The Cleansing had begun. 

Veneep knew it as soon as he stepped into the mortuary that day, and saw that an entire bank of assassins was gone. Of course, the Cleansing had been going on for years in the League of 20,000 Planets, but he hadn't expected it to come to The Cluster so soon. He'd wanted more time, but now it seemed the choice of whether to act had been taken out of his hands before he was ready. 

He could hear the dull roar and thump of the monstrous crowd in the arena, even here in the mortuary. They'd finally captured the heretic Thodin, or so he'd heard. Thodin would be put on trial in the arena and sentenced to death within the hour, thereby crushing the rebellion. What the cheering throng didn't realize, the idiots, was that they were next. As terrified as he was, Veneep couldn't wait any longer. If he and Twoboy were to make it out alive, he would have to act now, knowing that to do so was bold to the point of suicide. 

Showing a calmness he didn't feel, he prepared to go about his task. Thankfully, the other bioscholars in the mortuary were fairly oblivious to him and his work. It was a survival habit of almost everyone in The Cluster to put their noses to their work, to watch what others were doing only if it impacted on themselves, and in this way hope to escape notice. Veneep put on his robe with the protective apron --- sometimes the bodies weren't quite dead and those were the messiest ones --- took up his instruments, and went too Drawer 901 on Level 11. Time to wake the dead. 

The drawer slid open soundlessly. Veneep was always unnerved by the sight of the dead assassins, lying there hooked up with protoblood tubes. He hated waking them, hated seeing them open their vacant eyes, hated the sound of their sepulchral voices asking who was to be killed next. But now there was no other way. 

The corpse, a male, lay in death, face and hands made even more pale against the black of its clothes --- a simple tunic and trousers --- its hair in tangled disarray about its head. Decarbonizing them always turned the clothes black --- providing a kind of uniform for the dead assassins that was unmistakeable, even when the cut of the clothes was different from corpse to corpse. Gazing on its alabaster face, Veneep reflected once more that it had been a handsome man in life. Veneep could almost feel sorry for it. 

The bioscholar opened the valves, and when the corpse opened its eyes, Veneep suppressed a shiver. 

"Who do you want me to kill?" the corpse asked. 

"No one. For now," Veneep answered. "Get up and come with me." 

Obediently the assassin climbed out of its drawer and followed Veneep up the steep stairs cut in the stone face of the mortuary. They passed thousands of drawers, but the assassin showed no curiosity. It was merely an automaton, Veneep kept reminding himself to ignore the icy feeling in his spine, with this killer at his back. The assassin was incapable of independent action, and it had been modified to follow only Veneep's orders. Even His Divine Shadow would not be able to countermand them, because Veneep had been very careful and very daring. Even now, he shuddered at his own temerity. To awaken a Divine Assassin for his own personal use was instant death, should it be discovered. 

"Where are you taking that one?" asked one of the other bioscholars, momentarily distracted by the sight of one of the assassins walking among them. Veneep almost dropped his tray of instruments in his fright. 

"We're going to the arena. It's to assist me in bringing back a body for modification," Veneep said, admiring despite himself the steadiness of his voice. 

"What body?" The man glared suspiciously at Veneep. 

"Why, Thodin, of course. His Divine Shadow thought it amusing to make Thodin into another assassin." 

"I thought they were feeding him to the cluster lizards," said the man. 

"Oh, they're throwing *somebody* to the lizards, to be sure, but it won't be Thodin. That's just for the crowd. His Divine Shadow actually wants to keep Thodin --- the way he keeps some of his others --- to teach those who believe in propheecy that the only truth is the Divine Order." 

The man considered this, and then thumped his breast and made a straight-armed salute. "May His Merciful Shadow fall upon you." 

"May His Merciful Shadow fall upon you," Veneep answered automatically, and continued on his way, followed by the silent killer. He would have to hurry now, in case the man decided to investigate his story. 

"Bioscholar." Veneep's jumped with fright upon hearing that voice at his back. The assassin had stopped walking as soon as they entered the juncture of corridors that led to every part of His Divine Shadow's complex. Veneep turned reluctantly. 

"The arena is this way," the killer intoned, gesturing at a corridor. 

"I know!" Veneep snapped, barely quelling his panic. "There's been a change in plans! Come along!" 

Without even a hint of curiosity or objection, the assassin moved forward, ready to follow him, and he turned and led the way, trying not to look over his shoulder or shake too hard. The farther away from the mortuary they got, the more he regretted including the assassin in his escape plans. Still, the killer would come in handy if anyone should question him and not be satisfied with his answers. 

Veneep had always heard it said that it was good to put one's life in the hands of another. Somehow, he did not think the person who said that had ever encountered the walking death that followed him now. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival: Escape, Pt. 2 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

Halfway down the corridor that led to his quarters, Veneep was rocked by the floor trembling beneath his feet, and there was a dull thud as of a distant explosion. The assassin reached out and took his arm, steadying him. Startled, he stared up into the vacant eyes. 

"Uh... Thank you," he said, and could have bitten his tongue in embarrassment. Who talked to an assassin as if it were a living person? 

The assassin made no response, merely followed as Veneep quickened his pace. He didn't know what the explosion was, but it boded no good. Best to hurry. 

He rushed into his quarters, and found Twoboy waiting for him. The boy sat on a stool in the middle of the main room, anxiously clutching his stuffed Cluster lizard and watching the door. When Veneep opened the door, he jumped up and rushed to his guardian, throwing his arms around him. 

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I heard noises!" he cried. "I was scared!" 

Veneep patted Twoboy's shoulder, and had to reach up to do it. Twoboy was half a head taller than himself, being a child in a nearly adult body. 

"We must hurry, Twoboy," Veneep said urgently. "Did you pack your bag the way I told you?" 

Twoboy nodded vigorously, smiling, relieved that he could prove he had done something right. "Yes, just like you said. Only my clothes, and the box with the codes, just like you said, and the blackpack that you said not to tell anybody about, and... and..." he wrinkled his forehead, struggling to remember, "... and no toys!" he finished triumphantly. "Except, can I bring my lizard?" He held the stuffed toy up. 

"Yes, Twoboy, you can bring your lizard." 

"And Mom's gonna come too, right?" 

Veneep frowned. "Twoboy, your mother is dead. We talked about this." 

The boy's face fell, and he smacked his forehead in frustration. "I know that! I remember!" 

"It's all right. Hurry now, get your bag, we're going." Veneep pulled a travel bag from under the cabinets where he kept his instruments and books. He'd kept the bag packed for months, just in case. Quickly he checked to see that the blackpack he'd stolen and stashed away was still there, fully charged. He had never used one, but he knew how it was done, and he felt sure he could if he had to. He clipped the pack and the handset inside his bioscholar's robe within easy reach. 

"Who's that?" Twoboy asked. 

"It's an as--- never mind, Twoboy. Hurry, we have to go!" Veneep looked at the dead man. "Assassin," he said, "protect us at all costs, but especially him." 

"Yes, bioscholar," the assassin said. 

They hurried along the corridor toward a juncture directly beneath the arena, where Veneep knew he could gain access to service tunnels not open to the general traffic. From there they could proceed undetected toward the Special Projects Area, which was forbidden to all but those who had business there. He had counted on there being little movement in the corridors, with everyone in the arena to watch the show, but he was not prepared to the pandemonium he found. 

There was blood everywhere. People ran in all directions, shrieking in fear. Veneep watched, shocked, as a juvenile cluster lizard rolled down the corridor in pursuit of a panic-stricken woman clutching a bundled infant. Veneep shoved Twoboy against the corridor wall and tried to shield him, when suddenly, the assassin stepped forward and braced the lizard's head off its body. The screaming woman, clutching her child, raced past. 

