ALL NOVEL Chapter 28: An Unsolvable Problem
The Emperor glided over to his desk where a blue transparent screen had been left projecting across the back half of his desk. A small silver terminal box sat dead center of the desk, and looked identical to the one Vang had used during our lecture sessions. The Emperor tapped something in the corner of his screen, and then in the room between us, the contents of the screen formed.
I stepped back as I watched a transparent image of Earth spring up. It came up to my waist and spun around on its axis. My chest tightened at seeing my old home. It took a moment for me to realize that other smaller boxes of images had started cropping up around the planet. I turned my attention to them, and felt a coldness wash over me.
The boxes were like eight miniature slideshows depicting different information all at once. The content of each box flipping through various images like someone was channel surfacing. There was a few second delay between each shuffle. Just enough for me to get a clear idea of what was there before the image changed to something else.
Some of the images just showed random locations all around Earth. Well-known places I knew by sight like every other Earther. Others I didn’t. Some showed major events I had learned about in history class from Bibles times all the way up to the great pandemic of 2020. But the images that really sunk home were the ones of my dad, my family, and me.
As CEO of New Horizons, my dad and our family had been in the media quite extensively over the years, and all of it flashed across the miniature screens reflecting back to me my own history.
Scattered in those images were also pictures from the various schools I’d attended over the years along with reports cards, special academic achievements I’d received, and detailed information about my time at MIT. I even saw a clip of one of the essays I had written in college titled Concepts of How Science and Technology has Effected the Modern World.
“I might be angry at your mother and Aragon for taking you away from your rightful home, but they didn’t completely ruin you, it seems. Even if their means were limited on that underdeveloped world, they managed to give you some training. Certainly not up to my standards, but it gives us a solid foundation to work with.
“More importantly, they helped you develop the kind of attitude and temperance that is perfect for where we need to get you. Certainly, there’s much still to do, including helping you to master your Perception Dome-ni, but I can already see your potential results being better than what I was able to get from Zorren before I was forced to take his title from him.”
The Emperor cut off the images with a wave of his hand, and all I could do was stare at the place where the images had once been.
I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the Emperor could glean all that information from Earth. From the technology I had witnessed over the last weeks, it was obvious that Ethia was at a whole different level than Earth in every single way. Even with dad secretly injecting bits of Ethian technology into their society, it would take generations for Earth to get anywhere close to Ethia’s capabilities. But it still felt like a shock.
Or maybe the biggest thing to get my head around was the fact that the Emperor had cared enough to get to know me. While I had been thoroughly impressed with the technology and advancements I had witnessed to so far, I had also been greatly disappointed by Ethia’s inability to understand cultures or ideas other than their own. Or maybe that had just been Vang and his overwhelming close-mindedness.
It was obvious that the Emperor himself had gone to great lengths to not only translate the information, but to understand the context of what it all meant. Part of me was impressed and felt a warmth toward him for the first time since learning he was my birth father. But I also couldn’t deny that another another part of me felt like someone had just hacked my life and pilfered through all my personal information.
“How did you get all this?”
The Emperor moved back across the room to stand in his previous position near the large window wall, but kept his back to it as he addressed me.
“While Vang was retrieving you, he also was able to use a data net to discover and secure information. From what he told me, that was relatively simple with all the information waves being transmitted so freely on that planet. In fact, there was enough to fill up several data cores.
“I, myself, have combed over much of it. Mostly the information directly linked to you. I had missed so much time with you, I wanted to catch up. From what I have gathered, you had an adequate life on that planet. I can see why you may be having difficulty making the transition.”
I felt the corner of my eyes sting, but I made an effort to keep myself under control. I did miss Earth, most especially my family. More than anything. It was good to know that at least someone seemed to appreciate that fact. It made my opinion of the Emperor rise another couple of notches.
A quiet moment passed between us as we stood their taking each other in and keeping company with our own thoughts. I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t an awkward silence. Just a moment for two people to acclimate to each other and all the information that had just been shared.
“I don’t remember anything from my time here before,” I finally said, breaking the quiet.
“I am aware. That doesn’t mean you don’t belong here, Adar, or that you aren’t suitable to be my Heir. I only ask that you give it some time.”
I nodded. “I’ll be honest. I had wanted to ask you if I could go back to Earth. Some part of me even thought a mistake had been made, that I wasn’t really your son at all. Another part didn’t even care. I just miss them. I miss my life there.”
The Emperor drew in a long breath and let it slowly release. I could feel the frustration in him, but it was only a glimmer before it was gone. He looked me dead in the eye and spoke.
“I wasn’t going to share this with you. I wanted you to get settled in first, to get a better handle on being back in your rightful home. But perhaps it may put some perspective on your situation, and why I am in such desperate need of your presence here in Ethia.”
The Emperor paused for a moment as if he was determining exactly what he would say, and then he continued.
“Your Perception Dome-ni has a wide range of abilities and uses. One of them being the ability to solve problems that others either can’t or find great difficulty doing. And there is a particular problem that I need help solving. It’s been something I have been working on for awhile, but even with my extensive talent, I have yet to come up with a suitable solution.
“It was my hope that after you have been trained, that perhaps you could be a help in this matter. I thought that with our combined effort, we could finally settle a disturbing dilemma that our Empire faces.”
Again, I felt shock ripple through me. I wasn’t sure if the majority of it was from the fact that he would tell me such information, or that he had revealed he was failing at something. This man did not seem the type to do either, and it only proved to me again how much trust he was putting toward me.
“Emperor, I––I don’t,”
“Father,” he said interrupting me.
I was startled out of what I was going to say. “Excuse me?”
“I would like for you to address me as father.”
I blinked at him for a moment, and then I nodded. “Yes, of course… father.” I said with hesitation, trying it out. It felt weird to say, but I knew it would just take time like everything else. I then gathered my thoughts to finish what I had been trying to say.
“I do like a good problem to solve. It’s why I became an engineer in the first place. But if this is as serious as you make it sound and that you yourself have yet to find a solution, what makes you think I will be of any help to you?”
That half smile was back. “You won’t be right now, but once you are fully trained, that will change. Trust me, you have only begun to tap into what you are capable of, Adar.”
I had to admit. He had my attention now. I knew it. He knew it. When I had walked in this room, all I could think about was wanting to go back to Earth. Now, all I could think about was what a man like this would consider an unsolvable problem, and exactly what could I do once I was fully trained in my Perception Dome-ni. Everyone had seemed to think my Dome-ni was important. This was the first time when I actually thought they might be right.
“I know you must be tired from your travel and all this newness. So I will let you retire to your room for the rest of the day,” the Emperor continued. “Get settled. Tomorrow we will breakfast, and then your official training will begin. Though, I will caution you not to say a word about anything we have discussed here today with anyone. Am I clear on that?”
I knew he was really talking about the unsolvable problem that faced Ethia. I certainly was curious to know more about what that could possibly be, but I realized he wasn’t going to reveal anymore until I was more fully trained. Until then, I needed to keep it to myself.
“Yes, father.” I responded to let him know I understood.
He gave me a curt nod. “Then I will leave you to it. I look forward to our morning meal. I will send Dur-rele to gather you and show you to the dining hall first thing.” The man turned around to gaze back over the majestic view, reaffirming that our conversation was over.
I stood there for a moment uncertain what to do, then I remembered the Admiral’s training session on the Xlero. I put a fist to my chest and gave a small bow not sure if it mattered if he couldn’t see it, but I did it anyways out of respect. I then backed way until I was an appropriate distance before turning my back and exiting the room without another word.