Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

party had been through the Maze. And Moon was a Hadenman.
    Along the way, as much to distract himself as anything, Owen brought Bonnie and Midnight up to date on the background of Saint Bea and her Mission. When the rebels had finally won the war on Technos III and put an end to the fighting. Mother Superior Beatrice hadn’t felt she was needed there anymore.
    So she returned to Golgotha, and set about rebuilding the established Church by throwing out all the political and corrupt elements. Turning the quasi-military organization of the Church of Christ the Warrior into the pacifistic Church of Christ the Redeemer wasn’t easy, but it helped that the Saint of Technos III had a huge popular following, not least due to Toby Shreck’s docu footage of her working in the slaughterhouse field hospital of Technos III as a nurse, and that the majority of the Church wanted change. Most of those who would have objected either had died in the rebellion or were on trial for crimes against Humanity. But after achieving this miracle. Mother Beatrice found herself declared a Saint on all sides, especially by the media, and this upset her greatly. So as soon as the new Church was up and running, she renounced her leadership and went to Lachrymae Christi to minister to the lepers, who needed her more than anyone else—and perhaps because it was possibly the only place the media wouldn’t follow her.
    Before her involvement, lepers had just been dumped where their ship landed, and left to live or die as best they could. Supply ships were infrequent. Saint Bea changed all that. She used her influence and contacts to get food and tech and medicines dropped on a regular basis, and built her Mission into a spiritual and communications center for the whole leper population. And all went well. Until the Hadenmen came. Augmented serpents in paradise. “Damned if I’d call this place paradise,” said Hazel.
    “Why did she contact you, Owen, and not me? Or Jack and Ruby?”
    “Apparently Jack and Ruby are off on a mission of their own somewhere. And she probably thought I’d be more… approachable.”
    “More of a soft touch, certainly.”
    Owen grinned and shrugged. “My life’s been tough enough without having God mad at me.”
    “I never really thought of you as religious,” said Hazel. “You’ve broken enough commandments in your time.”
    “I’m what the Empire made me,” said Owen. “I was raised to believe in the Families first, the Iron Throne second, and God when I had time. But of them all, only my faith in God remains. I like to think
    that Someone out there watches and cares.” He looked at Hazel. “How about you?” “I believe in hard cash and a loaded gun,” Hazel said briskly, and Bonnie and Midnight nodded more or less in unison.
    Hazel would have left it at that, but she could see Owen wanted more. “I live my life by my own rules, and I’ve always had problems with authority figures. If there is anything after this life, I’ll deal with it when I get there. As for Saint Bea, all right, she’s done a lot of good in her time, but so have we. She saved lives in her hospital, and we saved whole worlds by killing the right people. In the end, which of us made the most difference?”
    “Saint Bea is a real hero,” Owen said firmly. “She was a volunteer. An aristo who gave up everything to minister to the needy. We were all dragged into the rebellion, kicking and screaming all the way. So when she asked for my help, I couldn’t say no. And how does God reward me? Crashes my ship and strands me on a leper colony. Thanks a whole bunch, Big Guy.”
    Hazel looked back at Bonnie and Midnight. “Didn’t you have anyone like Saint Bea on your worlds?”
    “Nah,” said Bonnie. “The Church fell apart after the rebellion. Nothing’s really replaced it. We live for the day, and let eternity take care of itself.” Midnight sniffed dismissively. “In my Empire, the Church found a new role after the rebellion. Everyone is a member of the Church of Christ the Warrior now, but it is a Mystical Order rather than a religion. Everyone is raised to be a warrior from childhood on. The people will never be weak again. We have no room for Saints, for the weak or the meek—for those who don’t have the faith to fight for what’s right.”
    “I can see you and the Mother Superior are going to have a lot to talk about,” said Owen, and Hazel nodded solemnly. “Where do you stand on all this, Moon?” “The