The Road to Damascus

by Richard D. Ramsey

  “I’m going to have to empty bay four! It’s the only way!”

  My heart raced. I reached over and put my hand on the captain’s shoulder. “The girls! You can’t! The girls are in there!”

  “The girls’ quarters are tied in to other systems. As long as they went to their room and strapped in, they’ll be alright!” With that he pushed the button. I didn’t hear him whisper over the cacophony, but I could see his lips moving. I hope they went to their room and strapped in. The klaxon sounded as before, but then something went wrong. A loud scream of metal on metal filled the ship and it ended in a resounding thump.

  David was panicking now. “What was that? What was that?”

  Captain Stark checked a monitor that was out of my line of sight and then beat the dash with a fist. The cruise engine was screaming louder. I don’t know if he was yelling because he was angry or scared or just trying to be heard. It was probably a combination of all three. “The bay didn’t empty! All the stuff in it is pushed up against the back wall! We’re moving too fast for a vacuum to suck it all out!”

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  Jenna was crying. “I can’t slow down; they’re right on top of us!”

  The howl of the single cruise engine was growing louder. Stark yelled again, this time just to be heard over the whine. “The only way to get it out is to shut off the artificial gravity!”

  Jenna was pushing on the throttle though it would go no further. “That’ll kill the girls!”

  The captain started unbuckling his belt. “Then we’ll have to go get them. Repressurize the bay!” He turned to David who was panting. “You’re with me!”

  “I can’t! I can’t do it!”

  “You have to!”

  David leaned over to one side and unloaded the contents of his stomach onto the floor. He might have been a good chef, but this business didn’t sit well with him.

  Stark turned to me, the whites of his eyes were dark red. “You’re with me.”

  I nodded, unbuckled and rose to the task, no matter what it was. I placed my hand on his shoulder, nodded my head and said “God be with us, that’s all I have time for. Amen.”

  He pulled away from my grip and was down the hall before I could get the last words out of my mouth. I followed close behind.

  We flew down the steps to the lower deck and made our way to the bay four door. A green light was on indicating that it was already pressurized. We ran in and made our way to the hatch. All of the cargo was piled against the aft wall, making an unorganized pile of junk. Marcus’s dead body lay on top of the heap, lifeless and limp.

  The captain opened the hatch and told the girls to unstrap and hurry. I ran inside the room to help. One by one, they got loose and followed him out. The last girl was free and running, I brought up the rear. The entire ship was starting to shake under the stress of the one engine. We were making our way towards the door and I could see Stark by the control panel, already starting to turn off the gravity. My legs were getting light as I urged the girls to run as fast as they could.

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  Pieces of metal were flying all across the bay as bullets tore through the hull. A hiss resounded as the air was sucked out of the ship in tiny holes on the wall. If it wasn’t for the cry of the overtaxed engines, it would have been deafening. As it was, it whistled just under the surface.

  My feet suddenly lost traction and in the low gravity, me and one of the girls began to slide in the wrong direction. I could see Captain Stark in the hallway outside of the bay. He turned his head and yelled towards the cockpit. “You can’t bank at this speed!”

  Jenna either didn’t hear him or she didn’t care. This massive ship was banking with a cruise engine engaged!

  The gravity went away completely and I felt my body rise into the air. I reached out for the girl that was floating next to me, but I couldn’t reach her. My fingertips touched hers, but it just wasn’t enough to keep her from floating away. She was screaming and panic filled her face as she drifted off. Weightless, her body was flung to the other end of the bay.

  All of the cargo was rising into the air and started to fly about the room. Metal shipping containers, some as large as trucks, took flight and began banging into each other, ricocheting with loud clangs that I felt rather than heard. I was hit by a large crate that slammed into my side. Old ribs crunched and the breath was knocked out of me. Helpless as a leaf in a tornado, I reached out to grab for anything I could as I careened towards the ceiling. I managed to catch myself on the railing of the upper walkway before I hit the roof. Once I stabilized myself, I immediately turned my attention towards the girl. I looked her way just in time to see a barrel impact her and throw her against a far wall. Her mouth was open with a terrifying scream, but I couldn’t hear her. Sarah’s dead body flew past, limp like a rag doll and blood oozing from her in all directions. She saw that and I could see in her face that she was beyond helping herself. I had to do something. The girl was only twenty feet away from me, but she might as well have been on the other side of the galaxy. Pieces of cargo whipped about the bay in the weightlessness of space. I was going to have to go through that to get to her. There was no way I could just leave and I had only seconds before all of the air was gone and the Captain would have to open the cargo bay.

  I closed my eyes and prayed. “God, please show me the way.”

  When I opened them, there it was. The junk swirling about the room parted and I could see her. A clear path to her! I pushed off with my legs and sailed across the room until I hit the far wall. She was in a state of panic. There was no way she was going to hear what I was going to say. Our gap was still open, but it was closing fast. I grabbed her, held her close, shut my eyes and pushed off towards the door.

