Paul Kater - Bactine

Maybe, he then thought, he could send another message to Rhonda. Ask her if there was any chance that he could be reinstated to something resembling his old position at star base. Or somewhere else, as long as it was not near Troy and his smelly command.

“Sure,” he mocked himself, “just because you managed to not get killed here a few times, that will be a clean bill to get back. Forget that.” He blew out the candle and lay down to sleep again.

“This is not going to work.” Daniel had spent some time trying to go back to sleep and failed. Again he lit the candle and tried to decide what he should do about that. More reading? No, that was not the way to go. He’d done enough of that. He’d also run out of ideas for the airship.

“Fresh air. That usually helps,” he remembered. Quietly he dressed. As he was about to leave the room, he stood still for a moment, looking at the hydger. Better to take that along. Suppose it would make its noise and wake other people up. With the box in a pocket, he walked into the corridor and then left the house.

Two of the three moons of NGC6637-VIII were high in the sky and set the area in a very intense light. Daniel turned right and slowly walked up the slope. He knew that the view over the area and the bay was magnificent from there, and now he had the chance to see it in the moonlight.

The walk up the hill was good for him: he had to focus on where he stepped, as the trail was not often used. When he reached the summit, he breathed in the cool nightly air. A little further to the left he saw the rock he had sat on before. He claimed it as his again and looked down the hill. He could not see Sygra’s house from there, there were too many trees and high bushes growing. Finding it back would be no problem though, the light of the moons was abundant.

Daniel looked up at the smallest of the two moons. It was an oddly shaped moon, not round. There had been many meteors, he assumed, that had used that moon for target practice. Bites had been taken out of the shape and now it looked as if someone had thrown up a half-eaten cookie which had gotten stuck in orbit.

Then he stared at the constellations that he had gotten to know by now. The star base… he had no idea where that should be now. It could be anywhere in that vastness. Daniel lay down on the ground and looked straight up at the stars overhead. “Out there, my boy, is where you belong,” he told himself.

“Is that so?”

The voice made Daniel jump to his feet while his heart tried to jump from his throat. “Who are you?”

A man was sitting near a low hedge. Daniel had no idea how long he had been there.

“My name is not important, but for convenience sake you can call me Lundar. And do you have a name?”

“I’m Daniel Zacharias.”

“Ah. I am pleased to meet you, Seigner Daniel Zacharias,” the man said as he slowly got up. He walked to Daniel, holding out his hand.

Daniel frowned. The man wore dark clothes, and on his back hung something that looked like… “You are a preacher, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I am surprised you recognise this, you don’t look like someone who is from here,” Lundar said.

They shook hands.

“Some people have called me a preacher also,” Daniel allowed himself. He grinned as he said it.

“That makes you my brother, Daniel.”

Daniel noticed that Lundar immediately dropped the Seigner, which suited him fine. “I’m afraid I woke you up, Lundar. Please accept my apologies.”

“Not to worry, Daniel. I sleep lightly and short. I was about to go anyway as I like to travel at night, so this is a lucky coincidence. What is troubling you?”

“Nothing, I’m okay,” Daniel said with a smile, as he regarded the man. Lundar was short, even for local sizes. He had long blond hair hanging around a square face.

Lundar nodded. “Of course. That is why you are here on the hill in the middle of the night, staring at the stars and claiming that out there is where you belong.”

“Oh. You heard that.” Daniel felt caught.

“In the night sound travels far, Daniel.” Lundar sat down on the rock. “Sit here. Tell me what goes on inside you.”

Daniel sat down, but couldn’t bring himself to start talking.

“Brother preacher, speak. Please. Your words are safe with me. Set them free, as then they set you free. As you are here to help others…”

“…so are others here to help you. I know,” Daniel completed the words that Lundar had started. It made him feel more at ease. Then, slowly, he started telling Lundar what was troubling him.

“I think I understand your problem, Daniel. You do not allow yourself to become one of the people from here. You hold on to being the outsider, the man from the other planet, the soldier who is sent here to do something. Now the something is completed and it leaves you staring into a black hole where first there was a task.”

Daniel looked at Lundar. The man was calmly looking over the bay. “You are very kind to listen to me, Lundar. But…”

“But I am wrong, am I?” Lundar smiled. “Of course. Preachers are always wrong, until they are right. You just need to allow yourself to see that, Daniel. Like the other things.” He got up. “I should pack up my things and move on. Thank you for being here and waking me, preacher brother.” It sounded sincere.

The two men shook hands after Lundar had collected his things.

“You are right,” Daniel said as he looked the man in the eye.

“Yes. And so are you. Be well. We may meet again, Daniel.” Then Lundar pulled the hood over his head and walked off, towards Boragov.

Daniel looked at Lundar go until he disappeared in the distance. “Yes. Damn him, but he’s right.” He looked at the hill and the water again. Somehow it looked different. He shook his head and started his journey down the hill and to his bed.

Refreshed, Daniel got out of his bed. He opened the curtains and felt good. As he got dressed, he saw the papers he had written on in the night and picked them up. He looked them over. And again he felt good, no matter how silly things looked.

As he was enjoying breakfast, Sygra came in. “Good morning, Sygra,” he said.

The senator frowned. “You are remarkably cheery, Daniel. Did something happen in your sleep?” He sat down and welcomed a cup of sturt, the local coffee version Daniel had never gotten a taste for.

“It is more that something happened while not sleeping, Sygra.” Daniel told him about his midnight stroll and how he had met the preacher on top of the hill.

Sygra nodded. “Sometimes, doing something out of the ordinary can bring insights that are out of the ordinary. Amazing that this man was there when you were there.”

Daniel watched his host. He was certain there was a catch somewhere in those words, and as he was trying to find it, Sygra laughed.

“Very good, Daniel. Very good. I see you are learning to consider my words before jumping to a response.”

Daniel grinned, still not sure what to say. They ate while Sygra for once told Daniel a bit about what he was going to do during the day.

Then Daniel showed Sygra the scribbles and drawings. “I am going to see Aldrick again and show him this. Maybe there is something useful he can make of it. And otherwise it was a fun thing to do.”

“Ah, yes. Aldrick. He’s a good man. You and he really fit together. Enjoy your day with him.” Sygra chewed down some of his toast. “It is still beyond me how you and the others dared climb aboard that flying thing and take it all the way over to the pirate island. And it worked.” The senator shook his head. “All due respect for that, Daniel.”