MIND'S EYE
Radu paced around the dorm he shared with ten other boys from Starcademy. Lunch had already been served in the cafeteria, leaving the dorm deserted, save the distraught Andromedan. Radu closed his eyes and clenched his gloved hands into tight fists before allowing himself a small yell of frustration. Allowing his rage to run freely, Radu picked up a pillow and tore it to shreds. The white feathers were still slowly falling to the ground as Radu kicked a small stool against the wall, shattering it into pieces. Radu cried out again and sank to his knees.
He took deep, calming breaths. Blinking, he stared at the mess he had just made and then lowered his gaze to his shaking hands. He tried an old Andromedan mind relaxing technique he had learned as a child but found that it did no good. Falling from his knees to a sitting position, Radu stared at a face he saw through the open bathroom door. It was the face of a distraught Andromedan; his own reflection from the mirror.
"What's wrong with me?" Radu asked himself.
**********
Catalina slid into her normal seat at the cafeteria table. She pushed a stray lock of rainbow coloured hair behind her ear and looked cheerfully at the faces of her friends. Rosie sat across from her, absently melting a metal knife into liquid and picking at her food with a fork. Clito was beside the Mercurian, reading a compupad. Harlan was sitting next to Cat, wolfing down his food, but Radu was no where to be seen.
"Where's Radu?" Cat asked.
Harlan paused in his eating long enough to shrug. Rosie looked up and Catalina saw worry in her eyes.
"I think something's troubling him," Rosie said. "He won't talk about it to anyone, but he's been distant just lately."
Catalina put down her fork and gave Rosie a sympathetic look. Rosie was such a happy person, it was hard for anyone not to be cheered up by her infectious personality.
"Maybe we should go talk to him," Harlan said.
Clito shook her head. "I think we should give him the space he needs. When he wants to talk, he will. All we can do is be supportive of whatever he tries to do."
The cafeteria went silent and all eyes turned to the doors that had just opened. Rosie gasped and Catalina stared when they saw Radu in the doorway. His long hair was unusually messy and full of white feathers. He had dark circles under his eyes and his uniform was disorganized. His usual happy and slightly nervous look was gone from his eyes and was replaced with anger and frustration.
He didn't say a word, but headed to the servery to get lunch. Every cadet in the room watched him move until he was out of sight.
"What happened to him?" Harlan asked.
"That's why I think something's wrong," Rosie said. "He's been strange for the past few days. Maybe we should talk to him."
"I think so," Catalina agreed.
When Radu came out of the servery with his food, he didn't come and sit with his friends like usual. Instead, he left the cafeteria.
"After him!" Catalina cried.
The space cases all stood to follow their friend.
**********
"Radu?" Rosie called.
They found their friend in an often deserted corner of the biosphere. Radu hid behind some bushes, eating his lunch in silence.
"Go away, Rosie," Radu said. "I don't want any company."
"Radu, we're worried," Catalina said, stepping through the bushes and into Radu's small clearing. "You haven't acted this weird since that time on the Christa when you were sick."
"Are you sick?" Rosie asked, her voice full of concern.
"I'm not sick," Radu said harshly. "I just need some time alone. Please, go away."
Catalina and Rosie backed off but Harlan pushed his way past them to stand directly in front of Radu.
"Listen," Harlan said. "We're your friends and we want to help you. If something's bothering you, come out and say it."
In a flash, Radu was on his feet and holding Harlan by the front of his shirt, a foot off the ground. Rosie gasped in alarm and Catalina prepared herself for a sonic blast in case things got out of control.
"The only thing bothering me right now is you," Radu snarled.
Harlan stared at his friend in fear. Radu closed his eyes and shook his head before gently lowering Harlan to the ground. The Andromedan took a deep breath and sat back down on the grass.
"I — There's something wrong," Radu said after a few minutes of tense silence. "I — I don't think I can control myself anymore."
"What do you mean?" Rosie asked, coming forward.
Radu looked up at her with tired eyes. "Andromedans are taught to always be in control of our strength and hearing. If we ever loose that control, we'd be a threat to everything around us. Sometimes, we . . . loose that control and go — "
"Insane?" Harlan supplied.
