Menefry had finished his prayers, thanking the Goddess for her intervention and deliverance these past few weeks.
He still lay on his back in his rooms aboard Eleanor. From here, he could just see the statue of the Goddess in Flux above the cupboard, but not much else. There was no need for other adornment.
They’d just dropped off Fredrick, who appeared to be both eager as well as capable. Menefry had few concerns about the Yu’udir working to the best of his abilities as a protector for the newly opened system.
And if he failed, well, Menefry and his crew could always come back and straighten things out. Straighten him out.
Menefry was still in charge of security for the ship and crew, though he felt as though the universe, as a whole, had just gotten a lot more secure.
News had reached them that Clayton had committed suicide the week before, watching a film in his private theatre in his rooms aboard the Dallas station.
Menefry doubted that Clayton’s death had been his own decision. It was entirely possible that he’d willingly downed all those pills himself, but he hadn’t come up with the idea on his own. Someone had forced him into it.
Sachiko had, in fact, committed suicide, piloting her private spaceship into a star in a mostly empty system. She’d left behind a lot of details of the work she’d done over the years.
Work which meant that even more of the Cartel board of directors were on the hook for.
Her information hadn’t completely pulled the teeth from the Cartel. It still had something of a bite.
However, they no longer controlled the majority of the hyperspace gates. Seemed that once the queens had their portion secured, they were able to reach out and control many of the other gates as well, slipping in underneath the Cartel’s stations, able to open and close the tunnels at will.
The Cartel tried to raise a huge alarm over the fact that they were no longer in control.
Fortunately, with most people, the Cartel no longer had any sway. Particularly in the systems where the coming of the queens meant that no one had to pay bribes to access hyperspace. It was now open to everyone, free of charge.
So while there were a few specists who were concerned about those aliens taking over, for the most part, it was just business as usual. Nobody noticed or cared that the top level players had changed.
Particularly since there was an entire new market that had just opened, all those Chonchu who could now be traded with.
The queens wanted additional space stations built and had already sent out requests for quotes to various manufacturers.
More credits certainly would grease the wheels of prosperity and silence the naysayers. Even the Goddess approved of commerce.
Menefry looked again up at the statue of the Goddess in Flux. The queens had presented him with a small copy of the Goddess Bringing People Together. He had given it a place of honor in his front rooms. Should he move that statue into here instead?
No, that wasn’t right.
But neither was the image of the Goddess in Flux.
Menefry needed something else. A different meditative pose, that would enable him to more closely follow the path the Goddess had clearly set down for him, if he could just open his eyes and trust her steady limbs.
The Goddess in Flux actually felt close to what he wanted. Except that the decision point had already been reached, the crisis passed. They were on their path now.
That was it.
Menefry was no longer static, and a still image of the Goddess was no longer appropriate.
No, he needed a statue of the Goddess in Motion. He already saw it in his mind’s eye. One of her legs would be lifted, but instead of pausing, the image would capture her in mid-step, moving forward with a firm goal in mind. Two of her limbs would be reaching back, memories of the past guiding her feet, but the rest would be swinging forward, reaching for the future.
The acknowledgment of the rightness of image settled around Menefry, as if his shell had been lifted a few centimeters from his back and had now locked completely, comfortably, into place.
After all, he was now part of a spaceship, his blood mingled with theirs.
Yes. The Goddess in Motion.
And he would walk with her, as well as his crewmates, guarding the way.