A small lump started to crawl up the side of my throat. What was the whole point to this meeting if she didn’t believe me at all? The princess turned her direction toward the tiny keyboard that was next to her chair, pressed her finger down on a black button, and a low buzzing noise came from out of the portscreen before it turned on. Much to my surprise, displayed on the oversized portscreen were the photos that I had taken on the Titan earlier today. The princess tapped her fingers on the keyboard, carefully moving from photo to photo. She left her cursor on one of the photos I took inside of the metal house where all of the Martian women were being held against their will. “Out of all of the photos that you took, this photo stands out to me the most. Can you tell me what’s going on in this photo please, Miss Caprica?”
With a single gulp, I pushed the lump that was climbing up my throat deep down into my belly. “All of those women are being held against their will as potential suspects in the robbery of The Rings of Saturn.”
“What?” the princess snarled while leaning forward in her golden chair. She stuck her finger out like a bolt of lightning toward the photos on the screen. “They’re all being held against their will as suspects! That’s preposterous! Why would Hayate do such a thing?”
Because he has no clear leads and it’s easier to collect a group of people who you think look like the suspect than to do some actual detective work. I had no plans to say these thoughts out loud, of course. The princess leaned back in her chair with her fist propped up against her chin. “Pallene, open up the ship’s communication systems and call Hayate back.” What! No! I can’t be here. What if Hayate sees me? Then again, it had been such a crazy day, maybe he didn’t know that I was placed into one of the holding cells on the security room floor. Then again, maybe he did know; maybe he also knew that I had taken one of his escape pods for a quick joyride.
Pallene placed the black book on the floor, took two steps away from me, and began to move her fingers up and down a panel of buttons that was attached to the wall and underneath a small screen. “Hello. Yes, this is Pallene. Her Highness would like to speak with Mr. Hayate. The communication channels have been opened for this room only. Let me know if you’re able to pick up on our ship’s signal.”
An awkward silence hovered over the room. The only sound that could be heard in the room was coming from Princess Rhea, angrily tapping her fingers on the edge of her chair. I wasn’t sure if this silence would ever end, but after Pallene pressed several more buttons, lines that looked like white lightning bolts danced across the screen and, after they disappeared, a scrambled image filled with jagged multicolored lines appeared on the screen.
“This is absolutely deplorable. I can’t believe that their ship has such poor signal strength,” Pallene whispered under her breath. Once the multicolored lines fell into place, a clear image of Mr. Hayate sitting at a desk filled with papers came into view.
“Your Highness. How can I help you? Did you need more clarification on what we just talked about?” he said with a slightly nervous twitch.
The edges of the princess’s mouth turned up into a small smile. “It’s funny that you would use the word ‘clarification,’ because that’s exactly what I need.” The princess moved her fingers across the keyboard next to her; a thick white line appeared in the middle of the large portscreen. Mr. Hayate was to the left of the screen while the photos I had taken of the women who had been held against their will were to the right. I watched as Mr. Hayate nervously repositioned himself in his chair. “I desperately need some clarification about these images. I’ve been told that there are Martian women being held against their will on your ship. That they are suspects in the robbery. Please tell me this isn’t true.”
Mr. Hayate ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair and slowly rubbed his tongue across his lips. “Your Highness, this is just a small piece that’s a part of a huge investigation. And sometimes—”
With the same high-speed ferocity as a rocket, the princess shot up from out of her chair, then charged toward the portscreen with her tightly balled fist hanging at her side. “Don’t preach to me about how treating Martians poorly is such a small thing in the grand scheme of things. I don’t see any humans being held against their will in these photos!”
“Your Highness—”
Princess Rhea gracefully placed her hands behind her back. “I placed my complete trust in you to not only guard The Rings of Saturn but to also find those rings after they were stolen while under your care!” I watched as the princess’s sharp words cut away at Mr. Hayate. He could barely stay still in his chair. “I don’t like this. I don’t like that you’ve kept information from me, and I have to wonder what else you are keeping from me that you think or feel is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.”
She paused, then the princess did something that I didn’t even see coming. She waved her hand in my direction, motioning me to come over to her. My feet felt like they were stuck in a thick block of cement. Pallene saw that I was unable to move, so she put her hand on the edge of my back and she pushed me forward. I clumsily made my way toward the princess. When I was close enough, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “Just so we can have more clarification, I’m going to send an ambassador to your ship.” Wait, what! There was no way that she was serious about doing this, was she? Her Highness wanted me to search for The Rings of Saturn on her behalf. I thought I just might faint right now.
“Your Highness, that won’t be necessary….” As Mr. Hayate’s voice slowly trailed off, I did everything but look up at the large screen in front of me. “You look familiar. Tell me, miss, what’s your name?”
