Emboldened with my success with Sydjea, I attempted to reach my other three sisters for the Lord.

"Xulrubdan," said Sanchirck.

"No," Hissandra countered. "Her brain is damaged from our attacks.

"I admit that my brain has been injured, but I have recovered (amen) from it, and am in my right mind. No, this is what was spoken by (halleluiah) the human prophet Joel..." I quoted Joel 2:28-32 to them.

(27)

"She has received the wonderful Xulrubdan of Jesus!" Sydjea agreed. "As have I! Gather and listen to her words about the Great Ss'sik'chtokiwij who created us all, that took on food flesh and died to save us from eternal damnation!"

Ahxalybij recoiled visibly at this. "It has spread to Sydjea! She really is Xulrubdan!"

Sanchirck also looked nervous. "I do not wish to be infected."

"There is no danger!" Hissandra shouted. "I have discussed the matter with Mother! Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik has merely damaged her head, and Sydjea is a gullible fool! These two traitors need to be taught their place!"

She leapt at me, clawing at my dome, but I had no humans to protect, so I didn't resist.

Her attack made me drop Mara. The android fell sprawling on the ground, but due to her sleep mode, did not react.

"The Lord forgives you, my sister," I said to my attacker. "(Angel)."

She punched me, but I only responded with an "I forgive you."

Outraged, but confused, she gave me a more severe beating.

"My Lord was beaten in a similar fashion. And now I (chair), I share in his suffering."

Hissandra didn't find this fun anymore.

"She is Xulrubdan," Ahxalybij repeated. "Let us leave her and seek out the crippled human and the small ones."

"The Lord rebuke you!" I shouted. "Are you so blind to your (Mephibosheth), your own sin? Turn away from this wickedness at once and seek the honor of the Great Pack Leader Above All Packs!"

Sydjea stood by me. "Listen to Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik! Does it not pain you to see the humans die so mercilessly?"

"Only if they have tainted meat," Hissandra mocked.

Undeterred, I said, "It's all tainted. Do you (alleluia), you know it is a sin to murder?"

"What is sin?" Sanchirck asked.

I explained.

"If that were true, why were we given claws and suaakudsi to tear into our prey?"

"These (Satan), these tools the Great Ss'sik'chtokiwij Above has given us can be used for good or evil. Just like any tool. But you have used yours for evil."

"So we are not to kill humans?" Ahxalybij asked.

Sanchirck stared at me in bafflement. "Then what are we to eat?"

The fact that all the goats had been eaten explained why my sisters had so avidly chased after Brice's `Dalek.' It was like a toy dogs play with when their meals have been consumed.

I saw nothing morally wrong with them eating goats, if we had any left.

Before I could respond, Hissandra waved at the farm. "She wants us to eat the green things around us."

"I will be sick!" Sanchirck cried.

"Perhaps that is why Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik talks like she does. She is weak from malnourishment."

I personally had only consumed a package of synthetic bacon earlier that day, an inadequate meal for a creature my size. My feeding time had been scheduled for a later hour.

That being said, whenever my thoughts returned to the rumbling of my stomach, I remembered how my Lord resisted Satan's temptations in the wilderness.

I would feast on God's word only, I thought. By this bread I shall live. The children will not be turned into food.

"You're right. Her diet. That must be what's wrong with her." Hissandra gestured to the door. "Come. Let us find the small humans before this also happens to us."

"What will you do?" Sydjea whispered to me. "What does our Lord say about situations like this?"

"Life should be protected. But they haven't harmed (thanks) harmed anyone yet, and the children do not appear to be in danger. I have confidence that Brice will protect them."

Sydjea nodded. "Brice is a strong fighter. My suaakudsi and my mouth are still injured from the thing he attacked me with." She paused. "Still..."

I picked the android up from the ground, slinging her over my shoulders.

When my three relatives departed from hydroponics, I slowly followed them, watching, waiting for that moment when combat was absolutely necessary, hoping it never came.

If only my friends could secure themselves in some inaccessible place and stay there for the duration.

Upper level of the base. We passed `Weather', a plain windowless room humming with machines, and another room marked `Remote Sensing,' leaving me wondering why my kin didn't bear straight for the cafeteria, which stood adjacent to Hydroponics.

I responded to Sydjea's comment. "I will not permit (Judas), permit my friends to be murdered. If they are in need of aid and cannot help themselves, I will do everything within my power to save them."

"Even kill your sisters?"

I shuddered. "Only as a last resort. (Maranatha). If the time for reasoning is past, I would be taking one life to save three. Our Heavenly Master (chair), Our Heavenly Master would approve. I understand this is the justification behind God's righteous saints who entered the battlefield to end the evils of the Not Sees."

"You have not told me about these `Not Sees.' What are they?"

I shook my head. "Wicked soldiers, not unlike the ones who murdered Jesus, but far more sadistic and widespread in their destruction. It took (Jesus), it took many bloody battles to stop the senseless loss of life.

"Thousands of humans with weapons fought other humans with weapons to spare hundreds of thousands of unarmed victims from the worst deaths imaginable."

"Worse than the crucifixion?"

I paused. "Almost."

"They kill for reasons other than for food."

"Yes. (Amen)."

"That is evil."

I nodded.

"But Hissandra, Ahxalybij and Sanchirck intend to kill for food."

"It is not (yes) not necessary. There is food that tastes of meat, but isn't. Human life is (Zebedee), is precious to the Ss'sik'chtokiwij Above, so we must protect it."

As we neared the entrance to a door labeled with a sign reading `Mineral Testing Stage 2,' I discovered the source of the distraction.

A plump, dark skinned man with shiny black hair dragged a cart of cleaning supplies out of the room, singing to himself. "Vamos a la playa, oh-oh-oh-oh..."

He tugged the cart over a bump. "Limpiada mucho, oh-oh-oh-oh..."

Boger Hernandez.

"Seňor!" I yelled. "Run! (Judas)!"

Once the man got over his initial amusement, he did just that, but Sanchirck moved faster, tackling him to the floor.

"Caramba!" he cried, struggling to throw her off.

The moment Sanchirck tore into him, I knew I had to do something.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," I muttered. "Come, Sydjea! We must (angel), we must help him!"

"But he is not your friend!"

I responded with a decisive growl. "He is now!"

[0000]

(27) I think my scripture quotation originally went a little overboard. At least now I don't have it all there in chapter and verse.