I stopped for a moment and thought about everything. Finally I looked at Thaniel and said “Three simple steps, eh?”

“Well Ray, being honest, they’re not very simple for most people. You should be fine.”

“Thanks, that’s reassuring.”

“Ray, I’m really fed up with your shit attitude. Since day one you’ve been like this and you have never once said why you’re so fucking irritable?”

“Are we going to do this or not? We’re wasting time. Let’s get started on this language.”

Thaniel sighed and pointed towards the hall and then pointed left. “Go out and take the elevator to floor 16. Ask for Shane Dickinson, he’ll be teaching you all you need to know.”

“Yep.” I said as I walked out.

I followed Thaniel’s instructions but he forgot to tell me which room so I pretty much had to go into every office asking for Mr. Dickinson. Naturally he was in pretty much the last room I checked. He was short, and probably in his early fifties. One thing that pissed me off was that his eyes were green. I’m the only one my ass. Anyway, I walked over to him and introduced myself.

“Howdy, Ray Bental.”

“Ah, yes. The young fellow I’m supposed to teach. Well, let’s get to it, shall we?”

Then out of the blue, Shannon hit my mind.

“Shit, Mr. Dickinson I need to make a phone call.”

I walked out of the room without waiting for him to reply. I got out my cell phone and called the apartment. No one picked up. I didn’t think much of it. I figured she just went out with some friends or something. I left a message on our machine saying I would be gone for a while. I hung up and slowly walked back to hear about this language.

“Sorry Shane, is it okay if I call you Shane? Anyway, I had to call my fiancé.”

He just looked at me and smiled a bit.

“That’s fine, I remember what that was like.”

“Right, so can we get to it?”

“You’re not very patient, are you ray?”

“Listen, can we just get on with this? I’m just trying to hurry so I can do what needs to be done.”

“Tell me, Ray, why are you so anxious to risk your life for this planet? I can certainly tell it’s not because you wish to maintain a peaceful life. Why is it you do the things you do?”