Neither impression -- void nor infinity -- ostensibly was true.   If those that had scouted through this area could be believed --and Rikke saw no reason why they couldn't be -- then the land only stretched to an Ocean which lay west of here, over five hundred miles away.   That hardly qualified as stretching out forever.   Then there was two schools of thought when it came to the question of whether the area was inhabitated.   Some maintained that the people Rikke'd come to see about didn't actually live in the area; that they just came here on some kind of pilgrimage.   Others maintained that the area was inhabitated full time.   Neither school of thought could prove their case completely since no one had ever found any sign of permanent dwellings or lack of same thereof.   Rikke was perfectly willing to let someone else prove it, but he suspected that since it was a gigantic area the dwellings simply hadn't been found yet.   In any case the area was not empty -- whether people lived here full time or not.

   He was determined that he would see the people, whether they be pilgrims or long term dwellers.   That was the purpose of the trip.   That and to check out the rumors and stories circulating about these supposedly remarkable people.   But first they had to reach the safety of Outpost Two.   That safety was in reach.   Outpost Two was just a mile or so away from the bottom of the hill Rikke and his troop had paused on.   He gave the signal to advance.   The point men took off down the hill.   The rest of the Troop, Rikke included, followed them.

   Captain Melmar Marko, a large man with a fringe of red hair surrounding an otherwise bald pate, a big round face and a very muscular body, was at the gate in person when Rikke and the rest of the troop rode up.   Rikke dismounted and went forward to greet him.   The two men clasped arms above the elbows and smiled at each other.   Then they broke the formal greeting grasp and embraced like long lost brothers.   Which they were -- in a way -- Rikke thought.   They'd been bunkmates as cadets and had saved each other's lives countless times in countless battles, of course.   But the main thing that brought them close and kept them close even after their careers took separate paths was their undying need to know the TRUTH.   Not the truth that the High Command put out to the common troops, nor the truth the HC put out to the general populace.   No.   The TRUTH about life.   This was not a desire they'd shared with anyone else so it never got them in trouble.   So Rikke was shocked by the first words out of Melmar's mouth.

   "Rikke.   This time I think I don't want to know!" Melmar whispered into Rikke's left ear.   Then he pulled back to stare at Rikke with tortured eyes.

   Rikke just stared at him, totally at a loss for words.

   Seeing the astonishment in Rikke's eyes, Melmar, sighed, heavily.   "Never mind that now.   Let's get you and your men settled and then we can talk."

   Rikke started to protest.   Then he thought better of it.   There were too many ears around.   Instead he gave the order to follow Melmar into the fort.   But he would get an answer once they were settled.   He WOULD!   What WAS going on around here?

   A few hours later Rikke found himself in Melmar's inner chambers.   The room, reflecting Melmar's taste, was richly appointed.   It had animal heads on the walls and animal hides for rugs on the floor.   The desk was made of some rich, dark brown wood which had been, obviously imported to this nearly treeless land.   In a cabinet along one wall there were antique handguns and rifles on display.   On the top of a table in a corner near the desk sat a silver coffee serving set.   Beside that was golden liquor decanters and several cut crystal goblets.   On the desk itself was an ink quill setting in a torquoise colored ink pot.   Directly in front of Melmar, on a blotter was a handful of what was obviously reports.   He idly played with these reports as he seemed to be composing his thoughts.

   Rikke who'd bathed, shaved and changed from his green and brown camouflage fatigues to his purple and gold governor's robes lounged on the sette across the room from Melmar as he finished the meal on the tray near his hand and wondered if he should break the ice first or let Melmar proceed at his own pace.   Finally when it appeared that Melmar was so far into his thoughts that he'd forgotten that Rikke was there, Rikke spoke. "Melmar.   What are you so afraid of?"

   At that question Melmar looked up from his reports; a stung look on his face.   "If you'd seen some of the things I have then you would be afraid too.   It's one thing to hear about them second or third hand, but to see them with your own eyes makes a man wonder if he's gone insane or if the world has."   Then he fell silent, looking off into the distance with a troubled look as if he was reliving some disturbing incident in memory.

