People kept walking up to X'til, asking him a quick question or two, and then getting dispatched to do some task or other. When Jenkins asked about the former leader's body, Kless told him that the word of X'til's ascension to the top position would spread like wildfire throughout the ship. Everyone will know what had happened before anyone happened to find the body. No one will have any questions.
"And it appears that there may be a bit of confusion with the second attacker, who is being blamed for the Leader's death. It is no matter," added X'til, "since it is only a matter of hours before we plunge into the white hole."
"Our first priority is assessing our immediate escape options," said Kless.
When they arrived at the cult's escape pod, it was in the same condition as when Jenkin's had left it. The other two were shocked and dismayed at its state. But other than grabbing a few tools and disconnected systems, spent little time there.
"Right...then I suppose that leaves the other pod as our only chance," Kless said. "Jenkins, if I got you the 40 meters of Beryllium conduit, how long would it take you to rig it up to go?"
Jenkins was distracted. So many things seemed to be spiraling out of control. "I don't know..." he began. "It shouldn't take long, a few minutes. I'd just need to run the power conduit between the control panel in the front, the reactor section in the back, and the power flux lines next to them."
X'til sidled up to Kless and quietly said, "I have concerns about his abilities. He seems...impaired, though right now he might have a window of clarity."
Kless stopped and took a long look at his partner in crime, grabbing his jaw, turning his head to the left and right a bit and waving his hand past his eyes.
"It's G-root," he said to the new Leader. "I've seen it in a lot of prisoners when I was just pushing a broom in the detention area. Though I've no idea where he could have found any."
"The distribution of the Ganesha root in this octant is something this ship has been trying to disrupt for years, while at the same time being one of the prime distributors of it," X'til said matter-of-factly.
Kless gave him a puzzled look.
X'til said, "You mean you actually have no idea that had been going on or how it worked?"
"Up until very recently, I wasn't exactly high up on the totem pole," he replied.
"One of the ways the church gained wealth, in the last few years, was from the distribution of the Ganesha root. The Circle's Edge would return the prisoners it held to appropriately controlled space, X or Y. When they left, they would be given enough of the drug to supply the needs of whatever locality was their destination. Payments were made through donations to the church. If someone stopped paying, they would stop receiving prisoners with care packages," the Brother explained.
"And how did the G-root get on board? I get that the prisoners weren't searched when they left, but they certainly wouldn't have been able to bring any of that on board," Kless said.
"Certainly not. However, the possessions of the church members generally were not searched. And even if they were, they never found any of the so-called G-root," X'til stated.
"Why not?" asked Kless.
"Because at best, they would only find some stardust, which is what people expect the devotees of the church to have."
"Stardust is G-root..." Kless said with amazement.
"Not exactly, but for all practical purposes, yes. It must be processed, but the procedure is quick and cheap and hard to detect. The process renders it inert and undetectable, at least as Ganesha root. The particularly clever part is that it can be used during ceremonies to sanctify holy relics and the like, and then the remains can be swept up, and reconstituted with practically no loss. A very neat process. And it was invented by your friend here."
"You mean he was in on the whole thing?"
"No," said the Brother. "He invented the process, but that was it. He had no idea where any of that went."
"So he didn't get anything for it," Kless said.
"Nor did you, it would seem. I had thought you must be getting a cut. I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed in you."
The two were silent for a moment. Kless looked over at Jenkins who was staring blankly at his workbench. Nothing was on it except for a few scraps of wires and a discarded caps from an acti-foam canister. Fixation was one of the common symptoms of G-root use.
"I've known him for a while. Almost a year. I never would have figured him as a G-rider. Did he...just get into it after the whole white hole thing?" asked Kless.
"I don't know if he is a G-rider and if so, for how long. Why would he invent the process yet never gain any wealth from it, if he was completely disinterested?" X'til asked rhetorically. "He has been a consumer ever since his longtime companion joined the Children. I suspect it was a combination of personal self-destruction, forgetting his pain, and seeking pleasure, coupled with a desire to destroy the Star Cult."
"How's that?"
"It is a dangerous drug. Not in terms of its chemical volatility but in terms of the way it consumes the one who consumes it. How much do you know of the Ganesha root, Officer Kless?"
"I know of it by name. I know of, and have seen, its effects on people, both acute and long term, but beyond that, it's just the drug of the hour to me. I've never seen it directly, nor used it, nor have an interest in either."
X'til explained the history of the Ganesha root.
