have it stolen by someone else."
"Then we won't have it at First Pass?" mumbled D'Alams in bewilderment. "But . . . but..." his jowls
jiggled in dismay, "if we don't produce the Sword ... we can't get the people to . . ."
"We'll fight for the right to rule," replied Mitsuyama simply.
"Fight?" boomed Odobo. He stood and strode forward. "Fight? Is Andretti ready for us, Seeker?"
The young man nodded. "Very ready." His eyes narrowed as he focused on Odobo. The huge man
blinked twice and shook his head.
"I ... well, damnit, then, it'll be a bloodbath!" Odobo turned and jabbed his finger at Mitsuyama.
"You've known this all along! You've let us think we could win this thing peacefully!"
Mitsuyama nodded calmly. "I wasn't sure until just recently. But I've always assumed Andretti
wouldn't step aside without a struggle." His voice became harder, with a vicious edge to it. "And you've
all known it too! What the hell do you think we've been training an army for? Parade ground maneuvers?
To pass in review before the Free Council? As an honor guard for Andretti?
"Fools!" he spit the word out contemptuously. "There never was any choice! A few of you dreamed
of it. But the reality has always been the same. If we wish to rule, we must rip power from the Free
Council's grip!"
"But the Mushin," wailed D'Alams.
The PlainsLord shifted his focus to Edwyr. "Answer that idiot for me, Seeker. You understand. I
don't intend to destroy the Great Way. Just rule it and the 'hoods."
Edwyr looked at D'Alams. The fat man was so upset, he didn't feel a thing as the Seeker's eyes
bored into his. The slight displacement the other's mind suffered was lost in the man's own confusion.
"Lord Mitsuyama," he began to explain, "means that the people in the 'hoods will stay at their jobs,
holding the mind leeches, no matter who rules Kensho. I think his estimate of their dedication is accurate.
Even without the Free Council, the task would continue. Jerome so ordained it."
Mitsuyama acknowledged the Seeker's comment with a sardonic nod. "Thank you. You have more
sense than all of these put together. You're quite certain Andretti will fight but can he put up much
resistance? Surely you Seekers won't fight by his side?"
"No, we won't. But he'll put up quite a 'resistance,' as you call it, just the same. From what I've seen
of your Avengers, I'd judge it a close contest."
"Ah, yes, I'd forgotten you've had experience with our soldiers. So then, my Lords, you see I am
justified in my actions! Andretti will try to impose his rule by force!"
Dembo stood to speak to them all. "Yes, my Lord! I know Andretti better than any of you. I've been
with the man many times, talked to him, dealt with him. He's a fanatic. He's capable of doing anything for
the Great Way." He rounded suddenly on Edwyr. "And you and all the rest in the 'hoods aid and help
him to force all of us to follow the Great Way! If you had your say, you'd condemn all of us to walk the
path you follow!"
"I ask no one to do anything. And as for forcing anyone to follow either the Sword or the Great
Way, that's clearly impossible. The Way is the way to self-awareness. Each person must walk it on his
own. It can't be taught, only learned.
"True, the ultimate goal of the Way is the freedom of every human being on Kensho. But that can't be
forced. Jerome found it, but only for himself. The Great Way, even the Way of the Sword, is nothing
more than a pointing in the right direction. Each individual must achieve his own freedom, must arrive at
the beginning, back to where he was born, on his own. Only then, only when each has transformed
himself, will all be transformed."
Dembo sneered. "Very nice. Very pretty, Seeker. But you tend to ignore what Andretti is actually
doing."
"Andretti represents Andretti. He is doing what Andretti is doing. It may or it may not have anything
to do with the Way. Each individual must judge that for himself."
"But the President of the Free Council will not let every one judge for himself," Dembo said
triumphantly. "He seeks to impose his judgment on all of Kensho. 'Steader, settler, Seeker, Sister and
Brother, PlainsLord, all alike must bow to him. But we cry out 'No! We will not be forced!' Can you
deny the rightness of our position? With your own mouth you've said the Way doesn't force us. You've
claimed all of us must judge for ourselves. The only conclusion I can draw from that is that Andretti does
not follow the Way!"
"Father Andretti understands what he is capable of Understanding. There's more in the Way than he'll
ever know. More than you, little puppet, will ever comprehend." Edwyr smiled as he spoke, but Dembo
still flushed strongly with anger at his words. "I can't talk with you about something you can't even
conceive of. Cut your strings, come with me and follow the Sword. Then we might speak and exchange
something meaningful. But now . . ."he shrugged.
"Then talk to me, Seeker," hissed Jimson, his eyes bright with hatred. "I've walked your precious
Way. I know more than Dembo or Kondori, or D'Alams, or any of the rest!" The ex-Seeker stalked
forward, confronting Edwyr. Dembo, Odobo, even Kondori, moved out of his way, drifting silently back
to their places to watch.
The Seeker returned the renegade's glare with a solemn stare. His eyes widened slightly and Jimson
blinked, momentarily disoriented. He shook his head once and began pacing back and forth in front of
the seated man. "You lie," he said with contempt, "because the Way is a lie! An utter, malicious
deception! A false face on the rotten features of a corpse!
"Tell them, Seeker," he gestured widely at the seated Lords, "tell them the truth about what the Way
teaches those who walk it. Tell them of the Nothingness that underlies the reality we cling to. Let them
hear of the bottomless, empty abyss the mind and soul fall through for all eternity. Explain to them the
death of all that is and the birth of unending hopelessness." His voice dropped to an intense, hoarse
whisper that filled the room. "Tell them of the Void!"
Edwyr shrugged. "The world may very well be Nothingness," he answered quietly. "But anyone who
doesn't call this . . ." he struck the table with a resounding slap ... "a table, is a fool." Mitsuyama scowled.
A smile of almost-understanding flitted briefly over Kondori's lips. Odobo looked puzzled. The rest
stared blankly at the Seeker.
Jimson snarled, "But where then is hope, Seeker? Where then is the reason for virtue, for love, for
decency, for honesty? If everything is Nothing, what reason is there for even living?"
"After the rain there'll be a beautiful rainbow. Let's all go up on the roof and watch it."
The ex-Seeker stopped dead in his tracks and swirled to stare at Edwyr. For a moment he stood in
uncomprehending silence. Then he muttered angrily, "You play with me, you bastard!"
The man seated at the table shrugged again. "What else are words good for with you, Jimson? You
throw them at me, I catch them, and throw some back. I can't prove there's a reason for living by
discussing it with you any more than I can verbally prove the existence of atomic particles. If you don't or
can't experience it yourself, and if you refuse to accept my word for my experience of it, what have we
really to say to each other?"
"You're no better than anyone else! You eat and shit and sleep like all the rest of us! And you're just [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]