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Rebirth
We moved south in a loose convoy, leaving the beautiful spires of New Jerusalem silhouetted against the glow from the still burning Merchant Exchange. Not once did Sister Miriam look back.
There was no pursuit, partly because Brother Joaquim had sabotaged all the vehicles that were not being used by our group, and partly because I had given the electronic combination code to some young zealots. They had armed themselves and were fighting a rearguard action to allow us time to make our gateway.
We set up an interim camp at the base of the monolith, and waited there as arranged for others to rendezvous with us. I took the opportunity to catch up with the news since I had left on my search for the monolith. Gwynneth snuggled up to me and filled in the details.
"How did you escape?" I asked her.
"Oh, it was easy," she replied, "I put the former on automatic, and slid out, sending it right at the artillery unit. They panicked somewhat as the huge lumbering machine came at them, but they did destroy it eventually. I sent out a distress call on my comm-link to say goodbye just in case they were monitoring communications, to let them think I had died in the barrage, and then snuck back to base. I was rounded up when I was reporting events to Sister Miriam - they must have thought me someone important and locked me up with the Elders."
"Thank Heaven for that" I said, taking both her hands in my calloused fingers. "I thought you were dead." I struggled for the right words… "It was the bleakest moment of my life….such an empty feeling, thinking I would never see you again. Then when I saw you in the barracks cell…"
"Ssshhh…" she said, putting her fingers to my lips. "We're together again now, that's all that matters."
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Sister Miriam convened a meeting of the Elders of her emaciated flock. We numbered fewer than 500 of the almost seven thousand inhabitants of New Jerusalem, but had a good cross section of skills and age groups. I was introduced as the new Commanding Officer, and Miriam asked for my opinion as to what we should do.
"Well", I began, "our knowledge of Chiron is very spotty. We never did explore much beyond our base perimeter, maybe 30 clicks in each direction. We know the University is to the north, and an ocean to the east. The south is an unknown to us, but if the land is contiguous, it is my opinion that Zakharov will chase us there. I think we need to reach the ocean, construct boats, and make our way to an island or small continent to start afresh."
"Isn't that risky?" asked Beatrice. "Sailing into the unknown is quite stupid in my opinion. We should just continue our march south. We know from the Spartans, our pact sisters, that the University bases are all to the north of us."
Sister Miriam looked around. She let that soft gaze rest briefly on each, looking into our thoughts, searching for the hidden secrets of each of us, it seemed.
She said; "I cannot coerce you to follow me. If you return to New Jerusalem, you will be welcomed back. Zakharov has no quarrel with any of you. It is me that he hates. You didn't know this, but he steadfastly tried to block my appointment as Chaplain to the Unity mission, and almost had me killed after the Unity broke up and we were prematurely brought out of cryosleep. No, my brothers and sisters, it is me he wants, and I would think none the less of you if you want to return. I agree with Sven. We must take to the ocean."
Sister Miriam put the matter to a vote. We elected to go the ocean route. Sister Beatrice and about 100 others elected to return to New Jerusalem, depleting our small commune's numbers even more.
I asked to speak to Sister Miriam privately.
"I think I have a way of collecting some intelligence about the ocean's coverage and the various landmasses, and their status." I said. "I didn't want to sway the vote in case nothing comes of it."
I told Sister Miriam my plan.
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Sparta Command
Mindworm Patrol Unit 4
Foxtrot Sector
The comm-link beeped insistently. Scout commander Charlie Evans cursed inwardly. They were on the track on a big one, and if destroyed would mean bonus credits for him and Carter. A capture would be even more valuable, but they had been unable to effect a capture yet.
He flicked on the comm-link.
The message was a visual. That itself was unusual. It was flashing across the screen:
**Urgent, Urgent. Code 1171. Acknowledge. Enter Password**
"What the heck was a code 1171", he wondered. "And what password.
"Carter", he yelled to his buddy out on foot ahead of the rover. "Get over here quick"
Carter looked up. "What's up Charlie?" He had deployed his flameguns, one in each hand, as they swept the fungus for mindworms. He loped over to the rover.
"What the heck's a code 1171?" asked Evans. "You heard of it?"
"Yup", was the gruff response. "Gimme that".
Carter took the comm-link, and spoke into it.
"It takes two to tango. Over"
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I breathed a sigh of relief.
"And one to cut in." I gave the counterphrase. "Who am I connected to?"
We exchanged identities. The 1171 code was the number of recruits from among the mercs that had been taken on the Unity mission. Most of us had been recruited by either Yang or Santiago as security forces, but several were independents with Morgan or, presumably, the other factions. Before entering cryosleep, we had forged a sort of 'Brotherhood of the Mercs' and agreed that in dire emergencies we could send out a general 'code 1171' call and if another merc was listening we could get immediate help.
I explained the situation. Carter didn't have much of an idea, nor did Evans. He did have, though, the comm-link frequency for a Morgan merc attached to a naval unit. He passed it on to me.
I dialed, and got the information I needed.
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I briefed Sister Miriam that evening.
"There is a small island to the south east, close by are the Peacekeepers to the north of it and the Morganites to the west. It is uninhabited. My contact reckons it might eventually support eight or so bases, not much more."
"How do we get there?" she asked pragmatically.
"CEO Morgan is prepared to send a transport to lift us off this landmass and take us there." I replied.
Miriam's face grimaced. "I would rather not. The man disgusts me with his relentless pursuit of wealth at all costs. Are there any alternatives?"
"I replied: "I'm afraid not Miriam. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and hold your nose and proceed. It's not only the best offer we have, it's the only offer."
"I suppose so", she said dejectedly. "Is he imposing any conditions?"
I was afraid she'd ask that. "Yes, Sister", I replied, "he has. You must immediately pronounce Vendetta against the Gaians. It appears that CEO Morgan and Lady Deirdre Skye do not get along."
Sister Miriam's lip curled. "That *****", she snarled, taking me somewhat aback. "She was all lovey-dovey in Council to get my votes to elect her Planetary Governor, and was more than willing to loan me credits at usurious interest rates, but would she lift a finger to help? No, she wouldn't. Even stopped taking my comm-link transmissions. I'll gladly take Morgan's side against that fanatical tree-hugging worm lover. Spends all her time with that weird musician Vel… something. Now he's a funny one.."
I cut into her diatribe. "Sister Miriam, we must respond if we are to escape. Shall I signal for the rendezvous?"
She calmed down somewhat.
"Go ahead" she said, "get us off this god-forsaken continent."
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The rendezvous went as planned, and the trip was smooth.
During the trip, we discussed tactics. I was adamant that we should build more than one base, as soon as circumstances permitted. I pointed out to Sister Miriam that if we had originally more than one base, we would have been able to withstand Zakharov more readily. She was inclined to agree.
We made landfall about halfway up the western shore of an elongated island, about 25 clicks by 12.
There we founded our new Headquarters Base and named it Zion