Sacred Trust (2 page)

Kikess acted remarkably deferential towards our parents.
He really does know who Tata and I are
.

“Are the children going to need legal representation?” asked my father. His anxiety showed—at least to me.
And I wish he would stop calling us children.
After all I'm a world-travelling young adult now.
I sighed.

“What is legal representation?” asked Kikess, after a moment.

“Someone to protect Nara and Tata in police matters,” said Dad.

Kikess bobbed his head. “I have no idea what you are talking about. We will discuss this later.”

And the look on Ambassador Tata's face told me she didn't understand my father's comment either.

The thought of studying the Basilian legal system hadn't entered my mind. Most likely their laws were foreign to our way of thinking, but they would need some remedies to laws being broken. I would have to ask Dad. Surely an ambassador would know these things. Although the previous conversation seemed to put a rider on that statement.

“May we talk to our children before you take them away?” asked Ambassador Tata.

A woman dear to my heart! I needed some comfort, if only for a moment.

Kikess consented, so the four of us moved aside to have our two conversations.

Dad looked at my orange hands and then reached out and gave me a hug. “What have you got yourself into this time?” His words sounded harsh but his face expressed his concern.

“Tata and I stumbled upon a body during our walk through the Temple of Enlightenment. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So members of the temple tied us up and called the police. In my opinion, they overreacted.”
I am not sure he wants my opinion, but he got it anyway
. I definitely felt and sounded cranky.

Dad shook his head. “We'll discuss your wandering around Basik alone, at a later time.”

“I wasn't alone. Tata was with me,” I said.
He's trying to control me again, just like on Arandis
.

He continued, “Just keep calm, and we'll meet you at police headquarters.” Dad gave me another hug and then he and Ambassador Tata walked over to Officer Kikess.

“Are you in trouble?” I asked Tata, after we were alone.

“Not really,” said Tata.

I noticed his skin had gathered a tinge of green. It must have been his blood at a higher pressure than normal showing through.

“Lucky you. It looks like my parent wants to restrict my movements again. He just doesn't realize how old I am.”

Tata didn't respond verbally; but he did give my arm a pat. That was a lot of contact for him, so I hoped that was sympathy I saw on his face.

After our parents left, Officer Kikess signaled us to join him. “We will be leaving now. Try not to use your hands. Your parents will join us at headquarters.” He and another officer took our arms and escorted us out to a vehicle.

It proved a little tricky getting into the box-shaped car without using our hands. At least, both Tata and I had put our bags over our shoulders before we had encountered the body—which seemed like hours ago now.

The inside of the car had numerous restraints and some unknown devices attached to the walls. Thankfully, Tata and I were left unencumbered and alone in the spacious backseat. Although roomy, the police car gave me the creeps, and the odors I decided to ignore.

“You may talk, but again, try not to use your hands,” said Kikess, from the front.

But neither Tata nor I seemed to have any desire to converse. I knew my nerves were frazzled, and I suspected Tata's were too.

So I gazed out the window and studied my view. The Basili sun had started to set and it painted the sky with hues of lavender. The color gave the predominantly glass buildings a sheen that made them lose their sharp angles. The view reminded me of how I felt—unearthly. Although, I would have to think of a better word; I was so far from home.

Our presence at police headquarters garnered a load of attention, but it was perfectly understandable. Most of the Basilian population had not yet seen an Arandi or human. Our presence was recent and there were so few of us.

Tata and I waited on stools—neither the Arandi nor Basilians used chairs with backs—for our parents to arrive. Then we all travelled downstairs to a lab-like room where Tata and I were examined.

First they ran a machine over our hands to remove the goo.

“Can I keep that?” I asked. I wanted a souvenir of our experience. This turned out to be a stupid question no one replied to. And I got the light when they put the goo in an evidence container.

Then three other machines were run over our hands. I suspected one of them was used to look for blood. No ideas about the other two popped into my mind. Then they took a look at our clothing.

