"Since we're intending to sail to the far side, I had already come to the conclusion that 'endless water' might not be exactly accurate," Fain admitted with another handclap.
"What the world really is, is a ball floating in nothingness," Julian said, and raised both hands as Fain started to protest. "I know. How is that possible? Well, you're going to have to trust me for now, and check it out later. But what matters right now is that the center of the ball -- the world -- is very, very hot. Hot enough to melt rock. And it stays that way."
"That I have a hard time with," Fain said, shaking his head. "Why is it hot? And if it is, when will it cool?"
"It's hot because there's ... stuff in there that's something like what makes our plasma cannon work," Julian said, waving his hands with a sort of vague frustration as he looked for an explanation capable of crossing the technological gulf yawning between his worldview and Fain's. "Like I said," he said finally. "You'll just have to trust me on some of this. But it is -- hot, I mean -- and somewhere under that mountain, there's a channel that connects to that hot part. That's why it smokes. Think of it as a really, really big chimney. As for when the inside of the world will cool, that won't happen for longer than I can explain. There will no longer be humans -- or Mardukans -- when it starts to cool."
"This is too strange," Fain said. "And how do I explain it to my soldiers? 'It's that way because Sergeant Julian said so'?"
"I dunno," Julian replied. "Maybe the Sergeant Major can help you out. On the other hand...."
* * *
Roger watched Bebi's team begin the entry. The team had already worked on open area techniques. Now they were working on closed ... and they looked like total dorks.
There was nowhere to create a real shooting environment on the flotilla's ships, so the troopers were using the virtual reality software built into their combat systems and their toots. The "shoot house" was nothing more than the open deck of a schooner, but with the advanced systems and the toots' ability to massage sensory input, it would be as authentic to the participants as if there were real enemies.
But since their audience could see that they were standing on nothing more than an unobstructed stretch of deck planks, the "entry team" looked like a group of warrior-mimes.
The virtual reality software built into the troops' helmets would have been a potent training device all by itself, and its ability to interface with the Marines' toots was sufficient to make the illusion perfect. Now Macek smoothed thin air as he emplaced a "breaching charge" on the fictitious door, then stepped to the side and back. As far as he could tell, he was squatting, nearly in contact with a wall; to everyone else, he looked as if he were getting ready to go to the bathroom on the deck.
The sergeant major next to Roger snorted softly.
"You know, Your Highness, when you're doing this, one part of you knows how stupid you look. But if you don't ignore it, you're screwed. I think this is one of His Wickedness' little jokes on the Marines."
Roger smoothed his ponytail and actually opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.
"Yes, Your Highness?" Kosutic said softly. "I take it there's something about that statement that bothers you?"
"Not about your observation," Rodgers said as Bebi triggered the notional charge and rushed through the resulting imaginary hole. The prince had set his helmet to project the "shoot house" in see-through mode, and the team seemed to be fighting phantoms in a ghost building as he watched. Combined with his question, the ... other-worldly nature of their opponents sent something very much like a shiver down his spine.
"It was that last comment," he said. "I've been wondering.... Why is Satanism the primary religion of Armagh? I mean, a planet settled by Irish and other Roman Catholic groups. That seems a bit ... strange," he finished, and the sergeant major let out a chuckle that turned into a liquid laugh Roger had never heard from her before.
"Oh, Satan, is that all? The reason is because the winners write the history books, Your Highness."
"That doesn't explain things," Roger protested, pulling at a strand of hair. "You're a High Priestess, right? That would be the equivalent of -- an Episcopal bishop, I guess."
"Oh, not a bishop!" Kosutic laughed again. "Not one of those evil creatures! Angels of the Heavens, they are!" Roger felt his eyes trying to cross, and she smiled at his expression and took pity on him.
"Okay, if you insist, Your Highness, here's the deal.
"Armagh was a slow-boat colony, as you know. The original colonists were primarily from Ireland, on Old Earth, with a smattering from the Balkans. Now, Ireland had a bloody history long before Christianity, but the whole Protestant/Catholic thing eventually got out of hand."
