Arkin was elated by the new information his friend Conner had provided. It was the final piece of a puzzle he'd been working on for many years. He couldn't wait to share his discovery with the General. He gathered up his research papers from his desk, and stepped out the door of his office. He strode rapidly down the hallway, stepped into the elevator, and pushed the button for the top level of the base, where the General's offices were located.

As he stepped out of the elevator, the General's secretary looked up at him in surprise.

Arkin addressed the secretary quickly, before he could speak.

"I know I don't have an appointment, but I've just made the most amazing discovery. The General must be informed immediately."

"You'd better not be wasting the General's time with another foolish notion, young man," replied the secretary. The secretary placed such a strong emphasis on the 'young' that Arkin felt like he was about 12 years old. He was momentarily unsure how he should react to this treatment.

"If I interrupted the General every time one of you research types came in to see him, he'd never get any work done," continued the secretary.

Now Arkin felt he was on more familiar ground. He'd grown accustomed to the military's disdain for the activities of the research department. Most of them seemed to think that only the pilots served any real function in Space. Researchers never got the respect they deserved. Unfortunately, if Arkin was going to see the General, he needed to get past the secretary. That was just how things were done.

Arkin, folding his hands in front of him, assumed his best chastised mischief-maker pose.

"I realize how difficult it must be for you to manage the General's schedule, him being such an important person and all. Everyone knows he'd be lost without you to keep order in his day. But if you could just see fit to squeeze me in for 15 minutes of the General's time, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to hear what I have to tell him."

As Arkin finished his request, the secretary sat up a little straighter and the expression on his face softened just slightly. That should do it, a dose of flattery to appeal to the military ego, followed by a hint that he was bearing good news. Everyone knew you had a much better chance of seeing the General if you had good news.

"Perhaps if the General finishes this session with his advisers early, I can let you have a few minutes. Wait here a moment." The secretary motioned to a nearby chair.

"Thank you very much. I'm sure the General will be very pleased to hear what I have to say."

Arkin was not happy about having to wait for the General's session to end, but he knew he was unlikely to get a better offer from the secretary. Even though Arkin was so excited by his discovery that he could hardly sit still, he sat down in the proffered chair, and considered himself fortunate.

A few minutes later, his patience was rewarded by the sight of the General's advisers leaving the conference room. The secretary noticed them as well, and picked up the interphone on his desk. After a brief conversation, he motioned to Arkin.

"Go on in. The General will see you now. You'd better make it quick though, he has another appointment in 10 minutes."

Arkin quickly gathered up his research documents and walked into the conference room. The General was seated at the end of a long table surrounded by several chairs. He was engaged in a conversation on his interphone, but as Arkin entered the room, the General motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs. That was a good sign. Arkin sat down in the nearest seat and waited for the General to finish his conversation. Finally, he put down the interphone and addressed Arkin.

"I don't know how you convinced my secretary that you needed to see me right away, but you're here now, so I might as well hear what you have to say."

Arkin knew he didn't have much time to convince the General of the importance of the results of his research, so he decided to get to the point as quickly as possible.

"Sir, I've discovered a way to predict the weaknesses of the Lumerian fighters. It seems there is a pattern that repeats itself every 256 cycles. I've been collating the data from the last 300 orbits worth of observations by the researchers and..."

"You mean all you've got for me is the result of a bunch of research!" The General interrupted him harshly. "You know I have better things to do than to waste my time with a bunch of figures and history lessons. I can't believe my secretary let you in here to bother me with such trivial matters. I'm confining you to your quarters for three days."

Arkin was nearly dumbfounded.

"But Sir," he managed. "If you'll just take a moment to hear me out, I'm sure you'll be impressed with the importance of this discovery."

"Important discoveries from research! Nonsense! Now get out of my office before I have you brought up on charges for disobeying orders."

Arkin picked up his papers and quickly left the room. He tried to keep his head up as he walked past the secretary, even though the secretary gave him a dirty look. He had just put down the interphone. Arkin imagined that the General had been admonishing his secretary about wasting his time with research.

The next day, despite being confined to quarters by the General, Arkin went to see his friend Conner. He just had to tell someone about what he'd discovered. Conner was the only person he could trust not to turn him in for violating his confinement. When Conner opened his door and saw Arkin standing there, he motioned for Arkin to come in quickly.

“Arkin, what did you say to the General? Everyone in my wing is talking about the researcher who insulted the General and got thrown out of his office. I'm taking a big chance just talking with you. Do you know, some are even saying you've been confined to quarters?"

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"Actually, I have been confined to quarters. But I've discovered something so important that I can't keep it to myself."

"I suppose it has something to do with that data I've been collecting for you?"

"Exactly! I've discovered a pattern in the weaknesses of the Lumerian fighters. I've been correlating your reports with some I found in the research archives describing battles that took place more than 300 orbits ago. It all started when I began reading about those battles. I discovered that as every new wave of Lumerian fighters appeared, there would always be a weakness that could be exploited to make them easy targets for our fighters."

"I was curious to see if that was still the case, so I asked you to start looking for special vulnerabilities in the current attack waves. As you know, you found several. What you don't know is that the weaknesses you reported exactly match those that were described in battles that took place exactly 256 cycles ago, and in each of these cycles, there have been exactly 256 attack waves."

Arkin could see that Conner was beginning to grasp the impact of what he was saying.

"You mean it's possible for us to know just how to most efficiently wipe out the Lumerians before they begin their attacks?" Conner asked.

"That 's exactly what I am saying. I can prove it too. Next time you go out on a mission, try approaching the Lumerian fighters head on, from above. I think you'll be surprised at the results."