Veneep stared at the assassin. Had it acted to protect them, or the woman and child? He shook his head. Of course, it was protecting them. It would not even notice the woman and child, because they had not been included in its parameters. 

"Hurry!" he shouted, pulling the wide-eyed Twoboy --- who, fortunately for once, was not frightened, or making a fuss at all the confusion --- along by his sleeve. The assassin calmly readjusted its brace and followed, and Twoboy kept looking back at it. 

Veneep raced along the corridor until he came to one of the large vents in the wall. He pointed to it and commanded, "Kick it in!" 

The assassin stepped forward and kicked the vent grill in. Veneep yanked the broken grill out of its frame, and shoved Twoboy through the opening, crawling in after him. "Follow!" he ordered the assassin, who complied. 

The duct on the other side was large enough to stand up in. Veneep led the way a short distance, and then stood aside and let the assassin kick out another grill. Now they were in a service tunnel deep under the arena, and only a few minutes later, Veneep led them out into a cavernous chamber where there were transport ships were lined up like giant, rusty coffins. The frightened bioscholar tried not to look at the massive display of ocular parabolas towering at one end of the chamber. 

Veneep shuddered yet again as he looked fearfully at His Divine Shadows most fearsome project: the Lexx. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FF - Survival - Escape, Pt. 3 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We are going that way," Veneep said to the assassin. "Lead the way and kill anything that tries to stop us." 

The assassin wordlessly walked ahead of them, its left hand resting lightly on its right wrist. Veneep and Twoboy followed close behind, Veneep fearfully trying to watch in all directions. They were halfway across the hanger when there was a loud screech, and then panicked voices and the sound of running feet. Several people burst out from between transports, running in terror from... something. And then Veneep saw them: robot guards, firing blackpacks, while the fleeing crowd fired back. 

In shock, he recognized Thodin in the midst of the group. Somehow the heretic had escaped. He was surrounded by men in spangled clothing, and what looked like... yes, was that a security guard in the red suit? And a woman in a short, white dress? 

The assassin tensed, and half-crouched, aiming its brace arm at the crowd, but it did not fire, sensing that there was no direct threat to the people in its protection. At least not yet. Veneep thumped the corpse in the back to get its attention, and dragged Twoboy away toward a transport ship at the far end of the chamber, directly under the mammoth face of the Lexx. He had deliberately chosen this particular unused ship because of its very proximity to His Shadow's special project. The other bioscholars would stay away, and no one would question the bold comings and goings of a bioscholar who appeared to have legitimate work in the area. 

They ran toward the transport. Veneep glanced back and nearly squealed in fright to see the crowd of men and one woman thundering after them, chased by robot guards. He fumbled in his robe, nearly dropping the sonic key in his terror, and aimed it at the transport ship as he ran. With a hiss, the main hatch opened and lowered itself, allowing them entry. Veneep ran up the hatch gangway, and stopped in horror, realizing that there wasn't time to get it closed again before the heretics were upon them. 

But to his astonishment, the heretics ran past the gangway. One turned and destroyed the last robot guard with a blast of his blackpack, just as he was vaporized in turn. Veneep peered under the transport bulkhead, fascinated in spite of himself. The men were running across the bridge that connected the Lexx to the main floor. Madness! Did they actually believe they were going to escape in the Lexx? 

He watched as the crowd stopped at the hatch to the Lexx. One of them did something, and the hatch opened. And then suddenly, Veneep's amazement turned to pure horror, as he saw one of the black-clad ones, another assassin, step onto the bridge. Thodin turned to one of his men and said something Veneep couldn't make out. Then the two men lifted their hands, and a golden glow streaked from hand to hand. The Key! Even more madness! To steal the Key from His Divine Shadow... Veneep couldn't even complete the thought. 

The assassin advanced across the bridge, and Thodin turned to face it as the others fled into the interior of the giant insect ship. Veneep didn't wait to see any more. He ran for the transport control room, intending to take off. 

There was a further screeching of cluster lizards behind him. Suddenly a woman rushed up the gangway into the transport ship; the same woman who had been chased by cluster lizards in the upper corridors. She clutched her blanketed baby, and fell at the top of the gangway, shrieking. Paralyzed by fear, Veneep watched as his stolen assassin stepped forward and calmly braced the head off the pursuing cluster lizard. Gore splashed across its chest, and across the woman, and then the gangway was closing as the headless body fell away. 

Twoboy appeared in the hatchway of the control room, grinning. "I figured out how to close the door," he said, very proud of himself. 

All other thoughts were driven out of Veneep's head as he rushed into the control room and took over the controls. The thought of Twoboy pushing buttons in here was almost more than he could bear, but at least the boy had done something right, however accidental. Drawing on years of study and secret practice, Veneep set about preparing the transport ship for flight, ignoring the increasingly aggravated calls for identification from the Cluster dispatchers. 

"Strap yourself in, Twoboy!" Veneep shouted, and the boy complied, excited to be going on this new adventure. The assassin stood behind them, impassively wrapping one hand around a handhold set in the bulkhead. Veneep did not know what had happened to the woman and did not care. His only thought now was to get them safely away from the Cluster. 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 4 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

The deck beneath his feet trembled as the transport engines ignited and the ship lifted from its moorings. Veneep blew the moorings free and then the ship was backing away. Horrified, Veneep looked at the viewscreen and realized that as the transport ship backed away, the Lexx was advancing, tearing itself loose from its own moorings and the scaffolding that had covered its exterior, ploughing through the walls of the chamber in fact. Veneep tried to increase his speed, but barely kept pace as the Lexx came toward them. 

Then they were clear of the dock, the lights of the city glowing and sparkling beneath them, and Veneep turned the nose of the transport and cut across the front of the Lexx, barely missing its parabolas as it moved forward, bound for its own destination. 

Sweat poured off Veneep's face as he worked the controls, frantically trying to keep them at an even speed and attitude. He wasn't an expert pilot, by any means, but he had applied himself to learning the necessary skills over the years, knowing that someday his survival would depend on it. He tried to comfort himself with the thought that His Divine Shadow would be so enraged and dismayed by the theft of the Lexx that perhaps he would be too busy trying to get it back to bother sending troops after one escaped transport ship carrying one insignificant bioscholar and his mentally challenged ward. And maybe... just maybe... he wouldn't notice the theft of one assassin from among so many. 

For a brief moment, Veneep considered ordering the assassin to exit the ship through the airlock. Now that they were on their way, it surely was no longer needed, and it was dangerous to keep around. On the other hand, who knew what they might encounter before they found a safe refuge, away from the reach of the League of 20,000 Planets? Perhaps he would keep the creature just a while longer. Just in case. He had, after all, planned for the need, stowing aboard a cryopod and a large supply of protoblood with the food and other supplies he had been laying in, little by little, for months. 

"Hi," Twoboy said. "My name's Twoboy. What's yours?" 

"Twoboy," Veneep said, "don't talk to the as--- it." 

"Why?" 

"It doesn't talk to people, Twoboy. It's a special kind of robot guard." 

Twoboy looked the assassin over, curiously. The creature stared back with vacant eyes. 

"He looks like a person." 

Veneep set the autopilot and sat back, breathing a sigh of relief. So far, he detected no signs of pursuit. "Yes, it does, but it's not really a person. And I don't want you to talk to it, okay? It's dangerous." 

"But he doesn't look dangerous." Twoboy stared into the assassin's face. "What's your name?" 

The assassin turned his head and looked at the simple young boy, causing a shower of cold chills to cascade down Veneep's spine. The bioscholar made a half-hearted move to pull Twoboy away, and stopped, afraid to do anything that the killer might interpret as threatening. 

