CHAPTER 24
ZAREK
Failure to comply with proper archivist procedures, or the laws defined by the Intergalactic Unity Senate, will be met with proper punishment.
Beams of lavender light pour down on us in an instant, the force of them pulling my body up as if contesting the force of gravity itself.
Tractor beams; that’s what those are. I have never felt anything like them before.
I’d accepted my fate. I knew the consequences of my actions, and I was ready to face them. But as Ellie’s form is dragged up alongside mine, every atom in my body is acutely aware of the adrenaline and cortisol flooding my system, threatening to drown me in fear.
Her brown eyes, the same ones I just tried to immortalize in my mind, have grown wide with shock and dismay.
There is no telling what will happen now. The Tetheh are notoriously fair and kind, but what will they do if they have to answer to the rest of the Intergalactic Unity Senate? What will other leaders quip at their defense of her? Will she even survive?
I cannot fathom this world, or any, without her. And I refuse to start now.
She’s not far from me, so I reach out until our fingertips touch and I am able to embrace her. One arm comes around her lower back, the other crossing the span of her shoulders, and she wraps herself around my neck, allowing me to pull her in close.
I am desperate, my fingers gripping the soft fabric of her blouse, my face nuzzling the crook of her neck in hope and despair.
Tears line my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall—refuse to let what might be the last time we see one another end like this.
“I am sorry, Ellie. I never intended for a human to get roped into my plan—”
“I’m not sorry. Not even a little. I don’t regret a single moment I spent with you, Zarek. You were nothing short of a dream.” Her nose presses into mine.
For a moment, it’s just us. No spaceship, no tractor beams. There are no planets or stars, simply two beings with a deep connection, holding on until our final moment together ends.
My heart rate slows, matching the beat of hers, and it feels like…home.
Brighter lights take over my vision, a stinging sensation grazes my side, and I fight the heavy current trying to pull me under. I feel exhausted, enraged, and terrified, until I feel nothing at all.
My eyes flutter open, adjusting as I take note of my surroundings, understanding dawning on me that I am aboard a Terilian spaceship.
Although I figured this would happen, I assumed it would be me, and me alone. But it seems I was wrong, because that was not a dream, or even a nightmare. Ellie is aboard this ship, and I swear I can sense her presence nearby.
Prior to my arrival on Earth, I was trained on and eventually allowed to man a pod, but I have never been aboard one of our larger vessels. Having only seen them from afar, I had no idea how they looked on the inside. They are bigger and brighter than I could have imagined.
My hands are behind my back, locked in some sort of electric-based contraption that reminds me of the handcuffs I saw in the cosplay shop in Paris. I have never seen someone arrested, or so much as detained on Terilia, and I was unaware we had a device for something like this.
A tall, older sapphiro grips my arm, escorting me down a hallway without a word.
The floors are a dark blue, sleek and shiny, and there is a squeaking sound as someone takes a step nearby.
I try to turn my head back, but another sapphiro flanks my other side, a third shifting directly behind me, preventing me from being able to see.
“Are you guys going to say anything, or is my punishment an eternity of silence?” I ask in Terilian, but they don’t answer.
There’s that sound again.
I think those are Zul’s shoes, or maybe Ellie’s hiking boots, the bottoms causing the floors to squeak, and I am not sure if I am relieved or in pain at the sound. Both, probably.
There are cylinder posts every few hundred jbits, with trees growing through the centers. Large lights adorn the ceiling, casting an arctic blue glaze onto the structures and pieces of technology.
We pass a wall made of glass and light, showcasing different planets and star patterns, and I watch as a sapphiro’s delicate hand touches the screen, zooming in on a star that rests further into the galaxy.
Entering a room with screens that look much like oversized DIRCs, four chairs rest in the center, like ominous thrones, and I know exactly whom they belong to.
Before I can fully comprehend what is happening to me, I am released from the contraption and placed on a square tile in the center of what seems to be a mostly empty room.
The edges of the tile are cyan, and I am uncertain if I could even lie down without touching the glowing light, which I fear is more than just guidelines.
“BLEND chip and contact lenses,” one of the guards orders, reaching out an open palm. I lift my shirt, take out the chip, and then remove the contacts from my eyes. As much as I do not appreciate the demand, I am glad to be free of those uncomfortable eye discs.