It looked like there was no avoiding the possibility of him recognizing me. “My name is Cosmic Callisto Caprica, sir.” Hearing the sound of my name sent Mr. Hayate into an uncontrollable frenzy. He started to shove the lopsided stacks of paper from off of his desk. He dug into a pile of papers in the center of his desk. He picked up a handful of papers; as he read the words on the papers to himself, a look of complete and utter disgust traveled down from the top of his forehead, then to the bottom of his chin. He slammed his palm down on the edge of his desk. “I thought I recognized your name! You’re the girl that’s been going around causing all sorts of trouble on my ship and sticking your tiny little nose where it doesn’t belong!” He slammed the papers onto his desk. “You assaulted one of my officers, you incited a riot, you broke into a woman’s house, and—”
“That’s enough! Any charges against her are to be dropped immediately. Do you understand me?” the princess commanded, her authoritative tone of voice bringing the discussion to an end and leaving no room open for a rebuttal.
Mr. Hayate dug his nails into the papers on his desk. There was nothing he could do about the charges that were being filed against me, since I was receiving a royal pardon from the princess. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his chin. “So when should I expect this ambassador of yours to arrive?” He pronounced the word “ambassador” like it was some foul word that should never be said in public.
“Very soon. We will call you and let you know when she will arrive. I expect you to give my ambassador the utmost respect and give her complete free range to conduct her investigation.” The princess turned toward Pallene. After she gave her a slight nod, Pallene tapped on a few buttons and the portscreen went black. I covered my mouth with my hands; to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I should say. This was going far beyond my own expectations. I just wanted to let the princess know what was happening on the ship and nothing else. Princess Rhea placed her hands over her eyes and flopped back down into her golden chair. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Sorry about what?” I asked.
More tears slid down from the crevasses of the princess’s fingers and down onto the floor below. “Any and everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and now, to top it all off, I’ve dragged you, an innocent person, into this messy situation.” Even more tears start
ed to fall from the corners of her fingers. “By the Goddess, I’m so selfish. I didn’t even ask you if you wanted to be my ambassador.” She hiccupped. “I’m so sorry; I got caught up in the moment and volunteered you without thinking, and I’ve already put you through so much.” Directly behind me, I could hear Pallene sniffling. I had all I could do to stop the tears that were sitting right on the edges of my eyes. “All I wanted to do was share my people’s culture and hopefully open up a dialogue between humans and Martians so that maybe we could begin the healing process between both races.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not sure what propelled me forward, but I somehow managed to pull the princess’s hands from her face. “I would be honored to be your ambassador.” The tears that I was holding back finally fell from my eyes. “I won’t let you down.”
Chapter 17
Pallene quickly made arrangements for me to travel back to the Titan so I could start my job as the princess’s personal detective/ambassador. Pallene escorted me to the ship’s undercarriage; there, a pilot was waiting for me inside one of the same silver ships that tried to shoot me down earlier. “Good luck, Miss Caprica.” With that, Pallene walked away from the silver ship.
“Make sure you keep your hands in your lap while I close the ship,” the pilot said. I watched as the top half of the ship rose up from out of the thin opening on the sides; just like my dad’s flying saucer, the two sides perfectly snapped together. “Hold on tight; we’re getting ready to take off.” Three seconds later, the panels underneath the ship opened up and the ship took off with so much force that I was pushed from the edge of my chair to the back of it.
After the pilot dropped me off on the Titan’s parking lot, I was greeted by two stone-faced security officers. Without uttering a single word, I knew that I was supposed to follow them. The three of us took an employee elevator that was on the other side of the parking lot. Once the doors to the employee elevator swung open on the security room floor, all of the commotion in the hallway stopped immediately. As the two security guards escorted me down the hallway, I could feel the cold, hard stares of the people near me, examining every inch of my body, trying to figure out why I was there and not in the cell that I was in hours ago. One of the guards stopped in front of a door that was near the end of the hall. He knocked on the door twice. Someone called out “Come in,” and the guard pushed the door open.
As I walked through the doorway, I read the shiny silver plate that was hanging over it: “Hayate.” I sat down in front of Mr. Hayate’s chaotic-looking desk. I looked up at him, and he had his fingers tightly pressed together directly in front of his lips. “I’m sure you must be very proud of yourself right now. Just look at yourself.” He smacked his hands down onto his desk. I jumped a little in my seat, but I kept my eyes on him. I couldn’t look away and if I showed any kind of weakness or apprehension, he wouldn’t take me seriously at all.
I readjusted myself in my chair. “You may not like the fact that I’m here or that I’m the princess’s ambassador, but that’s the way it is. You’re just going to have to deal with it.”
Mr. Hayate let out a tiny little chuckle. “I bet you think this is some type of game. Do you really think that I’m going to just let you frolic around my ship and just do whatever you want in the middle of my investigation?”
I smiled. “Oh, but I have been doing whatever I wanted in the middle of your so-called investigation.” I got up from my seat and I placed my hands on the empty spot where the three stacks of papers used to be, leaned forward, and looked into his black eyes. “This isn’t a game to me. And I think it would be in your best interest to cooperate with me, seeing as I have the princess on my side.” With a grim look on his face, Mr. Hayate pushed his chair away from his desk. “The way I see it, you can do your investigation and then I can do my own. We can compare pieces of evidence and I’ll report our findings to the princess.”
Mr. Hayate rolled his eyes. “Our findings,” he said after letting out a puff of air.