   Rikke wasn't satisfied with that answer and wasn't going to let Melmar off the hook that easy.   He finished the last bite of his meal, took a sip of coffee, set the cup down and said, commanding Melmar's attention with the strength of his voice, "OK.   But why didn't you send this report this sooner and on your own initiative?   Why make me send someone to get the report from you -- a report, I might add, which could hardly be more vague and evasive!   WHY?"

   Melmar looked back at Rikke with haunted eyes.   "Would you have believed me had I confirmed what must surely sound like the hysterical rumors of common folk?   I mean, of course, the common folk that still believe in spirits and gods and such."

   Folding his arms across his chest, Rikke thought about his answer for a bit.   "Well," he said, when he was sure he knew what he wanted to say, "I think we've both decided long ago that there was more to this world than meets the eye.   Didn't we decide that even if gods and spirits and such are not possible, that something IS going on?."   He gave Melmar a prompting look.   Melmar nodded cautiously, wondering where Rikke was going with this. "OK," Rikke went on, having won that much concession.   "So, tell me, who is this Charianna?   And tell me -- why does she scare you so?"

   Melmar side stepped the issue for a moment.   "Well, of course everyone knows that gods and spirits and such are not realities.   Anyone, with half a brain, that is. And of course that is the official HC line.   But that doesn't, of course, explain the anomalies and phenomena that exist.   They just wave it away as fevered imagings.   But you and I thought there must be more to it than that, right?"

   Rikke gave him a puzzled look, wondering why Melmar was taking this circuitous route that was recovering old ground and seemingly going nowhere.   And worse than -- parroting what Rikke had just said.   He said as much.

   "Well," Melmar, answered, hesitantly, "Having seen, really seen, what this girl is capable of I think I'd prefer to go back to the HC Official line."   Seeing the impatience in his friend's face, Melmar grudingly elaborated, "If there was such a thing as a Messiah, I think this girl could very well be it.   Or at least, the Prophet that's to come before!"

   Now Rikke WAS totally confused.   He shouted, "Messiah?   What Messiah?   And prophet?   What Prophet?   And you still haven't told me who she is!"

   Melmar became indignant.   "Look, Rikke, let me start over and I'll put my cards on the table.   That will explain what's going on!   OK?" Rikke impatiently nodded.   Having won that slight concession, Melmar went on, "I was afraid that word would get to the Emperor if I put in a report what I'd actually seen.   And that he would have me relieved.   And that worse than that I'd be locked up as a madman.   And the same goes for me initiating the report.   I'd look like a unhinged madman.   I mean, they couldn't have someone in my position aiding and abetting stories like that.   That's why I kept it purposefully vague.   In fact that's why I had you send someone here -- someone like Glendo -- who we both know is too stupid to ever figure out what is going on.   That was to get your curiosity started.   And the vague report when I sent it was to deepen the mystery. I knew that you, knowing me, would wonder what was up and come running -- and here you are!   I mean, c'mon man!   Think!   What else would you have me do?"

   Rikke's temper flared too. "What if the Emperor got wind of this and had you discharged for derlection of duty for NOT reporting it?"

   "I thought of that!" Melmar shouted back.   "But I finally decided that this was the lesser of two evils!   I believed that I could always say that I was trying to keep the lid on it and that there was a good chance that I'b be believed!"   Then Melmar just sat there giving him a look that was pleading for understanding.

   Rikke got control of his temper.   After all, this was his oldest, best friend and he was just reacting this way because he was tired from the long trip.   After a moment of taking a few deep breaths he said, "OK.   Why don't we start over?   You tell me the story as you know it and then I'll tell you my impressions.   I mean I don't know anymore now than when I sat down.   You've just been going all over the place with this!"   He paused and gave his friend a sly grin. "To be fair, though, I've been following you all over the place.   So can we just start over?   OK?"

