Nikanatedanniell

Chapter 45 Divide and Conquer

The bone-chilling laugh that came from the male's sneer brought a cold realization to Niel's confused mind. He shot Nikki a questioning stare. She had her arms folded, was standing stiffly, legs shoulder width with a disgusted, somewhat bored look. She took a deep breath and explained.

"He faked his death. He obviously has always had a much stronger connection with the Eye than Loboth. But for some reason, he could not kill the male, so faked his own death.  Then, he waited for us to do his dirty work.

"Part of the way I learned so many languages was to listen to patterns and sounds, not just words. I noticed that each person has his own way of saying words and uses favorite groups of words. This morning, I thought I had heard the voice giving the century old speech before. Not just from the teaching cube. It was not until we approached this island without being shot at that I realized when and where."

"Excellent Nikana," Mordok swept his arms out in an exaggerated half bow. "If I had not recognized your mother in your features, I would have in your observations. Korene never missed a detail."

"Cool," Nikki deadpanned. "There is one detail I am missing. Why did you have to wait all this time? Why did you not take Loboth out first? You could have had direct access to the Eye and been powerful enough by now that we would never have started a revolt let alone made it this far."

"I have not been waiting," he sounded amused. His sneer softened almost to a smile. "I have been ruling. I will explain, but first, please, sit down. Have some refreshment.  I do not believe you have eaten lunch. I have fish, bread and fruit compote to eat and fresh water to drink. Simple yes, but fitting with the surroundings, no?"

Niel hesitated. "Emperor Mordok," he said, "if you truly are Mordok, you are not to be trusted. How do we know the food is safe?"

Nikki sat right down and grabbed a roll. "He needs something from us," she said as she chewed. "He has a purpose for us or he would not have gone through all this."

Niel slowly sat and gingerly sampled a piece of fish.  "Not bad," he admitted.

Mordok settled onto the third chair. He chided. "You call yourselves Followers yet you have such a minute vision.  The four members of the Godhead all have eternal sight. They visualize the entirety of existence." He reached his arm skyward. "From the universal expanse," as his arm dropped to eye level his fingers and thumb came tightly together, "to the tiniest subatomic entity." As he continued, he raised his open hands high above his head and slowly brought his palms together at chest level. "Past, present, future, beginning, middle, end, they are all the same. They see it. I have seen it. Just the smallest bit, mind you. It is all there in the Eye of Angels. All that knowledge is there just waiting to be taken and used, concept by concept.

"I realized when I was young that Father God is God because he has all knowledge. It seemed a simple thing then to become a god. All one had to do was amass knowledge until one had the sum total of it and then use it to good advantage.  A simplification I assure you, but then life is simple when one is young. As I grew, I searched out knowledge in all places. I lived a life as close to perfect obedience as I could, counting on the Father to give me more knowledge.

"I had it seemed reached a saturation of information.  Oh, I could have learned how to operate this particular piece of machinery or make this certain casserole, but I knew all the theories and had others to do the actual work, so learning the mundane seemed useless. Then I met Kart Loboth. He was officiating in the temple I attended. Are you surprised Danniell? The idea that I am a believer is incongruent with what you know of either the hideously evil Emperor or the vacillating Senior Senator, no?"