George couldn't help but fall silent at the last statement. Khan wasn't only right. His words went beyond the inevitable struggle that was waiting for them to obtain a deeper meaning. He successfully gave a reason for the pain that they had suffered on Istrone.
Khan didn't really believe in his words. He agreed with them, and he knew that they were sound, but his intentions lay elsewhere. He only wanted to help George through his struggle. As for his pain, the deep meaning mentioned before didn't even cross his mind. After all, his traumas were older than Istrone.
The two boys remained in silence for a few minutes before they resumed chitchatting about superficial topics. George ended up describing his situation with Natalie, and Khan limited himself to be a good listener.
Life appeared easier when the problems only involved girls. Everything was nothing more than a game when the political agenda of the Global Army didn't affect their youth.
Khan ended up liking that conversation a lot. He didn't expect that talking about something so superficial would remind him of something he had lost after Martha fell in a coma. It felt good to have real friends again.
"Are you really remaining silent about Veronica?" George asked. "I just told you everything about Natalie, but you keep acting all wise and experienced."
"What's there to say about Veronica?" Khan sighed. "Humanity's hope to move the relationship with the Niqols forward lies on my shoulders. How can I even bother such a young girl with my problems?"
"She is one year older than you," George commented.
"Mental age," Khan corrected himself.
"I'm pretty sure she is older than you outside of a battlefield," George replied. "You earn a draw just because you are good at fighting."
"She is ugly!" Khan announced.
"She is one of the hottest girls in our camp," George contradicted him, "And she trains a lot. I bet her body is nice."
"See?" Khan proposed. "You should hit on her."
"But I like Natalie!" George promptly shouted. "Why are you so against getting a girlfriend? Does it have something to do with your friend in a coma?
George had started to worry that his words could reopen some of Khan's old wounds. After all, he knew about Martha. Khan might not feel ready to move on.
"No, I just don't know Veronica enough," Khan vaguely answered. "I talked with her only a few times. I can't say if I like her."
"Maybe you should stop flying away with your Aduns every day," George snorted. "At least you have a chance to get something done."
"Don't grow all depressed on me now," Khan ordered. "I had to listen to your screams for thirty minutes just to lift your morale."
"I didn't scream for so long," George complained before correcting himself. "I don't scream at all."
"Sure, sure," Khan laughed. "What do you even mean with getting something done anyway?"
George frowned before making a circle with his right hand and inserting his free forefinger inside it.
"We aren't even eighteen," Khan scoffed. "Girls will never allow us to get that far. Also, my father always said that unprotected sex is bad. Where would you even find condoms on Nitis?"
Khan's pretense was perfect, but he didn't forget to mask his questions with confident exclamations that would make everyone desire to correct them. He didn't feel good about lying to George, but Liiza had the priority in his mind, and the boy would understand if he knew about his secret relationship.
"You shouldn't underestimate the women in the army," George explained. "They literally learn to kill. They are pushier than you imagine."
"You sound as if you have experienced that first-hand," Khan argued in a curious tone.
"Not to brag," George announced while giving voice to short laughs, "But I was fairly popular in my training camp. Also, your father is right, but every medical bay has condoms. You only have to ask the nurses. They don't take note of who requests them since every family prefers to remain unaware of what their descendants do in that field."
The issue that had afflicted Khan for so long ended up being a minor problem. He didn't know how to feel about that revelation. All his plans and paranoia vanished when he understood how easy it was to get condoms in the Global Army.
The atmosphere among the two boys grew grimmer after George's lines. Neither of them had mentioned that. Still, they knew why George had used the past tense when talking about his popularity in the training camp. That status belonged to the time before Istrone when most recruits in the first year were still alive.
A bit of awkwardness also appeared between them since neither wanted to switch the topic so suddenly. Still, familiar cries soon resounded in the distance and saved the two boys from themselves.
Snow had fallen asleep while Khan and George conversed, but the arrival of Doku's Aduns awakened it. The black creature landed on the ground near the two boys, and the group of Ugu soon gathered around them.
Everything moved rather quickly. Doku jumped off his Aduns and explained how the recruits had to approach the test. He also gave many details that Liiza didn't mention back then, and Khan made sure to take note of them to tease his girlfriend when he met her again.
The mountain with the Niqols' nest had a path similar to what Khan had to climb. The passage circled the structure and led toward its higher parts. Its initial portion was large enough to accommodate multiple recruits. Still, Doku stressed multiple times how sending only one human every half an hour would drastically improve the chances of getting Aduns.
George went on the path before the other recruits, and others followed once enough time passed. Paul also had to approach the test to get his Aduns, but he decided to be the last in the line.
A single day usually wouldn't be enough to test both classes, but the Niqols had chosen a mountain with a closer nest on purpose, and Paul ended up sending more than a single recruit every half an hour on the passage. His decision didn't come from his disrespect toward Doku's warning. Spots simply opened whenever one of the kids gave up and climbed down the path.
