I could not have possibly saved him, he thought.
Neil sat at his desk in the Military Academy dorm staring blankly out the window reflecting on the past two days with complete disbelief and horror. It was not possible. Jim could not be dead. They were going to be partners. Now all that had changed.
Natora walked down the hall and for the first time realized how beautiful the Academy dorms were. The sleek curves that formed the juncture of wall and ceiling, the light gray and blood red stripes that signified the security division she was in of Cole Hall. Just up ahead she could see where she wanted to be, but there was a deep fear within her that almost made her stop dead in her tracks. It was only her alien blood that allowed her to continue.
She stood in front of a large black door, sweat dripping off her chin caused by the exertion it took for her to walk in this higher gravity. She knew what he was probably feeling and did not like the idea of disturbing him with something this insignificant, but orders are orders.
Neil’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a soft chime. “Enter,” he said without even looking over his shoulder to see who it was. The door slid silently open allowing Natora to enter. Her first sight was of a beautiful view of the mountains from Neil’s windows. The sight too her back, but she shook herself and grew concerned as she realized that Neil had not moved since her entrance. She cleared her throat.
“Yes.”
“Commander Forten, I hate to disturb you like this, I know it is not a good time, but I have your new orders, sir.” Natora stumbled over her words as if they were big rocks on the ground in this heavier gravity.
Neil realized through the shaky scratchy voice that it was Natora. He stood up and turned toward her, “May I see them.” She stepped forward, handing him the chip. Turning back around, he sat back down and slid the disk into his terminal. The computer, which was built into his desk, became active as data was transferred to his workstation. On the screen was displayed the all too familiar gray and red security colors and the Academy logo.
“Voice identification necessary for authorized access,” the computer spat out at him in its deep metallic synthetic voice.
“Identify, Forten, Commander Neil,” Neil spat back not trying to cover his annoyance.
“Access granted. Current orders are as follows,” the computer stated so smugly and then on the screen, he saw what he could only be in his worst nightmare.
Assignment: Earth Security Brigade
Report: Galacticdate 183648.32
Conditions: Hot Zone, Delta Four
He slowly looked up to see if Natora had seen what was on the screen and by the look on her face, he knew she had. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked away knowing that she would probably never see him again.
Jim sat on his bed. I don’t understand, he thought. I did everything right, by the book, what went wrong. As he sat there, his face cupped in his large strong hands; tears streamed down his face. The thought of loosing everything he had worked for and all he had was simply covering Jim as forcefully and abruptly as a cheetah taking down its prey. Slowly, Jim lifted his head, looking toward the sky. “Why me! Why now!” His screams grew to whimpers as tears ran down his face as rivers moving toward the ocean and he lifted his hands to God.
Neil awakened from his respite when he heard a voice even which his subconscious could have recognized. Before he was aware that he was moving, he had reached the hall. As he ran down the hall to his friend’s room, he could sense the urgency from Jim. At the door, he paused only long enough to punch in his security override code. It slid open without a moment’s hesitation and Neil slipped through brushing the cold hard metal with his bare chest.
He entered and saw his friend on his knees holding his hands toward the sky. The grief and torrent of emotion that Jim was releasing were almost overwhelming, even to someone as skilled as Neil was.
Neil eased forward trying not to let Jim’s erratic thoughts and feelings push too far into his mind knowing that it would be impossible to help his friend if he became engulfed within them. He drew near Jim and gently placed his hand on the base of Jim’s neck. There he began the meditative state of healing. This he knew would help his friend to calm down and regain control.
Jim collapsed. Just before his head hit the floor Neil caught him. He heard a soft chime. “Enter,” he said exasperated. “He’s in a healing trance, get him to the infirmary.”
“Don’t worry Commander, we’ll take very good care of him,” said a large African-American man whom Neil had never before met. He knew however that some of the greatest minds in the galaxy were in the infirmary and would help Jim.
Three days later Jim began to regain consciousness.
It was dark and he could not feel all of his body. “There is something definitely wrong,” he thought. “What can I remember? I was in my room, crying. I felt pain, no…grief…anger. Why? I don’t remember.”
He tried to open his eyes, but they felt like solid lead. He tried moving his legs, but they were completely unresponsive. “Am I dead? No, even in death I would be able to move. Then I must be injured or incapacitated.” As his mind search for a reasonable solution, he began to feel more of his body. It came back to him slowly like air filling a balloon. It started in his neck and flowed outward toward his arms, then legs ending with his fingers, toes, and face.
He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t see anything. It looked like there wasn’t much light and even if there were everything was completely blurry. Something moved. His mind registered the movement before it was even a conscious thought. Using his mental training, he tried to contact the person telepathically. It was Neil; he would recognize that mind anywhere.
“Jim, are you alright? Your eyes are open, but they aren’t responding to the light. Can you move? Speak to …”
“Neil,” Jim interrupted, ”I hear you. I don’t remember anything. I see only dark blurry images and cannot seem to move yet. What has happened to me?”
“I’ll explain later. You just try to rest while I get the doctors. Everything will be fine, trust me.” And with that, Neil was gone. Jim was completely exhausted from the effort it took to speak with his friend, so he allowed nature to take its course. He slept.