"We studied the nuking of Belfast at the Academy as an example of internal terrorism taken to a specific high," Roger noted.
"Yes, and what was so screwed up about those Constables was that they killed as many -- or more -- of their own supporters as they did Catholics." She shrugged. "Religious wars are ... bad. But Armagh was arguably worse, even in comparison to the Belfast Bomb.
"The original colonists were Eire who wanted to escape the religious bickering that was still going on in Ireland but keep their religion. They didn't want freedom from religion, only freedom from argument about it. So they took only Catholics.
"Shortly after landing, though, there was an attempted religious schism. It was still, at that time, a purely Catholic colony, and the schismatic movement was more on the order of fundamentalism rather than any sort of outright heresy. The schismatics wanted the mass in Latin, that sort of thing. But that, of course, threatened to start the arguments all over. So, as a result, to prevent religious warfare from breaking out again, they instituted a local version of the Papal College for the express purpose of defining what was religiously acceptable."
"Oh, shit," Roger said quietly. "That's ... a bad idea. Hadn't any of them studied history?"
"Yes," she said sadly, "they had. But they also thought they could do things 'right' this time. The Inquisition, the Great Jihad of the early 21st century, the Fellowship Extinction, and all the rest of the Jihads, Crusades, and Likuds were beside the point. The worst of it was that those who founded the Tellers were good people. Misguided, but good. The road to Heaven is paved with good intentions, after all. Like most ardent believers, they thought God would make sure they got it right. That their cause was just, and that the other people who'd screwed up exactly the same idea before them had suffered -- unlike them -- from some fundamental flaw in their vision or approach."
"Rather than from just being human." Roger shook his head. "It's like the redistributionists that don't see the Ardane Deconstruction as being 'what will happen.'"
"The one thing you learn from history, Your Highness, is that we're doomed to repeat it. Anyway, where was I?"
"They set up an Inquisition."
"Well, that wasn't what they'd intended to set up, but, yes. That was what they got." Kosutic shrugged grimly. "It was bad. That sort of thing attracts ... bad sorts. Not so much sociopaths -- although it does attract them -- but also people who are so sure of their own rectitude that they can't see that evil is evil."
"But you're a Satanist. You keep referring to 'His Wickedness,' so why does the concept of evil bother you?" Roger asked, his tone honestly perplexed, and Kosutic shrugged again.
"At first the organized opposition to the College was purely secular. The Resistance actually had a clause in its manifesto calling for an end to all religion, always. But the planet was too steeped in religious thought for that to work, and the Tellers, the Determiners of Truth, insisted on referring to anyone in the Resistance as 'minions of Satan.'"
"So instead of trying to fight the label, you embraced it for yourselves."
"And changed it," Kosutic agreed. "We won eventually, and part of the peace settlement was a freedom of religion clause in the Constitution. But by that time, the Satanists were the majority religion, and Christianity -- or, at least, Armagh's
version of it -- had completely discredited itself. There's a really ancient saw that says that if Satan ever replaced God, he'd have to act the same. And to be a religion for the good of all, which was what we'd intended from the outset, we had to be good. The difference between Armaghan Satanism and Catholicism is a rejection of the supremacy of the Pope, a few bells and whistles we stole from Wicca, and referring to Satan instead of the Trinity. It really is Episcopalianism, for Satanists, which makes your bishop comparison even more humorous."
She'd been watching the training entry team as she spoke, and now she grimaced as Bebi flinched. The exercise was simple, "baby steps" designed to get the Marines back into the close-combat mode of thinking. But despite that, the team hadn't taken the simple security precaution of checking all corners of the room for threats, and the "enemy" hiding behind a pillar had just taken out of the team leader.
"It's the little things in life," she muttered.
"Yep," Roger agreed. "They don't seem to be doing all that well."
He watched as Macek "responded" to the threat by uncovering his own area. At which point another hidden enemy took advantage of the lack of security to take out Berent. Kosutic's nostrils flared, and Roger grinned mentally as he pictured the blistering critique of the exercise she was undoubtedly compiling. But the sergeant major was one of those people for whom multi-tasking came naturally, and she resumed her explanation even as she watched Berent become a casualty.
