THE WORSHIPPERS AND THE WAY

chapter by chapter plot summary



         Chronicles of an Age of Darkness

        

         Volume 9

        

         The Worshippers and the Way

        

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         Plot summary - 11 October 1990

        

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        This plot summary is a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the text of the final draft of this novel. The setting is Dalar ken Halvar, capital of the impoverished continent of Parengarenga. In Dalar ken Halvar is a Combat College, a Nexus asset which still trains Startroopers for the Stormforce of the Nexus. The key characters of this novel are:-

        (1): Asodo Hatch, a Frangoni warrior.

        (2): Lupus Lon Oliver, an Ebrell Islander.

        (3): Paraban Senk: the computerised ruler of the Combat College.

        The novel begins when Asodo Hatch and Lupus Lon Oliver are set on a collison course, for both want to win the single instructorship position which falls vacant with the death of Hiji Hanojo. The plot details the course of the struggle between Hatch and Lupus.

        

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        Prologue: Hiji Hanojo, the instructor of Dalar ken Halvar's Combat College, is found dead. Paraban Senk, the unembodied asma who runs the Combat College, decides that a new instructor will be chosen by competitive examination in three years' time. The two students of the Combat College who have the greatest chance of winning the instructorship are the Startroopers Asodo Hatch and Lupus Lon Oliver. Hatch is a purple-skinned Frangoni warrior, whereas Lupus is a redskinned Ebrell Islander, and the two are bitter rivals. The prologue is set three years before the final showdown between Hatch and Lupus.

        Chapter 1. A year before the showdown between the Ebrell Islander Lon Oliver and the Frangoni warrior Asodo Hatch, Lupus is seen training for battle in the illusion tanks of Dalar ken Halvar's Combat College - and his fear of Hatch is made plain.

        Chapter 2. Six months before the showdown between the Ebrell Islander Lon Oliver and the Frangoni warrior Asodo Hatch, Hatch and family by the banks of the Yamoda. The Silver Emperor, the great Plandruk Qinplaqus, is in attendance at the funeral of Hatch's father. The emperor leaves, and Hatch has a brief encounter with the noseless moneylender known as Polk the Cash. By the time the chapter is over, Asodo Hatch has exchanged hard words with his brother Oboro Bakendra Hatch, and has made the acquaintance of the lady Iro Murasaki. It has also been established that Hatch's wife is ill.

        Chapter 3. A few days short of his showdown with the Frangoni warrior Asodo Hatch, the Ebrell Islander Lon Oliver takes a break from his theoretical examinations to do further singlefighter training, after which he meets with Dog Java, a Combat Cadet. The Startrooper Lon Oliver and the Combat Cadet Dog Java meet on the bridge of a simulated Galactic Class MegaCommand Cruiser in deep space. Dog Java is a member of the underclass (the "Unreal") but wants to join Free Corps (which has an upper class membership of "Real" people). Lupus says the situation has been considered. It is possible: but Dog Java must kill Hatch to justify himself to the Free Corps. Then he can become Real.

        Chapter 4. The Frangoni warrior Asodo Hatch meets the Ebrell Islander Lupus Lon Oliver in a singlefigher duel in the world of the illusion tanks of Dalar ken Halvar's Combat College. Hatch loses.

        Chapter 5. Dog Java almost kills Hatch while Hatch debates politics with beggars of the Yara, Dalar ken Halvar's underclass. The beggars ask Hatch about Nu-chala-nuth. Hatch is disturbed by the question, for the Nu-chala-nuth is a Nexus religion which should by rights have been forgotten twenty thousand years ago.

        Chapter 6. Asodo Hatch seeks guidance from Sesno Felvus, the high priest of his god, the Great God Mokaragash. Hatch must defeat Lon Oliver in the competitive examinations for an instructor's position in the Combat College, else be financially ruined. But he is not confident of his ability to defeat Lupus.

        The High Priest suggests that Hatch resolve his difficulties by allowing himself to be bribed by Lon Oliver.

