The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids (14 page)

S

ome figures from this period of historie
conducted themselves in such a way that suggest possible knowledge of ports and portals, t
hough the Zelaznids cannot say with certaintie. 
For example,
one Abdu Amr,
[106]
an advisor to the Rashidun, had
skills
which
aided in the rapid expansion of Islam.  Certainlie the spread of this great faith was
swift
enough to suggest the miraculous, yet no man can say whether
such a
miracle came from the hands of man or the will of God.

     It is also said that the ancient peoples of Spanish America
[107]
knew
as much about the
building of pyramids as
did
the Egyptians.  Though I have not seen the
ir cittie
myself, I have
observed
drawings
.  It is clear that these far-off peoples
could not have learned such skills from the Egyptians, being thousands of miles distant from
them
.  Given that the people of Egypt learned such skills from another world, is it not reasonable to presume that the natives of Spanish America did likewise?

     Some Zelaznids also point to the career of Joan, the Maid of Orleans
[108]
as evidence of otherworldlie influence
.  How else, they say,
can we explain the influence Joan had over her king, the vividness of her visions, the extent of her militarie successes, and the zealousness with which her British captors sought her death.  These, according
some
with whom I spoke
, suggest
the influence of other worlds.
[109]

    
For all of this speculation,
there are
two
individuals who emerged
well after the ‘dark ages’,
indeed
at the end of the mediæval era
,
who possessed
clear
knowledge of
other
world
s
and whose
lives
followed much
different paths.

     First
came
Leonardo,
[110]
who embodied the era
that came to
be known as the Renaissance. 
This
famous artist p
ossess
ed the skill to utilize
portals,
knowledge
he learned while a member of a
certain
secret societie
founded by
learned men
.  L
eonardo used his skills to
introduce
numerous technologies and
discoveries
which
were
previouslie
un
known
to this
world.  Though these ideas were not accepted in his time, it is nonetheless admirable that
he
sought to use his knowledge to improve
the world rather than for
personal
gain.

     In contrast to this laudable fellow, and in
his
wake, came a dark and calculating Frenchman who used his knowledge
for no purpose but to enhance his own station in life
.  He was Michel de Nostradame,
known to the world as
Nostradamus
. 
A medical practitioner by training, this Frenchman
,
by some means
,
acquired knowledge of ports and portals. 
While visiting another
world, he learned to unlock those secret avenues of his min
d that God has, in His wisdom, locked away from us
. 

     Flying in the face of reason
and proprietie
, Nostradamus use
d
his skills to
elevate himself,
predict
ing
the future
when it would serve his
position
or his purse.  His efforts
garnered him
much
attention, though the servants of the Inquisition began to wonder if the seer was perhaps in league with dark forces.  Fearing for his life, and unable to reveal the source of his knowledge without
further inflaming the C
hurch, Nostradamus set forth to protect himself while
also
se
eking a
life of privilege.

     To this end, he published predictions regarding the royal familie of France, though it
cannot be said
whether
, in truth,
he
foresaw the things of which he wrote. 
No matter their veracitie, his
words caught the attention of the Queen,
[111]
who brought him into the protection of
the royal household
and showered him
with
luxuries for the rest of his days. 
Thus
he squander
ed
the knowledge that others had used before him, not for the survival of a people,
not f
or the world, but for his own selfish ends.

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168
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Chapter 9

The Age of Machines

O

ur world has reached the so-called modern era now, the age of machines and factories.  I fear that, should the world continue on much longer, “modernists” will need to find a new word to describe the world. 
Or
will the modern age continue on forever?  Will this era see the
benign
use of ports and portals, or will my progen
ie
[112]
see
more l
ike Nostradamus, who would utilize the knowledge gleaned from other worlds for
themselves
alone?

