noticed how he was staring forward without batting an eye at the abnormal sight. “This is your first time here, isn’t it?”
“That information is classified.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, frustrating as his answer was. “Trust me, I can tell. Even
your
face wouldn’t be so calm seeing it like this if it weren’t.”
Zhaff didn’t respond.
When we reached the rail station a group of evangelists were obstructing the entrance ramp. They held up screens displaying only the word STAY and were dressed in tattered brown robes with braided ropes for belts. The one in the center held the hefty tome of the Final Testament against his chest.
As we passed he began preaching at us in an incensed whisper. It grew louder with every word, and the emptiness of the city made his voice echo. “The ring of flame will swallow us all! This is our punishment for trespassing in the realm of heaven! Repent, brothers. We must repent!” He didn’t get a chance to say much more before a security hover-car positioned itself above.
“Disperse, now!” someone blared through the onboard speaker of the vehicle.
“So long as Earth remains, our feet are secure on her surface!” the evangelist hollered back. Then there was an earsplitting crack as the officer in the hover-car fired a pulse-rifle down at the feet of the protestors. All of them fled right away except for their leader. At least until a second shot came inches from striking his head.
I didn’t bother to watch the rest. I heard the pitter-patter of their bare feet slapping against the metal street as they scrambled away. The lead preacher shouted, “You will burn!” over and over again the entire time, until his voice was a hoarse and distant echo.
“Soon as anything on Earth goes wrong the fanatics come out of the metalwork to lay blame,” I said as Zhaff and I continued into the station. “Some people never learn.”
“Judging by their beliefs, it does not appear that they ever will,” Zhaff responded.
“So you don’t believe in any gods?” I asked. I knew the answer to that question the moment I met Zhaff, but I was curious to hear how a Cogent might respond. Curiosity…another side effect of my job I could never turn off.
“I have read all five thousand and ninety-two pages of the Final Testament and have seen nothing to justify any of its proclamations. Questions without answers are a waste of time.”
“Amen,” I joked. Zhaff didn’t appear to get it.
We reached the platform for trains running to Glazov station. The people who were waiting in line to get onto passenger cars were being scanned and patted down three times over. It would’ve taken an hour to reach the front if we were civilians, but that was another one of the perks of being a Pervenio collector. We presented our IDs and were led right onto the train bound for Glazov station. They reprogrammed it to dispatch immediately so we wouldn’t waste any time. We could’ve requested a Pervenio airship, but it would’ve taken a little while for one to scoop us up with the current turmoil. The maglev rail lines threading the surface of Earth were still the fastest way to get around in a pinch.
I slumped down in a window seat as far from any other passengers as I could get and closed my eyes. Zhaff sat beside me.
“Do you, Malcolm Graves?” he asked as the train started up.
I looked at him, confused. “Do I what? And please, for the love of Earth, just Malcolm.”
“Do you believe in any gods, Malcolm?”
For a moment I thought about saying yes purely to push the Cogent, but I had plans to sleep through the hour-and-a-half trip to Glazov.
“No,” I answered firmly.
I’d been to too many places beyond Earth, and seen too many horrible things in my life, to have faith in some form of higher power watching over me. Plus, any god willing to drop a meteorite on Earth didn’t seem to me like a power worth praying to. The majority of humanity shared my opinion. Surviving the
“That information is classified.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, frustrating as his answer was. “Trust me, I can tell. Even
your
face wouldn’t be so calm seeing it like this if it weren’t.”
Zhaff didn’t respond.
When we reached the rail station a group of evangelists were obstructing the entrance ramp. They held up screens displaying only the word STAY and were dressed in tattered brown robes with braided ropes for belts. The one in the center held the hefty tome of the Final Testament against his chest.
As we passed he began preaching at us in an incensed whisper. It grew louder with every word, and the emptiness of the city made his voice echo. “The ring of flame will swallow us all! This is our punishment for trespassing in the realm of heaven! Repent, brothers. We must repent!” He didn’t get a chance to say much more before a security hover-car positioned itself above.
“Disperse, now!” someone blared through the onboard speaker of the vehicle.
“So long as Earth remains, our feet are secure on her surface!” the evangelist hollered back. Then there was an earsplitting crack as the officer in the hover-car fired a pulse-rifle down at the feet of the protestors. All of them fled right away except for their leader. At least until a second shot came inches from striking his head.
I didn’t bother to watch the rest. I heard the pitter-patter of their bare feet slapping against the metal street as they scrambled away. The lead preacher shouted, “You will burn!” over and over again the entire time, until his voice was a hoarse and distant echo.
“Soon as anything on Earth goes wrong the fanatics come out of the metalwork to lay blame,” I said as Zhaff and I continued into the station. “Some people never learn.”
“Judging by their beliefs, it does not appear that they ever will,” Zhaff responded.
“So you don’t believe in any gods?” I asked. I knew the answer to that question the moment I met Zhaff, but I was curious to hear how a Cogent might respond. Curiosity…another side effect of my job I could never turn off.
“I have read all five thousand and ninety-two pages of the Final Testament and have seen nothing to justify any of its proclamations. Questions without answers are a waste of time.”
“Amen,” I joked. Zhaff didn’t appear to get it.
We reached the platform for trains running to Glazov station. The people who were waiting in line to get onto passenger cars were being scanned and patted down three times over. It would’ve taken an hour to reach the front if we were civilians, but that was another one of the perks of being a Pervenio collector. We presented our IDs and were led right onto the train bound for Glazov station. They reprogrammed it to dispatch immediately so we wouldn’t waste any time. We could’ve requested a Pervenio airship, but it would’ve taken a little while for one to scoop us up with the current turmoil. The maglev rail lines threading the surface of Earth were still the fastest way to get around in a pinch.
I slumped down in a window seat as far from any other passengers as I could get and closed my eyes. Zhaff sat beside me.
“Do you, Malcolm Graves?” he asked as the train started up.
I looked at him, confused. “Do I what? And please, for the love of Earth, just Malcolm.”
“Do you believe in any gods, Malcolm?”
For a moment I thought about saying yes purely to push the Cogent, but I had plans to sleep through the hour-and-a-half trip to Glazov.
“No,” I answered firmly.
I’d been to too many places beyond Earth, and seen too many horrible things in my life, to have faith in some form of higher power watching over me. Plus, any god willing to drop a meteorite on Earth didn’t seem to me like a power worth praying to. The majority of humanity shared my opinion. Surviving the
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