Mantis rising, p.8
Mantis Rising, page 8
Chapter 14
Brother Mason
“Brother, please take a seat.” When the older man was seated, MC said, “First, how do you prefer to be addressed? Priest? Brother? Mason? Or something else?”
He smiled in a beneficent fashion. “Thank you for asking, Captain.” He paused. “I am a priest. Within my order, I am considered a brother. And my name is Mason Josif. I believe that, at least until we know each other better, calling me by my name, without a title, is presumptuous. Much like you prefer to be called ‘Captain.’”
“That was surprisingly unhelpful, Brother.”
He inclined his head, respectfully.
“I don’t want a sermon, but I am curious. What flavor of religion do you practice, Brother?”
“I am a Brother of the Order of the Elder Gods. The Elders accompanied their children during the Old Earth Diaspora and continue to guide and protect us to this day. They are kindly gods, understanding that we’re too young to achieve the perfection they desire for us. They accept that we can only strive for it. That pleases them. It is all they ask of mortals.”
“I wasn’t aware that the flight from Old Earth was considered a diaspora.”
“Not all believe that we came from a planet named Old Earth — the birthplace of humanity. The Order does. After all, there are human worlds throughout the galactic arm. We must have all come from somewhere. I think humanity’s abandonment of the homeworld fits the definition of a diaspora — a people leaving their homeland.”
“I would like to discuss the beliefs of your order with you further at some point. I’m sadly lacking in a religious education. At the moment, however, I have a crew to organize.”
“What do you believe in, Captain?”
“Neither one of us want to get into that now.”
He nodded. “I did offer a prayer to the gods to preserve us when Felix was under attack. I regret they were unwilling to intervene for the sake of those we lost.” He lowered his head, saying another short prayer for those now gone. When he looked up, he said, “I doubt this is your primary reason for requesting my presence, Captain.”
“No, sir, you’re right. It isn’t. I have three groups of people on my ship. Agnis Ferguson and I make up group one — the surviving crew of Felix. You, Doctor Crawford, and Oleon I consider group two. You signed on with Ship Master Lamont as passengers. Once you boarded the escape shuttle, you became my responsibility. Group three consists of the six surviving pirates. Most of them are afraid of me.”
Brother Mason sighed. “I think we all are. It seems justified. Doctor Crawford believes that you would have left him to die on a dead ship. Thank you for accepting his apology. Oleon needs him.”
“I’m glad you mentioned that. You and the doctor are minor mysteries. Oleon and Beza are major ones. I have promised the girl I would protect her. I need to know, to understand, what makes her different from any other teenager traveling with a grouchy doctor and a mild-mannered priest, both of whom are old enough to be her father.”
“Looked at in that bald fashion it does seem strange, doesn’t it? Don’t be concerned, Captain. We’re not human traffickers. Because her family follows an old, barbaric religion that developed on her world, she was scheduled to be sacrificed on her eighteenth birthday.”
That matched what Crawford had told her earlier. “Why? And by sacrificed do you literally mean killed?”
“Sadly, yes. Killed, eviscerated, and burned. Their gods demand the spilling of royal blood every sixty years or so. It is again approaching that time. The population, at least those who follow Kulanthri — that’s the name of their religion — believe Haliayan, their world, will experience catastrophe after catastrophe until the next sixty-year window opens. Her parents knew from the day she was born that they would be executing her at a very young age.”
“Does Oleon believe in Kulanthri?”
He sighed. “She was brought up in that faith. I’ve been on the planet for three years now. She likes the teachings of the Elder Gods more than those of Kulanthri. I’m not sure how much of that is simple pragmatism — the Elders, after all, don’t seek her death.”
MC nodded. “So she ran. How did you get her to Lyrexa?”
“We attended services at a small temple of the Order near to the palace. The Order maintains a small starship there. The pilot was willing to help us depart Haliayan. We just left, Captain. Doctor Crawford came with us. It never hurts to have a doctor along when you’re on the run.”
“So, both of you gave up everything, to help a young woman escape a fate she had been bred for?”
“Isn’t a life worth it, Captain?”
“Honestly, I doubt it.” She paused. “Were you aware her family is offering a substantial reward for her safe return?”
“I wasn’t, no. Are you planning on turning her in, for money, Captain?”
“No. Under some circumstances, if I was desperate for money, I might have done so. If I did, then afterward, I’d feel obligated to go in and get her back. Seems like a waste of time to me. I would doubtless leave many corpses in my wake.”
“If you mean that, you’re a strange person, Captain. I don’t know whether to be impressed or abhorred.”
“I don’t, either. Let me know if you figure it out, Brother. Oleon is safe with me. In fact, she is safer than with you and your doctor. Felix was attacked because of the reward. The pirates on this ship saw an easy payday and went after it. They wanted Oleon alive. If I had known that, I would have never agreed with Lamont to run with you in the shuttle.”
