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Deep within purgatory.

Miranda kneeled just outside of the gates to the temple of judgment, looking thoughtfully at the human just before her. Moments ago she had been about to rip his throat out with her claws and fangs, now she knelt motionless trying to process all he had just told her. He had been there when her family died, on the command ship of the human's first fleet. He had been given the opportunity to prevent the deaths of thirty five million Anthros, but to do so he would have had to kill her family. Just the thought of that sickened her.

As a military officer she had been taught about necessary sacrifice, the one for the many, but it is different when that one is a person you love. She tried to put herself in his place, asking if she would have been able to pull the trigger on two million innocent lives even if it saved so many more. Slowly her anger deflated as she was forced to the conclusion that she wouldn't have been able to do it either.

Looking him directly in the eyes she said in a soft tone. "I grew up in Castaela, the capital city of Revella. Had you done what he wanted, all it would have accomplished was killing my family sooner. As much as it pains me to say this, you did the right thing."

Nova just shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "How can you say that? Thirty five million Anthros would have lived if only I could have done it. There blood is on my hands, I killed them because I could not act."

She reached out and touched the left side of his face, wiping the tears away as she asked. "Be honest with me and yourself, do you really think he would have stopped at only the capital? Even if you had pressed that button he still would have ordered the bombardment. He had to, there was no way we could have allowed the human forces to land. He only wanted to taint you, to make you a murderer just like him."

To spite himself nova reached up a hand and placed it over the paw stroking his face, needing the comfort as he searched his soul. This was a question he had struggled with so many sleepless nights. On that horrible day he had suspected his Master was lying to him, that no matter what he did Revella would still burn. In the months fallowing that day he had convinced himself that he was wrong, that as bad a person as his master was he would have kept his word if only he had been able to press that button. Now thinking about it again, with this vixen telling him he had done the right thing, only served to raise his doubts all over again. "I don't know, I just don't know. I've carried the guilt for that day for so long. All this time I have believed I forfeited my soul because I could not save so many innocent lives."

Miranda used her paw to tilt nova's head up and move in slowly to press a kiss to his lips, holding it for a long time as she looked into his eyes. When the kiss broke she touched her forehead to his as she said. "Choosing not to kill is never wrong. I don't blame you for the deaths of my family or anyone else that day. But if it will help to ease your guilt, I forgive you."

"Thank you" he sobbed, holding tight to her. Behind the pair the gates of judgment opened, bathing them in light. Miranda and nova turned as the gates swung open. The vixen rose first and helped nova to his feet, taking a tight hold on his hand as she whispered "We will face this together."

"Together," he whispered back as they walked through the gate paw in hand.

In gateway station's main treatment area.

Lieutenant Commander Charles Graystone, the only human to survive the violence on the crimson claw watched as the doctors abandoned him, heading over to the dead boy. He was as shocked as all the others when the mink started screaming that he could be alive. For over thirteen years he had served the Terran Confederation as one of it's most elite soldiers, An Archangel. Born in the legacy of such groups as the SAS, army rangers, navy seals and Delta Force, he and his team's time in combat had brought them in contact with a great deal of dead bodies. Looking at the young man stretched out on the surgical table he could not believe anyone in such shape could be alive. He was so pale, his skin so bloodless, he looked as if he had been dead for days, not merely an hour.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as his guards also turned to watch the developing scene, thinking that it might give him the opportunity to escape. All he had to do was get his hands on one of there weapons, but instead he gave his full attention to the doctors as they talked about the boy. When they started discussing his blood oxygen levels and the vascular constriction in his extremities it rang a bell somewhere in the back of his mind. Like many elite soldiers his training included a greater then average medical knowledge, all the better to take your enemies apart when you knew how there bodies work.

But this was something far more basic, something he had learned in survival training. For a moment that information teetered on the edge of his mind, almost fading away before snapping to crystal clarity. With that knowledge he also remembered that this was not a reaction that Anthro's shared with humans. It was possible that there doctors would not even know about it. For a few seconds he considered keeping that information to himself, but thinking back to his encounter with nova, he decided that if he could help this boy to live he would do it. Charles drew a deep breath and spoke out, not even bothering to ask his guards for permission first.

"That is a hypothermic reaction." Then as all eyes turned to him he added " But it is not cold enough in here for that to happen, what is his core body temp?"

The lead guard cuffed him on the back of the head wile the other three pointed there weapons at him, the lioness snarling. " Shut up human!"

Dana seeing the human who had beaten her, still wearing her stolen uniform stained with the mink's own blood , let out a deep growl and started over to him "YOU! You murdering son of a ...."

