2318

TWO

Devan sat on the balcony of the council building and watched as the lights of the cities flickered. It was so beautiful, and once in a while, a plane or two could be seen in the skies. Beyond the city boundaries, there were merely a few lights before the landscape became dark.

Devan sighed. He had been tasked with an impossible mission, to prevent the Aksillet Empire, a galactic superpower from invading their tiny planet which could be infiltrated easily by an empire that powerful.

Devan relaxed. He leaned his back on the frosted glass windows and felt the cold air blowing across his face. It was cold at such high spots outside, but the cold air was comforting to him and he could finally relax and listen to the whistling of the wind. The last time he felt such a comforting sensation was more than three decades ago, on a day which date he could not remember, but it was the same cool breeze.

Devan remembered it well, he was lying on the sand, staring into the night sky. He wanted to close his eyes and let his soul escape from the inhumane world and let him be free once again, and if Ell did not find him in the desert, he -- or both of them -- would not have the determination to continue to survive. That night, only the stars guided them, and sometimes they asked the stars for directions. It all seemed impossible at the time how humans on Earth could rebuild their planet and live to see the next sunrise of civilization, but they did it, better.

"Devan," Someone spoke and the door to the hotel opened behind him.

"Ell, how did you know I am here?" Devan recognized her voice, as Ell shut to door lightly and sat beside him.

"You usually like quiet places to spend the night, you haven't changed for years," Ell replied, "But what's your plan for the war?"

"To be honest... I don't know. You can see that I'm not the kind of a battle strategist. Either way, we would lose the battle, unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless we have help. The forces on Earth can serve as a deterrent, however, to truly win the war we need help. The countries in the Southern Galaxy has set up an alliance, and I'm sure help would come."

"There is always risk which path we take," Devan sat up straight, "But I think I might have a plan..."

~

The people were silent.

The hall was brightly lit, but there was a feeling of dread in the hall. A circle of almost a hundred people sat around a circular wooden table, flipping through papers nervously, and some stared into thin air. No one spoke, but after what seemed like an eternity of silence, a man finally spoke, "We should help Earth. We should help our cause, to do good and bring peace to the planet. We must help them."

"But the Aksillet Empire is powerful!" Another man rebutted, "We can't enter the war, not just yet, or we would be burdened with the number of casualties."

"Sacrifices would have to be made, no matter how strong a country is," Came the reply, "It would come with a price, but don't you remember why we created this union in the first place? It is for peace, and if we do not help our fellow nations to survive and live in peace, I do not see the usefulness of this union. We all know that it will be a bet. A huge bet... but it would all be worth it if we tried at least."

"Mister Evanson," A woman in a red coat addressed him, "We all know what you mean, but--"

"Please. We must face it. Every nation that the Aksillet Empire consumes would result in their power getting too strong until their power would not be challenged by us, and..." Evanson's voice trailed away, and he found himself nervously tapping on the table and stopped immediately. The hall was still silent, and no one seemed to be volunteering to place their bet on helping Earth. Hearing nothing from anyone, he continued, "Two centuries earlier, we, as nine countries on Earth seeking peace left the Earth which was in a state of turmoil, merely a decade before the start of the war on Earth that destroyed the civilization there. But now we seemed to have forgotten our roots and why we came here."