"We're here," Aries said cheerfully. He did not seem fazed by the transport in the least. Harn was almost able to hide his disorientation, until he tried to walk across the room and found his legs feeling like lead. He stumbled but was able to lean against the wall, catching himself from falling on his face.
"These long distance journeys take a little getting used to," Aries laughed. "But you'll adapt to it. You'll see."
This circumstance reminded Harn of a similar situation in the past. One where Aries had not been quite as nice. It was his first year at the academy and during his orientation, Aries was the man assigned to judge if Harn would be able to take the pressure of life at the academy. A series of tests were given. It wasn't the written tests that Harn had trouble with, but the physical ones. Aries pushed him harder than he could have possibly imagined.
Climbing up the side of a mountain was beginning to take its toll on Harn, his muscles straining to hold him up, and Aries screaming at him to climb faster. Somehow Harn had found the strength to make it to the apex -- almost. He only had to pull himself up a few feet to make it over the top, but his muscles were straining with the effort, and he could no longer find the strength. Aries looked down at him with coldness in his eyes.
"Don't even ask for help," Aries said unsympatheticly. "You've got to make it here on your own, and if you aren't strong enough, it's better that we find that out now."
Harn's head swam as he searched for the strength he needed, and he became angry that Aries would not help him. The anger gave him the strength to begin pulling himself forward, and then he had blacked out.
When Harn had awakened the mountain simulation was gone and he was lying on the cold black floor of the simulation room. Aries was looking down on him. He said, "You passed," and walked out of the room. It was not until later in the year that Aries and he had grown to be good friends.
Now his good friend helped him to sit down on the divan, and it was like he was being tested again -- seeing if he could make it out into the field. Only this time Aries was not the harsh upperclassman who was trying to break him.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Harn managed to say, but then placed his hand over his mouth.
"Breathe deeply and calm yourself." Aries was showing his first signs of concern. "You should have seen me the first time I was beamed more that a hundred light years. I landed right on my duff."
Harn smiled. It was the first time he had seen Aries in the last eighteen months. Aries had been in the service, while he continued studying at the academy.
"It's great to see you again, Aries. It hasn't been the same without you around."
"I'll bet. No one on the campus can play a good game of dong like me, eh?"
"I did beat your record. But now no one will play with me."
Aries was silent for a moment and a smile came over his face. "That was the good old days," Aries commented. "You don't know how much I miss it. A steady schedule, burying yourself in books. Hanging out with your friends."
"I think Evian really misses you."
Aries eyes opened widely. "Why do you say that?"
"Didn't you know? She had a thing for you. I think she would have given everything up, just for a chance to go out with you."
The statement stung Aries. When he was growing up he knew he had the opportunity to become anything he wanted. He had longed for work on the frontier where his work would not become routine. A career in the field was always changing, from investigating undeveloped worlds that were almost chaotic, to performing astronomic analysis in deep space. Nothing was ever the same. Success in this career took a person that could adapt to any task that was given, a person with interest and skills in the sciences, diplomacy, and the unknown. It also meant sacrificing any type of long term relationship, because of the flexibility that the role demanded.
Aries raised a hand trying to dismiss the statement that Harn had made. "You know the life we've chosen. There's no time for that sort of thing."
"You're right, but she's the one you should be lecturing, not me."
Aries' face became more somber as he avoided further discussion of the subject. "If you're feeling better, we've got a lot of preparation to do. The Cali team will be arriving shortly. If you want a good grade on this senior project, we'd better straighten it all out."
"Thanks again, my friend," Harn said. "I mean, it's not every day that a cadet gets a chance on an away mission. If you hadn't have offered, I would never have asked you."
