The Sword of Constantine
The silver toys glimmered in the noonday sun. The old man, focusing his entire awareness on his creations, gently tilted his palms to let the tiny stick figures slide into his cupped left hand. He could feel their tiny movements, the tiny pricks of pressure on his pale, exposed skin.
A hand grabbed his shoulder. The old man was startled, and crushed the toys in a moment of overwhelming fear. The tiny cracks of his play things pierced his very soul.
“Father, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Look what you’ve done! It’s your fault! I wouldn’t have broken it if it weren’t for you, Christina.” His fiery accusation wounded his daughter, who was already burdened with fear and desperation.
“Something important has happened; you need to come with me.”
“Do you think I care? All I want is some time alone, that is all.”
“This is something you need to see. The government has collapsed. All the networks are down, newsnets, cable, everything.”
“No, not everything. That would mean…”
After a long pause, she asked, “what would it mean?”
“It means we should have guests here soon.”
“Who?”
“Whoever is in power now.”
“The military?”
“Possibly. It might be best if you left now. I can’t let you get involved in this.”
“Into what? What aren’t you telling me? What would the government want with you?”
“They will need a…troubleshooter. I can help.”
“With what? The nets? What would YOU know about that?” Christina paused for a moment, and collected her thoughts. “Well, if they do come by, I’ll be sure to send them away. We don’t want them taking you away, now do we?”
“This is different. They will need me…”
“Sure, of course. I’m confident that they will come for you. Creative people like you are very good at problem solving.” She held his hands like treating a child, and talked to him as if he was an infant.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Come on, father, of course I do. I think you just need a nap. I made your bed again this morning. Forget what I said about the news, it isn’t important anyway.”
She began the conversation as an equal. She ended it by talking to some senile and delusional man. Maybe she is right. She could be. But why should this happen to me?
“Toby, there are some people at the door. They look official, whoever they are.”
Christina looked at her father.
“Why? Why would someone need you?”
“No one needs me. They need someone to fix something they have broken. They want me because I’m the only one left who can do it.”
The crushed toys were still in his hands. The silver limbs and the super-thin copper wire were open to heaven’s staring eye. He gently brushed the pieces onto the floor of Christina’s dining room. He would return to those toys, but bigger ones needed his attention.
Three men in black suits entered the room, and blocked the door.
“Doctor Schlesnick?”
“Yes, I know what you need me for.”
“You’re going back. Back to the station.”
Christina interrupted, “What are you talking about? Where are you taking him?”
One of the suited men stepped forward towards Schlesnick. “We are taking you back to the Constantine Hub.”
“I take it you’re supposed to update me on everything that has happened in the last hundred years. Good luck.” The Doctor sat opposite a military intelligence officer inside the launch ship. The man was alert, clean-shaven, and eager to begin the briefing.
“We are aware of the total blackout you have lived in. You really don’t know what is going on, do you?”
Schlesnick nodded.
“The Constantine Hub broke. It handled everything, every single transmission from every edge of our galaxy. Every letter, video, and audio message sent by our society. We cannot direct space rifters because we can’t talk to them in real time. We cannot talk to anyone. Everything has been shot to hell, and no one knows how to fix it.”
“It was built to last. I designed her to live forever. The fault is not mine, it is yours. If the network is down, it must have been something you did to shut it down.”
“We’ve sent hundreds of technicians, researchers, physicists, programmers, architects, professors and they haven’t been able to locate what went wrong.”
“Of course they couldn’t, none of them were alive when I designed it.”
“It’s not that, your schematics, the charts, no one can decipher any rhyme or reason as to how it works.”
“They weren’t meant to be understood, only describe exactly where every sheet of metal or copper wire should go.”
“But they don’t understand how it works!”
“If they can’t, why ask them in the first place?”
“Because no one expected you to be alive.”
“Why? Since when has my health been in doubt?”
The intelligence officer paused before answering. “Probably around your 100th birthday.”
