In the Winter

Richard tells his brothers not to cower but to take it like men and Geoffrey says, 'You fool! As if it matters how a man falls down.' And Richard says, 'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.'"
Toby Ziegler - The West Wing

"You don't think it's funny?" A prisoner looked up from his plate to the man sitting on the cot across from him.

"Son, I don't think it matters," The man on the bunk shook his head sadly and looked at the shadow the bars were casting on the floor of the cell, "I'm here to listen. You told the courts you were Monathian. I'm a priest with the local order,"

"I told them that because the Monathians don't believe in a death penalty. I figured the broken Gallente system would spit me out or something. Turns out they want to respect my religion all the way up to the part where they kill me. Watch out for that drip,"

"What?" The priest looked up just as a drop of water fell onto his cheek. He flinched for a moment before wiping it away. He then stood and moved further down the bunk.

The prisoner took another bit of his food, before continuing, "That drip's been there like clockwork for the last year. I could keep time with the thing. It annoyed me at first, and I'm sure that's why it's there. These bastards probably set this place up to be as annoying as possible. No rest for the damned, right?" The man laughed softly as he drank from the cup on his right, "But after a while, I realized something. See, no matter how hard they try to keep things out of here... it always finds a way in. Always,"

"Son, isn't it possible that the leak is just from a sink or something on the floor above you?" The priest motioned his hands upwards.

"You're uh... you're kind of a downer," The prisoner shook his head and smiled, "You want to know about my sins?"

"What sins would those be?"

"Well, I believe... and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that I'm guilty of conspiracy and treason. All of course in the service of the Caldari State,"

"Those are crimes son, not sins,"

"Then I'm not guilty of anything,"

"Alright son," The priest stood up and moved towards the door.

"Wait though. See, I'm not long for this world. It would be nice to have someone to talk to,"

The priest stopped for a moment as if to think, then sat back down, "Ok,"

"See, one day I looked out at the stars, and call me crazy, but I got scared. Lots of stars, and lots of possible people carrying bullets with various names on them. Maybe mine. So why don't we start to work together I think. Why be at each others throats? Lots of things out in the darkness will eventually come to gobble us whole... why wait for it while weakening ourselves?"

"Son," The priest began before being cut off.

"No, let me finish. So there I was, looking up at the... one day we'll unite with them, you know? We've got to. We were one before and we'll be one again. It's just a matter of time. One day soon, we'll be brothers again and inherit the stars. If I gotta be a martyr for that to happen, fine. I can do that. I hear it's not that hard,"

_________________________________________

The prisoner stood, strapped to a table. His eyes wide, the lighting just perfect. The cameras of the various news networks sat poised like vultures.

"You have been accused of treason against the Gallente Federation. You have been found guilty in a court by a jury of your peers. Your sentence is to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything you'd like to say?"

The speaker pushed his microphone forward as the prisoner yelled at the top of his voice, "Unification!"