‘That was well spotted, Pol,’ said Ed. ‘I thought she was one of the guards from the entrance foyer.’
‘Who is she then?’ asked Phil, helping Ed and Andy drag the two unconscious Callametans out of the Cartella.
‘Fressan,’ said Pol. ‘Second-in-command of the Obsidian cult. I have absolutely no idea why she turned up.’
‘I do,’ said Ralt, limping slightly from the beating she’d received. ‘She’d come to collect me for the public execution.’
‘They were going to execute you?’ said Andy, stopping what he was doing and looking shocked.
‘No, not me – Pol,’ she said. ‘They wanted me there to demonstrate approval and legitimise the murder.’
Pol went white and buried her face in all four hands.
‘This is becoming a living nightmare,’ she said. ‘I can never go home again.’
Ralt limped over and tried to console her but she pushed her away.
‘Get away from me – you were going to support my murder,’ she spat.
‘They did this to me,’ said Ralt, indicating her own face. ‘And they were going to burn my spawn.’
Linda appeared just as Pol began sobbing again, and led her away up to the blister lounge on the top deck of the ship.
‘This is going to cease,’ said Ed. ‘And, Ambassador Ralt, you’re going to help me along with these two thugs.’
‘These two thugs, as you call them, are part of the most powerful ruling body on the planet,’ said Ralt. ‘They have devout followers, untold armaments, and we’re sure they have nuclear weapons hidden away somewhere, even though they were outlawed decades ago.’
‘Cleo, can you show the ambassador the recorded footage from, I think you call it the Yalitt Mountains, taken by the Cartella this morning, please.’
A large holographic representation of the Yalitt Mountain range appeared in the centre of the hangar. Five mushroom clouds, in various stages of growth, loomed over the entire region. Some of the recognisable peaks had disappeared or completely changed in appearance and the ground seemed to be on fire over tens of kilometres.
Ralt’s face went pale and her mouth hung open in absolute horror.
‘That was their power base,’ she mumbled. ‘Completely impregnable – over a million fanatical soldiers, thousands of vehicles and aircraft.’ She turned to look at Ed. ‘You’re saying it’s all gone?’
‘Well, I can’t imagine an awful lot coming out of that,’ said Andy.
Ralt glanced over at the other prisoner lying handcuffed on the hangar floor.
‘That’s Quyll,’ she said. ‘She was the general commanding all their forces. She’s not going to be very happy with you when she wakes.’
‘We didn’t bring her along for a holiday,’ said Andy, nudging Quyll’s unconscious form with his boot. ‘She faces charges of attempted murder of a representative of the Galactic Council – and this one,’ this time giving Fressan a prod with his boot. ‘This one faces the same, along with torture and attempted murder of a Galactic Council ambassador.’
‘Okay – where do we go from here?’ Ralt asked.
‘I, along with your help, Ambassador, am going to recommend to the GDA that the Obsidian cult is designated a terrorist organisation. We have footage of what these two got up to, along with what you’ve just seen. It’s a shame we don’t have a recording of what they did to you––’
‘Actually, we do,’ interrupted Ralt’s secretary, Jon.
She produced a small data chip from a pocket and handed it to Ralt.
‘Is this––?’
‘Yes, it is,’ said Jon. ‘They didn’t know I had a hidden lens in your office.’
‘Was it always there?’ asked Ralt, sounding a little riled.
‘No, ma’am, honestly it wasn’t. I placed it on the wall cabinet opposite your desk after they instructed me to turn off the official lenses. It was in a small clock.’
Ralt nodded and handed the chip to Ed.
‘I take it you can do something with that?’ she said.
‘Absolutely, it’ll go in the transmission to Dasos along with the rest of the evidence,’ said Ed. ‘But first we need to prepare you for the arrival of the Cathedral of the Gods.’
‘What!’ exclaimed Ralt. ‘Arrival? Are you telling me it’s coming back?’
While Andy secured their two guests in cells provided by Cleo, Ed took Ralt and Jon up to the blister lounge, where it was a bit more comfortable, and showed them all the evidence regarding the Faith.
‘So,’ said Ralt, an amazed look on her face, ‘your theory is that it’s highly likely that all of us on Callamet are the descendants of the crew of that ship?’
‘It seems the most logical explanation,’ said Ed.
‘How did they get from there to here?’
‘The ship’s itinerary shows a passenger shuttle missing from one of the giant hangars.’
‘Which would mean, if your theory is correct, it’s still here somewhere,’ said Ralt.
‘Maybe,’ said Ed. ‘They may have crash-landed and destroyed it, broken it up for the parts, or just hidden it or destroyed it so the moguls couldn’t detect it.’
Ralt glared at Ed.
‘Are you insinuating we’re descended from a group of cowards, Edward? That they abandoned a million of their own race to save their own skins?’
‘Of course not – there could’ve been any number of legitimate reasons for them having to get off that ship and quickly, and anyway it doesn’t matter now. What does matter is what we do about the six hundred and sixty-odd thousand Callametans still alive and in hibernation on that vessel.’
‘One solution is to let the ship continue on to its intended destination and not interfere anymore,’ said Ralt.
‘I’m afraid that scenario is off the table,’ said Ed.
‘For what possible reason?’
‘We studied its plotted course to a system, another one hundred and seventy two light years from here. A journey of another almost sixty years.’
‘I don’t see a problem with that,’ said Ralt, raising his eyebrows.
‘No,’ said Ed. ‘You or I wouldn’t. But for the last ten thousand years that system and its only habitable planet, called Gallay, has been a major Klatt world.’
‘Oh – shit!’ said Ralt.
Ed nodded and peered up and out of the domed window at the unfamiliar starscape beyond.
‘My sentiments exactly,’ he said. ‘So we have to find them a new home and if your world is in too much turmoil, then we need to find another uninhabited world for them. Preferably not too far away, because forty-four percent of the hibernation pods have already failed.’
‘Or we could wake them now and give them the choice,’ said Pol. ‘If they didn’t want to settle here and in the present situation, who would blame them? I’m sure the GDA would provide a way to jump them all to a new place of residence.’
‘That’s probably a better solution,’ said Ed. ‘Let’s get some sleep, meet the Faith as it arrives and check it’s Mogul-free first. Then we can start debating the way forward.’