Radu smiled slightly. "I guess you could call it that. We become short tempered and agitated."
"What makes you loose control?" Rosie asked, her medical curiosity getting the better of her.
Radu shrugged. "Circumstances, I suppose."
"What can you do to get control again?"
Radu's eyes flared angrily. "I don't know!" he shouted.
Rosie backed away, her eyes wide with alarm. Radu stared after her as she hid behind Catalina. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
"You should all just stay away until I sort this out," Radu said. "I — I don't want to be responsible for hurting anyone."
Clito came forward and put her hand on Radu's shoulder. He stared at the ground and licked his lips.
"I think I know someone you should see," Clito said quietly. "Her name is Dr. Williams, Starcademy's psychiatrist."
Radu looked up at his friend and nodded. Clito smiled at him and ushered the others out of the clearing, giving their friend time to think things over.
**********
"Radu, right?"
Radu nodded. He sat in Dr. Williams' office in a comfortable wing back chair, looking more nervous than anything else. Dr. Williams was a middle-aged Earther woman of around forty, with short brown hair, gentle brown eyes, and a pleasant smile. She was fairly tall and kind of plump, but carried herself with a certain grace that made her seem comfortable to talk to.
"I'm Dr. Williams," she introduced herself. "Is there anything you want to know about me before we get started?"
Radu shook his head. Dr. Williams smiled at him and leaned forward in her chair.
"You know, it may be easier on both of us if you say something."
Radu smiled at her. "I — I'm sorry," he said.
Dr. Williams sat back. "Good. Now we're making progress. I think I should tell you that I'm not very familiar with Andromedans, so you may have to explain a few things as we go along."
Radu nodded. "S — Sure."
"Okay. Why don't we start with why you think you need therapy?"
Radu looked down at his hands. "I think I'm loosing control of myself."
Dr. Williams nodded. "You feel frustrated all the time, occasionally lashing out at your friends in anger over stupid, little things?"
Radu raised his head. "Yeah," he said in surprise. "I was trained since I was a hatchling to control my strength and temper because if I ever lost my temper — "
"You would end up hurting something or someone."
"Exactly. That's why Andromedans are so peaceful. We're taught to restrain ourselves."
"So, lately you feel as if you're no longer able to restrain yourself?"
Radu nodded. "Our elders used to teach us that occasionally circumstances would arise to make us loose control, but that we would always be able to regain it. I — I think I've had too many circumstances to get control again."
"Why don't you tell me about the circumstances you're referring to. Go back as far as you need to," Dr. Williams said.
Radu nodded and licked his lips.
"Andromedans are born from eggs, with no knowledge of who our parents are," Radu began. "We're raised in a community of elders, with each elder pair contributing to our education. From birth, we're told what we're going to do to help our community. I was supposed to enter the priesthood, even though I don't really believe in our God.
"Anyway, we're trained to manage our strength, endurance, and hearing. We're also taught that ideas are bad and can only lead to the destruction of our society. For as long as I can remember, I disagreed with that theory. I thought ideas were good."
**********
Radu 386 walked down the hallway of the Space Ark toward the small school. He was only about nine cycles old and already advancing quickly in his class. The recent war had wiped out most of the elders of his community, and the tentative peace between the Andromedans and the UPP was unstable and ready to collapse at any minute. Still, the education of the youngest members of the community had to continue and Radu 386 was forced to attend.
He entered the small room and took a seat by the door so the elder conducting that day's lessons wouldn't notice his tardiness. Radu 386 was sure the elder had noticed anyway. One thing he had realized in his nine short cycles of life was that elder Andromedans knew everything.
"In our lives, we will all come into contact with an alien civilization," the elder was saying. "Their worlds are much different from ours. Already, we have met the Earthers from the United Populated Planets and the treacherous Spung. When you meet an alien life, the first thing you will notice is the increase in noise. Earthers, for example, talk much louder than we do and the racket they have around them at all times can drive an Andromedan to distraction."
