Title: Heretic Author:Tapestry Email: Shaddow_Cat@hotmail.com Rating: Standard Disclaimer Apply * denotes thought 4/8/02 "Woman was created from the ribs of man Not from his head to top him Nor from his feet to be walked upon She was made from his side to be his equal From beneath his arms to be protected From very near his heart to be loved." --Anonymous-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Prologue: Earth, 3025 a.d. ~ "And because of your crime, your belief and desire to go to the stars, your opposition towards doctrine, you are declared, a heretic." "Your punishment, death by the incinerator at the public square." "Do you have any last words, heretic?" The man with smoky eyes and dark hair merely stared at the High Council of Earth, his eyes filled with pity. "The only thing I have to say is, there are people who will always believe in going to the stars and there is no way you can stop us. Those of you who sit at in the High Council chairs and blind old fools." There were several gasps of outrage from the crowd watching the trial. The young woman seated in the front with silver white hair stayed silent. The Head of the Council frowned at the man. "You will not repent your crime and return to normal society?" "Never...there is nothing to return to. I would have my memory wiped. And I would rather die, than lose my memories of my fascination with the stars." said the man. "This heretic is beyond redemption, Tribunal Prime. Sentence him and be done with it." "Kou Taiki of Japan, you will die by the incinerator. Your sentence, will be carried out immediately." A chorus of shouts and boos were heard from the crowd, as their shouts rose to the rafters. "BURN THE HERETIC!! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!" chanted the crowd. The chant continued to the public square where the young man stood proud and defiant against the screaming crowd shouting for his blood. The shouts died as they watched in breathless anticipation of the burning to come. The young man was shoved into a transparent orb. The man did not plead, did not cry. He merely stood silently, proud as he turned his face up to the sky, an almost wistful expression on his face. Fires leapt up in the orb and still the man did not scream. His face was still upturned to the heavens as a single tear ran down his cheek. "I wish...I could have touched the stars.." The young woman with silver white hair turned away as tears ran down her face. She hated these burnings. She hated it more that she had known the man. He was heretic....let the will of the gods, be served. A far off memory invaded her mind...back when she had only been a child. ~FLASHBACK~ "Papa, why is it no one can go to the stars?" asked a 10 year old girl. "Because it is doctrine, Serenity..." "What's doctrine?" "Doctrine is the will of the heavens." The little girl stared at her father with wide eyes. "Papa, has anyone ever been to the stars?" "Our ancestors, darling." "What was it like?" "Desolate...unlivable. No one can live up there." "But it's so pretty." The girl's father turned his face up to the sky and smiled a sad smile. "Yes, it's pretty, baby. But we can never go to the stars. That is the will of gods when our world was nearly wiped out by plagues and natural disasters. Our Saviour, made a pact that we would never again go to the stars." said the father. The little girl could only look up at the sky in awe and fascination. Listening to her father's tales in rapture. *Papa, I wish I could for one moment, touch the stars...* ~END FLASHBACK~ The young woman's mouth twisted wryly. "Touch the stars, huh?? Hmmph...naive fools." whispered the woman softly. Up high in the stars, a ship passed through the dark void of space, carrying within it, a crew from a distant star system. "A populated planet has been reported." "I will inform them." "Excuse me." Nine individuals seated around a table looked up expectantly at the intruder. "Yes?" "Our sensors are reading a populated planet, no spacial faring capabilities but we are detecting then existence of technology almost equal to our own. A woman with dark hair frowned. "A planet with technology but no space faring capabilities? How odd. Their population?" "Very dense. Almost 16 billion inhabitants. There are no signs of any off-world colonies." reported the man. "Sixteen billion on one planet?" "A population that dense should have expanded their living territories a long time ago." "Especially considering their planet's resources should have been drained by the density of the population. What do you think, Endymion?" The silent individual who sat a the head of the table frowned. "Our ship needs repairs and more fuel. Our supplies need to be restocked if we are to return to our star system. What about their culture and beliefs?" he asked slowly. "Our scans show the race is a very cultural based society. Doctrine dictated due to the effects of a great catastrophe that happened over a millenia ago. Something to do with their space exploration programs. It caused a world wide series of earthquakes, floods and other devastating natural disasters." "I see...What is their doctrine?" "They believe going to the stars will cause great damage to their society as well as being a waste of time. Records indicate they burn the people who believe in going to the stars. In fact, there was just a tribunal in a North West hemisphere city this morning. Their mother capital, I believe." Some of the individuals frowned. "Burning? That's barbaric." "That's terrible." "What shall we do?" asked the man. "Park the ship in orbit over the Northern Hemisphere. I believe there are electromagnetic storms there that can hide our ship?" asked Endymion. "Yes." "We will transport down and survey the planet. See if they have a source of energy powerful enough or us to use." said Endymion. "And the locals?" "We avoid any personal contact that is more than necessary. I don't need the people of this planet going out for our blood. I for one, intend to avoid being burned alive." snorted Endymion as he rose from his seat. "You know, all plans can go awry sometimes." "Venus!!" "It's the truth!" "Well then, let's try to STICK to the plan. No involvement, guys. We don't need a conflict." sighed Endymion. "You know, there are planets here named after you guys." laughed a man with blonde hair and mischievous dark blue eyes. "Oh yeah?" "Mm-hmm. Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. The other planets are Pluto, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Of course, we know people named that too." grinned the man. "Anything on Jadeite?" snapped Mars. "Oh sure. It's a type of stone on the planet. So's Nephrite, Kunzite and Zoycite." "Alright! Let's go already!" exclaimed Kunzite annoyed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To be continued... Review and emails!! What do you think of this story?? Check the summary out at:~ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/5879/heretic.html 11/8/02