Sacred Trust

by Roxanne Barbour

  To answer Dad proved difficult, so I took time to regroup. “Yes, a little—although I didn’t know Tata’s conclusions. He invited me to go along last night. We entered the museum easily, but he never told me what he found, other than he was shocked. He told me to leave. I knew nothing about his broadcast.” Convinced my face registered guilt, I wouldn’t look at Dad.

  “Nara, I know you and I believe you. However, his broadcast had serious repercussions. The human embassy has been asked to leave Arandis.”

  Devastated, I put my head in my hands and cried, sobbing harder than I had since my mother’s death. I didn’t want to leave Arandis. And Tata. How can this be happening?

  Dad came over to the couch and put his arm around me. “It’s not your fault. When Ambassador Tata relayed this information, I had a million questions.”

  “Dad, don’t exaggerate.” I got up and poured a glass of water for my tight throat.

  “As Ambassador Tata explained, the Arandi need time to cope and don’t want aliens around while they do. The end result is we’ll be leaving Arandis.”

  “So we’re going back to Earth?” Actually, that didn’t sound half bad to me, despite having to say goodbye to Tata. The tightness in my chest eased somewhat.

  “No. Actually, we’re going to Basili.”

  “What? Where?” I almost screamed my words.

  “Basili. I had a conversation with Ilandus and the Basili ambassador this morning. Although why there’s a Basili ambassador on Arandis, when they’re enemies, is beyond my comprehension.” He sighed. “Anyway, this news of their shared ancestry has so far been confined to Arandis, but the Basili ambassador believes it’s only a matter of time before the Basilians find out.”

  “So why does he want you on Basili?” The situation made no sense to me.

  “He thinks the presence of aliens will help diffuse the situation.”

  “That’s totally opposite to the Arandi reaction. Interesting,” I said.

  Dad continued to pace around our living room. “Listen carefully. Through no fault of our own, we’re relocating to Basili. They love the idea of having an ambassador from Earth. You shouldn’t have any difficulty in adapting. After all, Arandis and Basili have the same origin. And I will continue my efforts to get you into a higher education facility.”

  “Okay, Dad, easy peasy.. I’ll start packing.” I picked up my computer and left the room. Dad had no idea how I felt. I would miss Tata—a kindred spirit—but at this point in my life I had little control over what happened to me and none over where my father went with me in tow.

  Time flew by and in a couple of days we were ready to leave.

  The surreal scene at the spaceport taxed my already aching heart at the thought of leaving Tata behind. Mother and son stood by us, along with numerous public officials, and of course, the Basili ambassador.

  Presentations were made and then the small crowd left. Our departure time had arrived.

  Dad and Ambassador Tata had a few last words in private, leaving Tata and me to say our goodbyes.

  I gazed at Tata. His eyes revealed what I already knew; our relationship had ended. “I’ll miss you,” I told him. “I wish—”

  “No say.” He touched his fingertip to my lips to silence me. “Best.”

  I could only nod as tears began to burn at the back of my throat. Somehow, on my walk with Dad up the space liner’s boarding ramp I managed not to look back at Tata. I didn’t want him to see the tears streaming down my face.

  I was glad Dad waited until we were inside the hatchway and out of view of Tata and his mother before he handed me his handkerchief. “You know,” he said, “Ambassador Tata had some interesting news this morning.”

  “Oh, yeah.” I sniffed and wiped my nose. “What news?” I peered up at Dad.

  “Well, although Tata Junior doesn’t know it yet, the two of them will also be relocating to the Basili capital to help facilitate Basili and Arandi relations once this revelation reaches Basil.”

  “Really?” I was suddenly smiling so broadly I thought my face might crack. ‘When?”

  “Soon,” Dad said smiling as he steered me toward our seats…

  “Oh, my. That explains a lot,” said Ruen.

  I wondered what she meant. No one said anything for a couple of moments.

  “Let’s get some fresh air before we need to go back to class,” I said. I couldn’t sit still after my story.

