Two layered pure fractals made in Apophysis 2.09, with two brushstrokes added to bring out the suggestion of eyes
Rarely did Benjamin Banneker show his temper; the admiral, acting ambassador, and galaxy-venerated scientist was so regal a gentleman, and had so many other resources to bring to bear, that rarely was it necessary for him to access that side of his personality to make a point.
But, also …
“By the time I bother to get mad at anyone,” he growled, “the people in question are generally about to be in so much trouble from less merciful natural consequences that I can keep my blood pressure down and enjoy the correction.”
At the tail end of the negotiation process for Sultruviam to be brought into the Earth-led consortium in whose fleet Uncle Benjamin and I served, certain commercial interests decided they weren't happy with the deal and that they were going to go rogue and blow it up.
Acting Ambassador Banneker called up all available fleet resources, and took his time doing it, in concert with the ruling Sultruviamin … those going rogue thought they were going rogue and disrupting things when really they were getting ready to remove the last obstacle to the agreement going through.
As a captain, I had a command, and thus was positioned to witness something up close that few do: the beauty of the privilege of being alive even in the face of being beautifully dead.
When the sunset comes to get you … it was a lovely sunset as seen from the top of the hill in the capital city from which my group was to approach –
Photo by Deeann D. Mathews, December 27, 2021
– and made lovelier still as the Guardians of the Sultruviam Sky gathered. They settled down out all of that light with such grace – these beings whose constant work was to gather up tons and tons of Sultruviam sand into the atmosphere – and gathered up these rogue actors massing on the capital city like I would pick up a piece of fruit, but behind a curtain of beauty.
One pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09, layered over the previous photograph
Of course we got all the readings as the sun set and the Guardians sat like great flames of red and gold, redistributing all the raw elements of these would-be rogues into the atmosphere and into the sand as they saw fit. Uncle Benjamin all the details recorded of how thoughtfully all the elements of the human body were handled and down to the last trace elements.
His narration, because I knew him, always reminds me of the temper he never showed … that fury came through transmuted into grim humor.
“Of course, slow, thoughtful disassembly at about low cruising altitude for standard Earth aircraft is possibly quite painful,” he said. “Please see the details of the treaty agreement for how to avoid this unfortunate outcome.”
Our whole “defense” of the capital city had been a necessary show to cover the consortium with the survivors of these rogue actors; the details of the treaty made us perfectly unnecessary when mere bodied beings threatened Sultruviam as a whole … the Guardians of the Sultruviam Sky had always taken care of such things as they saw fit, and put the raw bodily elements to use protecting the planet as well.
With the last contrary elements removed from the approval of the treaty for Sultruviam to enter the consortium, the last processes continued smoothly, and the treaty was at last signed a week later.