But she was stopped before she could take a third step, Melinda taking hold of her arm. "Dana wait. He seems to know what is going on here and we might need him to help nova."

Dana eyed the rabbit for several long seconds, finally releasing an angry breath before nodding and stepping back. "Fine!"

Melinda then turned and looked at the human rubbing the back of his head where the guard had smacked him. "His core body temp has dropped to 78 degrees. What exactly is a hypothermic reaction and why does his temperature matter?"

The human glared at the guard who had hit him for a few seconds, then looked back over to Melinda. Wile he was willing to help save this boy, he did not care in the slightest for his treatment. "That is not a natural rate of cooling, he should have only dropped a degree and a half by now. At the most he should still be somewhere in the high 90's. Something is causing him to cool at an accelerated rate and that might explain why he is showing hypothermic symptoms."

He continued to explain how the human body reacts to freezing or near freezing temperatures. It took him a good 5 minutes to explain how the body shuts down blood flow to it's limbs in order to retain core body heat and how the rest of the body reacts in a last ditch effort to protect itself. He finished by saying "There have been cases where someone who drowned in freezing water was revived after more then 2 hours, but it is very rare. That is where the medical expression came from, that your not dead, until your warm and dead."

Wile he had been speaking doctor Riversong was using the medical scanners to deeply probe nova's body, scanning him down to nearly the cellular level in hopes of unraveling this mystery. With the clues given to her by the human, she had started refining the scans for thermal anomalies, wile also trying to understand how the electrical impulses where reaching his heart and lung through his nearly destroyed spinal cord. Focusing in on the largest thermal discrepancy revealed a large non-organic mass at the base of nova's brain and smaller ones along the worst damage of his spine.

The mouse's eyes narrowed as she zoomed in as far as the display would go on the larger mass, revealing it to be a cluster of nanites. Molecule size tendrils of them extended out from the mass, bypassing damaged sections. Moving to the other two masses along his spine, she found them both to be nanites bridging and in some cases completely replacing the burned pathways.

"My goddess!" she squeaked. "Look at this. These nanites are acting as some kind of life support system. I don't understand how, but they have been massively over charged with some kind of plasma energy. Even so they're still converting his residual body heat into energy, then using it to boost the reduced neural impulses to control his vital organs. This is impossible, but they are maintaining him at an almost stasis level."

She then turned back to the bound human and asked. "This hypothermia, does it preserve brain function?"

The man nodded. "Yes it does, but oxygen deprivation will still cause damage. If you can increase his blood oxy levels it will buy you time."

"Nurse, Triox, now!" Melinda called out as she placed a Intravenous line in nova's carotid artery. This would allow the hyper oxygenated fluid to flow directly up to his brain wile they figured out there next course of action. As she did this, doctor Riversong walked back over to Charles, a medical pad in her paws set to retrieve anything in the data base about hypothermia. There talk about possible treatments went unnoticed by the three figures standing in the door of the recovery area, Kayla, Crystal and Sasha all standing there slack muzzled.

"W-What?" the captain stuttered wile Sasha wavered on her feet looking as if she might faint.

"Melinda what are you doing?" Crystal demanded as she separated from the pair, not quite stomping over to the surgical table.

The bunny looked up after she finished attaching the drip bag of triox and started it's life giving flow. Quickly she explained what they had found and what needed to be done as quickly as possible, her paws never stopping as she reconnected each of the life support devices to novas body. Kayla and Sasha curled there arms supportively around the shaking Dana, saying nothing as the horrible truth was laid out.

The temple of judgment.

Human and vixen walked through the gates and past from cold stone floors to deeply polished hard wood, elegant wall carvings and beautifully woven tapestries. Where the path outside was lighted by burning torches, this large room was illuminated by glowing crystalline statues of every Anthro species. Each statue was nude and stood in a pose of prayer, head lowered and paws pressed together under her muzzle. When the two past a statue of a praying mink nova stopped, tenderly laying a hand on the side of it's face.

"Your Mistress was a mink?" Miranda asked, laying her free paw on his shoulder.

"Yes, Mistress." He sniffled, then turned away and resumed walking.

About fifty feet in the corridor opened out into a large room, the statues lining the walls of this vast chamber. In the middle of the chamber six statues stood alone in a circle, between them a seal composed of silver and gold rose up several inches from the floor. But that is not what immediately caught nova's attention. No, on the far side of the room was a massive golden throne, a twenty foot high figure shrouded in gray mist seated upon it.

