Free True Son by Lana Krumwiede Page B

said.
    “Read it tonight,” Amma said. “We can talk about it tomorrow.”
    Later that night, Taemon sat in his bed with a flashlight and read the words of Kertrand Lasky:
    I first met Nathan at the university, where we studied philosophy together. Even then, controversy swirled around him. He maintained that with tremendous effort and dedication, individuals could achieve a level of spiritual connection to the Heart of the Earth. This connection, claimed he, would manifest itself as extrasensory abilities. People scoffed at his lofty ideas. They scoffed, that is, until he began to showcase his psionic powers
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    Even then, many believed Nathan’s displays of his powers were nothing more than mere trickery. But others, myself included, were fascinated by his theories and became his followers. To us, Nathan preached principles of harmony with the earth and all people. He discovered that though he could not teach us adults how to manifest our latent psionic abilities, he could teach our young children. Words cannot express how remarkable it was to see the youngest and weakest among us communing with the Heart of the Earth in this way. Soon, we followers of Nathan had formed our own church
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    We followers and admirers, however, were few. The vast majority of the population was fearful of Nathan and spoke of persecuting him — shutting down his church, banishing us all from the Republik, or worse, putting Nathan to death. Much of the church’s energies were spent on reaching out to the community and working to calm fears about Nathan and his teachings
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    Unlike the general population, the military saw great potential in Nathan’s powers and often tried to recruit him for military projects. But Nathan refused. It went against everything he believed to use his powers to help one government make war against another. The army, however, was persistent. The Nau were spreading from continent to continent at an alarming rate, and the generals were convinced that the Republik would soon become a target
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    In spite of Nathan’s firm stand against the military, he believed in the Republik’s right to remain independent from the Nau. He struggled with this conflict and searched for a way to assist the Republik that did not involve using psi as a weapon, which was against his principles
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    After many days of solitude and contemplation, a vision came to Nathan. He saw the future of the Republik, that it would indeed fall to the Nau within five years. Nathan pleaded with the Heart of the Earth to show him a way to change the fate of the Republik. According to Nathan, the Heart of the Earth told him that there was one path that did not lead to complete Nau domination. This path, however, required drastic action and terrible sacrifice. Nathan vowed that if the Heart of the Earth would show him the path, he would do whatever was required to spare the Republik
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    The path was this: the Republik must be transformed into a weak, destitute nation that would not be seen as a threat or a prize to be won. In order to do this, the Republik must endure a terrible drought that would last for generations
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    Nathan debated this choice for many months, often disappearing for days and weeks at a time to further commune with the Heart of the Earth, hoping, I think, to be told of another path, one that would not cause so much suffering for his people. But as time went on and as the Nau forces grew stronger, Nathan came to believe that the Republik’s only hope was for him to do as the Heart of the Earth suggested
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    While he never communicated as much to me directly, I believe Nathan knew that his actions would create an unbreachable rift between his followers and the people of the Republik. Whether it was the Heart of the Earth who instructed him to raise Mount Deliverance or whether this was Nathan’s idea alone, we shall never know. But our few attempts to maintain contact with our brethren back in the Republik have made it clear that they see us not