The Faithful

By Lawrence Letham

Copyright © 2002 by Lawrence Letham.
All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from Lawrence Letham.

 

 

Katri quietly slipped out of bed, so as not to disturb anyone. She crawled through the connecting tube to the communication console, sealed the hatch behind her and settled into her nightly routine. She reached into a hidden compartment and took out her decryption block. She hooked it into the console.

“Come in, Chameleon,” a voice came out over the console.

They had learned a long time ago not to send holographic images over the network because they took too long to encrypt and were more easily detectable.

“Chameleon, here,” Katri responded. “Hi, Marathon.”

“We’re almost there, Chameleon. I was able to break into a second level computer. I have some access codes that may get us into the top tier,” Marathon said.

“Good!” Katri said. “We have to get control or we’ll never get out of these things.”

Katri had lived in a bio-shelter on and off for the last twenty years. It was not until recently that she, like everybody else in the world, was completely confined inside for protection from the florescent orange and green clouds that swirled over the dead landscape. The only life left on the planet was in the bio-shelters.

“Hallelujah, Sister! I’d stay on the line and rant, but I’ve been up 24 hours straight. I need to crash,” Marathon said. “You should have the codes by now. I also sent a paper I found. I think it’s more information that they’ve hidden on how to fix things.”

“Thanks, Marathon,” Katri said. “I’ll update Scampy when I’m done.”

“Roger.” Marathon’s voice disappeared.

 

Katri ported the access codes into her sequencer. Each code would be tried against all identified computer portals to see if any would open. She settled down to watch the sequencer and read the paper Marathon had found. She marveled at how much progress her cell of the resistance had made over the last month. She knew it was because of Marathon and Scampy. They were the best hacks she had ever known. They could break into any computer regardless of the security if given enough time. Katri knew that her Ph.D. in ecology chemistry also helped, but if she could not get into the computers, there would be no papers to analyze. Katri perused the paper and felt herself getting angry.

“Come in, Chameleon,” the console sounded.

“I’m here, Scampy,” Katri answered. “Aren’t you a little early?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Scampy said.

“I just got started. Marathon found some codes that I’m sequencing. He thinks they may be the magic ones,” Katri said.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? Did you get the new ID scans I sent you?”

“I did. Thanks,” Katri answered. She always accessed the net through a stolen ID and through at least four unrelated computers. They could not risk getting caught. Even though the last execution happened over fifteen years ago, the government was still treacherous.

“Marathon also found a paper on counter bacteria. So far nothing is new, but it does mention the two different methods that showed promised then had their funding cut,” Katri said.

“Scum!” Scampy said with hatred in his voice. “They trash the planet then refuse to clean it up.”

Katri knew exactly how he felt. She hated the government as much as anyone else in the resistance, but her hatred was mixed with personal pain. After all, it was her father that launched the bio device that essentially destroyed the planet. As the world’s preeminent eco-chemist, he and his team developed the organisms that were supposed to eat the pollutants and nuclear waste. He was hailed as a scientific genius when the first open-air tests transformed Beninii Island from a sludge heap into a paradise in three short years, but then everything went wrong. The genetically engineered microorganisms mutated and instead of transforming the toxins into rich humus, they generated toxins a million times worse. The effects of the mutation were isolated at first, but when the island collapsed, the organisms slowly spread through the water. It was then that the government started building bio-shelters and now they could not leave them for fear of being poisoned by the atmosphere.

“I hate them too,” Katri said. “I’m sequencing some codes now that may get us access to their main computers.”

“What a day that will be. Then we’ll force the government to clean up. They know how,” said Scampy.

“Yeah, they do,” Katri said.

 

Katri had not always been a member of the resistance. How could she? She had worked as a graduate student on the bio device team. She clearly remembered the excitement when the device was taken from the lab for release. Her father insisted that she fly to the island with him and the other scientists. After finishing her graduate studies, she spent three years doing research on the island and even got married there, before it collapsed and they had to evacuate. Coming home was hard. She had been so buried in her research on the island and so deeply in love with Matt that she was out of touch with the outside world. When she accessed the news, she was shocked. How could they accuse her father of recklessly releasing untested organisms into the atmosphere? She was there. Exhaustive testing would have taken a lifetime. Every reasonable test was done. She stood by her father, in her own right as a noted eco-chemist, and defended him, but the attacks continued.

 

Reports leaked to the press described tests that were never done on the bio device before it was released.