Nova's first impression was that of the two mystery females in his dreams, the ones shrouded in light and darkness. But unlike them, this figure was massive, easily four times his size. Standing to either side of her where ten robed figures, the five on the left dressed in white, the five on the right in black. All of them appeared to be normal Anthros, except there fur was as light or dark as the robes they wore.

Seeing her nova froze dead in his tracks and let out a gasp of shock, his hand still gripped in Miranda's paw starting to shake. Sensing the sudden change in nova the vixen also stopped and laid her free paw on his chest, softly whispering. "That is The Daughter Of Judgment and her servants. She is the one who will judge the events of our lives and decide if we will be sent to paradise or the pit. You don't need to fear them, no matter her judgment they will not hurt us."

Nova could not find his voice, not explain that he had seen others much like this goddess in his dreams. As he struggled to find something to say one of the figures robed in white lifted a paw and motioned to the seal on the floor as she commanded. "Welcome children. Step forward onto the seal of life and your judgment shall begin."

Unconsciously nova started to take a step back, his head shaking in denial. If not for Miranda's grip on his hand she was sure he might have fled in fear, the vixen taking hold of his other hand to steady him as she whispered. "I know your scared, but we must do this. There is no going back at this point."

Then she looked over to the white clad unicorn servant who had spoken. "My lady, this human is not of our faith and has not been taught what to expect here. Would you permit me to go first so that he can see there is nothing to fear? Then may I wait for his judgment so we can leave here together?"

From the look on the servant's face this was obviously not something she had been asked before. Instead of answering she turned and looked up to the goddess seated on her throne, waiting until the gray shrouded figure nodded before speaking. "The Daughter Of Judgment has granted your request child, Step forward onto the seal."

She turned back to nova and released his hands to give him a soft hug. She laid her head on his shoulder and held him for a few moments, whispering into his ear. "Be brave, nova. Watch my judgment and then I will wait for yours to be finished. Even if we are not sent to the same place, I will stay with you as long as I can."

Nova nodded and kissed the vixen on the tip of her nose as he whispered back. "Yes, Mistress. I will be brave. Thank you for giving me strength."

With that she separated from him and walked onto the platform, standing in it's very center as the statues began to glow brighter. The statues arms extended until there paws touched, closing the circle around her. From the seal a field of energy sprung up to form a bubble around the vixen as scenes from her life started to flash by.

In one window nova watched as an older vixen growled in pain, a new born kit sliding from between her legs. In another a teenaged vixen sobbed, clutching the body of her mother as she lay dieing in a hospital bed. In yet another Miranda engaged in combat, slashing open the throat of a human as fighting raged all around them.

Scene after scene flashed by, some of violence, some of love and joy as The Daughter Of Judgment's servants spoke. The ones clad in white spoke of her virtues and the ones in black spoke of her sins. "She shows kindness, helping others. She shows cruelty, taking the lives of others. She morns those she has killed and repents her sins. She has stolen the property of others. She has given freely of her worldly goods to uplift those less fortunate."

On and on it went, nova just watching as the vixen's life was laid bear before him. Inside the bubble Miranda slowly sank to her knees as the events of her life flashed by, her paws covering her eyes as emotions overwhelmed her. When the flashing scenes stopped one was left on the bubble, playing out from beginning to end, what he guessed was the defining moment of her life.

There was a human shooting bound anthros on there knees in the back of the head. Miranda entered from a door on the far side of the room and fired catching the human in his shoulder. The man fell, clutching the spot where his left arm was once attached. As she approached him, the wounded human started begging for his life, crawling away in the blood of his victims. Miranda looked at the man, then at the anthros he had murdered. With a snarl, she lifted her weapon and fired.

"She save the lives of others. She killed out of anger and rage." Both groups of servants commented on the scene, each group viewing it differently. With that the bubble collapsed leaving the nude vixen crying on her knees. Nova wanted to go and comfort her, but did not dare set foot on that seal until her judgment was finished.

From beside the golden throne a light and dark vixen stepped forward and turned to face there Mistress. "For 150 years this child's life has been spent in the light." The light vixen started. Then the dark vixen finished "But for the last ten years her soul has been stained with sin and death. This sin must be purged before she is reborn."

As nova fallowed the gaze of the vixen servants up to The Daughter Of Judgment he experienced an odd moment where it seemed as if the gray shrouded figure was looking not at Miranda, but watching him intently. He looked into her eyes of liquid fire, both burning orbs peering deeply into him, burning away all mortal appearances down to his very soul. In that gaze he could tell she was waiting for something, expectant, almost hopeful he thought. Maybe he was just imagining it, but it almost seemed as if she wanted him to do something, to speak out about what was happening.

