| abstract
| - Schuyler "Sky" Haussmann was the son of Titus Haussmann, the head of security aboard the Santiago. However, on his father's deathbed Sky discovered that he was not in fact his father's son, but rather an infant "momio" or "sleeper" awakened by Titus secretly after the death of his real infant son. Like the rest of the Flotilla's sleeping colonists, Sky Haussmann was secretly immortal, having undergone various procedures before leaving the Sol system. Sky's greatest crime and best-known action was the ejection of entire rings of reefersleep caskets in order to gain an advantage over the other craft of the Flotilla, killing many of the momios that were to be the colonists for the new world of Journey's End. This strategy meant the Santiago had less mass than the other ships and so could decelerate later and arrived at Journey's End first. The planet which had been known as Journey's End to the Flotilla was christened Sky's Edge as a reminder of the action he took to ensure that the Santiago would be the first of the Flotilla to arrive; an action that would be the spark that ignited a continuous civil war on the planet. Because of his crime, Haussmann was eventually condemned to crucifixion by the Santiago's colonists. However, he had long anticipated such an outcome, and had acquired a stand-in willing to be executed in his stead. In place of living in concealment after the trial and punishment, Sky opted to enter reefersleep for a century, under the care of his most loyal followers. Sky Haussmann was the centre of a pervasive cult, and those who worshiped him do so as if he were a god. The bizarre cult had developed an indoctrinal virus that altered the perceptions of anyone infected by it, often giving them physical symptoms similar to stigmata or whole chapters of Sky's life as simulated experiences. The virus was designed to reprogram the victim, in a sense, into a follower of the Church of Sky.
|