Opus of Guilt: Theme and Variation

[Tachyon 0]

“Opus of Guilt: Theme and Variation”

October 30, 2155

Lieutenant Dave Grey

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When things went wrong, they tended to go wrong all at once. The particle, for one thing, was gone—transported away from the Challenger and its illicit cloaking device. Grey was not sure whether this was a good or bad development. On one hand, the particle was gone and out of their hair—and out of sight, out of mind, right? On the other hand, the terribly heavy, rather throbbing hand, the particle was gone and in the hands of an enemy with the will to use it for purposes unknown. And Grey could not but help feel guilty.

 

Their operation on board the Achilles had been well-planned but poorly executed. The transporters were disabled, but they had suffered a confrontation with Quantus that ended with a death sentence for the Achilles crew. In the ensuing chaos, such a threat had proven harder to accomplish than to make, as threats often are, but Grey had still felt a momentary twinge of guilt.

 

And Quantus. Grey once again felt torn between his duty to help and his duty not to get involved. He didn’t know why Quantus wanted to destroy Midgar, although he gathered the reason was not one generally favoured by those who rather liked Midgar. Thus, Grey agreed with Moore’s decision to get involved. And of course, it was not as if they had been given any choice in the matter. Nagen had obviously been working with them from the start—he was one of them—and chasing him meant chasing these people.

 

So they chased; they pursued. It was a matter of honour, of duty, and of closure. Around them the cosmos revolved with a sort of timeless patience, as if it had seen this all before and would probably see it again.

 

(If a particle did not destroy it in the interval.)