Paul’s danger sense spiked, but the Zen’zat image raised a hand to wave off such concerns.
“I am a threat to you, because you have broken the barrier. Beforehand I could not affect you, nor speak to you in any way. I do not wish to possess your body, nor would I be qualified to use it. If I tried to do so now it would kill you. My people trained for more than 70 cycles to become conduits between us and our civilization, and it was the second greatest honor imaginable. You are a mere spec compared to them in this regard, and I do not seek to groom you into a replacement. Do not fear, I only wish to speak with you and help you through this transition. I had many teachers and regimens to guide me through it. You have nothing, and yet you have managed to spontaneously generate the breakthrough. I had started to believe it would not happen again in another race.”
“How many of you transitioned to this ethereal state?”
“I was the 217th, and there were 43 after me.”
“And how many Ska’kier were there?”
“More than we cared to count. Far more than your entire Star Force population combined, and spread over 28 galaxies with colonies in many more, such as this one.”
Paul’s jaw dropped. “What happened?”
“We fell, and when my Avatars were destroyed and there were no more Ke’lars to speak through, I was cut off from my people. I watched as they were destroyed and could do nothing about it. I could not die, and that has become my curse.”
“What about the others that are like you?”
“We are called Ju’en’xa, and I do not know where the others are. My position locks on them were lost when their Avatars or Ke’lars were destroyed. The Saiolum can stretch between individuals and maintain a conduit wherever they go. This is how we obtained instantaneous communication between galaxies, but the connection must be made in person, then the distance applied, or a splinter from an existing lock could be created. I had one to more than a third of the Ju’en’xa, but they were all lost. Where they are now I do not know.”
“Did you look?”
“Yes, but without a rendezvous point how can you find another? We have no standard communication to work with. We cannot touch technology. And we can only go where there is life enough to sustain the Saiolum. Our worlds laid barren afterwards, so I could not return to many of them. Those that I could held no Sha’kier with the ability to even remotely connect to the Saiolum, let alone a Ke’lar. I watched as the remnants of my civilization fell apart, forgot who they were, and eventually were ground into the dust of a forgotten history…”
8
“Civil war?” Paul guessed.
The image of the Zen’zat shook his head a firm ‘no.’ “The greater you rise in power, the greater a target you become to those who cannot face the reality of the universe. Their insecurity leads them to destroy all that doesn’t support their delusions. We always had enemies, but the ones that killed us came from outside our galaxies, and outside our patrol zones. They came from the unknown, and with a universe so vast that we cannot begin to chart it all, how can we monitor threats that we do not even know exist?”
“Who were they?”
“It’s best if you do not know their names. Ignorance is a shield, in some cases. But know that they are responsible for the scourge of the Hadarak, the Apocalypse Monsters, and many other obscenities that you have yet to encounter.”
Paul froze deadly still as the ramifications of that raced through his Sav-enhanced…and now otherwise enhanced…mind. “How old are you?”
“I have no way to measure time in the Saiolum, and during my travels I lost track of those who did, such as your Star Force. My age would be in the billions of your years.”
“So you predated the Hadarak?”
“Yes.”
“And you were in this galaxy?”
“We had a colony here, or to be more precise a series of colonies that operated as bases that allowed us to patrol this swirl of stars and to reach out further beyond. We did not own, nor defend this galaxy, but we did exist within it, though not I. I traveled here by piggybacking on the Hadarak, for there was no other way to cross the void after they consumed this galaxy and the neighboring ones. Those races advanced enough to do so were targeted early, and what you see now are mere peons in comparison…though I will give you credit for achieving more than that. Your Star Force is a seed that could grow into a great power one day, but if you do so you will become a target, though this is not new to you. Your history is a testament to overcoming such adversities, though never with any guarantees.”
“Wait,” Paul said, raising a hand for emphasis. “How much more time do we have?”
“Minutes.”
“Then I want to know how we are so far behind the more advanced races.”
“There are many facets to the universe. Essence was one that my race did not discover, in all of our time, nor did any we knew of. Likewise, there are facets that Star Force is unaware of. Many technological. In time, I will teach you some of them.”
Paul raised an eyebrow.
“I understand your skepticism,” Azoro said. “This is all new to you, but I have watched you and your empire for most of your history, and I have traveled with you for many thousands of years, watching your actions and your conscious thoughts, which are mirrored in the Saiolum. I
