[Apologies for the short entry this week.  I am trying not to let the combination of allergies and a cold kill me.  I figured that something was better than nothing at all.]

Sometimes, the destination is all that matters.

— attributed to Ryland LeSarte, date unknown

 19 Decem, 5249 PD

Winston stared at the water for the third day in a row, seated on a rock near the shore.  Commander Cho would join him soon, as the man always did.  He had seen more of the colony’s workings, come to understand more about how the Foundation functioned, in a few short days than he ever had over the course of his life.

Though I’m afraid that I haven’t learned everything that Inspector Damerian wanted me to figure out.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of salt and sea.  It didn’t smell dirty here like it did on New Earth, didn’t smell strange and rotten.

“I understand that you’ve been out here every morning,” a voice said from behind him.  Winston turned, blinking.

Then he turned away to hide his sudden attack of nerves.  “Yes,” he said, forcing him voice to be steady as he addressed Frederick Rose.

“I suppose there probably aren’t many unspoiled places left back on New Earth,” Frederick said as he came around the rock to seat himself alongside of Winston on the slab of tumbled basalt.  “Have you ever been to New Lawrence Sound?”

“I was born in Peterstown,” Winston said quietly.  “I grew up on the Sound.  But I can’t ever remember it being like this.  The latitude’s a little further north for the Sound, but still.  That doesn’t really explain why this is so beautiful and the Sound…isn’t anymore.”  His lips thinned.  “Even in the pictures my grandparents had from when they were young, it doesn’t look like this.”

“Something to be said for living with the land rather than just on it, huh?”  Frederick smiled faintly, following the young man’s gaze out over the water.  “No one will stop you if you want to come back here after you’ve made your report to the Inspector General’s office.”

Every muscle tightened and Winston felt his heart give a strange double-beat.

“Is that what happened to you?” he asked without thinking.

What did you just say, Tim?  Holy shit, what did you just say to him?

For his part, Frederick Rose smiled.

“I wish it had been that simple, Inspector Winston.  I wish I had been that simple.”  The smile faded.  “I knew too much, saw too much.  That frightened people with connections, powerful people.  They tried to silence me and they very nearly succeeded.”

“But they didn’t kill you.”  Winston looked at him, his guts churning.  “You didn’t let them win.”

“Didn’t I?”  Frederick smiled faintly.  “They won the battle, but they’ll not win the war.  I made myself that promise a long time ago.  It’s a promise I intend to keep.”  He exhaled softly and shook his head.  “What about you, Inspector?  Are you fighting your own war?”

“I don’t know,” Winston said softly.  “I used to think that I joined the Inspector General’s office to find the truth or to make a difference or something noble like that.  Now I’m not so sure.  Now maybe I’m starting to wonder if I don’t mind getting dirty as I try to dismantle conspiracies and mysteries.”

“That’s the mark of a good investigator,” Frederick said.  “And Sephora asks for the best.”

Winston shivered.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No,” Winston said softly.  “I do.  That’s what scares me.”