“The accused has waived the right to an advocate, and confessed, freely and without duress. I find you guilty, and sentence you to death.”

“Fifty thousand is just the start. When the Axiom rise again–”

Callie pointed her finger at the elder, and Shall fired a single shot.

Callie turned to Lantern. “I’m done here. What do you want to do now?”

“I want to destroy the Axiom.”

“Me too, but that’s a big job. So what’s the first step?”

“I send a message,” Lantern said.

Lantern sent the transmission from the secure communications center on the station, which was apparently called Veritat; Elena thought that was a little too on the nose, but Lantern said it was a translation anyway.

“Urgent message to our sister cells,” Lantern wrote. “This is Elder Mizori. The forbidden technology we detected was successfully destroyed, and all informational contamination has been sanitized. All humans with knowledge of the Axiom have been eliminated. The mission was indubitably costly and left us understaffed. Veritat was damaged, and made vulnerable to attack by local independent criminal forces. Most of our personnel were lost in the ensuing comprehensive battle. We have made arrangements to take in thirteen local orphans, still in their incubators. They will be raised within the sect, and will replenish our losses. No reinforcements are necessary. I was, however, forced to erase our entire informational archive as a precautionary measure when I feared we would be boarded. Sect sixteen, please send a replacement infosphere, keyed to my biometrics. Message ends.”

“Do you think they’ll believe it?” Elena said.

“I included all three of today’s secret keywords – sanitized, and indubitably, and comprehensive – which are recorded nowhere else, and known only to members of the truth-tellers. They will know the message is authentic. It may take months for the infosphere to arrive, though, as great precautions will be taken with its transport from system sixteen. We will have to keep Mizori in cold storage until then, so we can use her biometrics to unlock the data.” Lantern twirled in the air, like a falling flower. “Once that’s done… I will have a sense of the Axiom projects that are close to completion. I will raise the young we rescued from the Axiom station as truth-tellers, yes, but they will know the real truth. My people mature quickly, and in five or six years, they will be ready to join my cause, if they choose. We will dedicate ourselves to defeating the Axiom and recovering the truth of our lost history and culture.”

She extended two tentacles, touching both women on their shoulders “I cannot thank you enough, Doctor Oh, and Captain Machedo, for helping me. I wish you both well. If, in the course of your travels, you discover information that might help my mission, I hope you will let me know.”