Chapter VI
Bishop walked down the main corridor. The irony was so thick he could choke on it. He felt like a real person for the first time of his life, but tomorrow they were all going to die because of a man who was the father of the reason he felt so good. And the reason why he felt so good in the first place was only because he had lied about what he was himself. He couldn't die, not now, not because of an idiot who wanted to be a hero. He had to talk to Morden. He walked towards the cockpit were he assumed Morden would be. He entered the cockpit were Morden sat in the pilot seat. Morden didn't look back to see who had just walked in.
"General, I'm not pleased about the way you've planned things. You don't know how fast these aliens colonize their environment. And there are a lot of people down there, one person after he has been infected brings one alien, and these monks can't defend themselves which means they are probably all infected by now. So if we go there tomorrow we'll be up against hundreds of aliens."
There was silence. Bishop stared at the back of the general's head. The general didn't move, didn't speak.
"General?" Bishop nervously asked. Maybe he was too angry or too depressed to say something.
"Your daughter is alright, sir." Bishop added, in the hope of getting a response out of the man. For a second he thought he saw movement. He walked closer. As he got closer, he noticed that the man was shaking.
"What the..." He said out loud while turning the chair.
The man's eyes were wide open and sweat was constantly dripping from his face. He was shaking all over and it seemed like he was trying to say something. But there wasn't any sound coming out of his mouth. Bishop turned around and ran to the main corridor as fast as he could.
"Edward!...Edward!" He shouted trough the ship. Until finally a door opened and Edward came walking out.
"It's the general! There's something happening to him!" The two ran back to the cockpit. A few seconds later they stood over the chaotically shaking man.
"I don't know what this is." Edward said after taking a hasty look.
"If he dies, the ship blows up." Bishop reminded.
They stood over the shaking general in pure hopelessness.
"Check his chest!" Bishop suddenly suggested.
They pulled off the general's uniform and shirt, looking at the man's chest. It moved. It was clear that something was trying to get out. Bishop looked around and in the corner he saw a dead spider-like alien.
"There was an alien on board." Bishop said pointing at the creature.
"My God!"
"He can't survive this." Bishop said.
"What did you mean by saying that if he dies, the ship blows up?"
"Never mind, that's a long story. Come on, we have to get out of this ship, NOW!" Bishop shouted, running out into the main corridor.
"But I don't understand!" Edward cried out, following Bishop.
They first went to Carmen's room.
"Carmen, we have to evacuate the ship, now!" Bishop said, while picking her up and running towards Johner and Morse's room.
"What?!" She cried out in pain, feeling all her wounds burning. They entered Johner and Morse's room, finding them asleep.
"Could you be so kind?" Bishop asked Edward.
"Sure." Edward replied, while shaking and kicking the two as fast as he could.
"Hey, what the fuck!" They both cried out.
"We have to evacuate!" Bishop said.
"Why?!" They asked.
"We've got about two minutes until the general's heart stops beating and this ship blows, so let's go!" Bishop said, already running off again.
The others followed him to the escape shuttle letting the questions fall over him like rain.
"You mean we're going down there now!"
"My father is going to die?" Carmen asked disorientated.
"Did you kill the guy?" Johner asked.
"So when we're down there...then what!?" Morse shouted.
They got into the shuttle and took off. Bishop took the shuttle to maximum speed, speeding away from the mother ship as fast as they could. As Diserato's red light got closer they finally saw the mother ship blow up behind them. After a few tense moments Bishop said:
"We're safe."
"So my dad is...what happened?" Carmen asked with a pale face.
"When you were unconscious your father told us that there was a transmittor inside him that constantly told the mother ship if he was alive. As soon as he was dead the transmitter would stop transmitting and the ship would blow up." Bishop said.
"But why?" Carmen asked.
"Because he didn't trust us. By telling us this he could control us." Bishop said.
"Yeah, but that son of a bitch didn't care about the fact that if an alien would kill his ass, the rest of us would be fucked as well." Johner said.
Bishop saw tears stream down Carmen's face.
"I'm sorry." Bishop said, gently stroking her hair.