"One of the big differences between the Church of Rome and Armaghan Satanism is our emphasis on the Final Conflict and the preparations for it," she continued, her expression now deadly serious. "We believe that the Christians are dupes, that if God was really in charge, things would be better. It's our belief that Lucifer was cast out not by God, but by the other angels, and that they have silenced The One True God. It's our job, in the Final Conflict, to uphold the forces of good and win this time."
She turned to face the prince fully, and smiled at his widened eyes. It was not an especially winsome expression.
"We take that belief very seriously, Your Highness. There's a reason that Armagh, a low-population planet, supplies three percent of all the Imperial Marines, and up to ten percent of all the elite forces. The precepts of the Elders call for all good Satanists to be ready for the Final Conflict at all times. To uphold good in all their doings, and to be morally upright so that when the time comes to free God from the Chains of the Angels, we won't be found wanting."
She turned back to watch the training and shook her head.
"I mention this only to note that the Brotherhood of Baal would eat Bebi's team for lunch. The Brotherhood has used the Imperial freedom of religion clause to perform some tinkering on themselves that gives most of the rest of us Satanists cold chills. I doubt that any court would consider an Abbott of Baal human if he or she didn't have documents to prove it. But you have to see them to believe it."
Roger watched as Bebi collected his "dead" and "wounded" and started the debrief.
"I imagine that Christians are ... somewhat ambivalent about that approach."
"We don't preach," Kosutic said. "We don't proselytize. We certainly don't discuss our beliefs around the general public. And, frankly, we believe that as long as Christians and Jews and Muslims are being 'good,' they're violating the intent of their controllers. So we applaud them for it." She turned and gave him a truly evil smile. "It really confuses them."
Roger chuckled and shook his head as Despreaux began enumerating the team's faults. The plan had been good, but when they'd hit the door, they'd forgotten it and fought by the seat of their pants. They had, in fact, been fighting the way they would have fought Mardukans. But the next major conflict would probably put Bravo Company -- what was left of it -- up against humans. True, those humans would probably be pirate scum and garrison troopers, but standard colonial defenses called for space-intercept capable plasma cannon, monomolecular "twist" wire, and bunkers with interlocking fields of fire. And then they had to capture a ship.
It wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
"Well," Roger said with a sigh. "I just hope whoever the 'good guys' are, they're on our side."
* * *
Captain Pahner looked around the cramped cabin. The one fault of Ima Hooker's design, which no one had considered in advance, was that the schooner had never been intended as a command ship. Poertena had recognized the necessity of designing around higher deckheads to allow more head room for the towering Mardukans of her crew. There was a limit to what he could do, but the final result -- however claustrophobic the natives might still find it -- was that even the tallest of the humans could stand upright without worrying about hitting his head on a deck beam. But however the ship might have been stretched vertically, there was only so much that could be done horizontally in a hull of Hooker's length and beam. Despite the fact that Pahner, or Prince Roger, rather, had a minimal "staff," its members packed into the wardroom of the command schooner only with difficulty. Especially the Mardukans.
And that was before adding Roger's pet. Or his asi "bodyguard."
"All right," Pahner said with a grim smile. "We need to keep this meeting short, if for no other reason than so that Rastar can unbend his neck."
He looked over at Rastar Komas Ta'Norton, who stood hunched forward with his horns banging on the ceiling. The former prince of the Northern League wasn't large for a Mardukan, but he still towered over the humans.
"How're the civan doing?" the captain continued.
"As well as could be expected," the Northerner said with a shrug. The ostrich-like, omnivorous cavalry mounts were actually related to the vastly larger pack beasts, so they had leathery skin and were more capable of handling desiccation than the slime coated, amphibian-derived Mardukans. But they still weren't well-suited to a lengthy sea voyage. "They fit into these toys as well as we do, and they never had to deal with the pitching and rocking before. At least they have more head room aboard Snarleyow than we do here, and that outsized col fish has stretched their feed supply nicely, but they aren't happy. We haven't lost any, yet, but we need to get to land soon."