Khan didn't need to do much. The Ugu had provisions, and Doku had already explained the most important stuff. He could meditate and approach his mental exercises while Snow slept or ate. Only occasional questions flew toward him, but Doku often took care of answering them before he could interrupt his training.
Hours continued to pass in that cold environment. Paul grew anxious since he had yet to see recruits successfully taming Aduns, but Doku reassured him. The nest was a six hour climb from the mountain's base, and that math didn't involve the difficulties that the eagles created on the path.
Doku's words didn't manage to reassure Paul since recruits continued to give up on the test. Most of them descended from the path with large cuts on their back, hands, legs, and heads. They didn't have Khan's desperate determination to get an Aduns, so they didn't dare to continue the climb after suffering relatively severe injuries.
That approach didn't please Paul. The recruits on Nitis had to be among the best recruits in the entire Global Army, and that lack of determination hinted at evident flaws in their character. Still, he couldn't say anything since getting an Aduns wasn't mandatory for now.
Clear joy eventually appeared in Paul's eyes when a dark figure descended from the sky and performed a messy landing on the grey snow. An Aduns with an evident belly and completely black feathers unfolded in everyone's vision, and the group could see that George was riding the creature.
Paul couldn't help but shoot a glance toward Khan at that sight. He still didn't like that George had exploded in that disrespectful speech, but the boy's value was undeniable. His body even featured more injuries of the recruits that had descended from the mountain. His power and determination were perfect for the imminent crisis.
Other flying figures descended from the mountain in the next hours. Harris, Natalie, Veronica, and other recruits from both classes landed on the ground and showed their Aduns. Each eagle had a personal shade and unique characters, but Paul didn't even notice them. He only cared that the humans were achieving some success in that task.
Khan used that chance to send Snow away. The eagle had been with him for almost half a day already by then, so it required some free time to hunt and enjoy itself. Also, Khan wanted it to talk with Liiza's Aduns and learn about the new meeting spot.
Doku continued to give explanations and details to the recruits who had successfully tamed the Aduns. He taught them how to establish mental connections and gave tips on how to take care of them.
"I thought you would have shown us how to fly," George announced while controlling his Aduns to walk toward Khan.
"You should focus on yourself for now," Khan laughed as lies came out of his mouth. "Snow was too bored to stay."
"You can't escape anymore now," George announced while patting his Aduns. "You won't be able to avoid your social life."
"Is that a challenge?" Khan laughed again, and George showed a smile before his Aduns shot in the sky, and the other creatures in the area followed it.
Khan wore a complicated smile when he saw those figures disappearing in the dark sky. His situation had worsened, but he felt happy for George's success. Those conflicting emotions filled his mind and left him unclear about the path ahead.
The human species had finally taken a consistent step forward on Nitis, but Khan's situation had worsened because of that. The connection between the two events felt hilarious and helpless when he thought about it.
'Will I have to hide behind a mask forever?' Khan wondered as he sat on the grey snow and resumed his training.
The cold snow reminded him about Liiza. Seeing her would be far more difficult now since the other recruits would try to follow him around. He would also go to an alien academy in a mere week, and his situation could only worsen there.
Sacrifices appeared inevitable. Improving his position among the Niqols would grant him more friends with Aduns capable of following him. The achievements of the human troops on Nitis caused the same effects. Everything seemed to indicate that the relationship with Liiza had been a mistake to begin with, but Khan couldn't even think about giving her up. His current peace came from her.
'What can I even cut away to make room for everything?' Khan wondered.
His sleep immediately appeared at the top of the list, but Khan didn't even need to consider it. That was his most disposable resource, and he wouldn't hesitate to forsake it to spend more time with Liiza.
Slowing down his training and avoiding creating a social environment around him were unthinkable approaches. His personal power was the only key that could put an end to his nightmares, and he required friends to become an ambassador. He even needed more than normal people, especially on an alien planet.
Khan then had to add the alien lessons to his math. He didn't know how much of his time they would occupy, but his situation appeared grim nonetheless. He was in front of the same issues that had delayed his relationship with Martha. Nitis' days were too short.
'I need to find a planet where the days last fifty hours,' Khan sighed, but a sensation coming from a foreign mind suddenly spread among his thoughts.
The smile that appeared on his face had been impossible to suppress. Khan couldn't help but feel happy that Snow had learnt the new secret location that he and Liiza would use to spend time together.
The event confirmed how important his girlfriend was in his life, and Snow's return created an urge that almost split his mind into two parts.
One part wanted to hop on Snow and fly away to wait for his secret girlfriend, while the other knew that he couldn't leave the area yet. He was the only experienced rider in the human species, so he had to make sure that everything progressed smoothly.
'I guess Liiza did it,' Khan concluded in his mind. 'She taught me how to love like a Niqols.'
