Most of the crew injected or consumed various sedatives in preparation for the gate. Inside the gravity beam, the ship experienced a constant acceleration along a varying trajectory coordinated for the convenience of the gate operators. The gates could produce sufficient acceleration to move a space station and could overwhelm the dilaton mesh on all but the largest ships. Performed deliberately, this technique could reduce transit times at the cost of crew discomfort. Defocusing - gravitic lensing over the long distances between the source of the energy beam and the shuttle - resulted in a feeling of disorientation that the local dilaton mesh could not compensate for. Multiple beams from distant planets could direct a craft in any direction across immense distances.

When the Destiny and the shuttle reached the half-way point, the beam changed polarity, scrubbing the massive velocity from the vessels. The relativistic effects of the beam interfered with communication. The pair of ships received messages after the distant gravity generators returned velocities to manageable levels.

"First they want us to tow their houseboat around, and now we've got to chauffeur them as well. This is not what I... we should be doing right now."

Pathik's eyes shifted away from the console and towards Rolf. "Hmm?"

"Just got a message from the glorious captain of the Shore of Destiny."

"That's me," Pathik said, his tone light.

"The one with tits."

"Understood. What has happened?" Pathik asked.

"They are stranded on some asteroid. They took a life pod down and now we're to pick up four passengers. Do you think the shuttle could handle low-G ascent?"

"Not wise without a calibrated fuel load," Pathik said. "But surface-to-station capability is within basic limits. Stealth might be compromised."

"Well, she can pay for that, too. We'll have to take both ships."

Pathik toyed with Rolf's frustration. "Both ships? The Destiny will not survive atmospheric entry."

Rolf growled. "You know what I mean."

***

Ina rapped on Colin's door. Each door contained a panel with an electronic buzzer, but Ina preferred the traditional approach. One more reason for the crew to find her odd, she reminded herself. The door slid open, and Colin was seated, staring at a book in his lap.

"You accused me of sulking."

The medic looked up, eyes unfocused. "No. I'm not sulking. Just enjoying a life in Rolf's Taxi Cab Service."

"You do not support this mission?"

Colin raised a drug gun and injected something into the side of his neck.

"Well, I guess I'm used to the glory of the good old days."

Ina stepped inside the room and stood over Colin. She glanced at the setting on the drug gun - he was using an agent to neutralize - no, only dampen - the effects of a wide array of narcotics.

"We saved lives when we stopped the bandits on Grace-919. The station did recognize our contribution."

Colin stood and raised his voice just slightly. "You all stopped the bandits. I sat in a kennel."

Ina turned to leave the room. "Nevertheless, the rescue could not have happened without your involvement. We will be approaching Alef Qeryh in fifty kiloseconds. Pathik requires us to report to the command deck."

She paused at the door. "Glory is the momentum of the dead. I would rather move on my own."

Colin shook his head. "That doesn't make sense."

The black-haired girl vanished. Colin washed up and then followed her to the command deck, stopping and retrieving a packet of pasta from the common area. He began to eat the congealed mass from the packet as if he were biting into a sandwich. The overhead monitor displayed the Destiny's command deck, and Bronco, Ross, Liam, and Rolf sat at the various command stations. Pathik cleared his throat to begin discussion.

"We shall land soon. Qeryh has no natural cycle. Gravity is much lower and the atmosphere will make you sick."

Rolf's voice crackled over the monitor. "Liam, Ross and I will stay on the Destiny in case there's trouble. The rest of you will take the shuttle down, pick up our cargo, and head back. Simple as that. Nothing in my brother's message said anything about fighting or that sort of trouble, and entry protocol prohibits firearms, but..."

Pathik agreed. "Direct entry. We'll be landing heavy so that we have enough fuel to pull out of Alef's gravity well."

Bronco touched Pathik's shoulder. "Should more of us stay behind?"

"A few hundred kilograms will not matter. We shall be picking up... additional three hundred. This shuttle is capable of unassisted atmospheric transit, but we don't know what Quorum changed to make stealth. If anything is wrong..."