Radu 386 listened carefully. He didn't understand why his people were so concerned with Earthers. They hated his race because of the Spung. If anything, Radu 386 thought they should attack the Spung homeworld and wipe out their entire race.
"When talking to an Earther, it is important to concentrate your hearing to his voice only. Ignore the background distractions. Also, do not use your full strength on any alien you meet. Unless they are as strong as us, you will crush them. Understood?"
"Yes, elder," the class of young hatchlings echoed.
The elder smiled. "Excellent. It is the duty of Andromedans to be peaceful."
"Why?" Radu 386 called.
The elder's head snapped up and piercing blue eyes stared at the insolent youngster.
"Why should we allow ourselves to be walked all over by aliens like the Spung when we could crush them with one fist?" Radu 386 asked. "We could be peaceful, but I think we should at least be prepared to defend ourselves if we need to."
"It is not our way," the elder replied. "For centuries, the Andromedans have been peaceful and have never shown any signs of violence."
"Then the Spung came and now it's time to change, don't you think?" Radu 386 said.
The elder drew himself up to his full height. "Andromedans do not change, Radu 386. We are constant and true to our history. We are loyal and brave and respectful to our elders. Change brings destruction."
"Change would destroy our society," the class echoed.
Radu 386 sighed. "I think new ideas would help us. We should learn from mistakes, not let them happen again and again."
The elder's eyes narrowed. "Leave, Radu 386. Report to the community Elder and see what she has to say about your ideas', and while you're there, you can explain why you were late for class again."
Radu 386 bowed his head respectfully and left the classroom.
**********
The community Elder was very old. She had gray hair that trailed down her back and into coils on the floor. Her skin was wrinkled and sagging, but her eyes were still quick and full of intelligence. Radu 386 stood in front of her with his eyes downcast, listening to her breathe. He had told her what the teacher-elder had told him to say and now awaited judgement.
"This is not the first report I've had about you, Radu 386," the Elder said. "Some elders have been complaining that you have been spreading ideas to the younger hatchlings. Are you encouraging anarchy, Radu 386?"
"No, Elder," Radu 386 replied. "I believe we can benefit from new ideas."
"Why risk something new when the old works just fine?" the Elder asked.
Radu 386 said nothing. The community Elder sighed and tossed a compupad to the hatchling. "Read this," she said.
Radu 386's eyes scanned the message. "I - It's from the UPP, asking for a sign of allegiance."
The Elder nodded. "They want to make sure it's not a trick. They suggest sending one of our youths to their Starcademy to train to be a UPP officer."
Radu 386's eyes widened. "No . . "
"We can't have you spreading anarchy, Radu 386. I believe this will solve both our problems. We will be rid of our ideas and the UPP will have their sign."
"But, Elder, what about — "
"You have nothing here, hatchling. I don't believe you could be a contributing member of our community, once you leave the hatchery."
"You're asking me to leave everything I've ever known?"
"I'm not asking, Radu 386, I'm telling you. I've already forwarded the suggestion to Starcademy and you're enrolled in next term's classes, which begin next cycle. It'll be your tenth cycle; you would have to leave the hatchery anyway."
Radu 386 bowed his head respectfully and left the room.
**********
"You managed to keep yourself in control after that situation?" Dr. Williams asked.
Radu nodded. "I was only nine cycles old."
"That was the first time you felt anger?" Dr. Williams asked.
Again, Radu nodded. "Yeah. It was the first time I had to restrain it. I was young and foolish. I understand now that what the Elder did was for the best."
"When was the next time you felt as if you were going to loose control?" Dr. Williams asked.
**********
The shuttle landed in the docking bay of Starcademy. The door hissed open and Radu 386 found himself awash with unfamiliar sounds. He remained immobile in the transport shuttle until he had adjusted his hearing to cope with the sounds. Slowly, he stood and disembarked.
The docking bay was full of shuttles and boxes of unclaimed cargo. As Radu 386 walked away from his transport, he heard the door slide closed.
"Transport 689 cleared for departure," someone yelled into a microphone.
