else do you think we are?"
Aidan looked at him, puzzled. "At least three or four kilometers by this time."
"Do you promise that you will never breathe a word of that message to anyone?" Michael asked.
"Look, I already told you that I promised that stranger that I wouldn't tell anyone else and I meant it. When I give my word, I keep it."
Michael took Aidan by the shoulders, held her at arm's length, and looked straight at her. "You have no idea how important your message is. No idea at all. I have no idea who you are. If the wrong person hears this, thousands of people will die."
She laughed. "Because of that little message?"
"I should kill you right here."
"You couldn't kill anyone."
"I already have."
"Michael!" Randolph didn't trust him. "Aidan, believe him."
Aidan looked at both of them. "I have given my word. Do you believe me?" She didn't laugh.
Michael released her, picked up the component, and turned away from them.
"Is this all the thanks I get?"
"You get to go home -- for now."
"How many people have you murdered? Do I really make that much difference to you?"
"I have murdered no one. Every person I have killed has been in the line of duty. The same duty that demands your secrecy."
"You still don't trust me, do you? Maybe I'd be better off dead."
"If things do not work out right, you and everyone at that campground might wish they were dead." Michael opened Aidan's purse and dropped the component back in it. "We are watched constantly. You keep this until after this evening's service."
Aidan snatched it out of her purse. Randolph grabbed her. He looked at her, his lips almost touching hers. "Please." He backed off and she replaced it.
"If I hurry, maybe I can be in time for the second inning." Michael walked off alone.
Randolph sat on a large log. "Have a seat, Aidan."
"I'm not dressed for sitting modestly in the woods. Besides, since your friend left, it would be improper for me to stay out here with you alone." She started off.
"You might like to hear what I have to say." He lightly tossed an acorn, which landed in her hair.
She turned and looked at him, feet planted. "I'm waiting."
"You agreed to deliver that message because you wanted to know more about us. I am sorry to say that you will probably wish that you had never heard of us. I apologize for Mike's behavior, but I'm not sure how I would have responded in the same situation. You don't know what kind of pressure you put on him."
Aidan walked back and leaned on an oak tree near Randolph. "Pressure or no, there was no excuse for his behavior," she said.
"Aidan, has any of your family been in the military?" She shook her head. "Have you or any one you are close to been forced to kill someone in the line of duty?" Again she shook her head.
"That's why it is hard for me to explain this and hard for you to understand it, but the real problem is not putting an enemy to death, but being forced to give orders that cause your own friends and family to die. A lot of people will die because of your message and nothing that either of us can do will prevent that. Mike is looking for ways to keep the people he cares for from being casualties. He is as hard as he looks because people are depending on him. Right now he does not know you. It's a lot easier for a stranger to die, especially if that means some friends will live."
"Who are you guys, that you can order people to die?"
Randolph threw a handful of acorns, one at a time, away from Aidan. "Do you love your family? Really love them the way we've heard love preached about?"
"I... I wish I could just say yes, but I'm not all I should be either."
"If you really love someone, you want what's best for them. Do you want what's best for your family?"
"Yes."
"Please don't try to find out who we are. I can truthfully tell you this. We endanger everyone who knows us. We're persona non grata."
"If you're such a menace to everyone, why are you here?"
"There are things that I don't have an answer for, and that's one of them."
"You haven't been very helpful with your answers. I thought that you said that I might like to hear what you have to say."
"Ask me something that I can answer."
"What can I ask? Everything I've asked so far you've said that you couldn't answer because it would endanger someone's life."
"Aidan, I promise you that if there's any possible way, I will answer your next question."
"This little black cube is a radio, isn't it?"
Randolph looked down at his watch which wasn't there. He met her eyes. "Yes."
"I want to listen to it."
"It requires a strong DC power supply."
"Jess Williams has an electric cart. He'd let me use it, I'm sure. If you don't want anyone else involved, I wouldn't tell him about the radio. When do you need it?"
Randolph stood up and took a few silent steps back toward the campgrounds.