How could I have missed that? Katri wondered.

More information leaked about researchers told not to pursue additional avenues of research. Katri remembered hearing rumors from other labs.

“Dad,” Katri called her father one day on the phone.

“Hi, Sweetie,” he said cheerfully. “What do you need?”

“Want to go to lunch today?” Katri asked.

“I’m sorry. I have an appointment today. In fact, I’m booked for the rest of the week.”

“Oh. Well, maybe you could just answer a few questions.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Was a final project review ever done on the bio device before it was released?” Katri asked.

There was an awkward pause before he answered.

“Yes. A final review was done?”

“Were all potential avenues explored?”

“All major avenues were explored,” he answered as though he were reading a statement to the press.

“But, what about the reactants tests? I specifically remember…”

“Katri,” her father interrupted. “You’re not on that project anymore. I can’t discuss it with you.”

There was a click on the line.

“Father?” Katri said wondering if he had hung up on her.

“Katri, I’m sorry, I need to go,” her father said and hung up.

The line went dead. It was not long before Katri was assigned to another lab to a project that everyone knew was a dead-end. When she asked her father why she was reassigned, he did not want to talk about work. He was nice to her, as usual, as any father would be to a daughter, but professionally she felt snubbed. Katri remembered the day she quit the government labs. It seemed so sad and yet so necessary.

 

Katri was welcomed with open arms to a private foundation doing research on how to stop the spreading contamination. She led the team that recreated a promising formula that had leaked out of her father’s lab. The entire team gathered around the sealed chamber that contained both the bio device organisms and the counter bacteria they had created. Katri slipped her arms into the protective gloves that extended into the sealed chamber. She lifted the vial of counter bacteria and poured it over the bio device organisms.

“Look, they’re mixing,” an assistant, noted.

Within minutes, they bubbled every so slightly. Katri looked at the chamber thermometer.

“The temperature in the chamber has risen five degrees,” Katri said.

A minute later the mixture was completely black.

“It worked,” someone shouted.

Clapping and cheering broke out in the lab. Katri was happy that they had been successful, but she was angry that the government would hide such a finding.

“Let’s keep this quiet for now. We need to do some more experiments to verify our work,” Katri told everyone in the lab

.

The next morning, the news announced the foundation’s break through.

“I’m going to fire whoever leaked this to the press,” Katri fumed as she read the article, but she did not have a chance.

“What is going on?” Katri asked when she arrived early at the foundation offices. “What are all the cars? Who are these people?”

She looked into her lab.

“What are you doing?” she shouted. “You can’t take that! Get your hands off my equipment!”

“Ms., please leave,” a policeman said.

“I will not. This is my lab,” Katri said trying to push her way past him.

 “Please, step outside,” the police officer said blocking the way.

Katri pushed harder.

“Get out of my way!” she said through clenched teeth. “Get your hands off my chamber,” she shouted at the men who were loading the chamber onto a dolly.

The police officer pushed back and spoke into his radio. Another officer came.

“If you don’t leave now, you will be arrested,” the other officer said.

Katri could see it was hopeless. She marched out of the building. She knew who was responsible.

 

“Why are you taking my equipment?” she confronted her father.
”Katri,” he tried to hold her, but she twisted away. “Calm down, Katri.”

“What do you mean calm down? Your stupid goons are taking my equipment,” Katri shouted.

“I don’t know what you are taking about,” he answered.

“Yes, you do! A containment unit is in my lab right now taking away my equipment.”

“That’s not my department. I don’t control them.”

“What have you got to hide Father?” Katri asked. “You know the counter bacteria works. I saw it myself! It killed the bio devices organisms. Why are you stopping all productive research? You’re a madman. You want to destroy the world!”

“I can’t talk about that with you. You don’t have a need to know.”

“A need to know?” Katri screamed. “The whole world needs to know. You’re evil.”

“I’m sorry you believe that,” her father said. “Every possible avenue is being investigated. Our only concern is for the welfare of the people.”

“You certainly have the party line down,” Katri said. “What lies will you tell the press to convince them that the counter bacteria doesn’t work?”

“I’ll tell them the truth. It wasn’t dead. You have to believe me, Katri.”

“Wasn’t dead? You’re despicable,” Katri shouted and stormed out of the house. Her mother watched her as she left.

