The Third Side
"It feels that one must take a part in a side, for neutrality itself seems like an allying force?"
Citan's words roll about in Brin's mind, as he stares at the metal ceiling of the Yggdrasil's
resting area, eyes and mind hazing between sleep, and the half-wakedness he feels all too often
these days, as if he is indeed 'sleeping while walking', a dumb mime of the organisation he is
supposed to represent. Consciousness comes...
...and it is still night. The deep breaths of those around him provide soothing white noise, as
he rolls onto his side on the bunk, wide awake now.
Would this war leave anything to defend when both sides were satisfied as to its conclusion? It
seems that in order for it to end, one side is to be obliterated. Unless something is done.
But...what?
Brin sits up gently, and rubs his eyes gently. He stretches his long arms, his fingers and thumbs
stretching in front of him, forming a rough triangle of light, coming from a crack in the top of
the door. He peers at this for a long time.
In every war, there are three sides. Two sides lean, and lean on each other, neither giving an
inch, while the third side lies below, keeping the sides apart, and giving the whole arrangement
stability. Without the third side, the whole thing collapses in on itself, and there is chaos.
Similarly, for the third side to lean in any direction is to cause this collapse.
Brin stares at his hands for an age, as morning breaks, and others in the room around him go about
their daily morning rituals. For a long time, he stares, and thinks. And stares again.
o 0 ( ...and if collapse occurs, both sides fall in and crush the third... ).
Brin swings his legs out over the edge of the bunk, and is standing on the floor of the resting
area. Making his decision, he sets off to find Sigurd.