"I do not have a name," the assassin said in its dead voice. 

Twoboy's face crinkled up. "No name? Everybody has a name!" 

"Not that one The dead lose their names along with their lives." 

The woman stepped through the hatchway, clutching her bundle in one hand. Veneep could see now that what he'd thought was an infant was something else entirely, but exactly what it was, he couldn't tell. He fumbled for the blackpack inside his robe and pulled it out, aiming it at her. 

"Who are you?" he demanded in a shaky voice. 

"My name is Pearl," she said, staring calmly into his trembling aim. "Who are you?" 

"Never mind that! What are you doing here?" 

"Escaping apparently, the same as you. The Divine Order is cleansing the Cluster, you know." 

"How do you know that?" 

She smirked. "Anybody with half a brain would know. The conveyors run night and day to feed His Shadow's purposes, but the prisoner transports are growing fewer and fewer. The 20,000 Planets are being decimated." 

Veneep eyed her suspiciously. "Are you a heretic?" 

She lifted an eyebrow. "Curious question, coming from someone who has stolen a ship, *and* an assassin." 

Veneep thought that over, and then lowered the blackpack. "Fair enough," he said. "I'm taking myself and my boy away from the Cluster forever." 

"Well," she shrugged. "Looks like I'm coming with you, whether I want to or not." 

"Y-you can't!" Veneep stammered. 

"Why not?" 

"Because..." But Veneep had to admit to himself, he was stumped. The woman was aboard. She may have been chased aboard by a Cluster lizard, she may not have wanted to be aboard, but she was aboard nonetheless. He couldn't very well chuck her out the airlock. She didn't seem dangerous. And the assassin was there to protect them if she tried anything funny. 

"Look," she said, "you can just drop me off at the next planet. I'll make my own way from there. You probably aren't going where I want to go anyway." 

"Probably not," Veneep agreed. "Very well. You can stay. For now." 

"Thanks," she said sardonically. 
 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 5 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Suddenly the ship moaned and shuddered, and they were rocked off their feet by the sudden lurching movement. Veneep struggled to keep his balance and get back to the controls. He punched up the view screen and paled as he saw what was following them. At that moment, the com unit crackled into life. 

"Prisoner Transport HLFX, report! What is your destination?" 

It was a Cluster patrol ship, one of the Divine Order's guard units. Veneep's heart pounded so hard it threatened to break his chest. They were dead. 

He fell back in his chair, speechless. 

The woman leaped forward and punched the com unit's link. "Patrol ship, we are not a prisoner transport," she said. "We have been commissioned by the Divine Order for a special mission." 

"We've been given no instruction concerning that," was the reply. 

"His Divine Shadow commands. He does not explain." 

There was a moment's silence. "We cannot see you on the vidscreen. Identify yourself." 

She grimaced, and punched Veneep in the arm. "Tell them who you are!" she hissed. "Come on! What've you got to lose now?" 

Veneep gulped and leaned forward shakily. "Th-this is Veneep Ganeri, First Backup Bioscholar for Level 11. My c-colleagues and I are... on our way to... uh... the Outer Planets, that's it, and we are carrying a Divine Assassin on a special mission. A-and that's all you need to know!" 

Veneep hit the vidscreen, and the woman pushed the assassin forward. It moved forward, unresisting, and stared impassively into the lens at whoever was watching on the other ship. 

There was another pregnant pause. Then: 

"Forgive us, Bioscholar Ganeri," said the com link. "We were not told. We will, however, have to ask you to remain in place, while we check with headquarters. Then you may proceed on your own way. Forgive us for the delay." 

"V-very well. His Divine Shadow will be angry, however." Veneep closed the link and turned to the woman, pale as death. "What do we do now?" 

She looked grim. "Make a run for it." 

"They'll blow us out of the sky!" 

"If we stay here, we're dead." 

Veneep thought furiously. "There's only one thing to do." 

She didn't have time to reply. He was busily punching course corrections into the console. It was crazy, he told himself. But she was right, if they waited until the patrol ship discovered that they had no authorization, they would be boarded and taken prisoner, if they weren't killed on the 
spot. And going back to the Cluster now was certain death. Veneep, not the bravest of souls, was determined not to let that happen. 

"What are you doing?" demanded the woman, just before she had to grab Veneep's chair to keep from falling, as the ship surged forward, above the patrol ship, and made a sudden 90 degree turn and sped off. 

Veneep watched the view screen. "See that?" 

She looked, her mouth falling open. Ahead of them was the largest thing she had ever seen, something that looked like a giant dragonfly without wings. 

The comlink was screaming: "Halt! Stop at once, in the name of His Divine Shadow!" 

"I don't think so," Veneep said, and aimed his ship directly at the Lexx. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 6 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Veneep could see that the Lexx itself was being pursued, and his blood ran cold to realize that the pursuing ship was His Divine Shadow's flagship, the Megashadow, meaning that the Divine Shadow himself was probably aboard. Still, the patrol ship was firing at them, and would destroy them in minutes if they did not gain some sanctuary. There was no choice. Veneep dove for the Lexx's intake orifice. 

Sensing something coming at it, the giant bugship automatically opened its intake sphincter, allowing the transport ship entry. They were buffeted by its reflexive swallowing action, but Veneep managed to guide the ship past its first stomach and toward an area he vaguely remembered from having seen plans on the view screen in His Divine Shadow's war room, where he often went to collect the bodies of those who been displeasing. Someone was on the bridge of the Lexx, there was no doubt. Veneep determined to avoid that place. If the Lexx, by some miracle, escaped His Divine Shadow, then Veneep would wait until the coast was clear and take them out of the bugship to safety. But at least for now, the patrol ship would not follow them. 

The Lexx clearly did not like whatever had entered him, and made a heaving reflex motion that slammed the ship into the side of its esophageal tube. Veneep was thrown out of his chair, and Pearl fell on top of him, her mysterious bundle unraveling and falling to the floor. Twoboy screamed, and even the immoveable assassin was thrown off his feet. Sparks showered from the control console, flaming up here and there, and the control room filled with smoke. 

Veneep crawled to the console and frantically worked the controls. The ship's fire control took over, extinguishing the small flames and clearing the smoke, and the ship righted itself. But something was clearly wrong. The bulkheads and deck were vibrating, making it difficult for Veneep to hold onto the controls with his sweating hands. Suddenly, the ship lurched forward and banged into something, throwing them all to the floor again. 

Then, silence and stillness. 

"What happened?" Pearl asked. 

"Uh... we've landed," said Veneep. 

Pearl looked at the blank view screen. "Where are we?" 

"Inside the Lexx." 

"I know that!" she said impatiently. "But where? Are we in the stomach? Where?" 

Veneep stared at her, wondering how she knew the Lexx had a stomach. He was beginning to wonder a lot about Pearl, in fact. 

"We are not in a stomach," he said. "But I don't know where we are, exactly. Somewhere that's not far enough away from the bridge, I would expect." 

"Well." She sat up and dusted off her hands. "What now?" 

"We wait. The patrol ship won't follow us in. If by some miracle the Lexx escapes His Divine Shadow, and our ship isn't too damaged, I will take us out when the coast is clear." 

"We should go outside. See where we are." 

"No!" Veneep shook his head. "We're safer staying in here. I don't want to take the chance of running into those heretics." 

"What heretics?" She was suddenly very interested. 

"Thodin. I saw his gang running into the Lexx. They've obviously stolen it." 

Pearl immediately scooped up her bundle and ran for the hatch. Caught off guard, Veneep blinked and opened and closed his mouth like a fish for a second, before he became alarmed enough to run after her. But he was too late. She had already keyed the hatch and was halfway down the ramp before he caught up with her. 

