‘Yes.’ Jacob nodded.
‘My father told me it could communicate with other worlds.’
‘The device tells me the Left-Behind split into factions, and that the more rigidly conservative faction became dominant.’
Kulic stared at the device nestled in Jacob’s hands with horrified fascination. ‘That little thing – it told you all that?’
The Left-Behind had briefly been a powerful force on the surviving colony worlds following the Abandonment, preaching that the artefacts responsible for turning every living thing on Earth to dust had been sent there by God, in order to gather the souls of mankind prior to a final judgement. The religion had eventually been outlawed throughout the Tian Di, but here in the Coalition followers were permitted to exist, so long as they remained far from the provenance of the cities.
‘You told the transceiver that Bruehl had begun to believe he was some kind of messiah, destined to lead the Left-Behind through the Founder Network.’
‘I still remember him from when I was much younger,’ said Kulic, nodding. ‘Before he died, my father told me Bruehl was responsible for setting up safe-houses for other Tian Di agents. Bruehl was tasked with penetrating the Coalition’s secure military networks, in order to find their weaknesses. But something happened.’
‘What?’
Kulic’s balding pate glistened under the dim light of the lantern. ‘He started telling people God was waiting for us up at the end of time, along with everyone else who’d been rescued when the angels razed Earth; he said that was why the Founder Network had been created, so that all sentient beings could find their way there. This went against the doctrine of the Church’s Elders and made them very unhappy.’
‘And your father? How did he feel about this?’
‘At first he thought Bruehl was insane, but I think my father had a great deal of trouble adjusting to life here. He married because it was expected of him, and it was his duty to fit in. I . . . realize now that I was nothing more than part of his cover, that he had never really wanted a child.’
‘He told you this?’
‘No.’ Kulic shook his head. ‘I worked some of it out for myself, once I knew the truth about him . . .’ His voice trailed off.
‘Go on,’ Jacob prompted.
‘I think my father committed suicide, in a way,’ Kulic finally said. ‘He changed his mind about Bruehl, and began to believe him. I think his new-found religious beliefs were a way to hide the truth from himself, that he no longer wanted to live.’
‘Bruehl had quite a few followers, I understand. Your father was only one of them.’
‘Yes, Bruehl had a great number of followers after a while. Even I was one. We all followed him when he left for the cities. He said he’d had a vision, that God would guide us through the Founder Network, and the Coalition wouldn’t be able to stand in our way.’
‘How many of you went with him?’
Kulic shrugged. ‘A thousand, perhaps. At that time I had no idea of my father’s true identity, and the same went for the other agents like Bruehl. When we left, the Elders condemned us for our actions.’ The old man stopped, gazing wistfully into the distance.
‘And?’
‘And we never even reached the cities. First Bruehl and my father started fighting, and before long the people who’d followed them started to take sides.’ Kulic shook his head. ‘Folks around here don’t like to speak about those days any more, but I was there. A few hundred continued on with Bruehl, while the rest followed my father back home. But not all of us were allowed back in – old scores were being settled, I suppose.’
‘And what happened to Bruehl?’
‘More people abandoned him and drifted back to their villages over the following days and weeks. As far as I know he managed to lead a few dozen as far as the nearest city, but all I know about what happened after that is rumour and conjecture. From what I heard,’ said Kulic, with an uncharacteristic touch of sarcasm, ‘they never reached the Founder Network, since God apparently failed to supply them with the necessary authorization to pass through a single transfer gate.’
‘And Sillars? You haven’t said anything about what happened to him. Was he part of all this?’
Kulic shook his head. ‘No. Sillars didn’t believe like the others did.’
Jacob felt a flush of relief. ‘He stayed true to his mission?’