* * *
Red emergency lights flashed along the corridors as blatting sirens called the crew of the Sophia to general quarters. “This is not a drill! This is not a drill! We are under attack! We are under attack!” a voice on the overhead called out.
By the time Sirion reached her fighter, many of the Moon Chasers were already being moved to the flight deck. She hobbled around her ship doing a quick visual check. As she came out from under it near the nose the chief mechanic approached, shaking her head. “Super-structure’s bad, Major Patch. That hit you took weakened the hull. It’s not really safe to take up.”
Sirion’s face flushed red in anger. “You or nobody else is going to keep me outta this! Do ya’ hear me?!” She reached for the lanner at her side.
The mechanic threw her hands up, backing off. “Hey! If you want ta kill yourself, go ahead!” She spewed. “Damn fool! Just tryin’ to help save your ass!” She turned and hurried away.
When Sirion was sure the mechanic was done interfering, she made her way to the fighter’s starboard ladder. Before she could take her first step, another person called out to her. “Major, stand down!”
Sirion spun around, her hand again falling to her lanner. She was met by another drawn lanner pointed directly at her face. Terey stepped forward. “You’re not on the roster today, Major. You’ve been pulled for medical reasons.
Sirion fumed, letting go with vile curses and oaths, finally spouting, “You have no right to deny me this glory! I have a duty! I’m supposed to lead this battle group! Colonel Saleuo assigned it to me!”
“You’ve been set up, Major.” Terey calmly retorted. “The good colonel made you group leader for the very reason you see here. I’m commandeering your ship. Now stand down or I’ll put you down!”
Tears began streaming down Sirion’s face. “Damn you! Damn you and everyone with you! You have no right! You hear me?! You have no right!”
Terey stepped forward and removed Sirion’s lanner from its holster, tucking it into her flight suit. “You’ve been out-voted, Major. Besides, it’s not your day to die.” Terey climbed the ladder, retracting it as soon as she was clear.
Sirion was beside herself in anguish and anger. “Damn you! Damn you!” She paused, then shouted, “The hull’s bad, you know! It’ll kill you!”
Terey looked down at the woman-child, someone she loved like a daughter. “The better for it...” She offhandedly replied.
As she buckled up, Terey again called down to Sirion. This time it was softer and had a ring of finality to it. “My 17 sits in the hangar and the admiral has my flight computer. You’re a big girl now. Take good care of it.”
With a sudden rush of air, the canopy began to close. Just before strapping on her headgear, Terey called down once more. “Good bye, SirionSandevar. May you fly on the wings of Cherubs.”
The 14’s engines fired up, whining turbines drowning out all other sounds. Ever so slowly, Terey inched the fighter forward onto the carriage ramp. An automatic tow-hook caught hold of the front wheel of the ship and pulled it toward the flight deck.
When Terey’s parting words sank in, Sirion burst into tears. “No! No!” she wailed, her cries of despair whisked away with the noise of the engines. “Must stop her!” Sirion had to act quickly, but how?
She hurried for the con as fast as her injury permitted. In her haste, Sirion nearly collided with Mihai as she rounded a corner. Mihai said nothing, her face crimson with anger. She took Sirion firmly by the shoulders, setting her aside.
Sirion tried to explain what was happening with Terey. Mihai wouldn’t listen, being filled with a fury of her own. Finally, Mihai hushed the girl. “I have business with the admiral. If you want to tag along, I’ll listen to your gripe when I’m done.” The two hustled away.
Anna and Paul were following close behind. Paul suddenly stopped, grabbing Anna’s arm. “We’ll wait here.” he called out to Mihai.
As she tugged against him, Anna eyed Paul angrily. “Let me go!”
Paul yanked Anna around, his cold stare sending a shiver down Anna’s spine. In a low voice, he snarled as he squeezed her arm, glowering, “You and I are staying here!”
Anna said nothing. Some unknown power blazed deep within this man. How could she have missed it? But there it was, in all its brutish strength. She’d better not rile him, not until she understood more about what was happening.
Mihai pushed her way past two guards and up the ladder to the captain’s bridge, Sirion attempting to keep up. She spotted Gabrielle standing near the navigation officer, closely examining the radar screen. Without waiting to be recognized, she stormed up to the admiral. “What gives you the right to deny me the use of my ship?!”
Gabrielle slowly turned around, tired eyes peering out of a pallid face. She calmly replied, “My Lord, we will soon be under attack. May I suggest you…”
“You may suggest nothing! I asked you a question, Admiral! Now speak up and give me an answer!”
Everyone on the captain’s bridge could not help but hear Mihai. They were stunned like rabbits cornered by a fox, frozen into concerned inactivity.
Gabrielle remained calm, responding, “My Lord, now is not the time. I will take this matter up with you…”
“You will not usurp my power and then put me off!” Mihai vehemently retorted, “Now release my ship! Or must I have you arrested for insubordination?!”
