Beyond the Farthest Star: Chapter 7

After Jones had finished talking to Amanda in the Golden Spire he left the building. As he left he saw the girl walk down the street toward Reverend Knight, and smiled to himself. He’ll encourage her, he thought. This is a good place for her to be.

Jones casually walked through the golden city and headed to the outskirts of town. He didn’t have to walk but it was such a beautiful day that he just wanted to be outside. Besides, he was in no particular hurry. There was no need to rush and he had no deadlines to worry about.

After more than an hour he finally came to the estate of Maxwell Baker. Technically Max wasn’t a captain anymore, but people still called him Captain Max and would probably keep on calling him that for the rest of eternity. His home was located within the city’s jurisdiction but outside of its bustling downtown section. It was nestled between a range of small hills that were covered in maple trees.

His house was set back some distance from the road, but was connected to it by an elegant cobblestone path. As Jones walked down the lane he admired the tremendous job that had been done on the estate’s grounds. The grass was deeply green and neatly cut, and the grounds were artfully dotted with fruit-bearing trees. On either side of the stone walkway were purple flowers. A small stream meandered between the road and the house, and a wooden bridge arched over the stream.

When Jones reached the bridge he stopped for a while and leaned over its side, gazing at the stream below. The water was crystal-clear. He could see every fish that darted through the stream, along with a few crayfish that were hiding in-between the rocks. He glanced up and saw that the stream was coming from a mountain range in the distance. I wonder where it goes, he thought. Perhaps there’s a lake in the distance.

A booming voice called out from behind him. “Did you lose something?”

Jones turned around and saw the captain strolling toward him from the house. “No, sir, I didn’t. I was just admiring your stream. Does it have a name?”

“I suppose it does,” Captain Max replied. “I haven’t asked anybody about it, though, so I don’t know. In fact, I haven’t even seen my whole house yet! I have no idea what’s in the basement, and I’ve only just now started exploring the East Wing. There’s so much to take in.”

Jones looked up and studied the house. The sprawling mansion was so artfully placed in the landscape that at first he didn’t realize how big it actually was. From where he was standing he could see at least six floors, but he suspected there were more in the back that were hidden from view. The entire home was beautifully built out of wood, and had a rustic feel to it that seemed to fit the captain very well. He could see a wide porch, expansive windows, and a few flower-bearing vines that climbed up the side of the home.

“That’s quite a place you’ve got,” Jones commented. “It’s even bigger than Richard’s home back in Tikal.”

“It’s an astonishing place,” the captain agreed. “Just wait until you see the inside! It’s – well, it’s magnificent. And huge! It’s a whole lot bigger than I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” Jones asked.

“I don’t know. Something reasonable, I guess. But that house – well, it has extravagant written all over it! There’s no possible way that I deserve anything like that. I wasn’t that great a person, Jones.”

“Your greatness has nothing to do with it,” Jones replied. “The reason we’re here is because of God’s mercy and forgiveness. He paid the price for our sins. We’re here because He wanted us to be here, not because we deserve it.”

“Oh, I know. But what I mean is that a lot of people led much better lives than I did. I didn’t spend sixty years taking care of lepers in Africa. Those people are much more deserving of extravagant rewards than I am.”

“Jesus did say that in His Father’s house there were many mansions,” Jones pointed out. “He didn’t say ‘In my Father’s house are many one-bedroom apartments.’”

“True. But still, I figured the good stuff would go to life’s amazing people – missionaries, martyrs, that sort of thing. Not to people like me.”

“You did more than most,” Jones replied. “You chose to take the Sparrow to Mars to rescue the Stryker family, and you stood by them after things went wrong. You knew you were putting your life on the line and you did it anyway, because it was the right thing to do. That act of courage cost you a great deal, and the Lord has not forgotten that.

“Besides, God is not running out of space, nor is He running out of resources. After all, He uses gold for pavement! An estate like yours is very costly to us but not to Him. We serve a very extravagant God. He doesn’t give us what we deserve – instead He is merciful and freely gives us gifts that we have no right to at all. None of us deserve to be here, but Jesus gave His life for us anyway so that His enemies could be reconciled to Him. That’s who He is.”

“He’s amazing,” Captain Max agreed.

“He is far beyond amazing. The best part is that He loves us and will never stop loving us. For all the rest of eternity He is going to show us the astounding riches of His grace. This is a good place to be, captain.”

“Yes it is. But what brings you here? Did you just want to watch the fish swim in the stream?”

“It’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon, sir. But I actually came by because you’re about to have a visitor, and I wanted to be here when he arrived. He’s going to make us an offer that I think you will be interested in.”

“Really?” Captain Max asked, surprised. “How did you know that?”

Jones smiled. “I am a Seer, you know, but this time it didn’t have anything to do with that. The reason I know is because I talked to him earlier today and he told me his plans. He’s a very interesting man and he has some very interesting ideas.”

“What does he want?”

“You’ll see,” Jones replied.

* * * * *
 

It was more than an hour later before the mysterious visitor dropped by the Maxwell estate. By that time the captain and Jones had made their way inside his mansion and were sitting in the living room, having a glass of tea.

“Did you hear that Amy had made contact with Noel and Miles?” Jones asked.

“No, I hadn’t!” Captain Max replied. “That’s good news. I’m glad she finally has some friends. I think she’ll find kindred spirits in both of them.”

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and a few moments later a tall, distinguished-looking man walked into the room. As soon as the captain saw him he rose to his feet. “Dr. Temilotzin! So you’re the mysterious visitor Jones was telling me about. Please, have a seat! Can I get you anything?”