        While still on the temple precincts, Hatch is met by a group of young men led by Son'sholoma Gezira of the didimo caste. They ask him to reveal to them the teachings of the Nu-chala-nuth, an alien religion which Hatch studied while training at the Combat College. Hatch is horrified at the thought of the intolerant fanaticism of the Nu-chala-nuth being released on his own planet.

        Hatch denies Son'sholoma.

        Note: at the end of chapter 6, it is the afternoon of the Day of Five Fishes, just five days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 7. Hatch lectures his sister Penelope on her extravagance. He barely survives a tense confrontation with his brother Oboro Bakendra Hatch, a fanatical worshipper of the Great God Mokaragash. Oboro Bakendra blames Hatch for liberating into Dalar ken Halvar the alien doctrines of Nu-chala-nuth.

        Note: at the end of chapter 7, it is the evening of the Day of Five Fishes, just five days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 8. Hatch invites the Ebrell Islander Lupus Lon Oliver to secure the instructorship of the Combat College by paying Hatch a hefty bribe. Lupus is agreeable, but says he wants to marry Hatch's sister Penelope, who is in love with him. Hatch has no objection. Unfortunately Lupus's father, Manfred Gan Oliver, forbids the match, and refuses to finance the necessary bribery of Asodo Hatch unless Hatch will persuade Lupus to renounce his relationship with Penelope - something Lupus refuses to do.

        On the way home from a meeting with Manfred Gan Oliver, Asodo Hatch learns that his daughter Onica has mortaged herself to the moneylender Polk in order to pay for the opium necessary to govern the pain of her mother's pancreatic cancer.

        Note: at the end of chapter 8, it is early on the night of the Day of Five Fishes, just five days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 9. At home, Hatch confirms that his daughter Onica has mortgaged herself to the moneylender Polk.

        Chapter 10. Hatch wakes at dawn on the Day of four Fishes, just four days short of Dog Day, and proceeds to the Combat College. Hatch finds himself paired with Lupus Lon Oliver in an evasion exercise which is scheduled to run through the day, then through the night, finishing at dawn on the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 11. During the exercise, Hatch suggests to Lupus that they resolve their mutual problems by murdering Lupus's father - a suggestion which is not well received. The exercise ends at dawn on the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 12. The day-after-the-night. Hatch exits from the Combat College, mediates a dispute with beggars, is accosted by the noseless moneylender Polk, and is almost struck down by Dog Java, who flees back to the the Combat College after an unsuccessful attempt at assassinating Hatch. Hatch intends to pursue, but is restrained by Shona, who warns that Dog may be leading Hatch into an ambush. It is the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 13. Asodo Hatch visits his lover, the Lady Iro Murasaki. Unfortunately Murasaki upsets him by bringing up the subject of his sister's debts. She, being rich, is unable to conceive the truth of his poverty, even though he protests it repeatedly. Hatch leaves Murasaki's house and is accosted by Scorpio Fax, whom he almost kills, thinking him another assassin. Fax warns Hatch of an impending revolution, and Hatch heads for the palace to warn the Silver Emperor. As he does so, Hatch meets soldiers who are on their way to put down a revolution. The slaves at the silver mines are making revolution in the name of Nu-chala- nuth. All these events occur in daylight on the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 14. In the palace of Na Sashimoko, Asodo Hatch reports to the Silver Emperor on the growing evidence of the danger of imminent revolution. He also appraises the emperor of his financial plight, but finds that the emperor is not willing to grant him extra funds. [NOTE: the Silver Emperor will shortly vanish; his fate will be explained in volume 10, THE WITCHLORD AND THE WEAPONMASTER]. Hatch leaves Silver Emperor, only to find that the feared revolution has actually started. Hatch returns to the palace but is told that the Silver Emperor cannot be disturbed. He forces his way past guards and finds the emperor's chambers empty. The Silver Emperor has disappeared. Hatch sees fires on the Frangoni rock and heads for home. This chapter ends early in the night of the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 15. As Dalar ken Halvar riots, Scorpio Fax - who is in love with Hatch's sister Penelope - seeks out the moneylender Polk the Cash, intending to kill him. Fax pursues Polk, who has taken refuge in the house which is home to Asodo Hatch. There Fax attacks Polk, and is arrested by Asodo Hatch. It is early night on the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 16. Early in the night of the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day, Asodo Hatch takes Scorpio Fax to the palace of Na Sashimoko, intending to have Fax imprisoned. In the absence of the Silver Emperor, the rightful ruler of Dalar ken Halvar is the Treasurer, a man named Berlin. However, Hatch finds that Berlin has been overthrown. The Imperial Guard has joined the Free Corps and the real families and has mounted a coup. Hatch and Fax flee from Na Sashimoko and escape back to the Combat College. On the way, Fax breaks away from Hatch and vanishes into the night.

