A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

I Peter 1:19: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”

Notice how Peter urges us to “take heed” unto prophecy. These days more and more people are becoming “pan-millennial”: they think that it will “all pan out in the end”, so there’s no sense in bothering with it right now. After all, they say, what difference does it make?

I think it makes quite a lot of difference. It makes a difference in how you live your life now, in how you view Israel, and in how you interpret world events. Plus, God gave us all of this information because He wanted us to know it. Peter told us that we should “take heed” to these things, and Jesus emphasized repeatedly that we should be watching. On top of that, a great deal of the Bible is prophecy, and one of God’s defining characteristics is His ability to foretell the future (He “makes known the end from the beginning”). Do you really think that God is pleased when, instead of taking heed, people just dismiss the whole thing by saying “eh, it’ll all pan out”? Is total indifference really the approach that God wants us to take with His Word? I don’t think so.

“I know for a fact that Miles has developed a way to launch satellites into orbit. Apparently he’s been able to do that for a long time. I don’t know how he does it, though, and unfortunately he just laughs when I ask him about it. In fact, he won’t even give me access to his satellites. At this point I’d be content if he would just launch satellites for us, but he won’t do that either. Every time I bring it up he just tells me that I need to invent that technology myself – which is fair enough, I suppose. If he did hand me his designs it would be all-too-easy to simply copy them without understanding how they worked or why those particular design choices were made.”
–Noel Lawson
June 24, 7243
 

The following two days were relatively quiet. Nothing new or unusual happened in Adrasta, and no one reported seeing a young girl with long black hair and dark skin. Monroe was slightly disappointed at this, as he had hoped that Amy would take some immediate and drastic action, but there was nothing he could do about it. On the bright side, the lack of significant events did give him some extra time. Since there was nothing else going on he spent those two days in his office, studying every book he could find that so much as mentioned the Spanish Empire’s war with the Rangers. He was hoping to find some new bit of information that would explain where the Legend of the Sparrow came from. He knew that no one had ever been able to pin it down, but as far as he knew no one had really studied it either. So while he waited on Amy to do something he read old books and took copious notes.

On the morning of the third day, after hours of reading, he decided that he needed to take a break to clear his mind. Monroe strolled out of his office, wandered through the chambers of the Order, and eventually found himself standing outside on a stone patio. To his surprise Elwood was there. He was standing by the railing, looking out into the distance. When he heard Monroe close the door behind him he turned around and glared. “Monroe! I should have known. You always seem to show up where you’re not wanted. And just what do you think you’re doing, coming out here?”

“I work here,” Monroe replied. “My office is right down the hall, as it has been for the past few decades.”

“Just because you somehow still have an office doesn’t mean that you’re welcome here. As a matter of fact, you are universally despised. Everyone in the Order hates you and can’t wait to see you leave. That office isn’t going to belong to you for much longer. If you don’t drop dead soon I will do my very best to have your status as head scribe taken from you. You’re an embarrassment to us all.”

“You will fail,” Monroe said calmly. “The last head scribe to be forcibly removed from office by the council was Douglas Benson, who attempted to assassinate the council during their annual charity gala. That happened way back in 5320. Since then not a single head scribe has been fired, regardless of the unpopularity of their positions. Even outrageously incompetent scribes have managed to hold onto their jobs. Your continued insults only serve to make you look petty.”

“You’re just a poor loser,” Elwood shot back. “But your days are numbered. Do you see those dots down there?”

Monroe walked over to the railing and glanced down. Below them he could see the mountainside, and beyond the mountain he could see a vast prairie that stretched out to the horizon. A slender road snaked through the grassland and up the mountainside. In the distance, moving along the road at a good clip, was a line of six small dots.

“Yes, I see them. I hadn’t noticed them until you pointed them out. They’re still pretty far away. If I had to guess I’d say that they were trucks of some kind.”

“That’s exactly what they are! That is a fleet of six top-of-the-line, automated, robotic tankers. They left the Y12 mine late last night and are just now arriving at Adrasta. Twenty minutes from now they will have climbed up the mountain pass and will be in the city’s unloading bay.”

“The Y12 mine?” Monroe asked. “Isn’t that Evan’s lithium mine? Do you mean that those are the lithium trucks?”

“That’s exactly what they are,” Elwood said proudly. “General Maldonado has obtained the lithium he needs ahead of schedule! Those tankers are carrying it this way as we speak.”

“But wait a minute. Did you say they were tankers? As in oil takers? Lithium isn’t a liquid! What are they doing transporting it in tankers?”

