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“Maybe you wouldn’t have to Doesn’t have to have anything to do with you But unless you’re going to specifically orderyou, Mister Baca I aainst the captain I a you to respect the chain of coh on Ashford’s orders, then I’ll make that commitment Do you understandto die, or we’re going through the Ring”

Chapter Eighteen: Anna

E

leven people showed up for Anna’s first worship service The contrast with her congregation on Europa was unsettling at first On Europa, she’d have had twenty or so faan, and a few drifting in late They’d have been all ages, fro in on personalchildren and infants Some would come in their Sunday best formal wear, others in ratty casual clothes The buzz of conversation prior to the service would be in lot By the end of the worship regation showed up in a single group at exactly 9:55 a seats, they floated in as a loose clu cloud in front of her podium They wore spotless dress uniforh to cut skin They didn’t speak, they just stared at her expectantly And they were all so young The oldest couldn’t have been more than twenty-five

The unusual circumstances rendered her standard worship service inappropriate—no need for a children’s e or church announcements—so Anna launched directly into a prayer, followed by a scripture reading and a short ser a sermon on duty and sacrifice; it see But she had instead decided to speak mostly on God’s love Given the fear Chris had expressed a few days prior, it felt like the better choice

When she’d finished, she closed with another prayer, then served coentle ritual seemed to ease the tension she felt in the roo soldiers carape juice and a wafer, and returned to their prior position floating nearby She read the fa They ate the bread and drank from the bulb And, as had always happened since the very first church service she could re vast and quiet settle on her She also felt the shiver that tried to crawl up her spine coh She had a sudden vision of Jesus, who’d asked His disciples to keep doing this in reation as they floated in e out of suction bulbs It seemed to stretch the boundaries of what He’d meant by this

A final prayer and the service was over Not one of her congregation pushed toward the door to leave Eleven young faces stared at her, waiting The oppressive aura of fear she’dthe communion crept back into the room

Anna pulled herself around the podium and joined their loose cloud “Should I expect anyone next week? You guys areme nervous”

Chris spoke first “No, it was real nice” He seemed to want to say more, but stopped and looked down at his hands instead

“Back on Europa, people would have brought snacks and coffee for after the service,” Anna said “We could do that next ti woman in a marine uniform pulled her hand terminal halfway out of her pocket to check the ti else fro to ask for it And it definitely wasn’t coffee and snacks