Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

Geola System

In the earliest days of human colonisation, remote settlements depended on the transportation of messages by ships that might journey for months to their destination. Thousands of years later, when the expansion is between star systems rather than continents and separated by space rather than sea, humanity is still a bitch to the tyranny of distance. A condition made worse by the changing nature of the pathways between stars: shifting branches of a galaxy tree blowing in a wind of gravitational and trans-dimensional forces.

[the Ascent, in-phase between New Freedom space and the Geola System]

Unable to sleep, Sam rolled out of her bed. Ambient sensor lights turned on to make it easy for her to find the cabin's en-suite hatch. They were on the final leg of their journey; the ship had been in the phase for over a week and in only a few hours would be re-entering space. Their objective was to locate and rendezvous with the other two units of Death Squad 8. With the hum of the toilet routine in full swing, Sam returned to her bed and lay down carefully, trying not to wake Honi who was stretched out also naked and sleeping soundly at the far side of the mattress. With head on pillow, she exhaled a deep breath and hoped that she could find at least a small amount of shut-eye before duty.

"Can't sleep?" whispered Honi.

"No, can't sleep."

He rolled over to her and snuggled his face into her shoulder, "Don't worry, when they witness his sermon they'll come around to our way of thinking."

"I don't know. We'd be asking them to give up everything. To rebel against the Church."

Honi sat up on his elbow, "We've been over this a hundred times. We have rebelled. The crew has rebelled. These are our brothers and sisters we're talking about. They loved Eiko too -- they will join us."

"I didn't give them much of a choice though did I? My actions at New Freedom. My decision to blow the fuck out of that place. My decision made in anger has put them all at risk."

Honi didn't answer. Sam sat up on her elbow to face him, "Well...?"

"Well, what do you want me to say? I just saw this and went blank" He reached out and gently pulled at the plump nipple of her left breast as it hung down towards the bed.

She pulled away and settled on her back, adjusting the pillow behind her head. "Not now."

Honi got the message and rolled back also. "It'll be okay. You'll see."

* * *

The ship was due to exit phase. The skeleton crew of the Ascent had taken their stations on the bridge. First Officer, the auger-churchman Harris had assumed navigation and was deep in concentration on the set of pre-exit tasks. Honi had taken the rigging terminal and was also fully occupied ordering routines about the ship for manual checks on critical systems. At Sam's orders the only remaining acolyte on board had reverted to her stiff grey robes, but defiantly remained out of uniform to the extent that the hood lay over the back of her shoulders. A beamer, the genetically modified skin of her face and bald head sparkled at her slightest movement.

Sam stood at the captain's platform holding on to the polished brass bannister so tight that her knuckles had turned white. She called to the SIS, "Prepare for phase-exit". Then hailed the ship's medic, Sou, "Doctor, where are you?"

"Here," replied the tall, slender Sou as she irised through the hatch to the bridge. "Sorry I'm late, there's a lot to do and not a lot of crew to do it!"

"Noted Doctor. I need you on sensors for an immediate situational report on exit."

"I've got that covered". Offered Harris. "I could use a hand on the weapon arrays."

"On it." Sou moved to one of the free terminals and scratched at her temple as she tried to recall the basic use of the system -- She'd been a Doctor for the past sixty years and hadn't managed weapons for at least eighty years. She had strong, handsome features and had let her current gefresh mature well into middle age; one of the fortunate ones, her age bearing provided an authoritative air about her. "Are we expecting hostiles on exit?"

"We've got no reason to believe so," replied Sam. "Hopefully the rest of our squad is here at the Geola system and no one else at New Freedom would have a reason to be carrying coordinates to this location; hence no one would be following us and we would be the only ship in the region with knowledge of the sermon. If this turns out to be the case, when we find the other ships, they'll not have seen the footage. Our..." Sam paused, almost saying the word 'fuckup', "...our predicament will be unknown to the others so we will have to brief them. Hostility may follow." She looked over to Honi, "We shall see."

"Aye Captain." acknowledged Sou. "The weapon arrays are ready in any case."

Sam and the crew all watched the countdown clock run down in their peripheral interfaces. 

"Twenty, fifteen, ten, five, four, three, two, one, exit phase now," Sam ordered.

He had interfaced with the ship's controls, but other than the cosmetic effect of a pulsing glow to his green hair,  there was no external signal that the auger had actioned the command. Only the slight shimmer of the deck and crew indicated that the exit was successful. "Phase shift complete Captain. Astronomical object report: We have entered space in the Geola System. Our current position places us rather close to the trajectory of one of the gas giants, but with an orbital period of fifty-seven years, we are still fifteen years clear. Local activity: clear. I've located Dominator and Black Wing orbiting the planet, Geolan. They're still here Sam--er--Captain."

Sam let out a sigh of relief, "Thank God." and briefed the crew, "Eiko's log reported that he had sent a shuttle with orders for Black Wing to join Dominator at this location of the later unit's last assignment weeks before we had left for New Freedom. "Harris, I want you to send the footage to Fathers Koopa and Race. Set a time and place for mass based on our jump ETA to the planet. Freeze all communications to the Ascent until that time.