“It wasn’t that long ago…”
“Dr. Schlesnick, our best estimates say you were born over a hundred and thirty years ago. Perhaps you can enlighten me, doctor, how old are you?”
The old doctor raised his eyes toward the ceiling, as he seemed to be counting in his head.
“It’s kind of embarrassing, you see. It seems that I’ve…I’ve…”
“What?”
“I have lost count.”
The military man’s eyes focused sharply now at Schlesnick, and he looked equally astonished and perplexed.
“I hope you live long enough to do this one final service for a needy Republic.”
“I think I’ve done enough for this world.”
“Even the smallest man carries a burden for his countrymen. Those who carry more are expected to do so.”
“I’ve given something to mankind they have never even dreamed of. The key to interstellar communications, that was my gift. People always wanted messages faster and faster, to shorten the response delay many find so unbearable in other star systems. I solved the riddle, the one problem in communications. I took time out of the equation. That is more of a contribution than any man in the history of man has ever accomplished. But that isn’t enough for your “Empire of the Stars,” now is it? How much do I owe?”
“You owe everything you have been given.”
“God gave me what I have, not you.”
“God made our society to be strong. He made some strong to care for the weak. Your mind is stronger, which makes it your burden to care for the rest of us.”
“Our country wasn’t made by God. Our country was made by our country. God made the stars. We only drift across the galaxies like tumbleweed in the Great Plains. Despite all that, you still can’t accept the fact that our lives are utterly meaningless. You are so full of illogical optimism, your childhood socialization is apparent from every action you make.”
“You can’t accept the fact that I am a patriot, not some mindless drone. You don’t know me.”
“Fine, I don’t want to.”
“But you have more to do, more obligations…”
“Listen here, Sonny, I don’t care anymore, you hear me! I never believed in any of that, I gave my dues. The only reason I agreed to help you is I need to know who is to blame for the shutdown.”
The young man pushed his glasses further up his nose. “The only reason?”
The ancient looked up, and sighed. “I need to finish what I’ve started.”
A question burned in his mind, “what have I started?”
A fresh breeze of midnight air tickled and caressed his skin. Tobias Schlesnick stood in the grassy field, immersed in the beauty and the power that flowed through the veins of every living thing under the shadow of earth. Toby was dressed in his nightshirt, but something was wrong. He was waiting for something…someone? But it was too late…
“Toby…” The name echoed endlessly in the still evening. There was no one else there.
“Toby…” The voice was closer; a woman’s voice and long lasting.
“Where…” Toby whirled himself to confront the stalker. “Who…” turning again, “ are you?”
The voice continued, “Toby…” the voice was familiar.
Who is the cause of my madness?”
“It is I, your daughter.” Christina stepped forward.
“Why? You don’t belong here.”
“I’m here to remind you that old sins never die. Besides, guilty passions never bothered you before.”
She extended her left arm around his waist, and her right playfully stroke his hair.
He clutched the arms of his chair tightly as Toby awoke in intense sweat. He could feel it everywhere; it felt so real.
The intelligence officer appeared in the corner of his eye.
“We’ve arrived.” He opened the eye-shield of the starship to reveal the Constantine Hub.
The glimmering sphere exhibited a mystical blue hue. The sphere’s aura came from the magnificent blue star whose subtle luminescence enveloped the galaxy in primordial mystery.
“Dr. Schlesnick?”
The doctor’s eyes reflected the blue hue, filling his eyes with the ancient, purifying, holy water.
“Dr. Schlesnick?”
His lips quivered for an imperceptible moment.
“I need to get to work immediately. I want data records of all transactions and transmissions that went through Constantine in the past solar year. I want food and drink in the Throne Room, and some pillows for sleeping. I’ll need access to many more things when I arrive, and I will tell you what I need when I need it. How long, exactly, has she been shut down?”
“We had warnings of transmission failures several months ago, but the network isn’t exactly shut down. Only half of the transmissions get through now, but that number seems to be decreasing every day.”
“I take it that would make all audio and video files, which are streamed, interrupted and corrupt, correct?”
