Old Green World by Walter Basho Page A

know, I know. We all do,” Aengus said. “It’s going to be all right. We’re doing a good thing. We’ll tell our children about these days. They’ll be proud of us.”
    They talked for a while and grew more quiet. Finally, the two of them emerged from the tent. The soldier looked at Albert sheepishly. Albert tried to smile at her. His smile didn’t feel comforting.
    “They’re all homesick,” Aengus said later. “It’s not just me.”
    “Of course not,” Albert replied. “It’s all right to be homesick. We’ve all been taken away from our homes, after all.”
    “I feel better not to be alone. Is it bad that I feel that?”
    Albert smiled. “No, not at all.”
    “Maybe I’ll talk to more people. We could use some cheer around this place. It’s Midsummer’s Night tonight—did you even know?”
    Albert let out a short laugh. “I hadn’t realized, but it is, isn’t it?”
    “No one realized! I guess it’s my job to tell everyone,” Aengus said. He stood, stretched out, scratched at his chest, smiled. He started to head out of the tent, but then stopped and looked at Albert. “Is that all right? Did you need me to do anything?”
    Albert wanted him to stay. He could see a glimmer of the old Aengus, and he wanted that all for himself. But now he was the problem. Most of the soldiers on the beach arrived after Albert took command. They didn’t know that he had been just another soldier. They treated him with deference and distance. He was a commander now. He could feel himself drifting away. He wanted Aengus back, but he couldn’t be Albert for him anymore.
    “Go meet people. Help them out. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
    + + +
    Albert spent a lot of time alone. He pored over maps and read a physics book Richard had made him. Richard had chosen a book for people who weren’t very smart at physics, though he had put it much more politely. Albert was glad it was a simple book, though. It told a story of the smallest parts of the universe and how they work. The story said that the smallest things, seen up close, were completely unpredictable and chaotic. Somehow, though, all that chaos resolved by the time everything got bigger, so that our world could be predictable, with things like gravity and velocity and physical matter. It made little sense to Albert, even said simply. He decided to just take it at face value.
    He wrote Thomas letters, as well. Richard promised to see them delivered.
    “I don’t want to ruin his wedding or anything,” he said to Richard.
    “I know you don’t, dear. It’s good for you both to stay in touch.”
    “You keep saying that, and Lady Newton said it, too. We can’t be together, but we should stay in touch, and we’ll always be ‘great friends.’ As if that means something.”
    “This war won’t last forever,” Richard said. “It may not last more than a few months. You’ll go back to the Islands and tend to your farm. It’s natural that you and Thomas will see each other. As long as it’s a private affair, and doesn’t interfere with his marriage, it seems like that’s in everyone’s best interest.
    “Civilization isn’t just about laws, Albert. It’s about the mutual happiness of the civilized. You and Thomas will do what you need to feel happy, and that’s fine.”
    Albert had come to believe that Richard never intended to make him feel common or unworthy. That made these moments worse.
    + + +
    Dear Thomas,
    Everything is fine here, and we are safe right now. We are still on the beach of Terra Baixa. I saw you at the Abyss before we left. You looked like you were already mayor. I was proud of you. Did you meet Richard, the Old Person? He and I are friends. He has given me a physics book, and I am learning about quantum physics.
    I am tired of this already, and I want to be a good citizen and farmer when I get home. I hope we come home soon. I miss you.
    Albert

    He went to bed early. Aengus came in several hours later, unsteady on his