“The general had to use what he had available,” Elwood explained. “The only robotic fleet Adrasta has are the oil tankers, so he retrofitted them to carry the crushed lithium powder. It actually wasn’t that difficult.”

“But I still don’t understand why he would bother. Adrasta has lots of other trucks. Why use oil tankers to transport crushed rocks?”

“Well, as I said, the oil tankers are the only fully automated ones in the entire city. They were designed to be driverless so they could make the quarterly run to the Dakota refinery. All of the other trucks require drivers.”

“So?”

“Think about it! It’s only been a week since the neutron bomb was dropped. There’s still lots of deadly radiation all over that road that would kill any driver. Plus there are all the other toxins that are out there as well. In order to transport anything over that road you have to use automated vehicles. This isn’t neurosurgery, Monroe. Use your head.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Monroe said thoughtfully. “I hadn’t considered the radiation. Still, I only see six dots. Was all of the lithium able to fit into those six tankers, or will the general be making multiple runs?”

“No, one run will be sufficient. In fact, it will leave quite a bit left over for future use!”

“What do you mean, for future use? The general is going to destroy the entire planet! What else is there?”

“Well, there’s Mars, for one thing. There’s obviously some sort of civilization there. We’ll need some pretty big weapons to ensure that our rights aren’t trampled upon, and to make sure that whoever is out there sees things our way.”

“Sees things our way?” Monroe said incredulously. “Are you telling me that Evan wants to conquer Mars?”

“In time I think it’s inevitable. We’ll need to rebuild Earth first, of course, but at some point this planet will simply not be enough. Possessing the stars is our destiny! Removing the savages is simply the first step. In all likelihood Mars will be the second step. It will be a good day when the men of Earth once again rule over her sister planet.”

Monroe watched as the tankers left the grassland and began the winding climb up the mountainside. He felt a chill run down his spine. He desperately hoped that Amy was not listening in on this conversation. If she overheard that then Elwood just signed our death sentence. She will never let anyone put her homeworld in danger. “You – you surely can’t be serious! Surely you’re joking. Don’t you realize that people live on Mars – and out among the stars as well? Have you learned nothing from history?”

“What has history got to do with it?”

“It has everything to do with it! Have you forgotten that this star system was imprisoned for five thousand years because our ancestors went to war against the Rangers? And now you want to go and do it all over again! Only this time you want to do it after the Rangers have had five millennia to advance beyond our wildest dreams. Do you realize that when they find out you intend on bombing their allies on Mars, they may decide to just go ahead and destroy us all now? Why are you trying to make them regret the decision to spare us?”

Elwood laughed. “And you wonder why the council rejects your proposals! You’re a senile old man who is long past his prime. You need to retire and let people who know what they’re doing run things. Why, if you had your way those tankers wouldn’t even be out there right now! We’d still be cowering in the dark, waiting for–”

At that moment the ground began rumbling. A loud crack split the air and echoed among the mountains. Monroe gasped as he saw the entire mountainside give way. With a thunderous noise a huge granite slab fell off the side of the mountain and slid down below, stirring up behind it a giant cloud of dust and rocks. The landslide swept away the convoy of trucks and crushed them into the ground. In a matter of moments the entire road was completely obliterated.

As Elwood looked down at the ruins in horror, Monroe saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. At the top of the mountain, just above where the landslide happened, he saw a tiny figure. It appeared to be a young girl with dark skin and long black hair. She looked in his direction and then vanished.

II Peter 1:16: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

This is actually a very powerful testimony! What he is saying is that the things written in the gospels about the life of Christ are not fables, but are actual eyewitness accounts – accounts written by people who were tortured and executed for what they had to say about Jesus. These people were not anonymous sources, but were real people who actually gave their lives defending these eyewitness accounts. Of the twelve disciples, eleven of them were martyred. The only reason the apostle John was not killed as well was because he survived the Emperor’s repeated attempts to kill him – attempts that included boiling John in oil.

These accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ are not fables, but facts. What we have are actual, firsthand accounts by the people who were there. These words were written by people who ate with Christ, walked with Christ, saw Christ heal the sick, saw Christ crucified, and saw Christ raised back to life. These things are real and true.

I’ve added a new feature to the name generator: character traits! Each character profile that the name generator comes up with will now include a list of randomly selected character traits (sometimes good, sometimes bad). For example:

Traits: perfectionist, loyal, graceful, energetic, liar, narrow-minded, nervous, submissive

Traits: disorganized, dependent, miserly, rebellious, dirty, unmotivated, weak, reckless

Traits: cheerful, respectful, thrifty, sincere, knowledgeable, leads, delegates, lucky

Traits: modest, deliberate, wasteful, narrow-minded, unsure, poor health, inefficient, dull

Give it a try! You can find the name generator here:

Online Random Name Generator

Just check the “include mini-biography” button and press Generate. The traits will be listed at the end of each character profile.

