Endeavour: Episode Two

{{Written by Alina}}

Alejandra put a dash of salt on the eggs she was cooking and scooped them onto three plates. She carried them over to a small table where Gaius and Cornelius were pouring over a map of Osiris.

“And you’re certain the camp is in Shabaka?” said Gaius, doubt dripping from every syllable.

“Very,” said Cornelius. “I saw the place with my own eyes.”

“But it’s on the other side of the planet, how could you have come here so quickly without a ship?”

“Thank you Alejandra.”

“This Shabaka, it is the city of the Shabaka stone, yes? A legend of great importance to this planet?” said Alejandra.

“I’m afraid the legends are true,” said Cornelius. “I’ve held the stone in my own hands.”

“This legend, I have heard, it will kill the man who holds it, yet I am seeing you in front of me!”

Cornelius chuckled.

“It’s not for want of trying. But the stone has been destroyed and the dead have returned to their rest. It’s rather a long story how I became involved, so I’ll leave it for another day. What I’m interested in now, is why the Anubians are still here even without their Instigation and the stone on which they used it. They patrol the streets as though they own the place, and therefore still have some interest in being here.”

“I certainly hope that that reason isn’t you, sir,” said Gaius, “if I found that to be the case I’d just as soon slit your throat as be caught harboring an enemy of the Anubians.”

“Thank you, that’s good to know,” said Cornelius, “but I don’t think I merit that kind of attention. No, I think what we’re looking for can only be found by doing a bit of investigating at the source. Alejandra, could you get us a ship? A small ground-hopper should suffice.”

“Yes, I think I am doing this with great ease.”

“Excellent. Can I count on your presence, Gaius?”

“It’s against my better judgment, but you’ll need someone who can use a gun. Or several.”

“Good man. Now finish your breakfast and let’s be off.”

Cornelius took them to an industrial shipyard on the edge of town. Patrols, both Anubian and gang-based, surrounded and dissected the grounds like veins in marble, impurities among the fearful multitudes.

“That is the one we want,” said Alejandra, pointing to a small ground-hopper resting several hundred yards away.

“And why, pray tell, would you choose that one when there’s an identical ship not half the distance away, and guarded by not half the patrolmen?” Gaius muttered.

“Because all the guards for the far ship, they are not thinking about us, but about that woman near to them. When we are going by, it is like they cannot see us.”

“If memory serves, isn’t this the very situation in which your entire crew was killed?” said Gaius.

Cornelius shot him a look, to which he did not respond.

“I am going now to get the ship,” said Alejandra. She darted off into the yard when the patrol nearest them passed by. Crouching inside the landing gear of ships, she cut a zig-zag path through the chaos towards her target. Cornelius followed the path and reluctantly Gaius went behind.

“It must be very pressing, this business at the Anubian camp,” said Gaius, “I have no other explanation for this creeping and sneaking. I favor a more direct approach, and you should know that if my patience wears thin with this method, I’ll resort to my own.”

“Very well, Gaius, that is your prerogative. But it is very important that you come with me today.”
“And why is that?”

“Because before you can leave a planet, you have to see the other side of it. You have to know that it’s round, and self-contained. See that point A and point B are really the same place, then leave the place for another.”

“I do hope you’re being philosophical and not serious, sir. This is hardly a matter to be made light of.”

“Isn’t it? You might die, you know.”

“You’re doing very little for my confidence, Mr. Zydeco.”

They reconnected with Alejandra at the hull of the ground-hopper. Directly in front of them, the guards were indeed distracted by an irritated woman.

“It’s Sunday mornin’, brotha’s. Ain’t you got a church to go to or nothin’?”

“There’s no church for an Anubian,” said the guard, “we have only our duty. Kindly be on your way or we’ll ask you to report your religious image to the Bureau.”

“Oh, now you got a problem with me. You saying that just because I’m a woman of the Lord, I got some kind of problem, and it’s your job to put me down. Well, but nothin’, gentlemen. I got better places to be and better things to do. I’ll let you think about that fo’ awhile, cause they’s somebody watchin’ what you do right now, and He don’t need no kind of bureau to report to. Y’all step aside now, brotha’s.”

“I want her on my crew,” Cornelius whispered. Gaius looked disgusted at the idea.

The Anubian patrol blocked the woman’s way, and one of them reached for the cross around her neck. He snapped the gold chain that held it in place.

“Aw, no! See now it ain’t just about me, right, it’s about the Lord above. Ain’t nobody does that to my man and gets away with it. Sorry, brotha’s, but Lord knows I gave you a choice.”

In the blink of an eye, the woman shot three of the patrolmen in the chest with a laser pistol that came out of nowhere. She pointed it at the remaining two.