"Hey, I wouldn't have offered you the opportunity if I didn't feel you were capable of delivering." It was a true statement, although there was more than Harn's ability that had caused Aries to bring him along. Aries missed his friends at the academy, more than he ever thought he would. It was true that he had the opportunity to work with other people from his home world in the eighteen months that he had been away, but the assignments were usually short in duration, so there was never that great of an opportunity to make a lasting friendship. It occurred to Aries that he may be becoming affected by that, becoming more closed in his feelings towards others. He had already cut back on the transmissions that he had made back to Harn at the Academy, and he was worried that he was becoming as cold as the others he had met in the field. He knew there would be only one way to tell if he was really changing, and that was seeing his best friend again.
"I hope I live up to your expectations," Harn said.
"Pretty good digs we have here, eh?" Aries motioned with his hand as he turned completely around. The living room had a large radio, china cabinet, small paintings on the wall, along with other decorations.
"No one uses the term digs for housing anymore. Where have you been?"
"Out on the frontier. Anyway, what do you think of the accommodations?"
Harn scanned the living room of the small house that they transported into. "I take it that this is pretty typical of the housing on this world?"
"The Corp wouldn't have it any other way. Whenever there's duty off-world, they arrange purchasing of housing ahead of time. There is also a library computer in the study in the basement. It has the latest dump of the Alliance library cut on it."
"Voice activated and secured, I take it. In case some local manages to stumble onto it."
"Naturally. They have been teaching you something at the academy, haven't they?" Aries said sarcastically. He messed up Harn's jet black hair with his right hand.
"Why this planet for the meeting?" Harn asked, during the discussion on the mission. It was a question that had been eating at him since his first briefing. He had felt uncomfortable asking his superiors about it, but in the company of one of his best friends, it felt all right.
Aries' bushy, brown eyebrows lowered and he said, "Almost twenty years at the academy and you can't answer that question yourself?"
"Most people don't leave the academy after fifteen years and get into the field corps like you. Most of us study a normal term."
"But it's time to stop spoon feeding you, and make you think for yourself. There's no books with answers out here. If you can't find your own answers without being given them, you'll never make it."
The upper-classman was starting to show in Aries again. It was a side that Harn had not seen since the climb up the mountain. "I didn't realize that this would be such a important issue for me to figure out myself."
"Every question is important. I am helping you more than you realize right now by not giving you the answer. You've got to reason it out for yourself. Trust me, will you?"
Harn closed his eyes a moment and cleared his head. He began to think out loud. "The planet Earth, city of Gary, Indiana. A primitive planet that hasn't been approached by the Alliance for membership, because they are not advanced enough. The planet's just faced the second in its history of wars that are termed World Wars. Somehow the planetary choice does not seem significant. Unless we look at the Cali world in general. They're not a member of the Alliance either. They do not believe in the Alliance's principals, even though they are advanced enough to acquire membership. Instead, they deal as traders among worlds who have either been revoked for membership in the Alliance, or have not been approached yet.
"So in answer to my own question, I'd say that this planet is kind of neutral ground. It is too primitive for the Cali people to approach for trade and too primitive for the Alliance to approach either."
"Not bad," Aries managed a brief smile. "In a way the meeting place bothers me also, because it's so far away from the Alliance and the Cali world. Something just does not seem right. I can't put my finger on it, however, so there's nothing we can do but be cautious.
"This meeting is to confront Cali about supplying the world of Orion with arms during a Civil War. They aren't taking sides in the matter and are supplying both sides with weaponry, without either side knowing about it. It's costing both sides a lot of money and also causing more destruction to their world than can have ever been possible without the Cali intervention. The Alliance frowns upon this, and while there is no formal policies against such action, the opposition needs to be conveyed to the Cali government. This meeting is a last warning to the Calis since they have postponed every meeting the Alliance has tried to make with them previously. Cali has insisted that they are not willing to meet with any high ranking ambassador or leader from the Alliance, only with two field operatives. This fits with the Cali's typical protocol.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, what is that smell?" At first Harn had thought it was a side effect of the transport, but it showed no sign of going away.
Aries chuckled. "You've never been on an primitive world before, have you?"
"No, not really. Only computer simulations of them."