"It's ok, he really was an asshole. He was always like that. Not caring about the safety of others...He forced me to come along on this mission because it would be a good steppingstone in my career." She softly said, whiping the tears off her face.
"Bishop, how about telling us what happened to the general?" Johner said.
"There was an alien on board." Bishop said.
Once again there was a moment of silence.
Raven looked through the huge window in front of him. On both sides of the window there was chaos, pure chaos. Behind him, he heard the cries of his brothers, and in front of him he saw the red storm rage against the window. Never before had he seen the forces of evil strike this magnitude. The only thing that stood between him and total panic was his knowledge that these horrible creatures could do no more than kill him. This was God's war, they were God's soldiers and their pain was their only weapon. They had to be sacrificed. Their pain was creating God's weapon. And when they were gone, God would use it to retaliate. That was the only way he could see it. That was the way things were. The power of God lay within the sacrifice of his soldiers. It was the only way to create symetry. If good things die, their death is used to destroy the tyrrany of evil. That was the way things always happen. Human wars were a fine example. It would seem that the allied force had destroyed Hitler's power. But that was ony a logical interpretation. The truth was that the people who died gave God the power to let the allied win. Every death made a difference. Life and death controlled the balance of power between good and evil. He looked around, suddenly noticing that he had also lost an arm. These devils were running all over the place. His friends were spread all over the ground, here and there a leg or an arm. Soon one of them would come and take his pain away as well. Again he faced the window, looking up at the red sky. The clouds reflected the red of the surface, these clouds, they were so different from the ones back on Earth. Hundred of little clouds chased over at incredible speed, and it was all red, dark red as blood. But all this evil would end.
"And you know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon you!"
He shouted at the redness. He heard a devil run his way. He closed his eyes. Then just as slowly he reopened them, for one last look upon the world. He saw something fall from the sky. It had to be God's vengeance! His eyes followed the falling object all the way to the ground. A smile appeard on his face.
"Oh thank you, Lord!" He cried out, while something cut through his spine.
"Sorry about the crash landing, people. But it seems we were hit by something from the explosion of the mother ship. The landing gear didn't work." Bishop said, seeing that everyone was doing fine.
"Ah, what the hell does it matter, we're all going to die here anyway." Morse shouted hysterically.
"Morse, shut the fuck up, will ya! I've got a pretty intense hang over." Johner said.
"What are you going to do?" Edward asked, climbing out of the shuttle.
"Are you leaving?" Carmen asked.
"Yes, I'm going back to check on the brothers." Edward said.
"Don't bother, pal. The house of God has changed into the house of horror by now, that's for sure." Johner said.
"Yeah well, I will see...what I will see."
"i thought you didn't belive in divine intervention." Bishop said.
"You're right, I ain't."
"So if God din't stop them from being slaughtered, who did?"
"The aliens." Edward replied.
"What?"
"You don't understand, you're not a beliver." Edward said, taking the last step out of the shuttle and facing the storm.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Bishop shouted, climbing out as well.
"Let him go, man. He's just a crazy fool." Johner said.
Bishop followed Edward into the storm. Edward was running towards the church, suddenly felt Bishop's hand on his shoulder. He turned around.
"Now wait a minute, friend. I want to know...really. I really want to know why you're going back there. You and I bothe know that everything there is dead and if you go there alone and unarmed you'll die before you enter the main gate!" Bishop shouted through the storm.
Edward sat down behind a huge rock, where the noise of the storm was less intense.
"Look, just after this first alien had entered our church, we gathered in a meeting, all thousand of us. We speculated on what the meaning of this creature was. Every one had a different perspective on the situation. We were separeated into different groups. Each group represented a perspective. One group thought that this creature was here to slaughter us and that we had to sacrifice ourselves in order to prove mankinds' devotion to God. Another group stated that this creatue was God's second child and that we had to prove to God, here and now, that we were still his best creation. But those were only the two major groups...all together, there were about twenty groups. One of these smaller groups called themselves 'The Adapters'. They thought that this creature was perfect and that God had send it down from heaven to mix with us. The monks who belived this tried to find the creature, to see how it would react."
"Witch group did you join?"
"None, I truly didn't know how to see it. But watching all these people have all these different interpretation of one situation was the most interestinn experience of my life."
