Sacred Trust

by Roxanne Barbour

  “So how was your day?” he asked. He unsuccessfully hid his annoyance at my lateness.

  “Good. I’m learning about Arandi society. It’s quite fascinating. Did you know …?”

  Dad held up his hand. An Arandi approached. Standard female colors were woven throughout her elegant garment.

  “Ambassador, may I introduce my daughter, Nara. Nara, this is Ambassador Ilandus Tata.” While we shook hands, the ambassador studied me.

  “Honorable Nara, difficult times. Adjustment overwhelming. Help?”

  At least someone understood my difficulties. “Thank you, Ambassador, for your understanding and offer of help. You’re correct; everything is a trifle overwhelming, although I’m starting to adjust.” I needed some small talk. “Do you have offspring?”

  She turned away from me and gestured. In a moment, another Arandi joined us.

  “Son, Eonus Tata.” Ambassador Tata put her hand on his shoulder.

  Surprised, Tata and I gazed at each other.

  Finally I said, to fill the silence, “Actually, we met earlier today at the Historical Records museum.”

  While my father searched for appropriate words, Ambassador Tata said, “Excellent place; learn Arandis. Eonus, class research?”

  “Yes. Project—Ancient History.” Eonus rubbed the top of his head while his eyes darted back and forth between my father and me.

  “Excuse me, ambassador,” said my father. Turning to me, he said, “Nara, you were not to go wandering off. Remember our conversation yesterday with the police?”

  “The Historical Records museum was on the map you left on the table this morning,” I objected. I hope I scanned it correctly.

  Dad explained to Ambassador Tata I’d stumbled upon a restricted area the previous day.

  “No worry, Naru. Historical Records fine. Understand history; excellent choice.”

  My father didn’t respond, but I foresaw difficult conversations in my future.

  “Naru, person meet,” said Ambassador Tata, and led my father away.

  The rest of my evening turned out delightful. I managed to get some dinner and had a short conversation with Tata about meeting at the Historical Records Museum the next day. Then I started quizzing the Arandi about their society. Perhaps I went a little overboard but I received no complaints, not even from Dad.

  The next morning, I wandered around the museum until Tata appeared.

  I decided on bluntness. “Should I call you Tata or Eonus?”

  “Tata, unless parent or friend.”

  “Doesn’t that get confusing in a large family?” I thought about a few of the groupings I knew back on Earth. Many siblings and cousins all being called by their last name would create chaos.

  “Meaning large family?” Tata stared at me.

  “Oh, you know; more than one brother or sister, cousins with the same last name, large connected relationships.” How is the translator coping with my babbling?

  Tata pulled out his com and poked at it.

  Not well, apparently. The glance I received confused me.

  After a number of clicks, Tata asked, “Brother, sister?”

  “Actually I don’t, but lots of human families have more than one child.”

  “Oh.” Tata patted his head.

  “Why are you ‘oh-ing’?”

  “Arandi family, one offspring.”

  No wonder he’d looked confused. Could they sustain their population growth with only one child? How long do they live? Another couple research projects landed on my horizon.

  I decided on a new subject. “Well, each world to their own. Now, did you find out why I got into trouble yesterday?”

  “Small data; incident one hundred cycles past; spaceflight.”

  Since a human year equaled one Arandi cycle—approximately—something apparently happened one hundred human years ago. “How long have you had spaceflight?” My research had found minimal discussion regarding their race to space.

  “One thousand cycles.”

  “That’s a long time. So let’s go see your space museum. Do you have one close by?” I loved museums.

  Tata said, “Cannot.”

  Inexplicably, his response angered me. “Why not? This should be easy peasy!” Inexplicably, I wanted to stamp my foot.

  “Not approved.”

  “You don’t have access?” Why would any world have a museum without access? “Do you know anyone who does?”

  Tata turned away for a time then said, “No access.”

  “What?” I took a deep breath and waited for a moment before saying, “For Pete’s sake, why is there no access?”