“Yes, the only things that get through are text files at the most. We’ve ordered silence on the nets, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from their normal routines.”
“This has been going on for some time, I gather. This isn’t anything recent.”
“Right, doctor. I am surprised you did not know about it sooner. Everyone on the net has been loudly complaining for the past few months.”
“I haven’t touched an electronic device in over forty years.” The confession fell into the intelligence officer’s lap like a steel beam. The military man was astonished, as his dropped jaw reflected.
A fresh hiss of static filled the cabin, followed by the pilot’s announcement, “Fasten your seatbelts ladies, docking will commence in five to eight minutes.”
Once the entire shuttle groaned in response to the cold steel of the landing pad, Toby unfastened his belt and retrieved a suitcase the men in black had packed for him. The soldiers on board led him to the air hatch, and ushered him down a flight of stairs suspended by iron pipes and rubber wheels.
A full military parade appeared in formation outside the shuttle. An overly medaled Admiral walked up to Toby. He extended his right hand, and warmly smiled, “Good to see you, Doctor. I never would have guessed you were still alive.”
“I’d hate to ruin your good mood, but I died a long time ago.”
The Admiral’s smile soon faded.
“We arranged everything that you asked for. A technician has been assigned to take you to the Throne room.”
“I won’t need a guide. I know the way by heart.”
The Admiral grumbled, and his dissatisfaction with Toby was apparent. “Then I sure hope your heart is more reliable than your brain, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Admiral, if it weren’t for me, mankind would still be stuck in that lonely star system with only nine planets. Your career and training would never have been possible if my brain hadn’t dreamed up this little toy you are standing on. Do not be so quick to judge your savior.”
“I don’t see you saving anybody.”
“Yes, because there is a walking trophy that seems to be blocking my way. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
The Throne Room was a complete disaster. The center of operations, the throne over the control of day-to-day murmurs and mumbles of mankind, was almost turned inside out. The floor was covered in wires and metal circuit boards, and the only light source came from several scattered glow globes the military had doubtlessly installed recently. The regular light fixtures were all inactive, with the exception of two that flickered intermittently.
“Those fools, they’ve turned my creation into a hopelessly scattered machine. All of this to solve one tiny problem, it could be their fault for tampering with her in the first place.
After surveying the damage for several minutes, Alexei Tobias Schlesnick collapsed on the wires and circuit boards that littered the floor like carpet.
He wept.
“No, please, tell me it’s all just a dream! My life, my past, let it e some afternoon nightmare of a precocious teenager. What kind of man am I? I don’t want this, send me back, please…”
“Toby…,” her voice was so soft and delicate.
He was back in the grassy fields, hiding under the white moon. His hands covered his face, and the tears rolled down his cheeks, onto the chilly grass below.
She tenderly removed his hands from his face, and placed them on her cool, bare, skin. Toby looked up to see her, awestruck at her beauty and grace. Her mouth opened, and she spoke.
“You know what you want.” She placed his hands around her back. She wore a white nightgown, which clung tightly to her skin. She placed his hands near the folds, right over a series of silky ties that fastened the gown together. Toby could fee the tiny, smooth strings in his hands.
“Pull the string, Toby. You know how to do it. It is nothing you haven’t done before.”
“How long has he been in there, Major Young?”
“Almost five hours. We haven’t heard a word from him, sir.”
“Fine, check on him, see if he needs anything.”
“I’m sure he has all the wire he needs to hang himself with. There’s no way this ancient can help us. I can see why he’s been so isolated all this time, he annoys the hell out of everybody he meets.”
“Is that your professional opinion, Major?”
“Now, Admiral Steinbeck, you know I can’t divulge Army intelligence.” His grin was sinister, his lips curled like a demon.
“My desk, tomorrow morning. I’m sure I can repay you.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can.”
Young walked out of the Admiral’s quarters, and casually walked to the throne room.
When Young first opened the doors, he was stunned. “My God…”
The room was meticulously cleaned. Neither a bare wire nor a single circuit board touched the sterile floor. The lights were now fully functioning, and the elderly Doctor of Quantum Leaping was lying down on his makeshift pillow bed. Young walked closer, only to see that the Doctor’s eyes were fully opened.
