Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #11 February 2015 | Page 35

was formed long ago. No one knows how it was created
or who created it. There have been many theories over
the millennia, but they are not relevant to our problem.
Life was abundant throughout the universe. Intelligent life evolved in many galaxies. Civilisations were
formed, flourished and died. The rules of physics were
obeyed. Space had three dimensions. Time was linear.
There was order. Good and evil were found in equal
proportions. They fought each other. There was balance. There were no gods. Intelligent beings throughout the universe had no need of them.”
“Amongst all of this arose one race of superior beings.
We call them the Great Old Ones. Their civilisation
flourished above all others. They achieved true greatness in all areas of endeavour – engineering, medicine,
science, the arts, philosophy. They were a benevolent
and good race. They shared everything with other
civilisations. However, as they evolved further they
got so far ahead of other civilisations that they became
revered as gods. This did not sit well with them, so
they retreated into their own systems and broke off
contact with the rest of the universe. As they continued to evolve, they gained a longevity that bordered
on immortality. The price of this immortality was that
they lost the ability to procreate. At this stage in their
evolution, they had lost corporeal form and existed as

beings of pure energy.”
Simon was hooked on Manfred’s story. He had heard
such theories before but they had been part of the science fiction stories he was fond of as a young teenager.
He had never been religious and the story of Adam
and Eve he had treated as a fable. He believed in natural selection and evolution as Darwin had described.
Taken to its logical conclusion he supposed that a
non-corporeal existence was possible. He stole a moment to check out the others. They were all transfixed
by Manfred’s words. I’d better concentrate.
The old wizard was continuing. “Then something
happened that shook the very foundations of the
universe: two children were born. It is not known
whether they were siblings or had different parents,
or even how procreation was still possible. The Great
Old Ones were few now and realised that their days
were numbered. They felt that the children offered the
hope of a new future for their race and they endeavoured to teach them as much of their eons of acquired
knowledge and experience as possible. As an aid to this
teaching, they found an obscure planet at the edge of
an unremarkable galaxy and set up an experiment that
would enhance their children’s learning. The planet
had abundant life, but few advanced sentient life

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