   Melmar gave his friend a grateful look and began the story.   "I am pretty sure that this Charianna is a member of the Suskani Tribe, that she and others of her tribe migrated here and that there are no indigenous people here.   Her facial characteristics make that almost certain in my mind.   There are only two questions about the whole thing that I can't answer.   How did she and her people get here to a location hundreds of miles from their homelands without anyone seeing them pass through?   And why did they come here rather than joining another tribe?   In other words, why not regroup and fight on?"

   Rikke knew exactly what Melmar meant.   To retreat this far was entirely foreign to the Suskani nature.   They would sooner fight and die than leave their homelands.   And they had taken a few Buhroot setlers with them to prove that point.   But Rikke wasn't prepared to debate the question of origin right then.   He was more interested in what was going on now.   "OK.   I'll concede the point.   But tell me, when did you first become aware of their presence?   I mean, what was the first thing this Charianna did or said that made her so mysterious?"

   Melmar made an apologetic face, "Well, in order to help you understand this whole thing I need to back up a bit.   That'll help put the whole thing in perspective.   OK?"

   Rikke silently sighed.   This wasn't like his friend at all -- to be so evasive.   Melmar must really be shook up.   "Well," he thought, "I ain't going anywhere soon so I might as well let him tell it however he needs to."   Rikke nodded in acceptance.

   Visibly relieved, Melmar went on, "Well, as you know it is our practice to put up a fort to provide support and protection whenever we expand into a new territory.   Even in this case when it seemed like there might be no need for it.   After all, the scouts had reported no signs of any inhabitants and we certainly knew we were beyond the Suskani range.   But you know HC.   So the fort was put up, I was assigned here a year ago and everything -- seemingly -- was going fine.   The settlements were going up apace and the area wa prospering. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening.   Not, that is, until one day about three months ago.   At that time, a settlement mayor sent one of his representatives to me to tell me that they had encountered natives after all.   This was the settlement fartherest from the fort.   I was all ready to send out a troop to defend them when he said the strangest thing.   He said that he didn't think that the natives meant any harm.   I asked him what he meant.   He replied that the natives were led by this one woman and that she had brought back to life a man in the settlement who had been killed in an accident.   I asked him if he was joking or mistaken.   The man was adamant that the other man had in fact been dead.   But he also said that the mayor thought it wise to report it just in case.   Well, as you can probably imagine I had to see this for myself.   I wish now that I had not gone."   Melmar stopped there and stared off into some unseen distance.

   Rikke just sat there and stared at him.   It was one thing to have vague, street corner rumors brought to his ears and it was another thing to have those same rumors alluded to in Melmars report.   But it was an entirely different thing altogether to have Melmar say them to his face in all seriousness.   Fascinated, Rikke prompted, "What happened then?"

   "Well, I went there not knowing what to expect or what to do.   I mean, I wanted to have an open mind, but I was also prepared to order my men to slaughter them all at the first sign of hostilities.   Then I met Charianna and my whole world was turned upside down." Again Melmar paused and stared off into an unseen vista, but this time anguish warred with hope on his face for dominance.

   It seemed to Rikke at that point that he wasn't ever going to get a straight answer from Melmar.   He wondered briefly why he had even had this conversation with Melmar.   But then he knew.   He'd thought that Melmar might provide him with some sort of insight, something that would give him an edge.   But it sure didn't seem like that was going to happen so there was only one thing left to do.   And the way things were going it seemed like Melmar was waiting for him to say that one thing.   If Melmar WAS waiting for him to say that then Rikke didn't care.   He was going to get to the bottom of this one way or the other.   Forcing Melmar to look at him by the strength of his voice, he asked, "Are you up for another trip to that settlement?"

   Melmar looked both relieved and apprehensive.   "I guess we'll have to do that, won't we?" was all he would say.