“Don’t you think they might have destroyed your ship once they had the girl?”
“Doubtless. They would have never gotten the girl. The pirates would have sent a boarding party of two or three. I imagine Lancome and Hamy and possibly one other to pilot their shuttle. The boarding party would have died. I would have taken their shuttle, boarded their ship, and we would be in pretty much our current situation, except Ship Master Lamont, First Officer Candrin, and Engineer Worx would still be alive. The dead among the pirate crew might have varied. Lancome and Hamy, for instance, would no longer be with us.”
“You say that as though you have no doubt that would have been the outcome.”
“I don’t. I’ll make the same suggestion to you that I made to Crawford. Take a look at the bodies in the cargo hold before you doubt me.”
He looked bleak. “I’m disturbed that my prayer to preserve Oleon and the Felix may have contributed to the deaths of those people.”
“Listen to me, Priest. I have no idea whether there are any gods who listen to us and intervene on our behalf. I am interested in your educating me about religion at some point, if you’re willing and if we have time. Your gods had nothing to do with the spate of deaths on this ship. That was all on me. I didn’t get lucky. There was no divine intervention. They chose to attack Felix. I chose to terminate them. Based on my experience so far with Roge and Lancome, some of those who are now dead may have been redeemable. We’ll never know.”
He was silent for a moment or two. Finally, he asked, “Captain, may I ask how old you are? You look barely older than Oleon or that other girl, Ema. You speak and act like you’re my age.”
“Let’s save that for another time, also, Priest.”
He nodded. Before he got up to leave, he said, “Captain, did you mean it when you said you would have rescued Oleon from her parents?”
“I promised Ship Master Lamont that I would kill all of the pirates. I broke that promise because I needed a crew for this ship. I only rarely break a promise and only with good reason. I will protect Oleon as long as she is on my ship. And if through some action or inaction of mine she is returned home? Yes, I will go and get her. The resulting death toll will probably be high.”
He nodded. “Then there’s something else you should know. I doubt Oleon has thought of it yet. She has a younger sister, Captain. Mila is thirteen. Haliayan will still be inside the sixty-year window when Mila turns eighteen.”
Chapter 15
The Runaway Princess
“Oleon, tell me about the doctor and priest. Why are they helping you to run away from home?”
“I never thought about it. I guess they must like me? I’ve known Brother Mason since I was thirteen. I didn’t know there were other religions than Kulanthri. That’s the religion my parents follow. I believed in the Ancient Ones my whole life. Brother Mason introduced me to the Elder Gods. Do you believe in gods, Captain?”
“I believe in good and evil. I believe in niceness and meanness. No, I don’t think there are any gods looking out for us.”
Oleon looked relieved. “I don’t either. I did until just recently. But then I got to thinking that Brother Mason’s Elder Gods are very different from my family’s Ancient Ones. And the priest told me about other belief systems. Can they all be right? It occurred to me that maybe none of them are.”
Looking sad, Oleon continued, “Do you know why my parents want me back? I don’t think they love me. I don’t think they ever let themselves risk loving me.”
MC frowned. “I’ve spoken with both the priest and the doctor about you Oleon. Now I’m speaking with you. Why do they want you back?”
“To feed me to the Ancient Ones. What kind of gods require the life of a young woman to keep them happy for sixty years? If I don’t go through with the sacrifice like I’m supposed to, they all believe bad things will happen to our planet. I believed that too, until I started to question all religion.”
MC said, “My father required my life for him to be happy for the next sixty or more years. He wasn’t a god, just a very evil man.”
“That’s even worse, I think. Are you running away too?”
“Not exactly. I killed him, Oleon. I have nothing to run away from. Let’s get back to talking about you. You think Brother Mason abandoned his calling as a priest because he likes you? I find your reasoning questionable. Can you think of any other reason?”
“No, sir. When you put it that way, it does sound unlikely, doesn’t it?”
“I think so. Tell me about Doctor Crawford.”
“My understanding is that he was studying us at a hospital in the city. By us, I mean the people on my planet. Apparently we have some weird stuff with the way our brains work. I was probably five before he started focusing on my family. He was particularly fascinated by my connection to Beza. It turns out that having a domesticated Portaglin is unusual. As far as we know, I’m the only one, although there are old stories that I’m not the first. All I really did was to keep it warm when we were both lost and scared.”
MC smiled. She did have a soft side to her personality — she was just never sure whether it was real or an act. Being hard with Doctor Crawford hadn’t been an act. She was sure about that. She said, “He told me that he was particularly interested in your family. I gave him permission to continue studying you while you’re on my ship, but only if he has your permission. It’s not something you have to put up with if you don’t want to.”
Oleon shrugged. “It’s OK. He just takes blood or cheek swabs sometimes and makes me wear funny helmets.” She paused. “Thank you for making it my choice, Captain. You said you believe in niceness and meanness. Are you a nice person?”