Colin's hands rested on his hips. "Oh, so another job with the wrong equipment. These always go so well."

Rolf glowered at Colin on the monitor. "Colin, is there a problem?"

"No, boss."

"He's just bored," Bronco added. "He's scared we'll lighten his mood."

Colin asked, "Pathik, what's this about a toxic atmosphere?"

Pathik handed Colin a computer with a report that explained the situation. Supplements were required to eliminate certain compounds that were absorbed through the lungs. The document indicated the formulation of a long-lasting compound.

"I can work this up in two kiloseconds," Colin said. He was glad the formula wouldn't diminish his supply of recreational narcotics.

He completed his work while Ina and Bronco transferred most of the food, water, furniture, and other supplies to the Destiny. Pathik computed the fuel requirement for the shuttle to leave the atmosphere of Alef Qeryh, and left just enough in the shuttle to complete the landing and ascent. The shuttle crew completed their preparations within five kiloseconds, then met in the command deck.

Pathik nudged Colin. "This is going to be fun. The shuttle has no aerofoils. With full load of fuel, we are crashing into planet and praying we don't blow up. If we survive, we climb rope ladder off the ship. Ropes! Who would bet the ropes ruin the whole thing?"

The small black ship detached and engines pulsed, guiding the team towards the planetoid. The ship pivoted as the planet came within a hundred kilometers, velocity increasing tangent to the planet's gravity well, as if the shuttle were entering orbit. The velocity wasn't enough, and the shuttle slipped bottom-first towards the ground. The planet's surface was black, streaked with rivers of dull red. The engines pulsed on low power while thrusters popped on automatic control, maintaining orientation and attitude. The ship's forward velocity began to match the planet's rotational velocity and the planet stopped spinning in the display. Pathik selected a landing point near the location in Arius' message.

Pathik engaged the auto-land as the shuttle drifted a hundred meters from the surface. The brown-skinned man flashed an expression of mock terror at the occupants of the command deck. The engines powered off, the dilaton mesh reset to landing parameters, and the ship dropped under gravity for several uncomfortable moments. The engines re-engaged at full power, scrubbing the remaining velocity from the shuttle, and the mass settled to a rest on a pad of freshly-glassed volcanic rock.

The shuttle's dilaton mesh maintained a standard orientation so that the direction felt by the crew as 'down' remained pointed towards the floor, though the ground was below the aft section of the craft. The small crew unbuckled from their seats and walked out of the command deck and to the airlock. Bronco pressed a button and the exterior door slid away, revealing mountains silhouetting the dark sky. Another button clicked, and the inner door opened.

Colin jabbed Bronco with his drug gun before the big man left, and then turned to Ina.

She shook her head.

"I don't need that."

He frowned for a moment. "For the same reason you could walk through smoke fumes on N-X-171 without getting sick?"

Ina blinked, realizing her mistake. She confirmed, and then hoped Colin would let the issue drop.

Colin did, treating Pathik instead.

Bronco walked into the airlock and opened a locker. Inside lay a small bundle, a series of metal bars linked together by a cable. He extracted a half meter of the bundle and attached the "top" of the ladder to two anchor points on the outside of the airlock door, and then tossed the remaining bars. They clattered down the side of the ship towards the ground, canting awkwardly towards the side under the residual effects of the dilaton mesh.

"Ready?" Pathik questioned.

Bronco pushed Colin and Ina against the aft wall, grabbed a handhold, and nodded to the video camera. Pathik entered a command into a small terminal on the interior wall near the airlock. The dilaton mesh disengaged and the ladder bounced until it rested neatly and entirely under the effect of the planetoid's gravity. Various items stored throughout the ship tumbled into new positions, playing a disconcerting cacophony, but there hadn't been time to secure everything.

Bronco jumped out the air lock, drifting down, slowing his fall by grasping at the side of the ladder. The rest of the group descended the ladder in the same manner. Pathik tapped a panel on his wrist and the shuttle airlock closed and sealed.

