When Harlen asked about the possibility of receiving religious texts from the Faith of Deux, Mackenzie nodded happily. "Oh, of course. To begin, I can lend you a copy of the Sacred Codex." She bent down and rummaged in the side pocket of her backpack, pulling out a small book, about five hundred pages long. "It's a pocket edition, I didn't want to start this long trip without bringing it, but I've no problem with you having it. I've actually read it so many times that I practically know it by heart." She offered it to Harlen. "It has two parts. In the first are collected the sacred texts that are preserved from what the ancient believers of the Old Earth wrote since the First Covenant, until the arrival of Humanity to Sirius. The second contains the texts that have been written since the founding of the Church, what we call Second Covenant, until the present day." The neurologist pointed to the book, once the priest had it in his hands. "The Sacred Codex is the base book of our Faith. It tells the entire story, starting with how Deux chose Humanity to be saved from the Great Enemy, and how He gave us the Gift of the Machine, so we could build tools and technology. If you're looking to get to know Deux more closely, and what His message is, this is the book that can best help you do so." Mac bent down again to close the backpack. "Of course there are many more religious books, the ones that clerics usually use for liturgies. Since we're not a religion that emphasizes the mass conversion of non-believers, it's unusual for someone to take such an interest in our religious literature, and I'm sure that the Church will gladly collaborate. I could ask Faith Haven to send some here, but indeed I don't also know if they can get them here before we leave."
Wilson nodded when Harlen spoke of the Nomad worshipers. "These people are very lost in their path. So much so that it's very likely that there is no salvation for them." She clenched her fists in anger. "How can someone worship beings who want to destroy us as a race? It's something I can never understand. For me, these people are traitors to Humanity, and should be treated as the enemy. I'm glad you don't consider them worthy of respect either." She tried to calm her tone of voice and took a deep breath. "I understand your doubts about our goal of uniting human beings under the same cause. Really, it's not even about uniting them under the same cause, it would be enough for us to stop killing each other. It's really something complicated, I know, as I already said, Evil is among us, it's part of our nature, and it pushes us to fight against our own brothers." She shrugged her shoulders. "However Deux asks us to try, and that's what we do. We may not achieve absolute success, but every time someone understands that any conflict between humans is a trifle compared to the end that awaits us at the hands of the Great Enemy, it's a victory for the Mandate of Deux."
As Mac said goodbye to leave, Harlen gave Isabella a hug and then offered her another. The neurologist accepted it with a big smile, happy to be able to count on the good old man during this journey. That had been something unexpected for her, but she had made her feel even more comfortable and welcomed on that ship. Wilson knew she could count on Isabella for anything she needed, but there were things she could probably only deal with with someone else who had the same spiritual concerns as her.
Both women walked out into the atrium again, with Niki on Saito's shoulders, as she explained what their next destination on the visit would be. She also expressed her joy that Mac had enjoyed her little surprise from the Chapel.
"Oh yeah, it's been great getting to know this place, and Harlen too." Mac smiled happily. "He's a wonderful person, he instills a lot of peace and understanding. I think I could spend hours and hours talking with him." She looked at the atrium, reviewing the different floors with her gaze and thinking about the things she had not yet seen there. "The atrium is a place I want to explore further, but luckily I'll have plenty of time to do so. Let's go to the biodomes, then."
Mac began to feel comfortable in the hallways of that ship. In reality, it was a bit like Faith Haven, a colony with quite a few people, only a little cleaner and much more modern. However, she liked the hustle and bustle, people coming and going, going about their business... That made her feel at home. They soon arrived a large corridor that ended in a wide opening, through which they could see nature. Both doctors entered the biodome.
It was absolutely gorgeous, and Mac watched in awe as they walked along some of the paths. The space, round, would be about 30 square kilometers, covered with grass, dotted with flowers and trees, and crossed by some water canals. Even she could see groups of cropped areas in the distance, and a real pond, with some birds flying over. There were many people walking, just like them, and some were having a picnic, or bathing in the canals, and even in the pond. Everyone seemed happy and relaxed. Niki immediately jumped off Isabella's shoulders and run into the grass, rolling around and enjoying its coolness.
However, what surprised Mac the most was the light. The light... was like that of a sunny summer day in Gran Canaria. Through the large glass of the biodome she could not see the black of the void of space, nor the stars, but rather it had that blue appearance of a clear day on a planet with an atmosphere.
The neurologist pointed upwards while looking at Isabella. "Is it another holographic illusion? But... it's not possible, it's a real glass! When we approached the Healing Heart in your Dromedary I saw the biodomes from afar, and I can swear that their dome is clearly made of glass."
Saito soon explained her the operation of the dome, and more specifically the adjustable-tinted glass material that made it up. Mac could barely understand how that technology worked, but she immediately wished she could have something similar in Faith Haven. The main biodome of the settlement was also used by many settler families in their free time, for walks and picnics, but due to the constant sand storms the light from the white dwarf almost always arrived very weak and distorted. This made the lighting very yellow, giving a strange tone to everything under the biodomes. Although in the end one got used to it, Mac still remembered with nostalgia the beautiful light they enjoyed in Gran Canaria.
Wilson also appreciated that the landscape had so much water, and she expressed it this way to Isa. "In Faith Haven we've achieved an environment under the biodomes with some vegetation, perhaps not as lush as what I'm observing here, but quite leafy for such a hostile planet. However, there we don't have canals or ponds. The reason for this is that Pygar only has water supplies through underground rivers, and its extraction and obtaining isn't easy, so its use is reserved exclusively for manufacturing processes, crop irrigation and, of course, for human consumption. Except for two or three monumental fountains with cyclical water courses near the Pontifical Palace and the Temple of Deux, it's not used for decoration or for leisure." She looked around, and couldn't help but stop and smile when the aroma of a family barbecue reached her, seasoned with the screams and laughter of the children as they jumped into the pond. "It has to be a real treasure to have a place as wonderful as this within reach of all the residents of Healing Hearth. However, don't you sometimes have capacity problems? I imagine that on work days off, or on holidays, this has to be crowded."
