The Helavite War (17 page)

They all returned to the hospital after
dinner out and a trip to the Imaging Chamber, Arr's favorite
pastime. With the space so limited on the St. Mary, Arr roomed at
the hospital during his convalescence. Jake divided his time
between Margaret's and the cruiser.

Jake told Margaret, earlier in the day, that
he would make the break tonight. He was getting more restless each
day trying to put off parting from Arr. It would have to be
tonight. It would have to be final. Oh, maybe much later he could
make regular visits as Margaret suggested. But he knew at first it
would be too difficult for all of them if he kept dropping in and
out of their lives. He knew down deep too that each time he
returned he would want to take Arr with him when he left. No, it
was better to make a clean break put an end to this part of his
life and move on as he did after his father's death.

"I think I'll get some tea. You two want
anything?" Margaret made the excuse in order to leave the two alone
to talk. She was feeling shaky herself. After all, she was losing
Jake too.

"Coffee, please." Jake smiled
conspiringly.

Arr shook his head as he continued to rattle
on about the images they'd seen in the chamber. He didn't know it
at the time, but it was Jake's farewell gift. Jake gave the
operators instructions for some of the true wonders of the universe
to duplicate for the three of them. He paid the operators
handsomely and gave them enough gold to keep Arr in holographic
images for a lifetime. Margaret would tell him about the gift after
Jake left.

"I'm going up to the ship tonight, Arr,"
Jake said, when Arr took a breather from his dissertation on the
evening's show. He turned his back on the Henu doing his best to
maintain control. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Arr didn't understand the tone in Jake's
voice or his poor choice of words. "Margaret said today that I'm as
good as new. I'm ready when you are."

Jake set his jaw and turned to face a task
far worse for him then engaging any enemy. "You're not going." He
couldn't watch the kid's reaction. He dropped his eyes studying
some unseen speck on the floor.

Arr had always felt subordinate to Jake.
They were friends, but Jake was the one who knew everything. Jake
was the one who gave the orders. Arr obeyed, but he would not obey
this one.

"Do you intend to leave me here?" Arr asked
scornfully as he studied his companion.

"I've given it a lot of thought. It's for
the best." Jake still did not look up.

"No!" Arr sprung to his feet advancing on
Jake.

Jake hoped it wouldn't come to this. It was
going to be hard enough as it was without a fight too. Jake acted
as though he did not hear Arr. He continued with the speech he
rehearsed in his head over and over the past few days.

"I've left your share of the gold in a safe
deposit box at the Federation Bank in town. Here's the key." He
dangled a key on a long chain in front of Arr. When Arr made no
move to take it Jake tossed it on the bed. "You're pretty well set
for life. Margaret managed to get you accepted as a resident. She
found you a real nice place not far from here." Jake was trying to
get through the speech before Arr said more. He didn't make it.

"Don't leave me, Jake." Arr begged.

Jake looked into Arr's water rimmed eyes
like the first time he left him on the Henu planet. It all came
flooding back - all the memories.

Arr didn't understand. All of this was so
sudden. All he could think was he must have done something terribly
wrong. Maybe it was almost getting Kay-o killed, or maybe Jake
decided after all this time that he was too much trouble.

"I know I screwed up on Nulian, but I'll do
better. Please don't leave me Jake." Arr pleaded.

"You didn't screw up, Arr." Jake wanted to
put his hand on the kid's shoulder and comfort him, but he knew it
would only make it worse for them both. "I've just been thinking
you'll be safe here."

"I don't want to be safe! I want to be with
you," Arr protested.

This wasn't working. More than anything in
his life Jake wished he wasn't standing here right now. He was
going to have to get tough. The kid was used to taking orders. He'd
just make it final.

Margaret returned with the drinks on a tray.
As she sat down on the bench outside the door to Arr's room, she
could hear every word.

"Well, you can't come. I'm tired of
babysitting you. It's been five years and you can't even keep your
head down," Jake said, through clenched teeth.

