The three of them arrived aboard the Luminous late that night, exhausted but satisfied with the decisions that were made. They all slept soundly in the living quarters aboard her, except for Victor. Twice he woke up in the middle of the night sweating and with extreme sadness saying, “Why?” Ylil, with tears on her cheeks, put her arms around him and tried to comfort him. Inside though, Victor was even more resolved to make each place where people lived on each world in the solar system, impregnable from future attack. This must not happen again.
The next day, they awaited the arrival of the female grand council member. She arrived with a happy smile and a warm greeting, as they welcomed her aboard. The Luminous lifted off and headed for the village, to offer more help.
When they arrived, they found many of the people working on the rebuilding of the well. In fact, it was nearly done. Victor looked inside and could already see plenty of water collecting near the bottom. It was muddy looking, but he realized that the murky debris causing it would soon settle and they could have fresh clean water once again. They had planned to leave them with some more fresh water supplies to tide them over until then.
Their physical problems were minimal, in comparison with their new deep emotional ones. This was a shocking, very unnatural thing that had occurred here. It was not the usual grief that they experienced when someone died of old age. Or even the very rare occasion, when someone died in a freak accident or animal attack. Some were seriously affected, for the long term. The grand council member gave a very comforting and encouraging speech, to most of the adults that explained everything. They were to individually decide, how much they wanted to tell their children regarding what had really transpired. They were advised not to talk to other villages about what had happened. She encouraged them to go on, with their village life and not to worry about another attack. She assured them that the people of Homeworld could not return, until approximately another seven years had passed. In the meantime, preparations would be made, in case they decided to come back. Victor knew with a certainty, that they would. He knew, that Homeworld would be desperate for the technology they had created. He believed they would attempt to come back and steal it. He had different ideas as to how they might try this.
There was another serious problem among the villagers. The couple that had died in the attack, had a ten year old son. Who would look after him? Everyone wanted to. However, Victor and Ylil had talked about this, and they made a proposal to the local village council. Their reasoning was that the boy would grow up looking at the well, where he lost his parents. Every time he drew water from the well, he would be reminded of the terrible shocking loss he had experienced. It would be an open wound that would never heal. They suggested that he be removed from the environment all together. His relatives would always be provided with the means to visit him, at his new home. Victor and Ylil desired to have a family of their own, so they asked if they could raise the boy, on the moon base. Understandably, this was quite a big issue, with the relatives of the boy and the boy himself. However, after they stayed there for a few days and they grew to know each other more, the boy said to Ylil that he would like to go with them. This was enough for the relatives to agree. They said that if it did not work out, then he could always be returned.
Five days after they arrived in the devastated village, they left to drop off the grand council member and then to return to the moon. Taerg was missing his family and he knew they were missing him. Two more children had been born, since they started living on the moon base. They now had five children.
On the way to the moon, the boy sat between Victor and Ylil. Victor felt a little awkward with their new and sudden family. He knew that Ylil would have no problem adjusting to the idea, that she was now a mother. He on the other hand, had grown up on a world where there were no mothers or fathers. He knew, he would have to work hard to be a good father. Everyone was uncomfortably quiet at the moment, so Victor thought he would break the ice. Patting the boy on the knee he said, “So, Nedrag Daor. Can I call you Ned?”
“Yes, many children in the village call me that.”
“Okay then. Well… Taerg has children close to your age. Some a little older and some a little younger than you. We visit them all the time. You can be good friends with them.”
“They are very adventurous. I am sure you will have a lot of fun with them,” said Ylil as she put her hand on Ned’s shoulder.
Looking at Ylil and then at Victor with tears welling up in his eyes, he said, “Do I have to call you Mom and Dad?”
“No you don’t,” said Victor, “we both hope that maybe someday you will feel that way about us, but we want you to be comfortable. For now if you like, you can call us by our first names.”
“Okay,” replied Ned as he wiped the tears on his shirt sleeve.
Ylil reached out with both arms, giving him a hug and said, “Your mom and dad would be so proud of you and how brave you are.” Pointing out at the view beyond the viewport, she exclaimed, “Look you are flying in space, to the moon!”
“What is space?”
