Empire 1: Humiliation Page 10

small and the only open spaces on any of our planets are work areas."

  "It wouldn't matter, as long as you were there."

  She touched his lips with hers. They embraced briefly. Randolph rolled on his back.

  "A lot of my people would hate you simply because you're from Earth. Besides, I know nothing about you. I know that you're an engineering student like Annette and Sandy, but nothing else ... What did you really want last night?"

  "The same thing I want tonight. You."

  She leaned over and kissed him. They embraced.

  Randolph smiled at her. "Both Carl and Jess said to watch out for you. You are very attractive."

 

  "Come in."

  Randolph closed the door to Jonathan Edward's small room behind him. The desk was littered with Bibles and the lone man behind the desk resembled the chaos before him.

  "Have a seat, Prince Randolph."

  Randolph stopped, half-seated.

  "Did I say something wrong?"

  "No one has ever called me Prince Randolph before."

  "That is your proper title, is it not?"

  "I guess so. I really don't have any claim to it, though. What did you want to see me about?"

  "About a very avid talker who is very good at not saying anything important. Sandy had a long talk with Aidan last night and she thought that I should talk with you. The Lord intervened here, because she wanted Carl to do it, but he went to town today. Carl doesn't know who you are and it would have been a difficult conversation for both of you. And I gather that you don't know who Aidan is. Am I correct?"

  "Yes sir, that is correct."

  "Daughter of my cousin. I call her my niece, though. Her reason for being here is similar to yours. She should graduate after the fall semester, but her father is very concerned about her spiritual condition. I arranged for her to work here all summer to keep her out of trouble. For several years she's had a problem with materialism. She's always managed to have everything she wants. We both thought that she would be better off doing without some things for awhile. I gave her some responsibilities to keep her occupied."

  "How has she been doing?"

  "Surprisingly well. Of course she missed Sandy and Annette, but she listens to the services, she's made a lot of new friends and she seemed to be fitting in well. She actually likes it here. I am praying the same thing for her that I'm praying for you. You are both progressing, but you need more time. Neither of you are ready to go back."

  "Preacher Edwards, you might think I'm a little odd, but I would like for Michael and I to stay here a little longer myself. It's just not possible."

  "Humanly speaking, you're right. But the Lord can work things out. Unfortunately, I see very little change in Michael. He doesn't act like a saved man."

  He paused but Randolph remained silent.

  "These aren't the things I called you in here to discuss anyway. It appears that you've told Aidan a lot about yourself. Don't concern yourself about it. She's able to keep a secret when she has to." He sat up and straightened up some. "Aidan's never had any problem with anything to do with immorality, but Sandy's very concerned about you two. You are a Recorder and I know that you're never 'off the record' but unless it's more than I fear, there's no need for me to report this to any of your people. But I need to know what happened between you two the past two nights. I'm asking you because I trust you more than Aidan. Besides, I've heard her side, even though it was filtered through Sandy."

  "What did Sandy say happened?"

  Jonathan Edwards smiled. "You're a Recorder. It's better if I don't answer that, at least not until I hear what you have to say."

  "Well, Aidan's very attractive and she knows that I think her so. Two nights ago Michael, Aidan and I left the campgrounds for a private errand...."

  "To make illegal contact with some of your friends that your father doesn't like. Aidan didn't breathe a word of it. Captain White told me. He's a friend of mine. We've had Orientals preach here before, but this is the first time the government's ever come looking for them. They don't know about you or Michael and I didn't volunteer anything, but a lot of people know about that interplanetary transmitter. If you've still got it, you'd better get rid of it fast. One other person who knows about it is your father but you won't have to answer for that until you get back. Please continue, and be completely candid."

  "We were less than two kilometers down the road when the convoy stopped us. They left one soldier to watch us as they came on to camp. They searched us, but Aidan had it in her purse, which they didn't check."

  Jonathan Edwards smiled. "Our government refuses to believe that you can make it that small. I don't want to think about what would have happened to you if they had found it."

  "We needed to get away from him and send our message. We weren't coming up with any ideas, so while Michael and I just sat in the cart, Aidan walked up to the soldier and asked him for a few minutes of privacy, which he granted."