"Please," Arr whispered, as tears rolled
down his face.

"And look at you!" Jake hurried on before he
lost his resolve. "Crying like a baby. You're a grown man, Arr. Act
like one. Don't come where you're not wanted!"

Jake's attack on him was more than Arr could
endure; he crumpled before Jake's eyes and ran from the room.

Jake collapsed on the edge of the bed, his
hands shaking. He ran his fingers through his rumpled hair then
leaned over and cradling his head in his hands.

Margaret came in, sitting down beside him.
She put her comforting arms around him. She felt his shoulders
shake as he let a deeply buried sob escape.

"Are you going to be all right? Maybe we
should talk about this some more. Maybe there's an alternative we
haven't explored." She couldn't bear to see him hurting like
this.

"No, doctor," Jake said, in a soft voice.
"It's best this way. Both patients will live. It will just take a
little more recovery time than anticipated." He took her hand at
his shoulder and kissed the palm. "I'd better go."

The Calpernia left less than an hour
later.

When Arr did not return to the hospital by the next
morning Margaret knew just where to look for him. She headed
straight for the Imaging Chamber.

Arr was there as she expected. He had the
operators duplicate his home planet. She recognized the image from
the night before with Jake and Arr.

"It's lovely here." She sat down by Arr at
the base of a tree overlooking the lake.

Arr did not reply. He sat staring into the
distance.

"He really loves you Arr." She put her hand
gently on his.

"Then why did he leave me?" Arr looked up at
her, tears rolling down both cheeks.

"He did what he thought was best."

Margaret stroked Arr's forehead as he lay on the
couch in the corner of her office at the lab. Jake left just over a
month ago. The change in the Henu was dramatic and frightening.

Arr was listless and non-communicative. He
didn't eat unless directly ordered. He slept very little and when
he did sleep it was restless. He often awoke startled, breathing
hard.

He never took to the quarters Margaret found
him. Instead, he stayed at the hospital or in the Imaging Chamber.
He started lying on the couch in her study almost all day long. She
found him in the chamber today in the middle of one of Jake's
surprise birthday parties that he had the operators conjure up from
a drive Jake left behind. He was just sitting staring at Jake's
image as it wandered from friend to friend making wise cracks and
taking playful jibs from his fellow mercenaries. Margaret begged
the Henu to come back to the lab with her. He obeyed
reluctantly.

She stroked his long hair. It was no longer
shiny. The red/gold luster had gone dull. It felt gummy to the
touch. His eyes stared out vacantly at some unseen image. She rose
from her position by Arr and went back to sit at her desk.

She had been trying to locate Jake for over
a week now. She was very afraid that the Henu would die if he did
not return. Jake however, seemed to have disappeared. Margaret was
desperate. She didn't know what to do. This was beyond her medical
capabilities.

She and Jake did what they thought was best
for Arr. They were so terribly wrong. Margaret could not have
anticipated this reaction. A human child left behind by its parents
might miss them, but given affection by another the child adjusted
and continued to grow. Arr's reaction to the loss of Jake was not
like a human child's. It was more like the reaction of an animal at
the loss of its master. No matter how much Margaret begged, pleaded
and tried to explain that Jake was not gone for good, Arr's
attitude did not change. If Jake did not want him he did not care
if he lived.

Margaret put her reading glasses back on to
study the patient's chart in front of her. Arr sighed deeply and
closed his eyes. She looked up from her work at him, removing her
glasses. She couldn't concentrate. She couldn't be responsible for
the death of a whole species. If Arr died it would be her fault.
She
had
to locate Jake.

For once, Jake didn't feel like fighting. He didn't
want to kill anyone except maybe himself. Every time he closed his
eyes he saw Arr's shock and pain at being told he was not wanted.
There were so many times in the last six weeks that he wanted to
turn the cruiser around and go back for the boy. But then he'd see
Arr as he was on Nulian after the burner blast and he'd regain his
resolve. He wished he hadn't needed to be so hard on him, but he
knew if he wasn't Arr would follow him. The kid had enough money in
that safe deposit box on the St. Mary to buy his own cruiser and he
just might have, if Jake hadn't made it final.

