Ransom: Cross of Secrets (IV)

Restored

Samantha breathlessly checked her watch as she darted down the corridor. She and Tristelle had been in the chapel for almost fifty minutes, and as the auditorium was a fifteen-minute walk away, they would likely miss the Captain's entire speech!

At least it's not mandatory, Samantha reminded herself as she slid to a stop at the auditorium door. It slipped open and the pair entered. The auditorium was packed with refugees.

Searching the crowd with her eyes, Samantha led Tristelle to the last empty seats. As they sat down, Samantha realized that the Captain had only just stepped on stage; that was lucky, she thought, and sat back to listen.

“On behalf of the entire Vestar Fleet I welcome all of you to the Lumenara V,” Marc's voice came clearly over the speakers. “I know how much you've all been through,” he continued. “I know how much you've suffered. . . .” he paused, and evidently struggled with himself for a moment.

Samantha noticed her companion struggling to see over the rows and rows of refugees in front of her.

“I myself have been there,” Marc said finally. “Not for long, but enough to know what it's like. Thanks to the work of the Order of the Savior’s Ransom, all of us have been saved – but it would be more correct to say that we've been saved thanks to the Savior, Christ. Without Him, there wouldn’t be any good people in this world, and no chance of freedom. With that in mind, let us all give a prayer of thanks to Christ, the True Ransomer.”

A priest led the Our Father. There was a moment of silence and then Marc resumed his speech.

“For all those who have been taken from home, I pray that you will find a good future there; for those who have lost your homes, and have none to go to, I pray that you will find a new one with all the blessings of Christ. In the meantime, the Lumenara V was built to function as a welcoming place for all for as long as is necessary. If there is anything you need, you have only to ask.”

Marc himself asked a question, but Samantha didn't hear it because her companion had finally caught sight of the speech-giver and had wrestled her way out into the aisle.

“A'da!” she cried.

In the pause after the Captain’s question, her cry echoed in the auditorium. Two thousand pairs of eyes looked to see who would interrupt the captain.

Marc's eyes went wide and he whirled. He hadn’t heard that name in years -

“A'da!”

Samantha struggled into the aisle to try and stop the girl. Not now!

She was just in time to see the maid fly down the auditorium aisle and up to the stage. Tears streamed down the maid's cheeks as her shimmering, iridescent eyes gazed insistently into Marc's shocked face.

“A'da!”

“A-Aiyra?”

“A'da!” came the joyful repeat as the girl stretched out her arms through a rain of tears.

Marc fell to his knees at the stage edge and took the maid's face in his hands. Frantically he searched her eyes, so soft and unreal like her mother's.

“Aiyra?”

She only nodded.

“Aiyra! My baby girl!” Marc broke down and kissed his daughter's wet cheeks.

Samantha stood in the aisle as a smile formed on her lips. Her eyes met Konstan's and Truitt's; the engineers were completely bewildered. Samantha only shook her head and took her seat again.

Her fellow engineers shrugged at each other and looked to the other officers who were present and just as astonished. They looked for someone else to explain it to them, but there was only the heart-torn father kneeling with his arms around his only child.

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I had a brilliant idea instead of “buy me coffee!” You can now buy me fabric for interactive projects, where you’ll be able to vote on what historical dress or costume from film (or even literature) that I’ll recreate!

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