ome and abroad, had withdrawn from Irish New
Belfast, and left it to its original keepers.

What troubled him now was that men on both sides would be killed, to
settle a dispute which every day became more academic. The Alliance
had been beaten, and yet their pride would not let them surrender
without a fight, what had never been theirs. The Coalition was
vindicated, but still bitter at its wounds, remained set upon claiming
the debt in full. He found both motives equally abhorrent, and had
retained enough humanity not to think of himself as East German first,
last and always. The words 'us' and 'them' still left an aftertaste.

His one consolation, and it was not a substantial one, was that he
himself would play no part in it. His supposed aptitude for (and
curiosity about) the ways of war had been more than quenched. If it
were humanly possible, he intended to resign from the military
immediately after his hearing, and never fight again. His earlier
revulsion to bloodshed had returned, redoubled in strength by
experience.

It was not easy to put such a past behind him, and the images of
victims and violence that had burned indelibly into his memory, still
troubled his thoughts of the future. And as he watched his son
continue to grow, his one prayer was that Man would finally, finally
come to his senses, and have done forever with cooperative mass-murder.

That it was normal for a father to want to spare his son from the pain
he himself had experienced, he knew. That in some respects it was
impossible, and wrong to try, he also realized. But THIS pain, this
Hell, he wished with every ounce of his being could be spared from all
the children of men from now until the end of time. His one regret was
that there wasn't more he could do to work in that direction. He was
no politician, could not even take them seriously.....

"Enemy ships approaching, Colonel. Ninety-six vessels, mostly
fighters, fighter-bombers and destroyers, clustered about four light
cruisers."

These words, and the ensuing battle-tension on the faces around him,
brought him sharply back reality. He moved to stand before the wide
sweep of glass and look out at the sea of Space before him. He studied
the relatively small force approaching their own, nearly three times as
strong.

And beyond them, he saw with love and sudden longing the rose and aqua
hues of Athena. His home. And beyond all, the white, crystalline
stars: perfect,