The Pilgrimage Ch. 03

Morrigan waited a few minutes then asked the young ensign that Pete left in charge of the command deck to tie her in ship wide. "Morning folks. I'm sure you know about the incident that happened during the open forum yesterday. Unfortunately there's no way to predict what someone's gonna say or do during one of them. Frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can understand some of you being concerned about my youth. I also realize that trust isn't something that's given, it has to be earned. So it's important that we get to know each other. These forums are the best tool we have to achieve those goals. So I fully intend to keep holding them. In a few minutes, I'll be asking Frank to apologize to all of you for his part in yesterday's incident. I can't predict what his response will be, so I urge parental discretion."

She glanced down the corridor leading from the command deck. "Ah, speak of the devil. Sorry for dragging you out of bed Frank, but I have a full schedule today. So I had to squeeze you in early. As I told you yesterday, I allow everyone one mistake and by that I don't mean something simple like burning my toast. I'm talking about a major fuck up like publicly calling your queen a slut. Tell you what I'm gonna do Frank. I'm gonna give you a chance to get back in my good graces. If you apologize to me, right here, and right now, and then follow these four security officers down to your housing section, knock on every door, and apologize to every family, I'll wipe your slate clean."

Frank drew back his lips in a snarl. "Fuck you, you cunt!"

"Not even in your wildest wet dreams Frank. I was trying to be nice, but you're too damn stupid to realize just how much shit you're in. Everyone aboard the Arc has to have a patron god or goddess who is responsible not only for guiding and protecting them, but to deal with dickheads who refuse to accept me as their queen and obey my laws. When I got back to my quarters yesterday, I found out you didn't have one. So in an effort to give you a fair chance, I found a very powerful goddess who was willing to cut you a break, provided you did as I asked. You've just made your second mistake Frank. So I'm gonna turn you over to her, and she can do whatever the hell she wants with you."

Morrigan made a big show of holding her hands out palms up as she gazed at the ceiling and dramatically intoned, "Hera, mighty queen of Olympus, I request your assistance."

Hera made sure her entrance was just as dramatic. She appeared with a bright flash of light and kept a bright golden glow all around her body. "Morrigan, queen and absolute ruler of humanity, what assistance do you request of me?"

"Hera, I realize that this... THING, isn't one of yours. But you did say you'd be willing to be his patron if he redeemed himself. Unfortunately, he refuses to do so despite my best efforts. Frankly, I don't know what to do with him anymore, and I don't have the time or patience to spend figuring it out. The assistance I request is that you deal with this matter the same as if he were one of yours."

"I'd be more than happy to accommodate you Morrigan. If one of mine EVER acted like him, I'd simply do THIS!" Hera flicked her index finger making Frank disappear. "There ya go Morrigan, problem solved. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?"

"Not that I can think of, but I'm curious, what did you do with him Hera?"

"I sent his body back to Earth where his bones are already nothing but ashes. His spirit now resides in the deepest part of Tartarus where he will reap his just rewards." Hera gave a grim smile disappearing as dramatically as she had appeared.

Morrigan stood, returning to her quarters without saying a word. Everyone watching assumed she was upset over the loss of yet another life. The truth is, while she wasn't happy about Frank's death, she wasn't upset about it either. All she felt was relief that her people were no longer in any danger. When Morrigan walked in to the kitchen, she was surprised to see Aileen, Kelli, and Ashling, sitting at the table chatting with the Goddesses Banba, and Hera.

The goddess Banba looked up. "Good morning Morrigan. I'm glad to hear that you and Hera have finally met."

"Good morning my goddess. I'm glad too. Hera was a big help with what could've turned into a very dangerous situation."

"So I've been told. I understand the solution was your idea."

"Yes it was. It's not something I'm very proud of, and I feel the pain of yet another life lost. But I'm relieved that none of my people will be harmed as well. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do. But I saw no other way, and I'm happy it's over."

"Let your conscience rest easy Morrigan. He was an evil man whose soul was tainted with the blood of many innocent young women. I agree with Hera, his punishment was just and well deserved."

"My conscience doesn't trouble me at all. I know how bad he was. The safety of my people is, and always will be, my first concern. There isn't any doubt in my mind that I did what was necessary."