     I have hopes that we have
not
yet
see
n
the best of Mankind, that societie
still
strives for perfection. 
For certain
,
there
are places in this world where wonders
remain to
be found
for the b
enefit of humanitie. 
Consider the storie of
Muhammad al-Hakam, a descendant of that wise and cruel founder of Cordoba
.
[113]
 
It was
this Muhammad
who
discovered
a city of gold in the heart of the Mato Grosso in Portuguese America
.
The Zelaznids believe that this cittie is
the center of
a lost tribe of
kinsmen
who
liv
e in secret
within the protective grasp of the jungle.
[114]
The better part of
a centurie
has passed
since al-Hakam’s discoverie, yet none
have
returned to the jungle
to
make contact with
th
at lost ci
vilization.  What might we learn from such an expedition?  No man can say.

    
T
here are suggestions that
this new era will bring forth
creations that
make the
world a more united place. 
Might one such marvel be the new
locomotive?  It has been centuries since Portuguese explorers revolutionized navigation
at sea so that ships could
cross the
vast
oceans
in safetie
. 
In the time since, there has been no
significant
improvement in
the speed at which
a man might move from one end of the world to
the
other.
 
Y
et,
we hear of
the locomotive.

     How
fortuitous
that such an invention sh
ould spring into being in one’s own lifetime!  The Zelaznids, wh
ilst
I was in their midst, had just heard of these
new
machines
,
which
utilize steam power to
carrie
goods over short distances of rail.
[115]
  Yet, some of these same Zelaznids
claimed to
ha
ve
seen locomotives (though they were called by a different name) while visiting another port
several years before
.  This
fact convinced some
that the
development
of the locomotive
must
have come with the influence of other worlds. 
To avoid offending
my hosts, I did
not disagree
,
but
I
believe that
a locomotive
can
,
like lesser
inventions,
develop
independentlie
in different
world
s
.

     No matter its origin,
the locomotive
is a tremendous
creation
sure to bring peace to
the
world
.  Can it be long before such machines are
able to
take
persons across the continents of the world? 
Should this
come to pass
,
how long before
anger between
nations falls by the wayside
? 
I
t is easier to seek the destruction of th
ose who are
unknown or strange
to us than those with whom we are familiar.  T
he Zelaznids have learned
this over the vast epoch of their
existence. 
But
the locomotive could make all things known, and this is a wonderful thing.

     Yet, not all machines
offer such benefits to the world.
  For two centuries or more, men of vision have sought to
design
underwater ship
s
.  At first, the
y did so for the benefit of
undersea exploration.  Yet,
it was not
long
before
the Rotterdam
[116]
took to the waves, intent on the destruction of
enemie ship
s
. 
And
it is said that
Fulton
- of the steamship -
built a larger
and
more terrifying version of his
own underwater
Nautilus machine, though
Napoleon’s navy had
little use for the metallic beast.
[117]
  Yet it is clear
that these undersea boats will one day change the manner of naval war. 
I
f he had commanded
a
fleet of such vessels, the Emperor might have lived to see his Empire
overtake Britain
.

     It
is said
among the Zelaznids that Fulton possesses knowledge that is beyond th
is world.  They further speculate that he might have acquired this knowledge
while a student in Paris.  Again, there is little other than feeling or intuition to support this claim.  If the young inventor did indeed travel to another world, I believe that he did so under the guidance of another, for his later career shows
little that is remarkable
. 
I think it likelie that Fulton
saw
little of o
ther
world
s
, if indeed he
knew
anything
of them
at all.   

     It may be that the future will reveal others with the knowledge and skill to utilize port
als
to
explore
the universe of ports. 
H
istorie
shows
that ideas
never
completelie
disappear from the world. 
And yet
, it seems that instances of
portal use have declined even though
the
population of
the world
has increased
.  I
t is my fear t
hat we are witnessing the death of
imagination
;
and without imagination
, I have learned,
there can be no portal use.

    
Should
imagination
fail
,
should we lose our sense of the
improbable,
then
the w
ays of the Zelaznids might one day
depart
from this world, just as Zelaznids
themselves
have done
.

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168
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