   Since neither man felt like leaving right then they decided to put the trip off until the next day.   Being dead tired, as soon as Rikke had reached the quarters assigned to him he quickly disrobed, lay down on the bed and was fast asleep in moments.   His rest was relatively undisturbed except for two strange, almost prescient dreams.   In the first dream he saw the face of a strange woman hovering over where he slept.   It seemed he knew who the woman was even though he'd never seen her before.   It was a face that was so striking that Rikke knew if he ever saw it in real life he'd remember it immediately.   In the second dream he saw Melmar drinking all alone all night in his chambers as he mumbled something about PQ, PQ -- how can that be?   This second dream was so unlike Melmar -- he'd never been an alcoholic -- and yet it was so real that Rikke was still disturbed by it the next morning.   He was even more disturbed when he met Melmar and smelt the reek of alchol on his breath and saw the bleary eyes that spoke of little sleep and a nearly all night binge.   Rikke almost asked him what PQ stood for, but then he felt silly and determined that he was going to say nothing.   Melmar might have another reason for having drinking all night, it HAD been just a dream and if Melmar wanted to bring out in the open whatever it was then he could.   So instead Rikke said, as he saw to his horse, "About how long will it take us to get to the settlement?"

"Quicker than I want, but longer than you want," Melmar said with an enigmatic smile as he mounted his horse.

   Rikke gave Melmar a sharp look, wondering if Melmar was joking with him or if instead he somehow knew about Rikke's dream of the night before.   He shivered a bit when that thought crossed his mind and then shook it off, deciding that Melmar was just having a bit of fun with him.   Melmar couldn't possibly know about his dream, could he?   So instead of responding to Melnmar's remark he just mounted his own horse and followed Melmar out of the fort, followed by the rest of his troop.

   After on hour of hard riding they came to the edge of the settlement.   The settlers, taking advantage of their connection with the HC, had built their homes out of the wood and brick which the HC had shipped in.   As the HC saw it there was no need for it's subjects to live in primitive conditions just because they were far away from the seat of the empire.   The empire was determined to show it's might in whichever small or large way it could or needed to.   There were also trees and other vegetation planted everywhere which were watered by an irrigation system that had it's start in mountains hundreds of miles away.   As a result, the semi-arid lands -- at least in this small area -- had taken on the appearance of the more lush lands to the east in the heart of the Buhroot empire.   Rikke and Melmar rode into the center of town and dismounted in front of the Lord Mayor's residence.   Seeing that everything looked peaceful, Rikke dismissed his men and they went to the barracks at the edge of town to await Rikke's further orders.

   Rikke and Melmar, having tied their horses to the hitching rail, were just about ready to go up the stone walk to the front door when a small commotion arose in the street behind them.   Rikke turned to see what was going on.   And froze in place.   Standing in the street surrounded by a small crowd was the girl in his dream of the previous night.   There was no mistake.   He'd seen that face so clearly that he had known he would remember it forever.   And he had.   It was her.

   The commotion had been caused by some of the settlers.   Some of them were shouting her name in reverence and others were deriding her, calling her a savage and a witch.   The settlers, recognizing Melmar, went quiet.   But then it wasn't Melmar who they were focusing on.   Instead, one older man, who was looking intently at Rikke said to someone standing beside him, "Is that the Governor of the Inner Provinces, Rikke Starhm?"   The other man answered, "I think so.   He sure looks like portraits I've seen."

   But Rikke wasn't going to pay any attention to them or the rest of the crowd.   He only had eyes for Charianna.   Had she known he was coming?   If so, how?   Rikke was sure that the answers to those questions were yes.   He wasn't sure why he thought that or how he knew.   But he was sure of one thing.   He was going to talk to her.   In private.   But how was he going to do that without causing a scene?   Besides the settler followers she also had a small group of her own people with her.   Would he cause a riot if he simply ordered her to be brought into the Mayor's house?   Probably.   He cursed silently.   Why had she staged this confrontation -- planned or not?   What was he going to do?   Should he call his troops back?   No!   That would just be too provocative.   Well then, what?

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