"Now wait a minute, Randolph! Don't just walk off because you don't want to answer." He kept walking and Aidan caught up to him. "I thought you had more character than that. You're acting like I could just walk away and pretend that I never delivered that radio.
"If you're watched all the time like you claim to be, I'm already involved. I just want to know what it is that I'm involved in."
"A guy could get to like you. Do you have a ... I'm not sure about the right expression ... a man that you hope to marry?"
"You're exasperating."
They re-crested the knoll between them and the campground. "That's my job."
"You're very good at your job."
"Are you going to answer my question?"
"That's not the type of question to ask a young woman the first time you meet her."
"Why not?"
"There you go, being good at your job again."
"I take it that the answer is no."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because if it was yes you would have said so by now."
"This is a lonely part of the world. You and your friend Michael are the best-looking men that I've ever seen here. The entire women's dorm talks about you. You're right. The answer is no. And a girl could get to like you. A lot of women here are looking for an excuse to meet you two."
Randolph smiled. "I need to talk to Michael alone right now. Will you sit with me during the evening service? I'll meet you at the dining hall twenty minutes before it starts."
"I'll see you then. And I still want to listen to your radio." Aidan headed for the women's dorm.
Randolph walked over to the rows of parked electric carts. Electric carts had been made for decades with sealed terminals. Plenty of power, just not available. He walked right through the lot as if he were just going somewhere else.
He spotted Jess Williams's old cart on the front end of the last row. The terminals were not sealed.
Randolph walked up in the middle of the 5th inning. Michael was batting and Jess Williams was pitching.
"How many outs?" Randolph asked.
"He's leadoff this inning," Carl replied. "And we're down by 5. You came just in time."
Michael hit a hard line drive just to the left of second base, hitting the turf in front of the short fielder. Carl shook his head in disgust and closed his eyes. The throw beat the runner by a half step.
"Mike, you've got to be faster out of the batter's box. You should have been on with that. It was a real good hit. Against any other team, you still would have been on. Randy, you're batting next. We've got a perfect record this week and I don't intend to lose. We lost to Jess last week and I don't want to make that a habit."
Randolph walked, was sacrificed to third, left stranded. They lost 9 to 7.
"Would you two help put the equipment away?" Carl asked.
"Help? Help who? I don't see anyone else doing it," said Michael, grinning. They were the only ones
left by this time.
"We could have won today, Randy, if you and your friend hadn't decided to go for a walk in the woods with Aidan. Mike got here in time, but we really missed your bat, Randy," said Carl.
"News travels fast around here," said Michael. "Any idea what we talked about?"
"I try to keep tabs on my team," said Carl, "but what you talk about in private remains private. Thanks for the help. If you would be so kind as to lock this up. I've got to talk to a young lady in private before supper myself." He disappeared into the men's dorm.
"Well, at least our conversation was private," said Randolph.
"If Aidan can keep her mouth shut," said Michael. "I have serious doubts about that myself."
The equipment shed was vacant. The lock snapped open and they dropped the bag inside.
"I made a mistake, Randy. I need to get that radio from Aidan before the service. I'll need to miss the service if I intend to get back to the return beacon before eleven fifty-nine standard time."
"Don't compound mistakes. If you miss the service, a lot of people will want to know why. You can't afford to be that obvious."
"Where else am I going to get a power supply?"
"I looked at the electric carts this afternoon. Jess Williams's cart has unsealed terminals. Aidan offered to borrow it for us so that Jess wouldn't know anything about this," said Randolph.
"And how much does Aidan know at this time?"
"Only that she's carrying a radio. She came to that conclusion on her own. But she wants to listen to it. I know that it's only a transmitter, but allowing her to borrow Jess Williams's cart would be a lot less suspicious than you missing the evening service would. She could tell him that she wants to take the two of us for a ride. She's already involved, and I'm meeting her before the service anyway."
"We'll talk to her then. Let's shower."
Carl missed the evening meal, so Randolph and Michael ate by themselves. Aidan ate with Jess Williams and his family. Instead of going back to their dorms, they met outside afterwards.
Aidan said, "I've got someone to watch the table after the service tonight and Jess will let me borrow his cart. Are you willing?"