"You've been in the nice realm of the most advanced technology in the galaxy, especially after spending the last nineteen years on Risner at the academy. That technology is clean. What you are smelling is air pollution. The biggest industry in this area are the steel mills. It's what built this city. What they do is heat up large amounts of ore and process it. So this produces a lot of other gasses that escape into the air."
"How can the people here stand it?"
"They're used to it, so they don't even realize how dirty the air is that they breathe."
"This can't be healthy."
"No it's not, but don't worry. We won't be here long enough for any long term affects of breathing this crap to affect our health. Other than the pollution, this city is in the prime of it's life. We're supposed to meet our Cali contacts in the heart of the city in an hour. So we'd better get ready if we're going to make it."
"How long will it take to get there from here?"
"Well, we're actually on the outskirts of Gary, in an area under the jurisdiction of Calumet Township. It shouldn't take us more that fifteen minutes to get there by land vehicle. Since we've never traveled in this city, we'd better give ourselves plenty of extra time."
It took Harn a few minutes to get into the dark, grey suit that he would have to wear for their trip. It wasn't so much the primitive buttons on the shirt that was the problem. He had gotten used to them pretty quickly in the simulator back home. He thought it would take him weeks to finally get the hang of wearing the long, thin length of fabric that the people of Earth wore around their necks. It took twenty attempts to successfully tie the tie he wore. He could not recall a culture that had such a complicated, useless piece of clothing. How much time did these people waste putting this article of clothing on every morning? He could not imagine.
When Harn entered the living room again, Aries had made much better progress at getting dressed than he had. This day in early March was a little chilly, and Aries had his overcoat on, which Harn knew was his subtle way of telling him he was waiting for him.
"How do I look?" Harn asked.
"I think you'll pass." Aries stepped forward and tightened Harn's tie slightly, after which, he smiled. "There's a whole world to see. Let's get going."
Harn could not believe that people would live in an area where the air was so putrid, but it was not his business to question the ways of a culture. He and Aries were able to use the automobile that had been provided for them on the planet. Aries adapted quickly to driving the vehicle, as he had studied the matter in a simulator before leaving. Since Harn had been brought into the mission on such short notice, he had not had the time to study the matter himself.
They drove deeper into the city and noticed a deteriorated side of the city where the houses were small and closer together. This area consisted of dark skinned people, and Harn pointed this out to Aries.
"You didn't study the background of this planet as closely as I did," Aries commented.
"It didn't seem relevant."
"This culture has separations based on race and skin color. Since the majority of people are light skinned, they treat the dark skinned people as inferior. In fact, less than a hundred years ago, the blacks were slaves."
"Amazing. It's hard to believe such irrational thoughts can exist."
The subject was dropped as they approached the center of the city. Gary's metropolitan area seemed to have been recently built and in fair condition.
"I can't help but notice," Harn began, "that as we get further into the heart of the city, we're also getting closer to the steel mill. Not to mention the stench is getting stronger." He pointed to the smoke stacks of the steel mill in the distance.
"Like I said, this city was built on the industry. The founders of the city were executives from the steel mill. They wanted to live and have the city close to where they worked. So you'll see the nicer neighborhoods as we get closer to the steel mill. It's where the upper class lives."
"It seems fitting to me," Harn said, "that the men responsible for polluting the air quality have chosen to live so close to the mills. The closer they are to the mill, the higher the concentration of toxins they are going to be exposed to. That means their life-span is going to be the lowest among anyone in the area. Justice is served."
"That's one way to look at it, I guess." Aries stopped the car. "There it is, Archie's Sports Club, and what do you know -- we've got about twenty minutes to spare."
"Anything I should know about this place, since I obviously did not study as much as you did?"
Aries replied, "This is a private club, where mostly hunters and people interested in other sports come to socialize. Women are not allowed to join the club. It's a man's relaxation resort. It has the typical vices that you'd find in similar clubs. You've got your bar, restaurant, and outside, areas for almost any sport."
"Doesn't sound too much like the recreation center at the academy."
