Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

Goodbye and Hello

Blood pooled along the plank. Harris had gassed the breach, setting a barrier between the inside of the ship and space. Neither the Ascent nor Abaddon had been damaged in the precise blast. When the ships disengaged, the detachment would be clean.

Father Buck met Sam and Lucas at the hatch into the Abaddon, he was the highest-ranked Abaddon officer, a non-combatant, and, as per the articles for space warfare, was required to surrender a captured ship. The distaste on their face was clear, but they had no option as the unidentified vessels that had joined the battle had set up in guard to prevent any escape. They addressed Sam, "Captain, under the articles of naval space warfare, I at this moment relinquish custody of the Abaddon to you." They added, "May God spare your souls."

Wrong choice of words. Sam cut her fist into his stomach, and the priest doubled over. "You don't speak for God.

"Also under the terms, your crew may use available means to leave the ship. We'll take it from here." She felt faint and could have easily steadied herself against the auger, but stood firm. "Harris, take control of the ship and perform a diagnostic sweep. Make sure they leave her clean."

"Will do, Captain."

"Captain?" Father Buck had recovered from the assault, "Could we please take custody of our fallen?" He referred to the bodies of the Knights Templar that were laid out to the side. Sam ignored their request and instead retreated down the Ascent's. She walked blindly until she found the infirmary where Honi's body lay and dimmed the lighting. It looked to her that he was sleeping, she picked up his hand to wake him, but his fingers were like ice. "What am I going to do without you, big guy? Your stupid jokes?"

Her wail shook the ship.

A while later Lucas entered, I'm sorry my Dean, but the other ships. They are augers. Wu Zetian requests to meet with us.

"Fifty years. We knew each other for fifty years. What will I do without him?"

Lucas stepped up close to Sam whose eyes were red. "You will go on. You will remember him."

Sam turned and embraced the stoic beamer who momentarily warmed, letting her guard down to support her mentor.

"You're all I've got now."

#

Wu Zetian stood at the Ascent's docking hatch, still dressed in the heron's grey, body-hugging interface outfit. It was a big risk, her standing there at the mercy of the reformers, after all, they had plenty of reason to kill her on the spot. She had instigated the murder of Lynx Lynx and, a fresher wound caused by selling the Ascent's exit coordinates to the Church. But, Wu was all about risk--calculated risk. And she was confident that the ex death dealers would at least be curious as to her motive, and, once they heard her out, would be open to her proposal.

"Why didn't you intervene? Honi might have still been alive if you supported us against the boarding party. A shot to their hull might have been enough to force a retreat. Instead, you just floated in space and watched."

She was a wild one, Dean Sam, Leader of the Reformation. Unpredictable, daring, intelligent and just defeated one of the most feared warriors and their second in combat. Eiko had chosen his successor well. "I am deeply sorry for your loss, but there is so much at stake, I had to be sure you were--" Light from tech replaced teeth played within her mouth held open while considering her next words carefully."--strong enough."

"For what? I'm not in the mood for a mystery." Sam motioned for Lucas beside her to relax her spear.

"Few outsides have been, before this time, privy to the Order's plans. Not even the Elder Learned Zoro, with whom we collaborate knows our true intentions. Trust me when I say that the future of all augi is at stake."

"Usually when someone tells me to 'trust them', I know no to."

"She's telling the truth." Harris stepped forward.

Both Sam and Wu shot him a look that said, shut up, and Harris stepped back.

"You sold us out to the church?"

"I did."

Sam placed her hands on the grips of Hieronymus and Bosh, "You've got twenty seconds to tell me why I shouldn't blow your fuck'n head off."

"I needed something to trade for the captives, your Death Squad teammates."

"You have my missing squad members?"

"I have their bodies. The redeemers were authorised to make an example of them the footage will be broadcast within the day."

As Sam stood, she shook, and Wu could tell it was taking every fibre of her being to retain control. "I negotiated as if I were a representative of the Reformation. The Church does not know that the Order is involved, but took great pleasure in the false knowledge that your movement was already fracturing.

"Bring the bodies to me. And we'll talk."

"As you wish."

Wu turned to return to the Grey Heron when Sam's words stopped her, "Tell me, why us? What can the Reformation do for you that the augers can't do for themselves?"

"Because, the Reformation is a phenomenon that we did not foresee and the power that you already hold about the galaxy is far more than you know or could likely even imagine. People don't like growing old, and less, the idea of being told when they must die. But, the answer to your question is simple: We would rather have you with us than against us."

[Author's note: Okay, I have to apologise this battle scene (the last several parts) is full of inconsistencies caused by the start-stop between writing the parts. I have to do some big clean-up in the edit, but thanks for putting up with the mess and also for reading!]