Thurgood-Smythe looked Jan fully in the eyes as he spoke.
“My dear brother-in-law, telling you anything now would be a complete waste of time. You would not believe me whatever I said. So you will just have to make your mind up on your own for I shan’t help you.”
He turned about when he had finished speaking, walked slowly away and drew out a chair and seated himself. Jan willed himself to fire. But he could not. Whatever Thurgood-Smythe had done, whatever his reasons had been, he had aided them in the end. The liberation of Earth would not have been possible without his help. With sudden insight Jan realized that the victory might have been won in another manner without Thurgood-Smythe’s help; but once he had become involved the responsibility had shifted to him. All choice had been removed. Jan actually smiled as he engaged the safety with his thumb and let the gun slide to the floor.
“All right, Smitty; this round to you. You are free to go For now. Run for office, do whatever you like. But don’t forget that I am watching. Revert to your bad old ways…”
“I know. You will come and find me and kill me. I don’t doubt that for a second. So we will just have to let the future take care of itself, won’t we?”
Suddenly Jan wanted to get out into the fresh air, to be free of this man, of the very room he was in, to forget him and the past and to look forward to the future. He was not stopped as he turned about and left. He stood outside, drawing in breath after deep breath, wondering at the emotions that tore at him. Someone was next to him; he turned and saw that it was Dvora. Without thought his arms were about her, holding her very tight.
“I am going to forget him,” Jan said in a fierce whisper. “I’m going to put him from my mind and go home to Halvmork, to my wife, to my people there. There’s work to be done.”
“And here as well,” she said. “And I’ll go back to my husband…”
“You never told me,” he said, surprised, holding her at arm’s length.
“You never asked.” She was smiling, brushing the hair out of her eyes, smearing even more her beautiful but battle-stained face. “I told you that, remember? That between us, it was only chemistry. He’s a rabbi, very devout and serious, but a very good pilot as well. He flew one of the planes here. I was very worried about him. The condition of the world has kept us apart too long. Now it is going to draw us together.”
Jan found himself laughing, for no reason at all, laughing until tears rolled down his face. He hugged Dvora to him then released her for the last time.
“You’re right. It’s over and we have to believe that it is over. And we have to work to see that it comes out right for everyone.” He looked up into the smoke-filled sky with sudden realization.
“And I’m coming back to Earth. I don’t think Alzbeta will like it at first, but she will get used to it in the end. Earth is going to be the center of the worlds as it always has been. I can do the most for Halvmork and its people by being right here…”
“You can do the most for everyone. You know Earth and you know the planets and you know what people must have.”
“Freedom. They have that now. But it might be even harder to hold than it was to get.”
“It always has been,” she said. “Read your textbooks. Most revolutions are lost after they have been won.”
“Then let us make sure that this one stays won.” He looked up at the sky again. “I wish it were night now. I would like to see the stars.”
“They are out there. Mankind has gone out to them once and did not do very well. We have a second chance now. Let us see if we can do better this time.”
“We had better,” Jan said, thinking of the power they had, the weaponry and the infinite ways of dealing death and absolute destruction.
“We must. I doubt if we will have a third chance if we don’t get it right this time.”