Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

Divine Retribution

[on the Cathedral Platform in space orbit around the Planet Skye]

Sam and Honi waited pensively in the small room, empty save for the hard bench on which they sat. The moans and screams of a man in agony leaked through the shared wall, and, while they did not suffer the torture directly, the act of witness made it seem that Eiko's atonement was punishment for them as well. When the sounds of torment finally stopped, the long wait for Eiko to be released seemed as if it would be unbearable for the two Churchman.

As she had predicted, the footage of their failed assignment that resulted in the death of innocents had gone viral about the galaxy and had even attracted a Papal decree elevating the sin of deception against the terminatio die above the actual violation of the terminatio die itself. Eiko's squad had been summoned to the rooms of the Skyean Cardinal on the Cathedral Platform where Eiko had enacted officium ductu and accepted all responsibility for all failure in the mission. As a reward for this sacrifice, the Dean was to receive three serves of divine retribution, and each atonement was to be more severe than the last.

The proud and determined Dean who entered the chamber was not the man who came out. When Eiko finally emerged from the hatch it was under the arms of two Churchman who looked more like butchers than clergy; their specialist uniforms were normally pristine white, with black collars, but now were covered with blood-splash. The two retributioners  stopped before Sam who had stood with concern and rushed forward, and dropped the spent man at her feet. They then turned, observing their vows of silence, and returned to the retribution chamber.

Eiko was hardly recognisable. His thick copper beard had been removed, and, judging by the bloody mess, the hair had been ripped out rather than shaved; his eyes were bruised and the lids puffed up into slits; and his teeth had been pulled out, all of them -- Sam thought she could recall when this phase of the punishment had taken place as there had been sharp snapping accompanying the screams, though, at the time, she couldn't imagine the origin of the sound.

Without words and as gently as they could, Sam and Honi pulled Eiko down the clean white corridor back to the terminal where they could catch a platform back to the Cathedral's docking bay and the Ascent. At the end of the hall, Sam took a quick look back and prayed never to see this place again.

* * *

On their ship, Eiko had been taken directly to the infirmary where his wounds were cleaned and tended to by Soul, a stoic, and devout medical officer. She knew the cause of the Captain's condition and so didn't ask any questions. When Sou ordered Sam and Honi to leave, Sam was reluctant, "I'll stay 'till he's in gefresh, if that's okay?"

"Very well." accepted the doctor.

Honi gave Sam a kiss on the cheek and left the infirmary.

Sam wished she had left the room as Soul began to extract the roots of many of Eiko's teeth that had been broken off in their cavities during the atonement. Although this time, the sound of bone against bone was less violent and Eiko was asleep under a general anesthetic, so couldn't feel pain. By the time the doctor had finished the task, new teeth had been printed. Sam assisted, while the doctor, guided by a holographic overlay, manually inserted each replacement tooth into its place.

After inspecting the mess of skin on Eiko's face, the doctor observed, "I don't know if the hair in his beard will be able to grow back convincingly; many of the follicles have been destroyed and beyond the regenerative powers of gefresh, there will be more scarring than regrowth."

"He'll be pissed as hell about that." She tried not to cry, but her hard facade was more a tribute to Eiko's manner, than her feelings at the moment. Sam broke down as she explained, "The old dick really loved that beard. But at least with all the scars he'll still look mean-as-fuck."

"That's true." replied Soul with compassion.

After a few more basic procedures, the doctor applied the gefresh preparation. "Well, that's done. He'll be a new man when he opens his eyes in a week or so. Where's our next port of call?"

Prompted by the change of subject, Sam had regained her composure. We're headed to the free markets to punish the source of the override device that was used to deceive us. Our new assignment is to track down and serve our own form of divine retribution to those responsible for this." Sam indicated to the sleeping body of their Dean.

"May God have pity on their souls."

"Amen to that." agreed Sam.