by T J Bryan
"I liked that thump part at the end," commented Farn. Silvi and Farn donned cold weather gear from the purser and set out for the main dock. As the dock opened two of Ragnarök's marines in full armour jumped to the ground and stood to the left and right of the hatch. After a moment Jerry Renner stepped out and just stood there for some time taking in the landscape and entryway to the habitat. After a while Jerry walked forward to what must be the main hatch to the habitat. As she reached the hatch two more of the six marines departed the Ragnarök and raced forward to support her. Jerry tried to open the hatch but found it closed and locked. One of the marines attached what was referred to as a 'blast hatch.' They were going to blow the hatch and immediately deploy a temporary portable air lock.
Before Jerry could give the order to blow the hatch, the hatch opened and there stood three figures in something resembling ship suits but without the rebreather hoods.
Silvi watched and waited and when the hatch was open she and Farn pulled the tabs on their rebreathers and walked rapidly and purposefully to the habitat hatch. Without waiting for a welcome or an argument Silvi pushed the figures aside and entered the hatch and then a large room. Farn followed. They stood in a half dome attached to a rock wall. The dome had high windows all of which were dirty and smeared with grease and grime. The room was empty but there was refuse in the corners and a thick layer of dust covered the floor. Without the dust it reminded her of the dance hall at the Habitat where the teens hung out and danced all night. Once in the dome with the hatch closed Silvi and Farn collapsed their rebreathers. The room was very, very cold.
Silvi turned to face the three waiting figures. Two were men of average height the other was of indeterminate sex but after a few moments Silvi realized that the figure was a woman. They were all dressed in thick padded clothing with dark brown almost black stains. The padding made them look rather fat. But when examining their thin faces Silvi knew they were more malnourished than anything. Silvi approached the three and pulling out her inter-comp waved it in the air.
"Pursuant to section 93-A of the Galactic Anti Piracy Law and authorized by the High Court of Obsidian we are here with a warrant to search the premises for pirated goods and for evidence of piratical action within this system."
As Silvi spoke Jerry Renner and four of her marines entered the dome room and spread out. Moments later the truly frightening 'bouncers' arrived. Silvi could see real fear in the faces of those who met her at the hatch.
"But we have done nothing. We are not pirates. We do not steal or covet. We are the Wounds of Aram."
Farn stepped forward to the man who spoke. She stood practically in his face. Farn is violating his personal space thought Silvi. Nice touch.
Farn stared for a long time and then spoke, "Piracy is punishable by death. You will cooperate in our search and you will not resist. Nor will you lie. Lying to Officers of the Police Cruiser Ragnarök is punishable by not less than five years and no more than 15 years at hard labour in the Desperation System under articles 56-B, 93-D and 45-C, Section 14 and 15"
Silvi almost laughed. Talk about laying it on thick.
Silvi could see their resistance melt into complete obedience.
Farn continued, "Now if you will show us your food storage area, followed by your habitat control room, and we may wish to interrogate selected inhabitants to determine if piracy has been a practice in this system." Of all of Farn's comments this last one, that of interrogating selected inhabitants, seemed to elicit the most fearful reaction. Something in their reaction told Silvi that the crew of Ragnarök speaking to their citizens was their greatest fear."
"Now for the record," Farn said. "To whom are we serving our warrant? What are your names and responsibilities... for the record."
The woman spoke, "I am the Mother of the Exsanguinations of Aram. She motioned to the man on her left, "This is Brother of the Lance. My other companion is Brother of the Scythe. We are those in charge of Elegy. Now please complete your inspection and leave us in peace."
"Let us see your food storage area," said Farn in her deepest vice.
The two brothers led the way toward a wide entryway in the rock face. Farn and two marines with 'bouncers' followed. Since the Mother of the Exsanguinations of Aram remained Silvi and two marines remained as well as Jerry Renner.
