Stealth of the Ninja by Roy Philip;

Author:Roy, Philip;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ronsdale Press

Chapter Sixteen

I didn’t think I was hearing clearly. “I don’t understand. Are you saying I shouldn’t go back there and try to save him?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“But … he’s a wonderful old man. And he’s in great shape. I don’t get it.” I was really upset.

“Al. Let’s say he really is a hundred years old, and let’s say he is in incredible shape, as you say he is. I have no doubt that is true. Even so, it would be highly unlikely that he’d make it to a hundred and ten, in the best of circumstances.”

“But—”

“People just don’t live that long, Al. There might be a handful of people on the Earth who have lived that long.”

“So?”

“You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. He has lived his life. The risks you are considering taking are simply too great. Chances are that neither of you would come out of it alive; that’s simply a risk I cannot let you take. It’s not right, Al. It’s not fair. It would be different if he were a lot younger, you know? Even then it’s debatable whether the risk would be worth it; it seems like a pretty slim shot to me. And you’d be throwing your life away in the remote hope of saving someone who has already lived more than most people ever dream of living, and who in the very best scenario might live a few more years, that is, if he is still alive. You must consider that all you might find is a floating corpse. It’s just not a fair trade, Al.”

“But …” I didn’t like what I was hearing. Even more, I didn’t like that it was Ziegfried who was saying it. I was struggling not to feel betrayed. In my mind’s eye I saw Sensei sitting inside the hull, in the dark, breathing less than a human normally needs to breathe because he has slowed his pulse and is saving his energy. He’s conserving it all in an act to survive. And there is only one possible hope that he will survive: if I go back.

“Al …? Al …?”

“Yes?”

“Let me ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“What would you think if you saw two other people caught in this situation: an old man in the very final years of his life, and a young man full of purpose, with his whole life ahead of him? What would you advise, knowing that chances were the young man would not come out of it—that neither the young man nor the old man would come out of it. What would you advise: to let both perish, or to save the one you knew you could save?”

I tried to think about it. That seemed different to me. My mind was beginning to understand what Ziegfried was saying, but my heart wouldn’t accept it.

“What would you advise, Al?”

Now it was my turn to pause for a long time before answering.

“I don’t know.”

“Al?”

“Yes?”

“You and I have an agreement.”

Oh, no! I knew what he was going to say.

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