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

I’ve added some new features to my online name generator. You can find it here:

Online Random Name Generator

The big new feature is the ‘Family Tree’ checkbox. When you select this the program will generate a miniature family tree for your character. It will add the names (and birth year) of the character’s parents, along with a list of children (if the character has any). The program now includes marital status, and will generate a spouse name. The program is intelligent enough to keep the maiden name in mind, so the last name of the wife’s parents will reflect her maiden name, not her married name.

All of these new features work with the “ethnic names” and “generate name by year born” checkboxes.

There have also been a few other updates – I’ve added the character’s hometown, hobby, favorite sport, and birth year. The output is now pretty detailed:

Marilyn B. Ayala
Gender: Female
Age: 66 (born in 1946)
Hair Color: Blond
Eye Color: Amber
Hometown: Las Flores, Arkansas
Job: News Producer
Hobby: Fishing
Favorite sport: Bowling
Phone: (672) 383-9853
Email: marilyn922@yahoo.com
Marital Status: Widow
Personality: Defender (ISFJ – introverted, sensing, feeling, judging)
Father: Willard Brewer (born in 1928; deceased)
Mother: Eva Brewer (born in 1923; deceased)
Children: 2 (daughter, Heidi, 39 years old; daughter, Theresa, 38 years old)

I’m not quite done with the name generator, but I’m getting pretty close. This is a good step in the right direction.

II Peter 1:13: “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.”

Peter knew that he was about to be executed. After Jesus’ resurrection the Lord told Peter that one day he would be martyred, and apparently Peter never forgot it. Here Peter is saying that he knows that moment is rapidly approaching. Notice that, even as Peter saw his death approaching, his concern was for the church. He wanted to make sure that their faith was sound and their focus was on Christ. He was deeply concerned – not for his own welfare, or for the grisly fate that awaited him, but for the welfare of the church. That is really quite remarkable.

“It’s raining in Tikal today – absolutely pouring rain. I love it! It’s astounding to once again live on a planet that has weather patterns. Not only that, there are seasons as well! I have seen rain, and snow, and fog. I have seen beautiful days and overcast days. The variety is simply delightful! Now if we can only learn to predict the weather. Sadly, that art was lost long ago. After all, who needs to predict the weather when everyone lives underground?”
–Noel Lawson
June 21, 7243
 

Two days later, Amy and the Sentinel once again met at the base of Falcon Ridge. When the Sentinel arrived he saw that Amy had been there for some time. She was standing there, looking out over the horizon, deep in thought. Alex was curled up at her feet, sound asleep.

“I did not know that you were waiting on me,” the Sentinel said. “Had I known I could have come earlier. There was no reason to keep you waiting.”

Amy shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I wasn’t in a hurry. It’s kind of nice to just stand here and take in Earth’s beauty. I can see why so many people used to want to live here. This world has got such magnificent diversity – forests, jungles, deserts, mountains, and huge oceans.”

“Mars is quite a beautiful place as well,” the Sentinel pointed out. “It has undergone dramatic changes since the day you set foot on it three years ago.”

“Oh, I know. And I do like Mars and everything. It’s just – I don’t know. Earth just seems kind of sad to me. This planet used to be home to billions of civilized men, and now all that’s left are tribes of completely insane people – and Adrasta, which is home to even more insane people. This planet ought to have cities, and people, and art, and culture, and everything, and it doesn’t. Why do people waste their future, Steve? I don’t understand.”

“People do tend to make poor choices. That has always been the case. I take it that your monitoring of the stone fortress has not gone well.”

“Well, yes and no. I mean, Evan Maldonado is still working on building more neutron bombs, but so far he hasn’t been able to kill anyone else. At some point I’m going to have to intervene and slow that project down. I would have done that already but I’m trying to find an opportunity that won’t raise his suspicions. What really bothers me is that the Adrastans don’t seem to have a conscience. With the exception of Monroe and his friends, everyone there is a psychopath. The people there just don’t have a problem with killing other people to get what they want. It doesn’t bother them.”

“The people on Xanthe were the same,” the Sentinel pointed out.

