Randoms (15 page)

“Don't touch me again,” he said to me. “You won't like what happens.”

Before I could answer, Steve was now standing in front of me, leveling his dark eyes at Ardov. He extended one of his thin fingers and tapped Ardov's shoulder. “Touch,” he said. He said it without inflection, but there was no mistaking the steel behind it.

Ardov shook his head and snorted. “The three of you are just looking for trouble, aren't you?”

“No, we aren't,” Tamret said. She had her eyes cast down, like she was a servant and Ardov was her very mean employer. “We were just talking.”

“Who gave you permission to talk?” Ardov asked in that mock-serious way kids like him get, like they're working so hard to pretend they have authority, they almost start to believe it.

My teeth were now grinding. Ardov was the extraterrestrial embodiment of everything I hated. I thought I'd gotten away from this kind of thing, but here was another kid who acted however he wanted and never faced any real consequences. Dealings with someone like that always started out nasty and ended up worse.

Steve's muscles visibly stiffened under his scales, like he was getting ready to fight. So far Ardov had done nothing but talk, and if Steve threw the first punch, he would be the one to get in trouble for it. I admired his guts—Ardov was much bigger than he was.

It was Thiel who saved us, though. “I'm bored and hungry,” she said. “Can we go already?”

Ardov looked at Tamret. “You're coming with us, Snowflake.” It wasn't a question. “You can fetch our food for us.”

“No way,” Thiel said. “I don't want to have to look at
that
stuff its ugly face.”

“I won't let her actually eat with us,” Ardov said. “Just serve us.”

Thiel turned away. “I don't want it touching my food.”

Ardov smiled at Tamret. “Next time, maybe.”

Tamret watched them go, her lavender eyes narrow slits, her
expression unreadable—and not only because she was an alien.

“What was that about?” I asked her. “What's his problem, exactly?”

She didn't answer me. She didn't even look at me. Instead she turned to Steve. “You want to go mess with Thiel's stuff?”

Steve appeared to consider this for a moment. “That could be fun.”

•   •   •

I sat next to Tamret on the floor. Steve was lying on Thiel's bed, rubbing his back against the blanket, which struck me as a little odd, but I was working on being less judgmental. It seemed like we all wanted to act like nothing had happened with Ardov. I knew that game all too well—the postbully intentional amnesia—and I was willing to play along.

I had been studying the skill tree on my data bracelet. Tamret was next to me, leaning in to see better. She smelled like flowers and something warm and pleasingly musty.

“I need to level up, but I don't know what skills to pick,” I said.

Steve was wiggling all over the bed. “Go strength and agility,” he said. “Never hurts to toughen up.”

“What are you doing over there?” I finally asked him.

“I'm molting,” he said. “I get all itchy, and if I need to get rid of the old scales, I might as well do it all over Tamret's prissy roommate's bed. You have a problem with that?”

“Leaving old reptile skin in Thiel's bed? I have absolutely no problem at all,” I said. I looked at Tamret. “How did you spend your skill points?”

“That's private,” she said, smiling like she had a secret. The Rarels were the only species I'd found so far that smiled the
same way human beings did. Either I was completely misreading things, or many of their expressions were like ours.

“Come on,” I said. “At least tell me how you decided.”

“Maybe when I know you a little better.”

I looked at the skill tree one more time and sighed. “I wish I knew what I was going to need, but since I don't, I guess I may as well follow the recommendations for the one thing I've already done and been okay at.”

“What's that?” she asked.

“Starship operations,” I said. I then opened up the skill tree in my HUD, and I applied points until I was at level seven.

•   •   •

You'd think I'd feel different. I had put points into agility, intellect, and vision, but I didn't feel any smarter or more agile, and I didn't notice if my vision had improved. The only thing I felt was apprehension as I went to my meeting with the Xeno-Affairs Judicial Council. If there were a reason to be worried, I told myself, Dr. Roop would have warned me. Presuming he knew.