“Y’all keep ya hands where I can see ‘em. I’ll take them guns of yours, not doin’ you any good no mo’.”
The Anubians held their hands in the air while the woman removed their rifles from their holsters.

“I hope you boys learned yo’ selves a lesson today. They’s nowhere you got any business bein’ on this holy day except on your knees in the Lord’s house.”

From up in a building behind the shipyard, another patrolman took aim at the woman’s unprotected back. Instantly, he fell over backwards as a laser hit him squarely through the forehead. Cornelius turned around in surprise to see Gaius holding the smoking gun.

“I despise that kind of behavior,” he said by way of explanation.

The shots attracted the attention of more Anubian patrols, and they began to make their way towards them.

“Gaius, Alejandra, get the ship started.” They took the keys to the ship from the disarmed Anubians and went inside. Cornelius ran to the woman, grabbed her by the arm, and began to pull her towards the door.
“Get yo’ hands off me, boy; they’s plenty of lasers in this gun for you too.”

“I’m very sorry, ma’am, there’s no time to explain. You’ve got to get into this ship now or the Anubians will kill us both.”

“I’m a trust you, son, but they’s one thing I gotta do first.”

She opened the hand of one of the dead Anubians, retrieved her cross, and said the Lord’s prayer.
“Alright, now let’s go. I ain’t gonna meet the Man today.”

They boarded the ship and shut the door behind them just as a volley of laser blasts began. Gaius sat at the controls, where he had the engine running and the jets primed.

“There you are,” he said, and rocketed them into the sky. It didn’t take long for them to leave their attachments behind. Cornelius exhaled loudly and sat down by the console. Alejandra and the woman followed suit.

“Mercy me, wasn’t that a scuffle. You folks got some reason for takin’ a lady on this here stolen ship?”

“You were in danger, now you’re not,” said Cornelius. “We’ll be glad to let you off in another city.”

“Strangest pirates I ever saw, you folks. The Lord’s gonna thank you fo’ what you done. You just gotta give up your hateful ways and learn to love.”

“In case you weren’t keeping an account,” said Gaius, “you’re the one who just dispatched no less than three of your fellow men. I’ve had rather enough preaching for one Sunday, and more than enough from you.”

“Let’s hear her out, Gaius,” said Cornelius, “who are you, to begin with?”

“My name is Sister Aretha Pastor, but you folks can call me Sista’ Pastor.”

“You are, then, how you say, living in a convent?” said Alejandra.

“Well uh, no not at the moment. I was in a convent back on Isis, but I’m here for uh, a mission.”
“What the devil could you achieve from a mission to Osiris?” said Gaius.

“Alright, boy. I was thrown out of the convent. I hope you happy now.”

“I’m intrigued, if nothing else. And as my captive audience, I mandate an explanation.”

“If you folks really need to know, it’s because I was speaking out in His name. I spoke for all those slaves that was too quiet for folks to listen to them. I said that they had needs that were not being met, and I said that they had souls that needed savin’ and bellies that needed fillin’ and hearts that needed a little something warm. And when I said this, people heard, but they didn’t want to listen no mo’ when they heard me say that they world would have to change. But I kept on talkin’, and now I guess I ain’t very welcome there no more. I left Isis behind, came here. It’s a place where the devil runs around in the daylight, but there’s a few souls here that the Lord can smile on, and that’s how I make my way.”

“I see,” said Gaius. “However, I entirely fail to relate to your religious zeal.”

“Osiris and Anubis aren’t the only planets in this system where justice is out of balance,” said Cornelius.
“Justice?” said Gaius as through Cornelius had just said ‘unicorns’. “That is a construct I’m not willing to accept any more than I do religion. It’s nothing more than a euphemism for vengeance on a societal scale. Now with all due respect let’s have done with Sister Pastor so we can get on with the mission.”
“You folks ain’t no regular pirates, are you?” said Sister Pastor.

“No, no we’re not,” said Cornelius. He explained the situation.

“So you and yo’ captain, you fight the Anubians and the Osiran gangs, and you just turn a blind eye on all them Isisian slaves?”

“It’s complicated,” said Cornelius. “We needed to ally our forces with one of the major powers in the system or else we couldn’t have survived. The Captain and Stella were hesitant, but unlike Mr. Winthrop here, one man on the Dragon truly believes in justice. Now one of their royalty is among our numbers. She’s fought alongside us in every battle, and never given us reason for us to doubt her. She would never support the slave trade, I’m sure she understands its brutality.”

“Uh huh. Well look you here, boy. If you want me on your crew, you gotta give me your word that you gonna do somethin’ for them slaves. They hurtin’ just as bad as anyone else.”

Cornelius stuck out his hand, and Sister Pastor shook it.

“It’s a deal.”