"Well, it's time to go out and explore new things, don't you think?"
They entered the bar, and made their way to a table. As they sat down, Harn's attention was drawn to a black man being refused entrance to the club and he exchanged a glance with Aries.
They had not sat long when a black woman wearing a red scarf over her head approached their table. "Imo wishes to meet you in the massage parlor. Arrangements have been made for you to get massages also." Her voice was very demure and she tried to avoid looking the men directly in the eye.
"That's not necessary," Aries answered. "We'll wait until he is done."
"I'm afraid he insists." The woman seemed agitated by Aries' refusal.
"This is quite irregular," Harn said, and he probed with his mind at the emotions of the woman. There seemed to be no deception in her thoughts.
"He does not trust us," Aries thought to Harn. "He wants to make sure that we're not armed. What way to be more sure of that, then to cause us to strip down to a robe?"
They made their way to the locker room where they could change. "I thought you said that women weren't allowed in this club?" Aries asked as they walked.
"I said that women were not allowed to become members, but I never said anything about them not being employed. You'll find that prostitution is big in this world, and that men like to have women act as their servants."
"But I also thought that you said that racism was very strong here. I've seen several black women working here. Are you saying they prefer having black women as their servants?" Harn was confused.
"You've got to understand, the only jobs in this town that the black men can get, are as laborers in the steel mill. If the women wish to find a job, the only thing that they can get is being servants."
"But in a club like this, I'd think they wouldn't want blacks working for them."
"Hey, it's a lot cheaper for them to hire black women than white women. Money is important when you run a club like this."
"I understand."
The two men were about to enter the locker room, and they noticed that the woman was still following them. She opened one of the lockers and pulled out a robe. "If you'll sit down, I'll undress you for your session."
"You don't have to do that," Harn said. "We can undress and dress ourselves."
"My job," the woman said quietly.
"What's your name, ma'am?" Aries asked. He pressed with his mind to relax her.
"Miss Tina."
"Well, Miss Tina, you can wait for us outside. We won't tell anyone." A smile almost formed on the woman's lips as she walked away from them. After she left, Harn shook his head.
"I don't understand this world at all. You told me that there is a social division on this planet between the races, and yet a club for the high class whites want the blacks to wait on them hand and foot."
"I never said that there was any true logic to it. Just that it exists. From what I understand about this society, they feel that the rules that apply to the white skins don't apply to the dark skinned people. For example, when the blacks were enslaved the white owners would have sexual contact with the women slaves, and everyone seemed to ignore it. If the same man would have intercourse with other white women, he would be shunned by the society. I think it's a superiority complex taken to its fullest. I agree with it about as much as you do. But that's the situation we have here.
"Now we don't have much more time to debate the subject. We have a meeting to attend. A peculiar one, but the importance remains."
Miss Tina led them into a huge room where the massages were given. Normally sheets were hung to separate each table for privacy. The Cali had arranged that these sheets be pulled back for this meeting, giving a huge openness to the surroundings.
Imo had a stocky black woman working on his back as they entered. He was a heavy-set man, with a rounded face. He had long mutton chop whiskers that he was brushing with one of his hands. "Welcome, comrades," he thought to them. "Isn't this a wonderful place? Women to see to your every need. If I know anything about civilization, this city will be one of the greats on this world."
Harn became uneasy as Tina led him to a table and motioned him to lay down. Another black women did the same for Aries. Aries showed no sign of distress and in fact seemed quite relaxed in these surroundings as he laid down on the table. His confidence did nothing to alleviate Harn's feelings, but Harn managed to lay on the table and allow Tina to work on his back. To his surprise, it felt good to have the woman's hands pressing on his tense muscles.
"The Alliance has asked for our ears in a meeting," Imo said, breaking the silence again. "What can I do, now that you have us here?"
Aries diplomatically laid out the Alliances opposition to Cali's supplying Orion with arms. When he was finished, Imo flipped over onto his back. "I'm afraid I don't understand. The Alliance has no formal relations with Orion, nor do they have any legislature or directives about trade agreements outside its boarders."
