If I succeed in what I have in mind and we do
have a rebellion, never again will the system we now live under have a
chance to be. For I shall form a Republic, like The Hashons had, and
several of The Dead Worlds. No longer will we live under the tyrannical
rule of one family. That is all I have to say for now."
23 For several moments there was silence. North had expected many to
rise and leave but suddenly the silence was broken by applause and one
by one those in The Cause rose, came forward, saluted North, and
pledged their loyalty. It had gone so well North was in a state of
disbelief. "They really liked it?" he kept saying to his friend, "They
really liked what I said?"
24 "Yes," assured Gray Mountain, "you dared speak what many of us
feared to. You put our desires into words."
25 So it was, the beginning was made. North and Gray formed their
organization in groups of five, all messages were passed through a
secret code. they were first given to the group leaders, then passed on
to their members. The code was different for each person, and stored in
the group leader's personal computer, so if a message was intercepted
it could not be understood. Communicating in codes was not uncommon
among the Haven people, and would not even be questioned.
26 A few days after that first meeting, North again took out the tape
his father's former officer had given him. It began with his father's
first decoration from The Hashon War. North read it proudly, then
scanned the crew lists that followed. They were all ships his father
had rescued.
27 North checked each list carefully, finding out where each person was
at the present time and what they did. He found the lists were current.
The names crossed out were not only those that had died in the battle,
but those who had died afterwards.
28 North spent the next few weeks calling or visiting those on the
lists. Two really interested him; Commander