Katri had not spoken to her parents since that day. The feeling of betrayal was too deep. To be lied to by a person you love, by your own father. She felt a deep hurt in her heart. A wound only made worse each time her children asked to see grandma and grandpa and she lied that they were out of town or that the holographic link was down. At least being stuck in the bio-shelter stopped them from asking about visits.

 

The sequencer program beeped.

“I’ve got to go, Scampy,” Katri said. “The sequencer is on to something and I need to pay attention.”

“OK. Contact me when you’re done,” Scampy said and signed off.

The sequencer had gotten into a computer that was inaccessible before.

This is beautiful, Katri thought.

A moment later, three file names appeared on the screen.

Three! Katri rejoiced. Marathon has never gotten a haul like this.

The first and second files looked like codes. She would have to sequence them later, but the third one was everything she had ever wanted.

This is it! I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Katri had to be careful not to wake anyone, but the file on the screen contained not only access codes, but machine names as well. Katri took the sequencer out of the auto-search mode and pasted in one of the access codes and machine names from the file. The wait icon on the sequencer appeared and did not go away.

It seemed too good to be true, Katri lamented.

The sequencer beeped. Katri entered a few commands into the console. The machine she was connected to responded.

I can’t believe it, Katri thought. “I’m in! I’m onto the computer.”

She tried another machine. Again she gained access. She paged through the file looking for machine names she might recognize. Nothing seemed familiar. She would have to try them all to see what they contained. Her eyes scanned the end of the list.

Zambeast, she said to herself. Could that be the machine I used when I work on the bio device?

She quickly logged on. She could not believe it. Her directories were there along with other projects.

Penguin_Project? Katri wondered when she saw the directory name. It was the name of one of the counter bacteria projects that had been cancelled. She scanned the directory. Her father’s username on a file named post_mortem.doc caught her attention. She opened it and read.

 

Vigorous bacterial and enzymatic re-growth five to ten days after counter bacteria applied. I ordered funding cut and personnel moved to project Viking.

            - Devon Amuson

 

 

Katri was confused. She had never heard anything about the counter bacteria not working. She found the Viking directory and scanned the file names. She opened the file that described the chemical composition of the counter bacteria.

This is it, she confirmed to herself. This is the formula that I re-created at the foundation.

She paged down to the files starting with the letter ‘p’. Her father had created the post_mortem.doc file for this project too. She opened it.

 

Revival and exponential re-growth of most noxious strains of bacteria and enzymes 30 to 45 days after counter bacteria applied. I ordered funding cut and personnel moved to project Goth. One employee did not believe report of revival of bacteria. Leaked formula. Secured files and fired the employee. Experiment recreated by private sector. Reported hazard to Containment Department.

            - Devon Amuson

 

 

 

Revival? Katri boggled. It was dead! How could it revive?

She checked the project Goth directory, followed by projects Hun, Summit, Tunnel and more. Ninety-five attempts in all and each had a post mortem written by her father – ‘revival, moved to next project’.

Katri was stunned. His words echoed in her ears, “Every possible avenue is being investigated.”

He told the truth! But why didn’t he tell me? She puzzled ashamed of the way she had treated him.

It will be morning soon, she thought. I’ll call him, no matter how painful it is. I’ll call him.

 

It was only a few hours until sunrise and her hand-off to Scampy.

I’ll try to find out more information until I have to go, she thought.

She scanned the list of machine names for the one the looked the most important.

A government ministry computer, if possible, she hoped. Why were the experiment results suppressed? She wondered.

Kingpin. The machine name leaped off the screen.

Katri entered the machine name and access code into the sequencer and within seconds she was in. She scanned the file names. Nothing obvious. She clicked on the README file. A holographic image began to form on the console desk. It was President Sinuhe of the World Council.

“Scum!” Katri said audibly almost as an involuntary reflex.

The resistance vilified Sinuhe more than any other figure on earth. They blamed him for establishing dangerous policies, setting the direction that let to the failure of the bio device and failing to protect the people from harm. Katri remembered meeting him because of her father’s position.

They’re always so charismatic and nice in public, Katri thought, but their actions tell another story.

Sinuhe’s hologram raised its hand, as if it was going to speak, when it began to fade and was replaced by a hologram of her father.

“Hi, Katri,” her father said. “I programmed the computer to interrupt President Sinuhe if it was you.”

Katri did not even wonder how the program knew that it was she. She was too taken back by how her father looked. It had been some years since she had seen him and he had aged so much.