"That may be true," Aries stated. "But this is a special case that pushes the Alliance's policies to the limit. We don't want to endanger our relationship with the Cali people, so we hope to work out an understanding that will benefit both our sides."
"What relationship?" Imo barked. "We have no formal relations with the Alliance!"
"I think that you underestimate the influence the Alliance has with non-allied worlds. If an agreement is not made, the sanctions that can be made that affect the trade of your world could be devastating."
"Is this a threat I hear being made from the Alliance, from a government which has such a strong belief in peaceful negotiations and non-interference?"
"The Alliance does not need to threaten anyone," Harn spoke for the first time. "It never had reason to in the past, and it will never do so in the future. It would not be wise to test our determination on the matter, however."
"I see," Imo said, uncomfortably. One of his aides entered the room and nodded to him. "I would consider the consequences of refusing the Alliance's request very significant, if the Cali people had not thought about the Alliances' reaction ahead of time. There's not going to be a thing the Alliance can do about the matter and shipments from Cali to Orion will continue just as they have."
"I don't understand," Aries said.
"When we leave this planet we shall report that Alliance agents tried to ambush us here, and in the process killed several inhabitants of this planet. And since these agents will not be able to report back to the Alliance, there will be no cause for anyone to doubt that report."
"And why would we not be able to report home?" Aries asked.
"Because due to the positioning of a huge amount of dark matter between this planet and the Alliance, transportation will be impossible for the next fifty years. That dark matter has just now moved into alignment. The only other way to leave this planet is by spacecraft. Other than the Cali transport vessel that I arrived on, there are no space craft on this planet able to take you off world. So enjoy your life here."
"You Cali coward," Aries began, but Imo's aide had moved in and cracked Aries over the head with the blunt end of his taser gun, rendering him unconscious. Harn leaped up, but before he could move he was hit with a taser blast that engulfed him and Tina, who had been standing beside him. Both were out cold.
Harn's eyes opened in his dream and Aries stood before him.
"I thought you wanted to go running this afternoon," Aries said.
"What time is it?" Harn had just set his book down for a moment and wanted to lay down and rest for a few minutes. It was the end of the semester and finals were quickly approaching.
"It's the middle of the afternoon."
"I just wanted to rest for a few ticks."
Aries glanced down at the disorganized desk that was filled with book pads. "Physical Psych, huh? Tough subject."
"Tell me about it. Sometimes I feel I'll never understand the physics that are at play in sentient behavior."
"Let's talk about it on our run. I can share my views on the matter."
They took the lift to the top of the dorm building. From there they could access the trimensional boardwalk that connected the whole university. Aries did not give Harn a chance to shake off his sleepiness, as he set a fast pace as they started out.
"I take it your studying is going a lot better," said Harn.
"I have a photographic memory, so it's more of my reviewing the concepts of a course, as opposed to remembering all the information."
"Must be nice."
"Well, understanding the concepts is much more important than the information, if you think about it."
"I guess you're right. During finals, sometimes I get frustrated, because I don't feel like I know anything."
"It's just stress. Don't let it get to you."
"I don't know. I feel a little uncertain. Like I don't know if once I graduate from the academy, if I will be able to make it out in the real universe. If I'll be able to make the difference."
"Don't worry. There will be a day when you'll be needed. A day when you'll have to stand up and take action to do something important, and I'm sure you'll do fine. And it's then that you'll know that you've made the right choice, and are making a difference. Now let's go."
Aries began to pick up the pace and he pulled ahead of Harn by a few strides. He started to run faster but Aries continued to pull away. Finally, Harn couldn't run anymore and he stopped.
"A day will come when you will have to take action," Aries' words hung in the air, "and make the difference. . . You've got to stop the Cali from causing a war. You're the Alliances only hope."