“I know, but it just feels like this should be different. Those people had been in pods for five thousand years, so I’m really not surprised that they lost their minds. The pods were designed to fulfill every dark and horrifying desire they had, which only drove them to even darker desires. Besides, the people we found on Mars weren’t like this. They were lazy and unmotivated and maybe a bit apathetic, but they weren’t murderous lunatics. What makes all this worse is the history of Adrasta. The people there actually call themselves the Children of Light, and the city’s founders specifically charged their descendents with the task of spreading the gospel. They started out as a missions organization, Steve! You can read all about it in the Stone Hall. They were supposed to preserve the light of spiritual truth for future generations.”

“Yes, I noticed. The Hall is a remarkable place, and the Founders were clearly wise men. It would seem that Adrasta has strayed from its roots.”

“If by strayed you mean completely lost it, then I would agree. I just don’t understand, Steve, I really don’t. I’m not asking them for very much, you know. My list of demands is pretty short: I just want them to not massacre every other human being on the planet. That’s it. We would get along fine if they weren’t homicidal maniacs.”

The Sentinel nodded. “You know, Amy, you don’t have to deal with them if you don’t want to. You could always transport Adrasta to some distant planet. If they were removed from Earth they would no longer be a threat to the tribes, and their genetic problems would ensure that they died out before they could develop interstellar capabilities and threaten anyone else.”

“I know. And you’re right – that is a very tempting thought. After what they’ve done they certainly deserve it. I just – I mean, what you’re suggesting is that I condemn an entire city to death. That’s a pretty big step, and I’d rather not do that until I absolutely positively have to. Maybe they will change if we can cure the savages. It’s possible that when they’re faced with the reality of massacring sane people they’ll realize the horror of their ways and will repent. I don’t know. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking, but I think it’s worth a try.”

“Perhaps you are right. However, there is no guarantee that we will find a cure. I have spent the past two days working on the problem and I am not appreciably closer to a solution. My computational abilities are simply not as great as my father’s. Given the complexity of the problem, I do not see how I can arrive at a solution in a reasonable amount of time. At my current rate of progress it could take more than a millennia to find a cure.”

“Oh my goodness! I had no idea. Wow, that’s really bad. Is it really that hard?”

The Sentinel nodded. “Look at it this way. The tribes’ genetic code is damaged in some very serious ways, and that damage has caused all sorts of abnormalities – abnormalities that become quite devastating once the individual goes through puberty. Since I do not wish to experiment on live human subjects, the only way I can look for a cure is to build a mathematical model of the human body, in all its staggering complexity, and then attempt changes to it to see what the ramifications are. It is quite difficult, and I find that my resources are not up to the task. I could simplify the model but then I risk overlooking serious side-effects of any proposed cures.”

“So why not just build more computers to help you?” Amy asked. “I mean, look, we’ve got the resources of millions of stars to work with. Why not turn every planet in the network into a giant supercomputer, and then have them run the simulations for you? Wouldn’t that be a lot faster?”

The Sentinel looked surprised. “Yes, I imagine it would be. The computing power would be staggering – I could run millions of simulations at once and get results back quite quickly. But are you sure that it is wise to turn the network into a giant computer?”

Amy looked confused. “Um, I don’t see why not. Are you afraid that the computer will rise up and attack us, or something?”

“Oh, certainly not! The massively parallel supercomputer you are proposing would not be sentient, nor would it have the capacity for choice, nor could an outside force seize it and use it against us. The reason I am hesitant is because purpose of the network was to transform hostile worlds into habitable paradises so mankind could build colonies on them. Turning those worlds into giant machines seems to be a perversion of that purpose.”

“Couldn’t you put the worlds back when you were done? I mean, it’s not like this is permanent or anything, and the reason we’re doing it is to help cure people so that one day the tribes can actually go to those planets and live there. I don’t see how this does any permanent harm.”

“Yes, it will be reversible. But this effort will take more than a couple hours. There are some complexities involved with converting hundreds of millions of planets into hundreds of millions of giant, planet-sized computers. Even though each Steward can manage the conversion of their own world, there is still the matter of the computer’s design and creating the linkages between them. Given the magnitude of the changes that you are proposing, even converting one planet will take eight or nine days.”

“But you can do them all at the same time, right?” Amy asked.

“Yes, I believe so – after I have formalized a design. Once they are built I will need to network them and build some sort of central hub so I can give them commands and receive results.”

“So how long will this take?”

The Sentinel thought for a moment. “Twelve days, I think, would be sufficient. It may take longer, but as the Stewards will do most of the work and they will be operating in parallel, I think that is a reasonable guess.”

“That’s not bad. It’s a lot better than you spending thousands of years trying to find a cure by yourself. I say let’s do it.”

“Then it shall be done. However, I do not believe that we should convert all of the worlds. There are two that should be spared.”