Radu 386 was so startled by the sudden noise, he nearly dropped his small bag. He glanced around the room and saw a woman standing near the doorway. She waved at him and Radu 386 swallowed his fear. He headed towards her.
"Welcome to Starcademy," the woman said loudly.
Radu 386 smiled weakly as he attempted to adjust his hearing again. The Space Ark hatchery had never been this loud!
"I'm Ms. Davenport," the woman said, "Assistant Principal here. We're happy to have you."
"Th — Thank you," Radu 386 said, unsure of how to respond to the introduction.
Ms. Davenport smiled. "Come along, we'll get you settled."
Radu 386 bowed his head respectfully and followed Ms. Davenport into the halls of Starcademy.
**********
Ms. Davenport led Radu 386 down the halls to a small, well-decorated office. The Earther woman sat down behind a desk and began to look for something on her desktop computer. Radu 386 sat down on a chair across from the desk, clutching his bag as if it were a comfort toy.
"Well, Radu," Ms. Davenport said. "I don't see any of your records here. I assume that your old school hasn't had time to forward them to us yet. Where did you go to school before?"
Radu 386 found he had a hard time concentrating on what Ms. Davenport was saying. The noises from the docking bay seemed to have followed them to the office, along with countless other sounds as well.
"Um — I'm sorry, Ms. Davenport. What did you say?" Radu 386 said as politely as he could.
Ms. Davenport frowned. "Do you have any trouble hearing, Radu? I asked where you went to school before."
"N — No, I don't have trouble hearing," Radu 386 said, "a — and I didn't go to school before."
"Really? You look about eighteen years old. That would mean that you've been in school for a good fifteen years."
"I — I'm sorry, Ms. Davenport," Radu 386 said. "I'm only ten cycles."
"No matter," Ms. Davenport said, obviously ignoring her newest cadet. "We'll get you a bunk and a uniform. I've taken the liberty of preparing a schedule for you. Not too difficult, I hope. If you have any problems, come and see me."
The door to Ms. Davenport's office slid open and a young girl came in. Radu 386 turned to see her and was surprised to see she had pink skin and a large helmet of some sort on her head.
"You wanted to see me, Ms. Davenport?" the girl said with a large smile on her face.
"Yes, Rosie," Ms. Davenport said, smiling as well. "This is Radu, our newest cadet. Could you please show him around? Classes begin tomorrow and I want to make sure he knows where everything is."
"Sure," Rosie said. She walked over to where Radu 386 was sitting. "Hi, I'm Rosie."
Radu 386 smiled.
"Oh, one more thing," Ms. Davenport said. She reached into her desk and pulled out a pair of gloves. "The UPP has asked that you wear these gloves at all times. They have small inertial dampners in the palms to make sure you don't accidentally squeeze something too hard. We're all aware of your strength and we don't want any unpleasant accidents."
Radu 386 picked up the gloves and looked at them strangely.
"It's not that bad," Rosie said. "I have to wear gloves too, but I wear them so I don't accidentally burn things."
Radu 386 had put the gloves on while Rosie was talking and he flexed his fingers experimentally.
"Well, now, off you two go," Ms. Davenport said.
Radu bowed respectfully and left the office after Rosie.
**********
Rosie led the way down the halls, cheerfully pointing out everything as they went. Radu 386 found he liked the pink girl's optimism and even found himself unconsciously tuning out the sounds of the school to listen to her more closely.
"And this is the biosphere," Rosie said. "On days like today when there are no classes, most of the cadets like to go here and hang out."
Radu nodded. "C — Can I ask you a question, Rosie?" he said.
"Sure," Rosie replied cheerfully.
"Y — You're not an Earther, are you?"
Rosie laughed. "No, I'm Mercurian, from Mercury."
"Is that why your skin is pink?" Radu asked.
Rosie nodded. "Yep. I can also control heat and spit fire balls. It's kinda neat."
Radu licked his lips and smiled. "C — Can I ask you something else?"
Rosie nodded.
"D — Do you think the cadets here will hate me?"