“No, but thank you,” he replied. The scientist sat down in a comfortable seat across from the captain. “So I see that you were expecting me! I take it that Jones has already told you about our plans?”

“I haven’t been able to pry a single word out of him,” Captain Max replied.

“I thought you’d want to tell him,” Jones explained.

Dr. Temilotzin nodded. “Very well. Captain, the reason I’m here is because we need your help. How much do you know about the Diano Corporation?”

“About as much as anyone, I guess. It was started in the 18th century by Ramon Diano. He founded a bunch of colonies, including Tau Ceti. In fact, I think that most of the Ranger colonies were his work. I don’t know what happened after the Sparrow was taken into the future, but apparently they built the Artilect and a bunch of self-replicating probes, and then died when the swarms wiped everything out.”

“That is quite accurate. Now, do you know what Ramon’s dream was?”

“To colonize the stars?”

“Partly. Colonization was certainly important to him, and he spent most of his life doing exactly that. But that was only a part of his dream. What he really wanted to do was explore the stars. To him each star was a treasure chest, hiding away untold wonders. In fact, he wanted nothing less than to explore each and every star system in the entire universe.”

“That was a pretty ambitious goal!” the captain laughed. “I’ve got to say he certainly didn’t think small.”

Jones spoke up. “Your Nehemiah probes were a part of that dream, weren’t they? You were taking things to the next level.”

Dr. Temilotzin nodded. “They worked out fairly well, too. Before Amanda destroyed the probes they had reached more than 93 million star systems. That is just a small fraction of the number of stars in the galaxy – much less the number of stars in the universe – but it’s more than I expected to reach before the end came.”

“Really?” Jones asked. “Does that mean you actually expected things to turn out the way they did?”

“That is correct. I had hoped otherwise, of course, but in my heart I knew that nothing less than a miracle would change things. It was obvious that mankind was simply too corrupt to inherit the stars. Those who live in the shadowlands have never been able to remain civilized for long. They always destroy themselves before they get very far.”

“As we’ve seen from history,” Jones agreed. “In the 10th century the Mayans achieved interplanetary travel, only to destroy themselves in a nuclear war. It was another 700 years before anyone was able to reach Mars again. The Spanish Empire held onto space travel for a while, but then they got into a fight with the Rangers and were imprisoned behind the Wall. Their mastery of space lasted less than two centuries. The Rangers lasted a bit longer, but eventually they succumbed to war as well.”

“Exactly. The same story has repeated itself all throughout history. That fact has only become more apparent in the millennia since I died. But here things are different. What we have here is a society of people who are not corrupt and who can never be corrupted. This civilization has the potential to inherit the stars and everything that lies beyond them. The future is quite exciting.”

“So what does that have to do with us?” Captain Max asked. “After all, the Diano Corporation is gone, the probes are gone, and the Rangers are gone. Ramon gave it a good try but things just didn’t quite work out.”

“Because the dream is not gone,” Dr. Temilotzin explained. “Ramon Diano is here, as is Dr. Mazatl – the creator of the Artilect. Ramon still intends to explore the universe, and we’ve spent millennia working on a plan to do exactly that. We want you to be a part of it.”

“I don’t understand,” the captain replied. “How is that possible? From what I understand, Judgment Day isn’t that far off. Amy is giving Earth and Mars one last chance to repent before Jesus returns, and then it’s all over. The shadowlands will be destroyed and there won’t be any stars left to explore.”

Jones spoke up. “There’s more to the story than that, sir. After the Judgment the Lord is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. The universe is going to be restored to the way it was before sin corrupted it, and we’ll live there for all of eternity. That’s what you’re planning on exploring, isn’t it?”

“Exactly,” Dr. Temilotzin agreed. “What we’ve been doing is laying the groundwork for that adventure. We won’t be able to launch anything until after the Judgment, of course, but there’s a great deal that we can do now. For example, the Nehemiah probes were a step in the right direction but they were flawed. We have some ideas for an improved design that should be far more effective. With the help of both of you I think we can hit the ground running when the time comes.”

“Hit the ground running?” the captain asked. “But why the hurry? Don’t we have all of eternity?”

“Of course! But time is still a scarce resource. Consider, captain. This evening you could have dinner at home, or you could have dinner with a friend. After dinner you could explore your house, or go downtown and listen to the orchestra, or do a thousand other things. The point is that you still have to choose how to spend your time. You cannot do everything so you must choose wisely.”

“But there will always be tomorrow, won’t there?”

“Of course – but the choices tomorrow may be different.”

“I see,” the captain said. “So am I to understand that you’re offering me a job?”

“Does that surprise you?” Dr. Temilotzin asked. “If so, it shouldn’t! You are quite good at what you do. We would truly love to have your assistance.”

“No, it’s not that – although it is an honor. I’m just surprised that people have jobs here. It feels strange.”

“It all depends on what you mean by ‘job’,” Dr. Temilotzin said. “You have all of eternity ahead of you, captain. You are not going to spend all of that time staring at a wall, watching paint dry. You will want to do something – something that uses the talents you’ve been given to honor the Lord. This isn’t about paying your bills or making ends meet, because things are no longer like that. What matters is that God gave you a very unique skill set and He wants you to use it – and you want to use it as well. You know how to reach the unreachable places and how to pry secrets out of strange worlds. You can hear the siren call of the stars, bidding you to find the mysteries that their Creator has hidden in them. There are billions upon billions of worlds out there, captain, and you have all of eternity to explore them. What do you want to do?”

The captain smiled. “I want to see what lies beyond the horizon.”

“Then let’s gets started,” Dr. Temilotzin replied.