by Ann Wilson
20a. Decision
Monday, 16 March 2572
Shannon had sent Blackfeather home to get ready for her trip, and wasdistracting himself from her loss by studying. He hadn't wasted histime in Odeon's mind; besides teaching the priest how to remove thecompulsions he'd put Sara under--and, more pleasantly, just how muchagony a human could be subjected to with the proper support--he hadextracted considerable information.
Most of it was useless, though some was mildly interesting; it wasCortin's fears that intrigued him. She was primarily afraid of theconfrontation--decision point, actually, which concerned him as well,though for different reasons--but there was fear for her people, forthe Church, and of what he would do about the Families.
Shayan sighed, feeling all too human in his frustration. He hadenjoyed Odeon's pain, no question about that, but the tempering didmean the confrontation both he and Cortin dreaded was less than half ayear away.
Which meant he had his own choice to make, right now. Just how badlydid he want to live?
There was no guarantee he would, of course, even if Odeon made thecorrect choice; there was no guarantee any life at all in this universewould survive the invasion that was to come. It had been easy enough,four centuries ago, to promise cooperation--but he'd had privatereservations, cooperating on the surface while continuing to pursue hisown goals and pleasures.
Now, though, with the decision point so close and the invasion tofollow shortly afterward, that no longer seemed adequate. To improvehis odds, he'd have to go further. As much as the idea galled him,he'd have to put aside his own agenda until things returned to normalafter the invasion--if they did--and cooperate to the best of hisability.
That would be tremendously difficult. Even his grudged cooperationhadn't been easy . . . He took a deep breath, sighed again. Life wasmore important than the pride that had been his downfall; he'd do whatwas necessary to preserve that life now, and worry about pride later.If Odeon made the correct decision and the invasion resulted in warrather than simple massacre, faith and worship would be far moreimportant weapons than ships and disruptors; he'd have to beginactively promoting both, even though he didn't share either.
He took time to grimace at that repulsive thought, then he settled downto work with the information he'd gotten from Odeon. What shouldhis--and the Church's--official position be? Positions, rather, withthis Communion of Promise Cortin had instituted at Odeon's urging.That, unlike the Sealing he couldn't officially know about, was bothpublic and taking place in church, though not--quite--as part of theMass.
He would be expected to condemn both that and the Families, as Cortinanticipated--but should he? It was a delicate question, since hisfirst priority had to be doing what little more he could to prepareOdeon for his critical choice, working through and around Cortin whileawaiting the Protector-to-be's arrival. Then came the propagation offaith and worship.
He smiled slowly. He might be able to derive some amusement, if notpleasure, from this full cooperation after all, if he did it properly.He'd never been accused of moderation, for excellent reason, and saw noreason to change that particular aspect of himself.
Back Cortin and her team--now become a Family--to the hilt, then. Thatwould serve both his modified purposes, with the side benefit ofconfusing the Sealed ones, who knew his identity, no end. Since theonly thing he could know about by normal means right now was theCommunion of Promise, and he wanted to make the greatest impact hecould on the Sealed ones, he'd simply announce he was studying theprophecies and would issue a decision later; conditionally, he'd allowthem to continue.
As for the Families and Strike Force, he could undoubtedly trust Sarato publicize them as soon as she was permitted to, probably after theconvent raid. That would be good timing, since the raid's aftermathwould provide Odeon and, incidentally, Cortin, the last of hispre-decision lessons. He'd contact them after Sara's stories werepublished, invite the Protector's Herald and acting Protector toconcelebrate Mass--though since he was now helping her, perhaps heshouldn't mention the Protector role. Nor would he have to beconcerned about her powers any longer, since her truthsense wouldassure her he was no longer--for now, at any rate--a threat.
And what about the Brotherhood? It had served him well, his doublesand Victor in particular, increasing the population of his realm quitenicely. That, however, was no longer his objective--worked against thefaith-and-worship weapon system, in fact. He'd have to order itdisbanded, urge the members to repent their sins and return to theChurch and sacraments. They'd still have to pay the worldly penaltyfor their crimes, but as long as they ended up in Purgatory rather thanHell, they could still contribute. Again, not until after the conventraid, and he'd have to work through one of his doubles.
Unfortunately, he'd also have to change his plans for the Imperialsonce that crucial contact was made. It would have been pleasant totorment them, make them special targets--but that would becounterproductive.
Ah, well, life over pride, he reminded himself. And he'd wasted enoughtime; he had an audience to conduct, then he should see what he coulddo about special devotions that large numbers of people would findattractive.
Return to main storyline: 21. Anguish