Kilkian Alignment

The next episode for Jamison’s Battlefields. Here are the previous episodes in order. Zilkas Asteroid Belt, Jamison’s Rescue,  Dinner with an Alien, Dibolocos Attack, Departure Orders, Homecoming, Into the Darkness, The Family Business,  Jewel’s Place, Shanghaied,  First Mark,  The Pirate’s Life, Defensive Position, Adrift, Self Sacrifice, Crash Down,  The Lake House, Dancing with Egopods, and Lunch with Aliens. Like any story you will get the most out of it by reading it in order.

Following the meal they talked again about the Kilkian king.

“It had always been the kings desire to reveal himself to the human colonies. This revelation had to be handled carefully because he wanted to preserve the freedom of the humans. They were more than welcome to form their alliances with the Kilkians, but he wanted that choice to be a matter of their individual decisions expressed through free will. He didn’t want them to do so out of fear or necessity.”

They learned the war with the Dibolocos created additional difficulties.

“The Dibolocos had practically no recourse against us or our kingdom. They could not physically harm us, they could not disrupt our society or economy, nor could they destroy our properties. The one thing they could do was interfere with the king’s purposes. This was their initial motivation for harming humans. With the passing of time, they have begun to take great pleasure in enslaving, hurting and killing humans. On the other side of the equation though the Kilkians have found their existence to take on deeper meaning and greater joy by serving, healing and helping humanity.”

Jamison and Chambers both came to understand the decision to align with the Kilkians, was to align with the Kilkian king rather than with the Kilkians. The citizens of that kingdom do not have desires and wishes separate from the will of their king. They are unlike humans in that each member is not a holder of free will so much as a messenger within the greater will of their king.

The king would be found trustworthy, but they had to place their trust in him in order to be able to understand his good intentions.

“Trusting our king is more than a mental affirmation. If you believe his intentions are good then you must also commit yourself to doing good in order to be aligned with him. This includes no longer doing the things which bring harm to yourself or others.”

“The king is working for good, and you will have the privilege of working with him, but often the best things must be built. This labor will produce conflict with the Dibolocos, and they will produce pain and suffering in response to it. This is the nature of the warfare. Yet, as you trust the king and allow him to work over time, your world will be transformed.”

Then finally they were told how to accomplish the alignment. It was almost silly how simple it was. They would simply speak to the king, even though he wasn’t present he would hear, and he would answer by aligning with them. In a sense they were doing nothing but accepting the offer the king extended. The exact words in this transaction were not so important. What was important was their intent and their commitment.

Jamison went first. He stood before the group and said, out loud. “Sir, I offer my life, my strength and my abilities to your service. I regret I misunderstood your purposes at first, and ended up fighting for the Dibolocos in my stubbornness. But now I want to make up for it, and if you will have me, I want to be aligned with you.”

Jamison wasn’t sure what he had expected, probably nothing. But instead of nothing he felt a change come over him. He felt warm at first, then he felt broken by his past, but this hurt was quickly substituted by a positive exhilarating rush of some kind. The process only took a couple of seconds, but when it was done he felt strong, capable, pure and true.

Chambers went next. “King, will you be my king, please? I thought I was on your side and I hate that I was wrong. I don’t want to be fooled anymore. I don’t want to serve the wrong, so I choose to serve you. I want to be yours and to make a difference for the right.”

Jamison watched her as she melted into a sudden storm of tears, but quickly he could also see the tears changed somewhat and he could see what had started as tears of pain had become tears of joy. In her joy she hugged Jamison. And then the two of them made an ill-fated attempt to hug the two Kilkians in the room.  This failed since their embrace fell right through their mentors. A fact that made all four of them laugh.

“What was that rush?” Chambers asked breathlessly.

“It was the presence of the king coming to you. He has started the work in you which you gave him permission to do.”

Jamison felt such adrenaline that he let out a whoop. He and Chambers hugged again and danced around the room. Eventually they settled down and took their seats again. He wasn’t quite sure where this excitement came from but he liked it. And yet he also wanted to settle down. He had a task to do. He was ready for his life to take on new purpose.

Colofen addressed them both. “You will stay here at the lake house for the next few weeks.  We will train you with skills available to those aligned with the king. These skills will be necessary in the future as you take on your new assignments. We will also instruct you in regard to your assignments. You will have separate responsibilities in the times to come. Before winter sets in we will all be picked up by a colony ship and you will be taken home.”

Chambers caught it first. “Separate responsibilities? You mean we will not be together?”

Jamison felt a distinct heartache starting as those words sank in.

“It is not my place to reveal everything to you. But I can tell you this—you will always be important to one another. Your relationship will be a source of strength to you both. But you will not always be together.”

They were not sure if this proclamation was reassuring or heartbreaking.  Neither of them understood what they wanted their relationship to be. They were more than friends, but not exactly a romantic couple either. At least not yet. But they could wait and see what happened.

Colofer spoke now, “You have won the first battle—the battle for the mind. You have made a decision, and the right one. You will have other battles to fight, and starting in the morning we will prepare you for them.”

 

This concludes the first of the three battlefields in the collection, Jamison’s Battlefields.  I anticipate taking a couple weeks off and then starting the second battlefield as the serial continues.  In the mean time I will put other things on the blog on Fun Friday. 

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