"What are you doing?" he demanded, grabbing her arm, whereupon she turned and punched him in the jaw. He fell back, as the assassin's brace cable screeched over his head, and Pearl was pinned against the spongy flooring. 

"Do you wish for me to kill her, Bioscholar?" asked the assassin, holding the struggling woman to the floor with his brace. 

Veneep rubbed his jaw, working it to make sure she hadn't broken anything. 

"No. Don't kill her... yet." He glared at Pearl. "Stupid woman, do you want to give us away?" He looked all around, but saw no one. It seemed that the transport had landed in a deserted area, on a large, shelf-like strip above one of the Lexx's stomachs. He couldn't be sure, but he thought 
they were probably not far from the bridge, which was exactly where he didn't want to be. 

"Let me go! I have to find my friends!" 

"Your fri--- you're a heretic!" Veneep bent down and snatched the bundle away from her. Quickly he unwrapped it. There was a blackpack, tucked beneath a rag doll which had evidently been part of her "disguise". As he lifted the doll, a small disc fell out of a slit in the back of its head and fell to the floor. Veneep picked it up. 

"I am a freedom fighter!" she spat at him. "You fool, we are trying to free humanity from the scourge of the Divine Order before we are all killed!" She looked desperately at the tiny disc in his hand. 

"Then your quest is doomed," Veneep said. "No one can defeat the Divine Order. Prophecy said only the last of the Brunnen-G could do it, and they are no more. What is this?" He gestured for the assassin to let her sit up. The creature retracted its brace and stood passively waiting for its next order. 

She sat up, sullenly rubbing her neck. "It's a data disc. Personal records, nothing there to interest you." 

"I'll be the judge of that." 

"You're wrong about the Divine Order. There is still hope." 

Veneep sneered. "You speak of the Prophecy." 

"A myth perhaps. But the Brunnen-G are not all gone." 

He stared at her. "How do you know of that one? Only the Bioscholars know." 

"We've heard stories." 

He shook his head. "Forget it. That one is no longer a Brunnen-G. He is an assassin, just like this one, a dead and mindless creature belonging wholly to His Divine Shadow." 

"And yet, you have made this one *yours*, have you not?" 

Veneep considered this possibility, and then shook his head. "There is no hope there for us," he insisted. "My only thought is to get Twoboy and myself far enough away so that His Shadow will not be able to find us. This creature is a tool, nothing more." 

"And where will you go? You know as well as I do that the Divine Order will not stop until the last human being in the Light Universe is destroyed. There is nowhere to go except into the Dark Zone." 

He laughed. "The Dark Zone? You *are* mad!" 

"Perhaps," she conceded. "Look, I'll make you a deal. Let me go and scout out what's happening. You hide here with your friends. I won't reveal myself to anyone unless I know it's safe, and then I'll come back for you. Deal?" 

Veneep hesitated. In truth, he did want to know what was happening on the bridge of the Lexx, if only to gauge the extent of the danger to himself and Twoboy. The heretics would not treat a bioscholar of the Divine Order kindly, but he was now under a death sentence for stealing an assassin, a ship, and fleeing the Cluster. For that reason alone, they might show him mercy. 

He didn't trust her, but he had no choice. Reluctantly he nodded. "Very well. But if you bring anyone back here but yourself, you will be the first one the assassin kills. Understood?" 

She grimaced and nodded an agreement. "Give me back my property." 

He pocketed the disc. "I'll just keep this for now." 

She had a momentary silent argument with herself, then glanced at the assassin. Reluctantly, she nodded. "But I want it back before we leave the Lexx. Agreed?" 

"We'll see what happens." 

She frowned. "I'll try not to be gone long." 

"See that you're not. Else we'll leave without you." 

And in his heart, Veneep knew, if he could, he would leave without her anyway. 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 7 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

Pearl made her way forward, watching carefully for any signs of life. She found the cavernous interior of the bugship intimidating. The idea of a living ship made her skin crawl, as if somehow the ship was aware and watching her. She looked over the edge of the shelf and saw a whirling, churning miasma of gases and liquid, a veritable sea of stomach juices which would no doubt dissolve anything that fell into it. The sight made her shiver.  After awhile, she came to a larger cavern where the shelf widened out to a vast floor. She kept close to the wall for protection, in case anyone else should enter the cavern. Then she heard voices up ahead, and she froze. 

Creeping slowly, she approached the opening to a smaller chamber ahead of her. She slid along the wall and peeked around the corner, staring into a kind of room that seemed to be lined with billowing membraneous sheets, into which were cut small niches set with pedestals. On top of the pedestals, incredibly, were brains housed in small mechanical units with transparent covers. The brains were talking to each other, and Pearl immediately realized what they were. 

She stepped into the chamber and turned in a complete circle, unable to believe what she was seeing. 

"Who are you?" demanded the brains in unison. 

"By the gods," she said. "It can't be! The Divine Predecessors?" 

"Begone, woman! You have no business here!" said one of the brains. 

"Oh ho, but I do!" She grinned and pointed her finger at the brains, twirling around in a circle again, so that she could point at each one of them individually. "My name is Pearl Navendra of the OstralB. I belong to the Order of Heretics, who will destroy your Divine Order. And I'm going to destroy you, now!" 

She started toward one of the brains, as they cried out fearfully, when suddenly she heard a screech behind her. She whipped around and barely escaped the gaping maw of a Cluster lizard as it clamped down inches from her head. The beast reared up and screeched it's unholy shriek. She stumbled backwards, falling over one of the ribbed struts in the floor. 

But the lizard had found better food than herself. It had found brains. 

The Divine Predecessors screamed in unison, while Pearl scrambled away. The lizard attacked the first one, crushing its casing and devouring it. At the opening, she stopped to look back. The lizard gulped down a last piece and went for the next one. It was too good. She had to watch. 

But suddenly, at the opening on the opposite side of the chamber, she saw something that made her shrink back and fall to her knees behind the wall, hoping that she hadn't been spotted. It was a Divine Assassin, one of the black-clad ones who dealt death for His Divine Shadow. By the gods, how many of them were aboard? The creature braced the lizard, killing it. Pearl put both of her hands over her mouth, too frightened to move, too paralyzed even to look away. 

Slowly the creature stepped into the chamber. It looked around at the chaos as if uncertain what it should do. The brains were crying and muttering, and Pearl heard one say: "Who are *you*?" 

"I have been sent by His Divine Shadow, number one to protect you," said the assassin. "And number two to kill those who stole the Lexx." 

The brains muttered among themselves. The assassin seemed confused by the carnage. Slowly he approached one of the niches and touched one of the pieces of brain left there. He stiffened, his attitude of one listening to something only he could hear. 

"I know that sound," he said. 

"You know nothing," said a decimated brain lying on the floor at his feet. "You are a mindless assassin for His Divine Shadow. You do not even know who you are." 

The assassin knelt and picked up the fallen brain. The brain whimpered in fright, and the assassin stiffened, as if an electric current had shot up its hand to its own brain. It lowered its head for a moment, and Pearl saw an eerie glow travel up the creature's arm and envelope its face. It trembled, as if in pain, its eyes closed. 

"I know who I am," said the assassin, opening his eyes, which were suddenly, somehow, aware. "I am Kai... last of the Brunnen-G." 

The brains began to cry and moan. "The Prophecy is upon us!" 

"And you," Kai said, closing his hands on the brain, "killed me." 

Slowly, he crushed the brain to jelly as it screamed, and the other brains cried in unison. Pearl, crouched in her hiding place, thought she would be sick. She rose to her feet and fled as if all the devils of hell were on her heels. 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 8 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

"Accursed machine!" 

