Owen’s regrets shattered into a mound of disbelief. There’s no accounting for this, he thought to himself, standing before the instruments that registered the blatant error he sought to explain.
“No others could have created such disaster as you,” said Supervisor. “I trust you realized this within moments of your error.”
“It was an error, true,” said Owen, “but executed with innocence, not malice. After all, I’ve been serving in this position–”
“Regrettably, it appears,” said Supervisor.
“By whom? Are you not without error yourself? Tell me, have you not once reached for a trip signal only to dislodge it from its unintended perch?”
Pursing lips in anger, Supervisor barked, “Do not shift the topic of this conversation to me, for it is you that must explain the particulars of revealing our secreted location to the entire universe. Did you not consider the depth of consequences that follow this incurable mistake?”
“For what reason?” said Owen, “See, that’s the nature of a mistake. It’s unintended, unpredictable…”
“And quite often, unrepairable, as is yours. I’ve been faithfully serving Onodon’s Evasive Envoys since my maturity and never, ever have I witnessed such a catastrophe as this.”
Shooting Supervisor a look, Owen said, “Oh, stop. Stop. What a hunk of hooey. If I dug around in your castoff collector, I’d be certain to discover a cached miscalculation.”
A gruff snort emanated from Supervisor as he shot back, “Oh, don’t you wish. Once again, you twist the topic away.”
“To where? Look. I’ll fix it. I’ve yet to encounter any problem that lacks a solution. Can’t do that if you’re lurking in my shadow. Come to think of it, your rather abrupt intrusion jolted me from my steady concentration. If anyone is to blame, I say both of us are equals in that regard.”
“I’m paid at far greater compensation levels than you, and exposed to fewer Grand Inspectors,” said Supervisor with a hint of smugness. “Clean up your mess, or I’ll shift their attentions to your incapabilities. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
“Life is so much easier to contain with mirth than misery. Bring on your threats. I’ll prove you the fool,” said Owen to the retreating figure of Supervisor as he left to harass other unwilling souls.
Consarn it! thought Owen. Why be an idiot and ruin everything now? Looking about the room, a large tableaux of signal solvers, each registering a particular range of frequencies, monitored his home planet of Onodon’s ability to hide its presence from unwitting sources. Onodons prided themselves on this ability, for if the outside universe were to discover their location, their lovely home would fade into a cluttered and trampled existence.
Located in a prime section of a hidden galaxy, obscured by the engineered rays of Fleon Machine, Onodon boasted the lushest of forests, temperate weather, and nearly limitless food supplies and water. The planet boasted a remarkable property: it was entirely unpollutable. Its evolution from amorphous blob to habitable orb self-engineered the ability to cleanse itself perpetually, regardless of any contaminants that might infect it from within or off-world sources. This ability transferred itself to all life forms that Onodon hosted, from infinitesimal to the infinite, singular-celled to fully-realized, all remained healthy and pure. It was a stable existence that promised long life for all.
What was largely unknown, although often wondered, was Onondon’s ability to test outside contaminants to its surface and atmosphere in great sources. Sure, it was one thing if a meteor streamed through its atmosphere and landed on its soil or water. Often, by the time of its discovery, the foreign object’s potential poisons would be cleansed from its mass. It was feared by all inhabitants that its discovery by others wandering about in the universe might draw curious visitors to it and if word leaked out, that’d spell the end to their Odonian paradise.
Owen’s job was to make sure that didn’t happen. As one of the select few chosen as an Evasive Envoy, he was responsible for maintaining the blissful anonymity of his world, and to bounce off any detection from snooping light signals and send them harmlessly off past his planet and further on into the unknown. It was a fairly uncomplicated task, a zygote could manage it. All that was necessary was a watchful eye and a clear mind.
On this occasion, unfortunately, Owen had neither. Now, his entire culture’s future lie in the balance. Regardless of the manner of blame Supervisor cast, Owen knew he was right.
Now what? Shoot! I have to fix this…
Moon, Stars and Beyond 
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