A few minutes later, Titanium accompanied by the five satellite ships smoothly slid into the open mouth of the hyper tunnel and darted through space leaving Doht and its domain behind. Once again, a whole new world was waiting for ‘Solar Flotilla’ – the Lactian Empire – intricately made up of around a thousand stellar systems and dozens of habitable planets.

Chapter 6

After arriving at Vistana, the Council was much occupied with the collaboration issues with the new allies for some time. This gave Lora, Derek and Paul an opportunity to prepare a well thought-out plan of an Earth expedition. And despite the fact that the shuttle captain had more doubts about the necessity of such a mission than the others, still he put every effort in place to make it look solid in the eyes of the councillors. Meanwhile, working closely with the earthling, Lora realized ever their difference in viewpoints, and she couldn’t help but realize that the human civilization split had been inevitable back then. Once, soon after the ‘Solar Flotilla’s’ arrival at the Lactians’ capital planet, Lora had the chance to be all the more persuaded in the idea that the earthling and herself were far from mutual understanding. On the instruction of the Council, Lora was sent on a mission to Barkan, one of the inhabited planets in the Lactian Empire. In fact, the purpose of the trip was cultural exchange, so without hesitation Lora invited Derek to join her. This assignment was a good chance to have a change of scene by visiting a planet new to them. On Barkan they were welcomed by an official Empire representative, Kumimago Hoto. He belonged to the original Lactian race, although it was the representatives of other races, united under the Empire, which often occupied high political and diplomatic posts. The Lactians were humanoids, but looked very different from people: their average height exceeded the people’s height two and a half times, and it was simply impossible to find a plump Lactian as they were all slim and lank. Their blood vessels could be easily seen under the thin skin of golden shade, while their long snow-white hair was always scraped into tight buns at the nape; making their huge transparent blue eyes look even bigger. The three pairs of hands, which they managed with greater dexterity than humans do with just one, were often hidden under loose colourful capes and could be seen only when it was necessary. Traveling in a huge flying chariot, the Lactian representative and his companions were having a tour around Barkan when Derek noticed a spectacular construction towering over a mountain. It consisted of several very tall semi-circular arches placed in a row one after another. Their incredibly high tops sparkled in the sun like mother of pearl, blindingly bright.

“What’s that?” asked the earthling.

“It’s the Gates of Life, a gift from the Lactians to the Barkan inhabitants.”

“Gates of Life?” asked Derek again, watching an endless procession of pilgrims climbing up a narrow winding path on a steep slope to the top. “Is it some kind of a ritual?”

“You could say that,” Kumimago smiled. “A long time ago, when my race lived on our native planet, we had an incredible technological boom in all the areas of science-in medicine, as well. Our doctors learned to treat the majority of illnesses. However, with time, it became obvious that in spite of all our efforts to stay healthy, every subsequent Lactian generation was weaker than the previous. Just as we found a new vaccine against one virus, another more deadly one would appear. Initially effective treatment methods were turning out to be useless after years, while illnesses became chronic. The doctors had scrutinized over this problem for a long time until a truly genius scientist Armesteh created the Gates of Life. This machine, the prototype of which you can see on the mountain, could renew all the body cells completely, except the nerve cells. After this scientific breakthrough was made, the vaccines, antibiotics and surgeries seemed to become a thing of the past.”

“Apparently, it had some drawbacks,” said Derek quietly, noticing his companion’s glance grow heavier.

“That’s right. The machine worked without causing any side effects. However, for some reason there were Lactians who were able to retain their newfound health for the rest of their days, while the old illnesses were returning to the others after a while. After having carried out a great deal of testing and research, Armesteh and his colleagues found the reason. It turned out that every illness leaves a mark on the subconscious of the Lactians. And the subconscious as a part of the nervous system could not be healed by the machine.”

“But you said that some of your compatriots were totally healed,” said the earthling surprised.

“Only those whose wish to live let them cleanse their consciousness from the true source of all illnesses: fear, and its constant companions – anger and hatred. The humaneness of our society wouldn’t allow denying medical treatment to those who fell sick a second time. These Lactians were coming to the Gates of Life again and again, and by marrying those who were totally healthy, they transferred their illnesses to the new generations. With time, the energy system of our planet became exhausted; a disaster was looming and threatening to extinguish the whole Lactian civilisation. Bordering on extinction, we realized that we couldn’t afford to be weak or nurture the deadly illnesses from generation to generation by healing the bodies of those who were ill in their souls. Our government passed a new law: everyone wishing to be healed by passing through the Gates of Life had to undergo a test in order to prove their vitality: to get rid of fear and to fill their mind with love. This very path is the test. The ill person has to walk it alone without anyone’s help. You see the only way to a real cure… Some, however, choose to walk the path differently. Instead of getting rid of fear and hatred, they fill themselves with anger, grow hard and deplete their body and spirit while overcoming the obstacles. Sometimes it works and they make it to the Gates, exhausted physically and spiritually, but full of furious determination. Nobody stays on their way; it’s their choice after all.”

Lora had seen the Gates of Life before, but now she was interested to know what Derek would say about the policy of the Lactian Health Ministry. The earthling didn’t make her wait long to satisfy her curiosity.

“It’s pure genocide…” he whispered quietly when they went back to the shuttle and were getting ready to travel back to Titanium. “Who gave them the right to decide who to be healthy and who to die of illnesses?”

“What are you talking about?” the girl glanced at him in surprise. “Every Lactian had and still has a choice. No one stays on their way to salvation, no one kills them! And you’re calling it genocide?!

“But, in fact, their government took the life of millions of their compatriots in order to create a more perfect race! The old humaneness turned out to be a relic of the past, an obstacle on the way to preserve the Lactian civilization!”

Lora shook her head. Her disagreement with Derek’s words was obvious.

“You are justifying their actions?” He asked, in disbelief.

“I don’t see anything that needs justification,” she answered. “Moreover, Andre Mendes’s philosophy is very similar to that of the Lactians.”

The young man raised his eyebrows in amazement.

“When our founder revealed his knowledge to the people of Earth,” Lora started explaining, “Many came to him to learn. But his teaching was useful only to those who were ready to change, to rethink their lives and only through self-knowledge and forgiveness to gain strength, wisdom and health. Not everyone was ready for such a strenuous task. Not everybody wanted to spend time on a spiritual quest. The majority just wished to get to the final result, overlooking the very way the Lactian representative was talking about.”

“But some simply might not have had enough strength!” said Derek indignantly.

“If someone does not have enough strength to fight for his own life, why should others rush to save them?”

“Because people should help each other!”

“Help was never denied to them: Andre’s knowledge was, and remains to be, accessible to everyone – the Gates of Life as well.”

The young man sighed deeply.

“How can your ideas be so rational and simultaneously so contradicting with everything I believe in? All this philosophy is totally void of any compassion!”