“I’m sorry for anything I did to hurt you,” her father said. “I never wanted to be separated from you. There were forces out of my control and you changed so much. You became so bitter. I’ll always love you. You’ll always be my Sweetie,” his voice quavered and his image disappeared.

Her mother’s image appeared.

“I’ve missed you, Dear. I love you,” her mother’s eyes glistened.

Katri bit her lip. Her mother began to fade. Katri reached out as if to stop her, but she was gone.

 

Sinuhe’s image reappeared at the point where it left off.

“Activation of this interactive program means you have reached the main World Government computer. One moment please,” Sinuhe said. “The identification subroutine tells me that you are Dr. Katri Amuson-Hergott, capable eco-chemist and daughter of the loyal Dr. Amuson.”

“How could you know who I am?” Katri asked feeling repulsed at sound of his voice. “I have taken extraordinary measures to conceal my identity. You’re guessing.”

“You have been careful Dr. Hergott, but even without your telling reaction, I know who you are. For some time we have been aware of your precautions. Under the current circumstances, they were not sufficient.”

“You’re lying as usual,” Katri said “and anyhow it doesn’t matter. Even if you’ve discovered me, or even my entire cell, the loss of one group won’t stop us. There are hundreds of thousand of cells and millions of members. You won’t stop us,” Katri said.

“We have identified all members of the resistance,” Sinuhe said.

“You’re lying again!” spat Katri.

There is no way they could identify all the members of the resistance, she thought to herself. He is such an egregious liar.

“Your hatred makes me sad, but in an effort to establish the truthfulness of my words, please check the file named incompatible.doc. It contains the names and locations of every member of the resistance. Please look now. I’ll, wait” Sinuhe said.

Katri snorted.

He is so arrogant, she thought. There is no way we’ve been discovered.

Katri opened the file to prove him wrong. It was organized by name, location, code name, cell and reporting structure. She searched the immense file and found the names of the few that she knew.

This is wrong, she thought. Marathon and Scampy were listed as members of several cells. She wondered how complete the list could be in spite of the obvious errors.

“So, you have some names. What do you intend to do?” Katri said.

“It’s not what we intend to do. It’s what we’ve already done,” Sinuhe said.

Katri had not heard of any recent arrests of resistance members. Maybe reaching the main computer would trigger a government reaction. Would there be a knock at her door? Would she be dragged away from her husband and children to be executed? She had considered the possibility before. It was a known risk.

“What have you done?” Katri asked.

“Do you remember the country called Cortavin, it existed about 60 years ago?”

“Yes. The people of Cortavin were oppressed by another country, they rebelled and became a free state, but what has that got to do with anything,” Katri answered.

“Please, have patience,” Sinuhe said.

Katri feared that he was stalling. She started to send a warning to Scampy.

“You might want to wait to hear what I have to say before you contact the members of your cell,” Sinuhe said. “Your father suspected you would be the first to reach the main computer. In fact, I believe that he rigged it, so you would be the first. I know of your parent’s messages. I allowed them to stay because I too thought that you would be the first to see this message. You were always one of the most persistent and promising researchers.”

Katri stopped typing.

“Thank you. When we’ve finished our conversation, you’ll then have to decide how to proceed,” Sinuhe said. “Back to the matter at hand. Your version of the story is almost complete, but let me tell you the rest of it. Long before the liberating war, the Cortavinian leaders taught their people to despise Mandovian authority. They inspired them to not pay taxes, to vandalize Mandovian property, to rape Mandovian women and to steal Mandovian property. There was no limit to what a Cortavinian would do to a Mandovian, including killing them, if they thought they could escape detection.”

“It worked,” Katri, said. “They fought, the Mandovians set them free and the Cortavinians set up their own country.”

“That’s true, but did it really work? Once the Mandovians were no longer the masters, the Cortavinians could not stop hating. Within a decade their country was destroyed, completely, by civil war,” Sinuhe said.

“The Cortavinians were being oppressed. They needed to do something,” Katri said.

“That’s true, but method is important. If a segment of the population enshrines hatred to move their cause forward, even if the cause is noble, when the goal is reached, the hatred doesn’t stop. It turns to new avenues. It is the beginning of a negative, destructive spiral. It has never resulted in good,” Sinuhe said.

“Don’t be so naïve. You can’t win your freedom by asking nicely,” Katri said.

“Do you remember the name Gandhi from several hundred years ago?” Sinuhe asked.