I met Ms. Price and Dr. Roop in the lobby of one of the nearby government buildings. Aliens of different species rushed all around us, many of them wearing boxy suits. Dr. Roop wore one, along with a gas-giant Confederation pin on his left breast pocket, which I took as a sign of this meeting's importance. Ms. Price wore a pantsuit and had applied enough red lipstick to make her look like she'd just been drinking blood. Her hair was tied into a bun so tight I feared she would cut off the circulation in her scalp.

“What exactly is this meeting about?” I asked as we rode up
an escalator made only of translucent blue energy.

“The Xeno-Affairs Judicial Council handles all treaties with non-Confederation governments,” Dr. Roop explained. “That means both the Phandic Empire and nonaligned worlds that send potential members, such as your own. You can understand why you might be of particular interest to Chief Justice Junup.”

“I guess,” I said. “But that doesn't tell me what this meeting is about.”

“He just wants to meet you,” Dr. Roop said. We'd risen up several levels, and now Dr. Roop led us down a winding corridor. We stopped, at last, in front of a door that looked completely indistinguishable from all the others.

“There is nothing to worry about,” Dr. Roop told me. “However, be certain to be respectful. This is a high-ranking committee, and Junup is extremely influential. It would be wise to make a good impression on him.”

“Is he on my side?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

Dr. Roop looked away. “He is on the Confederation's side.”

“Don't be nervous,” Ms. Price said. “You're in good hands.” She then opened the door and gestured for me and Dr. Roop to enter.

Inside I saw a space that looked a great deal like the conference room on the
Dependable
. On the far side of the table, standing and looking impatient, was a being I presumed must be Chief Justice Junup. I was surprised that no one had mentioned in advance that he looked a whole lot like a goat with a turtle's shell. The shell was small and tightly contoured to his body, but it was bulky enough to make wearing a shirt difficult. Instead he had a billowing cape that hung over his shoulders. Peeking out from the shell was a very goatlike head with
a long snout and curling horns. He also had a beard. It would have been a more comical mix if he were not an impressive level fifty-one.

He pressed his palms to his ears, which I presumed to be some kind of goat-turtle greeting. “You know who I am,” he said, his voice less goaty than I would have guessed. Actually, his voice was low and kind of snooty—if anything, he sounded strangely like Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies. “I know who you are. Let us not waste time with introductions and, instead, get to our business. Sit.”

I chose an empty chair, and Dr. Roop and Ms. Price sat to either side of me. The Chief Justice sat across.

“Chief Justice,” I began. “I wanted to let you know—”

“You are here to answer questions, not make speeches,” Junup said, “I will let you know when I require a response.”

“Let's do it that way,” I said, trying to sound like I was neither embarrassed nor annoyed when I was, in fact, both.

Ms. Price glowered at me, and I had the sense she wanted me to stop talking.

Junup seemed oblivious to all this. “The Phandic Empire,” he continued, “has petitioned for your extradition, charging you with the wanton destruction of life and property.”

“That's absurd,” said Dr. Roop.

“It is not absurd,” the goat-turtle said in his deep voice. “The applicant may have brought us to the brink of war with the Phandic Empire. What say you, applicant?”

“I didn't bring anything to anyone,” I said. “They killed the members of the Ganari delegation, and they were trying to destroy the
Dependable
.”

Junup leveled his little pink eyes at me. “I have reviewed
the transcript of events. We need not recount them. It is enough for you to know that your actions have caused grave consequences.”

“The Phands may not like that one of their ships was destroyed,” Dr. Roop said, “but as they instigated an unprovoked attack, I'm not certain we should care how they feel.”

“Regardless of how events unfolded,” the chief justice answered, sounding somewhat annoyed, “the Phandic Empire states that because the incident took place outside Confederation space, and because no citizens of the Confederation were harmed, they have broken none of our laws. However, as Mr. Reynolds destroyed one of their ships, killing many of their citizens, they want him extradited to stand trial in one of their courts.”

“I presume this request is not receiving any serious consideration,” Dr. Roop said.