Nova shivered at the power of that gaze, feeling as if it was pressing her will over his own. With a life time of ingrained conditioning to obey authority, any authority, nova took a step forward and licked his suddenly dry lips as he spoke. "WAIT! It isn't fair to punish her for that..."

All of the servants turned to look at him as the pair of vixen's snarled. "Be silent male."

Another servant added "It is forbidden to interfere in the judgment of another."

Yet another of the dark servants growled "Such insolence shall be punished."

This went on for several seconds before The Daughter Of Judgment boomed from her throne. "SILENCE!!!"

The sound was so shockingly loud that nova covered his ears and dropped to his knees. It took him a few long heart beats before the boy realized that her command had not been aimed at him, but at her own servants. When he looked up again he saw that all of them had returned to there places and lowered there head subserviently. Looking back up to The Daughter Of Judgment she was now leaning back in a relaxed pose, still looking at him.

When she spoke again her voice had become much softer and carried a tone of amusement. "You may speak for this female if you wish, precious."

The moment she called him precious all of the servant's heads whipped up to stair at him, looks of shock and surprise flashing across there faces. Nova also looked shaken by her words. "I, I know your voice, You're the one who called me here?"

"Yes precious, I knew the moment you returned to my realm. But what of this child you have brought with you? Do you believe she should be reborn with the sin of murder still on her soul?" she asked motioning to Miranda who had also turned to stair at him.

Still on his knees nova just breathed for a few moments trying to assimilate all of this and get his thoughts straight in his head. Finally he answered, still looking into The Daughter Of Judgment's eyes. "Yes Mistress. It is not fair to hold her responsible for killing that human or any human because of the war. I know my fellow humans, he was murdering the helpless when she killed him. If she had shown him mercy, he would have killed her the moment she lowered her guard."

"What of the other humans she has killed? Do you not blame her for any of them?" The Daughter Of Judgment asked, leaning slightly forward on her throne.

Nova softly shook his head. "I do not know what powers you may have to view events in the living world, but Anthros didn't start this war. I have herd from the lips of those in power on the human side, how they would be happy to exterminate all anthros. We have attacked the anthros for over forty years and left them with no other choice but to kill us in order to protect all they hold dear."

"So you would absolve her of her sins because you believe they where necessary to protect the innocent." The Daughter Of Judgment asked.

Nova took a deep breath and held it for a long time, building up his courage to say what he believed was right. " Yes, Mistress. I forgive her what she was forced to do, for the humans she was forced to kill. I..." Nova breathed deeply one more time and then rapidly blurted out. "I volunteer to take her place and suffer her punishment."

"No!" Miranda gasped, holding out a paw to him. "I can't, I won't let you suffer for me!"

Nova lowered his gaze to Miranda and softly whispered. "No matter what happens here I will be punished for my own sins, please let me do this for you, as penance for your family."

Before she could answer The Daughter Of Judgment's musical laughter filled the temple, echoing off into the darkness. "Your time in the mortal world has changed you so much precious, yet you are still the same. This female has already repented of her sins and purged much of them in the mortal world. As my gift to you I shall allow my dark servants to purify what remains, then she may pass into paradise where our sister of light will care for her."

Miranda was so shocked by this pronouncement that she turned from nova and looked up to The Daughter Of Judgment even as the dark servants moved toward her. Never in all the myths and theology of her people had she herd of anyone with sin on there soul being purified in the temple of judgment. Even more troubling was the fact that this unprecedented gift was only being made because of the human whom she had only just met.

As the dark servants encircled her Miranda stood, looking from them, to nova and then back to The Daughter Of Judgment as she asked. "My goddess I must know, why. Why would you allow this male to be punished in my place? Surely he deserves a chance to be reunited with those who love him?"

To this The Daughter Of Judgment released another purring chuckle. "O child, he is already with those who love him. You need not fear for him, wile his offer to take your place was noble, he will not face judgment this day. As much as I wish to keep him here with me, there is still much for him to do in the mortal realm. Soon, he shall be reborn."

Before she could ask anything more, the first of the dark servants reached out and touched the side of Miranda's muzzle, tilting her head up to kiss her. After a second the two's muzzles parted and a stream of dark mist flowed from the vixen's mouth to the wolfs. When the flow stopped, the next servant turned her head and repeated the process. This went on from servant to servant until no more darkness came from the dreamy eyed vixen.