  I’m not sure who grabbed us and pulled us in, but it felt like a thousand hands all over my entire body. We fell to the floor in the hallway together and I looked up just in time to see the captain close the hatch and empty the bay. The colliding of cargo sounded less and less as it was all sucked out into the vacuum of space. The one remaining engine finally caught traction with the lower weight and the ship took off. We were thrown to the back of the hallway in a tangled mass of angry captain, worn out preacher and frightened Mo’ak pleasure girls; but we were alive. There was no more gunfire.

  When we found our feet, Stark took us all up to the galley were the girls could ride in relative safety and I followed him back to the bridge. James had returned to his seat, a deep red spot adorned the side of his face. That would be a black eye the next day.

  Jenna jumped up from her seat and embraced the captain. Her fur was slowly fading to a lush shade of green. “We outran them. We’re safe.”

  Captain Stark reached around and reluctantly patted her on the shoulder. I could tell he was not comfortable showing affection. “We outran them. But we’re far from safe. We need to set coordinates.”

  Jenna appeared puzzled as the obvious question graced her cleft lip. “Where do we go?”

  The captain ran a hand across his bald head. “The only place we can go. Sanctuary.”

  Oh no. Not Sanctuary. I think I would have rather taken my chances with the Transit Authority.

  4

  There was a county fair that came to Brantley every fall. It was full of carnival rides and games of skill, managed by people who always looked like they had seen better days. Of the few that still had teeth, even fewer smelled like they had taken a bath in recent days. But, as a kid, you never really saw the people at a fair. You saw the lights and heard the sounds of bells and whistles and the laughter of the other children as they were spun around and around by rickety midway rides. My mother took me every year. We didn’t have much money, but we’d walk down to the fairgrounds and Mother would find a little bit of money to give me and I wouldn’t see her until the end of the day when one of the dirty carnies would drive us home. Their cars always stank and they smoked in
them, but it was a ride.

  There was always this one game at the fair that ended up taking most of my money. It was a basketball throw. Now, if there was one thing I loved more than a carnival, it was basketball. Every year, I told myself that I was bigger and stronger and that I would win the large prize. All I had to do was throw the ball into the hoop! I practiced and practiced with a net I made from an old laundry basket and a ball that a church had brought to me one year. My skills at home got better, but I could never win that prize. I never really wanted a stuffed animal or anything like that; I was just determined to beat the game.

  One year, when I was about thirteen or so, I was just sure that it was the year I was going to make it. I took my money to the basketball booth, plopped it down and wasted most of it missing the score. Throw after throw, I don’t remember how many, but it was a lot. Every time, the dirty man at the booth would say something very sympathetic and encourage me to try again. I wanted to get one, just one. The booth attendant smiled his toothless smile and said something like you can do it, I know you can. He knew I could do it, I knew I could do it, too.

  It was about that time that some strange carnie I had never seen before put his hand on my shoulder, leaned over and whispered in my ear, “hey, come with me. I need to show you something.”

  When I was a young boy, I was wary of strangers; but when I was a teenager, I was bulletproof. I shudder to think now of what kind of trap I could have fallen into, being so naive, but he wasn’t looking for trouble. The carnie at the basketball booth pouted his bottom lip and made a clownish frown. “Hurry back, you’re getting better!”

  The stranger introduced himself, I don’t even remember his name now, and told me he had been watching me for quite some time. Together, we walked around to the side of the game booth and stopped. He pointed up to the baskets and said, “Look. Them hoops, they’re ovals. They’re not round. It’s almost impossible to get a ball in that. You can’t see it from the front, but you can from here. They’re just taking your money, that game’s rigged.”

  I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right. It was right here in front of my eyes. I felt angry, though I didn’t know who to feel angry at. “Why are you showing me this?”

  He looked me squarely in the eye, like a man; it was the first time in my life anybody had ever done that. “I run the dart board down there. That’s a man’s game!”

  I broke away from him and ran to the carnie running the booth and called him on his farce. The man who had been so nice and encouraging before quickly changed into something mean and ugly. His toothless grin became an edentulous scowl and his eyes almost seemed to shrink into his leathery face with a grimace. His voice was even different. “Shut your trap!”

  “What?” I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.

  He stepped over the table that stood in front of him and pushed me on the shoulder. “I said shut your trap and get out of here before I shut it for you!” There was nothing more to do but turn and walk away.

  I’ll never forget how I felt that night. It was just a silly game at a carnival, but it was important to me and now I knew that it was all a lie. Some people were nice and amenable when you had money to give them and they were able to fool you; but when the skin was pulled back and you saw the truth, people became very ugly and I discovered that that’s where evil lives. Evil is always your friend until you expose it for what it is, then it will ruin you.

  It made me question everything else in my life. Who else lied to me every day and who pretended to be my friend? Unfortunately, I found lies and deception in most places I looked. I guess you could say that was the day that I became angry and I wasn’t able to begin to live with myself until way after I had already murdered my father. I didn’t have a choice when I killed him; but when it made me feel satisfied, I cried for what I had become.

  Why am I telling you this? Partly because I’m an old man and I have a tendency to ramble. Partly because you need to know how I arrived at where I am now and why I made the decisions I made.