“It is the responsibility of the council to consider all diplomatic requests,” the chief justice answered.

I felt something twist inside me. The possibility of turning me over to the Phands was actually on the table. I would be sent off, to prison or to be killed. I would never see home again. I would never see my mother. I'd come out here to save her. What would it do to her if I were never to come back?

The chief justice turned his goat-turtle gaze on Ms. Price. “As a representative of your world, do you have any thoughts on this matter?”

Ms. Price leaned back and folded her hands together as if gathering her thoughts. Nevertheless, I had the distinct impression she had been waiting for an opportunity to deliver her well-rehearsed lines. “The people of Earth wish to do all
in our power to protect the rights and safety of its citizen,” she said, her voice flat, as if reading from a script. “Nevertheless, we understand that Mr. Reynolds's actions were disagreeable within your culture, and he must be judged by your standards, not by ours. As we put the highest priority on our continued good relationship with the Confederation, the people of Earth will not object to any decision the council should reach.”

I couldn't believe it. Ms. Price has just said she would not object if the Confederation sent me off to their greatest enemy.

“Dr. Roop,” said the chief justice. “Your thoughts?”

Dr. Roop raised himself up in his seat, as if to emphasize his considerable height. “To be blunt, Chief Justice, I find it shameful that you are taking this demand seriously. I would never, under any circumstances, consent to an applicant under my protection being handed over to a foreign power to stand trial, but in this case I must object all the more forcefully. The Phands may say that Mr. Reynolds is a war criminal, but we know he heroically acted to save the lives of those on board the
Dependable
—and, I might add, to keep the
Dependable
itself from enemy hands. To deliver him to our enemy, simply because that enemy demands it, would be the worst sort of cowardice imaginable.”

Junup glowered at Dr. Roop for a long moment and then sighed. “I appreciate your candor, Roop. At this point, I also think turning Mr. Reynolds over to the Phandic Empire is neither advantageous nor advisable. For the time being, it seems, he is to remain here.”

That was mostly good news, I thought, other than that this was a decision only for
the time being
. My fate had been postponed, not decided.

The three adults began to rise, which I cleverly deduced meant the meeting was over. Without a glance back at us, Junup strode from the room, his cape billowing behind him. Ms. Price walked out, and I started to leave as well, but Dr. Roop reached out and took hold of my forearm.

“I'm sorry about all this, Zeke,” he said in a whisper, lowering his neck considerably—perhaps a gesture of humility? “You're not seeing the best face of the Confederation. I hope you'll give us a chance to show you that we are better than this.”

I liked that he was worried about how I saw him, not just thinking I should worry about how he and his kind saw me. He was a real class act, that Dr. Roop. “I understand.”

“Please avoid speaking to data collectors, the representatives of the news outputs. To that end, and to avoid trouble in general, maybe you should stay on the government compound for the next week or two. Just until things cool down. The demands for your extradition are now going to be reported by the news outputs, and you might find yourself a little too conspicuous if you go out in public.”

I didn't like it, but I nodded. There was enough new and wondrous stuff to keep me occupied here for a week, I thought.

I'd only stepped out into the hallway when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found Ms. Price standing there.

“Well, that's a relief,” she said, as though she had not just tried to sell me out.

“Really?” I snapped. “What happened to me being in good hands?”

“Oh, I didn't mean mine,” she said, holding up her hands, turning them back and forth. “You don't want to be in these. I meant Dr. Roop.”

“Well, now I know where I stand,” I said, starting to walk off.

“Don't take things so personally,” she said, stepping in front of me to block my exit.

“What would I take personally?” I asked. “That you tried to turn me over to an alien enemy who hates my guts so they can try me as a war criminal? Don't be silly.”

She sighed. “I'm not the bad guy here, Zeke. My job is to ensure that Earth makes it into the Confederation. There are billions of people depending on that, including your mother. I can't trade the fate of an entire world for that of one young man. I hated having to say those things in there, but I'm here to safeguard our entire planet, not just one citizen.”