        Chapter 17. The students of the Combat College gather in a lecture theatre known as Forum Three. Paraban Senk declares that graduation examinations will take place regardless of chaos outside: in fact is good test of ability to function against a background of war. Dog Java attempts to kill Hatch, but is thwarted by Shona. Then Scorpio Fax enters Forum Three, hideously wounded. Manfred Gan Oliver enters Forum Three.

        Chapter 18. It is late at night on the Day of Three Fishes, just three days short of Dog Day. As Asodo Hatch will soon be fighting Lon Oliver for the one vacant instructor's position, guests begin to gather to observe the combat. The guests include Manfred Gan Oliver, Lupus Lupus's formidable father, who engages Hatch in a political debate. Gan Oliver blames Hatch for unleashing the Nu-chala-nuth - a Nexus religion - in Dalar ken Halvar. Gan Oliver blames Hatch for the revolution of the Unreal. Gan Oliver ends by threatening to exterminate every Frangoni in Dalar ken Halvar.

        Chapter 19. Asodo Hatch visits Scorpio Fax in the Combat College's cure-all clinic and asks him to kill Manfred Gan Oliver. Then Hatch readies himself for combat with Lupus Lon Oliver. Hatch's visit to Scorpio Fax terminates at midnight. The Day of Three Fishes is over. It is now the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 20. In a singlefighter duel which takes place in the illusion tanks of Dalar ken Halvar's Combat College, Asodo Hatch ejects from his war machine, that machine self-destructing moments later. Lupus is destroyed when Hatch's machine self-destructs. Hatch outsurvives Lupus and wins 0.0000057 of a point. Once free from the illusion tanks, Lupus protests at this decision. While Paraban Senk is adjudicating the matter, the Lady Iro Murasaki enters Forum Three in the company of Hatch's sister Penelope, his wife Talanta, his beloved daughter Onica and the moneylender Polk the Cash. From these, Hatch learns of the mounting horror outside the Combat College. Then it is time for him to fight again. He asks Paraban Senk if he has any more visitors, and is told that some beggars have come to watch him fight, but are presently being washed. Combat then resumes. Note: Hatch's first singlefighter duel with Lupus takes place in small hours of the morning on the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 21. The second singlefighter duel between Asodo Hatch and Lupus Lon Oliver gets underway. Hatch is in a singlefighter, flying above jungle. All instrumentation is currently disabled by interference, meaning that his singlefighter is masked from Lupus, and vice versa. Hatch lands his ship in the jungle, gets out of it and destroys it. He expects Lupus to fly around until his own singlefighter reaches the end of its combat life and crashes into the jungle. Instead, Hatch shortly finds himself back in the Combat College. Lupus is demanding that Paraban Senk adjudicate the result of their latest clash. Note: this second singlefighter duel takes place in the small hours of the morning on the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 22. Paraban Senk, the asma which runs Dalar ken Halvar's Combat College, tells Asodo Hatch that it wants Lupus Lon Oliver to be the Combat College's new instructor. Nevertheless, Senk declares the latest clash between Hatch and Lupus to have been a draw, and awards the contestants half a point each. Lupus Lon Oliver's score is now 0.5. Asodo Hatch's score is now 0.5000057. Paraban Senk asks the combatants if they want a rest, but they prefer to fight on. Note: Senk gives adjudication in the small hours of the morning on the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 23. For their third and final illusion tank duel, Asodo Hatch and Lon Oliver are each given command of a Galactic Class MegaCommand Cruiser. Initially the two ships are in deep space, and are separated by a probability disruption field which is rapidly coming to the end of its effective life. This third and final duel begins in the small hours of the morning of the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 24. As the probability disruption field collapses, Hatch sets his own ship on a collision course with Lupus Lon Oliver's vessel. Both ships draw motive power from machines which manipulate probability. Hatch orders those probability manipulator on board his own ship to self-destruct. This results in a disruption of local probability which is so severe that both ships are left helpless. They are, of course, still on a collision course.