  The three of us wandered outside and stood in the middle of a patio. The open area outside the cafeteria had always proved conducive to contemplation. The thriving Basilian plants around us came in a variety of colors, but mostly purple and pink.

  I wanted to ask Ruen how her classes had gone this morning but, before I could do so, I noticed BSU students starting to gather. After a couple of silent moments, a large number of them surrounded us.

  Chapter 8

  I didn’t like the looks of this. Everyone was staring at us but no one was saying anything. I turned to Ruen, but she’d disappeared. I slid a wary look at Tata. “I have a bad feeling about this,” I said out of the side of my mouth, but before he could respond, one of the students surrounding us broke the silence.

  “Why are you here?”

  I didn’t recognize this fellow, but I hardly knew everyone on campus. “We’re taking a bit of a stroll after lunch,” I said, ignoring his real question, hoping my flippant answer would make them all go away, but it turned out to be an unsuccessful tactic.

  “No, why are you here on Basili?” he reiterated.

  “Everyone knows the situation. Our parents are ambassadors to this planet and brought us along for the ride,” I said. Okay, maybe that expression wasn’t the best one to use, in this case. So I tried again. “Our parents were invited to your planet. Tata and I are here to learn about Basili and Basilians, and to experience your educational system.” Hopefully that’d make him back off.

  “You have upset our beliefs. Why did you do this?” The crowd started to murmur.

  Oh, for heaven’s sake! “Because your beliefs were wrong.” My hands fluttered about. “Tata uncovered the truth of your common ancestry. You should be grateful. Your religious and governmental officials lied to you, and the same thing happened on Arandis.”

  The Basilian with whom I’d been carrying on this unwelcome discussion turned to the students beside him and the muttering grew in volume. I noticed Daro Est standing with the crowd, but when he saw my glance, he turned and walked away.

  “What should we do?” I asked Tata.

  “Unknown.” Tata’s pinched expression reflected his anxiety, and he wasn’t the only one who was worried.

  Before either of us could think of a plan, the crowd began to part. It didn’t look promising. But then Ruen and a number of security guards walked through the gap. The first guard to reach us turned to the gathering and said, “It is time for class. Everyone needs to go, leave the area. Now.”

  The crowd murmured for a moment, but then our spokesman turned and left, so the crowd began to disperse.

  The lead security Basilian turned to Tata and me. “You need to be more careful. Stay away from crowds.”

  “Oh, yeah…that’ll be easy peasy,” I snarked. “This is a school…with lots of students.” The three of us had been pretty much alone on the patio—before the mob gathered around us.

  After the guards left, I turned to Ruen. “Thanks for getting security. I don’t know what would have happened next. Those BSU students are certainly unhappy about our presence.”

  “They are silly. And they are mad at Tata about making the news public. But it should not have been a secret in the first place. We needed to know the truth.” Ruen paused for a moment. “Do you two think there are other truths being kept from us?” she asked.

  I shrugged, and Tata said, “Unknown.”

  “Well, I need to get to class,” said Ruen.

  As she started to walk away, I said, “I’m not going to class this afternoon. I wouldn’t be able to e
ndure it; I’d be watching everyone to see if they were watching me. I would be too stressed to concentrate.”

  Ruen’s eyes widened—she hadn’t expected my decision.

  Tata said, “Run away.”

  I stomped my foot. “Yes, I’m running away. But I’m totally justified.” Tata doesn’t understand me, one little bit. He is so infuriating.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Ruen.

  “I’m going home. I can study or something.”

  “I have a better idea. We should go to the Space Museum and look for albinos again.”

  I laughed. “I don’t think so. I’m in enough trouble with your father as it is.” I started to put my bag over my shoulder.

  “How about this? The Art Museum is close; maybe we will get some inspiration there.”

  I studied Ruen. Her idea struck me in a positive way, and she’d been instrumental in getting us out of a sticky situation. “Okay. I like your idea. Tata, are you with us?”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. I suspected nervousness from the situation we’d just encountered. In the end, he said, “No.”

