them all together like that?' The old man smiled. 'Dorland and the others were accustomed to taking risks.' His hand lifted unconsciously to his cheek and touched the deep scar that slanted across his face. 'Dorland knew that all he had to do was show them the kra'ith of humankind.'
'It was that simple?'
212 William Greenleaf
'Well. . . no,' the old man admitted. 'They hadn't come to hear about the kra'ith. But they had come to find the secrets of the Tal Tahir. Dorland showed them the kra'ith and enabled them to realize for themselves the importance of a lasting peace. The rest of it grew from that.' In truth, there had been many who hadn't believed the Treaty of Clarion would last a week, and it had certainly gone through some shaky trials. But the treaty had in fact lasted eighty years, and was stronger today than ever. During that time the Fringe Alliance and UNSA had grown together in mutual strength.
'What happened to High Elder Brill and the rest of the elders?' Danita asked.
'Alban Brill was old. Losing his hold over Clarion was too much for him. He died a few months after the treaty was signed. Elder Jacowicz died shortly after, but by his own hand. The rest of them moved back to Fairhope. Some became good
friends of mine over time.'
'When was the university built?'
'After the treaty was signed. Dorland Avery's first students graduated a year later.'
'You were in that class, weren't you?'
'Yes.' The old man had graduated in Clarion University's first class along with all the other original Sons of God. Most of them were dead by now, but during their lifetimes they had formed a strong kra'ith and had succeeded in negotiating peaceful ends to thousands of conflicts along the stream. Others, like the old man, had instructed countless more at the university to take their places.
Dorland Avery and Paul Jurick both had lived long enough to see their plans succeed. All along the vastness-of the stream, humankind had not experienced the horrors of war in over sixty
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standard years. That was Elli's legacy—lasting peace for the first time in humankind's history. Danita sighed a young girl's long, deep sigh. 'I wish I could have known them like you did.
Dorland Avery, Paul Jurick, Jacque Hakim, Karyn DiMemmo. They were special people.'
'Yes,' he said. 'They were.' He and Paul Jurick had become the best of friends during their long careers at the university. *
'What happened to the Elli disk and the chauka?'
'They were turned over to UNSA archaeologists,' the old man answered. 'We learned more from the Tal Tahir than how to live in peace. As far as I know, the chauka is still working, although I haven't heard anything of it in years.' He paused, thinking. 'We didn't need it here. As Elli had said, it was time for a new order on the planet, and Dorland was able to find it in his own way.'
'With Elli's help,' Danita pointed out.
'Yes,' he admitted with a smile. 'But in the end, the human kra'ith worked out the Treaty of Clarion. Humans have to solve human problems. Gods can't do that for us. Elli was smart enough to know that was the way it would have to be.'