When they where finished the dark servants returned to there places beside the golden throne, each of them looking happy and contented. Two of the light servants started forward, but where stopped when The Daughter Of Judgment lifted a paw to nova and spoke. "She has been purified and is ready to move on. Would you like to take her to the light, precious?"

Nova was so confused and had so many questions, there was obviously something very important going on here that he desperately wanted to understand. But right now he realized that this goddess was giving him the opportunity to say goodbye to his new friend, he would do that first then hopefully he would be allowed to ask his questions. To The Daughter Of Judgment he looked up and nodded. "Yes Mistress, Thank you."

Nova rose to his feet and walked over to the edge of the seal, extending a hand to Miranda who still had a disoriented and dreamy look in her eyes. Seeming to be only partly awake she took his hand and they fallowed the two light servants over to a huge stone doorway to the left of the golden throne. He stopped in front of the two doors as the servants took up there places to either side of it, admiring the beautiful scene carved into it. Nova was still admiring this tableau when the two servants laid a paw on each of the doors.

For a moment human and vixen where blinded by the light pouring through the doors as they slid apart, the glare of sunlight giving way to a sight that took there breaths away. Trees, flowers and tall grasses swaying in a light breeze, the music of bird songs all serving as a back drop to dozens of furs glowing with golden radiance just on the other side of the door. "Mother," Miranda cried. "Father, sisters."

Miranda's family lifted there arms to her, waiting to welcome her back into there loving embrace. Tears streamed down the vixen's face as she took a step forward, passing through a shimmering barrier. The moment she passed through it, she also began to glow with the same brilliant golden light. When her paw still holding nova's hand reached the barrier there was a resistance, it not allowing him to pass. She turned back to look at him, then at there joined hands, her smile dropping as she knew he would not be allowed to join her. " I wish you could come with me, be with me and my family in paradise."

As sad as nova felt being denied entrance to heaven, he didn't wish to make Miranda's reunion with her family a sad one. Summoning up all his inner strength he forced a smile and lifted her paw, kissing it softly.. "There's no need to be sad Mistress. It is time for you to be with your family. May your soul always walk in the light and know love."

With that he released her paw and allowed her to pass fully into paradise, the gateway quickly starting to close between them. His last view of the vixen was her turning into the arms of her family, all of them hugging her as tears of joyful reunion where shed.

In gateway station's main treatment area.

With the addition of the triox drip and the reactivation of life support systems Melinda was happy to finally have nova's blood oxygen level back to 100%, but to spite her best efforts his core temp was still dropping as the nanites scavenged his body heat for power. She had been at a loss as to what to try next when Dana asked why they simply could not feed power directly to the nanites. Not being an engineer this was something neither doctor knew how to do, so it had not occurred to them to provide an alternative power source.

"I can do it simply enough." Dana said, pointing at the medical display. "Standard cardiac stimulators are designed to deliver energy through the skin. I can recalibrate one to deliver a continuous charge and alter it's output, I just need to know what to set it to."

This set off a flurry of activity as Crystal and Melinda work to analyze the largest cluster of nanites just below the human's brain stem. Wile they did this Dana retrieved a new set of tools from a nearby synthesizer, disassembling a fresh set of stimulators. No sooner had she connected a portable diagnostic pad to the device then Melinda spoke up, pointing to a hologram floating over the surgical table. "We've isolated the frequency, modulation and amplitude of the nanites output. Strange, but as infused with plasma energy as they are, there discharge is less then 30% of what they are rated for. Its almost like they are intentionally restricting power at the lowest level of stasis that could be considered alive."

"Maybe they are rationing the power in order to sustain him as long as possible?" Crystal asked.

"Possible, but given that they where never programmed to do any of this, I have no idea what protocols might be at work. And as for this plasma energy that has infused them, I haven't a clue where it came from." Melinda replied as the nanites operational coding began to scroll by on a new display.

Wile her medical education did include basic nanite coding, she was thoroughly confused by what she was seeing now. Large sections where scrambled and others where constantly changing and adapting, rewriting themselves far beyond what there artificial intelligence programs where supposed to be capable of. Somehow, someway the thousands upon thousands of molecule sized devices had networked themselves into a collective intelligence. This was supposed to be impossible, all AI's had fail safes hardwired into them designed to strictly limit there growth potential.

---

Such necessary restrictions had been the result of hard lessons learned by the older races in the early days of AI research and development. Many tragedies had occurred when AI's where allowed to grow to the point of becoming self-aware, acting agents there creators. The final event that led to a universal law being passed was when a starship's AI became fully sentient. It killed it's crew and started attacking other vessels in space, copying itself into there computers. For the next decade this ever expanding armada disrupted interstellar trade, destroyed space habitats and resulted in countless deaths. The threat was only stopped when the oldest race, the Va'londrins, committed there most powerful warship to the fight. From the day that tragic conflict ended, every space fairing race set strict legal restrictions on the maximum complexity of all AI development.