  Pretty brave decision after what had just happened. Maybe he’s braver than I thought. “Take care of yourself, Tata. Get security if anything happens. I’ll see you later.”

  When I turned and left with Ruen, I couldn’t help but wonder why Tata hadn’t come along. Does he have something else planned? Something he doesn’t want to tell us about?

  I shrugged off my concern by the time we reached the Art Museum, which turned out to be closer than I thought. I’d expected a building that flowed with curves and strange shapes, but the outside turned out to be a three story cube—most unremarkable. However, inside we found the maze of partitions for which I was looking.

  Neither of us knew where to start. Surprisingly, Ruen had never been to the art museum either. “Why not? I thought you would have been everywhere by your age,” I said.

  “My focus is science, and this museum is the opposite,” she explained.

  “Don’t you have any scientists that were also artists?” I thought of a few from Earth’s history.

  “Is that possible?” She looked amazed. “Maybe we should check out the museum’s computer.” We both agreed that was a great idea, so it was exactly what we did.

  The software only had a couple of suggestions, but the computer gave us a starting place and illuminated a pathway in the floor to show us our way. We wanted to find the exhibit for an architect named Tirest. Apparently, he’d sculpted artistic masterpieces and also built revolutionary machines.

  Eventually we found ourselves in a rendition of Tirest’s design studio. I saw a number of interesting objects, but what a messy person this guy was. Typical of artistic types, I supposed.

  “I see an albino at the entrance,” Ruen whispered in my ear.

  I jumped; she had sneaked up and startled me. I scowled at her and then pretended to point out something to her while I turned slightly towards the door. She’d correctly recognized one of our suspects—although suspect wasn’t quite the right label. Yet, at least.

  The Basilian turned to leave the room, so Ruen said, “This is our chance to follow him and see where he goes.”

  I hesitated; the incident at lunchtime had made me nervous. In the end, I nodded and we took off after him, trying our best to be circumspect. At least, I tried my best. Ruen, on the other hand…

  She whirled around where she’d come to a halt. “Where did he go?”

  I’d lost him too. He’d ditched us somewhere in the myriad of displays, Ruen’s excitement apparently giving us away. Or perhaps he’d spotted me, and it was instead my human characteristics he’d noticed. “Ruen, did you notice any of his features? Could you draw a picture of him?”

  “Drawing is not really one of my skills,” she replied.

  “Yeah. It’s not easy peasy for me either.” I didn’t know quite what we should do.

  “Perhaps we should do a sweep of the building like we did before.”

  Always the adventurer, I hoped Ruen wouldn’t lead us into any difficulties. I’d had enough trouble for one day. “Okay,” I agreed, “at least for a short while.”

  Again our target eluded us. Eventually, I said goodbye to Ruen and made my way home. The day had exhausted me.

  “You’re home early,” said my father.

  “Yeah, I skipped school this afternoon and went to the Art Museum with Ruen.”

  Dad stopped stirring and looked at me, “That’s not like you.”

  I explained about the flash mob at lunch time. Dad looked as horrified as I’d felt at the time, although he tried not to show it.

  “I will look into this.” He sighed. “On the bright side, I do have some news. Officer Kikess called and said he’s convinced you and Tata had nothing to do with the theft of the rocks. The security recordings do not show any involvement on your part. In fact, Kikess noticed a suspicious person at the rock display, and also around your bags. So this person is their current suspect. All is well.”

  All was not well. “Is the suspect an albino?” popped out of my mouth.

  “I have no idea. Why ever would you ask that?” Dad rubbed his forehead. “I’ve never seen an albino on Basili, or Arandis for that matter.”

  “Oh, I just thought I saw one the other day.” I continued, “I’m not very happy here, Dad. It’s difficult because I have no human friends. I’m kind of lonely.”