“Yes. He espoused passive resistance to oppression,” Katri said.

“That’s right and for the most part, he and his movement were successful. However, if you remember, a war occurred after Gandhi won liberation for his people. Do you know why?” Sinuhe asked.

“I can see you’re trying to establish a pattern. The answer must be that a faction hated and caused a division after liberation,” Katri answered sarcastically.

“That’s correct and, although you don’t believe it, the conclusion should be clear: a group that employs hatred, greed or any other base motive to move their cause forward, self destructs once the goal is reached. The only countries that have survived revolutions are those motivated by the noble virtues: love, reluctance to kill, caring for others.”

“So, the resistance doesn’t love their families and we fight to save the world only because we hate you? I can’t believe your gall!” Katri said.

“Do you love your family more than you hate me?” Sinuhe asked.

Katri clenched her fist and fumed.

“You don’t need to answer. The depth of your hatred for me is profound,” Sinuhe said. “But why?”

“Because you lie, you’re destroying the planet and you stop those who can do something about it. You want us all to die. You are scum!” Katri vented.

“I’ve always acted in the best interest of the people. What makes you say that I haven’t?” Sinuhe asked.

Katri’s first reaction was to say that the government had blocked counter bacteria research, but that no longer seemed true, unless the files were a government plant.

I now know my father acted to save the planet, Katri thought to herself, but Sinuhe is evil.

“You prematurely stopped testing of the bio device, which resulted in the terrible reaction,” Katri said.

“Are you sure of that?” Sinuhe asked.

Katri did not answer immediately.
”I see by you hesitation that you have doubts. I assure you that all that could be done, was done. There was something in that island that we didn’t know about. We tested soil samples in the lab, but there was something we missed. Had we known, we would have never released the device. We would have continued looking for another solution to the toxic pollutions that plagued us,” Sinuhe said.

“I don’t believe you. You said hundreds of times that we had to do something immediately to neutralize the pollution or it would be too late.”

“That’s the truth. Our man-made pollutions had started to interact and become even more toxic. Time was running out, but you already know that for yourself. Why do you deny it when I say it? Why won’t you believe me?”

“Why should I believe you? What proof do you have?” asked Katri.

“You should now suspect that proof is available. My program tells me that you’ve searched the counter bacteria project directories. In fact you have read the post mortems on all the projects. You already know the evidence is there,” Sinuhe said.

“You planted those files. They’re disinformation,” Katri accused him.

“Would your father lie? You saw his computer sign in each file.”

“Then why didn’t you release it to the public? You lied to us by withholding information! My father did not lie.” Katri said.

“I admit, I withheld the results, but I did not lie. I had two reasons for not releasing the test results. The first was because it was so distressing. None of the results showed any hope. Time was running out. We were doing all that we could, but that was not enough. The second reason for withholding some of the evidence was to test the hearts of the people. Only people who have faith in goodness, who trust and believe, can build lasting civilizations. I released as much evidence as I could and asked the people to trust me. We had to be able to identify those who had not lost faith,” Sinuhe said.

“Lasting civilization? Faith? What are you talking about?” Katri asked. “What you’re saying is ridiculous. You can’t measure faith.”

“You can’t measure it directly, but you can measure its affect on the body.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just after the collapse of Beninii Island, the body scans of some of the researchers showed abnormal changes.”

“What did the scans show?” Katri asked.

“Synapses were being remapped in parts of the brain that were thought to be incapable of new growth.”

“Were they tumors cause by exposure to toxins?” Katri asked.

“At first, we thought it was the toxins, but we studied the weekly scans of all researchers and found no correlation between exposure to toxins and the anomaly. You and your husband, Matt, for example, were on the island during and after the collapsed. Of all people, you should have been the most exposed, yet your scans showed no changes. The real break through came when you developed the condition and Matt did not. We started a close analysis of both of your daily activities. We saw so many differences in the lifestyles of those who had the condition and those who did not that we were convinced it was not due to chemicals. So, any chemical agent you were exposed to at work, we secretly exposed Matt to the same at his work.”

“That sounds so much like you. It’s unethical to experiment on people without their consent,” Katri said.

“I am the one that authorized exposing Matt, but we couldn’t tell him. If the cause were not physical, it had to be emotional, psychological or even spiritual. Secrecy, even as despicable as it seems, was key to our success,” said Sinuhe.

“You obviously found the answer. What is it?”