I thought I had the perfect cure for Mr. Hayate and his nasty little attitude. I reached down into the bag that Pallene had given me and pulled out the receipt I’d found in Mimas’s trash can. With as much force as I could muster, I slammed the receipt down onto Mr. Hayate’s desk. Three tall stacks of paper to the left of me toppled over. “I know for a fact that you have a woman named Mimas in custody and that she’s a prime suspect in the robbery.” I paused for dramatic effect; I had Mr. Hayate’s complete undivided attention. “But this receipt, which, by the way, I found in her garbage can in her home, proves that she couldn’t have stolen the rings because she was at home during the time of the robbery!” I picked my hand up from off the receipt. Mr. Hayate quickly snatched it up. “If you look at the bottom of the receipt, you’ll see a time stamp and underneath that is Mimas’s signature.” I sat back down in my chair with my arms folded. “You’ve got no choice but to release her.” Rubbing that evidence in his face after everything that I went through to not only get it but keep it—God knows that felt really good. Mr. Hayate reached over his desk, then he dropped the receipt onto the floor. “You didn’t even look at it!” I hissed through my teeth.
Mr. Hayate rested his face on his knuckles; he had a crooked devilish-looking smirk on his face. “I don’t need to look at it because the fact of the matter is Mimas is guilty. Now while you were digging through the trash for your little piece of evidence, I’m sure you must have noticed the unorganized state that Mimas house was in, correct?” I shook my head yes. I was not sure where he was going with this. I had undeniable proof that she wasn’t on the security room floor during the robbery. He couldn’t debunk that! “In the middle of their search, they found something very interesting.” Mr. Hayate reached underneath his desk and pulled out a black lockbox. He brushed some papers aside and placed the box on his desk. After fiddling with the lock, he turned the box toward me and threw the lid open. Sitting on top of a small satin pillow inside of the box was one of The Rings of Saturn. I recognized it from the book that the princess showed me. Unfortunately, the illustration in the book couldn’t capture the brilliance and radiant beauty of the rainbow gems that were neatly placed across the golden ring. As the light that came from above Mr. Hayate’s desk hit the ring, each gem cast off its own tiny multicolored ray of light. Gorgeous, mesmerizing hues of red, yellow, blue, purple, and orange danced across the room.
There was no way they found this in Mimas’s house! She was home! I had evidence that supported this; I mean, there was no way she could have taken the rings, escaped, and gotten back home in time enough to hide them. This made no sense at all. Mr. Hayate slammed the lid on the lockbox shut. “Mimas is not as innocent as you think she is.”
I couldn’t believe they found one of the rings in her house. Wait, one of the rings; they only found one of them! “Where are the rest of the rings? Is this the only one you found?”
“Yes, this is the only one. We’re keeping Mimas in custody until she can tell us where the rest of the rings are.” He leaned back in his chair, that same devilish smirk still on his face; he seemed so proud of himself and the fact that he was able to destroy the single piece of evidence that he thought that I had. I was going to keep my hunches to myself and I’d see what other pieces of information I could pull out of him.
“What a perplexing situation. Mimas was clearly home at the time of the robbery and yet your men only managed to find one single ring. Her home is so small, there’s no way she could hide all of the rings from you. Tell me, when did you find the ring?”
“Oh, we found it yesterday afternoon somewhere around two o’clock.” It took everything in me not to point my finger at him and call him a complete and utter liar. Yesterday around two o’clock, I was in Mimas’s house alone digging through her smelly trash can looking for the receipt I had just shown him. This wasn’t right! He was really going out of his way to pin this entire robbery on Mimas and I didn’t know why. But I did know this: it was his word agai
nst mine and if I were to say that I was there at the supposed time when his men found the rings, he would deny it or change the time when he found the rings. I’d keep that bit of info to myself. The best thing I could do was to find cold, hard facts to help rule out the possibility that Mimas had anything to do with this robbery. But that was going to be tough, seeing as I was going up against the head of security for this ship whose word was law. It was no matter; I had a lot of work that I needed to do and I couldn’t accomplish anything by sitting here in this room looking at this liar.
“I want you to make a formal announcement to everyone here that I’m the princess’s ambassador and that my mission is to give the princess a progress report on how things are going with your investigation on this ship along with my own. I want full access to everything here on the security room floor and I require an assistant as well.”
The smirk on Mr. Hayate’s face faded away, and he planted his hands back on his desk. “Fine,” he said sharply. I politely extended my hand toward Mr. Hayate. “I’m looking forward to working with you and your staff.”
Thankfully, all of my needs were meet in a timely fashion. Mr. Hayate made an announcement to all of his staff members about my position and that they were to help me with whatever I needed. My first order of business was to get back all of my confiscated belongings. Fortunately, both my camera and my cute little tea dress covered in roses were still in perfect condition. I changed out of the dress that the princess had given me and back into my comfortable tea dress. Since I’d had such great chemistry with Carol and Gary earlier, I decided to make them both my assistants for the time being.
Before I had the chance to sit down and talk with Carol and Gary the video phone next to the door started to ring. The words “private number” scrolled across the screen next to the receiver.
Cosmic Callisto Caprica & the Missing Rings of Saturn Page 18