        Meanwhile, back in Forum Three in the Combat College, Scorpio Fax takes a seat by Manfred Gan Oliver, who is watching the progress of the battle on display screens. Fax has a knife in his pocket.

        Note: The probability disruption field disintegrates at dawn on the Day of Two Fishes, just two days short of Dog Day.

        Chapter 25. As the illusion tank duel continues, The two disabled ships collide, and Hatch fights his way inside Lupus's ship. Hatch meets Lupus face to face and hacks off his head.

        Note: Hatch hacks off Lupus Lon Oliver's head at mid-morning on the Day of Two Fishes, the second-to-last day before Dog Day.

        Chapter 26. Asodo Hatch enters Forum Three in triumph. Paraban Senk says: "The graduating class has now finished. We have a one hundred per cent pass rate. Those who have been unable to take their final examinations have been passed on the basis of an assessment of their work through the year and their performance in past examinations. There is one promotion to announce: Asodo Hatch is promoted to the post of resident instructor."

        Paraban Senk gives final instructions to graduating class. Lupus Lon Oliver refuses to leave, and leads an attack on Asodo Hatch. In the fight that follows, Scorpio Fax tries to kill Manfred Gan Oliver but botches the attempt. Paraban Senk subdues the ensuing general riot by collapsing the ceiling on the rioters.

        Note: the riot takes place at mid-morning on the Day of Two Fishes.

        Chapter 27. Lupus Lon Oliver is exiled from the Combat College. Hatch sees him off. Manfred Gan Oliver is forced to leave with his son Lupus, but says he will be waiting for Hatch outside the lockway, and promises to murder Hatch and all Hatch's guests - including Hatch's wife, his daughter Onica, and the Lady Iro Murasaki.

        Hatch opens negotiations with Paraban Senk. Then, early in the afternoon of the Day of Two Fishes, the exhausted Asodo Hatch lays himself down on his bed, and is plunged almost instantly into the deepest of sleeps.

        Chapter 28. Asodo Hatch sleeps through the afternoon of the Day of Two Fishes, and through the night, waking at dawn on the Day of the Last Fish, the day before Dog Day.

        Hatch takes breakfast in the Combat College cafeteria, where he is advised by beggars. He then retires to his own room and endeavours to negotiate with Paraban Senk. Hatch seeks to win sanctuary in the Combat College for his wife Talanta, for his daughter Onica, and for the Lady Iro Murasaki. Paraban Senk, conscious of the fact that the fabric and functions of the Combat College are deteriorating with age, demands that Hatch take control of Dalar ken Halvar and use the religious imperatives of Nu-chala-nuth to unite the Empire of Greater Parengarenga and organise a technological renaissance which will allow the Combat College to be repaired and strengthened.

