11th September 2012
21:03 GMT
"Please, don't. That's not going to-."
Sparta leaps backwards, sailing into the opening boom tube aperture. I dart forward, but I'm not exactly sure what happens if you're part-way into a boom tube when it shuts down and I hesitate for long enough for it to close without me.
And… Half. She managed to take half of the Seeds with her. My own connection frays a moment later since I no longer have a connection to them via her. Athyns moves to pick them up but I hold up a right hand to stop him. The Ascendants aren't following Sparta's order to kill us, but they're not exactly happy with the situation and I think they might revert to default if we don't handle this extremely carefully.
"Do any of you know where she went?"
The physician shakes his head, staring at the space where she disappeared.
"No. I didn't even know those could be made small enough for one person. We-. We landed troops in the face of your strongest defences because she told us that."
"Okay, then-. What's your name?"
"Pontico."
"Hi." I pull out a card with my name written on it, careful not to look at it myself. "I can't say or think this, but this is my name."
He stares at it for a moment. Transcendent Comprehension.
"Paul. It's… Short."
And away goes the card. "I-. Can I assume that you're willing to discuss our differences like civilised people now?"
"Yes. I-." Pontico stops and looks at the other Ascendant, getting a series of nods in return. "Yes. I would dearly like to stop the fighting, I-. I much prefer being a healer."
"Athyns?"
He nods and motions for Pontico to join him at the main control station.
"We can make an announcement from here. I'm… Willing to agree a ceasefire without other conditions."
"Medical care for the wounded? I can't-. We've got to work out what we're going to tell people, but I have absolutely no stomach for more violence after that."
"Yes."
I turn away from them to look at Sparta's actual bodyguards. Ah, first, I send my armour and spear back to subspace and cut out the soul-feeding constructs. Then I take out a purple healing ray and hold it out to the slightly groggy Ascendant I hit with the spear-haft.
"I realise that you will heal perfectly well on your own, but this-" I point it at myself and fire it for a few seconds. "-is a healing ray. It should deal with your headache."
"I.. thank you."
She walks over and takes it, then plays it over her right hand for a few seconds before shooting herself in the head.
"Yes, that's better. What happened to the spear's owner?"
"Fought to defend the bridge of a cruiser. She died well."
"She was my sister."
I nod. "My condolences." Ah. I take the spear back out of subspace and offer it to her. "I left her body outside the bridge, but then I rammed the cruiser into your battleship. It might still be there, but if not I'll help you f-."
"She might still be there."
"Well, no, at this point her soul will have passed on to whatever afterlife this world's thaumosphere supports. But her body would be."
"I-." She looks away, shaking her head, then walks past the control lecterns to look out of the window.
I suppose that there's no good way to tell someone you killed their sister. 'You started it' doesn't really help.
The other Ascendants don't exactly look eager to talk to me, and Pontico and Athyns are still trying to get in touch with people. I pick up the remaining Seeds with net constructs and walk over to the recumbent form of Coeus.
The one with the axe who Athyns attacked steps towards me, weapon in the guard position.
"What are you doing?"
"Do you know how they were defeated?"
"You mean killed."
"Killed, then. I mean, where are the wounds?"
He takes a step closer, his helmet folding up so that he can get a better-.
I frown. "How old are you people?"
"I am sixteen. Most older Ascendants were-" He glances at Athyns, who appears to be having an impassioned discussion with someone over the internal communication system. "-killed during the wars that ruined our world."
…
Children, we're fighting children. Marvellous.
"But you see what I mean about the lack of wounds?"
"… yes..?"
"Are you aware of a weapon that your people possess that could do this?"
"No. We're usually more-" He hefts his axe. "-direct. Why does it matter? I-. Even if Sparta was lying about our equipment, I'm not ready to agree to waking them up."
"Because it will be much easier to take down Sparta without killing her if we can remove her power boosters, and make sure that she can't use whatever she used on them on the rest of us."
He nods. "I want to do that. What she's-. I don't even know why she's been lying to us. We wouldn't care if she was given the equipment. We're following her lead because she saved us, and because she actually has a plan to save Karrakan. Not because she made better guns and axes."
"Her concern might be what she had to give away."
"We don't have anything."
"An Apokoliptian wouldn't mind trading old equipment for future service. Or Ascendants to destructively study. Are you sure about what happened to all of your elders?"
I scan the bodies of the gods, and run a purple healing ray over the ones who actually have injuries. Dead flesh shouldn't respond to that, but their flesh does, wounds knitting back together. Because..? They're so magically significant, that..? Don't know, but Oceanus isn't waking up, and the Ascendant won't be happy with me trying to do something with the Seed.
"Lantern!" I look around at Athyns' shout. "Report from the surface. A boom tube appeared near the Maltusian factory! It's Sparta!"
"Then that's where we'll be going."