Just then, Megan came strolling in. "Good morning everyone. Sorry about just walking in on you like this Morrigan. I did knock first, but I guess nobody heard me."

"Morning Megan. Don't worry about it. You're my P.A. You don't have to knock. Grab yourself a coffee and have a seat."

Megan poured herself a coffee then sat down. "We never did finish our talk about my duties yesterday. I don't even know when or where I'm supposed to show up."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I got a little sidetracked. Just show up here every morning and we'll go from there. Okay?"

"Works for me. I thought you'd want a little feedback about what went on earlier so I stopped in some rec rooms before coming here. I talked to a few people in each room. Most people are okay with what you did. They realize there's more to the story than meets the eye. But there are some that think you went too far. They think you let your temper get the best of you and that you handed that shithead over to Hera just because he called you a few names. I know you Morrigan. There's a hell of a lot more to the story than you let on. I really think you should nip this in the bud by making some sort of statement explaining things a little better."

"Shit! I didn't even think about that." Morrigan went on to explain everything to Megan.

"Ouch! That's a tough one all right. I can understand why you did it that way. But look Morrigan, if you want people to trust you, then you're gonna have to trust them just as much. You've gotta have a little faith. The people on this ship are good people. Explain it all to them like you did me. Trust me, it'll all work out."

Morrigan looked around the table. Everyone nodded agreeing with Megan. Morrigan took a deep breath letting it out slowly then stood. "Okay Megan, let's do this." They walked out to the command deck together. Morrigan sat in the command chair with Megan standing at her side. She took another deep breath, closing her eyes and letting it out slowly.

She opened her eyes looking over at Pete. "Uncle Pete, listen closely. I'm gonna give you some orders that I want you to follow exactly. But don't do anything until I tell you. First I want you to tie me in ship wide, audio only. I'm gonna make a brief announcement, then I want you to switch over to both audio and visual but feed it directly to every computer on the ship. I don't want anything going out over the intercoms or video screens after my announcement. Uncle Pete, whatever you do, don't screw it up. There's too much at stake."

Pete nodded. "You got it Morrigan. Ready whenever you are."

"Okay, Uncle Pete open a channel, audio only. Good morning again folks. I guess I owe you an explanation regarding the way things ended with Frank Rupo earlier. Before I begin I have to warn you, some of the details are extremely graphic and not suitable for children. Instead of sending you a feed to your video screens, I'm having it piped to the computers in your quarters. For those of you with young children, I urge you to use your wireless headphones rather than your speakers. That way, you can still tend to your children while listening to what I have to say. Please make sure you unplug your speakers from the USB port and plug the transmitter for your headphones in that same port. I realize you can switch from one to the other with just a click of your mouse, but this is a necessary precaution to prevent children from hearing some very gruesome details. I'll give everyone five minutes to prepare then I'll begin. If for some reason you're not ready, please shut your speakers off or your computer down."

Morrigan sat deep in thought for the next five minutes. When the time was up, she nodded to Pete. "Okay folks, I hope everyone's ready. First let me back up a bit and explain a few things you may, or may not know. The population aboard spans multiple cultures, with many different gods and goddesses as patrons. When you were ported aboard, time was extremely short. The invitation extended to your patrons included members of your family. So your patrons cast a very wide net. Partially because they wanted to save as many lives as possible, but mostly because they wanted to make sure all of your family members made it aboard. Frank Rupo was a relative of someone who worships Hera. Neither party knew of the others existence, nor that he was a very dangerous man. Not to me, but to every other woman aboard the Arc."

She went on to explain everything Hera had told her about Frank Rupo during the night, including some very gruesome details of what he did to the women he kidnapped. "I hope you understand now why I did things the way I did. I apologize for not having enough faith in all of you to just tell you everything up front. As my good friend and personal assistant Megan, standing right beside me here, reminded me a short time ago, the only way I'm ever gonna earn your trust is to trust you first. Please forgive my lack of trust in you. I promise, it WON'T happen again." Morrigan stood hugging Megan and together they returned to Morrigan's quarters as Pete cut the outgoing link.

Once she was inside, Morrigan closed the door leaning back against it as her eyes glistened with tears. "Thank you Megan. You were right, that needed to be done. But it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I feel like I've let them all down."

