CHAPTER 24
Belief imposed by lash or
laws,
Dispels more faithful than it draws.
- Saurian proverb
From
the window, Etyiam nervously eyed the boisterous crowds that gathered
outside. Ever since a couple of weeks
ago, when the senate had, by the narrowest of votes, granted permission for
Sarwin's expedition to go forth as planned, protests and counter-protests had
been occurring almost daily. Many of
them broke out into violence. The media
had been hounding Sarwin for a statement about the verdict, but he had failed
to give them anything other than quick snippets, saying how he was satisfied
with it. Finally, Etyiam and his other
cohorts had convinced him to take the time to hold a formal press conference
and the hour for that was now drawing near.
While the press gathered, Sarwin's supporters and enemies were trying to
shout each other down outside.
She
turned away from the window and looked back into the hangar where the
technicians were preparing the equipment for the conference. One of Sarwin's earlier, prototype
chronoships had been set in the background and a small stage and podium had
been erected in front of it, from which Sarwin would speak. White tunic wearing servants were setting up
chairs for the press corps, who were just starting to be let in by the hired
security guards at the door.
Etyiam
glanced at her timepiece. Less than
half an hour left until the conference was scheduled to begin and no sign of
her boss. Sarwin was running late, as
always. She watched as the ushers let
the press in, security guards checking their identification before allowing
them into the hangar.
She
looked at the chronoship with both excitement and fear. She could not believe that she had been
invited by Sarwin to go on this journey with him. Apparently, one of the senate's conditions for allowing the trip
was that a member of the church be allowed to attend as an observer. Sarwin said he asked that it be Etyiam,
because he knew her and she was knowledgeable of the mechanics of time
travel. He told her he had anticipated
a fight because he expected they would try to push some Scroll-clutching priest on him who didn't know his ass from a
wormhole, but was surprised when they approved of his choice with no argument.
Etyiam
was excited at the prospect of going, especially since they were going to visit
the time of Scrolls, some twelve thousand years in the past. She would get to see with her own eyes how
Shradia had inspired the people out of the dark ages, formed the T'Chen church
and wrote the Scrolls. The thought made
her giddy. Sarwin had put her on a
crash course program to learn everything his team knew about time travel, how
to pilot a chronoship and the extreme lengths they went through so as to not
disturb the past. It was a lot to
absorb and Etyiam had to sacrifice much sleep to keep up.
"He's
going to be late," came a voice from behind.
Etyiam
turned to find Kleesic walking up behind her.
"He
just called," he continued, "He's stuck in traffic. He can't get here on time due to the
demonstrations out there. He'll figures
he'll be here in less than an hour, but not on time."
"Well,
at least he didn't just forget completely about us," she said with a
smile, "I guess my nagging over the last couple of days helped him
remember."
"Do
you want to tell them, or shall I?" asked Kleesic, gesturing back toward
the gathering crowd of reporters and journalists.
"I'll
take care of it, Kleesic," she said.
She knew he was not fond of public speaking, so she would not insist he
get up there.
"Okay,
good," answered Kleesic, "Thanks.
If you don't mind then, I'm going to check around, make sure no-one's
trying to sneak in some side entrance.
I'll be back in a few minutes.
I'm sure you can handle things here."
Etyiam
nodded and the older gray-skin walked away.
She made her way across the hangar floor to the small platform and
climbed up to the podium. It was set
for Sarwin, so it was a little too high for her.
"Gents
and Matrons," she said into the microphone, "Can I have your
attention, please. We've just received
word that Sarwin will be a little late in arriving. Perhaps half an hour or so.
I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. We'll get started as soon as he arrives."
A
slight collective groan came from the crowd and many of them quickly produced
mobile telephones to call their respective organizations, telling them of the
delay. Etyiam was about to leave the
stage when she noticed someone strange in the crowd. In the third row from the front was a young, Priat matron who
seemed out of place. She was not
phoning anyone, nor did she seem to be preparing to ask any questions. She just sat there, with a very dour and
determined look on her face. Something
about her was familiar to Etyiam.
Etyiam
left the stage and walked toward a trio of Sarwin's cohorts who were gathered
nearby, waiting for their friend and boss to arrive. When she first started working for Sarwin, Etyiam had reported
all their names, as well as other personal information about them, to Ampharix,
as she had been compelled to do by the powerful senator. Etyiam didn't mind at the time, but now that
she had gotten to know these people, she felt a little guilty about what she
had done. At least, no harm seemed to
have come from it. They were probably
being watched, but that was nothing to be concerned about. The church watched a lot of people. Etyiam wondered if Ampharix had found any of
the information she had given her to be useful at all.
Ampharix! That's where Etyiam knew the face in the crowd! It was the angry-looking young priest she
had seen when leaving Ampharix's office a few months ago! What was she doing here now, dressed like a
journalist? Suddenly, Etyiam felt fear
clutch her bosom. Something was up.
She
made her way to one of the security officers and pointed out the woman in the
crowd. She didn't tell the guard how
she knew the woman, just that she seemed to be acting suspiciously and that she
would like the guard to check her out.
The guard told Etyiam that she had checked the suspicious matron's press
ID and that it was legitimate, but that she would go have a talk with her
anyway. Etyiam thanked the guard, then
went off to find Kleesic.
A
few minutes later she found the big Ordinary in another part of the hangar
building, checking doors to make sure they were locked. Etyiam told him about the suspicious matron,
again leaving out details how she knew of her.
The two of them started back down a long, corridor toward the main
hangar room where the conference was set up.
When they entered the cavernous hangar room, Etyiam saw that the guard
had already approached the disguised priest and seemed to be arguing with her,
though they were too far away for Etyiam to hear what was being said.
Suddenly,
the altercation turned physical as the guard tried to seize the woman by the
arm. The priest shook off the guard's
grip and started to flee, but stopped when she saw a second guard coming from
the direction of her intended escape route.
Instead,
the young priest ran forward, pushing aside the folding chairs of the first
couple of rows that blocked her path, knocking over a few startled journalists
before jumping up onto the little stage.
Both guards had now drawn their weapons and were taking aim at the girl
when she tore off her robe, displaying a body completely enveloped in wired
explosives. People started screaming and
pushing each other over as they scrambled to get out of the hangar as quickly
as possible.
"Get
back down the corridor!" shouted Kleesic, grabbing the stunned Etyiam by
her shoulders and thrusting her back down the concrete hallway from which they
had just come. He dived in after her,
covering her smaller body with his.
"T'Chen
tala forshick pruthon!" came the priest's shrill voice from the hangar.
So great was the explosion which
followed that it blew the heavy chronoship up and over like a toy, so that it
landed on its top; upside-down. The
blast obliterated everyone and everything in the main hangar, and it blew a
gaping hole in the outside wall, sending flames and jagged shrapnel
indiscriminately into the protesting crowds beyond.