The kid would be all right. Margaret was a
good woman, one of the best. She'd take care of him. Jake was
confident Arr would live a long happy life.

Jake turned off the audio on his
communications system. He didn't want any interruptions. He and
Kay-o went to the Henu planet after leaving Arr. Jake spent restful
times there in the past. He thought it would be a good place to
gather his thoughts and decide what direction to pursue next. It
was not a wise choice. It was a place too full of memories. Kay-o
spent much of the time there searching for Arr. He was confused.
The dar-dolf thought for sure Arr must be somewhere close. He was
always within the sound of the beasts call for the past five years.
Kay-o called, but Arr never answered. After a week on the planet
Jake packed up and headed for Outpost #43.

The last five weeks, they had been drifting
from Outpost to Outpost. Jake heard about numerous job
opportunities. He passed on all of them. His heart just wasn't in
it.

Yesterday, Jake checked his sub-space
messages for the first time since leaving the St. Mary. The first
message was the annual call to his surprise birthday party. He shut
the system down again to consider. Half of him wished he could
ignore it. The other half thought it might lift his spirits. He
headed the cruiser toward Outpost #12.

"You did what?" Tim bellowed at the top of his
voice.

"I left Arr on the St. Mary," Jake said
shushing the big man, as he pulled him into an empty adjoining
room.

"How long ago?" Tim was more than a little
irritated.

"About seven weeks." Jake really didn't want
to talk about this. He came here to try to forget, not drag it all
up again.

"Why'd you do a fool thing like that?" Tim
was badgering him as the other guests were pouring their first
drinks and talking among themselves.

"I thought it was for the best Tim. He's the
only one of his kind. I almost got him killed on Nulian. He was
trying to save my life and got burned really bad." Jake took a swig
of the whiskey in his hand. For the first time in his life it left
a sour taste in his mouth.

"Arr told me you were taking too many
chances," Tim mumbled under his breath.

"When did he talk to you?" Jake asked in
surprise.

"About three months ago. He said you had a
fight with some doctor on the St. Mary. It made you careless. He
was worried about you. Did you see her again when you took Arr
back?" Tim asked in a caustic tone.

"She took care of him. She's going to work
with Arr. She thinks he's very special." Jake was feeling as though
Tim had his head on a block and was just waiting to whack it
off.

"So that's it. Is she the one who convinced
you to leave Arr behind?" Tim was raising his voice again. "What'd
she want to do, put him under her microscope and analyze him? I
can't believe you'd let some broad give you orders."

"It wasn't like that at all. Margaret is a
wonderful person," Jake came to Margaret's defense.

Tim calmed a bit, but it was not in him to
apologize. "Have you talked to Arr since you left?"

"No. I thought it would be easier on the kid
if I made a clean break of it." Jake hunched his shoulders and sank
into the depths of the closest chair.

"You got a lot to learn Jake." Tim eased
into the chair across from him. "You didn't see that kid when you
were in jail and on the penal planet, I did. You don't know how
attached he is to you."

"I've missed him too Tim, but I can't be
responsible for his death. I couldn't take that." Jake was looking
down in his whiskey glass.

"I think you should call Margaret. Just
check and see how he is." Tim reached across the distance that
separated them and patted Jake's hand soothingly. "Do it for me,
will ya?"

Jake contacted the St. Mary via sub-space
communication. Margaret sent an urgent return message; "Have been
trying to locate you for weeks. Arr needs you. Come quickly,
please!" Jake checked the sub-space messages he had been ignoring
since leaving the St. Mary as he raced back toward Arr and
Margaret. Every other one was from Margaret describing Arr's
deteriorating condition and begging him to return.

Jake entered the St. Mary's air space 96.30
hours later. He and Tim plotted the fastest route they could
find.