Turning to my right, I find Zul being placed onto a tile beside me, his expression one of pain.
“What have you done?” I ask in Terilian. I do not want to believe he would, but there is no other explanation. “I know you believe in following orders, but this is cruel.”
“No. Zarek, I would never. I deleted our conversations, I falsified your location, I did everything you asked. When I told the Tetheh that you crash landed and made an amazing discovery, and that we needed to come get you, they were immediately suspicious,” Zul explains.
He is taller and broader than me, but in this massive space and uncomfortable lighting, he appears so very small.
“Why are you speaking English? They know everything now, there is no reason to try and hide.”
Zul looks directly behind me and nods. “I want her to know I did not betray you two.”
I quickly turn to my left to find Ellie. My Ellie.
She is still wearing the shorts and long sleeve shirt from when we were hiking, her braid wild and disheveled, her body shivering.
I run toward her, not a thought in my head about anything other than freeing her, when I hit an invisible wall, and experience an electric zap that knocks me off my feet.
“Zarek,” Ellie yells. There are tears in her eyes, and it physically pains me to see her in such anguish.
“I am okay,” I say in English, standing up and smiling to prove I am telling the truth. The pain of not being able to reach her or comfort her is far worse than the tiny jolt of electricity. “It was not a big zap, mostly just for show.”
“Okay,” she says, her hands reaching out to me, before she stops at the edge of her tile.
The chairs before us turn in one swift motion, revealing the Tetheh have been sitting there the whole time, silently listening.
Xavi, Yan, Zeek, and Zylinia. Our Tetheh. Our four senators.
Every twenty-six years, the sapphiro naming pattern changes to the next letter.
Our alphabet looks different from English, but features the same amount of letters, with similar sounds.
Xavi is the eldest member of the Tetheh, his granddaughter Zylinia the youngest, at just a few years younger than myself.
Brand new to the Tetheh, she is a bit of a wildcard. I am just hoping she does not take after her grandfather and is open to change. From what I have learned while reading our public judicial proceedings, Yan and Zeek could go either way.
“What is your name?” Yan asks Ellie, who cocks her head, eyes widening like twin saucers.
“Elliott Benshoof, sir,” she answers, a little uncertain.
“Am I correct to assume you do not speak Terilian?”
Ellie nods. “I do not.”
“Very well. We will try our best to keep the proceedings in English, as to be fair to you,” he says. Ellie, Zul, the other three Tetheh, and myself all nod in understanding.
“Zarek,” Xavi begins, his voice deep but shaky.
“You are under investigation for the following violations: aborting your mission, failure to signal for rescue, failure to alert your supervisor of your actions while off-world, and defying the protocols set by the Intergalactic Unity Senate regarding interactions with humanity. How do you plead?”
There is a part of me that wants to fabricate some sort of story, but I know it would be a fruitless effort, so I decide I might be better off telling the truth. “Guilty, Senator.”
Ellie lets out a quiet gasp, but she does not say a word. I want to look at her, to memorize the outline of her nose and chin, the curve of her shoulders and waist, but I cannot find it in me right now.
“Zul,” Xavi continues. “You are under investigation for the following violations: aiding in the derailment of a research mission, failure to alert the Tetheh of illegal activities, concealment of illegal activities including breach of Intergalactic Unity Senate protocols, and tampering with an investigation. How do you plead?”
“Guilty, senator,” Zul says, and I swear I feel my thoracic cage crack.
“Please, do not sentence him. What I asked of him was unfair. I put him in a bad position—betray his friend, or betray his government. Whatever punishment you have in store for Zul or Elliott can be assigned to me—”
“No,” Ellie and Zul shout in unison.
“Yes.” I give them both a rigid stare, my voice coming out raspy from tears and desperation. “I take full responsibility for their involvement.”
Xavi looks at the other three senators, who whisper in Terilian, before they all nod in agreement.
“Very well,” he says, his thick brows furrowed. “You will be stripped of your position as an archivist. For six months, you will clean spaceships as you train for your next assignment.”
I sigh in relief.
“Which, according to Senate guidelines, must involve something that is both potentially fatal while equally beneficial to your species’ progress,” Yan says, scratching his long, thick beard. “What did we decide on during our last meeting?”