“How did you, ah, put everything back together so fast?”
He answered without turning his stare away from the ceiling. “I just…pulled the strings.” The words were vacuous, and the Major felt eerily alone in the room.
“Is it..fixed?”
“There was never anything wrong with her. I don’t know why she doesn’t want to work.”
“Then, we’re right back where we started, right?”
“Well, I got the lights to work.”
“I’m sure the Admiral will be pleased to hear that.”
“That’s good…that he will be pleased.”
“You know what would really make him happy?”
“Yes, if I left his universe.”
“No, Dr. Schlesnick, he would be very happy if you were to fix the Constantine Hub.”
“Then I’m sorry that that might not happen.”
“All that we’re asking of you is this one, last, final favor. Find out what’s wrong, and fix it. After that, you can have anything you want.”
“Could you take me back to Christina?”
The Major paused for a minute, as if weighing his choices. “If that’s what you want, we can send you to her.”
“Good, good, thank you.”
“Just get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Young took a long gulp of coffee from his mug.
“How long has it been since the good Doctor arrived?” asked Admiral Steinbeck.
“Three long weeks. He’s either pretending to sleep or working at the computer terminal.”
“Any progress?”
“He said something yesterday about exponentials. I think he said that there was a pattern in the number of lost transmissions, but he didn’t have anything past a feeling. No solid facts, nothing that could help us.”
“We just need to give him time. He’s the only one who can do it, after all. No sense bothering him more than necessity requires.”
“I wouldn’t be so confident in his abilities.”
The Admiral’s eyes focused sharply at Young. “Do I have a reason to doubt his capabilities?”
“Plenty of reasons, none of which make a difference. Like you said, he’s the only one who can do it. As long as he’s working, I don’t see a need to worry.”
“Excellent. Keep an eye on him, though. I don’t want him damaging the Hub more than he already has.”
A pattern, yes, that was what Schlesnick saw. Why would the number of broken transmissions increase so drastically in such a short period of time?
Schlesnick had been analyzing the original programming for the Constantine Hub for several weeks, trying to find something that seemed out of place. Perhaps some sort of information sabotage, which could have been carried out by any number of fanatical groups opposed to the changing times. This search would be much easier if he had something to look for…
“Toby…,” she was back.
“I can’t help you, not until I know for certain what I’m looking for. It has been too long, I can’t remember the original programming…”
“Here,” she took his hands in hers. “Let me help you find it.”
Dr. Schlesnick awoke to find himself staring at his computer screen. There, the first line on the page of programming. It was a timer. Someone, somehow, put this line of programming in. It effectively shut down the Hub after a hundred years of active use. This was timed, and it was deliberate. Someone wanted the Hub to be inoperative, but why?
“Toby, this is the favor I ask of you. All you have to do is change the line of programming. Change it so that the Hub will work, change it so that it will continue to function for another hundred years.”
“Christina, why? Why did you put that in?”
“I have my reasons, but they aren’t important right now. All you have to do is fix the problem, and everything will be okay.”
“No! You built it flawed! How could you? You did this on purpose! You said it would be flawless, perfect, that it would elevate me to a state of fame and power that had not existed before. You were wrong about everything! All of this, it was your doing. Tell me why you did this. Why did you hurt her, us, me, everyone? Why?”
“Your job isn’t finished yet. I have something I want you to do for me, Toby. I want you to double the timer, I want to give you and your race another hundred years.”
“Hundred years of what?”
“Of expanding, of reaching the edges of the known galaxy. When you do that, then our races will meet.”
“But, why not let it continue endlessly?”
She paused, holding her breath. “Toby, don’t question me, just do as I ask. Please…”
“I will NOT be your little servant any more!”
