the test. The ill person has to walk it alone without anyone’s help. You see the only way to a real cure… Some, however, choose to walk the path differently. Instead of getting rid of fear and hatred, they fill themselves with anger, grow hard and deplete their body and spirit while overcoming the obstacles. Sometimes it works and they make it to the Gates, exhausted physically and spiritually, but full of furious determination. Nobody stays on their way; it’s their choice after all.”
Lora had seen the Gates of Life before, but now she was interested to know what Derek would say about the policy of the Lactian Health Ministry. The earthling didn’t make her wait long to satisfy her curiosity.
“It’s pure genocide…” he whispered quietly when they went back to the shuttle and were getting ready to travel back to Titanium. “Who gave them the right to decide who to be healthy and who to die of illnesses?”
“What are you talking about?” the girl glanced at him in surprise. “Every Lactian had and still has a choice. No one stays on their way to salvation, no one kills them! And you’re calling it genocide?!
“But, in fact, their government took the life of millions of their compatriots in order to create a more perfect race! The old humaneness turned out to be a relic of the past, an obstacle on the way to preserve the Lactian civilization!”
Lora shook her head. Her disagreement with Derek’s words was obvious.
“You are justifying their actions?” He asked, in disbelief.
“I don’t see anything that needs justification,” she answered. “Moreover, Andre Mendes’s philosophy is very similar to that of the Lactians.”
The young man raised his eyebrows in amazement.
“When our founder revealed his knowledge to the people of Earth,” Lora started explaining, “Many came to him to learn. But his teaching was useful only to those who were ready to change, to rethink their lives and only through self-knowledge and forgiveness to gain strength, wisdom and health. Not everyone was ready for such a strenuous task. Not everybody wanted to spend time on a spiritual quest. The majority just wished to get to the final result, overlooking the very way the Lactian representative was talking about.”
“But some simply might not have had enough strength!” said Derek indignantly.