"According to our map, we should," Julian commented. He tapped his pad, and an image of the large island or small continent they were approaching floated into view. "This is as detailed a zoom as I can get from the world map we had. It appears there's only one main river, and that it travels in a sort of semicircle through a good part of the continent. There should be a city on or near its mouth, and that should be less than three more days sailing from where we are right now -- assuming this line of islands extends from the eastern chain."
"The spaceport is on the central plateau," O'Casey added, "and the continent is ... extensively mountainous. In fact, it makes Nepal look flat -- the province or the planet. Travel to the spaceport may take some time, and it could be arduous."
"Oh, no!" Roger chuckled. "Not an arduous march!"
Pahner grinned momentarily, but then shook his head.
"It's an important point, Your Highness. Col oil or no, we're short on dietary supplements, and there won't be any more col fish to get oil from once we head inland. That means we're short on time, too, so traveling through that region had better be fast."
"We have the additional problem of overhead coverage, Captain," Kosutic pointed out. "From here on out, we need to consider our emissions. If we're able to hear them, and we have been, then they can hear us, if they're listening. And they can also detect our heavy weapons. Plasma cannons especially."
"Also, Sir," Julian said diffidently, "it's likely that the people from the ships visit more than just the starport. There are always tourists, even on planets where the local critters can't wait to eat them. We need to keep that in mind."
"Noted and agree." Pahner nodded. "Anything else?"
"The Diasprans," Despreaux commented. "They're ... not happy."
Pahner turned to Fain. The infantry captain was still settling in to command Yair's old company (and the transferred s
urvivors of his own, original command), but he was continuing to demonstrate an impressive capacity for assuming additional responsibilities. He was also working out well as Roger's aide de camp, and he'd ended up being the regular liaison to the human command conferences, despite being junior to the other two Diaspran commanders.
"Comments, Captain?" Pahner invited, and Fain rubbed a horn gently.
"It's the water. And ... the space, I suppose."
"It's the lack of a chaplain," Kosutic snorted.
"Perhaps." Fain shrugged. "We probably should have brought a priest. But they didn't like the God in such abundance. It was troubling for them. And now, it's becoming troubling to the men, as well."
"The Diasprans are having a spiritual crisis, Captain," Kosutic explained. "Their cosmology calls for a piece of land floating in an eternal, endless body of water. It also calls for all water that hasn't been specifically contaminated to be 'good,' which means potable. So here we are, way out of sight of land, sailing over an apparently eternal body of ... bad water."
"Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink," Pahner said with a slight grin, then looked serious again. "I can see where that would be a problem, Captain Fain. Do you have a suggestion for solving it?"
"I've been talking with Sergeant Major Kosutic, Sir," the Mardukan said diffidently. "I believe it would be useful for her to deal directly with the troops as a replacement for our usual priests. And, if possible, when the ships go back to K'Vaern's Cove, it would also be useful if, upon return, they brought a priest over with them."
Pahner gazed at him for a second, then shook his head in resignation.
"By the time they could get back here from K'Vaern's Cove, hopefully, we'll be well on our way to the port. If we're not, we might as well not have made the trip." The Marine tapped his fingers together while he thought, then gave Kosutic another slight grin. "Okay, High Priestess, you're on. Just no converting."
"No sweat," the sergeant major said. "I'll just point out to them that there's no problem, within their cosmology, with there being more than one 'world.' We're traveling across what is, technically, infinite water -- a sphere is infinite, looked at in a certain way. For that matter, their definition practically cries out for multiple worlds, or, in fact, continents. And from what I've gleaned, there's nothing saying that all water is potable. In fact, they deal with certain types of nonpotable waters all the time. Waters that have been soiled by wastes, for example. And the God of Waters loves them just as much as he loves potable waters, and rejoices whenever they are restored to potability. Gets us into the concept of sin and redemption."