Harn's head was throbbing and the room was dark when he regained consciousness. He sat up and raised his palms to his head. Blue light sparked at the tips of his fingers, and engulfed his head. He immediately began to feel better. He raised his left hand and the lights in the room turned on.
Aries was nowhere in sight. Tina was on the ground next to him, still unconscious. He turned to her and could sense that the taser blast had a more severe affect on her than himself. The human neurology was much different, and could not withstand a blast even at the stun setting.
Harn touched her face and realized that he did not have much time if he were to save this woman's life. Blue light again flashed from his fingers, but it was putting a strain on him, since he was still recovering himself. He ignored the pain, and almost fainted again under the exertion. The woman started to cough as she regained consciousness and Harn stopped his efforts.
"Where am I?" she asked, and then jerked back as the memories of what happened began to return. Harn grabbed her tightly and stopped her from running away.
"You're okay. I'm not going to hurt you. You've got to believe me." The words were soothing and he pressed with his mind onto this young woman. His head began to throb again but he ignored it.
"Where is everyone?"
"Scared off, most likely."
"Your friend," she said with alarm.
"He's alive. I can feel it, but he's hurt and I've got to get to him. Do you have a car?"
Tina shook her head. "Not everyone in this town can afford a car, you know."
"Wait a minute, I have a car. Do you know how to drive?"
"Everyone knows how to drive."
"Not everyone, Tina. I need
your help."
They were moving east on Route 20. Before he knew it, Dunes State Park was getting closer and he knew that Aries was there. Tina drove the car into the small parking lot, and Harn jumped out when they could go no further.
"Stay here," he commanded her, and she obeyed without question. She did not even know why she had come this far.
Through the woods Harn went, fresh tracks confirming that a large group of people had been through here recently. He picked up his pace to a run, until he caught a image jumping up from behind a tree at him. He slid to a halt. The sentry held a taser gun to his head.
"Who are you?" the sentry asked.
"No one," Harn replied.
"Don't make a move," The sentry said as he began to frisk Harn for weapons. When his hands were at Harn's waist, Harn grabbed his hand and concentrated with all his might. Blue flames came out of his fingertips and both he and sentry were knocked to the ground -- the sentry because his neural system had been overloaded, and Harn because taking that action had drained him.
When Harn could sit up again, he grabbed the man's taser gun, and making sure that the sentry would not recover as quickly from the experience as he had, he fired it at the downed man. Knowing that meeting the sentry meant that he was close, Harn continued.
There was a small cabin in the woods and Harn knew that this had to be where they were holding Aries. He scanned the area for signs of more sentries, but there were none around. He moved cautiously up to one of the cabin's windows and peered in. Aries was tied up in a chair, and Imo was waving a trimensional recorder in front of him.
"You will admit on trimensional recording that you were sent here by the Alliance, not to negotiate, but to kill the Cali representatives and start a war."
"I won't admit to something that is not true. You're wasting your time with me." Aries voice cracked as he spoke, a sign that he was weakening.
"You'd make this a lot easier on yourself if you'd just admit to it. How bad could it be to say a few little harmless words."
"You can go to Hriel," Aries said strongly and then he spat at Imo.
Imo motioned to a man holding a sonic reallocator. "Give him another dose. This time at full power."
Harn had studied the weapons of the Cali before this mission. He always thought it was a good idea to know what dangers might be awaiting them, and weaponry always fascinated him. He knew that Aries would not last five minutes under the sonic field and knew he had to do something fast.
There were five other men in the cabin, probably armed with tasers. The odds weren't good that he could out gun all of them. If they reached the cabin door, he was definitely in trouble. The sonic device was placed on Aries head, and he began to scream in pain. This sent Harn into motion. He broke the window with the taser gun and fired directly at the man with the sonic reallocator. His shot was good and the man fell to the ground.
"Get him!" Imo yelled. And Harn knew he only had seconds before the men would be out the door and on top of him.
He knew that the taser weapon had a flaw. The energy field that it created was unstable. He knew by adjusting the settings it could be made to overload and send out a taser blast in a twenty yard radius. He punched in the combination, then tossed the taser into the cabin, hoping that he was right.
