Downtime Episode 11

"I admit I'm curious, Colonel. You haven't ever fully explained your reasons, and you strike me as a man of principle. Why betray your oath to Greer?"

Colonel Sam Washington looked up from his glass of port and regarded Lorenzo with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting way to put that question, Hierarch. Very...direct."

"Well, they say a man who turns once might well turn again. I don't want to find myself in the position Greer does now."

Washington laughed and reclined further in his chair. The Hierarch's office was large and well-appointed, with original artwork, sculpture, and a few interesting machines framing the single largest desk that Washington had ever seen. "That's wise enough, I suppose. Well then," he leaned forward, "let me make this clear. I won't betray my oath to you because I'm not going to swear one."

Lorenzo sat up, looking surprised. "What? But you-"

"I don't even like you, Lorenzo; I think you're a petty bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur." Lorenzo sniffed at that but Washington didn't give him time to interrupt. "For better or worse, however, your delusions seems to be shared by a awful lot of people and, perhaps more importantly, your goals and mine are the same."

"So, what? All I've gained is a mercenary, loyal only to his paycheck?"

"Oh, not at all. What you've gained is a crusader, loyal to his cause, and that is the very best type of soldier to have." Washington stood and walked over to a miniature orrery and pushed on one of the planets, sending the entire system spinning around the miniature, gold-leafed sun.

"It became clear to me that the Greer to whom I'd sworn an oath no longer existed. They're not concerned with people or God anymore, just resources. Monopoly, leverage, supply, those are the watchwords of the government. I can't say that elicits a tremendous amount of sympathy from my...romantic heart." They shared a chuckle.

"So why me, then? What's your cause?"

"I'm a soldier second and a Christian first. An Edenist first, really. And as an Edenist, I believe as you do that William Newton is as near to a saint as you're likely to find nowadays. But, when the people of Newton put him in the ground, they must've buried his ideals with him because suddenly, they're acting much less like William and much more like Greer. And that will not do at all."

Lorenzo nodded. "Then you're right, we are agreed."

Washington turned back to Lorenzo. "I assume, then, that we're also agreed when I say that action is necessary, and soon. I didn't bring an army with me to keep them in camp."

Lorenzo smiled and finished off his glass. "We are agreed. Action it will be."