In a fit of temper, Veneep threw his spanner across the control room, not caring if he hit anything vital. At this point it didn't matter. The transport ship wasn't going anywhere, at least not off the Lexx. Whatever they had hit on the way in had irreparably damaged the attitude controls, and without a month in drydock and a team of expert technicians, Veneep wasn't going to be able to fix it. 

Twoboy clutched his stuffed lizard to his chest and began to tear up. Immediately Veneep got up and went to him, throwing his arms about the boy. 

"There, there. Don't cry, Twoboy. I'm sorry I frightened you." 

"What's wrong? Is it time to call the Other One?" 

"No, no. Twoboy, now we've talked about the Other One, haven't we? Pay me no mind. I'm just frustrated, that's all. Our ship is broken, and it looks like we're stuck." 

"Then can I go out and play?" Twoboy said, smiling. "I want to play with the nice lady, and he can come too." He pointed at the assassin. 

"Don't be so foolish, Twoboy!" Veneep snapped, and was immediately sorry as Twoboy' eyes widened in fright. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that... it's not safe to go out, boy. At least, not right now." 

"But the nice lady went out." 

"Yes, and His Divine Shadow help whoever runs across her," Veneep muttered. He sat back, trying to think. If they couldn't take the transport ship out of the Lexx, then they were trapped aboard and bound for wherever the heretics were headed. "All right, I'll tell you what. I'll open the hatch, and you take the assa--- your friend, and carry out some of the supplies. You can stack them just outside the hatch, all right? But don't go any farther than that, understand? I want to have them ready so that we can transport them to a hiding place as soon as possible. There's a good boy." 

Twoboy grinned and jumped to his feet. "Come on!" he said excitedly to the assassin. "We've got a *very* important job to do!" 

Veneep watched him go, followed by the assassin. It could be worse, he supposed. They had the supplies he had stored aboard the ship. The Lexx was vast, its resources ample. Veneep thought he could steal a moth and transport their goods to some far cranny, away from the prying eyes of the heretics. Once they reached wherever they were going, it should be a simple matter to get off the ship and vanish into whatever populace they found themselves among. 

If His Divine Shadow didn't destroy them all first, that is. 

He rummaged for his discarded spanner, and went back to cursing and trying to remove the panels over the console. After a few moments of futile effort, he heard a banging sound at the back of the ship. Veneep put his fingers to his temples and said, "Twoboy, what are you doing? Please don't make noise." 

He jumped, when Twoboy said in a small voice under his elbow: "It's isn't me, Uncle Veneep." 

The deck trembled and then fell out from under their feet, before it rushed back up again, bouncing them against the overhead. The air filled with the onrushing sound of some great engine coming at them. Twoboy squealed, and Veneep grabbed for him, holding on for dear life. Then reality twisted, and for a time, they were completely lost outside anything that held meaning. Everything seemed to slide sideways. 

After a while, Veneep looked up from where he lay on the deck. Twoboy lay across the lap of the assassin who sat on the floor. The boy was holding on tight to the dead creature, sobbing like a baby. The assassin's expression was as empty as ever. 

Veneep sat up as Pearl stumbled into the control room and fell to her knees. 

"What happened?" she gasped. "Is it His Shadow? Did he get aboard?" 

He looked at his hands, which were shaking. His mind refused to work, because if it did, he would realize what they had just done, and he would go insane. A tiny voice deep inside him screamed for the mercy of not knowing. 

A buzzing filled the Lexx. Veneep closed his eyes. He guessed that sound was the weapon firing. And then there was silence again. 

"We..." His mouth was dry, his throat practically closed. Unwillingly, he considered the awful truth. "I believe we have... passed into the Dark Zone." 

"What?" She stared at him. "You said that wasn't possible." 

"The sensation we just experienced... you felt it? I believe we were passing from one reality to another. It's the only explanation. We are dead. The Dark Zone is death." 

"Perhaps." She sat back. "Or perhaps it's part of the Prophecy." 

"I told you---" 

"It's true. I've seen it. The Prophecy is true." 

"What do you mean?" 

"The Brunnen-G." Her voice was full of wonder. "Kai. He's the other assassin on board the Lexx. He went into the chamber where the brains are, and he touched one of them... he knows who he is now." 

"What are you talking about? What chamber?" 

"You have to see it for yourself," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. "The Divine Predecessors are aboard. Come on, I'll show you." 

The Divine Predecessors! Veneep groaned. Things just got worse and worse. 

As he hesitated, he suddenly found himself swept off his feet and tucked inelegantly under the assassin's arm. Pearl, screaming and struggling, was tucked under the other arm, and Twoboy clung to the assassin's back. The creature strode toward the hatch and down the ramp, just as the ship rumbled, and slid toward the edge of the shelf on which it had landed. Veneep watched in horror as it teetered for a moment, and then toppled over, crashing into the burbling ocean of acid below. 

The assassin set them on their feet and stood there, silent and serene. 

Veneep walked to the edge and stared down at the slowly sinking transport. It was the final disaster. No matter what happened now, their fate was tied to the Lexx. 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 9 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

"Two years," Veneep said, sitting in a kind of daze on the spongy floor of the shelf. "I planned our escape for two years, and it was all for nothing." 

Pearl shrugged, as she stared down at the lost ship. "We're not dead yet." 

"That's a matter of opinion." 

"Look." She went over and sat down beside him. "The Lexx is a big place. You said yourself we can hide." 

"But the food---" 

Pearl looked at the two small cases and two cannisters that Twoboy had managed to remove from the ship before it went over. 

"I admit it's not much. But maybe the Lexx has food we can eat." Pearl sat and thought for a while. "Can I have my data disc back?" 

"Why?" Veneep asked suspiciously. 

"What good is it to you now? You're stuck in the same mudpit I'm in. And it's important to me." 

Veneep considered her request, fingering the disc in his pocket. Without the ship, he had no way to read it and find out what was actually on it. On the other hand, what did that matter to him now? He was no longer part of the Divine Order. He had, by this very act of escape, abandoned all belief in it. Whether the heretics were successful in defeating the Order or not, his only goal was to flee to some safe planet far away from all of them, and find a home for himself and Twoboy. 

He handed it back to her. "If we are in the same mudpit now, perhaps it would benefit both of us to start trusting each other." 

She took the data disc from his fingers with the air of one recovering a great treasure. It rested lightly in the palm of her hand, and she looked from it to him. 

"It contains the coordinates to a planet in the Dark Zone where it's said that the next Cycle of Time will begin. We've kept it hidden and passed it down for generations, and when my planet was destroyed, it passed to me." 

"What will you do with it now?" 

She shrugged. "Try to deliver it to Thodin. That's why I was on the Cluster, to try and free him, but something happened and he got away before I could do anything. I knew it was probably hopeless, but, as you can see, there's no point in giving up hope until you're dead." 

Veneep snorted. "I told you. If the Dark Legend is aboard, then your heretic friends are most likely dead. And if we are discovered, then so are we." He looked around. Twoboy sat against the wall of the shelf, happily trying to get the assassin to play patty-cake with him. 

"Well, the first order of business should be to find out who's got control of the Lexx," Pearl said. "If they're friendly, maybe we can strike up a deal. If they're not, maybe we can at least steal some kind of transport --- they have that on board, don't they? --- and get ourselves to the other end oof the ship." 

"The heretics --- if they are alive --- most certainly won't welcome me." 

She frowned. "Despite what you think, Thodin is a fair man. And he won't hurt the boy. He might even be glad to get his hands on another assassin, to use as a soldier for the cause." 

"You say Kai is aware of himself?" 

"I think so, yes." Pearl stood up. "Veneep, you may think I'm crazy, but I believe we are part of the Prophecy. If we truly are in the Dark Zone, then everything is happening the way the Prophecy said it would." 

