36.
system we now live under have a chance to evolve, for I shall form a Republic such as that the Hashons had, and several of The Dead Worlds. No longer will we live under the tyrannical rule of one family!"
When North was finished, there was silence for a moment. He had expected many of those there to rise and leave, but suddenly the silence was broken by applause. One by one, those in the Cause rose, and came forward, saluting him and pledging their loyalty. It had gone so well, that when North and Grey Mountain left, North was still in a state of disbelief!
"They really liked it?" he kept saying to his friend, "They really liked what I said?"
"Yes," assured Grey Mountain. "You dared speak what many of us feared to. You put into words our desires."
So it was, the beginning was made. North and Grey Mountain formed their organization in groups of five, and all messages were passed through a secret code. First it was given to the group leaders and from them, to their members. This code was different for each person, and stored in the group leader's personal computers, so that if any message was ever intercepted, no one could decode it. Such was not uncommon among the Haven people, and would not be questioned.
A few days later, after the meeting, North again took out the message tape given him by his father's former officer. It began with his father's first decoration from The Hashon War, which read,
"Ship's Commander Bold Star is hereby awarded The Star Of Valor and promoted to the rank of Wing Commander for his actions during and following The First battle Of Hades, in which with great gallantry, he faced the enemy and brought his badly damaged ship to rendezvous with the survivors of The Fleet. Then, commandeering another ship from an officer no longer capable of carrying out his command, he proceeded to again and again go into enemy space, and rescue fourteen disabled ships and account for five more. During this time, he came under fire four times, and again had to change ships to continue his rescue efforts. Only after five grueling days was Commander Star forced to give up his efforts, when The Fleet withdrew to Colony Four. Wing Commander Star is assigned to the Tenth Squadron under General Grey Star."
So read the first of North's father's seven decorations from the war, and after he'd read it, North turned his attention to the crew lists that followed. He checked each one carefully, finding out where they all were at the present time, and what they did. He found that the lists were current. The crossed out names represented not only those that had died in battle, but also those that had died afterwards. The next few days he spent either calling or visiting those on the list. Two really interested him: Commander North Wind, instructor at The Academy, and Guard Officer Blue Stone, communications officer for Guard Central in his city.
A few days later, North was sitting in North Wind's home talking