---

Melinda seeing the medical nanites she had injected into nova, both the new units and the reactivated ones from days ago, exceeding there programming limitations was legally and morally required to trigger there self-destruct fail safes. Of course doing that would result in nova's instant death, something she simply could not bring herself to do with even the slightest hope he might survive. Instead she set the terminal to record and quarantine there ever changing code, logging it for later analysis. She would remove them from him as soon as possible, but for now she would keep silent and allow them to continue to keep him alive.

"There ready." Dana said, bringing the newly reconfigured cardiac stimulators over to Crystal. The jaguar took them and placed the first at the base of nova's skull, the second and third over the damaged sections of his spine. Connecting power leads to them, she started the power flow and turned back to the monitors as they bathed the nanites in low intensity radiant energy.

Crystal, Dana, Kayla and Sasha all held there breaths as Melinda slowly controlled the flow. After a few long seconds the nanites started to respond, sending longer and more powerful pulses. In response nova's heart and lung action slowly, ever so slowly increased. It took almost ten minutes of careful manipulation, the tones from the monitor ever increasing before Melinda pulled her paw away. First two, then five, then ten, Melinda only speaking when nova's heart rate leveled off at fifteen beats per minute. "Just a little more and that is ...... stable. My goddess, but that is stable, he is alive."

Dana released a cry of pure joy, hugging Kayla and Sasha to her as she wept. "It's a miracle, my mate has come back to me!"

Soon after doctor Riversong returned with the chained human prisoner in tow, all of the guards a few steps behind. She took a few moments to examine what they had done in her absence, nodding in approval when she saw his heart beating at the normal resting rate for a human. "Mr. Graystone and I have been talking and I think we have a viable course of treatment for the hypothermia."

He nodded, pointing to nova. "It's called thermal transfusion. Basically you need to pump out his blood, heat it to one hundred degrees and pump it back into his body. It has been the standard treatment for near lethal cases of hypothermia for almost fifty years now. Wile the blood is outside his body you should also artificially oxygenate it and clean out the toxic build up, like performing dialysis. That will be important as his body has been shut down long enough to start breaking down."

"Do you have the equipment for that or do you need me to improvise something?" Dana asked, ready to put her engineering skills to use for the male she loved.

Doctor Riversong smiled and flicked her ears." Thankfully Mr. Graystone was able to locate both needed devices in our copies of the human medical database. Fleet engineering is synthesizing and modifying them now, we should have them very soon. Wile we are waiting, I have my staff creating several pints of syntha blood to replace what our patient lost and help speed the process."

She turn to the bound human and pointed to nova. "Mr. Graystone, I need you to show me the ideal connection points for the infuser."

He nodded. "That's what I'm here for doctor. I believe the easiest way to do this, is if you can pull up one of those holograms just showing a human circulatory system."

Doctor Riversong walked over to a nearby terminal and started pulling up nova's medical history, identifying the same hologram Crystal created in his initial scans days ago. She was about to display it when she stopped, looking over to the crimson claw's crew. "Seeing this might be upsetting. Captain, Commanders, Mother, I would recommend you return to the recovery area and we will update you when...."

"NO!" Both Kayla and Dana said at the same time. Then Dana sadly added in a softer tone. "I am not going anywhere until my mate is awake. I just, I have to see his eyes again."

Still not believing this to be a good idea, but knowing she would not be able to get them to leave short of calling security, she went ahead and displayed the hologram. A life like image of nova appeared next to the bed, smiling and holding a small vixen kit in his arms. As she expected this earned a small whimper from the mink, before the kit and nova's loin cloth disappeared. A second later, his skin vanished, then his musculature, fallowed by his internal organs.

With only the skeleton and vascular systems remaining, Mr. Graystone stepped up and started pointing out the optimum recommended connection points. "The first set should be connected here at the jugular veins in his neck, the second set here in the brachial arteries in his arms and the last set here in the femoral arteries in his legs. This will allow the blood to circulate through his extremities and ease the vascular constriction before returning to his heart."

He then stopped and looked at Dana for a moment, very carefully choosing his words before asking doctor Riversong. "Um, doc? If there's a possibility he might wake up during this process you might want to have a sedative ready. It is going to be very uncomfortable, possibly even painful."

