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.
Chapter 3
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.”
“That sounds like fun. I will slant my discussion towards science, though, as that is my main interest. Let me think for a moment about where to start.”
Sometimes Ruen sounded like a teenager and sometimes like a professor—an interesting young person, I thought.
“Let us stop here,” Ruen said, pointing at stools beside an open area, before she started what I would assume would be a lecture. I had only just met Ruen but I felt I already had a good grasp of her nature.
“What is this place?” I asked. We stood on the sidewalk beside an empty lot between two buildings, right in downtown Basik.
“It’s a historical site. It is here to remind us that our planet was once covered with flowing water. Before you are the remains of a river bed.” Ruen gestured towards the area in front of us.
I sat down on a stool, lowered my bag, and looked around. There were pebbles and stones, along with stools, for sitting, dispersed throughout the entire lot. The actual outline of a river bed proved harder to discern.
“Where do you get your water now, if the flowing water is gone? Is it all gone?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed any shortage of water so far during our stay on Basili. Although, being involved with a diplomatic entourage may have clouded my perception.
“We have lots of water underground. It is not a problem. Although, there are some in the scientific community who would like to transform Basili to reflect its past.”
“Is that possible?” I asked. I hadn’t ever studied terraforming.
“Probably, but it is an area outside my expertise.”
Again Ruen sounded like a professor. Perhaps she would be one, someday, precocious and intelligent as she was.
“What do people do at this park?” An aura of solitude permeated the area—park was the perfect word. A couple of Basilians were within our sight, but not many—which seemed strange for such a busy city.
“They seek peace and contentment by Merily, a method of attaining relaxation of the body,” said Ruen. She picked up a stone with her six-toed foot and put it in her hand, so I grabbed one too.
“This is beautiful,” I said. The stone had a flattened bottom, and the top shone brightly, even though the sun had started to set. Taking a closer look, I noticed a clear coating with flecks in the interior.
“How you do Merily?” asked Tata.
“There are many ways of accomplishing relaxation but Merily, if done properly, allows you to relax your mind, and therefore your body follows,” said Ruen.
A familiar concept, I thought, as I wracked my brain.
“This is like meditation,” I said. “Not something I’ve tried, though.”
“Merily is usually for older people,” said Ruen.
I picked up a few more rocks. “These are all different,” I said to Ruen.
“There is great variety, I agree. Some people collect them for a Merily bowl to use in their home.”
“Deplete area?” asked Tata, always the practical one.
“City workers replace the stones periodically,” said Ruen. “We have lots of dry river beds to choose from.”
So the park gives a sense of continuity with the past, I thought. I marveled again on the differences between Arandi and Basilian speech patterns. From a common root—much like twins—their evolution however had produced significant differences.
“May I collect some?” I asked. The twinkling stones beckoned to me, for some reason.
“Of course. Basik is your home now.”
Ruen was such a sweet kid, and so mature. She stood up and turned towards me. She stood still, quite unlike her usual nature. “Nara, why were you and Tata at police headquarters today?”
That’s right; she’d followed us from there. “We were visiting The Temple of Enlightenment after school and discovered a dead Basilian. So a detective, Officer Kikess, wanted to interview us.”
Ruen got the strangest look on her face. Perhaps not strange, but one I couldn’t interpret.
“A sad day,” said Ruen.
“Yes, it is a sad day.”
“Do you know who died?” she asked.
“Not a clue,” I replied. I thought for a moment. “Tata, why did you decide the dead Basilian was an older person?”
“Hair darker.”
Obviously I looked confused, even to Ruen, because she said, “Basilian hair darkens with age.”
Her words explained a lot, but not everything. “But why did I see a white-haired Basilian talking to the main priest at The Temple of Enlightenment?”
“Not possible,” said Ruen.
“Never saw,” said Tata.