"You mean because of the war?" Rosie blinked. "I'm not sure. I know a few Earthers will be sore because they lost family members in the fight." Rosie's eyes grew wider. "Oh! There's someone you absolutely have to stay away from."
"Who's that?" Radu asked.
"Hey, Andromedan," a voice from the other end of the hall yelled.
"Uh oh," Rosie said. "Too late."
Radu looked down the hall and saw a dark skinned Earther staring at him with hate filled eyes. Radu could hear the Earther's heart pounding and he licked his lips nervously.
"That's Harlan Band," Rosie said. "He's really angry at all Andromedans. One of them killed his father in the war."
Radu felt his heart sink. He had wanted to fit in, but now realized that with people like Harlan Band around, it would be next to impossible.
"What should I do?" Radu asked.
Rosie shrugged. "I hope you don't bruise easily. Harlan likes to beat his anger out of people."
"Bruise?" Radu asked. "What is — "
"What are you doing here?" Harlan Band interrupted as he neared the nervous Andromedan. "I thought we kicked your butt back on the battle field."
Radu said nothing.
"What's your name, Andromedan?" Harlan demanded.
"R — Radu," came the reply.
"Well, R — Radu," Harlan said in a mocking tone. "You just made a serious enemy."
Harlan raised his fist and struck Radu full force in the stomach. The Andromedan didn't even wince. Harlan massaged his sore hand and stared defiantly into Radu's eyes.
"Watch your back, Andromedan," Harlan said before turning and going into the biosphere.
From his sides, Radu slowly unclenched his gloved hands.
**********
"It must have been difficult to keep from hitting him," Dr. Williams observed.
Radu stared at his hands. "I knew I could have killed him right there, or at least made him fear me for the rest of his life, but I managed to stay in control. He hated me so much, I still don't understand why."
"But you stayed in control," Dr. Williams said. "Your Andromedan teachings went farther than you thought."
Radu nodded. "I know and I'm glad for it. Harlan is a good friend of mine now."
"Keep going," Dr. Williams said.
**********
The term progressed slowly for Radu. He found that Rosie remained a true friend, but all the other cadets of Starcademy were hostile towards him. The Earthers, under the leadership of Harlan Band, made Radu's time out of class almost unbearable, yet the Andromedan persevered. Radu found himself homesick for the hatchery he had been forced to leave. Although he had not been accepted there either, he felt that he had belonged.
At the end of the term, Radu was called down to Ms. Davenport's office. As the assistant principal reviewed Radu's file, the Andromedan licked his lips nervously and scanned the surrounding rooms for interesting sounds. Scanning had become another habit of his; when people were bothering or teasing him, he would fine a more agreeable conversation and pretend the person was talking to him. He hadn't mentioned this habit to anyone — not even Rosie for fear of further ridicule.
"Well, Mr. Radu," Ms. Davenport said after several minutes. "I had hoped for a better result from you. Your marks are terribly unimpressive."
Radu said nothing. He braced himself for the worst; to be sent somewhere else, like what his own people had done to him when he had not met their expectations.
"I'm afraid I have no other choice but to send you to the — underachiever class. There are several other students there as well, I believe your friend Rosie is among them. You will be spending the next term with them," Ms. Davenport decided.
Radu smiled to himself. Although he did not fit into this school, he did not want to be sent away again.
"Yes, Ms. Davenport," Radu agreed, bowing his head respectfully.
**********
When the second term began, Radu headed for the small class of failing Starcademy cadets — what the other cadets referred to as the space cases'. Radu was nervous and remained silent, despite the slight comfort he took in knowing that Rosie was going to be there with him. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room.
The teacher hadn't arrived yet, but several of the students were already in their places. To his right, Radu saw a girl with rainbow coloured hair sitting to his right, obviously having a conversation with someone. Radu found he couldn't see or hear the girl's friend and he frowned to himself. Sitting behind the rainbow haired girl was Rosie and the Mercurian waved brightly to her friend. Radu gave her a half smile and kept scanning the room. On the left of the room was a boy from a race alien to him. The boy had black hair and dark skin with two antennae sticking up from his forehead. The boy had a dour expression on his face, the exact opposite of Rosie. Radu moved to take the empty seat in front of the rainbow girl.