"Your father's right," said Randolph. "You are forward."
"We'll go with you," said Michael.
"Do either of you have a song book yet?" Both men shook their heads. "Here's a present from the book table. One for each of you. Do you know how to read music?"
"We've been able to play for a church service since we were ten," answered Michael.
"My, my, aren't you two precocious!"
"Enforced discipline, my dear Aidan, not precocious," said Michael.
"You're at least singing now. That's an improvement. And you're singing here without the enforced discipline."
"My dearest Aidan. What you don't know could fill volumes. But please don't take me seriously. You could have chosen to remain blissfully ignorant. And in this case ignorance is truly bliss." Michael smiled as he said this.
"Mike, do you treat all women this way, or am I a special case to you?"
"Aidan, believe me, you're very special to me right now. More so than you can imagine."
Both Aidan and Randolph looked at Michael and without another word Aidan sat with the men in their customary place where the rest of Carl's team would sit upon arrival. Without giving them a choice, Aidan sat between them again. No one else was on their side of the auditorium yet.
"Why do you two prefer going by formal names? What's wrong with plain ol' Mike and Randy?"
Randolph smiled slightly and said, "Sometimes we call each other Mike or Randy. But it's hard to break tradition. It's not really that important to us here and now."
"So I shall call you Mike and Randy. Michael and Randolph sound too stuffy and formal. You don't mind?"
"Not at all," said Michael. "Who are the two women with Carl?"
Carl walked directly up to them.
"Michael, Randolph, these are classmates of Aidan's at Northwestern Tech. They're also engineering students. This is Sandy Boyser and this is Annette Cunningham. Jess told me that you're taking his cart out after the service tonight and I wondered if we might tag along?" Carl smiled innocently.
"Does this place have microphones or are we being set up?" Michael asked, grinning. "We have one little thing to do as soon as the service is over that won't even take 10 minutes. After that I don't see why not."
"Sandy and I have known each other for years. Annette, Sandy, and Aidan were roommates last year. They're all seniors this year, so they get to pick their own roommates. I think they'll be back together this year, but you'll have to ask them. Michael, do you mind if Annette sits next to you?"
Michael smiled, stood and let her through. Carl sat next to Randolph, with Sandy at his side.
Randolph turned to Carl. "Did you think of this all by yourself, or did somebody help you?"
"All by myself, Randy m'boy. All by myself. Sandy and Annette just arrived, and when I saw the two of you with one woman, well I figured you needed one more. Besides, to keep Sandy happy, I've got to somehow keep Annette happy. The Lord just arranged for these things to work out this way."
Sandy leaned over and said, "With a little help from Carl."
Aidan leaned over. "With a lot of help from Carl."
The two women giggled and sat up. More members of the team arrived and it was obvious that Sandy and Annette were old familiars to most of them.
The speaker for the evening was a man named Bryerson, and not even Carl had heard of him. They sang four songs instead of the customary three; afterward Bryerson stood up. He was so small that he could barely see over the pulpit. Instead of the customary black suit, he wore a two-piece beige suit with a brown shirt. His dark skin and jet black hair contrasted with the men on the platform.
"He's Oriental," Aidan whispered to Randolph.
Randolph shrugged, "So?" He whispered back.
"He could be killed just for being here."
"Only if he's caught."
Aidan looked at Randolph. "The government's rather good at catching people. I don't want to be around him."
Randolph stiffened and sat back. A man on the other side of the auditorium left.
Bryerson began with a pronounced oriental accent. "The Scriptures say that Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation. Twice it says that Noah did everything that God told him to do. Hebrews says that God warned him about things that had not yet been seen. God has warned each of us about things which have not yet been seen. Are we as obedient as Noah is? Which of us can say that he has completely obeyed God, even when we did not understand everything? Are we more like Lot, who escaped with only his life? Or are we part of this world which is passing away with its lusts? Which are we?"
Randolph liked Bryerson. He was hard to see unless he came around to the side of the pulpit, but he was easy to listen to. And his message was short. Preacher Edwards stood to give the invitation and Bryerson left the pulpit.