Amy nodded. “Yeah, I agree. Let’s leave Tonina alone. That just makes sense. Alex really likes it there, and I’m kind of fond of it myself. But what was the other one?”

“Jasmine, of course. Your world. I do not wish to see it turned into a giant calculator.”

Amy smiled. “All right. We can exempt those two planets – but only those two! All the rest get converted.”

“Then we are in agreement. I will begin work the process and will keep you informed.”

Alex yawned, then rolled over and looked up at Amy. The dog then got to his feet, stretched, and started walking around, sniffing the grass.

Amy watched him for a moment then looked back at the Sentinel. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

He shook his head. “I believe I can handle it. This is the sort of task that I was designed to do. It will simply take a lot of effort.”

Amy nodded. “I’m sure it will. While you’re doing that I will keep watch over the murderous fools who live in Adrasta. It’s a terrible job but it’s got to be done.”

“You know, Amy, the Adrastans are not all imbeciles. Monroe Araiza is, as I said earlier, quite perceptive. He has made some very intelligent guesses about your true identity. They are, unfortunately, not correct, but given what he knows they are reasonable hypotheses.”

“Yeah, I noticed. He is pretty sharp. I’m going to have to be careful about what I tell him. At this point I really don’t want him to know that the Rangers are gone and I’m the only one that’s left. That knowledge seems to really freak people out. But, anyway, I’m glad he’s there. At least Adrasta has someone who is passionately fighting for what’s right. I just wish he had more people on his side.”

The Sentinel nodded. “Perhaps one day he will. Is there anything else that you need?”

“Let me see.” Amy looked over at Alex and called to him. “Are you ready to go back to the mountains?”

“No thanks,” Alex barked. “They’re no fun at all. It’s all rocks. There’s no grass and nothing to chase. I’d rather stay here.”

“Suit yourself,” Amy replied. She then looked at the Sentinel, who nodded. “I will keep an eye on him for you.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll see you later, Alex, ok?”

“Ok!” Alex said joyfully. He then ran off, chasing a butterfly. Amy shook her head. She then said goodbye to the Sentinel, and both of them disappeared, leaving Alex on the plain.

II Peter 1:1: “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:”

The message is clear, concise, and consistent: the way we obtain saving faith is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is through His good works (along with His crucifixion and resurrection) that we are saved – not through our own works, or anything like that. We are saved by grace through faith – not of works, lest any man should boast.

This is one of the key distinguishing features of cults: they all tend to say that you are saved by your works, or your good deeds, or your obedience to the Law, or something like that. Catholicism and Mormonism both fall into this category. Christianity, however, has a very different message: you are saved by grace through faith, and nothing else. It is Christ’s righteousness that saves us. His good deeds are the only ones that have saving power. The only way we can ever enter Heaven is if we are clothed in His righteousness. Our righteousness will simply not cut it.

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

The name generator can now randomly generate names based on a variety of ethnicities! If you need a random French, German, Arabic, or Chinese name, or even something more obscure like Icelandic, the name generator can help you out. (A great many other ethnicities are supported as well. Let me know if there are any nationalities that you need that aren’t on the list.)

The name generator can be found here:

The Name Generator

Another feature: if you are generating non-ethnic names and enter an age in the “use fixed age” box, the generator will come up with names that were popular back when that person was born. For example, if you put in “70” and hit Generate, all of the first names will be names that were popular 70 years ago.

I Peter 5:13: “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.”

Peter was writing from the city of Babylon. This is not symbolic of Rome; this is the actual city of ancient Babylon, which still existed in his day. There is no evidence that Peter was ever in Rome.

Another interesting thing this verse tells us is that Peter has a son. He also had a wife – and yet Catholics, who claim that Peter was the first Pope, teach that priests and Popes must not get married! It makes no sense at all. There is nothing biblical about forbidding the clergy from getting married, nor is there anything biblical about the office of the Pope. Not only does the Bible never mention such an office, but the office itself is a direct affront to God. The Pope claims to be the head of the church – and yet Jesus is the only one who can make that claim (Ephesians 5:23). The Pope is doing nothing less than trying to claim for himself a position that belongs to Christ – which is why so many people throughout the centuries called the Pope the antichrist.