  Tata’s brow crinkled in confusion. “Who Pete?”

  I waved my hand. “Forget it; it’s just an Earth saying. Why can’t we get in?”

  “Not diplomatic.” Tata’s face became shiny pink.

  This time, I stomped my foot. “Again, do you know anyone who has access?”

  In response, Tata stomped his foot. Although, by the way he looked down, the action surprised even him. “Yes,” he said.

  I tried patience or, at least, my version of it. “Tata, enlighten me. Who do you know with access?”

  “Mother.” A most reluctant response.

  Of course, an ambassador of this world would have access. Okay, I’d asked a stupid question. “So she’ll take us to the museum then?” I crossed my fingers.

  “No.” Tata wouldn’t look at me.

  “Well, that’s not helpful.” I pursed my lips; I needed to think of some persuasion. Neither of us spoke for a considerable time.

  Finally, Tata said, “Know location pass card.” Tata rubbed his forehead this time.

  I really needed to understand Arandi physical reactions. However, in the meantime, I asked in a soft voice, “Will you get the card so we can investigate the space museum?”

  Tata hesitated, and then said, “Yes. Meet space museum afternoon.” Tata gave me the directions and left.

  Back home, my afternoon activities included lunch and research. However, my sleuthing only netted an aerial view of the monument’s spoke pattern. So when I reached the space museum the following afternoon to meet Tata, I had nothing illuminating in regards to the history of the ruins I’d discovered.

  While I waited for Tata outside the museum’s soaring glass walls, I tried to look nonchalant, obviously without much success. After all I was one of only a handful of humans on Arandis. I was glad I didn’t have to wait too long outside a restricted museum. The last thing I needed was another trip to the police terminal.

  When Tata appeared, he held up a card and said, “Obtain difficult.” His face revealed a tinge of blue. Do I need to worry about his health? The range of colors his face exhibited surprised me.

  “Ruins picture. Unknown description,” said Tata, showing me his com.

  “I did some research too, but to no avail. There must be some big secret behind those ruins I stumbled upon for them to be restricted. I wonder what it could be.”

  “Perhaps discover today.” His facial expression changed to something inextricably Arandi.

  My shoulders slumped. “Only if the ruins have something to do with spaceflight, and can be found in this museum.” For some reason, I felt discouraged before we had even started.

  His pass card easily let us enter the nearly empty museum. We wandered from room to room for a couple of hours. A few glances came our way, but no one spoke to us.

  Tata showed me the timeline carved into the museum’s floor. The informative path led us chronologically from the beginnings of spaceflight to modern day, from exhibit to exhibit, from floor to floor. On the third floor we encountered a sealed room, but Tata’s card didn’t work in the door lock.

  “So what’s this? A secret room even more secret than this building?”

  “Not know. No information door, drawing only.”

  I took a closer look at the surface scratches. “This reminds me of those ruins I found. What do you think?”

  Tata
rubbed a hand over the door. “Drawing vague.”

  “No. I’m convinced this is related to my ruins.” I stomped my right foot. “We need to get into this room.”

  “How?” Tata rubbed his eyes with both hands.

  “Maybe there’s another door. Or maybe you can use your com to—”

  “Identification?” A uniformed Arandi startled us.

  Tata groped in an opening in his clothing and handed the official a card.

  I said, “I’m sorry; I don’t have any identification on me.” Something I needed to remedy.

  “Know you,” he replied. “Why museum?”

  Tata took the initiative. “Explain space program, Nara.”

  “No access authority.” He tapped his com, and then escorted us outside. The officer pointed at a waiting vehicle. “Tata, home. Await guardians.”

  Without speaking, Tata and I travelled to his home. In approximately an Earth hour, our parents arrived and the two of them stood silently before us in the Tatas’ main room.

  Finally, Ambassador Tata asked, “Anyone beverage?” No one answered. She sighed. “How access Museum Spaceflight?”