"Why? If the Prophecy is true, he is destined to destroy the Divine Order and that is in the Light Universe. We're in the wrong universe. Maybe." He frowned, confused. "This is too much to think about." 

"You're right. First things first." 

She went over to Twoboy and knelt beside him. "Twoboy," she said. He looked at her with his wide, trusting eyes, and smiled. "Twoboy, Veneep and I are going to go see if we can get a ship to ride around the Lexx in. Would you like that?" 

"Oh, sure! I love to go for rides." 

"Well, on the Lexx, Veneep says they have little ships called 'moths'. We're going to go see if we can get one. Then we'll bring it back here and you can ride around in it, okay? But you have to stay here until we get back." 

"Okay. That'll be fun." 

Veneep walked up. "Assassin. Stay here and protect Twoboy until we return." 

"Yes, bioscholar." 

"You won't be afraid, will you, Twoboy?" asked Pearl. 

Twoboy smiled his angelic smile. "No. My friend is with me. We can play games." 

"He *will* be all right, won't he?" she muttered to Veneep as they walked away. 

The bioscholar looked down at her. "Twoboy has a rather... unique perspective on life, but he is surprisingly capable. The greatest danger to him is that he trusts everyone. But the assassin will protect him." 

"I gather he's not your son. Where did you get him?" 

Veneep's eyes were shadowed with pain. "I fell in love with his mother. Bioscholars and clerics are not supposed to fall in love. Love slaves are given to us for our pleasure, but we aren't supposed to *love* them. His mother was a fugitive... like you. I took pity on her, and sheltered her and her child." 

"Wasn't that dangerous for you?" 

"I was already dreaming of escape. Something came over me when I took her in. It was a simple matter to get false documents for her, really. And once I did that, it was merely a small step toward procuring an unused transport ship and filling it with supplies little by little. But she... she died." 

They walked in silence for a little while. Finally, Pearl asked, "What happened?" 

"The--- the Clerics did a sweep. They caught her in the market. I warned her not to go out, but she always said we had to live our lives, and it was no good always being afraid. She was the bravest person I ever knew." 

"I'm sorry." 

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. I swore on her memory that I would make sure her son was safe. And that's what I'll do, if it costs me my life." 

"You're a brave man." 

"No. I am not brave at all." 

Twoboy, clutching his stuffed cluster lizard, watched his guardian and the woman go. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned to the assassin. 

"Do you want to play a game?" he said eagerly. The assassin stared back impassively. "We're going to play the coming-alive game. Do you want to play?" 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 10 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

"Can you see anything?" 

Pearl wiggled a little farther up the column and craned her neck to peer over the fleshy lip of the wall that separated them from the bridge. From here, the bridge looked unfinished, bare of almost everything but the most basic of metal steps and struts, and the sheltering membranes everywhere. There were three people standing around the central column: a blue-haired woman in a short, white dress, an older man in the red suit of a fourth class security guard, and the black-clad assassin. Pearl almost lost her grip on the wall when she saw them. 

"My ancestors came from the Dark Zone," the assassin was saying, as he turned to mount the steps behind him. "I was taught that, although there are not many good planets in the Dark Zone, there are some. Perhaps you should find one." 

"What do you see?" Veneep said, struggling to hold her up. 

"Shhh. We *are* in the Dark Zone. He just said so." 

"You mean *we* should find one," said the blue-haired woman. "We're together in this." 

The assassin paused at the top of the steps. "I am dead," he said. "I have no future." With that, he turned and walked away. 

"Let me down!" Pearl hissed to Veneep. "Let me down!" 

He helped her down, and she pulled him farther away from the wall into a dark corner where they couldn't be seen. 

"I didn't see Thodin or any of his men. I feel sure they're dead. There's only a woman and the assassin, and a man I think is the Arch-Traitor Stanley Tweedle." 

"Arch-Traitor?" 

"Yes! Damn his eyes, he's the one who gave the Divine Order the amino acid codes for the Lexx, and made it possible for His Divine Shadow to destroy a hundred Reform Planets." 

"So you think he killed Thodin? But I saw them together!" 

She shook her head. "I don't know. But Thodin isn't there now, and Tweedle and the assassin are. I don't think we should trust them." 

"You're probably right. Did you see any moths?" 

"There's one on the landing behind the bridge. But we can't take that one. They'll miss it and know someone else is aboard." 

"You're probably right. We'll just have to go to the mothbreeding chambers, then." 

"Mothbreeding chambers? What, and breed ourselves another moth?" 

"There will be extras there, I feel sure. It's safe. The mothbreeders will all be tucked away in their stasis pods, safe and sound. In fact---" Veneep stopped, struck by another thought. 

"What?" 

He shook his head. "Nothing. Come on, let's get back to Twoboy." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Come on," Twoboy urged. "The nice lady said that other assassin came alive. The Other One says we can make you alive too." 

"I am ordered to protect you," the assassin said. "It will be difficult to do that if you do not stay where you were told to stay." 

"That's why you have to come with me," Twoboy insisted, dragging the assassin along by the hand. The boy was flushed and breathing hard, his eyes feverish, as he pushed and pulled the assassin toward a destination that seemed to be calling in his blood. In the best of times, Twoboy wasted little brain power on active thought, but now he knew he had to reach the place that was calling to him, and soon. Things could be awful when the Other One woke up in the wrong place. 

They approached the chamber of the Divine Predecessors, and neither the boy nor the assassin was capable of wondering how Twoboy had known the way. As they entered, the brains hushed their incessant muttering among themselves. For a moment, there was dead silence. 

"Another assassin," said one of the brains. "Have you come to rescue us?" 

The assassin tilted its head. "That is not within my parameters," he said. 

"We order you to take control of the Lexx and return us to the Cluster," demanded another of the brains. 

"I do not answer to your orders," said the assassin, causing the brains to gasp and murmur. 

"You are a Divine Assassin," said one. "You MUST listen to us! We command you to return us to the Cluster!" 

"I cannot," answered the assassin. "My first duty is to protect this boy. I answer only to Bioscholar Ganeri." 

"Where is this bioscholar?" demanded another. "Bring him to us! We will set him straight! No one dares to defy the Divine Predecessors!" 

"You have to make the assassin come alive," Twoboy said. "The Other One wants you to make him alive." 

The boy turned to look at all the brains, and then he stiffened and closed his eyes, his arms held away from his body. A violent trembling took possession of him, and he opened his mouth, as a wavering groan was forced out of him. 

"Are you unwell?" the assassin asked him in its dispassionate voice. 

"The..." Twoboy's body rippled from feet to crown, and a kind of crackling energy seemed to envelope him. He lowered his head and opened his eyes. "The Other One is coming. The Other One is here." 

The assassin stood silent, but the brains were murmuring fearfully. "Who are you?" asked one. 

"We are the Other One," Twoboy said in a voice that seemed to be many voices in one. "Know that this child is in our care. He is in need of protection, and for that we must have the assassin made aware." 

There were cries of fear among the Divine Predecessors. "It cannot be!" they cried to each other. "The two prophecies together? We are doomed!" 

Slowly, Twoboy turned, until he was facing one of the niches. He walked to it, closely followed by the assassin, who was tense and watchful. It did not understand what was happening, and was confused as to what danger there was here, but it knew that some danger existed from which it must guard the boy. But it did not try to interfere when Twoboy reached into the niche and lifted out the mechanical casing containing a brain. 

"This is the Divine Predecessor who killed you," said the Many Voices In One, "more than nine hundred years ago. Touch him." 

The assassin stood still, looking from Twoboy to the brain and back again. "I answer only to---" 

"Do as I say!" commanded the Voices. "Touch him!" 