Victor said, “That is a good question Ned. Space is the place where all the stars and planets are. As far as we know, it is an unlimited three dimensional realm, which basically means that it goes on forever in every direction.” With his right hand he swung it fast by the boy’s face. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes.”
“What did you feel?”
“Wind.”
“Yes, that is right. You try it to me.” The boy swung his hand close by Victor’s nose.”
“Wow! You almost hit me.” Ned and Ylil laughed. Victor continued, “Could you feel the wind on your hand too?”
“Yes.”
“What you felt is air. It is invisible. If you could swing your hand in space, you would not feel the air flowing between your fingers. In fact, space is very cold. We would freeze if we were outside. I’m glad we are safe and warm inside here.”
Victor’s heart beat faster as Ned looked at him with excitement sparkling in his eyes. Ned asked, “Can I learn how to fly a spaceship like this?”
“I am sure you will someday. For now though, let’s keep learning more about space, the stars in it, the planets and many other things. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“The more you learn about those things, the more you will know about how a spaceship like this flies in space.”
They talked this way, all the way to the moon. When they were walking down the ramp from the ship, Ned walked in between them holding both of their hands. The first thing they did, was go to Taerg’s house and Ned met Taerg’s big happy family. They treated him like he was their own. It was then that Victor knew, that Ned would be okay. He would always have sad memories, but they would be overwhelmed by the good ones he was now making.
That evening as the three of them walked the perimeter of the base, Ned looked up at the sky and asked, “Where is Homeworld?”
“Let me show you. Fortunately, we should be in a position to be able to see,” said Victor. They brought him to the telescope. Victor made some adjustments and asked Ned to look. Ned put his eye to the telescope and said, “I only see a star.”
“Yes, that is the star for Homeworld, just like your sun is the star, for your planet.”
“Why can’t I see the planet of Homeworld?”
“It is so far away. Any light reflected off of its surface is so faint, that this telescope can’t pick it up and your eye could not see it. The huge star is only a small point of light. Imagine how small and faint a planet would be.”
“Will I ever be able to visit it someday?”
Victor’s eyes widened as he glanced at Ylil. She shook her head. Victor felt something like guilt rise in his heart, so he simply asked, “Ned, why would you want to visit Homeworld?”
Ned looked up at Victor and said with tears in his eyes and a hint of anger in his voice, “I want to understand, why they do bad things to people.”
This was a
very adult thought, for a ten year old to have. Victor was left speechless by it. How should he respond? Thankfully, he was rescued by Ylil who said, “Ned, there is something very important, that you always need to remember. Promise me, that you will always remember this.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Not all people from Homeworld, do bad things. Some of the people here on this base, are from Homeworld. They helped save billions of our people. Victor, your… friend, really worked hard for years to help save them. He loves our people, very much. Do you know whose idea it was, for us to look after you?”
“No.”
“It was Victor’s idea. He really wants to help you and our people.”
Ned looked up at Victor once again, but this time with a more penetrating gaze. Victor almost felt that he was being examined in a courtroom, on Homeworld. The boy said nothing. He just stared with that intense, sad expression on his face. Victor knew, that this boy’s sadness could not simply be wiped away, like clearing crumbs off a table. This was a scar that would stay. Ned would have to deal with this, for the rest of his life.
Victor knelt down before little Ned to look him straight in the eyes. He put both hands on the boy’s shoulders and solemnly said to him, “Ned, I would also like to make a promise to you, but not for you alone. I promise, that I will do everything that I can, to help you and your people for the rest of my life. Your people, will be my people. Whenever you need help, even after you have grown up, you can still come to me.”
“Ned took his little hands and put them on Victor’s arms and said, “I promise to help you too.”
“I’m glad, because I will need your help.”
By this time, Ylil had tears streaming down her cheeks. She also knelt down, took Ned in her arms and said, “Oh Ned, I already love you, so much.”
Victor’s chin started to tremble and he knew once again, that tears were inevitable. This time, he didn’t try to stop them. He just let them flow.
-The End (For Now)
The story will continue on in Charles W. Armstrong’s next novel in this series:
TOMORROW’S PARADISE WORLD: NEVAH’S GATE
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Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize Page 17
