Chapter 29 - The Accuser
Lord L stalked about the Great Hall, his mood much improved after Molech’s news. He had immediately sent a party to retrieve the girl, Naamah, who was rightfully under his authority now. He walked over to the great wall of scrolls lining the shelves in his private chamber and closed the massive doors shut. He needed to think—alone.
One by one he rolled his index finger across the scrolls searching. In them all the words of the Most High were written. These were his personal copies. After wrangling dominion of the third planet of the Orion Sector near the Pleiads away from that imbecile, Adam, he’d gone straight to the outer realm, marched into the courts of the Ancient One and demanded his copy of the Great Law.
“Public savagery and humiliation may be your tools,” he sneered at the Beloved in the midst of the High Council. “But I will defeat you peaceably, using your own words against you. You say you are just. Well, then let us see.”
He stormed out but not before he heard one of the elders ask—
“Why do you tolerate the rebellion of that satan? What gives him the right to come before us?”
“Elder Selahneia, he is the legal ruler of a colony planet. Our law states every planet must have representation before the Council and the right to address grievances before a jury of peers. Those are My words.”
“But this is ridiculous. We all know that devil’s intentions—”
“And steps have been taken to limit Lord L’s power—legally—until we rectify the situation permanently.”
“Elder Selahneia, as you know, the Watchers are in place,” another robed member of the Council said, his face long and serious. “They will make sure the boundaries are maintained. Meanwhile, all communication from other systems is strictly prohibited until the planet Adamah is fully reinstated.”
“That should suffice, I suppose. But, what of the inhabitants? That life-form, the human, was created for son-ship in the family. Shall they suffer needlessly under Lord L’s rule?”
“Your compassion speaks highly, Lord Selahneia. Even now, the plan to offer citizenship directly to the exiles is already in action.”
Lord Selahneia thought for a moment then chuckled as he pointed his finger as if the answer were in front of him all along. “Indeed, my Lord. That is clever. Citizens may appeal directly to the High Council and receive justice regardless of the planetary authority—Section 173.”
“Exactly. We honor his legal dominion while providing relief from it. You see my Father’s will in this now?” the Beloved said.
“Yes, it is most wise indeed. But under what grounds will citizenship be granted? The taint in Adam’s DNA continues in all successive generations. Citizenship by birthright is impossible.”
“Is it now? Dear Lord Selahneia, with our Father—nothing is impossible.”
###
After that Lord L lost track of the conversation as the Beloved led the elders into the innermost chambers of the Seat of Council. But what he’d heard during that visit was enough.
Now he racked through his scrolls, slipping them out of their cylinders one by one as they spiraled into transparent sheets and hovered in the air around him. He perused through them, scanning line upon line until he was satisfied. He won’t trick me again with one of His fancy maneuvers. The Great Leader scowled when remembered that fiasco with Adam—
The minions he’d sent to snatch the man’s essence from its casing were triumphant as they drug their hostage to Sheol.
“Well, what a surprise,” Lord L said as he approached Adam, “you finally died, about time too. Nine hundred and thirty years is too long for a fool.”
“Release me satan! You have no right—”
“I have every right slave.” He slapped that perfect face as hard as he could. The man before him buckled but did not bend. “I see you are still too proud to show proper respect to your master. That will soon change. You will address me as Lord—”
Before he could finish, a figure of light appeared before him.
“Ah, Beloved,” Lord L said mockingly with a deep bow, “so you finally decide to visit my humble abode. I would offer you something, but as you know there is absolutely nothing here—no technology, none of the most useful elements, no conversion devices. We must do everything by hand to reproduce the most basic of necessities—”
“Of course not. Did you expect your exile to be comfortable? Enough of the matter. I came for the man. Release Adam and be about your business.”
Lord L laughed as he swirled around and beckoned the echelon and lessers to join him. “Come see your Beloved, whom you faithfully served, beg me for this piece of dung he created and betrayed us with. What’s wrong Lord, have you no power to—”
The Beloved blazed bright, filling the chambers with light cruel to those now more familiar with the dark. The motion sent all to their knees, wincing in agony as they tried to hide from its brilliance—all except Adam and Lord L. The man seemed invigorated by its luminescence, while Lord L seethed, standing straight and tall in its glare, unable to move at all.
“I was merely giving you the opportunity to cooperate without force as a courtesy.” The Beloved placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder and the man was immediately encircled by a veil of mist—cool, blue, transparent, and impenetrable.
“What is this trickery?” Lord L said through gritted teeth. “He is mine. He violated the Code and forfeited dominion to the second in command on this vile world—me. I demand you hand over my subject immediately.”