Gabrielle’s face flushed red, but she kept her demeanor. “My Lord, this is not the place to discuss this.” She walked past Mihai toward the back of the bridge.
Mihai stomped after her. Getting close, she grabbed Gabrielle’s shoulder and whirled her around, almost knocking her off her feet. “We’ll discuss it now! What gives you the right to play dandy over the king?!”
An angry fire flashed in Gabrielle’s eyes. Glancing around to see if others were close, she whispered defiantly, “The stewardship of Shiloh - Yehowahboam!” With that the admiral raised her right hand, sticking it in Mihai’s face.
A strange burning glow caught Mihai’s eye. When, finally, she recognized it to be the king’s ring, she let out a gasp.
Gabrielle gave Mihai no chance to recover, hissing, “You have no authority over me, for I am steward of the king! I protect his throne until he arrives to receive it. Already you have taken the life of your sister, for she travels to her doom because of the shame you and I have cast upon her. Now be silent, fool, before I silence you!”
Sirion, overhearing Gabrielle, darted forward. “No, my Lord! You must call Terey back! Make her stop this madness!”
Gabrielle refused. “How does one return the smoke to the fire when the wind has carried it away? Should I force her return, she would only perish from a broken heart. The die has been cast and she found no defenders. It is better this way. May it heap shame on the heads of all who betrayed her trust.” She eyed Mihai.
Mihai had only half heard what Gabrielle said, she being so dumbfounded overseeing the ring. When the admiral’s words finally sank in, she could do little more than lower her head in remorse.
Sirion didn’t quit, though, begging, “Please stop her! My Lord, you are the only one with the power to stop her.”
Gabrielle frowned in sadness. “No child, I am the one who has sent her to her death. I am most culpable, for I knew beyond doubt she is fully innocent. Her kind cannot be led astray. Yet I surrendered to the cries of complaint, seeking to pacify those taking issue with her. No. Of all people, I stand in contempt. I have betrayed my own kind.”
Sirion couldn’t understand what Gabrielle was all about, again protesting. Gabrielle reached out and pulled her in, holding the girl tight. “My little one, you are so young but so old. You do not know who you yet are or what your destiny will be. Be patient, for the secrets of the ages wait near your door. Terey’s Cherub has not abandoned her as I did. It guides her even now as I speak.??
?
Sirion peered up at Gabrielle through tear-filled eyes. “Who am I? For I ache with cold like the roots of ancient mountains, and I burn with uncertainty as hot as the sun. Should I die tomorrow, it would not be too soon, and should I live forever, it will not be long enough. What is wrong with me?”
Gabrielle turned her attention to Mihai, reaching out and placing a hand on the woman’s forearm, then calling to a still very confused officer, “Please take our lord to her cabin. Stay with her and attend her needs. The day has been harsh on her discipline and her soul needs to find relief from such tumult.”
The officer approached, asking hesitantly, “My Lord, may I assist you?”
Mihai appeared as if in a fog. She finally nodded, taking the man’s hand, he leading her down the ladder and from the bridge.
With her arm still cradling Sirion, Gabrielle turned her attention back to the girl. “Time is not a friend this day, my child. Stay with me and help me fight our enemy here, from this bridge.”
She studied Sirion’s face. Sure enough, this child was a Seraphim, although she knew not how. Gabrielle understood that the children from the Realms Below could become such by blood, but Sirion was not a child from the Lower Realms, nor was she an Ancient from the First Age. There was no doubt in her mind, though. The girl had been chosen by the Cherubs to be of the Holy Order.
Gabrielle smiled. “My child, there are many things I must tell you, but it cannot be at this moment. Let this do for now: You and Terey hold to a common trust. She and her kind now stand in the shadows, for the torch has passed. Your journey is just beginning. Where it will take you is beyond my vision. Your kind shall stand next to Shiloh and will redeem us for our foolishness during ages past. If it’s important to you, you give me hope - hope of a new dawning.”
Sirion understood nothing of what Gabrielle said, but she felt a flutter in her heart that both chilled and refreshed her. It was as if she had arrived home after a long journey. Something changed inside her that day at the Prisoner Exchange. Eutychus sang a healing song in her ears and it renewed her broken body. But as she had walked away from Legion, someone else began singing a song in her heart.
She smiled to herself with sudden understanding. On that day, which now seemed so long ago, a piece of her soul parted company and had been traveling in a world beyond the universe. It was now returned, bubbling over with tales to tell of strange adventures and secrets learned. Looking at Gabrielle with growing discernment, Sirion knew the witching woman was to teach her what those things meant.
Sirion hugged Gabrielle. “Thank you for letting me remain here with you.”
Gabrielle took Sirion’s hand and began issuing orders, preparing the Sophia for the coming assault.