Doctor Riversong frowned at this, but it was Melinda who answered him. She had been closely monitoring nova's neural activity from the moment his heart rate stabilized, ready to act if there was even the smallest chance he might wake. With all the damage still to be repaired, if he did wake it would be with a scream of pain she very much did not wish to hear. "At this point, I don't think he will be waking up for a very long time. Wile his autonomic functions are working, there is still very little higher brain activity."

She fell silent for a few seconds then added in a worried tone. "I'm actually concerned about this lack of activity, we might have to call in a neurologist more experienced with human physiology then I am. That is, unless you can give us some insight as to how to treat this?"

Lieutenant Commander Graystone just looked at her, the side of his mouth twitching as he answered. "Doc, I'm a corpsmen and field medic, not a doctor. We archangels are very good at making and patching holes in warm bodies, but anything beyond that is over my pay grade. The only reason I know so much about treating hypothermia is because of all the time we spent training in Antarctica."

Eshara, who had been in deep mental contact with her matriarchs fallowing the discovery that nova was still alive, chose this moment to speak up, a broad smile spreading across her muzzle. "Melinda child you need not worry, help for that is about to arrive." All eyes turned to her, but she just continued to smile, pointing to the hospital doors.

A little over a minute later the doors opened and a new fur entered, admitting an alicorn that everyone instantly recognized. This mare was very tall with fur that had long ago faded to a silvery gray, dressed in her resplendent purple vestments. She needed to duck slightly for the horn on her head to clear the door, it adorned with the golden spiral of her office. Her beautiful wings where folded around her like a cloak, the feathers shrouding her in dignity as the Lady Amalthea, the Blessed Matriarch of The Holy Order of Light, entered.

Directly behind her was a solid black Nighthorse, adorned in a darker version of the same holy vestments. This had to be the Lady Beleth, the order of light's representative to the inters species council of elders. In there wake fallowed twenty more equines of all races, most of them breaking off and heading directly for the recovery area where they would tend to the grieving furs of the crimson claw.

The temple of judgment.

Nova sighed and rested his forehead on the massive stone doors, one hand touching it as he tried his best not to cry. His new friend was now gone, reunited with her family, leaving him once again alone. From the corner of his eyes he saw as the light servants moved away, most likely to prepare for the task of his judgment. Without Miranda there to give him strength his facade of bravery melted away, leaving him to once again fear the punishment he knew was coming.

He had become so absorbed in that thought that he was startled when a massive paw came to rest on his back. He looked up to find The Daughter Of Judgment standing behind him, softly petting him. She was so tall that he barely came up to her knee, the boy looking up and pulling on the very last dregs of his bravery as he asked. "Did you lie to her when you said I would not face judgment? Where you just waiting for her to leave so she did not have to see me cast into torment?"

In response she turned him around, slipping her paws under his arms to lift him up. Tenderly, she cradled him to her chest, one arm under him to support his weight as the other continued to motherly comfort him like an infant. "O my dear precious, I could never lie to you." Then she softly chuckled as she carried him back to her throne. "Besides even if I where to send you to the pit, our sister waiting there would just spend the next century loving and cuddling you. No harm can befall you here, no creature would dare lay a claw on you for fear of what we would do to them."

As she retook her seat, she shifted him around to sit on her lap, his head still resting on her chest as she hugged him to her. In this new position his head was resting on her massive breast, the nipple just inches from his eyes. It wasn't until then that he became keenly aware of the fact that he was naked, sitting on the lap of an equally nude goddess. A deep feeling of embarrassment washed over him, nova blushing deeply and squirming slightly in fear that this intimate position might cause an involuntary male reaction.

This seemed to amuse The Daughter Of Judgment, she purring with a deep chuckle as she sensed his emotions, perhaps reading his very thoughts. "O how funny that you should feel self-conscious with me, given how many times I have breast fed you as a baby. Even when not nursing you, you have clung to my breast for comfort so many times."

Instead of setting him at ease this only served to embarrass him more, nova's eyes drawn to the nipple as he thought of what it would be like to suckle upon it. In his life as a slave he and his sisters had developed a ritual of breast feeding when there masters would choose to breed them. Before the death of his second owner this ritual had become a spiritual right to him, a substitution for the lost legacy of mother and child he had never experienced. Over the long years this had spread to all the slaves of his clan, being incorporated into there private religion as a holy rite of bonding between collar siblings.

Feeling his unease growing, The Daughter Of Judgment smiled and lifted a paw, extending a single massive claw. She traced the smooth back of it down his chest, a feeling of warmth spreading through his body as the vest and loincloth his Mistress had given him faded into existence. Around herself, a set of gray robes appeared, leaving them both clothed. " I hope this makes you more comfortable precious."