“Lord L,” the Beloved said blandly as he withdrew a scroll from His robe and tossed it at the Great Leader’s feet. “Your lack of knowledge astonishes me. You grasped for rule of this domain yet did not familiarize yourself with the principles governing it. This man-made restitution before his temporary status expired. Read Regulation 3.16.7 of Section Alpha Tau which states an exile may appeal his or her status if sufficient compensation is made in lieu of said transgressions. Furthermore, he or she is entitled to protection and provision within the designated jurisdiction until a final judgment is made regarding his or her appeal. Therefore, I am granting this man’s rights and placing him in protective custody—effective immediately.”
With an outstretched hand, the Beloved lifted the Cloud containing the man above the squirming lessers and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Lord L yelled. “You cannot remove him from Sheol! Sheol is the designated seat of jurisdiction on Adamah.”
“So it is, Lord L. I never said I was removing him from Sheol.”
The Beloved began walking down the tunnel no one had dared venture before because of the depth of its darkness. The Cloud hovered over the Beloved following his every move.
“Where is he taking the man?” one of the Powers asked, emerging from his hiding place once the Beloved was out of view.
“I don’t know. But I will find out. Follow that Cloud.”
###
No. He will not deceive me again! Lord L rested his finger upon the phrase he was searching for—that’s it! He swirled the lit image into the cylinder with a touch of his finger and slammed the scroll shut. Satisfied with his findings, he swung open the massive doors leading into the Great Hall. “Send the Powers to my chambers,” he called out to the lesser posted outside his chambers, “and bring the woman to me.”
###
“He is magnificent is he not?” Semjaza doted over the childling sleeping in the basket. For now, the baby remained in the Captain’s abode since the women, even the Medici, appeared to be afraid of him.
“It is wondrous, Captain,” Hazazel puffed on the long-handled pipe and gazed at the infant. “I believe he has your reflection, a fine specimen. I am glad we joined you in this cause. I can’t believe the Beloved denied us the right all this time.”
“I didn’t want to believe it myself, but something the Great Leader said rang true and I had to find out for myself. You and the others will soon benefit from our oath.”
“Well, my time is nigh. I wonder if my childling will display my—”
A loud wail from the basket interrupted the speculation.
“It’s time for his meal,” Semjaza yelled at the sebassi attending them. “Send for a woman to feed my son!”
“Yes, my lord. But—”
“But what?”
“My lord, the women are afraid. The childling, he—” she stammered, “he is not like other babies.”
“Of course, he isn’t,” Semjaza snapped, “he is Nephilim.”
“Yes but, we cannot satisfy him. He just cries and cries. He is never satisfied with our breasts. It takes three, sometimes four women to supply enough milk for him. And then we do not have enough milk for our own children.”
“What of it? Your children are not important. If a few of them starve to bring about restoration to this weak race, is it not worth it?”
“But my lord if Naamah the Divine, the child’s mother, had lived—she surely would have had enough milk to feed her own child.”
Hazazel snickered.
Captain Semjaza lifted the woman by the neck until she was level to his face. The sebassi’s feet dangled helplessly in the air as he spoke softly. “My dear woman, I am deeply grieved by my wife’s death. But, if anything should happen to my son, I am not responsible for what would befall this pitiful tribe. Do I make myself clear?”
A look of horror crossed the woman’s face, but she masked it quickly. “Yes, my lord.”
“Now, take my son and feed him.” Semjaza dropped her. “Feed him with your own children if you have to. Just make sure he is content when you return. If not, you will pay dearly—I promise.”
The woman grabbed the basket and scurried away, leaving the door bouncing on its hinges.
Semjaza stepped outside as the servant fled back tents of the Medici. “Can you believe the nerve of that ungrateful woman?”
“What do you expect from a subspecies?” Hazazel leaned against the door frame, smoking his pipe. “Say, do you see that?”
“What?”
“There toward El Teva, looks like the Elders of Cain are gathering. Their banners adorn the pillars.”
“I authorized no meeting of the Elders—”
“Nevertheless, they are gathering. Shall we see the cause?”
Semjaza had already donned his ornate robe. “Don’t just stand there. Send for the others and have them meet me there.”
“Captain, can’t you just signal them? It would take several minutes to contact them manually.”
“Must you question everything, Hazazel?” Semjaza sighed. “If you must know I can’t signal them. Something seems to be awry. I’ve been planning to make the trek to Mt. Arata to reset my essence, but I didn’t want to leave the seti before the childling arrived. Never mind that. Just call the others. Now that my son is here safe and sound, it’s time I put that Lamech in his place.”