The assassin obeyed. He put his hands on the brain. Instantly, he was enveloped in the same eerie energy that enfolded Twoboy, and a glow travelled up his arms to his face. His body arched, and his head was forced back with the strain, but he could not disconnect from the source of his pain. Nine hundred years of memories, and thousands more of memories, poured into his brain with the force of a tidal wave, threatening to crush him. 

The Divine Predecessor screamed, as smoke rose from its surface. It flared up, and sparked, and then blackened and shriveled in the boy's hands, and the assassin fell away, as the power let him go. Twoboy looked down at him. 

"Who are you?" 

"I am..." the assassin shook his head, his expression one of wonder, "I *was *... Trel Fomorii, of the Dadannan." 

Twoboy smiled. The energy swirled and vanished into sparkles of nothing, and then it was just the simple child looking down at him with wide eyes. 

"Hey," he said. "Are you okay?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Veneep knew Twoboy and the assassin were gone even before they reached the spot where the ship had gone over. The boxes of food and the cannisters were still there, but Twoboy was nowhere to be seen, even though Veneep ran frantically poking into every fold and cranny of the wall. 

"I thought you said he'd be all right here," Pearl said. 

"Something has happened. I think I might know where he went. Gods help us, I hope I'm wrong!" 

"Why? What happened?" 

Veneep grabbed her arm. "Show me where the chamber of the Divine Predecessors is!" 

They made their way up the shelf to the open chamber. Pearl waved him back and cautiously approached to peek around the edge of the opening. What she saw made her stare, open-mouthed, and Veneep rushed around her into the chamber. 

"By His Divine Shadow!" Veneep said. "Twoboy, what have you done?" 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 11 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

"The Other One came," Twoboy said, his lower lip trembling. He began to cry. "I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry." 

Veneep put his arms around the boy, while he stared at the assassin. "It's all right, Twoboy. I know, I know. Shh shh." He began to gently pull Twoboy back toward the chamber opening, away from the dazed assassin, fearing an assault. 

The assassin shook his head, overwhelmed with the memories that filled his brain. He looked at Veneep, understanding for the first time why the man was afraid of him. 

"I know who I am," he said in wonder. "I am..." He squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his eyes, as if in pain. "No," he whispered. 

Pearl stepped forward. She had never looked at the assassin closely, dismissing him as just another robotic creature like the robot guards on the Cluster, or the various servant automatons, never considering that they all once were living beings. But now, she looked at his face and saw a human being where there had not been one before, a man who had been cut down in his prime. 

"Is it true? You're... awake?" she said. 

"My name is Trel..." His voice was low, hesitant. "Trel Fomorii of the Dadannan. I was killed in a battle against His Divine Shadow. I... I remember my death." He looked up, and his gaze fell on the bioscholar. "You are the one who brought me here." 

Veneep paled. "P-please..." he squeaked. 

The assassin approached him and stood looking down into his face. "But you are not the one who created me." 

"We don't have time for this," Pearl said. "We have to get away from here. Now. There's another assassin aboard, and he may be... as you are... but we can't assume that we'll be safe. We have to find a place to hide, until we can get off the Lexx." 

"We are aboard the Lexx?" The assassin looked around the chamber, where the brains had fallen silent. "I have the memories of some of those who helped to build it. How did we come to be here?" 

"It's a long story," Pearl said. "Can we go already?" 

Twoboy took the assassin's hand shyly. "My name is Twoboy. The Other One brought you back so you can be my friend. We can play games. Do you like to play games?" 

"The Other One?" 

"Yeah, I want to hear about that, too," Pearl muttered. "Just not right now." 

Veneep collected himself. "Yes, we have to get far away from the bridge. There are places on the Lexx where they'll never think to come. We must go. Yes, we must go." 

"If you wish to keep your presence here a secret..." the assassin said... "will not these Divine Predecessors give you away?" 

Pearl and Veneep looked at each other. "We should kill them," she said. 

The bioscholar grappled with his cleric's training. To kill a Divine Predecessor... it was the next thing to killing His Divine Shadow himself. All his being cried out against it, even though his mind told him that it was the logical thing to do. He was not part of the Divine Order any longer. If there had ever been any truth in it, he was already damned. But he could not face this. 

"You will not reveal our presence," he said to the brains. "You don't know me, but I was a bioscholar on the Cluster. A biovizier, in fact. I know the secret of how to kill the Lexx, and if you betray us, I will know, and I will initiate the sequence before you can be taken off. You'll be destroyed, along with the Lexx." 

The brains murmured among themselves. "We will not tell anyone that you are here," said one fearful voice. "We are in your power. But know this, biovizier. The Divine Order will prevail, and when that day comes, your punishment will be severe." 

Veneep summoned up the last vestige of his imperfect courage, and drew himself up to his full, albeit unimpressive, height. "Perhaps that day will come," he said. "But today, two prophecies have been set in motion. We shall see what prevails." 

The brains buzzed angrily as Veneep led the way out of the chamber. But they only saw the dignified back of the bioscholar as he left the room; they didn't see him practically collapse in a violent fit of fearful trembling, once he was out of sight. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt. 12 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

"His mother called him Twoboy," Veneep said, as they lay on the spongy floor of the Lexx, where they had stopped to sleep after hours of walking. They were all exhausted, except for the assassin, who stood vigilant nearby. "I thought it a strange name, but I supposed at the time that she had her reasons. It wasn't until later that I discovered the existence of the Other One, and then I understood." 

Pearl lay beside him, with her head propped up on one hand. Twoboy was sound asleep, clutching his worn plush cluster lizard, by the few supplies he had offloaded from the transport ship before it went over. The assassin had carried the boxes for them, not that it was a very big load. Twoboy himself had carried the two cannisters --- protoblood that he had taken out of the ship specifically for his friend, the assassin --- as if it were a precious treasure. 

"But who... or what... is the Other One?" Pearl asked. 

"I've never been sure. You've heard of multiple personalities existing inside a single person. I don't think that's what the Other One is." 

She looked skeptical. "I don't believe in demon possession." 

Veneep's mouth quirked in a wry smile. "I was a bioscholar for the Divine Order. The demons in this universe are very real and tangible, and have no need to possess the souls of young simpletons when they have the whole of humanity to besiege. But no, Twoboy is not possessed. There are, however, in this... or should I say, the Light... Universe, certain "essences" which are not explained. I believe His Divine Shadow is just such an essence, as I have seen it passed from one host to another. The Other One may be another such essence." 

Pearl shuddered. "You're saying that *Twoboy* is a potential Divine Shadow?" 

"No. The Other One is a different kind of entity. In fact, I'm not even sure it is a single entity, but it is very powerful and it seems to have a special affinity for the boy, as if he were a conduit to this dimension. Whether that bodes good or ill for us, I have no idea, but it seems to know things. At times, it wants to communicate them to us." 

"What kind of things?" 

Instead of answering directly, Veneep stared off into the distance. "You heard the Divine Predecessors speak of a second prophecy." 

"Yes, but I never heard of any second prophecy. Only the one concerning the Brunnen-G and the destruction of the Divine Order." 

"It's not generally known to the populace, but among the bioscholars there is a story about what happens *after* the Divine Order falls. Most of the faithful laughed at it, believing the Divine Order will never fall, but some of us whispered it among ourselves. The First Prophecy says that the last of the Brunnen-G will destroy the Divine Order and kill His Divine Shadow, and that sometime thereafter the Cycle of Time will turn, and everything that has happened before will happen in just that way once again. But the Second Prophecy says that although the turn of the Cycle of Time is inevitable, a new reality may begin in which things are different. According to the Second Prophecy, one spiral of time begets another which begets another, which... well, you get the idea. The first spiral continues as before, but an infinite number of new spirals begin, on and on, each with a new reality, until Time is ended once and for all." 

