The Lack of Bravery That Saved the World

Lunch the Day Before

Dev worked and lived at one of the highest points in the ship because he was assigned to care for the birds. They needed some room to fly around and so he was given a very large open space, not as big as the elephant enclosure but much higher.

Dev had packed his lunch but he had to eat in the kitchen standing at the counter because the birds knew that he had food and would harass him until he shared with them. It was just easier to eat in the kitchen, alone.
He was 42 years old and unmarried. People thought that he was odd but harmless. He was very small and thin. He wore very large glasses that were not even the correct prescription anymore so the glasses caused him to blink a lot. He rarely worried about his hair or clothing. The birds didn't care what he looked like.

He never told anyone what he had seen. He lived in fear all the time. While the murderer had been caught and sentenced to live on the very bottom level, he still had friends that Dev would see all the time. Dev was just as afraid of his friends. He suspected that they knew he had seen what happened. When any of them passed him, they would purposely bump into him and stare him down. It was only a matter of time before he found himself in a hall or room alone with them.

While he stood in the kitchen, his mind drifted automatically back to that terrible day. Murders still happened on the ship, it wasn't unheard of. He had just never witnessed it. Dev had been walking back from the Gardening and Cultivation Center ten years ago, where Peyco would give him plant slips for his garden.

He heard the argument before he saw the men. Cooper was already laying on the ground and three men were standing over him. One man had a gun aimed at Cooper's head. Cooper was dragging his right leg, he was already injured badly. He didn't want to watch what happened next but was afraid that any movement may draw their attention towards him. The worst moment was when Cooper was begging the men not to kill him, he had turned and seen Dev standing at the end of the hallway. Cooper didn't call out to Dev, instead he crawled towards the far end of the hall, away from Dev. This caused the three men to turn their backs and Dev was able to retrace his steps and leave. Cooper knew that the men would kill Dev, too. As Dev turned the corner he heard the gunshot.

He knew Cooper worked on the Water Purification System and that he was married to the only female member of the Presidential Committee. That was about it. Except that he knew that Cooper's last act had been to save Dev's life.

Dev's guilt over not speaking up or trying to help Cooper was crippling. Dev avoided people. He had no real friends. People thought of him as a hermit. He made it clear that he preferred the company of his birds over people. He suffered from nightmares regularly.

Because Dev never spoke up, two of the three men were never prosecuted for the murder and still lived in the upper levels with everyone else. His fear was constant and kept him confined to his rooms that he shared with his birds.
He finished lunch and threw away his trash. Time to start on afternoon chores. He still had to go to the Autrey Repository for bird food. It took several kinds to feed the different breeds.

He always planned trips out as late as possible. There were less people out and he could get what he needed and make it home with less hassle.