Buildings became visible in the distance as eyes adjusted to the darkness. Flashes of lightning, dulled through the soot-filled sky, illuminated the structures. The flashes were dim in the fog but regular enough to be used as a light source. The closest building was an old structure made of blocks formed from the same sort of glass that covered the surface of the planet. Further beyond lay a pyramid with a single flight safety lamp flickering at the peak. The smooth glass that covered the ground reflected the flickering gray sky.

The place lacked the mechanical noise and human smell of a station, even the electrical hum of the shuttle.

"Sinister," Colin promised.

"A kilometer to the pyramid. That is our destination," Pathik promised.

Fifty meters from the landing site the texture of the glass shifted from a smooth plate to something akin to rippling water. Concerned, Colin found a crest and broke the tip off. The chunk of stone was made of amber glass and the sharp edge cut his finger. Cursing, Colin skipped the fragment across the surface. The stone bounced and shattered, clattering noisily in the reduced gravity. Pathik set his hand-held light to maximum and illuminated the surface, but the reflections on the glass only disoriented.

The group reached the pyramid and stood before massive glass stones, stacked on top of each other in an interlocking array. Bronco approached the closest wall and touched the surface with his fingertips. "There's no mortar."

"Mortar?" Colin asked.

Bronco said, "My grandpa was a mason on Earth. Mortar's this mud you use to hold chunks of rock together. I thought I'd see some here. This shit's just synthetic junk. Wonder how they turned this whole place into glass?"

Ina stepped forward, next to Bronco, and touched the jet-black wall. Bronco gestured with his hand at a seam.

"Look, see? These stones look like they were melted together, welded like how spacers do steel. I've never heard of that, but I suppose it made sense to someone."

"This building is a temple. A great amount of energy was expended in the construction. Unnecessarily," Ina whispered.

Bronco sighed. "You're right. Someone put a lot of effort into this little amusement park. There's easier ways to build something like this. Like, for starts, away from a gravity well."

Pathik searched the pyramid with his light and located a small opening near the center of the wall, just large enough for a person to walk through.

"There."

The group moved inside through the tiny entrance. The interior stones were the same translucent amber as the wave-like rock Colin had broken a fragment from. The walls were covered in striking pictographs, each letter a meter high, and the walls held thirty symbols before reaching the domed ceiling. Each letter was constructed of fog-colored quartz fused into the wall. Yellow light refracted through the building, providing gentle illumination. The pyramid had been built from individual stones, and then fused into a single massive structure.

"My gods. What is this place?"

Bronco stared at Pathik. "No idea. The symbols are old letters, but I don't understand the words. I feel like I've seen this before. This place is amazing. I want to take some video, ok? Something to show the others. Something to show the kids."

Pathik nodded back. "Hey, kids. Let me tell you about the time daddy robbed a temple. This is a cult. Meant to look old, but I've seen old. This is young."

Bronco ignored the slight and swept his communicator around. The device activated a light and illuminated the ceiling, revealing more stone writing. The four walked into the temple, footsteps raising brown dust from the dirt floor. The hundred-meter long chamber ended in a wall and a single hallway flickered with brighter lighting.

"I'm scared," Ina offered.

Bronco responded. "What? Where'd that come from?"

Ina shook her head, not knowing, and the big man shrugged.

The group entered the hallway and continued into another chamber. To the left, three-meter-tall ornamental gates covered the wall. The gates did not block any sort of doorway and were mounted to the amber stone walls, illuminated by small flames flickering from finger-sized protrusions in the wall.

The whole area stunk of methane and sulfur. Below each of the gates ran a stream of clear liquid - water - falling into channels along the floor. The channels vanished into the wall opposite the gates. Steam rose from the water, and Bronco touched it, burning the tip of his finger.

The dirt and dust of the outer chamber had been cleaned, revealing rough stone. The group passed seven streams in all before the floor began to slope downwards. The floor beyond the streams seemed to vibrate with an audible hum.