"But why go back now?"
"Because I was the only one who didn't choose an interpretation, and therefore it is up to me to find out witch interpretation was the truth."
"Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?" Bishop cried out frustrated.
"All shapes and sizes, my friend."
"What?...Look, Edward, you don't have to go back! They're all dead!"
"You don't know that!"
"Come on, let's just go back to the shuttle."
"And then what, die there?"
"I'll tell you what, we'll go to the shuttle right now. Then we'll talk to the others about the church. Then if the others agree, we'll all go."
"What for?" Edward asked
"For what!?...I don't know, just choose and interpretation. To go down in a blaze of glory, to take down as many of them as we can, to see our enemy in the eyes for the last time." Bishop shouted unlike himself.
Edward smiled. "Ok."
Bishop and Edward entered the shuttle.
"Ah, did you have to bring him back!?" Johner shouted as soon as he saw Edward.
"Edward and I thnk we should go to the church." Bishop said.
Edward gave Bishop a surprised look. Did he support him?
"What!?" Morse cried out.
"Now why the FUCK should we do that?!" Johner added.
"You got anything better to do?" Bishop asked.
"Yeah, sit on my ass!" Morse shouted.
"That's not what I call dong something." Bishop stated.
"Yeah, well it's a hell of a lot better than going there!" Morse replied.
Suddenly Edward stepped forward. He had a strange look on his face, his eyes looked different. As he spoke, his voice sounded different as well.
"Yeah well, we all know you're a pussy, Morse. But you Johner, you're like me, you like being out there. You live onthe tension, the panic of the moment. And you just love it when things get out of control. And let's face it, harmony sucks. It slowly turns you into a machine, build up out of rules, imprisoned by it's rules. Guys like you and I know that freedom can only exist within a environment of chaos." Edward said.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Johner said, looking up on the new Edward.
"I'm talking about getting these motherfuckers out of my fucking bilding!" Edward shouted.
"Wow, now hold on a minute, weren't you supposed to be the noble kind of holy boy?" Morse snapped.
"You shut the fuck up! I'm talking to Johner." Edward snapped back, still facing Johner.
"Look pal, I don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but I've got a pretty fucking bad hangover, ok? So just leave me out of this." Johner said laying down.
"Edward? What are you doing?" Bishop whispered into Edward's ear.
"Fuck you, Bishop. I'm sick and tired of people who think they can understand me. That's what humans always want to do, to understand. Well, not me...I'm fucking incomprehensible!"
"So you just get out of control from time to time, right?" Bishop asked.
"No, I'm in control right now. I've only let my other side come forward. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Look, it's just that I don't understand. You seemed like an intelligent, under control person a minute ago and now this?!"
"Chaotic times call for chaotic personalities." Edward said with a strange smile on his face.
"Now listen up pussies, if we stay here we'll all die. If we shoot our way into the church we can send out an emergency aignal from there. Then the USM will be on Diserato within tree days."
"Tree days?!...We're not going to last one day with these things running around!" Morse said.
"Maybe not, but at least we're doing something. Now, this is a military shuttle witch means there are weapons on board. Lets get them and go kill some of these dragons."
"I think he's right." Johner unexpectedly said.
"What?"Morse asked.
"I'd rather go down fighting, even with a hang over."
Carmen and Bishop looked at each other, both not knowing what to think about Edward nor the entire situation anymore.
"So what about you, Bishop?" Edward asked.
"Well, I...well, what about Carmen?"
"You take hr on your back."
"What?"
"I'll tie her to your back...I just hope you have strong legs."
"Yeah...that could work. Carmen, what do you think?" Bishop asked, for the first time of his life blessing the fact that he had android legs. Actually that would be great, it was the best way for him to protect her.
"Yeah, you can count me in." She said.
"Good!...So Morse, are you going to stay here...alone?" Edward asked.
Once more they walked trough the storm. Carmen and Bishop were the only one close enought to talk.
"I've never had someone become so important to me in so little time." He said, hiding the fact that he had never had anyone so important to him. She kissed him on his neck.
"Why did I have to meet yo in the middle of this?" He asked.