As soon as the service ended, Carl stood and looked for Bryerson. "I'd like to meet a man who knows the Scriptures as well as Bryerson. But he's gone. I doubt if he's even on the campgrounds anywhere by now. And where's Aidan?"
"She jes' come t'ge' Th' cart fo' yo' li'l jo'ride," said Jess. "Heah she come naoh."
She smiled and Michael and Randolph climbed on. "Back in a minute," she called and took off down the road. Less than 2 kilometers down the road a convoy of government jeeps stopped them.
"We'd like to inspect your cart, ma'am. Could you three please step out for a few minutes?"
Bright lights hit them from three directions and the rest of the convoy roared past. They climbed out.
"No one else here. Maybe they were going to meet him at a prearranged pickup point. What do you know about the Oriental who preached tonight?"
"We'd never seen him before tonight. None of us had even heard of him."
"Not that I doubt your word, ma'am, but you'd
better just sit here for a few minutes."
The soldier called in to report.
Michael looked at his watch and whispered softly to Randolph, "It's eleven fifty-five, standard time."
"How important is this message of yours?" asked Aidan. Michael just looked at her. "If you follow my lead we'll be able to get it off in time." She walked up to the lone soldier.
"You're just assigned to make sure we don't have any contact with the Oriental, right?" He nodded. "Now, do you really think that we'd drive out here in the dark alone just to get some spiritual counseling from an oriental preacher?"
The soldier grinned. "I didn't think you folks did that kind of thing."
"All we need is a little privacy. We won't take off on you. And we can report back here to keep you out of trouble."
"Will it be worth my while?"
Aidan grabbed and kissed him. "I've got two men already. No promises."
"You've got fifteen minutes."
"Thanks." They jumped in the cart and headed off the road.
"That wasn't exactly preserving your testimony back there, Aidan," said Randolph.
"I just happen to believe you two that this message of yours could mean the lives of some people that I love."
"Why?" asked Michael.
"Because eleven fifty-nine is Imperial time."
"We have his signal." Baron Tobiah announced without emotion.
"Transmission duration?" asked Alexander.
"One tenth second," returned Baron Tobiah. "They won't be able to pinpoint the source from that."
"They might not need to. They'll have a copy of the transmission," answered Alexander.
"Were we successful?" demanded Baron Tobiah.
Alexander measured his words carefully. "Prince Michael himself answered. He agreed to the plan. And we can reach him in an emergency."
"Is that how we gauge success?" roared Tobiah.
Alexander was trapped. "Our fleet has been told to assemble, but without a charismatic leader with the appearance of legitimacy, they will not act. Prince Michael will be on Earth two more weeks. We will know if we are successful at the end of that time."
"I don't like it," hissed Baron Tobiah.
"Alexander stood while the four barons remained seated. "I don't either."
Four
The convoy moved into the camp with a blaze of light and the roar of jeeps. Jonathan Edwards walked out to the lead jeep.
"Soldier, I'm the leader of this campground and I'd like to speak to your CO."
"Captain White, fourth jeep down."
"Thank you, soldier." He moved down. "Captain White, I'm Jonathan Edwards."
"I know. I was here two years ago. If we don't find this Oriental we have no case. And out here I'm sure that we won't find him. But we have to look around for awhile to prove that we did our duty. We'll probably be here half an hour. Tell your women to be modest because we'll be through the dorm in few minutes."
"Thank you, Captain."
He wasn't found.
"Aidan, that was quite an act of courage back there with that soldier," said Michael as he unhooked the wires from the cart.
"Rash." Aidan had her head on the steering wheel.
Michael sat beside her as he dismantled the transmitter. "Did you find out what you wanted to?"
Aidan's face was streaked with tears. Michael finished dismantling. He buried the transmitter deep in the earth.
"That thing's interplanetary, isn't it?" she asked. Randolph sat next to her while Michael worked. He nodded. "If those soldiers knew who you were, they wouldn't care about an Oriental anymore, would they?"
"Well, Aidan, things have happened a little fast