"If what you're saying is true, Arkin, this could be the most important discovery in countless cycles! You've got to keep trying to get the General to believe you."

"I know, I know, but you know how he feels about us 'research' types. I can't get him to listen to me. I'm going to try again with one of his Lieutenants. But just in case it doesn't work out, I've made you a copy of the results of my research. I suggest you hide it in a safe place, but where you can get to it before each mission. That way you can have the benefit of advance knowledge about the Lumerian fighters without necessarily being associated with a rebel researcher. I wouldn't want you to suffer on my account."

"Thanks Arkin, I'll do just that." Conner took the documents Arkin offered him and disappeared into the next room for a moment. When he returned, he said, "I've put your research papers in my personal wall safe. You can be sure I'll make good use of them."

Just then, Arkin was startled by the a very loud siren. He jumped up in surprise, but Conner merely shook his head slightly and smiled at Arkin's reaction.

"Don't worry, Arkin. That's just the attack siren. You get used to it after a while. I've got to go. I'll let you know if you're right about this wave of Lumerian fighters."

Arkin followed Conner out the door into the hallway. He watched briefly as Conner ran down the hall toward the hangar where his fighter was no doubt already awaiting its pilot. Then he turned around and walked down the hallway in the other direction. With all the extra activity in the hallways, it would have been easy for Arkin to return to his quarters without being noticed, but instead he turned down the corridor leading to the Lieutenants' offices. As he approached their secretary, one of the Lieutenants stepped out of his office into the corridor.

"You there, aren't you that researcher the General confined to quarters yesterday!"

Arkin was so surprised to be recognized that he replied without thinking.

"Yes, sir. I am Arkin."

"You know the penalty for disobeying the General."

The lieutenant turned and addressed his secretary. "Call the MP's and have this man thrown in the brig immediately." Then he drew his personal firearm and aimed it at Arkin's chest.

"Stand where you are young man. It would be a pain to have to fill out all the paperwork that would be necessary if I had to discharge a firearm inside the base."

"But sir, if you'll just let me explain..."

"You had your chance with the General. If he wasn't impressed then I'm sure I won't be either. Besides, I have more important things to do than listen to a history lesson."

Arkin was really getting frustrated with this attitude of superiority he kept running into. He imagined for a second how good it would feel to strike out at the Lieutenant, but since the Lieutenant was pointing a weapon at his chest, he had no choice but to wait for the MP's to come and throw him in the brig.

After a sleepless night with a cold hard bench for a bed, Arkin awoke to the sound of his friend Conner's voice.

"Wake up, wake up Arkin. We've got to hurry."

Arkin looked up sleepily at first. After a moment he sat bolt upright on his bench. He had noticed the guard slumped over in a corner. Conner was holding his firearm in a way that made Arkin sure that he had just used it on the guard.

"What happened? Did you kill him?"

"No, don't worry. I used the setting for 'stun'. He'll have a nasty headache and a lot of explaining to do when he wakes up though. Come on, don't you recognize a jail break when you see one?"

Conner removed a small wristband from the guard's wrist and pushed a couple of buttons to disable the force field that kept Arkin from leaving the cell. Then he offered the firearm he'd just used to Arkin. When Arkin took the firearm, Conner moved to remove the belt he carried it in as well.

Although Arkin wasn't sure this was such a good idea, he accepted the belt Conner offered and fastened it around his waist. Conner's next words changed his mind.

"You've really gone and done it now, Arkin. They're planning to court martial you. And since you disobeyed the General's orders during a Lumerian attack, you might get the death penalty."

"But if you help me escape they'll court martial you too. I can't let you do this."

"Don't worry about me. You were right about the Lumerian fighters. When the Lumerians attacked my wing, I nailed six of them within 30 chrons. Everyone's talking about how I single handedly neutralized a phalanx of Lumerians before they even got off a single shot. I'm a big hero now. They might discipline me, but it will probably be just a slap on the wrist. They can't afford to lose their best fighter pilot for long. And besides, I hate to say it, but they'll probably be relieved not to have to deal with you anymore. They might think I did them all a favor."

Conner led Arkin past two more unconscious guards and out to the relative freedom of the base's main corridor. Arkin was still reeling from the shock of being broken out of the brig when Conner revealed yet another surprise.

"Hurry up. I've got my fighter all fueled up and ready to go. You can't possibly hide out on the base. They'd find you eventually. You have to leave, and it has to be in such a way that they know you're gone, and they won't spend much time looking for you."

Arkin had never been in a fighter before, he wondered how Conner was going to teach him to fly it before the guards woke up and sounded the alarm.

Conner continued, "I've pre-programmed it so you'll just be a passenger. Just sit back and enjoy the ride!"

Now Arkin was even more worried. Did Conner really expect him to go along with this crazy scheme? On the other hand, crazy as it was, it sounded better than the death penalty.

Conner was busy punching in the code to gain access to the hangar where the fighters were located. Apparently he really was serious about this.

Arkin followed his friend through the airlock. Conner led him off to the right to a short line of fighters. He walked up to a small fighter on the far end, and motioned for Arkin to climb into the cockpit.

"I've set up the smallest one for you. It's also the fastest. They won't be able to catch you."

Arkin climbed into the cockpit of the fighter and strapped himself in. As the cockpit canopy began to seal, he had a sudden thought. He quickly leaned out of the cockpit to ask his friend, "Just where are you sending me then?"

He just had time to make out his friend's response as the cockpit canopy continued to close and forced him to pull his head back in.

"I'm sending you to Gray Space. Where else?"