“You’re not here as a joke at all, are you? You believe every word you just said. Pranksters don't take the time to research A Treatise on Starcanists as Related to the Destruction of Fexin deeply enough to find it's been censured by the Church Hierarchy. Would you mind shutting the door behind you?” Karasse paused for a moment, reached under the front edge of his tiny cluttered desk, and pushed a hidden button with a clicking sound. A soft light pulsed from his desk with a momentary buzzing sound. “There, now we can speak away from prying ears. If you please produce your university credentials. While I do not believe you’re trolling me, I’d like to ensure that you’re a legitimate professor, at the least.”
“Yes, of course, my credentials. Eben, be a dear and close the door for us, thank you.” Eben raised an eyebrow and the door moved by itself closing without being touched. Reaching into her satchel Motigana produced an etched metal disc with a holographic projection lens. Tracing a portion of the etching with her talon, a holographic version of her face appeared. Symbols of the University orbiting the facsimile of her face, with a scrolling numeric code, and Associate Professor of Astronomy, Ph.D. “There, you know who I am and that it’s official. May we please discuss the destruction of Fexin and the potential disaster approaching during the annual Vilithic Eclipse?
Artwork by Martin Koernmesser
She continued before he could respond, “As you said, we have six weeks, which may not be enough time to plot out all the contingencies. The system is already in chaos with the moon of Fexin spiraling into their sun, projections show six weeks before it is destroyed. The date of that cannot be a coincidence, yet my colleagues refuse to listen to me on that matter. Of course, this could very well begin a new gravitational shift in the region. We’re still studying the effects of the detonation of the Singularity Bomb, we don’t have enough data to understand the full extent of the damage that the loss of a planetary body has done to the system. Dozens of survey ships have been lost over the years trying to collect salvage or attempting to map the debris field. Chunks of cities are spiraling out of control in the sector, as what remains of the planet Fexin breaks up. The University doesn’t have an accurate accounting of the sheer volume of military hardware floating unclaimed in the region. Two military fleets were decimated in the explosion as well. The singularity and the destruction of Fexin was an unprecedented event, and now the galaxy is facing a crisis of faith that could be the start of something far worse than the destruction of a major inhabited world.”
“Contingencies? Gravitational shifts? Concerns? Oh, I have concerns, namely the remaining Allef Paladins that are gathering other Paladins to stand vigil in orbit of the remains of Fexin. Rumor has it that several Allef colony ships are planning a pilgrimage of sorts as well. There are also theories of a New Golden Age for the Church beginning from the ruins of the destruction. Rumors are flying around the Bishops, which of course they deny, that the Gods themselves are expected to manifest during the Eclipse. Plus, I’ve been told that yet another group is traveling there as well, as they expect Fexin to become a new “Proving Ground,” of sorts, for the righteous and powerful to claim for themselves. Just what we need: soldier of fortune types sticking their snouts into an uncharted debris field loaded with damaged military hardware. By the way, Princeps R’Venno of the Nagul is well aware of what hardware has been removed by Admiral Thrak’s fleet from that system over a decade ago. On top of all of that, a professor from SOU brings her babysitting assignment into my office to discuss matters of cosmic theology under the pretense of astronomical research!” Father Karrass’s voice lowered in pitch and volume, as his pronounced lower jaw tusks made his words even more coarse. Mortigana showed very little reaction, as she waited for him to finish. Eben hearing himself mentioned in such harsh tones narrowed his fuzzy brow, causing the lighting in the room to momentarily dim before glowing brightly, then returning to normal lighting levels.
“She’s not my babysitter, no one but me takes care of me. She didn’t bring me here, I brought her here.” Eben’s voice was youthful but carried the weight of too many years of rough living, and of being on the run.
Karrasse looked about the room as the light levels changed, calmed himself a bit before he continued, “I’ve been censured by the Church for even discussing these matters, and as you can see, demoted down to this steam junction room as an excuse for an office. I’ve been warned not to discuss these matters anymore, as apparently I’m sowing discord and worrying the flock. To make matters worse, that boy is clearly a Starcanist, and you’ve brought him to my office. You brought a Starcanist in my office on church property without notifying me in advance?” Disdain bordering on revulsion filled his voice.
“So Father, what you’re saying is that you’re just as ignorant about the future of the Fexin system as the entire SOU astronomy department is? That you have no information beyond what you’ve been able to glean from local sources, rumor, conjecture, and outright paranoia? Because that puts us on nearly equal footing, aside from Eben here. In the thousands of years of recorded astronomical data and events, there has never been a destroyed planetary body at the center of The Eclipse. We have a mathematical model that shows the proximity of the solar gravitational pull ripping the remains apart, based on the current trajectory of the moon heading into the local solar body.” Eben shifted a stack of papers from the desk onto a stack of books and hopped up to sit on the desk.
“There are also reports being passed along to a colleague of mine from the Interstellar Jumpgate Administration. If requests for ship travel continue at the current trend, they expect a backlog of travel through the gates leading to that system. Another event almost unprecedented in documented centuries of Gate travel. Are your superiors pressuring you to leave out that ships full of hope are heading to Fexin, rather than those seeking fortune and fame? Without the planet of Fexin, there can not be an Eclipse. Without a planetary body to block out the sun and create Their darkness, there can only be light. The hopefuls of the galaxy are heading to Fexin to celebrate Their absence. To create a celebration of hope and promise.” Mortigana firmly thumped her knuckles against the same old book that Father Karrass had earlier. Father Karrass averted his eyes from hers, Mortigana knew that she’d found the piece of the puzzle that he was leaving out. That the Church itself feared this coming change in the cosmos.
“We have Eben here, who you have correctly surmised is a Starcanist. He tells me that he is being called to the Fexin system. The closer he gets to the system the more at peace he feels. He sought me out at the university without even knowing who I was. I’d like to point out that he also is fairly ignorant of the traditions of the Eclipse. Nonetheless, he knew your name and he knows you can help him. Currently, the call leads him through this office. Even if Eben does not understand the call, he’s going to follow it. I believe we need to help him, for the sake of the galaxy.”
“I see that you’ve done your research, I expected nothing less when I saw your credentials. I had hoped you were the academic type that simply cataloged data, not the kind that put facts together to piece out the mysteries. After all, that’s what this is, isn’t it? A mystery. A galactic wide mystery centered on how the Gods interact with our lives.” Pausing for a moment, Karass sat back down in his chair and turned to Eben, his gruff voice taking an almost tender tone. “You’re a bright young man. A survivor, I bet. Let me guess, you were born on a colony ship, orphaned shortly afterwards, and had to fend for yourself. But you’re special, aren’t you? You’ve got abilities that other kids don’t have. You can sense things, move things, and I bet when you’re angry you can even light things on fire.”
As an answer, blue sparks moved between Eben’s fingertips. “No fire, yet, but I can make electronics short out easily enough. If I concentrate really hard, I can make a circuit panel explode sending sparks clear across the compartment. But what I’m really good at is knowing where I need to be and when I need to be there. The Professor here helped me figure that out, after I showed up in her office. She’s also teaching me how to read better and stuff. I’ve always been able to read cargo reports, signs on the ship, and stuff. But her datapad is too much for me. Too many words, big ones too. She brought me to you, so you can tell me about this Eclipse thing. Maybe even tell me about these Gods you mentioned. We didn’t talk about those on the colony ship.” Eben shifted back and forth on his hips, his eyes wandering around the tiny room. Mortigana smiled at Eben, a gesture of approval to the boy. Father Karrass saw the approval of the boy from her face, and found himself noticing simply how charismatic the boy was.