Free Fear and Aggression by Dane Bagley Page A

She seemed to genuinely appreciate his service rendered
to her this evening, and in times past; yet, she had shown, without
any intention at all, how meaningless Seryen’s hours were to her,
and how meaningful Roloff’s moments had been. Seryen felt no anger,
for no one had offended him, yet he felt bitterly disappointed with
himself, who he was, and where he was going. Perhaps a part of his
pain was the further realization that Roloff was returning to his
son to share what was left of a special day, and he was returning
to a home barren of children.
    “ Well, I suppose we won’t
have to worry about the electrical supply for now.”
    “ Yes, it does appear to be
solved. I’m truly sorry that I had to drag you out this
evening.”
    “ Don’t be. It was a
necessary step.” It stung Seryen to hear him say that, but he was
only too aware of that statements truth at that moment.
    “ So what made her change
so rapidly?”
    “ She’d already changed her
mind when we’d gotten there. But if I hadn't gone there this
evening, she may have just as easily changed her mind
back.”
    Yes, that was true. But there was more to it
than that. Roloff was being humble. It was not simply his position
that made the visit effective. It was his own inward power as well
that made her soften so quickly and completely. Now that Seryen
understood his own internal distress, he felt a bit relieved,
though not completely. They had reached the point in their journey
where Roloff was to return home one direction, and Seryen the
other. “Mayor, thank you once again.”
    “ Thank you, Seryen.
Goodnight.”
    The night had grown dark, and a little
cooler, though not uncomfortably so. But the moonlight was bright,
and the path clear as Roloff made his way home. He had spent the
day walking, and was perhaps a touch fatigued, but was not aware of
it at the moment. He was at peace with himself, and enjoying these
few moments of solitude. Though this excursion had taken away from
his valuable family time, it had not taken more than an hour.
Aspiria and Caryell had undoubtedly spent some nice time together.
He felt grateful to his wife and son for their understanding and
patience as he performed his civic duties. In the distance he could
begin to see the shadowy outline of the exterior of his home; the
front windows ablaze from the light within. Subconsciously he
quickened his pace towards home.
     

Chapter 12
     
     
     
     
     
    “ What’s Bob doing?” Kenny
asked Steve. Steve was staring straight ahead with a faraway look.
After a second or two a smile began to creep over his face and he
looked over towards Kenny about the same time that Kenny looked at
him. Steve shook his head slowly, and reached toward the console,
pressing a button.
    “ Merick, report on deck.”
Releasing the button both men chuckled lightly.
    With the mission underway for just a few
short days, the unofficial, unspoken, unwritten roles of each
crewmember were beginning to take shape. Bob brought a special
comic relief to the ship. It was neither overt, nor subtle, and it
seemed to flow naturally and effortlessly. His was not the
sharp-witted, dry, perfectly timed comment, surgically placed
within a group discussion or conversation—that was the domain of
Mike West, the engine specialist. Somehow the way Bob said and did
things was just funny. Rarely did it seem that he had meant to
evoke humor intentionally, yet when he brought a chuckle, smile,
giggle, or deep-bellied laugh, he would just smile brightly and
bask in the light-heartedness of the moment. It never felt like
anyone was laughing at him, it was always with him.
    “ Captain, do you need me
on deck right now?” came the reply over the intercom.
    “ Bob, we’re flying through
outer space at a pace faster than light can go in the third
dimension. We need our navigator on deck.”
    “ I’m sorry, I just got
hungry, and I was thinking about this casserole that Mom makes. So,
I was showing Danny how to make