“One thing that’s really puzzled me about Tikal is that we haven’t found any personal effects. I’m sure that countless people once lived in this ruin, but they have left behind no traces. There is no clothing in the closets, or books on the shelves, or toys scattered on the floor. The cupboards contain no dishes and the offices contain no computers. It’s as if everyone moved out before the collapse happened. Some argue that the city was looted before it was buried, but the problem with that theory is that none of the wiring or machinery was taken. Why would looters take the paintings off the walls and leave all of the priceless ancient technology behind? It just doesn’t make sense!”
–Noel Lawson
June 19, 7243
 

Later that morning Monroe Araiza was sitting in his living room, reading a book. On the end table next to him was a pencil and a pad of paper. Every now and then the scribe set the book aside, jotted down a few notes, and then resumed reading. He spent most of the morning engrossed in study and lost all track of time. When he suddenly heard a knock on his front door he looked up, startled. Then he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized what time it was.

“Come in, Doyle,” he called out.

As his friend walked into the room Monroe put his book down. “You’re running a bit late today,” the scribe commented. “It’s almost eleven o’clock! Did you run into trouble?”

“Not exactly,” Doyle replied, as he settled into his customary seat. “I just thought you’d be in your office this morning. I searched everywhere for you and couldn’t find you. I thought that maybe you were in a meeting or something, until Elwood told me that you had left some time ago. From what I gathered the two of you had some kind of disagreement.”

“Yes, you could call it that. I made a trip to the office earlier this morning to gather some research materials. While I was there I ran into Elwood, and we had a rather sharp disagreement. The bottom line is that he supports genocide and I do not. Apparently my defense of innocent life makes me an unpopular man. So I retreated here so that I might study in peace.”

“So it’s confirmed, then. The Order is fully behind the general?”

“I am afraid so,” Monroe sighed. “I already knew that, of course, but it’s still depressing to have it confirmed. I had some small hope that I might be able to reason with them and convince them to come to their senses, but that proved to be futile. Maldonado, it seems, has won the day. The general seems to have the unconditional support of everyone.”

“I suppose that’s true, for the time being. But that may yet change. Something might still turn up.”

Monroe laughed. “You always were the optimist! Somehow you have always managed to see a glimmer of hope, even when there was no hope to be had. You are truly the king of wishful thinkers. But in this case you may be right. It’s possible that the situation has already changed.”

“Oh? Did something happen last night that I missed? I didn’t see anything in the news this morning – not that you can trust the news, but still.”

“This wasn’t on the news. Do you remember that girl I asked you about in the debate hall? Well, she paid me a visit last night. She told me that her name was Amy. She didn’t give a last name.”

“Amy…” Doyle repeated thoughtfully. “I don’t think I know an Amy. Not in our circles, anyway. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never seen her before. She hasn’t been to any of our meetings, and she didn’t look familiar.”

“That’s because she’s not from Earth,” Monroe replied. “I’m pretty sure she’s an emissary from the Rangers. At least, that’s my theory. I’ve spent the entire morning brushing up on my ancient history. The main thing I’m trying to figure out is where she might be from. I’m sure that the Ranger civilization has expanded enormously over the past five millennia, but there was something about her that looked almost familiar. For some reason I feel like I ought to be able to pinpoint her home planet. She had this distinctive look that I know I’ve seen before, somewhere. The problem is I haven’t been able to track it down.”

Doyle thought for a moment. “Have you checked The History of Martian Dog Breeders by Judith Aguilar? That book might be able to shed some light on the matter.”

“Dog breeders!” Monroe exclaimed. “How could that possibly help? I’m quite sure that she is not a canine, and I do not care if she breeds dogs or not!”

His friend smiled. “You need to start thinking a little more creatively. Amy did seem to have some alien features about her. We haven’t had contact with anyone since the Wall was erected, so if she looks familiar she must resemble some race that existed five thousand years ago. The only unique race that was around back then was the Martian race, which developed a set of distinctive genetic traits after the ancient Mayan colonists were stranded on Mars for nearly a thousand years. I only glimpsed Amy briefly, but her features do strike me as being vaguely Martian. The reason that book might help is because it contains photographs of ancient Martian dog breeders, some of whom were descendents of the ancient Maya colonists. All you have to do is browse through the book and see if any of them share Amy’s features.”

“Of course!” Monroe exclaimed. “Brilliant! I never would have thought of it. That brings up another question: just where did I put my copy of that book?”

The scribe stood up, thought for a moment, and then walked across the living room to a giant bookshelf. He then removed some of the books off the third shelf and grabbed a book that had been hidden behind them. “Ah, here we go. Let me see. Here’s one! This picture was taken at the Tikal Dog Show on October 3, 1853. It shows the first, second, and third-place winners, along with their owners. And just look at those features! Look at the cheekbones, the forehead, the skull shape! Yes, Doyle, you have done it again. This is exactly what we were looking for. Amy is a descendent of the ancient Martians!”