MC frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t seem to be what I thought I was. I guess I have my moments. You’re very perceptive, Oleon.”
She laughed, feeling more at ease than when she had first entered MC’s cabin. “I’m a princess — I’m expected to be perceptive.” She hesitated. “Doctor Crawford also gave up his life and privilege to accompany me, didn’t he?”
“Yes, I noticed that. I want to understand both of your companions’ motivations better. I do not, however, think they mean you any harm. How are you holding up, Oleon?”
“What do you mean?”
“With the help of your priest, you were smuggled off your planet. I don’t know what, if anything, you encountered on Lyrexa. You wound up as a passenger on Felix, a ship I had only just signed onto as a pilot at its prior port. Felix was attacked by pirates. I’m not exaggerating or bragging by claiming that if I hadn’t been there, you would be headed back to Haliayan as a prisoner on this ship by now. Crawford, Mason, and everyone else on Felix would be dead. Now we have to find some planet where you can live until you’re nineteen, I’m guessing, and can go home again.”
“Can I interrupt, Captain?”
“Go ahead.”
“I can never go home again. If I’m ever returned, even if I’m past the age of being a suitable sacrifice, I’ll be executed as a heretic, or maybe just a traitor, no matter how old I am. I miss my parents already. I loved them, at least, even if they didn’t love me. I don’t know, Captain, maybe they did. I imagine it would have been hard knowing for my whole life that they would have to kill me someday. I really miss my older brother and my little sister, but I can never be with any of them again.”
MC had been watching Beza, slowly changing form as the girl talked. Oleon didn’t seem aware of it. The animal seemed to be striving for the form of a human baby. Her little sister? Mila, who in fewer than five more years, would become the main course at the Ancient Ones’ feast.
“Oleon, look at me,” MC commanded, her voice sharp. “Keep your eyes on me. Beza definitely reacts to your emotions. When you look down, you have to control yourself. Beza no longer looks like a lapdog. I think it’s trying to shift into the form of a human baby.”
Oleon kept her eyes, which had now widened substantially, on MC’s face. “Can I look now, Captain?”
“Go ahead. It looks almost human.”
Oleon shrieked as she looked down at what she held in her lap. Her voice under control, but sounding disturbed, she said, “This isn’t what a baby looks like.”
“No, it isn’t. But I think Beza was trying. You were almost sobbing when you mentioned your sister. Do you remember her as an infant?”
“Just barely. I’m only three and a half years older. You already said that you think Beza reacts to my emotions. If it was trying to become my baby sister, that means it’s more than just my emotions — it must be picking up my thoughts, too.”
“I agree. If you decide to let Doctor Crawford continue to poke you, tell him about this. He’ll be interested. It might be useful to know more about you and your pet. The two of you are dangerous, honey.”
“I’ll tell him, Captain.”
“Good. I think we’ve stressed you enough for one day. Why don’t you head back to your cabin and see if you can convince Beza to resume its lapdog form. You’re too young to be caring for a baby, Oleon.”
The girl laughed. “Thank you, Captain. Thank you for everything.” As she stood, she said, “I think everyone is afraid of you. I’m not anymore. I think I’m starting to like you.” She paused and sounding shy, asked, “Can I hug you?”
MC sighed. Another complication. “Put down Beza, first.”
While she held the girl — young, pretty, and about Celeste’s age at the time of her death, MC sighed again. Oleon whispered in her ear, “I am starting to like you, Captain.”
Chapter 16
Roge Balsom
MC had made a conscious decision not to grab her travel kit before she had boarded the shuttle to escape the doomed Felix. It had been a gamble and, in retrospect, a foolish decision. Some of her possessions were not quite what they seemed.
She had argued with Ship Master Lamont about being assigned to pilot the shuttle. She agreed with him that they had an obligation to get the three passengers to safety if it was possible. She had, however, been pessimistic about the unarmed shuttle being able to get away from the pirate. The shuttle was interstellar capable as long as it wasn’t pushed too hard. That being the case, the only chance it would have had required Felix to knock out the pirate’s sensor arrays, power, or engines. She had made her own evaluation of their chances.
Rather than her travel kit, MC had taken an extra two minutes to grab two cases of food bars from Felix’s stores. She eventually had Ferguson bring her kit, along with what little clothing she possessed, back on one of his trips to the derelict freighter. In addition to enough cosmetics that she could drastically alter her appearance and her personal grooming supplies, she packed other — nastier — items.
She always packed a personal stun gun, perfectly legitimate almost everywhere for any young woman traveling alone. Less legitimately, her powered toothbrush and her hair styler could be disassembled and put back together to be a phase pistol. It was only good for six shots. If she ever needed more than six to get out of a bad situation, or at least to acquire additional weapons, she probably deserved whatever happened to her.
Some of the drugs she carried were illegal practically everywhere. As were some of her electronics. Others might or might not be illegal, but would be frowned upon if discovered by the authorities.
