days, before the Stability arose, refused to welcome the inbound star-faring vessel. My race and my line were accused of abridging that qualification, because we Strangers have the ability to carry an internal creature within us, which can be passed from father to son, hence our ability to pass the psychological test is inherited. You Pilgrims wanted this office under your control so that yours would be the last ship to reach Torment and so that your race would never be displaced by any later generations of immigrants.

“But none of your candidates could pass the crucial test, and all of my father’s house could pass. None of you are willing to destroy a world to preserve your honor. I am. I open the floor to any man who is willing to answer. Does anyone here doubt my intent?

“This Table must here and now, before I lower my arm, vote to direct the Lighthouse crew to direct the gravitic-nucleonic distortion pool in the photosphere of Iota Draconis to direct the proper percentage of the solar output of our star into the sails of the Emancipation.

“Delay, deny, or refuse, and I smite the table, which no other force in the universe can crack. Return to your duty, and I sheathe the sword with nothing further said.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.