"Someone's sitting there," she told him.
Thinking that the someone was the non-existent person the girl was talking to, Radu move to the other side of the room and sat in front of the dour boy. A few minutes later, Ms. Davenport walked in, holding a compupad in her hand. As she stood in front of the class, looking at everyone's faces, someone else came into the room. Radu's heart sank as he remembered the Earther from their encounter in the hall — it was Harlan Band.
Ms. Davenport didn't waste another second as Harlan entered the room and sat in front of the rainbow haired girl.
"Harlan Band from Earth," she said, her eyes on the compupad.
"Ms. Davenport, you can see we're all here, why even bother taking attendance?" Harlan asked, looking unamused.
Ms. Davenport raised her eyes to look coolly at Harlan. "As assistant principal, I believe in regulations and procedure, Mr. Band," Ms Davenport said. "If you added those to words to your vocabulary, you could — "
"Double it?" the rainbow haired girl said with a smile.
Harlan made a face at her and Ms. Davenport resumed with her attendance.
"Harlan Band from Earth, check. Catalina from Saturn, check."
"Oh! Suzee's here too," the rainbow girl called Catalina said.
"Oh joy, your imaginary friend's here, too," Ms. Davenport said sarcastically.
Harlan laughed at the girl as Ms. Davenport continued her tour of the small room. Catalina looked ashamed of herself and Radu found he felt sorry for the girl.
"Rosie Ianni from Mercury colony, check," Ms. Davenport continued.
"Good morning, Ms. Davenport," Rosie said cheerfully.
Ms. Davenport smiled warmly at the cadet and pushed another button on her compupad. She turned to the dour faced boy.
"Bova from — " she began.
"Don't say it," Bova whispered pleadingly to himself.
"Uranus."
" I hate being from Uranus," Bova muttered. "I'm the butt of every joke."
Ms. Davenport completed her circle of the class by looking at Radu.
"And Radu from Andromeda. Mr. Radu, I admit I had particularly high hopes for you being our first Andromedan here at Starcademy."
Radu lowered his eyes respectfully as Ms. Davenport continued the lecture.
"I had hopes for you all, really," she said, addressing the rest of the space cases' as well.
From where he sat, Radu could feel Harlan's hatred concentrated on him. Radu stared at Ms. Davenport, refusing to give Harlan the satisfaction of knowing how nervous he felt.
**********
"That must have been embarrassing," Dr. Williams said, "having the teacher express her disapproval of you in front of everyone."
Radu nodded. "It wasn't that bad since she told everyone how upset she was, but she started with me. I — I know she didn't mean it, but it angered me and made me ashamed of what I had done."
"Did Harlan say anything else to you that day?"
Radu nodded again. "Yeah, after we snuck onto the Christa. He told me he didn't like Andromedans. He didn't say why, though."
Dr. Williams made a few more notes on her compupad. "Any other times Harlan has embarrassed you or made you angry? During your stay on the Christa, perhaps?"
Radu squirmed in his seat a bit. "Um, a few times, actually. He once told me he wanted to be alone because I was a clutz or a nuisance or something, that was right before he disappeared — literally - and I saved him. There was another time when it was Bova's birthday and everyone was doing a project on their family trees and I had no family, so I made something up to impress Harlan, hoping he would give me a break, but it backfired in my face and I ended up looking stupid in front of everyone. Catalina was really helpful, though. She tried to get Harlan to leave me alone, but he didn't really stop until Suzee came along."
Dr. Williams looked up in surprise. "Until who came along?"
"Suzee, Catalina's invisible friend."
Dr. Williams smiled to herself. "I've been trying to get Catalina into therapy for a very long time now because of her imaginary friend. I had no idea she was real."
Radu shrugged. "Suzee's real all right. She's just from another dimension. I've been to Yensid once. It's a pretty nice place."
Dr. Williams laughed. "I'm glad Catalina's not suffering from some psychiatric disorder, then. Is there anything else you would like to go over? What happened after you returned home from the Christa?"