Monroe walked back to his chair and handed the book to his friend, so he could see the evidence as well. The scribe then sat back down and grabbed his notebook. “This is quite exciting – quite exciting! It’s all starting to come together now. Three years ago the Rangers brought down the Wall and made a trip to Mars. The journey must have been a favorable one, because while they were there they terraformed the planet and brought it back to life. During that time they must have had extensive contact with the locals, and possibly even hired some of them. Amy must be one of these new hires. The Rangers have taken her from Mars and have sent her here to evaluate this planet.”

“So you believe that the Rangers still exist, after all this time?”

“Certainly!” Monroe replied. “Oh, they might not call themselves the Rangers anymore. Five thousand years is a very long time, and there could have been countless political changes. The galaxy may be unified under one government, or it might be a loose federation of countless nations. There’s no telling how many distinct political entities there are out there these days. What is quite clear is that they are the descendents of what we once called the Rangers, and that they have come back. Mars has already rejoined the galactic civilization, and now we are being evaluated for membership as well.”

“Are you sure?” Doyle asked doubtfully. “Amy just seems a bit young to me. Why would the Rangers send us a teenager? Doesn’t that strike you as a bit strange?”

“Appearances can be quite deceiving. She may actually be a great deal older than she looks; the appearance of youth might be a clever disguise. As it turns out, we can use simple logic to prove that she was sent here by the Rangers. It all goes back to a single point: why are there now stars in the night sky?”

“Well, because the Wall is gone,” Doyle replied. “It’s really kind of obvious.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But why is the Wall gone? Who shut it down? We all know it cannot be terminated from within. The public believes that it collapsed due to an equipment failure, but that is preposterous. In 6197 Merlin Hardin wrote a treatise on what would happen if the Wall suddenly became unstable and collapsed. His theories were reviewed extensively by the mathematicians and physicists of his day and they could see no flaw in his argument. If the Wall collapsed on his own, without being shut down in a very careful and controlled fashion, its collapse would utterly destroy everything inside the Wall. Our entire planet – along with everything else in the Solar System – would be annihilated in a microsecond! This was proven beyond a doubt. So then, when the Wall suddenly disappears, what do people do? They say ‘Oh, Hardin must have been wrong after all. The Wall is gone and we’re still alive! He just didn’t know what he was talking about.’ Preposterous! Absolutely preposterous.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Doyle replied. “I quite agree. The public’s perception of these things is not terribly well-informed.”

“Of course it’s not! They simply don’t care. They are far more interested in fashion trends, celebrity gossip, and the outcome of some utterly meaningless sports contest. It’s madness! They ignore things that have a tremendous impact on their future, and consume themselves with things that have no practical importance whatsoever. Their understanding of history is especially appalling. The Order has preserved countless historical documents from the Spanish Empire, but people today can’t be bothered to actually read them. If you ask most people why the Wall was built they’ll tell you that the Spanish Emperor shot a sparrow out of the sky, and it angered the star-gods so much that they imprisoned mankind as punishment. That is the extent of their knowledge, and they do not care to know more.”

“And yet, that mythical account is not too far from the truth,” Doyle pointed out. “The archives do agree that the Empire provoked the Rangers for years, until the Rangers finally decided they had had enough and declared war. The war only lasted a couple hours and the Spanish Empire was decisively defeated. The Rangers then put a Wall around Sol. After the Wall appeared, the Empire lasted only a few more weeks before it utterly disintegrated into chaos and anarchy.”

“Which is curious in itself,” Monroe commented. “What destroyed the Empire was not the Rangers but the Wall. The Empire was apparently intact when the Wall was erected. Apparently the mere effect of being cut off from the Rangers was enough to destroy all civilization around Sol. Personally, I’ve always wondered why the Rangers handled things that way. If the Empire lost – and they must have, for the Wall was imposed upon them from the outside – then why didn’t the Rangers simply take over Sol and rule it for themselves? After all, there are no reports that the Emperor was able to damage so much as a single Ranger colony, and the Rangers apparently defeated them the same day that hostilities broke out. For that matter, one wonders why the Rangers allowed the Empire to taunt them for so long. Given the Ranger’s obviously superior strength and technology, I am amazed that the Emperor did not exercise more discretion.”

“I suppose that is something we will never know,” Doyle replied. “Perhaps the planets around Sol were so poisoned and devastated by the attack that the Rangers believed they were worthless, and they put up the Wall to keep the poison from spreading. They may have believed that there was simply nothing here worth their time – especially when they had a hundred billion other stars to explore.”

