I flick the switch that cuts off the intercom that was tied into the ship-wide surveillance system that had detected raised voices that had alerted me to Becki and Kristy discussing Becki and Thayer.
With a day of rest planned, I had been wondering exactly how I was going to spend the time. My hand hovers over another switch, this one connecting me directly to the Dictator's office back in Mendellia.
No. Not my business.
"Pater noster qui es in coelis,
Sanctificetur nomen tuum;
Adveniat regnum tuum,
Fiat voluntas tua,
Sicut in coelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
Sed libera nos a malo. [1]
"I know it's been a while I spoke to you directly, but here I am again. Another time of worry and uncertainty, and like the prodigal son, I come back to you.
"I suppose you get a lot of people like me. I mean, you're omnipotent and stuff, but that's hard for us to understand. We see you as father, Our Father, in fact, and with that title comes a vision of a kindly, loving man, with a hint of exasperation when we make the same mistakes, over and over.
"Will you forgive me if I kill again? Or if I stand by and let my friends make mistakes I can prevent?
"And what if my friends make mistakes because I walk away?
"So just for once, I'm not here to ask you for anything, really. I'm mostly just here to talk to you. I'm leaving, and that's final, I can't stand by and I can't take part, and my only path lies away from here.
"Oh, not Jerusalem, not specifically. Just away. Away from my friends, away from my family. Away from me. I need time to decide who, or what I am. And I can't do it here.
"For I am blessed. I can do anything I want, go anywhere I want, and no-one can stop me.
"A perfect situation for a twenty-one year old, and one I intend to exploit. Eat my dust.
"Pater, I'm just a few miles from where your son died for us. Too many are taken too soon, and we stand by and allow it to happen. One man can make a difference, and we've seen that, and maybe I can be that one man?
"So here's my proposal, which I'll be putting before Sci when we're done here. I walk, and keep walking. I see what I see, I tell my friends, and maybe here or there we might help a little. Where one man can make a difference, I vow to try and be that man.
"Becki's just walked past. Tears in her eyes and, yes, no ring on her finger. I can't help her, but I might be able to help someone else.
"I just need the faith that my mission is good. That the wanderer can change the little town, that the stranger can fix the flat tyre for the family on their way to the hospital, that what I see might change the world. Not a lot, I don't see myself as a new Mother Teresa. Just as someone with a debt to pay, and a lifetime to pay it in.
"So, that's my deal. I travel the world, get to see even more than I already have. And for that I pay the price. If I can help, then I will, if Terra Group can help, I'll try and bring them in. Will there really be so many alien attacks on this planet?
"There we have it. A new chapter. Mike Clark: Professional Wanderer. Grant me the faith in myself that I may bring help to those in need, and the wisdom to know when help is needed.
"Amen."
[1] It's the Our Father in Latin. Blame Becki.