Pathik shouted, "Hello?"

A man clad in a ragged robe made of patchwork burlap clambered slowly from beyond the shadows at the bottom of the ramp. "Not pilgrims."

Ina stared at the man, assessing him. "No. We have made arrangements to meet passengers here."

The man shrugged and pulled the burlap from his head. His eyes were deeply-sunken, and his skin was pock-marked from an old disease. "The other travelers. Ahh. Do you understand our laws?"

Colin stepped forward and shook his head. "We don't know anything about you. Just want our people."

The man slumped. "That's for the best. We would consider it a kindness if you would not speak of this place. We live a life of seclusion. Many of us do not talk as you and I, and would prefer to be left in silence."

The man folded his arms across his chest and stared at Bronco, still recording with his communicator. "If you do not agree to our laws, you must turn back now."

Pathik replied, "We didn't ask to go in."

Bronco gasped, exasperated. "Can't you just bring them here?"

"No," the man hissed, "I can not, because of vows that bind me. Silence. And more. Every soul continues into this hall empty. You must leave all of your possessions behind. There are vows of peace and friendship. There are obligations that must be fulfilled. You'll need to descend to make arrangements with the cleric in charge."

"Er, well, can we bring our communicators?"

"You misunderstand. You must leave even the clothing you now wear before you may proceed."

Ina looked past the man, then at Pathik. "I will go in. Stay here."

Bronco looked at Ina. "What? That's insane. No."

She slinked to his side and whispered in his ear. "This is not right. They are not going to let us leave if we go further, though we must."

Ina turned and stared at the bull's carcass, slaughtered and quartered in a pool of blood, gore resting on the floor a meter behind the priest. She knew the others couldn't see anything beyond the strange man.

Bronco watched the girl stare off into space, and shook his head. "I don't get it."

Ina turned her gaze to Bronco. "Return to the shuttle. I'm meant to be here, I can't explain it. I'll contact you when I need you. Thank you for always trusting me."

Bronco cleared his throat, and addressed Colin and Pathik. "I'm not getting naked for this fool. We're leaving, gentlemen. Come on, Ina."

Ina shook her head, and Colin shot a confused look at the girl. She shrugged and moved to the side of the priest. Pathik neared Bronco and gave him a questioning look.

Bronco uttered a single word, "Outside."

Ina dropped a machete and knife to the floor, then a toolkit, boots, trousers, a shirt, and undergarments. She considered folding her clothes, but felt a vague sense that the effort would be pointless.

The three crew members left the temple. Pathik looked at Bronco. "What the hell just happened? Rolf is going to kill us for letting this happen."

Bronco put his hands up. "Ina said we had to go. She's going inside. She will be in touch when she needs us. We gotta hold tight."

"How exactly is she going to get in touch with us in her birthday suit?"

Colin shook his head at Pathik, understanding. "When have you ever actually seen her use a communicator? And why do you think I didn't jack her with metabolic stims? I've never met anyone with so much prosthetic. That's her plan."

***

"You have arrived during our taking of food. Are you bound by an ascetic oath?"

"No."

The monk said, "Very well. Our rules are not complex. Do not speak unless you are addressed. Make no display of anger or violence. Take only that which is given to you. The touching of flesh for pleasure is forbidden. There are more, but because you are leaving in time, we will not be concerned unless necessary."

The monk led her to the mess hall, then vanished into the crowd. A line had formed around a pot of some sort of rough porridge, long cooking over a lump of red-hot volcanic rock. The rest were seated at tables, eating from stoneware bowls, gingerly scooping up the boiled grain with dirty fingers. Half the hundred people already eating were as naked as Ina. Most of the rest wore the dust-colored robes. The lava rock heating the porridge was the only source of light in the chamber.

Colin responded to the message on the shuttle. He needed a test. "Why do you get all the glory?"

Ina's message flashed on the terminal. "There's no glory here. The air is cold, even with the molten rock around."

