Decision

: EXTRAS

Monday, 16 March 2572



Shannon had sent Blackfeather home to get ready for her trip, and was

distracting himself from her loss by studying. He hadn't wasted his

time in Odeon's mind; besides teaching the priest how to remove the

compulsions he'd put Sara under--and, more pleasantly, just how much

agony a human could be subjected to with the proper support--he had

extracted considerable information. br />


Most of it was useless, though some was mildly interesting; it was

Cortin's fears that intrigued him. She was primarily afraid of the

confrontation--decision point, actually, which concerned him as well,

though for different reasons--but there was fear for her people, for

the Church, and of what he would do about the Families.



Shayan sighed, feeling all too human in his frustration. He had

enjoyed Odeon's pain, no question about that, but the tempering did

mean the confrontation both he and Cortin dreaded was less than half a

year away.



Which meant he had his own choice to make, right now. Just how badly

did he want to live?



There was no guarantee he would, of course, even if Odeon made the

correct choice; there was no guarantee any life at all in this universe

would survive the invasion that was to come. It had been easy enough,

four centuries ago, to promise cooperation--but he'd had private

reservations, cooperating on the surface while continuing to pursue his

own goals and pleasures.



Now, though, with the decision point so close and the invasion to

follow shortly afterward, that no longer seemed adequate. To improve

his odds, he'd have to go further. As much as the idea galled him,

he'd have to put aside his own agenda until things returned to normal

after the invasion--if they did--and cooperate to the best of his

ability.



That would be tremendously difficult. Even his grudged cooperation

hadn't been easy . . . He took a deep breath, sighed again. Life was

more important than the pride that had been his downfall; he'd do what

was necessary to preserve that life now, and worry about pride later.

If Odeon made the correct decision and the invasion resulted in war

rather than simple massacre, faith and worship would be far more

important weapons than ships and disruptors; he'd have to begin

actively promoting both, even though he didn't share either.



He took time to grimace at that repulsive thought, then he settled down

to work with the information he'd gotten from Odeon. What should

his--and the Church's--official position be? Positions, rather, with

this Communion of Promise Cortin had instituted at Odeon's urging.

That, unlike the Sealing he couldn't officially know about, was both

public and taking place in church, though not--quite--as part of the

Mass.



He would be expected to condemn both that and the Families, as Cortin

anticipated--but should he? It was a delicate question, since his

first priority had to be doing what little more he could to prepare

Odeon for his critical choice, working through and around Cortin while

awaiting the Protector-to-be's arrival. Then came the propagation of

faith and worship.



He smiled slowly. He might be able to derive some amusement, if not

pleasure, from this full cooperation after all, if he did it properly.

He'd never been accused of moderation, for excellent reason, and saw no

reason to change that particular aspect of himself.



Back Cortin and her team--now become a Family--to the hilt, then. That

would serve both his modified purposes, with the side benefit of

confusing the Sealed ones, who knew his identity, no end. Since the

only thing he could know about by normal means right now was the

Communion of Promise, and he wanted to make the greatest impact he

could on the Sealed ones, he'd simply announce he was studying the

prophecies and would issue a decision later; conditionally, he'd allow

them to continue.



As for the Families and Strike Force, he could undoubtedly trust Sara

to publicize them as soon as she was permitted to, probably after the

convent raid. That would be good timing, since the raid's aftermath

would provide Odeon and, incidentally, Cortin, the last of his

pre-decision lessons. He'd contact them after Sara's stories were

published, invite the Protector's Herald and acting Protector to

concelebrate Mass--though since he was now helping her, perhaps he

shouldn't mention the Protector role. Nor would he have to be

concerned about her powers any longer, since her truthsense would

assure her he was no longer--for now, at any rate--a threat.



And what about the Brotherhood? It had served him well, his doubles

and Victor in particular, increasing the population of his realm quite

nicely. That, however, was no longer his objective--worked against the

faith-and-worship weapon system, in fact. He'd have to order it

disbanded, urge the members to repent their sins and return to the

Church and sacraments. They'd still have to pay the worldly penalty

for their crimes, but as long as they ended up in Purgatory rather than

Hell, they could still contribute. Again, not until after the convent

raid, and he'd have to work through one of his doubles.



Unfortunately, he'd also have to change his plans for the Imperials

once that crucial contact was made. It would have been pleasant to

torment them, make them special targets--but that would be

counterproductive.



Ah, well, life over pride, he reminded himself. And he'd wasted enough

time; he had an audience to conduct, then he should see what he could

do about special devotions that large numbers of people would find

attractive.





Return to main storyline: 21. Anguish