“Perhaps. The other mystery, I suppose, is where the popular legend came from. I find it very difficult to believe that the Rangers declared war on the Empire just because the Emperor shot a bird out of the sky. That is hardly grounds for war. Therefore, if it existed at all, this ‘sparrow’ must be metaphorical. Perhaps the Empire assassinated someone, or something along those lines. That may be something that we’ll have to ask Amy. As an agent of the Rangers she should have access to all of their historical documents. If not, perhaps she could put us in touch with someone who does. Assuming Earth passes its test, of course. She seems quite upset with Maldonado at the moment.”

“So she’s on our side?” Doyle asked, surprised. “That is certainly welcome news – assuming she is a Ranger, that is, and actually has some power. Do you think she’ll be able to stop the genocide?”

“I don’t know. She certainly believed that she could. The girl looked harmless enough to me, but her confidence was extraordinary! She really believed that she wielded great power. When she stated that she was going to stop the general she said it as if it was a small matter – like an adult restraining a helpless infant. She was not the least bit concerned about the general’s military might. If she is an agent of the Rangers then I can understand why. I’m sure that the armed forces of Adrasta are nothing compared to the armadas of a galactic civilization. We are probably outnumbered trillions to one.”

“Isn’t that a bit troubling?” Doyle asked. “I admit that we could use their help in saving the tribes, but do we really want to be at the mercy of a galactic civilization?”

“It’s not as troubling as it seems,” Monroe replied. “The fact of the matter is that if the Rangers really are out there – and I think the evidence for that is quite solid – then we are at their mercy, whether we wish to be or not. Moreover, the Rangers have had three years to conquer us and they have not done so. All they have done is sent a single non-threatening girl to this planet to see what we are doing, and all she wants to do is save the tribes – and, possibly, save us as well.”

“Save us?” Doyle asked. “Save us from what?”

“From our impending genetic doom, of course! Based on what Amy told me last night, the Rangers have a cure for our infertility. The problem is that she doesn’t know whether we should be cured. She was worried that if she cured us, we would use our future to try to wipe out other races. She doesn’t want to cure a race of genocidal monsters.”

“I can hardly blame her,” Doyle said. “But I do not know if I should be comforted or disturbed. It’s a bit frightening realizing that your future rests in the hands of strangers that you can’t see. I’m not sure that I want my future to depend on the whims of those who dwell among the stars.”

Monroe laughed. “What happened to your unbridled optimism? You’re beginning to sound like me!”

“I don’t think I’m quite that bad,” Doyle replied. “Besides, despite what you might think, my optimism is not blind. I’m just not willing to say that all is lost until all really is lost. Until the tribes are actually massacred there is always a chance that something might come up. As long as they are still alive there is still hope that the Lord might hear our prayers and intervene. I simply refuse to give up hope until it is actually over. All I am saying here is that I’m a bit nervous about the true intentions of the Rangers. Historically speaking, powerful civilizations tend to crush and enslave weaker ones. If you want an example just look at what we’re doing to the tribes! I find it hard to believe that this time, the more powerful party has come solve our problems and then vanish, like some kind of fairy godmother. Does that really seem likely to you?”

Monroe thought for a moment. “Look at it this way. Had I not told you about Amy’s visit last night, you would not have even know that they were here. The Rangers are operating with a very light touch. So far they have not interfered with anything that we’ve done, nor have they come in force and taken over. I do not see that they have taken any steps that we can criticize them for. Besides, as far as I can tell the Rangers are our only hope for survival. If they do not cure us then we will assuredly die out. Frankly, we don’t have a lot of options.”

“I suppose not,” Doyle agreed. “It’s just troubling. I wish we knew more about them.”

“Perhaps, in time, we will,” Monroe replied.

I Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

The word “Satan” actually means “adversary.” This passage is why I became pre-millennial: I just could not reconcile these verses with the section in Revelation that says that Satan was bound for a thousand years. People who are amillennial claim that the binding of Satan happened when Christ died on the cross, and that Satan is now bound. I think that is completely ridiculous. Satan is not bound; instead he is a “roaring lion”, looking for people to devour. He is our adversary and he is working very hard to destroy us! Therefore, if Satan is not yet bound then Revelation 20 must not have happened yet – and if it hasn’t happened yet then it must still be in our future. Once I realized that, everything else fell into place and I became pre-millennial.

But the key to remember is that we really do have an adversary. We are in a deadly and very serious war, and few people are even bothering to fight. The Bible says that if we resist the devil he will flee from us, but are we actually resisting? How many people are instead trying to get the very things that the devil is peddling?

We must fight and resist; we must die to ourselves and “resist stedfast in the faith.” This is another reason why we have to stay grounded in the Word: if we don’t then how will we be able to tell the truth from lies?