So were they both calling me a liar? I collected stones for a while and put them in my day pack. Perhaps I’d need a meditation bowl—no one believes what I saw. “I need to get going. I told my father I wouldn’t be late for dinner. Perhaps we’ll see you tomorrow, Ruen.”
She walked with us to our building, and then set off for her own home.
In the lobby of our building, I spoke with Tata. “A very tiring day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be less stressful.”
“Yes. Homework tonight.”
“Oh, that’s right. I have quite a bit too. See you tomorrow morning then.”
We took the elevator to our apartments, getting off at different floors. I found my father in our kitchen putting some dinner together. He wasn’t a bad cook, but not really creative.
“How was your walk? Feeling a little more relaxed?” he asked.
“Actually, I am. We met a young Basilian girl who goes to our school. She’s a little younger than we are, about three cycles, but she got to go to BSU because she’s bright. She took us to a park and explained a bit of Basilian history.”
“Good. New friends are a great idea.”
“We just met her, Dad. What’s for dinner?” Parents could be so pushy.
“One of your favorites. Pasta.” He continued to work on his preparations.
I noticed he had a serious look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
He hesitated. “I’ll tell you after dinner.”
“No, tell me now. I won’t be able to eat if I don’t know what’s bothering you.”
He put his knife on the counter. “I had a call from Officer Kikess. He wants to see you and Tata tomorrow morning.”
“Why?” This didn’t sound like something to look forward to.
“Apparently, they had machines recording your interviews. These machines are supposed to be able to tell if a suspect is telling the truth. However, they don’t seem to work on humans or Arandi.”
“Okay. So we’ll talk to him again tomorrow.” Another nuisance time-waster.
“Yes, we need to go to police headquarters for an interview, but he wants to give you a truth serum first.”
Chapter 4
“Truth serum? I know the police machines didn’t work, but isn’t a truth serum a little extreme?” I asked. “Doesn’t he believe me? When he took us to the entrance, Kikess told us we’d done well.” Weariness infused my bones. “I can’t believe this!” I though
t the unfortunate crisis was over. I didn’t need the wound reopened.
“I think Kikess is just doing his job,” said Dad. He put his knife down on the counter and studied me.
How can I get out of this examination tomorrow? I made a wild guess. “Maybe the truth serum is poisonous?”
“I’ve asked Kevin to look into this issue. He should get back to us shortly.” Kevin and his wife, Sylvia, were Dad’s assistants, but they were also doctors and surgeons. They’d been selected to accompany us to look after our physical health, in addition to their regular duties with Dad. They were excited to be experiencing this culture, and talked to me about it whenever they had a chance.
“I don’t like this one bit.” I stomped around the kitchen. “I need a glass of wine.”
Before I had a chance to get one, Dad poured a glass and handed it to me without a word. I slumped onto a stool.
After a moment, he said, “How are you getting along in school? What are your professors like? Did you get the classes you wanted?”
Another father-daughter moment. I knew he still missed Mom, but she’d passed away ten years ago. I had to give Dad credit though; he tried to be responsive to my needs. Generally, I welcomed his interest in my affairs, but he needed to loosen the strings a little.
“The university is a bit strange. The Basilians look at things so differently—at least that was my first impression. But now I’m beginning to see their perspectives and relate it to ours. It’s a bit of a challenge, but rewarding when I figure something out.”
“How are you and Tata getting along?”
“Oh fine. We know each other fairly well. He’s just not very chatty, you know.”
Dad smiled. I was sure he felt the same way about Tata’s mother, Ilandus.
Over dinner, I offered details about my classes and the structure of Basilian higher education. “Like most universities, or higher education, the first couple of years—cycles, I mean—include courses from outside your main focus,” I said.
“So, although I want to major in chemistry, I’m taking courses this cycle in history and gardening. It’s too bad we don’t have a house with some land; I really would like to try my hand at growing some of the strange foods and flowers they have on Basili. My professor says we might be able to tolerate a few of the vegetables.”
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