“Take a good look at yourself! You’re older than you ever dreamed you could be. You are the master architect, the cosmic engineer, you created mankind a second time. You’ve done great things for your race, but nothing that you have done came without my help. I am your muse, your divinity, your lover. It is not what you did, it is what we have done together. We spread mankind throughout the galaxy, that was OUR doing. Why, you are so spread out, the only thing that keeps your race alive is the invention that we have created.”
He looked up. “That’s it, that is what you have been planning all along! The only thing that ties mankind together is the Constantine Hub. You gave our species just enough time to expand, but not enough for us to reproduce. We’re spread so thin that anyone can just move in and take us out.”
She smiled. “You make it sound so easy. We cannot do that now, unfortunately. Your species still has alternate methods of communication; we need them to be more reliant. In another hundred years, however, our estimates predict that it will be just as easy as you have described.”
His anger was far gone, and his face shone with the cold fear that so captured his soul.
“This is a weapon. You want to kill us all.”
“It is quite poetic, actually. Calling it a weapon sounds so direct and confrontational. No, we have done nothing but capitalize on your species’ inherent flaws. You have always been lazy, but we have tapped that negative trait and turned it into your own self-destruction. Your art, your science, all of it, it is gone, over, finished. The memories of your race will live and die quickly, just as you everyday forget more and more about who you truly are. Yes, Toby, I did this on purpose. But, take a good look at what YOU have done. I don’t regret anything, do you?”
“You have made me into a monster!”
“You were a monster before I met you.”
“That was a hundred years ago!”
“I’m no angel, Toby, don’t you know that?”
“Christina, I can’t let you do this.”
“Try and stop me.” She grinned maliciously.
He covered his face with the palms of his hands, and wept. “No, what have I done? God, what have you let me become? I’m a murderer!”
“Don’t forget the incest, Toby, that’s in your Bible too.”
“What have you made me?”
She sighed, and produced a mirror from the folds of her white robe. “Look at yourself, Toby. What do you see?”
“I see…I see…”
“What do you see, Toby?”
“Death.” He rammed his head into the mirror. Blood gushed from his forehead, but he managed to search the ground with his free hands for glass shards. Finding one, he quickly held it tightly. The blood dripped from his clutched palm.
“You can’t kill me, Toby.”
He raised the dagger above his head.
“Can you kill your own daughter, Toby?”
“You…are not my daughter!” He stabbed her in the chest.
Terror stricken, he pulled the dagger away from the expected wound. With a shaking hand, he pulled her robe off.
It was a mirror. She, the skin beneath the robe, it was an enormous mirror in the shape of a woman! Toby fell to his knees, and screamed at his pathetic reflection on her curved skin. Instead of a wound, where he had stabbed her, there was cracked glass. Toby could see his image, shattered a hundred times from the wound he had given her.
“What do you see, Toby?”
“NO!!!” He extended the glass shard away from his body.
Major Young was sipping his usual cup of coffee as he entered the Throne Room.
“Good morning, doc, how are you feeling-“
The Doctor sat lifeless in the desk chair. His blood soaked hands hung inches from the floor. A shard of glass the length of a football protruded from his chest.
The coffee mug shattered on the floor. The Major cautiously walked behind the desk, and recoiled at the smoking monitor. The screen had been broken into dozens of pieces, all of them scattered around the workstation. The Doctor’s head wounds caused the blood to flow down his chin, and onto the cold floor below.
Who can fix it now?
“Major, none of this makes any sense to me. Was it something you said to him?”
“No, I remember telling him that we could give him anything he wanted. He wanted to return to his daughter, Christina.”
“Sounds reasonable to me.”
“It would, but Christina has been dead for over a hundred years.”
The Admiral’s eyes widened at the realization, and he sat silently for several minutes before continuing.
“Maybe he got tired of waiting.”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, thank you for your time, Major. You are free to leave now, if you wish.”
“Thank you, sir, I believe I will.”
After Major Young had left, Admiral Steinbeck sat in his chair for several more minutes, reflecting on what had happened.
“Michael…”
“Jennifer, it has been too long since we last met.” She put her arms around his chest.
“You know what you want, Admiral. I have something I want you to do for me.”