"And now to your control station, if you will" Mother led them off to the far left of the dome room toward another opening in the rock face. One Marine and 'bouncer' remained at the dome hatch. Silvi noted that there was no hatch or air lock to the far entrance. Very sloppy she thought. They walked slowly down a long narrow passage with Mother in the lead followed by Silvi and two marines. The marines barely fit in the cave like passage. The 'bouncers' did not fit and remained at the entry. After a walk of perhaps 100 meters the came to a hatch cover. Mother opened the hatch and they stepped inside to what was once an advanced environmental control station, but now had become a chaotic mess of patched wires, flickering vid screen, indecipherable worn labels, and all the indications of great wear and use without true maintenance. Silvi took a quick look around. No one was on duty.
"Where is your operator?" Silvi demanded.
Mother's face was both grim and frightening. "Operator? Our system is of such advanced technology no operator is required. Silvi walked a few steps to what was one of the only functioning stations and looked down at a tattered leatherette seat that had seen much use. Silvi put her hand on the seat. It was warm. Silvi turned and looked hard at Mother, but for a moment said nothing.
"I must speak to your operator. And in private. This is an official interrogation for piracy. Now where is you operator?"
Mother almost snarled in her reply, "I told you we have no operator."
Silvi turned slightly to one of the Marines. "Marine, did you record that. An obvious lie to a police officer on an official investigation for piracy."
Silvi turned and looked about the room. Three other hatches led away from the control room. Silvi chose one, knowing that an environmental system as close to failure as this required constant monitoring and that there must be an operator waiting nearby. As Silvi pulled open the nearest hatch cover she found a young man cowering on the floor in both fear and a pool of blood. Silvi reached down and pulled him up. He was alive but cheeks had been slashed and he was bleeding. The young man tried to pull away from Silvi, but he was weak and emaciated, and Silvi pulled him forward. She looked carefully at the slashes on his face and could see the remains of scar tissue from previous blood lettings. The young man had been repeatedly slashed many times for many years. Then Silvi remembered the definition of 'Exsanguination.' The term meant bleeding to death. Silvi turned toward the Mother of the Exsanguinations of Aram. "What is the meaning of this? This blood letting?"
The mother could barely control her rage as she replied through clenched teeth. "Our sacrament is no business to the wicked and sinful. This young man has just taken communion with Aram, and you blaspheme by your presence in our holy domain."
Silvi let the young man down gently to the floor. The scars and blood sickened her and it was then she noticed that the robes of the Mother were stained with darkened blood.
Chapter Fifty Two
Elegy System - Ragnarök - Year 3246. April 15 ET: 11:54
Farn had completed her inspection of the enormous food storage area and found sufficient food to feed a hundred thousand for five years. Some of the food carried labels indicting its' origin on Girots and the date stamp left no doubt but that it was from Bountiful. Although Silvi had quietly told Farn and the crew that they would take no action on the pirated food Farn was still concerned. Perhaps Elegy did not participate in the piracy but clearly they must have understood that buying food from pirates probably meant that the food was stolen by violence.
As Farn turned to exit the storage area she noticed a frail looking woman just outside the hatch motioning toward her. The two brothers that had accompanied Farn to the storage area appeared alarmed. As Fa
rn approached the woman, Brother Scythe stepped between Farn and the woman.
'Now that you have completed your inspection, you must leave. Leave us in peace."
Farn continued on toward the woman who was clearly frightened by the brothers presence. Farn turned to the marine on her left, "Arrest that woman for suspected piracy. Take her immediately to the Ragnarök for interrogation."
As the marine grasped the woman Farn could see panic in the eyes of the brothers. Good she thought. Again Brother Scythe tried to stop the arrest by imposing himself between the woman and the marine. The marine turned toward Farn. Farn made a gesture and the marine unceremoniously pushed the brother aside and began to lead the woman to the ship.
While returning to the dome room Farn arrested three other inhabitants, all of whom made gestures indicating they wanted to talk. Once in the dome room Farn found Silvi talking to a very angry and distressed Mother.
"You cannot do this. You cannot take any of our people. This is an outrage. The sanctity of our divine worship will be violated." The woman continued on and on and soon she had descended into a senseless raving rant.
