Free Children of the Old Star by David Lee Summers Page A

the news did not surprise him in the least. Still, the fact that he was not the only one who had seen the visions reassured him. For the first time since he had led the military coup, Clyde began to feel at peace.
    "I just had to know,” said Fire looking up at last, “whether or not the communication was real. I had to know that if Mark had been kicked out of the fleet, it was not for something imaginary."
    "Not only was it real,” said Clyde, “it was something noble."
    For the first time in her life, Fire saw why her father had believed so strongly in the McClintlock family. “Thank you,” she said. She and Manuel stood. Clyde stood as well. All three embraced.
    "What is Mark going to do now?” Clyde asked.
    "I think he's going to try to find the Cluster,” said Fire. “He wants to talk to it."
    "If anyone can succeed,” said Clyde. “It's Mark Ellis."
* * * *
    On that particular Sunday, Clyde was sitting in the tiny white, wooden church in Roanoke. Reverend Burroughs was preaching from the Revised Dead Sea Version of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. He spoke dramatically, gesturing wildly with his hands. Clyde was not too fond of the Old Testament. In it, God seemed far too vengeful; more someone to be feared rather than loved and confided in. However, something in the words the Reverend read caught Clyde's attention.
    "This is the vision that Ezekiel saw: There came the likeness of a chariot with wheel inside wheel and the wheels did not turn as they approached. When the being rose, the wheels rose like a bird with two wings.” As Burroughs read, his voice rose to a crescendo. Clyde listened to the description of the vision and his mind's eye worked on wheels inside wheels that did not turn. He imagined spheres hanging close together. The Reverend continued to speak about how the wheels were attached to each other and something about faces.
    The preacher's voice dropped to a near reverential whisper. “And wheel joined to wheel when they moved. And their appearance and their working were as if it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps.” This caused Clyde to sit upright, listening intently, now. He thought about the silver orbs of the Cluster, brightly reflecting the light of Sufiro's sun as it had orbited the planet.
    "Now there was over their heads an expanse, like an awesome gleam of crystal and a voice came from above the expanse...” Clyde wiped sweat from his brow. The spheres spoke to Ezekiel.
    Ezekiel was speaking of a vision of God. Clyde retrieved the notepaper with a sketch of the Cluster. Next to the sketch, he drew wheels within wheels. To Clyde McClintlock, it was clear that Ezekiel had described the Cluster in beautiful, poetic language.
    Images of the Cluster visiting Earth in ancient times came to Clyde's mind. Many of Earth's religions were based on various portions of the Old Testament. Could it be that everyone had it wrong? Clyde began writing feverishly on his pad of paper. What if the Cluster was not really an alien intelligence? What if it was the one great Intelligence? Clyde stopped for a moment, afraid of where his thoughts were leading. However, the conclusions he was reaching were inevitable to him. Quite simply, Clyde McClintlock began to see the Cluster as God incarnate.
    Not only that, but the Cluster had spoken to him. That made Clyde, the prophet of the Cluster, just as Ezekiel was the prophet of God. Clyde put his trembling hand to his mouth. The Cluster had also spoken to John Mark Ellis. Ellis, like many prophets, had been persecuted for trying to spread the word.
    Sitting there in the church, Clyde's hands shook violently. He felt like throwing up. No matter what, he needed air. He stood, and nearly tripping over the feet of one of his fellow parishioners, he stumbled out of the church and into the open air.
    Clyde McClintlock stood outside,