the world was a very different place during the Second Age.â
âWhen was that?â I said.
âOh, a long, long time ago.â
âHow long?â
âWay back. Thousands of millions of years,â he said, waving the question away. âThe Aeons were already at work here before the dawn of geological time. More pointless information. Your mind cannot draw any meaning from such a vast span of time.â
âItâs still nice to know these things,â I riposted. âI didnât realise we went back that far.â
âYou donât,â he said. âBut you can forget all that stuff Darwin is supposed to have proved. You did not evolve from walking apes. Your ancestors began life on another plane of existence. Another wavelength which, during the Age of Darkness, was absorbed into the waveband of external reality. They were like dream images which slowly acquired a solid, tangible shape from which, finally, they could not escape. In the Second Age, before this happened, the landscape was much more nebulous. There werenât the pressures there are now. This crushing force of gravity dragging everything down. If it were possible for you to see it through your twentieth-century eyes, or even through those of the people Iâve just left, you would think you were on another planet. Jupiter perhaps. In any case, it would be unrecognisable as the present Earth. And if you were to catch sight of Proto-Man as he was forged in the fire-clouds of the worldâs dawning, you would not recognise him either.â
âIn that case, I wonât ask you for a description,â I said. âLetâs getback to the colonists. You said that you came here to make contact. How long had you been out of touch?â
âWe lost contact with this galaxy during the Second War of Secession.â He paused. âThis is getting rather involved.â
âJust give me the broad outline,â I said. âIf thereâs time, Iâll bone up on the fine print later.â
âOkay,â he said. âBut remember what I told you about George Lucas scenarios. I have to use your language but you must try to make your mind reach beyond the words.â
âIâm trying,â I said. âBut donât expect miracles. Iâm new at this game. Uhh, by the way,â I added hurriedly, âno offence intended.â
âThatâs all rightâ he said. âListen, Leo, before we go any further. You donât have to treat me like the Dean of Yale, or the head of your Law School. Youâre looking at one of the founder-members of the school of plain-speaking. So just say whateverâs on your mind. If Iâd wanted the red carpet treatment, Iâd have asked for the address of the nearest college of Jesuits.â
âYou got it,â I replied. âOn with the pre-history lesson.â
He took a deep breath. Very simply, the Empire to which I belong was split by a rebellion which had its roots in the creation of the World Below. The forces supporting the Empire called themselves Loyalists, and the rebels were called the Secessionists. In Earth mythology, they are also known as the Black Legions, Forces of Darkness, the Satanic Hordes, the list is endless.â
âDonât tell me,â I said. âThey are the bad guys.â
He shrugged. âThat depends on your point of view. Theyâve evolved a very persuasive argument which casts us as the villains of the piece and them as the protectors of the universe which, according to this novel thesis, we are out to destroy. A neat twist.â He smiled. âAnyway, to cut a long story short, we won the First War of Secession. The rebels were banished to the Netherworld.â
âThe universe of anti-matter â¦â
âYes,â he said. âIt was a prison. That was the sole purpose behind its creation. We couldnât go in there, and they couldnât get out. Or