She scanned the dimly-lit hall. Her eyes were not sensitive enough to see from one end to the other, though the length spanned only twenty meters. She reconfigured to a different mode and could sense the heat of the humans, the bright naked bodies, the dim brown initiates, and the black-robed monks. She couldn't discern individuals. She wouldn't be able to identify the crew of the Destiny this way.

A man draped in carbon fabric, hunched but still towering, approached Ina. The shape of his face became distinguishable when he was close and her eyes could form an image from the available visible light. He adjusted his sleeves carefully before speaking. "Why are you here?"

"I explained that already. Who are you?" Ina asked. She suppressed a wave of frustration at this dense cultists. They weren't even Gorman, just... insane and rich.

The man bowed slightly. "Toricks, I am called. Primus inter pares. I was told that you would be coming to us. I merely wish to understand why."

Ina shook her head. "I am looking for friends. They told you? I should speak to them."

"We are all friends here. All in the service of our father, he who lights the abyss."

Ina stared up at Toricks, confused. She didn't want to offend him, and his robust stature intimidated her.

He knew. Toricks stretched upwards, reaching his full height, more than two meters. "You are welcome to eat, if you wish. Our meals are simple but sufficient."

Ina nodded, and turned to walk away. Toricks grabbed her arm. The skin of his hand was calloused and strong. Ina paused for a moment until the figure released his grasp.

"Find a place to sit and contemplate. Tomorrow, I will ask you again why you have come. I expect a superior answer."

The black-robed monk grinned, the side of his face illuminated by the stove, and walked away.

A heavy, distant bell rang out and monks shuffled into lines along the walls of the room, those who were queuing for food, and those who had completed the meal alike. The lines shuffled out of the room, through dark walls, and down many small hallways. They navigated by touch. She heard them singing. A monk dashed a bucket full of water onto the lava-stone, quenching the heat and the light as the lava cooled. Ina walked towards the wall and found she couldn't discern the walkways from the surface enclosing the room. Her eyes searched for contrasting thermal signatures, but the stone remained the same warm temperature. The openings had vanished.

Gravelly words came from behind. "Trapped in the womb, hmm? Come with me."

A soft hand pulled at Ina's elbow. Ina relaxed, consenting, and followed the rough voice down the dark hallway. She was pulled towards her right, and then through a small passage.

The hand disappeared. The voice crackled from below her, "This is the chamber where I sit. Please, join me."

Ina lowered herself, and found space on the floor in the small passage. Her knees rubbed lightly against a burlap robe.

"They call me Sister Rache."

"I am Ina."

"Ina, then. Did you read of us in old books? Do you come from another priory?"

"No. This is a misunderstanding. I'm just here for a job."

The singing of the others muted the conversation. Every single voice seemed to echo in the tiny chamber. Ina considered how the effect might have been accomplished. There must be some sort of speaker or sound device in each chamber, transmitting sound to every other chamber.

"Ah, that one. You came here seeking the others, then. Toying with words is work for the unenlightened. Will you use violence to leave this place?"

Ina couldn't distinguish the woman's features, though she glared at the source of the voice. The smell of cow's blood drifted through the air, and her sensors detected nothing. Ina considered calling for the Destiny's crew through the chamber sound system. At least she would know if they were still present, but she possessed no sense of the danger any of them might be in.

"I will behave in any way I desire appropriate to..."

"-Of course, though you must not expect anything less of anyone else. Your... friends... tried to leave with our property, and disrupted the threads of several devout. Violence is unnecessary. Life always concludes in the same manner. We can leave any time we wish. But they chose a different path, outside the law, and so the law has punished them. Do you understand the vow?"

"What have you done with them? Are you saying they've been killed? Imprisoned?"

"None of us save me would spend the eve with you. I wondered why, but it's obvious. Those others created this hardship for you. Be silent now, and I will tell you of the vow on the next eve. Until then, contemplate your sinful nature."

Ina listened to the singing and remained silent. She counted twenty kiloseconds passing before glass bells sounded through the chamber.