The Sparrow

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain instances and discussions of child death, child sexual abuse, and rape. The source also includes slurs for sex workers that are reproduced in this guide only in direct quotes.

It’s December 7, 2059, and Father Emilio Sandoz is released from the isolation ward in the middle of the night and secretly transported to the Jesuit Residence near the Vatican. The next morning, a mob of reporters gathers outside Emilio’s room, and a spokesperson for the Jesuit Residence offers the following information:

To the best of our knowledge, Father Emilio Sandoz is the sole survivor of the Jesuit mission to Rakhat. Once again, we extend our thanks to the U.N., to the Contact Consortium and to the Asteroid Mining Division of Ohbayashi Corporation for making the return of Father Sandoz possible. We have no additional information regarding the fate of the Contact Consortium’s crew members; they are in our prayers (5).

The spokesman goes on to say that Emilio is too ill to talk about what happened during the mission. He is suffering from anemia, scurvy, and exhaustion—all a product of space travel—and he sleeps 20 hours a day.