  “I wanted to learn about Arandi space travel, so I talked Tata into taking me there.” I wondered, would I be successful in sidetracking her?

  “How enter?” she repeated.

  Neither Tata nor I responded to his mother.

  Then my father got into the act. “Nara, tell us the truth. How did you get in?”

  “The whole thing is stupid. Why would a museum be off limits to the general population? And to top it off, they had a restricted room within the museum. How bizarre is that?” I tried again for distraction.

  “Your pass card,” interrupted Tata, looking at his mother. She didn’t seem surprised. “Investigating Nara’s ruins. Start Museum Spaceflight. Found locked room; ruins on door. Ejected museum.” Tata’s face changed to a greener color, and the heat rose in my cheeks.

  After a moment, Ambassador Tata said, “Show ruins again.” Tata gave his com to her.

  She looked at the screen and made a motion with her hands. “Yes, restricted.” My father focused on the Arandi ambassador during these exchanges.

  “In the interests of good relations, perhaps you could tell me what’s going on. We can have our conversation in private, if you wish,” said Dad.

  Ambassador Tata replied, “Make call.” The rest of us waited in silence while she withdrew to another room.

  Upon her return, the ambassador said, “No discussion. Off limits.”

  Dad straightened his spine and clenched his hands. “Ambassador and offspring, Nara and I will take our leave. Thank you for your hospitality.”

  Both ambassadors gave a short bow. Their actions pointedly excluded Tata and me.

  Eonus and I glanced at each other. We knew we were in big trouble, but such was the lot of a teenager.

  Dad and I didn’t talk on the way home, although a thousand questions swirled in my thoughts. I needed to receive my reprimand first, and shortly I did.

  “Do you understand how you’ve compromised my position?” he asked. “I’m the human ambassador to Arandis. I—actually we—are being closely watched by all Arandi. You need to think clearly before you take any actions.”

  “Don’t you think we should find out what the Arandi are hiding?” I asked. The ruins compounded my curiosity about Arandi culture and history.

  Dad rubbed his forehead. “Nara, stop.”

  “Okay, I apologize. I promise I’ll be extremely careful in the future, although I do want to know everything I can about Arandis.”

  “I know, and I have something in the works that will help you, but I can’t explain yet. Now let’s have some dinner,” said my father.

  Later, alone in my room—Dad had disappeared to some function or other—I received a call from Tata.

  Tata said, “Museum Spaceflight?” by way of greeting.

  “You want to go to the Museum of Spaceflight again? I thought we were in enough trouble already.” Tata surprised me. Up until now, he’d been the conservative offspring of an ambassador.

  “Second pass card.” Tata pointed his com at a familiar object.

  “No, I can’t go. We’re not supposed to.” I started to breathe a little quicker.

  “Need to know ruins.”

  What a dilemma he’d handed me. I desperately wanted to know about the ruins. The back of my mind pinged, but I ignored the twitch my body gave me. “Okay, I’ll meet you there. Do you know how to get into the locked room?”

  “Yes.”

  “When do you want to go?” My stomach churned.

  “Now.”

  “Why?” I started to sound like Tata.

  “No one museum.”

  Probably true, since the day had almost ended. Against my misgivings, I agreed to meet him.

  Not a soul appeared as we entered the museum and then the locked room. Not large, the area consisted of table displays and wall diagrams.

  While Tata methodically read every word he found, I encountered difficulty. Although my upgraded com would decipher Arandi writing, the process took considerable time, and my impatience grew.

  “Tata, what have you found? Tell me something.” I wanted to scream.

  He turned his head towards me—he’d forgotten my presence. “Shock.” His hands drifted upwards to cover his face.

  “What’s shocked you?” Talking to Arandi proved slow and uninformative.

  “Two planets, one source,” said a soft voice.

  “Two planets? What two planets?” I only knew about Arandis. No one had told me about another planet.

  Tata’s voice became even softer. “Arandis, Basili.”