Many blond hairs were picked off my garments. Since I had red hair, and both the Arandi and Basilians had golden ringlets, I wasn't surprised they thought the hair was a clue. The same procedures were done to Tata's coverings.

Then we were ushered into a room with stools and a table. Our surroundings were devoid of color; gray was the pervasive tint. And the temperature seemed cool to me, but perhaps that was my fatigue talking.

We were enveloped in silence until Officer Kikess spoke.

“Nara and Tata, I could question you separately. However, let me try this first. Tell me why you were in The Temple of Enlightenment today.”

I suspect Officer Kikess thinks us innocent, because if he thought otherwise, he would be interviewing us separately.

I looked at Tata, so he spoke, “New to Basili. Learn culture.”

“Nara?” asked Kikess.

Where to start? “Tata and I are friends from Arandis, and go to BSU. I mean we go to the university together. We know we need to learn about Basili, as it appears we'll be spending some significant time on this planet. So we choose something to explore, or learn about, most days after class.”

“Most admirable. Why The Temple of Enlightenment?” Kikess asked.

I answered. “Actually, that was my choice. Tata wanted to go to the Space Museum, but I convinced him otherwise.” I will probably never hear the end of that.

“How long had you been in The Temple of Enlightenment before you came upon the body?” His choice of language confirmed to me his belief in our innocence.

“Only for a short while. We had been allowed entry and just started our tour,” I said.

“Tata?” asked Kikess, staring intently at Tata.

“Correct.” Tata fidgeted on his stool. Officer Kikess' glance had seemed to unnerve him.

At least Tata didn't argue about our decision to go to The Temple of Enlightenment. Knowing him, he could have been undiplomatic.

Kikess' questioning continued. “When did you discover body?”

I looked at Tata, and saw his reluctance to respond. So I said, “We'd only been in the temple for about ten minutes before we saw the green blood.” Thankfully, both Arandis and Basili had days the equivalent of Earth's, although slightly longer. So the universal translator coped with my usage of minutes and hours.

I would always remember the shock that resulted from my initial glance at the body.

“Tata?” Kikess gestured at him. “You agree?”

Tata seemed somewhat calmer, He nodded. “Similar to ten minutes.”

“Anything unusual?” asked Kikess.

I noticed Officer Kikess occasionally lapsed into truncated speech like the Arandi. Another confirmation they came from a common background. “You mean other than a body on the dais? No, nothing except that creepy chief priest I saw before we left the temple to come here,” I said, with a shiver.

“Tata?”

“No.”

The Arandi and Basilians need to start using a few more words
, I thought.

“Did you notice anything out-of-place?” repeated Kikess.

I erupted. “We're not from this planet! What do we know?” My father tried to calm me by shushing me. You would have thought by now he would have realized shushing just turned up my flame.

“I understand your difficulties,” said Kikess. “You are both free to go. However, I may need to speak with you again.”

I sighed and looked at Tata. We were both stressed, but I welcomed getting out of here.

“Nara, let's go home,” said my father.

I hesitated for a moment. “Actually, Tata and I want to walk home. It's been a frustrating day, and we need to work off some energy. It's not that far.” I made a leap since I hadn't checked with Tata, but he gave no indication of contradiction.

Dad and Ilandus looked at each other. I had no idea what thoughts were running through their minds. Were they so in tune that words are not necessary?
Maybe it's a psychic thing all parents share
.

“Fine, but don't be too long. We need to have dinner fairly soon,” he said.

I nodded. “Officer Kikess, could you have someone show us out, please. I'm not sure where we are in the building.”

Kikess, himself, walked us to the entrance. “You have conducted yourselves well today, Nara and Tata. Now, try and stay out of trouble. I do not want to see you here again.” He touched our hands in farewell.

I started to like Officer Kikess. He had a kind soul.

