Dawn Mission
by K. Jeffery Petersen

	The small trail of green leaking from the hole in the pipe 
looked innocent enough, almost like a wisp of smoke. For a moment, 
Kurt just watched it. Intellectually, he knew that the chemicals in 
that little trail were deadly. Dolfins or turtles or maybe even his 
own kids could get sick and die from them. But for a moment, he was 
posessed by the vibrant beauty of that green cloud, slowly rising 
and wavering in the canal waters.

	He shook his head after a moment, and then just saw poison 
spewing illegally out of a New Jersey chemical company's pipes. Kurt 
pulled out his role of waterproof duct tape and tore off a strip. He 
held it tight in both hands to press it against the pipe, slowly 
wrapping it around. Then he smoothed out the tape to get rid of any 
air holes. He watched it for a minute to see if his job was done 
well enough to block the leak.

	He pulled off his breathing aparatus after nodding at the 
quality of his work. "Got another one!" he called. Affirmative 
responses came from his three partners arrayed across the canal. 

	He started to wade slowly down the canal, watching for 
additional leaks. A number of pipes drained into the canal, but not 
all of them were in use. Kurt glanced up over the canal bank and saw 
the various chemical plants in the distance. Most were closed down 
and had stopped production long ago. It was those few that were 
still in use that they were going after.

	Something bumped him on the shoulder causing him to jerk. He 
looked over and saw another wet-suited body slowly coming to a full 
stand and looking at him. 

	"Hey, you already get down here?" the man asked, gesturing 
behind Kurt. He couldn't tell for a moment who it was, as the mask 
obscured the man's eyes.

	A pause later, Kurt replied, "Yeah. I guess that means we're 
done." They turned around and looked at their two compatriots 
working on the far side of the canal. These two still waded in a 
stooped position, searching for pipes.

	"So now do we just wait?" he asked after a moment.

	"Until the police get here," the other man said with a nod. 
Kurt finally supplied his name - James.

	Kurt looked back at the factories, lined up in the distance 
like an opposing football team. Some plumes of smoke or God-knew-
what rose from them. He turned back to the last pipe he had plugged 
up.

	"This seems so insignificant, James," he said.

	"We fight our fights as they come to us," James said. "We'll 
get some publicity for this, and then tomorrow we'll find out 
something new to do."

	"Just doing our part to save the world," Kurt said.

	"Exactly. One step at a time."