Charles Sheffield - Aftermath

And the underlying message was very disturbing: anything connected with the Mars expedition is evil. The nations that conceived the expedition are already shattered. Now the four survivors of the expedition are sitting at the table with Pearl Lazenby.

Were they going to be offered in some barbaric ritual sacrifice? The audience remained silent, but Celine could see violence and vengeance on their faces.

“The promised messengers have arrived.” Pearl Lazenby opened her arms wide, palms down, to take in the others at the table. “They are here with me. These are the four surviving members of the Mars expedition: Celine Tanaka, Wilmer Oldfield, Reza Armani, and Jenny Kopal. But” — she spoke over a rising mutter from the audience — “do not make the mistake of judging them guilty, as the people who promoted and funded the Mars expedition are guilty. These four are brave and innocent victims, dupes of their secret masters. They took great risks, and they have endured great hardships. Their companions and closest friends died.

“But they have survived, to bring their message direct from Heaven. This is the sign, the message we have awaited. You have been patient, and now our time is close, our tide approaches the flood. Within one week I promise action. Already, the word has gone forth to prepare and to congregate here. The message from Heaven tells that the great space stations, those sacrilegious insults circling and observing for so long above our heads, have been destroyed. The people who operated them are all dead, and we are at last free from intrusive eyes. We pray for their poor damned souls, even as we bless the hand of God that destroyed them. And we welcome into our midst these four messengers from the realm of Heaven. It was surely foreordained that their return to Earth would bring them directly here, to the sanctuary of the Legion of Argos. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see them unite with our cause. I ask you to express your gratitude and pay tribute to the surviving members of the Mars expedition.”

Every person in the chamber rose to applaud. They stood clapping for many seconds, while Celine sat and stared straight ahead. During the long months of the Mars return she had sometimes imagined a scene where she and her companions were safe home on Earth, basking in a standing ovation. She would never have believed that it might take place on a wounded planet, in a natural cavern far underground, with an applauding audience of religious and racist maniacs.

Wilmer reached out and tapped her shoulder. He had risen to his feet, and Pearl Lazenby was motioning to Celine to do the same. Jenny was standing, and so was Reza.

Well, what the hell. It was quite clear that Pearl Lazenby was using their arrival for her own purposes, but adulation beat lynching any day of the week.

Celine stood up. As the noise in the chamber reached a new crescendo, she confirmed her resolve to get away from the Legion of Argos as soon as possible. If you had to go along with the madness for a while, it was a small price to pay for escape. Just so long as you didn’t catch it yourself.

Celine raised her hand, smiled, and acknowledged the applause of the audience.

After the audience’s long — and perhaps not entirely voluntary — applause for survivors of the Mars expedition, Pearl Lazenby turned to Celine.

“I’m afraid that I now have practical business to take care of. I have been away for a long time, and certain elements of the Legion of Argos require correction.” That had an ominous ring to it, but she went on serenely, “I do not wish to bore you with trivia. So I have made other arrangements, which I hope you will find interesting.”

It was a dismissal, polite but unequivocal. At Pearl Lazenby’s signal, four men approached the platform. One was the wheezing Samuel, and the others bore the same triple-talon insignia of senior members of the Legion.

“Call me David,” one of them said to Celine. He looked older than the others, with the tanned skin and steady crow’s-footed eyes of a game hunter and marksman. “If you will now follow me . . .”

She had expected to be reunited with Wilmer and Reza. Instead she was apparently to be separated from Jenny.

After a moment of hesitation, Celine went with him. In the business of gathering information, four separate collectors were more efficient than a single group. There had been no opportunity to confer, but on a point so fundamental the other three were unlikely to disagree.

Unlike Naomi, her new guide was more than willing to talk. “Our leader is sure that you will share our goals,” David said as soon as they were away from the others. He fixed Celine in the crosshairs of his gaze. “Of course, you must first be familiar with and understand us. We have one hour available to us. Is there anything particular that you would like to see?”

It was an educated upper-class voice, dispelling Celine’s notion that although Pearl Lazenby might be an exceptional woman, her followers were deluded simpletons. David might have been chosen specifically to convert her, but she must be careful what she said. The gray eyes studying Celine were dangerously intelligent and thoughtful.

Tell the truth. “ Pearl Lazenby is astonishing, but I know almost nothing about the rest of the organization. The Legion of Argos has the reputation of attracting extremists. I would like to be sure that your reputation is undeserved.”

“To counter extreme evil, extreme actions may be necessary. But the best way to demonstrate what our society is like is not to talk, it is to show. As we walk together, I want you to ask yourself: Have you anywhere on Earth — or on Mars, for that matter — seen or heard of a group of people who work so peacefully and cheerfully toward a common goal? Why don’t we take a look at one of our schools.”

He smiled at Celine’s expression. “Yes, we have children, so of course we must have schools. Old-fashioned, by today’s standards. But I have yet to be persuaded that the new methods work better than the old.”

They were walking side by side, steadily but not fast, along one of the many tunnels. He seemed aware of Celine’s space-weakened muscles, and he allowed her to set the pace. She took her time and made careful note of their path.

“Does the Eye of God prescribe particular teaching methods of the schools?” she asked.

She was fishing for information, and innocently enough. But it brought a frown to his face. “I will forgive your remark,” he said slowly, “since it is based on ignorance. But you are guilty of blasphemy.”

While she halted and stared at him in surprise, he went on, “The title the ’Eye of God’ may be applied only when referring to prophecies. In all other matters, she is to be known as the leader or our leader. A few old friends are permitted to call her Pearl or Pearl Lazenby.”

The smile came back to his mouth, but Celine was watching his eyes. They were cold and clear, without a trace of humor or compromise.

She thought, My God, he’s crazy. And he looks and sounds so normal.

She said, “I’m sorry. I did not know the custom.”

“Very well.” He began to walk. “As I said, it is forgiven. Since it was your first offense, I will not report it.”

Observe, don’t speak. Celine followed him along the corridor. It continued for another fifty yards, then made a sudden turn and ended at three elevators. David led them through the open door of the one on the right. Next to the control buttons sat a dozen small icons. Her companion pressed the top button, next to the symbol of a book. As the door closed and the elevator began to ascend, Celine identified some of the other icons: a scythe, a gun, a cross, a skull, a ladder, and a hammer.