Not waiting for the result he began running away from the cabin to avoid the taser overload. When he heard the discharge he leapt into a nearby trench just beating the taser beam. He was then up off the ground and at the cabin in seconds. As he had planned, all the men were down.
He approached Aries, who was now unconscious due to the blast and pressed his hands against Aries forehead. Blue light flashed forward again. Harn somehow found the strength to lift his friend to consciousness in seconds.
"You okay?" Harn asked.
"Couldn't be better," Aries answered sarcastically. Then anger set in. "Are you crazy, you could have killed everyone, and then Imo's claim would have had some truth to it."
"We don't have time to argue about it now. We've got to get out of here before these guys wake up."
Aries looked the men over. "Where's Imo?"
"I don't know. I thought the blast would have taken everyone out."
"Not that big tub of lard. He's probably heading back to his ship. It can't be far from here."
"What do we do now?" Harn asked.
"We've got to get a message back to the Alliance. Let them know what's going on, so they can prepare for what the Cali are going to do."
"There's no way to do that. You heard what Imo said. If it's true we can't even send a message back. That dark matter will be blocking everything. The only way you could-- Don't even think about it."
"I've got to do this."
Harn stood up as if to block his friend from going anywhere. "This isn't a game, or an academy test, Aries. You try sneaking on board the Cali ship and they find you, you're a dead man for sure. You'll have to wait to transmit when they've cleared the area, they'll find you for sure. It's a no win situation. What have they done to you since you've been in the field, cleared out your brain of all rational thought?"
"Listen to me," Aries said. "We have a certain responsibility. You know that. Protecting the Alliance is more important than either of our lives. That's the vow we've taken even if it isn't specified in the rule book. You'll learn that some day, and that day will come soon."
"Then both of us are going. I can't let you do this alone."
"I don't have time to debate the issue with you," Aries said. "I've got to find their ship. It's got to be close, and they can be lifting off any minute now. The reason they've chosen this area is clear to me now. Normally it would take a couple days to prepare their ship for a long journey. Being close to the steel mills, they can draw energy from the blast furnaces and speed up their re-fueling. The only way that we can stop them from departing is cutting off that energy supply.
"If you want to help, get to the steel mills and shut down those furnaces. It will delay them, and we may be able to take over the ship during the confusion."
Harn was reluctant to move, but Aries looked down at him confidently. "This is the only way. I don't need a cadet's help, I need a man's. I'm proud of what you've done today. It tells me that I was right for letting you into the academy, even when you had failed one of the endurance tests."
Harn now knew that he had not had the strength to pull himself up in the mountain test many years ago. And it was his friend's belief in him that had allowed him to come this far. "I'll go," Harn said.
"Good. Remember, I'll always be your friend, no matter what happens." Aries said, and before Harn could reply, Aries sped off.
Harn ran in the opposite direction, back to the car and Tina. She was still there waiting for him. "Where's your friend?" she asked.
"There's been a change in plans--" Harn began, but before he could finish the ground began to shake, and a ship slowly ascended into the sky. Harn knew his friend was on it. And he realized even more than that. He had sent him away to protect him again, so both of them did not have to risk their lives. It was a lesson that was always conveyed in his training, but he did not understand it fully until this moment. Now he knew it and would never forget it. He also knew that he'd most likely never see his friend again. He shut his eyes tight as he tried to contain his feelings.
Tina was in awe at the lift off of the space craft, but Harn stopped her fear and erased her thoughts of the subject by pressing on her mind. She turned to him and smiled. "You know, you've never told me your name."
"My name is Har--" Harn stopped himself. After all, the name Harn did not even sound remotely human. He thought about it a second. "Harry. My name is Harry."
"Well it's nice to meet you, Harry. Where should we go to now?"
"Calhoun street. I live on Calhoun street. Just take me home."
Tina smiled, put the car in gear and started to drive.
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