Megan leaned in giving Morrigan a gentle kiss on the lips. "Shh, they'll be fine now sweetie. Trust me, you did fantastic. If I were to take a poll right now, your approval rating would be off the scale." Megan wrapped her arms around Morrigan hugging her as she laid her head on Morrigan's shoulder. "You didn't let them down at all baby. You saved a lot of lives, and every single one of them knows that now." She stepped back taking Morrigan's hand. "Come on honey, let's go to the kitchen and get you something to eat. You look like you're about ready to pass out on me here."

As soon as Morrigan sat down, Aileen handed her a plate with steak, two eggs over easy, home fries, and toast. Then set a glass of orange juice and a cup of fresh hot coffee in front of her. She looked at Morrigan and said, "EAT!" She turned to Megan and said, "You too girlfriend! Park your sexy little ass and EAT!"

Megan leaned back checking out Aileen's luscious ass. "I don't know Aileen. In an oiled up butt contest, I MIGHT be able to tie you, but in a wet tee shirt contest, you'd win hands down. Your boobs are definitely bigger than mine." she giggled.

Aileen put her hands on her hips. "Are you gonna eat something Megan, or do I have to feed you?"

"Well I'd love to eat SOMETHING Aileen, but you've got it covered with those 'Daisy Dukes'." Megan grinned.

Aileen gave Megan a playful scowl. "Now you've gone and done it Aileen. After breakfast, I'm gonna have to put you across my knee and spank your sexy, little, bare ass."

Megan shook her head grinning. "Promises, promises, promises. All I get these days are promises. What's up with that? Are my tits starting to sag or something?" She looked over at Morrigan who was laughing so hard at the sexy banter, she nearly wet herself. Megan reached up giving Aileen a high five while pointing at Morrigan. "Now THAT'S the Morrigan we all know and love," she giggled.

Morrigan finally stopped laughing. "You two are too fucking funny! Thank you both. I REALLY needed that laugh."

Aileen grinned. "Of course you did. You went through hell out there Morrigan and we knew it. That's why we did it. But you should thank our goddess too. She's the one who put us up to it."

Morrigan looked at the Goddess Banba. "I should've known you were behind it my goddess. Thank you for the laugh, I feel a hell of a lot better now."

The Goddess Banba smiled. "You're welcome my child. Now finish eating before YOU get spanked."

Morrigan giggled. "From both of them my goddess?"

The Goddess Banba shook her head smiling. "If need be."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun! I hope that's a promise my goddess."

"Maybe later. Right now you, Aileen, Kelli, Ashling, and Megan still have a lot of work to get done. We're only twenty eight days from Erie."

"Yes, I know my goddess. Since the beginning of time, men have worked from the rising sun to the setting sun; but it seems a woman's work is NEVER done," Morrigan laughed. "You're right though; it's time to put my crown back on. But I'd like to be casual today, so how about giving me just a sports bra, a pair of 'Daisy Dukes', and some sandals?"

"Hmm, I would've picked something a bit flashier. But I think I like your idea better. It might do your people some good to see you in such a relaxed state. So what's on your agenda for today?" the Goddess Banba asked as she handed Morrigan the clothes.

"I haven't really thought much about it yet. But I think the first thing I need, is to find out if there are any more Frank Rupos aboard. Is there any way you and the other goddesses and gods can tell me how many 'loose ends', for lack of a better term, we have aboard? I'd also like to know if any of these 'loose ends' are dangerous and/or what problems they may pose, if any."

"That's a good idea. Most of us were in such a hurry when we cast our nets that we didn't think of the implications. I certainly hope there's no more like him aboard. But you're right, if there is, you need to know. I'm not certain how long it'll take to get an answer for you. As you know, time has no meaning in our realm. But give me a minute and I'll see what I can do." The Goddess Banba closed her eyes for a couple of minutes, then opened them with a smile. "You got lucky Morrigan. After yesterday, they all anticipated your question."