“The only difference we could find, and our investigation was exhaustive, was that you, without your husband’s knowledge, had joined the resistance.”

“That sounds really scientific,” Katri belittled Sinuhe. “So you are using body scans to determine who is against the government and who isn’t based on some growth in our heads. Is that your measure of faith?”

“I didn’t believe it at either at first, but over time we noticed a direct correlation between government confrontations with the resistance and development of new cases,” Sinuhe said.

“That sounds specious,” Katri said.

“That isn’t all the evidence. We reasoned that those with the largest growths would be the leaders of the resistance. We watched their movements very closely. Do you remember the earthquake in Estanti several years ago?”

“Yes. It’s another example of your irresponsibility. You neglected the tectonic stabilization equipment and it failed. You’re responsible for the loss of all those lives,” Katri said.

“That’s how we let the press report it,” Sinuhe countered. “The real cause of the earthquake was the destruction of the stabilization computer by the resistance. We realized that security had been breached too late, but we did not miss the fact that the growths in the heads of those responsible nearly doubled in size after the earthquake. They knew that they had caused the deaths of millions, yet they used their cause as the justification of their actions,” said Sinuhe.

“Right!” Katri said scornfully.

“I didn’t expect you to believe me. Ask Marathon when you speak to him again. I’m sure you didn’t know that Marathon reports directly to Tuburon. He is the leader of the resistance and one of the most evil men alive.”

I’ve heard that name before, Katri thought. Marathon mentioned him once, but wouldn’t tell me more. She had also seen it in the files associated with Marathon’s name. Katri could believe that it would take someone like Marathon to break into a tectonic stabilization computer.

“Those weren’t the only ones murdered by the resistance: Jupal, Tangora, Fanji, Tugera. All terrible disasters caused by the resistance to cast the government as criminals in the minds of the people,” Sinuhe said.

Katri remembered every one of those disasters. The hatred and desire for revenge she felt against the government when she first read about the disasters welled up inside of her again. She fought it, but it was hard to control.

“Please, verify what I am saying with Marathon. I am telling you the truth,” Sinuhe said. “Each disaster brought physical changes in the brains of those who knew that they were responsible. Their hate-filled rhetoric after each disaster cause similar growth in all other members of the resistance.”

Katri remembered the circumstances of each disaster. There was a possibility that each was intentionally caused. For the first time in years, Katri feared that there might be some truth to what Sinuhe said.

“Is it a lack of faith that caused the members of the resistance to be what they are? Is it depravity? Is it hatred? Whatever you want to call the spiritual condition, it has physical manifestations and it makes everyone who is affected incompatible with a lasting society,” Sinuhe said.

Sinuhe stopped talking. Katri felt a weight, a sorrow inside. Her father’s face came to mind.

“Will you kill us?” Katri asked quietly.

“No, Child. We’re not like that, but it sorrows me to say what I have to say,” Sinuhe said. “Within thirty minutes, all communication links, transport hubs, all government buildings and all government institutions will be destroyed,” Sinuhe, said.

Katri drew a sharp breath.

“Then you lied. You are going to kill us – only slowly,” Katri said.

“Not so. A year ago, the energy pellets in every bio-shelter on the planet were replaced with new ones. They will supply energy for 120 years. You will have pure air, water, food and medical attention. Your needs will be met.”

“So you aren’t killing us, you’re killing our great-grandchildren,” Katri said.

“The energy pellets also inhibit human reproduction. Those of you that are now alive will live out your lives in peace,” Sinuhe said.

“You mean in prison,” Katri said.

“It’s better than a grave.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“We will not allow the evil leaders of the resistance to further enslave those who are left. Their only desire was to destroy the government. We are doing that. You should rejoice,” Sinuhe said.

“How can you feel good about what you’re doing? Your followers, your faithful as you call them, will suffer the same fate,” Katri said. “They will be isolated just like us.”

“That is the rest of the story that I need to tell you. The faithful, and that they are, were few. The last group of them left Earth six months ago bound for a new planet. We’ll be able to start again and we’ll be able to build a lasting civilization. I’m sorry for the innocent people we had to leave behind just because they were intermingled with the unfaithful.”

The image disappeared.

 

The hatch to the connecting tube opened softly.

“What’re you doing, Honey,” Matt whispered. He saw her slumped over the console with her head in her hands. “Are you OK?”

Katri did not answer. It was hard for her to breath.