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The Rose by Chris Cook, Part 10 @->--
I was taken into custody and questioned extensively, about
practically everything that had ever happened from the moment I walked
into Father Deacis' office in the school at home to when I saw Sister
Superior Fionne behind me. I saw no-one familiar to me, only an Adept
who I learned later was from the Inquisition - not an actual Inquisitor,
but skilled nonetheless. I told it no differently than I do here - it
never occurred to me to lie, not to a servant of the Emperor. Again and
again we went through it all, in order, randomly, under the influence of
serums or hypnosis, even in all the languages I had learned besides
basic - High Gothic, and Lingua, the semi-universal language of traders
and colonists around the isolated but mineral-rich border worlds. I
was
fortunate - the Adept was sufficiently convinced that I was telling the
truth that he did not resort to any more extreme methods. There was one
other person who visited me, a tall man who looked to be in his
mid-twenties, but had a network of wrinkles around his eyes. He sat
across from me and looked into my eyes, and I felt a slight pressure in
my head, like the beginnings of a headache. He said nothing, merely sat
there, looking at me, for almost an hour before looking away, standing
up and leaving.
Then I was transferred to a Sisterhood compound on Haldron, the
nearest outpost to the unnamed world where we had fought the Necrons.
My trial happened there, but I saw none of it - I was left alone, aside
from the silent servants who brought my meals, until a verdict had been
reached. I entered the trial chamber with a Sister on either side of
me, armoured and armed - Fionne to my left, Ilen to my right. My judge
was a Canoness, whose name I never learned. She looked down at me, and
spoke in a deep, resonant voice.
"Sister Antonia of the Order of Our Lady of the Rose. You have
been charged with deviance from the sacred form of mind, body and soul
as laid down by the almighty Emperor of Terra and the Imperium. The
court have heard evidence from Adept Scorthus of the Inquisition, and
Primaris Toldra of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, confirming that you
have been cursed with the taint of witchcraft, that brand of mental
aberration that cannot be turned to the Emperor's service. The decision
of the court is in accord with the sentence dictated by our Lords on
Terra. At dawn tomorrow you will be taken from this place and your life
will be ended, thus removing your tainted soul from the Emperor's mortal
realm. This court has also heard testimony from your fellow Sisters,
who speak highly of you. In recognition of your service to the Emperor
as a Sister of the Order of Our Lady of the Rose, the extinguishing of
the tainted flame that burns in your heart will be done by your own
hand, wielding the blade which you have used in battle against His
enemies. The court is humbly hopeful that, by this final act of service
to the Emperor, your soul will be cleansed in the life beyond, and take
its place at His side. Until the time for the sentence of this court to
be carried out, you will pray for guidance and forgiveness in front of
the statue of our almighty Emperor in His chapel here. May His hand
guide you in your duty tomorrow. The court is ended."
That was it. I already wore the ceremonial robes due to those
whose lives will be given in the Emperor's name, so I was taken directly
to the chapel, and left alone there, waiting to die, and asking Him why
He had cursed me. I thought of my family - they would be told only that
I had died in the service of the Emperor, with His hands guiding mine.
And I thought of Serena, and wondered if I would see her in the place
beyond. My gift now a curse, it felt strange - still I felt, despite
everything, that I was blessed with the experience of living, but I
reasoned that this was a delusion brought about by the taint that had
marked me, from the day of my birth, as a deviant. For the first time
since Serena had gone, I cried, my shoulders shaking as I knelt on the
cold stone floor.
There was a sound behind me, but I was beyond caring. It was
only when a hand rested on my shoulder that I registered the presence of
anyone else. I looked up to see the strange, wrinkled face of Toldra,
the Primaris psyker who had examined me. He raised his finger to his
lips.
"Shhh," he said, "no tears now. This fate is not yours. Come
with me." He helped me to my feet with gentle, but surprisingly strong
hands, and led me towards the small door to one side, at the back of the
chapel.
"Wait," I hissed, "I can't leave. My sentence, I have to..."
he again raised a finger to his lips, for silence on my part.
"Sentence passed by a court. Not by Him. If you are His
servant, follow." I honestly can't recall what I said, but it must have
been something about the Sisters standing vigil outside the chapel, for
he answered: "They will remember nothing. Minds clouded, see nothing
for long enough." We hurried through the door, past the two Sisters
who, it seemed, were completely oblivious to us. Once we were lost in
the darkness of the grounds the psyker spoke again.
"Listen, quickly," he said, "not much time. Ilen a friend, she
know I'd help. You have great work to do, Emperor's work. Not time to
die for you, time to live. You go to the eastern gate, guards are away
from there now. Take what you find there, then go. Far away as you
can. I can cloud minds, but not for so long. Don't get caught. Go out
there," he said, waving a hand vaguely towards the stars that glittered
in the pre-dawn sky, "there's a life there for you. His blessings be
with you."
"Wait," I whispered as he turned to leave me, "what's
happening? What's this Emperor's work I'm supposed to do? How will I know?"
"Your life is Emperor's work," he said. He said another word,
which I didn't recognise, then he was gone, picking his way between the
darkened trees back towards the chapel. I stumbled down the hill
towards the east gate, which had been the way I had entered the
grounds.
The guards were indeed gone, and there was a long box resting on the
ground. It opened at my touch to reveal my armour, its usual red
covered by an inconspicuous grey. Uncomprehending, I put it on - it had
been fully primed, and only took a few minutes to be made ready. There
was a wide cloak beneath it, which I wore over the top of the armour and
backpack - that I was armoured was still obvious, but the style of
armour was not, and I imagine I appeared not so different from a trader
or explorer. Lastly, tucked into a small pouch in the bottom of the
box, there was a tiny silver necklace ending in a closed locket. I
opened it, and in the dim light from the double moons I saw the faces of
my brothers and parents, reproductions of the photos that I had had to
leave behind on the Saint Valkyrie.
I closed the box, and pushed it out of the path, then looked
further down the hill to where the city lay. At its centre, several
miles from where I stood, Haldron spaceport gleamed in the night,
shuttles and transports lit by floodlights. As I watched another
landed, the noise of its engines only a whisper from so far away. I
whispered a prayer as I jogged down towards the low buildings at the
edge of the hill, hoping that the Emperor would watch me still. Among
all the sudden uncertainty and unfamiliarity, I somehow had the feeling
that I had made the right choice. I wondered, as I slowed and walked
between the buildings, pulling the cloak's hood well over my face, what
the meaning was of the strange word Toldra had said. He had spoken it
like a name, as if it referred to me: 'Sensei.'
@->--
The End.
For the moment.
--
TRANSLATOR: Chris Cook
TRANSMITTED: Alliance Heavy Cruiser Artemis
CROSSFILE: http://www.netspace.net.au/~alia/
AUTHOR: Sister Antonia
THOUGHT: To every life a light that shines.
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