The Rising (Part 5 - Bell of Freedom)

Much later, Ran'el studied the console he was facing. Having his Galactic Network node operating at full capability mode again was a welcome change.

He had spent the past few hours catching up on news, some entertainment (including a rerun of a live "rock" concert from the rebellion coming together, which he never tired of seeing) and of course tons of new technical material.

After Jandar fell asleep, much in line with Enkern's prediction, Ran'el had been tempted to continue the story anyway, but Ereyn had covered their son with a therm-cover and laid a finger on her lips, signalling that the story session was at an end - for now.

Ran'el grinned ruefully. He really enjoyed both the story and the fact that his son, like countless generations before him, was completely captivated by it.

He looked at the cyberbook on the table beside him, and idly reached to pick it up. His finger accidentally brushed the activation control, and the unit's audio came alive. Rather than switch it off, or go to full video mode, Ran'el closed his eyes, and let his mind form the images as the cyberbook's modulated voice continued the story.....

"The Trade Lords had truly given a boost to the rebels. Not in century had there been such a strong surge of national and global pride, spurred on by successes across the globe.

The Empire, now facing serious roadblocks in its attempt to control rulers and minds, tried various ways to get back to its glory days, including engaging the rebellion in direct conversation, but the damage had been done. Acorss the world, people were beginning to deploy the rebellion's tools, spurning the Empire's offerings.

The Empire continued to survive, largely because it did not matter to it what the people thought, as long as it owned the minds of the rulers. The rulers could always make it law to use the Empire's tools, and many actually did do so.

The rebellion, now in full strength, called on the rulers of their lands to see reason, but the Empire's Warrior had great strength in charm and purse, and his influence was almost impossible to overcome. As long as he wielded his influence on rulers, and made them think in the Empire's approved ways, there was little that the rebellion could do.

The group of rebels in the south of the land hung their heads. Failure in victory was a terrible thing to experience.

No one saw the gray-haired gnome and the Lady leave the gathering.

No one saw them return.

No one knew what they had done, or that anything had been done.

But early the next morn, a knock sounded on the dwelling that housed this group of rebels.

The other gnome, sitting in a corner eating the traditional dish of the rebellion, the P'zza, rose to open the door, and the first gnome and the Lady quietly entered, and nodded.

The other gnome turned to face the gathering and raised his staff, and beat it thrice on the floor, getting everyone's attention.

And as he spoke, gasps of astonishment, then completely uninhibited cries of joy and the sounds of horns rang through the dwelling. Their cries rang through the land, as people near and far gathered to hear the news of the miracle that the gnome and the Lady had wrought.

And in the far distance, in the land of the red moon, where the Empire's stronghold was, the Warrior quietly lay down his sword, his weapons, his purse, for they had failed him yet again. He left the stronghold to settle down and enjoy his rest with his family, with whom he would now be able to spend much more time...

[ANNOUNCEMENT]

The formal letter to this effect can be seen here, and a message from Shri Rajeeva Ratna Shah, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, MCIT, Government of India, can be seen here.

Given recent events, this endorsement was unexpected, but warmly welcomed, and it warms our hearts to know that we have our government on our side. We sincerely thank the Government for its support.

[/ANNOUNCEMENT]