Flowers in the Black - Part III
27 Jun 2018Jellicoe
Obsidian Orbital, MaiaThe Pleiades had changed since he had last been here, gone was the sense of vague apprehension that had been so palpable only a few months before, in its place was a black cloak of fear and despair. The bulletin boards were packed with anyone who had the credits offering huge sums for passage back to the bubble while by the docks the poor and the desperate offered to work their passage or pay in other, more dubious ways. The military personnel spending their down time at Obsidian were also very different, gone was the swagger and raucous confidence of men and women ready to take on whatever fate put in front of them, now they bore the haggard, hollow eyed look of people who knew they could be dead within hours and there was not a thing they could do to fight it.
Away from the docks in the stations commercial and recreational areas the mood was similarly sullen and fearful, streets and shops grubby and awash with discarded refuse the only people doing a roaring trade seemingly the bars and the bevy of street preachers who had sprung up, filling the air with their fire and brimstone oratory. Some said the Thargoids were a scourge sent by God to punish mankind for its own wickedness, others that the Thargoids were themselves demons who's coming foreshadowed the Devil himself bringing fire and slaughter to the worlds of men, while yet more claimed that the Thargoids were actually angels, preparing the way for the true God, all appeared to agree that the end was nigh and that there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
"You cannot fight these creatures of the pit!" screamed one particularly fervent young man to an impressively sized crowd. "You cannot save your bodies but your souls will soon meet your God, how will you greet your maker? Reeking of sin and depravity or will you repent while there is still time? This physical world will soon pass away, only the eternal soul will remain." It was an impressive performance, the mans eyes burning with a manic intensity combining with his long, ragged hair and spittle flecked beard to give him the look of an ancient prophet, while his deep, timorous voice quivered with emotion.
"You sir," the preacher called to Jellicoe as he stood with Vik and Kira watching the scene with growing unease, "will you repent? Will you give up the mortal pleasures and possessions while there is still time and embrace the path of salvation?"
The crowd turned, fervour in their eyes, rhythmically chanting "Repent, repent, repent."
"Now listen to me," Jellicoe said loudly and clearly, in the commanding tone of the officer he had once been, "this battle has barely begun. Yes we have been hit hard but we will prevail. We have beaten them before, we will beat them again."
"Demon!" The preacher howled, pointing a long, bony finger at the pilot. "Witness my people, it is this man and those like him with their pride, their greed, their arrogance who have brought this doom down upon us all, yet still he pridefully places his faith in his own strength and rejects the way of God!"
The crown began to advance on the trio of spacers. "Demon! Demon! Demon!" they chanted, Jellicoe looked at Vik who nodded and drew his gun.
"Get back or I shoot." The spaceman called, but the crowd, in an almost hypnotic state of rapturous frenzy continued to advance, "call them off," Jellicoe said directly to the preacher, pointing his pistol straight at the mans head, "or you'll be meeting God a lot sooner than you planned."
The preachers face changed, no fear showed on it but the fervour and fanaticism in his eyes was momentarily replaced by calculating self interest.
"My people!" Called the preacher. "Do not allow these wicked men to stain this place with your holy blood, we will pay that God will open these peoples hearts in his own way before it is too late."
"Haven't I warned you about threatening people before Arian? Next time you'll be in the cells." Said a bulky looking man in the uniform of station security at the head of a section of others, all with stun batons in their hands and pistols holstered on their hips. "You three come with me." He said to Jellicoe, Vik and Kira.
"You might want to stay away from the public areas in future," the policeman explained gruffly, "as you can see it's a bit volatile." The walked quickly, their pace set by the men in black, Obsidian Orbital was barely recognisable, some shops were boarded up while others had windows smashed or other clear signs of forced entry. The street preachers were not the only new addition, gangs of ragged, desperate looking men, women and even children eyed the police patrol with undisguised hostility.
"Why didn't you arrest that man?" Jellicoe asked when they were out of the commercial district. They had passed into one of the hab rings great public parks, a wide green space of rolling lawns, meandering streams and carefully managed though natural looking woodland, simulated natural light always looking slightly odd against the inky black backdrop of space.
"Because there's no room in the cells," the station cop answered with a snort, "it's not just those fanatics we have to worry about, the Thargoids have hit a couple of the big supply ships, prices have gone through the roof, people are having to steal just to eat, and there's not enough to steal. The hotels are over that way, you won't have to pay much for a room anyone who can afford to has gone and if you've any sense you'll follow, rumour is Aegis have helped themselves to what supplies have got through so you might be better off trying one of their stations, though if you want my advice you'll go straight back to the core."
That night the best suite in the best hotel on Obsidian Orbital cost little more than a room in an average guest house back in the core, a meal on the other hand cost more than an Imperial banquet, though the fact that one could be provided at all proved that with the right contacts, and for the right price, anything was possible.
"So what now?" Kira asked over coffee.
"I want to have a look at some of the ships they've knocked out, after that I'm not sure. I've got Claude digging to see what he can turn up on Aegis, I.P.S.A.L. and Janus but he's had no luck so far."
"There's no strategy to it," Vik said thoughtfully, "they've wiped out a lot of our military forces out here and then just stopped. No follow up attacks, no strikes on our bases, no attempt to occupy our stations, why?"
"Why indeed?" Jellicoe replied quietly, "The answers are out there, and tomorrow we start looking for them."