She handed Morrigan several sheets of paper. "As you can see, there's a hundred seventeen 'loose ends', as you call them aboard. Most of them are half brothers and sisters. Some know about each other, others don't. None pose any danger, but there's one young woman who may present a problem. She's the half-sister of ...um... one of mine. She knows of her sister's existence but doesn't know exactly who her sister is. Her sister, on the other hand, has absolutely no idea her father ever sired another child. That in and of itself isn't a problem. There are many others in the same situation."

"The half-sister's name is Vanessa. She's nineteen years old and before she came aboard, she was a drug addict and a prostitute. Vanessa's father was a married man and a selfish bastard. He refused to leave his wife because a divorce would be very costly. When Vanessa was about ten years old, her mother began pressuring Vanessa's father to leave his wife and marry her. He refused and stopped seeing her."

"One morning, Vanessa's mother was waiting for him at the doughnut shop where he stopped every morning on his way to work. She told him if he didn't do what she asked, she was telling his wife everything. He talked her into going back to her place to talk things over. He parked in an alley behind her apartment. Once there, he pulled out a pistol and told her if she ever bothered him again, he'd turn her into a junkie and a whore. To prove he was serious, he handed her a syringe filled with heroin forcing her to shoot herself up at gunpoint. Vanessa's mother pleaded and begged him not to make her do it. He told her all he was doing was giving her a taste of what her life would be like if she ever fucked with him again. Vanessa's mother was terrified he'd kill her if she didn't do what he demanded so she stuck the needle in her vein and pushed the plunger. She never realized he'd planned it all out in advance. The syringe was filled with almost pure heroin. Vanessa's mother died with the needle still stuck in her vein. He set her body beside her back door and calmly drove away."

"Her body was found a short time later. The police just chalked it up to another junkie prostitute who overdosed herself. Vanessa had heard her mother arguing with her father over the phone many times, but she had never actually met him. She had no idea who he was. The authorities weren't able to locate any other relatives so Vanessa was placed in a state sponsored home. She stayed until she felt she was old enough to survive on her own then ran away, ending up in the same neighborhood she came from. Times were tough and jobs were scarce. She turned to prostitution for money and drugs to forget her pain. Being on the Arc has removed her drug addiction and restored her body, but has done nothing to ease her pain."

Morrigan sat there with tears running down her cheeks. "Oh my gods! This poor girl has absolutely no support network! What about Vanessa's sister? Will she accept Vanessa into her life if we bring them together?"

"Possibly, but that's not the problem. Vanessa despises her sister. She blames her for everything that's gone wrong in her life. Vanessa also doesn't know her sister is aboard. On top of that, Vanessa has no clue where she is, how she got here, or even why she's here."

"Isn't there anything we can do? Please Goddess, we just have to help her!"

"Hmm, well, perhaps there is something we can do. Why don't you go talk to Vanessa? Maybe you can convince her that her sister isn't to blame for everything. If you can do that, maybe we can work on getting the two of them together. I will tell you this much, Vanessa's sister is a good woman with a very kind heart. I'm sure she would do whatever she could to help Vanessa. The challenge is going to be getting Vanessa to realize that. Vanessa's quarters are on deck 2, section 200, suite 201. Have a chat with her and see what you can come up with."

"Wow that's really weird. Those quarters are directly under mine. I guess I'll head down there now. Wish me luck."

"Deck two is where mine, Brigit, and Danu's favored are quartered. Good luck my child."

Morrigan ported herself to the corridor in front of Vanessa's quarters. She took a deep breath letting it out slowly then knocked on the door. The door opened a little and a pretty redhead with piercing blue eyes stuck her head out. "Hi my name's Morrigan. Would it be okay if I came in and talked to you for a bit?"

Vanessa stepped back opening the door wider. "I guess so. I know who you are Morrigan. What would the queen of humanity want with the likes of me?"

"It's a bit complicated. Do you mind if we sat while we chatted."

"Um... sure grab a seat. Look Morrigan, I know I don't have one of those patron thingies, but I'm nothing like that Frank guy. Please don't kick me off whatever this thing is!"

Morrigan smiled. "Relax Vanessa. I'm not here for anything like that. In fact I was kinda hoping we could be friends."

"H, h, how do you know my name? Why would you wanna be friends with someone like me? I'm not a good person Morrigan, not like you are. I'm a screw up. My whole life's been one screw up after another."