Long ago, there was a deity in the Old Religions, the ground-based ones, who was named Ganesha and had the body of a man and the head of an elephant (one of the megafauna of the latter ages). There were varying accounts of how he came to have such a condition. In some he was born that way, in others his head was sliced off by another god while he was protecting his mother. To appease the mother, the god said he would help the child, but was unable to find the head, and used the first one that was available. Ganesha was not among the most powerful of the gods, but he was still revered by many and was associated with a number of qualities, including obstacles (both the placing and removing), knowledge, merchants and trade, protection, and prosperity. The Ganesha root itself, being certain specific roots of the Desmodia multinervia tree, which was cultivated from the stock from old-world trees and some of the early successful offworld vegetation on X'tonu'u. The roots that contain the psychoactive drugs tend to be gnarled and resemble an elephant's trunk attached to a bulbous head. That was one connection to Ganesha.
The other was its effect. As is common of psychoactive drugs, some claimed it removed barriers for them and showed them the path to new knowledge. A common side effect seemed to be the placement of new barriers: memory loss, confusion, disassociation, mood swings, though violence was rarely associated with it.
And it seemed as though once the pattern of highs and lows was established, it would continue indefinitely. The only real way to manage a so-called G-rider was to administer small doses at well timed intervals to flatten out the usage pattern.
G-root was both its own disease and cure.
It was not immediately addictive. It was just that at some point, the brain reached a sort of tipping point. Before that, the consumer was affected by the drug, but not permanently. Once the drug wore off, there were no further side effects. But once past that point, the consumer became a G-rider, forever on the bumpy road to hell. The drug never seemed to loosen its grip. More recent theories blamed changes to brain chemistry in a few key areas, possibly as a result of permanent damage. There was no way to tell how close a person was to their own personal tipping point. But it was easy to tell once they were past it—unless they were on some sort of managed dosage plan.
"I believe he offered the process to the organization in hope that it was a Pandora's Box, and would destroy the Star Cult, the leadership, and if necessary, the members," X'til said. "He did not anticipate that when inert, it is, in essence, nothing but dust. It has no effect on people if accidentally ingested. It may have perverted the organization, in terms of political connections, in terms of our negative influence on the X'tonu'u and Y'valatic worlds, but he did not consider that their suffering drives more people into our fold, benefiting the organization, as well as the 'donations' we received from distributors and riders."
"Usually the mood swings I've seen haven't been as wild," Kless said. "I'm guessing he must've taken a big hit. That pod, what he did to it, I imagine that was the result of a manic phase. Shit...when he crashes down, he'll be of no use to anyone."
Even though he said "anyone" it was clear he meant "us".
After a moment, he added, "OK... it's time to do a little math. Let's assume we get that conduit and the pod works. There's the three of us and the pod holds three. I think that works for me. How about you?"
"I am the new Leader so I need not follow any guidance but my own. I do not need to remain here."
"Well, there are two problems I see. First, is the space in the pod. We don't have to worry anymore about the former Leader using the pod. But Jenkins had been talking about having promised the seat to someone else in the cult."
"That would be Sister Kendau."
"That could get to be a problem. If she makes a stink about it."
"She will not."
"You don't think she'll object to you as the new leader?"
"Certainly. She did. She was the one who tried to kill me."
"When?"
"Less than a minute after I killed my predecessor."
"You mean the one in the hood that I blasted right in front of me?"
"That would be Sister Kendau."
"It would. But it isn't anymore..." Kless said.
"True. Therefore I do not think your first point is of importance. Continue to the second then," said X'til.
"The other is that we don't want too many people around when we launch the escape pod. And the fewer that are in the detention center the better." Kless snorted at the thought of having to try to sneak into an area filled with hundreds of dangerous prisoners on the loose, many of whom justifyably had a personal vendetta against him. But there was no choice. He was the one most familiar with the layout of the place and had the authorization codes. If that's where the conduit was, he stood the best chance of getting it. After a moment, he added, "If they could be...directed...somewhere else, that would buy us some needed time, to get out with the conduit, rig up the pod, and then launch."
X'til nodded. "Agreed. I can make a proclamation, direct the Followers to Section B of the ship or somewhere equally out of the way. If I told them to go to Section F, I would think many would do so."
The security officer was taken aback. "You think so? With all that radiation, it'd be suicide."
"And staying on the ship and waiting is not? But that was only an example. I could give them a much more reasonable and enticing suggestion."
Kless agreed, "You have a point. Very well. I'll take Jenkins and go to the detention center. He can either help me or possibly distract the others from me. No one knows or cares about him, it's me they'd recognize and want. Then we'll head to the pod. You can make a few royal decrees to clear the path and then meet us at the pod in Science Lab 40-3. You'll need access codes and privileges to use the public address system. Here." He gave him the codes and connected to the main security monitor and granted X'til access to the P.A. system.
The Reverend X'til nodded, turned, and left. Kless and Jenkins headed in the opposite direction.