Radu shrugged. "I wasn't really angry when we got back. Harlan and I had been getting along pretty well then."
**********
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall," Harlan sang. "Ninety-nine bottles of beer — "
Radu came down the jumptubes and into the command post. He had been in the engine room with Suzee when he heard a horrific noise from the command post.
"Harlan, what's going on?" Radu asked, expecting the worst.
Harlan was leaning on the helm with his head resting on one hand, singing. Radu smiled and shook his head.
"Hey, Radu," Harlan said. "What's up?"
"N — Nothing," Radu said, obviously confused. "Are you okay?"
"I'm very, very bored," Harlan said. "I hate compost duty, especially when nothing happens."
"I heard you singing and I thought something was wrong," Radu said sheepishly. "You sing horribly."
Harlan laughed. "I know. It's an awful song, too."
Radu smiled and went to his post at navigation. He quickly did a scan of their co-ordinates.
"Harlan," he said, "we've drifted off course. Take her back about 5 degrees."
Harlan moved the ship and sighed. "How much longer until it's Suzee's turn up here?"
"She's not taking a shift today," Radu said. "The Commander has her working in the engine room. Apparently, she's figured out how to get even more power into the solar sails."
Harlan rolled his eyes. "I bet she has no idea what's going on. She just says she does in order to get out of doing work."
Radu shrugged. "It looks to me like she's doing something down there. I was helping her until I came up here to see what you were killing."
Harlan smiled and turned to his friend. "Killing? I'd like to hear you sing better."
Radu blushed. "Uh, maybe killing' was too strong a word."
Harlan shrugged. "Probably not. I'm a fighter, not a singer."
"Obviously."
They had been on their journey for three years with no end in sight. Each of them expected another four years at least before reaching familiar space again, but no one thought about it. They lived for the moment, enjoying their freedom.
The jumptubes whistled and Suzee came flying into the compost. She smiled at the two boys and headed to the engineering console.
"Engines are now at almost 130% efficiency," Suzee reported. "I think that's all I can do right now."
"Great, so you're going to take over here?" Harlan asked.
Suzee smiled at him. "Not yet, Harlan. You still have another two hours before your shift is done. Radu and I are going to the teamroom for a little game of brains versus brawn."
Radu blushed again and Harlan gave his friend an angry look. Despite their tentative friendship, Harlan was still jealous of the amount of attention Suzee had been giving Radu. Radu was afraid Harlan would revert to his Andromedan-hating ways.
"Coming?" Suzee asked from the door.
Radu left his post, feeling Harlan's eyes boring into his back. He hated it when Harlan was mad, but Suzee had asked him to play and Harlan wasn't the only guy on the ship. Without turning back, Radu knew Harlan was still glaring at him as the doors slid shut.
**********
"So Harlan is jealous of you?" Dr. Williams asked.
"I think so," Radu said. "Rosie had told me once that Suzee liked me more than Harlan, so I guess I tried to spend every free time I could with her. I — I liked her too."
"What about the Spung girl? The one who was a student here before the Invasion?"
"Elmira?" Radu felt himself blush. "Elmira and I have something deeper than whatever I felt towards Suzee. M — maybe I was just glad to have something Harlan didn't."
Dr. Williams said nothing. She just nodded and motioned for Radu to continue with his story.
**********
Days later, the entire crew of the Christa was in the compost. Commander Goddard had Harlan flying emergency maneuvers incase the Spung showed up again.
"Commander," Thelma said.
"Yes, Thelma?" Goddard asked.
"I'm detecting a large spatial distortion opening up a short distance away from our starboard hull," the android said.
Goddard stared at her for a second. "Screen on," he said.
At first, the screen showed nothing but empty space. Commander Goddard's eyes scanned the area shown on the screen for any signs of the white circle.
"There's nothing there!" Ms. Davenport remarked.
Suddenly, the emptiness exploded into a large cylinder shaped tube. It seemed to be made of swirling gases and something came out.
"It's a worm hole," Goddard breathed.
"Commander, I'm picking up a ship," Rosie said. "It's hailing us."