Tata and I thanked him for the compliment and then we left. Our parents were whisked away by car while we set off on foot down the darkened street. Although sunset had kicked in a while ago, it took a long time for the sun to set on Basili. So we had plenty of light to see our way. Besides, the street lights would begin operating soon, although the illumination on Basili streets emanated from the strangest lights I'd ever seen. With a slight purple glow, they were approximately six inches wide and five feet tall. They were affixed directly to the sidewalks, shining upward, but they worked well.

“Unhappy day,” said Tata.

“Yes, it was. I don't like finding bodies, and then being interrogated. Although, I do think Officer Kikess is a nice guy. Let's hope he says we're free from suspicion soon.”

Tata spoke softly, “Not our fault.”

“No, it wasn't. We were just in the wrong place.”

“No excursions,” said Tata, raising his voice.

Not on your life!
“We can't give up learning about the Basilians. We live here now, so we need to understand what we're part of.”

Tata didn't respond, so we continued our walk in silence.

“Have shadow,” said Tata.

Shadow? What is he talking about?
I looked around but I saw nothing to allow me to understand his cryptic words.

Then I heard the jingle of bells behind us.

Someone's following us
. And since the inhabitants of this city did not wear foot coverings—but adorned their ankles with musical jewelry—I knew a Basilian was close behind us and drawing closer by the minute.

Tata touched my arm—for the second time in one day; would wonders never cease?—and pointed to a cross-street. He wanted to get out of sight of whomever was following us. I don't know how Tata's stomach was reacting, but this was giving me butterflies the size of Arandi Oracks, something rather like a horse—and used as such—but with lizard-like skin and multiple eyes that bobbed about at the end of flowerlike pistils. A truly odd animal.

I did the best I could to dispel my Orack-sized butterflies as we scuttled around the corner and hugged the building's side wall. Even a dingy side street had a remarkably clean surface. Perhaps it had something to do with Basilians and their naked feet.

A short moment passed, and then a young female popped into view. “I saw you go around the corner,” she said. Her height indicated she was the equivalent of a mid-teen. She had the usual golden locks and more ankle jewelry than I had previously encountered in one place during my lifetimes of travels with my father. No wonder Tata—Arandi could hear a pin drop two rooms away—heard her behind us before I did.

“Who are you? What do you want? Why are you following us?” I asked. The words spewed from my mouth in rapid succession.

“My name is Ruen. I saw you leave police headquarters and followed. Both of you go to BSU, correct?”

I nodded. We did stand out in the crowd—at least I did. Tata was a little closer to looking like a Basilian.

“I'm a student, too,” said Ruen, standing still.

She looked vaguely familiar. Although Tata and I had only been at the University for a short time, some faces had started to stand out—even though they all had golden hair, and mostly ringlets. The fashion of short hair had not caught on anywhere on this planet.

“Aren't you kind of young for BSU?” I asked. I didn't have the nerve to mention she was a lot shorter than the other students.

“Yes, I am three cycles younger than most, but I passed all the entrance exams, so they had to let me in.” Ruen had a wide grin, as she twirled in the side street. Dancing in the streets suited Ruen a lot more than standing still did.

A precocious Basilian! Who would have known? Her antics made me smile.

“Well, we're on our way home, so we'll see you at school tomorrow,” I said. I needed to get going or I would be late for dinner.

Ruen smiled. The Arandi and Basilian smiles were similar to those of humans. Probably all humanoid smiles looked alike, but I only knew of these two species beyond my own.

Ruen spun around. “Everyone knows where you live, and it's on my way home. So I'll be a tour guide. I'm sure you both have lots of questions about Basik and Basilians.”

Everyone knows where we live?
I shrugged my shoulders and glanced at Tata. He nodded his head a little so I assumed we had a companion.

No one spoke for a while as we walked along, until Ruen asked, “What do you want to know about my world?”

She'd asked a good question. I thought for a moment. “How about you tell us about your society? Things like your history and culture.”