3/17/2010

#24 Thoughts of Mr. Wo

As their module traversed the perimeter tunnel Kenom felt a bit uneasy about the silence of his guest Master Wo, he could tell that Master Wo was thinking, but of what he had no idea. Kenom tried again to engage him in conversation. "Were you the only passenger?" he said, "I noticed that you were alone when I boarded the space craft." Kenom thought, "How stupid of me to say that, any one could tell he was the only one on board." Wo smiled and said, "The others went off to eat and be entertained by the Flectons at their VIP room. I preferred to wait on the craft." "I see," said Kenom," .. that was probably a good choice...the Fleckton's idea of entertainment is watching the Universal-vision." Wo smiled and nodded, "Yes, I know." he said.

The module ride was slow, and Kenom felt a sense of serene peacefulness as they rode silently along the perimeter tunnel. "Have you ever been to Ob before Master Wo?" "Yes, once." was his reply. "Really," said Kenom, "when was that?" "Long ago." said Wo. "That's nice." said Kenom. Kenom thought to himself, that's nice, what kind of answer was that. I must sound like a low LEBer.

After about a half an hour-mark, they pulled into the platform at the Mini-dome. "We'll this it," said Kenom. "I hope you will find my dome to your liking." Wo smiled, "It will be an honor to stay with you, Patrolman Kenom." Enew was waiting on the module platform "Master Wo, may I present my duty partner, and good friend, Patrolman Enew, we share this dome together." "How do you do Master Wo." said Enew. "It is a pleasure to meet you Enew", said Wo, "to be a good friend of someone is a noble thing to be." Enew looked over at Kenom, a bit surprised, and answered, rather proudly, "Thank you Master Wo,...please come this way, I have your room ready." Kenom turned to Enew and said, "Thank you Enew for having things ready." When they got to Master Wo's room, Kenom said, "We have a good view of Ob from our forward portal, if you would like I can..." "Thank you, but I will be fine here," said Master Wo. "Well, if you change your mind, Enew and I will be out in the main electro-room." Master Wo, just nodded. As Kenom was leaving, he turned to Wo and said, "We also have some very fine books I brought from Zimmnil ...If you think you might be interested..." his voice trailed off as he could see he was only going to get a nod from Wo, which he did.

Kenom and Enew sat in the main electro-room and said nothing, even though their brains were full of thoughts and questions about their guest. They just couldn't manage to put their thoughts into words. They both felt a "presence" in their dome, but somehow they knew that words alone could not express their feelings. Like Master Wo, they just sat and said nothing. They could see light coming from under the door of Master Wo's room, and could hear the faint sound of soft music being played on a flute. They would glance over from time to time, but made no comment to each other. The night was spent in such a way.

The next morning Kenom was energized and his brain was racing. He had many questions to ask his guest. He couldn't wait to see him again, so he went to Master Wo's room. Master Wo was sitting cross legged on a mat under a large organic plant, that was part of the organic life support package. Beside him was a small instrument. "Is everything to your liking Master Wo?" asked Kenom. "Yes," said Wo, "it is more than adequate." "Good," said Kenom, "if you need anything else please let me know and I will get it for you." “That won't be necessary, I need very little." was his reply.

Kenom again felt a little awkward in the presents of Master Wo. After a few moments of silence Kenom finally asked Master Wo. "Master Wo," he said, "I have a feeling that you would not have come out here if you didn’t suspect that I had the authority to force you to come.” Master Wo smiled, and then said, "That is true. I suspect you have Priority orders on your person., am I right?“ Kenom was surprised by what he heard. "But how did you guess?“ he asked" You walk with the authority of a priority Patrolman," said Wo, "yet you do not act with the authority of a priority Patrolman. That is the sign of an honorable man. I appreciate honorable men." Kenom did not know how to respond. He knew one thing however; he knew that he was in the presence of an extraordinary man.

Somehow Kenom felt that nothing could be kept from Master Wo. No lie, no matter how small, would escape Master Wo's perceptive eyes. With a little guilt, Kenom said, "I must confess that I was not completely candid yesterday when I first talked to you, I should have also told you that Central Command was concerned that your presence here might cause some problems of a religious nature. The Flectons are, for the most part, God believers, and as we now have a small contingent of Plutons, with their Godforce beliefs, stationed in the Central Dome, they felt....." Master Wo interrupted and said, "I understand." More silence. Kenom felt relieved that he had been completely honest with Master Wo. Not doing so had made him uncomfortable. Now that he told Master Wo the real reason he was there, he was content to let Master Wo spend the rest of his time alone, if that is what he preferred. As Kenom turned to leave, Master Wo said, "And you? Which of the two do you believe in?" Kenom paused, turned to master Wo, looked him in the eye, and said, "Neither."

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