"Let's hear it," Goddard said.
"This is Captain Mayfair of the UPP ship Intrepid. Do you read me, alien vessel?"
"Did he say UPP ship?" Harlan asked.
"We're saved!" Ms. Davenport gasped.
Everyone let out a cheer except for Suzee, who appeared rather disappointed.
"UPP ship Intrepid, this is Commander Seth Goddard," the Commander said.
"Seth, welcome home! Everyone's been wondering where you and your class had disappeared to," Captain Mayfair said. "I'll bet you're anxious to get home. Stay there and we'll meet you."
**********
Harlan and Radu sat in their bunkroom, looking at everything around them. This had been their home for the past three years.
"We're going home," Harlan said, scarcely believing it.
"Yeah," Radu said. "Do you think we'll be in trouble?"
Harlan laughed. "Probably, but what can they do?"
Radu smiled. They sat in silence for several more minutes before Radu dared to speak again. "What about Suzee?"
Harlan didn't say anything. Thinking he hadn't heard, Radu was about to repeat his question when Harlan answered.
"I guess we'll have to figure out how to get her back on Yensid, and bring Catalina home."
"I guess so," Radu said.
"It's too bad," Harlan continued. "I would have liked to kiss Suzee for real just once before she leaves."
Radu stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"When I kissed her before, she didn't kiss back. Then, she turned and kissed you."
Radu said nothing. Harlan rose to his feet and began to pace around the bunkroom. Although Harlan stayed quiet, Radu knew that he was working himself into a fury.
"You know, Radu? You've got it all. Suzee loves you, Elmira loves you, Rosie loves you, and I'll bet even Cat loves you. For some reason, every girl in the universe is attracted to you. What does that leave me? Bova?"
Radu lowered his head and didn't see the punch that came flying towards his unprotected jaw. Radu's head flipped backwards, more out of surprise than pain and he stared at Harlan.
"What'd you do that for?" Radu asked.
"You're perfect!" Harlan said. "You're perfect and it kills me that you can't see that! You've got your super strength and your super ears and what do I have?"
"You've got confidence," Radu said. "You've got charm, you can be decent when you put your mind to it, and you've got more friends that I'll ever have."
"So what?" Harlan said. "What will that ever do for me?"
Before Radu could reply, Suzee came into the room. Harlan was fuming and staring defiantly at Radu. Radu was still sitting on the bed, his eyes on Harlan.
"What's going on?" Suzee demanded.
"Nothing," Radu muttered.
"You wouldn't understand," Harlan said.
Suzee eyed each of them. "Well, we have to be in the compost now. We're going through the worm hole."
**********
Radu was near tears. Dr. Williams comforted him as best she could, allowing the Andromedan time to gather his thoughts and calm himself.
"What that the last fight you and Harlan had?" she asked after several minutes.
Radu shook his head. "N — No. We've fought after that. That was the last serious fight, though."
Dr. Williams nodded. "Well, I know everything you've gone through since returning here, even that stint with the War Chant on the planetary moon."
Radu raised his head quickly. Dr. Williams smiled.
"Don't worry — I won't tell. The only thing I can think of is for you to relax. Go on a vacation and get away from all your circumstances'. Once you're relaxed, you'll feel more in control. You're under stress, Radu."
"How can I relieve the stress?" Radu asked.
"Talk to someone, like you just did to me. Do you feel better?" Dr. Williams asked.
Radu nodded.
"My door is always open if you need someone to talk to," she said. "I'll talk to Principal Ravenshire and see about getting you a week or two off. Have you any idea where you'd like to go?"
Radu could only picture one destination. He smiled. "I think I do."
**********
The transport set down at the space station and Radu came out, holding a small bag of clothing. He took a deep breath and at once felt the silence of the planet. As the transport lifted off again, Radu turned and saw the people he would be staying with for the next few weeks.
"Welcome home, my son," Udar said warmly.
Radu ran to his embrace, kissing his mother and sister. Together, the complete Andromedan family piled into the hovercar and left for the settlement of New Andromeda.