  “Where is Basili? Is it inhabited? Have you met the people from Basili?” My line of questioning thudded to a halt; I had no baseline.

  “Basili same solar system. Never met. Enemy.” Tata’s body twitched.

  The Arandi had enemies? Why didn’t I know this? “Are there Basilians on Arandis? What do they look like?”

  “Similar. Not on Arandis.” Tata turned in a circle studying the room.

  So the Arandi had enemies that looked like them but weren’t on Arandis. Good to know—I didn’t want to be in the middle of a war. What had upset Tata? Then I remembered a word he’d used.

  “Tata, what shocked you?” I looked around the room as Tata had, but I only had a superficial understanding of the contents.

  He replied with the word, “Leave.”

  No one noticed our exit, and we went our separate ways. The whole episode confused me. I tossed and turned all night, and the next morning, I sat at the kitchen table attempting to eat breakfast. My queasy stomach had not disappeared.

  Then Dad entered the kitchen wearing a scowl. “I’ve been called to a meeting with Ambassador Tata, and I have no clue why. I guess it’s going to be one of those days.” He sighed. “By the way, I’m working on getting you admitted to the local university. I’m not sure how the course structure will work, and they don’t call it a university but, at least, you’ll have more outside contact.”

  A grin spread across my face—just what the teenager ordered. “That’s wonderful. When would I start?”

  “I’m still in discussions, so nothing’s been decided. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything. Anyway, I’d better get going. Have a good day studying; I’ll see you later.”

  Studying proved difficult. Finally, I decided research on Basili might settle my mind. The information I found encompassed a wide variety of topics. Soon engrossed in the subject, the morning passed in a blur.

  Then my father came home, and sat down in the living area, where I researched on my portable computer. Wordlessly, he studied me.

  Finally, “Young Tata has got himself into a whole lot of trouble.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. My hands clenched, and I could feel my cheeks begin to flush.

  “Apparently, last night he broadcast a big secret.”

  “What
secret? Where?” I closed my computer.

  “He sent a message out on the Arandi internet. According to Ambassador Tata, he snuck into the Museum of Spaceflight again, and got into a locked room—probably the one from your earlier visit. Anyway, from the museum displays, he deduced the origin of the Arandi and Basili populations.”

  “What is Basili?” I asked, although Tata had already told me.

  “Basili is another planet in this solar system that the Arandi are at war with. Although, to me, war isn’t quite the right word. They seem to hate each other, but don’t actually fight.”

  “But what do you mean about origins?”

  “The Arandi and Basilian populations come from a common ancestor.”

  “They didn’t already know?” How bizarre!

  “Apparently, the majority of each planetary population has been led to believe, through their religion, that life developed on their home planet. But, in reality, the Arandi and Basilians were both transplanted from a third planet as an experiment in watching the same sentient species evolve separately.”

  “Oh, you mean like twins separated at birth?”

  “Similar, yes.” My father started pacing. “When the original transplants ended up on the two planets, their memories were modified, but I’m not really sure why or how that was done.”

  “That’s interesting. What happened to the creators? Is there a third habitable planet in this system?” My mind churned with questions.

  “There was once. Apparently, they managed to blow the planet apart with deep crust mining. What’s left of it is the asteroid belt revolving around Arandis,” he said.

  “That’s pretty sad.” Actually that’s extremely tragic. Then I had a further thought. “Those ruins I stumbled upon, is that a depiction of the originator’s planet blowing up?”

  “It is indeed. Very astute,” said my father.

  At least I’d gotten something right. “What’s the general reaction to Tata’s revelation?”

  Dad sighed. “According to Ambassador Tata, in the short time the news has circulated, the populace of Arandis has lost faith in both their government and organized religion. It’s a major crisis.”

  “Why did the government hide this?”

  “To fuel their war, perhaps? Who knows? Ilandus wouldn’t comment.” Dad’s face took on a sad look. “Nara, do you know anything about Tata’s activities?”