Silvi motioned toward the marines to halt, then she stepped forward toward the Mother and took a long look at her. The Mother's cheeks, though sagging from age and the harsh conditions of Elegy, were unblemished. The same was true of both brothers. Silvi turned and all four of the arrested inhabitants showed extensive scaring on their faces. Silvi reached for the woman Farn had first arrested and slid back the sleeve of her robe. More scaring was evident including scars that had healed only days ago.
"Take them away for interrogation," Silvi said is the most harsh tone she was able to muster in her horror of what she realized the Wounds of Aram were all about.
As the marines hurried the 'arrested' inhabitants out the hatch and into the ship Silvi again turned toward the Mother. "We shall return in five hours to render our assessment of your participation in piracy. You are to remain in the habitat. You are not to destroy any evidence of your crimes, You are not to intimidate any witnesses. The marine 'bouncers' shall remain to monitor your acceptance of these conditions."
Silvi turned and exited the habitat followed by Jerry Renner. Soon they were back on Ragnarök. Silvi looked at four frightened, if not terrified 'prisoners', gathered just inside the main hatch. She was anxious to hear their story, but knew that she must calm them and assure them that no harm awaited them before any sensible interrogation could occur.
"Jerry, take these good people to the mess and feed them. Further go to the purser and find some decent clean clothes. Clothes suitable for cold weather.
"Aye, aye, Sir." Jerry and another marine led the prisoners off toward the roundabout and the mess.
Silvi turned to Farn. "What is going on here? How can people tolerate this madness?"
Farn only shrugged. She had no answer to what was clearly some religious cult gone off the rails.
After speaking to each prisoner separately both Silvi and Farn had a fairly complete picture of the Wounds of Aram cult. Their description of the early years of the cult, as well as the prisoners knew it, was disturbing. But it was the later evolution, or devolution, of the cult that was the most revolting. At its' founding the cult held an esoteric belief that blood was sacred to life, and that the letting of blood was an affirmation of life and the hope of redemption. How that connection had been made astonished both Silvi and Farn. The cult had formed on the lush and hedonistic system of Karos and was a reaction to the self indulgence and excessive debauchery of the Karos culture. Two groups had joined to follow a holy man they named Aram of Karos. The groups tended to be a mix of sadists and masochists and soon found themselves threatened by the prevailing Karos culture of pleasure.
After years of repression they left the Karos system for Elegy. At that time there were almost 200,000 members of the cult. But the colony never prospered and through time the excesses of cult leaders became more and more extreme. At some point Aram of Karos was murdered and any restraints upon the cult were lost as the worst of the sadists established control.
Slowly the colony began to die out and in response the cult leaders increased the atrocities and suffering in some mistaken belief that their suffering would lead to a return of Aram and a better life. However such extreme measures further reduced the population so that at this point in time less than 2,000 souls remained on Elegy. In 300 years almost 400,000 had died often of starvation or blood letting cultic practices.
Silvi was convinced that all would want to leave, but was surprised when the four prisoners agreed that only about 120 wanted to leave. The others, almost entirely 'masses' believed in their religion and in their cult. They would die before they departed Elegy. Silvi found the idea of staying within the cult on this hostile planet unbelievable. But Silvi was a realist.
Silvi knew that extracting those who wanted to leave from those who were determined to stay would be no easy task. Zealots tend to be short sighted and short tempered. If she simply lined the folk up and asked who wanted to leave she was certain that many who wanted out would be intimidated by the others and forced to remain silent. Further some families were split on the question and for those who left their remaining family members would certainly suffer in retribution. Dividing the wheat from the chaff was going to be difficult.
Silvi asked the four prisoners to draw up a list of those who wanted to go. When completed the list contained 120 names. Silvi notified Greenland to prepare for housing 124 refugees for the trip back to Wu. She knew Emmitt would not be happy taking 124 strangers, who had probably never seen a starship before, on to Greenland, but in Silvi's mind there was no alternative. Once on board for the long journey to Wu she knew the Marines would have their hands full maintaining order.