        Chapter 29. Hatch plans his tactics with Paraban Senk. Senk will announce that the Chasm Gates have been reopened, that contact has been restored with the Nexus, and that all trained Startroopers are to report to the Combat College immediately. Senk will appoint Hatch as military governor of Dalar ken Halvar, and will give him the task of negotiating a peace with those who are making revolution in Dalar ken Halvar in the name of Nu-chala- nuth.

        Once all Startroopers are inside Cap Foz Para Lash, Paraban Senk will take them prisoner - and will hold them until Hatch orders them to be released. Hatch's task will then be to use his authority over the Combat College as a bargaining chip as he seeks to unify all of Dalar ken Halvar under his rule and to make himself emperor.

        Note that Hatch plans his tactics with Paraban Senk very early in the morning of the Day of the Last Fish, the day before Dog Day. Note that Paraban Senk is tender of the security of those Free Corps members who are Startroopers, so Hatch promises to ensure the long-term security of these, thus:-

        "You don't have to hold them forever," said Hatch impatiently. "Just give me a couple of days and I'll seize control of Dalar ken Halvar. After that, well, I'll make my peace with Manfred Gan Oliver. Once I've got control, control of the city, the Free Corps will come to order very fast."

        Paraban Senk is still disinclined to trust Asodo Hatch with the safety of the Startroopers of the Combat College, and so takes hostages to ensure Hatch's good behaviour. The hostages are Hatch's wife Talanta, Hatch's daughter Onica, and the Lady Iro Murasaki.

        Chapter 30. Summoned by the Combat College, the members of the Free Corps gather in the Combat College. Meanwhile, in the palace of Na Sashimoko, Asodo Hatch outlines the truth to selected Frangoni - including his brother Oboro. The political situation is delicate. The Free Corps cannot be trusted even if its members swear themselves to loyalty to Asodo Hatch. The people Pang, who constitute the majority in Dalar ken Halvar, have no great love of the Frangoni. Hatch believes that, for the Frangoni to survive, they must consolidate their own position by striking a great blow for Nu-chala-nuth - by wiping out the Free Corps, who constitute the natural enemies of Nu-chala-nuth.

        Chapter 31. It is Dog Day. After the Frangoni have destroyed the Free Corps in an ambush, Hatch prepares himself to enter the Combat College for a showdown with Paraban Senk, the Teacher of Control who rules that College. Hatch enters the Combat College and thereafter finds that he cannot leave that College. He heads toward Forum Three and a showdown with Paraban Senk.

        Chapter 32. In Forum Three, Hatch confronts Paraban Senk, who is holding as hostages the Lady Iro Murasaki, Hatch's wife Talanta and Hatch's daughter Onica. Paraban Senk is grossly upset with Hatch, who has slaughtered almost all Startroopers trained by Senk. Hatch explains his reasons. Senk threatens to exact a terrible vengeance upon all those nearest and dearest to Asodo Hatch - starting with those currently held hostage by Senk. Hatch says that this is not a constructive response. Senk declares himself to be human, and says that vengeance is but an aspect of his humanity. Senk prepares to begin the destruction of those whom Senk is holding hostage. Hatch responds by falling on his sword.

        Chapter 33. Hatch wakes in the Combat College cure-all clinic where he has been patched up after attempting to commit suicide by falling on his sword. Senk says that the Combat College has been placed under an inderdict by a Nu-chala-nuth priesthood led by Hatch's brother Oboro Bakendra and by the noseless ex-moneylender Polk the Cash. No person will be allowed into the Combat College until Asodo Hatch has been yielded up by that College, alive and well - and if Hatch cannot be yielded up, then the College will be deprived of new students forever. (Which would, therefore, deprive it of the means of fulfilling its overriding objective, which is to train Startroopers for the Stormforce of the Nexus). Accordingly, Senk negotiates a truce with Hatch.

        Chapter 34. In a brief closing chapter, Hatch makes his peace with Sesno Felvus, the High Priest of the Great God Mokaragash, and the book is closed out by the statement of a suitable moral and some Final Statements about gods, Evolution, and the leaf-like nature of the praying mantis in flight.

        

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