Nova nodded softly and laid his head back on her covered breast, snuggling up close. "Yes, Mistress. Thank you."

For a long time she just held him, nuzzling him and even lick grooming him before she spoke again. "O, how I have missed this. Missed holding my precious treasure in my arms. It has been so very long since I was really able to hold you, not just the pale shadow of affection allowed us in that dream world."

Hearing her speak of his world of dreams reminded him of the two other females there, the ones shrouded in light and darkness. They too had been this affectionate and tender with him, alluding to a connection just as she was now. With the renewed feeling of safety given to him by her words and actions nova looked up, daring to meet her eyes as he spoke. "I've dreamed of two others like you, they also called me there precious treasure."

She smiled, nuzzling him again. "Yes, our sisters of Light and Darkness. Your little friend Miranda is with our sister of light now, enjoying her welcome feast in a place of honor simply because she helped to bring you back to me."

This was to much, nova's head spinning in confusion. "Why? You and the two in my dreams keep calling me a precious treasure. You all speak and act as if I mean something to you, but you will not tell me why. The others told me they where forbidden by there mother to tell me how we are connected. You said you breast fed me as a child, was that you? Are you the mother that does not wish me to understand why they and you act as if you love me?"

The Daughter Of Judgment looked momentarily hurt by this, then she sighed and hug him closer to her. For a few moments she remained silent, considering her answer to his questions. " No precious I did not give birth to you. The only reason I can tell you the truth now is because you will not carry the memory of this place back with you to the mortal world. You, my precious treasure are my baby brother."

"B-brother?" nova stammered.

She smiled at him again, lick kissing his forehead. "Yes, my little baby brother. You where born centuries after me and our sisters. Because we are not able to have children of our own, all three of us helped to raise you as if you where our own child. That is why you are so precious to us, you are as close as we will ever come to having a son to love. It was the saddest day of my existence when mother told us she had to seed you into a mortal body, taking you away from us in order to preserve the cycles of life."

"Preserve the cycles of life?" Nova asked, not able to comprehend how so much could depend on him. "How am I supposed to do that? I was nothing in life. I was a slave and sexual play thing of the powerful. The most important thing I ever did was to protect my last Mistress and I could only do that by dieing myself."

"Precious, as a pure deity mother is able to see the many paths the future might take. She has foreseen that one day in the near future some dark souls in human form will unleash a deadly plague upon the galaxy. It will spread beyond control, world to world until all Anthro, Furling and Vulctorn life is extinguished. In retaliation, the dieing will strike back, destroying all humanity. If this is allowed to pass, the cycle of death and rebirth will be broken for all four species." She told him, cuddling him tenderly.

"MY GODDESS NO! But they are gods, all powerful beans, why can't they stop this?" Nova exclaimed in horror.

The Daughter Of Judgment sighed softly. "When you where born into a mortal form mother had to lock away so much of your memory. If not you would know that even deities have there limitations as to what we can effect in the mortal world. That is why you agreed to leave us for so long, because only as a mortal could you bring mother's plan to fruition. She and the other deities searched the potentials of countless millions of unborn mortal bodies until they found just the right one to seed you into."

"Why me? I am not a warrior or a leader. How can I fight such a large battle with such unthinkable steaks if I fail."

She laid a massive paw on the side of his face, comforting him as best as she could. "When mother told us how you would have to suffer in your early life, we all begged to take your place. She told us if we did, that we would not succeed. Of all the deities and there children, only your love was strong enough to guide that body along the path it must fallow."

She then smiled, holding him tight again. "Precious you have already made such an impact, more then you will ever know. There are mortals alive today because of you, ones who should have died and will be vital to the future. Even the day on Revella that pains you so much is part of mothers plan. Because of the hour you bought that world, over a million furs where able to get far enough underground to survive. Among the ones rescued in the aftermath, are two who you will come to love. That is your purpose, not to fight, but to love and rally together those who will win the final battle. You are the heart, the key."

Nova fell silent, contemplating her words and trying to wrap his mind around the monumental task laid before him. The Daughter Of Judgment seemed content to just hold him, her arms curled around him in a tender cuddle. This went on for a very long time, neither of them speaking, but sharing some stolen time as brother and sister. It might have continued until it was time for nova to return to the mortal world if not for the gates on the far side of the temple opening to admit a new soul for judgment.

"Master!" nova shrieked, a fearful tremble starting over his body.

To be continued...