  “I know, sweetie. But we won’t be here forever. I’m guessing Tata’s a pretty good friend.”

  I nodded. Actually he is, and I need to treat him better.

  “And Ruen seems to be a friend, too,” added Dad.

  “As I may have mentioned before, just like a little sister and I’m not being sarcastic,” I said.

  “Well, hang in there; it’ll only get better. Let’s have some dinner.”

  It’s not that easy peasy, I wanted to say. However, I didn’t really think he understood teenagers. I probably shouldn’t be so harsh; I really didn’t understand my own moods, right now, either.

  I hid in my room for the rest of the evening, ostensibly to study.

  Tata commed me numerous times but I didn’t answer. My mood had hit bottom, and I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, during the first ten minutes of our walk to school, Tata and I didn’t speak. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t about to start any conversation. Still annoyed about his lack of participation at the Art Museum yesterday, I refused to be the first to speak.

  Finally, Tata said, “Tell yesterday.”

  I glared at him, but gave in. “Ruen and I went to the Art Museum and studied some artist-scientists. Then we saw an albino and followed him as best we could. Eventually we lost track of the Basilian, and went home.”

  “Albino?” Tata had a thoughtful look on his face. Then he said, “No answer calls.”

  “Yeah, well, I was in a bad mood last night, and didn’t want to talk to anyone.” And I thought it had possibly carried over to this morning. “By the way, Officer Kikess called Dad and told him we were no longer suspects in the theft of rocks from the Space Museum. Apparently, he noticed, on the camera footage, someone in the vicinity of the rocks and also loitering around our bags.”

  “Mother said. Not need problem.”

  Tata was right about that. Problems seemed to be popping up every day.

  “What did you do yesterday?” When you abandoned me! But I didn’t utter the words out loud.

  “School,” said Tata.

  Of course, he went to school, but I needed to ask, “Any problems with BSU students?”

  “No. Professors knew. Kept watch.”

  So security had let the rest of the BSU staff know about our little incident. Pleased with their attentiveness, I decided to give them some slack, and not be so critical.

  “Tata, you should have joined Ruen and me yesterday. Then you would have seen the albino we’ve been talking about.”
<
br />   “Perhaps.”

  Perhaps what? Perhaps he still doesn’t believe us? Stubborn Arandi.

  We said goodbye and walked to our classes. My morning passed at a turtle’s pace. After Tata and I met for lunch, our conversation started by discussing classes. We had two mutual blocks, so we focused on the others.

  My curiosity made me ask about Tata’s class on Basilian cultural heritage. I knew he had taken this course to understand their common beginnings and how it had affected their separate developments. It again reminded me of the sociological concept of twins raised separately.

  “What have you discovered that’s different about Arandi and Basilians?” I asked.

  “Arandi many country wars, Basilians none.”

  I didn’t even know the Arandi had countries. I wished we could have stayed longer on Arandis, so I could have learned more. Since that hadn’t happened, perhaps Tata or his mother had an Arandi history text or two I could borrow.

  “Why do you think the differences occurred?”

  “Religious people run Basili.”

  Really! “This doesn’t happen on Arandis, does it? Who runs your world?”

  “World government.”

  So Arandis had a world government, and religion ran Basili. The Arandi thought they were superior? I hated to disillusion Tata, but both worlds had hidden their origins. They were equally guilty, in my opinion. Perhaps I would bring that up another day.

  “Ruen?” asked Tata.

  “I don’t know. I’ve been expecting to see her bounce over to our table, any time. I didn’t have any classes with her this morning, so I haven’t seen her at all today.”

  Tata shook his head. I knew that meant he hadn’t seen her either.

  Tata and I had a joint class in the afternoon, so we proceeded there after lunch. However, a security officer interrupted the lecture, and pointed at Tata and me. We were made to accompany him.

  “What’s going on?” I asked when we were outside the classroom.

  “Officer Kikess wishes to speak.”

  I threw Tata an anxious look. This didn’t sound good.