The Rising (Part 3 - Future's Past)

"Why did you stop, daddy? Go on!"

Ran'el smiled as his son's voice brought him back to the present day. How often had he heard this story, and yet it managed to grab him by the hand and immerse him every time.

With a sigh of exasperation, he touched the cyberbook's controls, dimming its display.

"Son, it is late. You need to sleep, and so do I. Why don't we continue this tomorrow?"

A rustle from the doorway of the cabin made him turn with a smile, knowing what he would find there - his wife Ereyn, arms crossed, looking back at him, with that amused smile that she reserved for those occasions when she knew that she had him right where she wanted him.

"Why don't you go on, Ran'el? Your own father and grandfather would not have dared to stop at that point when you were a child."

He moved to the cabin's window and adjusted its opacity to allow him to have a clear view of the space they were traveling through.

He knew she was right - if his son was even a small measure of what Ran'el himself had been as a child, he would not accept anything but the whole story at this point. And why not? It would be days before they would reach Kartan-3, They had not yet crossed the Boran nebula that lay between them and their new home, where Jandar would have to relearn the concept of day and night after so many months in space.

Abruptly, he turned back to his family, a grin on his face.

"Alright. I will continue. But let's not use the cyberbook's version of events. Let me tell it the way it was told to me by my father."

Jandar quickly snuggled back into his pillow, eyes wide in expectation.

Ran'el moved to a screen on the wall, and quickly used it to assure himself that their spaceship was on course and did not need his attention.

He grinned as the application's logo quickly faded in and out - that fiery lizard logo had survived for centuries as a symbol of innovation in what had become the front-end for all information mankind had access to. How fitting that it should make its appearance at this point. It had its roots in the far away times when the first few Trade Lords had begun opening their own magic in defiance of the Empire - and the rebels had taken it and nurtured it, until no one could see any reason to use any other tool for information retrieval.

The status display confirmed the link to both Kartan-3's network was functional, and that the various network relays that kept them in touch with other intra-galactic networks were also functioning properly. The advantage of having a permanent GNNID (Galactic Network Node ID). There used to be a time when the home planet used ran out of such addresses - a network such as this would have been inconceivable then....

"Daddy!"

Jandar was evidently growing impatient, and Ran'el quickly tapped the half-moon icon at the bottom of the screen that caused the screen to shimmer, then fade away.

Ereyn knew that she couldn't possibly go back to her study now, and settled on a floater near the window, from where she could watch the magnificent hues of the Boran nebula as her husband picked up the tale.

"As the doors swung open, and the people saw who the Trade Lords were who had stood by their side, it became clear that the Empire's Warrior had plenty of reason to be upset.

Some of these Trade Lords represented one of the most powerful of allies that the Empire had had in the past, and would have to continue to align with in times to come. Despite the might of the Empire, it did depend on its allies to provide it strength, and the Empire without these allies by its side was weak, almost powerless, because these Trade Lords provided the fields that were tilled with the tools the Empire provided.

The first Trade Lord who strode through the doorway was the one probably least expected - over the past year, he had become the home world's single large distributor of the Empire's tools. Having his support was, without any question, a massive coup for the rebels."

[ANNOUNCEMENT]

The Bangalore Linux User Group is happy to announce the first of its sponsors:

Hewlett Packard (HP) has confirmed its Platinum Sponsorship for Linux Bangalore/2002!

Click here for the officialsponsorship confirmation letter.

This is the second year that HP has decided to stand by the BLUG by sponsoring the event, and we would like to thank them sincerely for their continuing and consistent support of the Linux and OpenSource community and its efforts.

[/ANNOUNCEMENT]

...To be continued