“On the night of my initiation into the Trust, I was told the Archons supplied the barons with the necessary tech and firepower to make the unification program successful,” said Kane. “Is that true?”
“Yes. The Archons observed humanity’s adaptation to the postskydark world. They contacted the most powerful barons, offered them near absolute power if they agreed to their terms. Most of the ordnance came from the Anthill complex and from a few still-hidden COG Stockpiles. The temptation was overwhelming for such avaricious egotists.
As you know from your own experiences, absolute power corrupted absolutely.”
“And the Magistrate Division was simply the old international police force idea, dusted off and updated?” Brigid asked.
Lakesh nodded. “Exactly.”
“And our division, the archivists? Why was that important?”
“The function of the Historical Division was to keep all information of any sensitive nature, especially any texts that hinted at the Archons’ involvement in our collective past, completely secured. Aside from that, it was solid source material to reinforce the sense of shame and the guilt complex among the people. As you remember, historical precedent was always cited to keep the citizens in line, to keep them in their place. Like the Magistrates, the Historical Division was consciously designed as another control mechanism.”
“If you had so many reservations about it,” Grant said, “why didn’t you oppose the plan?”
“Outright opposition was impossible. The slightest indication would have classified me as a security risk. Then I would have turned up as a suicide, as did so many of my colleagues who were foolish enough to express their objections. Buzzards would have indeed picked my bones out in the desert.”
Domi shook her head in bewilderment. “This all so crazy. Why?”
Lakesh sighed. “It’s hard to offer a cogent explanation, my dear, especially so many years after the fact. Even before the war, the world seemed to be on the verge of some sort of catastrophe. Political systems were collapsing, socioeconomic inequities led to strife and crime. Madness was rampant, entire nations ran out of control. The world felt like it was coming apart at the seams. Something needed to be done to contain the insanity, the growing anarchy. To my everlasting shame, I admit that I agreed with that sentiment. At least hypothetically.”
“No,” rumbled Grant. “She meant what is the Archon agenda.”
“Isn’t it obvious? They now have a world pretty much free of social strife, of crime. And once the planet repairs itself, free of choking pollution. Of course, there is no liberty, no free will, but the Archons and their human allies never liked that about us in the first place.”
“What do they want?” Brigid demanded raggedly, clenching her fists on the arms of her chair.
“What they already have. The planet is back in their possession, as it was millennia ago when certain religious cults worshiped them as gods. They have unrestricted access to Earth’s natural resources, and a manageable population to supply them with everything from slave labor to biological material. I also suspect that the geomagnetic changes brought about by the nukecaust are more suited to their metabolisms.”
“If they’re so superior, rather than trying to beat us down and conquer us, why didn’t they try negotiating with us to share our planet with them?”
Lakesh took a deep breath. “They have no empathy for us, don’t value us. We’re objects to be used or destroyed. Trying to negotiate with the Archon Directorate would be as futile as concentration-camp inmates bargaining with the commandant for their freedom.”
Angrily Kane said, “If it’s so goddamn hopeless, what’s the point of your so-called underground resistance? Why did you turn against them when it was too late?”
Lakesh steepled his fingers. He did not answer for a long moment. When he did, his voice was a soft, sad rustle. “I am old. I devoted my life to a single passion, and this world is what came of it. I never married, never had children, never contributed anything of value to my world, to our shared reality. As history clearly shows, if you do not create your own reality, someone else is going to create it for you. I allowed that to happen, and I do not like the reality I got. Now, as the end of my life approaches, all I want is to enter the house of my deity justified. Besides, I feel that something is still holding them back. They are not here full-time yet.”