Cathedral by Michael Mangels (ebook reader color screen txt) 📕

of late. They had discussed the effect that the Europani refugees were having on the North-west Peninsula lands to which they had been temporarily relocated; the local water tables were falling, and food supplies were stretched to the limit. The matter was not yet a catastrophe, but was a cause for real concern.

Solis sighed. Would that we had been as generous with those lands when those Skrreean farmers had asked to settle there seven years ago. Those lands would be supplying food and water in abundance by now.

Next, Vedek Teetow had brought up some nonsense about a girl in his temple who claimed to have seen a vision of a Prophet in her flour-cakes; the Assembly had been ready to dismiss the topic out of hand until he also claimed that she had—after experiencing the vision—healed several people in her village who still suffered from lingering war wounds. That spurred another lengthy discussion about what to do with the apparently gifted child.

Vedek Grenchen—an amiable man whom Solis always suspected had become a vedek because he loved the pageantry and embroidered robes almost as much as he did the Prophets—brought up the coming celebrations marking Bajor’s entry into the Federation. Most of the public parades and parties were scheduled to begin approximately a month after the signing of the treaty, in deference to those partaking of the abstemious rites of the Bajoran Time of Cleansing. Grenchen felt that a new annual holiday should be declared on Bajor, a symbolic day on which the people could celebrate their role in the greater fabric of the galaxy. Most of the vedeks seemed to be in agreement with Grenchen, but the topic was tabled until a full meeting of the Assembly could be convened.

“Is there any final business before we adjourn?” Eran asked, looking around the chamber to see if there were any hands on the tables, which would signify a desire to address the Assembly. Slowly but firmly, Solis put his hands out. Eran saw him, and Solis saw a momentary flash of hostility in his eyes. “Yes, Vedek Solis?”

Solis rose, gathering his robes around him. All eyes turned to him, some with great suspicion. Since he had publicly embraced the prophecies of Ohalu and announced his candidacy for kaiship, he found that his presence among the Bajoran people had become an increasingly polarizing one; people were largely either with him or against him, while but a few remained completely undecided. This held true with the vedeks as well, and it was to those undecided clerics that he felt he had to appeal most carefully.

“We are now, as a people, looking to the future, and to what that future will bring,” Solis said, looking each of the vedeks in the eyes in turn. “By joining the Federation, we are attuning ourselves to a presence in the galaxy greater than our own. Every sentient species on each of the planets within the Federation has a history, a tradition, a set of ‘old ways.’ Some of these have the potential for coming into great conflict with each other. There are people in the Federation who believe in a single god who created everything in the universe, who rules from a heaven above them. Others believe in a pantheon of gods and goddesses, each representative of an element of their lives. Others believe that there are no gods, that life itself is a cosmic happenstance. Still others believe that they may become gods themselves, if they work to perfect themselves during their lives.

“These are but a very few of the personal belief systems held by the peoples we will be joining within the Federation. That body is a diverse and ever-expanding construct, filled with people who are deeply religious as well as those who are indifferent, atheistic, or agnostic. We are about to become a people who side with all these others, whether pious, mystic, or empirical, peoples who share a common bond and goal of peace and exploration and growth.”

Although a few vedeks were actively scowling at him, Solis saw several more nodding, even if barely. He continued. “Here on Bajor, the belief in our Prophets is what drives our people. And though we sometimes deny it, Bajor is ruled by its theocracy. The Chamber of Ministers is filled with Bajor’s faithful, most of whom attend services conducted by some of us who are gathered here today. Even our planet’s name is based upon our religious beliefs. If things had gone differently millennia ago, our people might be known as Perikians or Endtreeans. But we are Bajorans. Our faith defines us.

“But how do we define our faith? Does faith mean an unwavering, unquestioning belief in the doctrine of the Prophets? Or do we often question, often interpret what we believe the Will of the Prophets to be? How many of us saw the Occupation as the will of the Prophets, some horrifying test that we had to endure? How many of us saw it as a moment in time when the Prophets had abandoned us, or had chosen to punish us? And yet, even if we believed those things, we did not lose our faith; we merely interpreted events in ways that buoyed that faith.

“Most of us here today, even the ranjens, have experienced the power of the Prophets through the Orbs. The Orbs represent a tangible, tactile, physical proof that there is something beyond Bajor with a power greater than ours, a power to shape reality, to destroy, and to create.

“But we leave these Orb experiences with our own personal interpretations of what the Prophets are trying to tell us. Never have They handed us specific guidelines, and yet all too often, when we come away from the Orbs, our interpretation of our communion with the Prophets becomes Bajor’s received wisdom. We use what we feel from the Prophets to guide our world. We act as the translators of Their wishes.”

Solis paused for a moment, clearing his throat. He could see Bellis glaring at