  "Randolph, soldiers aren't in the habit of just letting people they are guarding take off. Just what did she say to him?"

  "She strongly implied that we wanted to commit fornication."

  "I see that Sandy has reason to be concerned. What did you two do to preserve your virtue?"

  "We sat in the cart and said nothing. Aidan climbed back in and we took off."

  "So committing one sin was so important to you that you committed another one to cover for it. What did Michael think about what she did?"

  "He said that it was an act of courage."

  "And what did you think about it?"

  "Aidan wasn't in any shape to drive after what she learned, so Michael drove us back to the soldier. I approached him alone and tried to explain that what she had said was wrong and that I was wrong for letting her mislead him. He didn't believe me and the way Aidan looked, I don't blame him. I told Aidan that we were wrong to hint at fornication."

  "Now, what about last night? You had no obligation to go with Aidan. Carl and Sandy had intended to pair you up with Annette."

  "Aidan wanted to be with me and I wanted to talk to her some more about the night before. I couldn't find my Bible so I was a little later than the rest. She was just outside the men's dorm as I left and I asked her to go get her Bible. As we walked to the cart, she held my hand..."

  "Wasn't that mutual?"

  "To be honest, it might have been. I was so preoccupied with thinking of ways to get through to her that we had sinned, that I really didn't notice. I didn't even notice her dress until we were sitting in the meadow."

  "What was different about her dress?"

  "I had never noticed anything about her wardrobe until last night. She changed just before coming with us into a revealing dress, which I must admit was very effective. When I brought up the previous evening, I was very weak. She countered by reading James 2:25 and implying that she was as justified as Rahab. Do you have anything to drink?"

  "Of course! Let me get you a glass of water." He filled a glass from a spigot and handed it to Randolph. "What happened after that?"

  "We moved down the knoll..."

  "Where you were out of everyone's sight."

  "When we first went down, another cart was there. I didn't even think about the others. Aidan sat down and the cart drove off. She asked me to join her..."

  "Which you were willing to do."

  "Which I was willing to do. I made space sound very inviting and she asked me to take her with me."

  "And by this time you were lying next to each other."

  "Yes. And we kissed and embraced."

  "Is that all?"

  "She moved close to me and ..." He took a long drink.

  "And?"

  "And." He took another drink.

  "Son! What did you do?"

  "All I did was stand! -- That's not true. I looked at Aidan and ... I desired what I saw. Though I didn't physically touch her again, mentally I took what I desired."

  Jonathan Edwards exhaled and looked
at the downcast man in front of him. "We have a problem."

  "Your Holiness, we have some evidence now."

  Richelieu rose from his knees and turned about in his small, ornate chapel. He took the Book and examined it. "Yes, an Imperialist has definitely written these notes. How was it obtained?"

  "It came through the Occidental Church. One of the northern dioceses purchased it from a traveling peddler who is a member of the Church. He said that it came from inland, but we do not know where just yet. It is sparsely settled and our contacts are few."

  Richelieu turned the Bible over several times and glanced through it. "The level of education in this writing tells me it belonged to a nobleman. Of that I am sure, but it does not look royal. Perhaps the Lord has answered our prayers and perhaps we must keep looking. Let me know when you have something more definite."

  "Yes, your Holiness." As the archbishop started to turn, he noticed Richelieu smiling.

 

  "How did the monitor splices work?" Baron Rabshakeh was not smiling.

  "Better than expected," answered Baron Tobiah, "but not good enough. We aroused some suspicion when we cut the test in. However, they didn't find anything. It will work when it has to."

  "Would you trust it with your son's life?" asked Baron Rabshakeh.

  Baron Tobiah nodded.

  "What about the dummy seal planetside?" asked Baron Rabshakeh.

  Alexander nodded. "Everything's set, except for the guards. We can only deal with them when the time comes."

  "Now all we do is pray and wait on the Lord." And Baron Rabshakeh bowed his head.

 

  Jonathan Edwards looked across his desk at Sandy, Aidan and Randolph. The girls sat on his bunk and Randolph sat in the only