"Well, let's just say that because we now have eachother, we woun't have to go back to the same loneliness as before, when all of this is over...if we survive, of course." She said.
"Yeah." he replied, feeling sorry that he couldn't think of something more comforting to say. For a few moments there was only the sound of the storm.
"You've talked more to this Edward than I have. Do you understand him?" She asked.
"I thought I did, but now...I don't know. You think we can ask him?"
"I don't know, we can give it a try." Bishop walked them over to Edward.
"Are you two having a nict time together?" Edward immediately asked.
"You don't have to worry about that. But we were wondering why you acted the way you did back in the shuttle. It didn't really seem like...you." Carmen asked.
"Oh, that was just to get them out of there. And it worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah, it sure did." Bishop replied, slowly making distance between them.
"You belive him?" Carmen asked.
"No." Bishop said with a grave voice.
"You're right. He's strange. But on the other hand, very intelligent people often seem at first strange. I don't think it means we can't trust him." She said.
"I don't know, he told me somethings about the ways his brothers belived in things, but somehow I think he's holding something back about himself. Something about his desire."
"About his desire?"
"Yeah, i have the feeling he somehow wants something insde of the church. He doesn't just want to die in the church or send our an emergency signal. It's something else."
"Well, I thought that his philosophy was very good, very insightful. I spend a lot of time thinking about things like that as well. And my philosopy is actually not that different from his. What I'm trying to say is that I find it hard to imagine that a person with such a good foundation of beliefs, would suddenly do something really stupid."
"Yes, you're right, but you shouldn't forget that he's a monk. His philosophy is somehow twisted by the idea of God. He's young, his ideas can change very easily. It's very well possible that his ideas take a new direction in a time like this." He stated.
"But what did you mean by his desire?"
"Well, he's the one always talking about interpretations. I think he feels more for some of these interpretations than he's telling us. I think there's something he wants to find out up there. Something to prove his thoughts, perhaps."
"Perhaps...But don't the ropes hurt? Aren't they tied a little too tight around your belly?" She asked with her hand around the ropes that tied her to his back.
"No, it's allright."
She rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He put his hand in her hair, gently letting her hair slide between his fingers.
"Edward's thoughts are good, but they miss something, something very important." She whispered in his ear.
"And what is that?"
"He used the wrong perspective on these pure phenomenons he's talking about. He uses the words chaos and order...I think it's better to speak of chaos and systemization. Because the word order is only a status a system can be in...systemization is more eternal...and more beautiful."
"Yes, it might be, it might just be! That's why he was wrong about love. When two or more things come togeter in harmony you could call that a form of systemization." Bishop said.
"Love is a form of systemization." She said.
"Systemization is the only real advantage. Chaos the only real disadvantage."
"They all belong together! All the pure phenomenons!" She suddenly shouted.
"So we had chaos, systemization, advantage, disadvantage...and simplicity and complexity."
"So how do simplicity and complexity fit into the rest?" She asked.
"Well...uh...whan something systemizes with something else...it becomes more complex."
"Yes! So we can connect systemization to complexity, but how does complexity connect to advantage?" She asked.
"Well, does everything have to be connected to everything?" He asked.
"Yes, otherwise it wouldn't lead to one pure meaning!" She stated.
"Ok, so complexity and advantage..."
"I got it! What do you call advantage?" She asked him.
"Well uh...something good?" He said, knowing that he sounded a bit dumb.
"Yeah but what is good? Increasing quantity?"
"That can be good...but can also be bad."
"That's right! So what is the foundation of real advantage?"
"...Quality! Increasing quality!" He realized out loud.
"That's right!"
"So what does that have to do with the connection between complexity and advanage?"
"One element is one element. If there are more of the same elements, there are more quantity but not more quality. If more sorts of elements form a system, there is more qulity!"
"Yes! And increasing quality is the foundation of raladvantage! So the universe uses the phenomenon of systemization to advance!" He shouted.
"So they really are all connected! Systemization, complexity, advantage, they are all the meaning and foundation of life." She said.
"Chaos, simplicity, disadvantage, they are the meaning and foundation of death."
"That's what his fight is all about...the aliens and humans both have phenomenons of both death and life." She said.
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Introduction Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VII
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