Thy'lek had one final hurdle to overcome before he could be discharged home. With his big brother's help and support, both in person and through their family bond, he had finally mastered standing and taking a few steps, but he needed to be able to walk longer distances. Once again, the task was proving difficult.
"Thy'lek, there's someone here I think you'd like to meet. I know he'd like to meet you." Thy'lek looked up in surprise. He wasn't expecting anyone. His mom, dad and Tren had come to see him last week. His eyes widened when he saw the person standing next to Talla in the doorway to his room. "Thy'lek, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Lieutenant Tel'kien of the Imperial Guard. Lieutenant, this is Thy'lek Shran, my best patient."
"An honor to meet you, sir," Thy'lek said gravely as he offered his small hand to the imposing Guard's officer. His palm was up and open to signify submission and that he bore no malice or weapon. This was the way his father had taught him was appropriate for a young gentleman to behave. Tel'kien had to be the tallest Andorian Thy'lek had ever seen. To out-worlders, his tall, slender frame would appear willowy or even fragile, but Thy'lek could tell that this man was powerfully built and very strong. He also had dark, piercing, intelligent eyes. Thy'lek wouldn't dream of telling him anything other than the straight truth, and he instinctively knew he needed to remain on his best behavior in his presence.
"It is a pleasure and an honor to make your acquaintance at last, Mr. Shran. Mistress Talla speaks quite highly of you." Tel'kien noted with approval the child's polite behavior and smiled to himself at the deep blue blush his compliment and Talla's had elicited. The child was a credit to his parents. He gently but firmly clasped Thy'lek's forearm, his hand being offered palm down and open to signify his social dominance, but that he, too, bore no malice or weapon. He was careful to show no adverse reaction to the thin arm covered with multihued skin and a thin, pink layer of protective glaze. He felt the slight pressure of the child's hand on his forearm through the heavy royal blue silk of the sleeve of his service uniform and then broke the ritual greeting. The position was an awkward and taxing one for the small, wounded child to maintain.
"I am told that you have been given an important mission, Mr. Shran. If it is not 'top secret', may one ask what it is?"
"Once I can walk from one end of the long hall to the other, I can go home."
Tel'kien estimated the distance to be about 300 feet (120 meters). "A difficult task," he acknowledged. "I would be honored to serve as your reserve. Do you think you are ready to move out?"
In response to Thy'lek's puzzled look, Talla explained in a stage whisper, "You use the buddy system for field trips at school don't you, Thy'lek?" He nodded. "Well, 'reserve' is kind of the Guard's buddy system."
Thy'lek favored Tel'kien with a wide smile but blushed again when he said, "Yes, I would like you to be my 'reserve', thank you. I'm ready." He expertly maneuvered his powered wheelchair out of his room and to the end of the long hall. He made sure to match his speed to the leisurely stroll that Talla and Tel'kien seemed to be taking even though he was anxious to get on with his task. He then rose slowly and carefully from his chair. With Talla and Tel'kien beside him, he confidently started off on his long trek to the other end of the hall. He just knew he would make it this time. He had to! He didn't want to embarrass himself or Talla in the eyes of the elegant Guard's officer.
He covered the first quarter of the distance in good time, largely because he was running on adrenaline. Tel'kien knew this and gently advised him, "Mr. Shran, might I suggest that you slow down a bit? As I understand the mission, you are to get to the end of the hall in a reasonable time period. Setting a world speed record is not required. Making sure to use energy wisely so as to have enough to make that last push at the end is one of the first and hardest lesions a cadet must learn." Thy'lek nodded, but he didn't really slow down. He just couldn't.
By the time he was half way down the hall, though, the muscles in his legs were beginning to burn. This was where he usually stopped, but today he had to keep going. Once again, Tel'kien quietly offered him a suggestion. "Why don't you take a short rest, Mr. Shran? A few moments only. Guardsmen do this, even in combat, although it's usually in a hole or behind something for protection; however, I think it's safe enough here that you can do without cover, don't you?" Thy'lek managed a small smile. If Tel'kien only knew how frightening this place could be! This time, though, he willing followed his advice.
He felt better after the short break, but only for a few steps. The burning pain in his legs intensified and moved higher and higher until it was in his back. He knew he was still moving forward, but it seemed like the wall at the end of the hall was moving too. It didn't seem to be getting any closer. His eyes were burning as well. It was all he could do to keep from crying, but only babies cried. He couldn't let a brave Guardsman like Tel'kien know how tired and weak and scared he was.
He tried to take one more step, but suddenly found himself sprawled face down on the floor. He didn't know exactly how he'd gotten there, only that he had fallen. Had he tripped? Had his legs just given out? Was something even worse wrong? He felt Tel'kien's strong hands trying to pick him up and heard Talla telling him to relax and that he would be fine, but memories of being pinned down and hurt by the doctors exploded in his mind like fire in a backdraft. "No! Don't! I can do it!" He had somehow evaded Tel'kien's grasp and had worked his way up on his hands and knees. "I can do it myself! Let me! Please!"
Tel'kien looked questioningly at Talla who seemed stunned but gave him a small nod. He straightened and placed his arms, crossed at the wrists, behind his back in the "at ease" posture of the Guard. "My error, Mr. Shran, and my apologies. I await your command, " he said with quiet sincerity.
Thy'lek had indeed managed to struggle to his feet, and now, breathing heavily, he resumed his quest to reach the end of the hall. He was head down and mechanically placing one foot slowly in front of the other. He was crying with the pain of it, but he no longer cared who saw the hot, scalding tears that flowed down his face. Suddenly, something or someone was impeding his progress. He butted it with his head, pushed at it with his hands and tried to kick it with his foot, but it would not give way. "I can do it! Let me, please!"
"Mr. Shran." He heard Tel'kien's commanding voice beside him. "Look up. You made it. It's over."
Thy'lek looked up and was astonished to see, through a haze of tears, that what he thought had been a barrier keeping him from his goal was actually the goal itself, the wall at the far end of the hall. His small fist uncurled, and he reached out and gingerly touched the wall in wonder. He turned to Tel'kien with eyes wide and an exhausted but happy smile on his face. He slowly and carefully brought his right arm up diagonally across his chest so that his right hand was flat against his left shoulder in the salute of the Imperial Guard. "Cadet Shran reporting as ordered, sir."
Tel'kien laughed as he crisply returned the salute and exclaimed, "Well done, Cadet! Outstanding!" He then deftly caught Thy'lek as the child collapsed again in shear exhaustion. This time, Thy'lek didn't protest. It was nice to be safe in the Guardsman's sheltering arms. As he carried Thy'lek back to his room, Tel'kien gave the child two more pieces of advice: "No matter how tough a mission is, a good officer must never take his eyes from the prize, and when the going gets really rough, there is no shame in calling upon your reserve. That's why it's there." Tel'kien heard the child murmur, "Yes, sir," as he gently tucked him into bed, but he doubted that he had really heard what he'd said. Nonetheless, the child was extraordinary.
When Thy'lek woke up, he found pinned to his pillow the platinum, obsidian and sapphire unit badge of the Imperial Guard. His small fingers traced its design in wonder. It instantly became his most prized possession and had remained so throughout his life. Tel'kien's amazing gift, which he kept with him always in an inner pocket of his uniform jacket, had been one of only two items of personal significance that he had managed to save when his ship, the Kumari, had been destroyed. There had been no time, no way to battle through the flames engulfing the doomed vessel, to retrieve his own badge from the service uniform in his quarters.