  ***

  Sanctuary was visible in the blackness of space from many miles away. It almost blended in with the starry backdrop of the galaxy until the cross came into view. The Illuminated Crucifix stood high atop every harbor of the True Church like a vulture and that one was no exception. As we got closer, the rest of Sanctuary came slowly into view. It was larger than a standard space station, but not quite as big as a trading post. At its center it must have been two miles across, but the top and bottom tapered off in giant cones. The bottom was plain, adorned with nothing more than docking ports, windows and access panels. Strictly utilitarian. The top cone, however, was almost gaudy in its presentation. Lights covered it from base to crucifix; some flashing some chasing, some constantly changing colors. Statues of cherubs and angels were affixed to the golden structure, their trumpets aimed at the deepest, darkest regions of space.

  The monitor in the center console of the Damascus rose up again and the face of a young woman wearing a headset came into view. Her smile was too perfect. “Welcome to Sanctuary!”

  Captain Stark leaned in towards the monitor. I couldn’t see his face, but I don’t imagine he was returning her grin. “I need to speak to the bishop.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  Jedediah paused and took in a deep breath. He was trying to keep his composure and doing an excellent job under the circumstances.

  “No, I don’t have an appointment.”

  The girl on the monitor screen puckered her lips in a condescending fashion. “Ooohhh. You’ll need an appointment to see him. I can make you one next Tuesday if you like!” Her demeanor was like syrup.

  “I don’t have time for these games. I need to speak to the bishop and I need to speak to him now!” The captain yelled in a gradual crescendo until he yelled the last word.

  The girl’s smile disappeared and she pushed some buttons on a console out of site. “Stand by, sir.”

  The monitor blinked out and then it came back on a few seconds later, displaying a man with the same fake smile and too perfect hair. “Welcome to Sanctuary!” His teeth seemed too big for his face and they were a fine porcelain white.

  Stark was getting more irritated now. He spoke slower and more deliberate. “I need to speak with the bishop.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No I don’t have a blasted appointment!” He was yelling at the top of his lungs now. The captain was a man that was easy to agitate. “I have Transit Authority hot on my tail and unless you want them all over your space in the next few hours, I suggest you let me speak with the bishop right now!”

  The man on the monitor was still smiling. “Sir, the Transit Authority has no jurisdiction here. Now, if you want to make an appointment to see the bishop I can make you one for next Tuesday.”

  Jenna cast a glance at the captain; they had worked together so long they didn’t need words to communicate.

  “I’m coming in to the open bay on your port. You can tell the bishop that Jedediah Stark is here. He’ll see me.”

  The screen went blank again and Jenna set a course for the open bay, which was already starting to close.

  We were no more than eight hundred meters from the bay doors when they reversed their course and started opening again. The monitor blinked once more and a man in bishop’s robes appeared on the screen. I knew the face in an instant. That day was just full of moments that went from bad to worse. I swiveled my chair around as quick as I could, facing the rear. I said a silent prayer that the man hadn’t caught a glimpse of me. It was inevitable that he would find out I was here, but the captain didn’t need that sort of complication right now.

  Tamra, the Mo’ak pleasure girl who had fired the gun was poking her head out from the galley and watching the commotion in the cockpit. Her eyes had grown as wide as saucers and her hand was covering her mouth, which was opening and closing without words. I knew the look, it was probably the same one I had
on my face. She recognized the bishop and she was terrified of him. We made eye contact just long enough for her to know I knew something was wrong and she ducked back into the galley. I closed my eyes and listened.

  “Welcome to Sanctuary, Captain Stark! So nice to see you!”

  “I don’t have time to make small talk, Barabbas. I need to dock and I need to do it now.”

  I could hear the smug grin in Bishop Barabbas’ voice as he tried to turn on his fake charm. “By all means! Proceed to any port you like and I’ll meet you there.”

  I could feel the large ship move ahead at Jenna’s gentle touch and I turned around just in time to see us swallowed whole by giant landing bay doors. We landed as tender as a baby’s touch and we all undid our straps. Stark put his hands on Jenna’s shoulder. “You’re staying with the ship.”

  Her fur was a soft orange, but it rippled with black. She was not happy with the decision. “You need me with you.”

  “No, I need you with the ship. You leave at the slightest sign of trouble. We weren’t supposed to bring the girls here. I don’t know what to expect.” She was still seated and he stared her down for a tense moment.

  “Okay, but I don’t like it.”

  He patted her shoulder and walked away. “Duly noted.”

  James was not far behind him. “I’ve got to take a closer look at that starboard manifold.” David left the cockpit without a sound. It was just me, Jenna and the girls left on the upper deck.

  The girls! I needed to talk to Tamra!

  I hot footed it over to the galley, which was only about ten steps and peered in. Most of the girls had taken off their straps and were pacing about the room. A couple were crying and a few of them were holding and rocking their friends in comfort. Tamra was sitting in a chair, chewing on her fingernail. I grabbed her by the arm and stood her up, not forcefully, but she was frightened enough to do anything anybody told her at this point.