It took several hours to assemble those named on the list in the dome room. Marines and 'bouncers' had spread out through the habitat calling out names and collecting those who wanted to go.
SAR 1021 now bearing the name Sváva and flown by the Banshees, as well as 1087 now named Róta with Jason Mills at the helm, began shuttling the refugees to Greenland. After all had been transported Silvi addressed those remaining.
"We have room for anyone who wants to leave. The decision is yours and yours alone. However we shall not return and the infrastructure of your habitat is failing. If you remain you are likely to perish in the near future. Please consider our offer of refuge. You have ten minutes before we leave.
One of the older men in the front of the assembly spat at Silvi as others began to shout about sin, blasphemy, and wickedness. Silvi looked at the time on her inter-tab and when ten minutes were up she turned and began to exit the habitat. Before she could leave Brother Scythe stopped her. Silvi feared violence and she could see the marine on her left take precautions.
Brother Scythe whispered, "Take me. I don't want to die. Take me."
Silvi was again disgusted, but she had made the offer so she agreed to take the sadist aboard Greenland.
...
Jamon System - Sigrún - Year 3246. July 16: 11:54
Abel, Helen, Captain Eon Stallings formerly of 1109 now called the Skuld,
and Nelson Anders at of the newly recommissioned Skaga, sat in the mess finishing an early lunch. The rescue mission called for a departure at 13:00 so they had a little time to discuss the mission and contingencies once more. Although they had been over and over the plan for a month Abel wanted to leave nothing to chance, yet he realized that the moment Skuld and Skaga left for Wu the plan might well fall apart.
Helen was speaking, "By now Wu should have either stabilized for fallen into chaos. I doubt if the pirates we encountered at Wu are the only ones left in space. If the station has been stabilized I expect it to be the work of Captain Smilot and Captain Tallsberg. They seemed to understand the complexities of restoring some sort of order and in repairing the failing infrastructure. On the other hand it might all be plasma and dust."
"Indeed," replied Captain Anders. "
But our plan is to proceed to New Carthago and then to Sargon. Should we find them we can assess the situation and if necessary Captain Stallings can return for additional help. Although we may well find a simple cause for the delay."
"I certainly hope so," said Stallings.
Abel looked carefully at the newly appointed Captain of the Skuld. He was short like Abel, with premature long grey hair, and had 34 years as a team leader on EmVac, and although it took him a very long time on the simulator to qualify as a basic pilot, Abel and Helen liked the man's calm demeanour in a crisis. It takes real self control to lead men and women into a vacuum to seal a breach that is killing your family and friends. Stallings had proven himself many times over and his team almost worshiped him. Abel thought he will make a good captain for this rescue and recovery mission.
Helen continued, "Now the basic relief goods we have packed into your tiny holds should allow you to assist Wu station in its' rebuilding effort. Unload the goods as fast as possible and proceed to New Carthago. Those pumps, condensers, and piping you carry are greatly needed. In addition the supply of new or nearly new Greayson vac suits should allow Wu to begin repair on the rather fragile spiral arms they added to the monitor."
Abel spoke next, "Just pass through New Carthago. There is no need to stop and engage the Temple. Do make a quick scan as you pass by so that we can assess its' current status, but press on to Sargon. Once at Sargon you will find little of interest and given the need for ascertaining the fate of Greenland and Ragnarök press on to Harappa and then to IronBridge. IronBridge leads to Dello and home."
Abel knew he was repeating himself but he felt compelled once again to urge speed in the rescue and recovery effort.
Finally Abel said what he had avoided for three months but needed saying even if everyone in the room privately assumed the thought, "Your entire voyage should take no more than 50 days. Perhaps as long as 60 or 70 depending on what is needed at Wu and any obstacles you may encounter. But, if you do not return, the OCN cannot afford to send another search and rescue mission. I hate to admit this but you will be on your own. You cannot expect us to follow. If both squadrons, yours and Silvi's do not return then we must assume the worst and that is you have been destroyed by some hostile force or you have come to a 'dead end' system. In either case we cannot help."