"What does this all have to do with us?" 

"Perhaps nothing. But the Divine Predecessors seemed to have recognized something, or they wouldn't have been so fearful. The story says that the Second Prophecy will be fulfilled by the 'King who knows no Wisdom, yet is the wisest of all'." 

Pearl considered that. After a little while, she asked in a small voice, "What's going to happen to us, Veneep?" 

He sighed and shrugged. "Tomorrow, we're going to find the mothbreeders' chamber, steal ourselves a moth and use it to find a hiding place, where we will survive as best we can. That's all anyone can expect from the future." 

They slept. They had all suffered a very long, distressing day, and so they slept hours longer than they might have otherwise. And when they awoke, the assassin was gone. 
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
FF: Survival - Escape, Pt 13, End 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 

The memories led him unerringly to the chamber where he would mostly likely find the one he sought. The air grew distinctly cooler as he approached it, confirming what he had thought would be the assassin's eventual destination aboard the Lexx. Soundlessly, he glided into the chamber, ready to duck out of sight should he spy the red-suited Arch-Traitor or the mysterious woman. 

A row of cryopods stood open and ready for the transport of assassins to the far corners of the League of 20,000 Planets. Except for one. It was closed, and he could see the black-clad body within. Trel stood at the pod, looking through the frosted glass. Then he crossed to the cryo controls and punched in a sequence, sifting through the thousands of memories that gave him access to nearly every system on board the Lexx. 

The cryopod hissed open. Kai lifted his head, and the two assassins stared at each other. 

"I am Trel," said the man at the controls. "I was a Divine Assassin, but I have regained my memories now, as well as the memories of all those who were killed by the Divine Predecessor whom I killed." 

"I am Kai," said the man in the cryopod, "and I also have regained the memories that belonged to me and to the Divine Shadow who killed me." 

Trel approached the cryopod, and Kai stepped down, each man cautiously arming his brace. The men were of equal height and similar build, each clad in the decarbonized black clothes of a Divine Assassin, each dark of eye and hair, although of different styles. They looked into each other's eyes. 

"I am not an enemy," Trel said. "I have come to ask your help." 

"How is it that you are here?" asked Kai, returning his brace to its casing. 

"I was brought aboard by a bioscholar who thought to escape the Cluster. He needed me to protect his ward, who is, I believe, very important to the next Cycle of Time." 

Kai tilted his head and looked down. "How do you know this?" 

"I do not *know*. I have many memories, and they tell me." 

"Then it is the Second Prophecy." 

"Perhaps. I do not know." 

Kai seemed to be thinking. "What is it you require of me?" 

"As a bioscholar, the boy's guardian may not be welcomed by the people who now control the Lexx. He and the boy, and their friend, wish to go into hiding somewhere on the ship. But there is no food for them, so they cannot survive in hiding for long. My memories of this ship are extensive but incomplete. I need your help to find a place for them." 

"Perhaps we should bring them to Stan and Zev," Kai said. "I do not think Stan will harm them." 

"If we are indeed faced with the Second Prophecy, I think it is wiser to keep them apart. Do you agree?" 

Kai lowered his gaze once again. After a moment, he looked at Trel again and nodded. "Yes," he said. "Stan and Zev must not be distracted from their own survival." 

Trel also nodded. "Then you will help me?" 

"I will help you. If the First Prophecy is fulfilled, then the Second Prophecy must proceed. It appears that you and your friends are caught up in it." 

There was a pause. 

"Thank you, Kai," said Trel. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The moth swooped low over the vast plain inside the Lexx, chirruping as it went. Veneep heard it coming, dropped the boxes he was carrying, and yanked out the blackpack, aiming it at the moth. Pearl and Twoboy turned at the noise. 

"Run!" he told them. 

"What for?" Pearl said. "They've seen us. We aren't going to outrun that." 

The moth hovered and fluttered, and landed nearby. Trel opened it's eye-window and looked at them. 

"Come," he said. "I will take you to safety." 

Pearl sighed with relief, while Twoboy grinned and eagerly ran past Veneep to scramble up into the moth. 

"Twoboy!" Veneep cried, lowering the blackpack. 

Pearl shrugged, glanced at Veneep, and followed the boy. "Wait!" he cried, frustrated. 

"What choice do we have, Veneep?" she asked him. "He came back for us. We have to trust him now." 

He grimaced and danced from foot to foot, undecided. She climbed up onto the moth's legs, and scrambled in behind the assassin, who was watching Veneep with an expression nearly as empty as it had been when he was a mindless automaton. 

"You commanded me to protect you," Trel said. "I have no motivation to do otherwise." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Why here?" Veneep asked. 

He looked around at the towering walls of the mothbreeding chamber, various tools tucked into niches in the wall, the pulsating mothbreeder cells where they waited in stasis until they were needed to build more moths. 

"I spoke to the Brunnen-G," Trel said. "He has pledged that we will be safe here. We can enter mothbreeder cells and await reawakening when we have reached a place where you might find sanctuary." 

"Why did you trust him?" Veneep cried. "He is an assassin for the Divine Order!" 

"As was I. But he has regained his memories, as I have, and is free from His Divine Shadow's control, as I am. When we reach your sanctuary, he will awaken us. This he promised me." 

"And you believe him?" Pearl said. 

Trel nodded. "Yes." 

Veneep shook his head. He just didn't know what to do. This wasn't what he had planned for their escape, but with the loss of the transport, everything had changed. There wasn't enough food to sustain them for a long journey, and it was highly unlikely they could escape detection forever. And what if there were others hiding aboard? The Lexx was vast. Anyone could be aboard, and they could be dangerous. 

"You're sure we'll be safe here?" he asked, marveling that he was asking this question --- or any question --- of an animated corpse, an erstwhile Divine Assassin no less. 

"As safe here as anywhere. If you wish, I will set my cell to awaken me periodically, to see that you are undisturbed and to see if we have reached a planet." 

The bioscholar sat down on the foot of the moth. Pearl sat beside him. They looked at each other, realizing now how much they depended on each other, after so short a time, and how they would have to depend on each other in the future. Their lives rested in the hands of two dead assassins, and they had no conception of the vast forces that had swept them up and thrust them toward an unimaginable future. Trel stood before them, expressionless, emotionless, ready to do whatever they told him. 

"Then we have no choice," Veneep said. 

Trel nodded. 

Twoboy walked up. He had been looking at everything in the chamber, awed by it all. "What about the mothbreeders?" he said. "Won't it be crowded?" 

Trel turned to the boy. Veneep could almost have sworn that the assassin's expression softened a little, but that was impossible of course. The dead do not feel. 

"I will take some of the mothbreeders away," he said gently. "They are dead, as I am." 

"But where will you take them?" Twoboy asked curiously. 

"I will give them to the Lexx," Trel said. "The Lexx will be glad to see them." 

"Okay," Twoboy said, and Veneep and Pearl sighed with relief. 

They waited, and rested, and in a little while, the assassin came for them. He guided each one of them to a mothbreeder cell. Fearfully, they wished each other a restful sleep, and allowed themselves to be sealed up and frozen in stasis. Veneep was the last one, and the assassin paused before he sealed the bioscholar's cell. 

"You have no reason to trust me," Trel said, "but I tell you now I will protect the boy above all. You need not fear on that account." 

Veneep stared at him, and then nodded. Trel sealed the chamber, and hit the button that froze the bioscholar into his sleep. 

The assassin stood for a moment, looking down the Lexx's vast interior. Then he set the controls of his own cell to automatic, stepped inside, and sealed it.