Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,54
first. If my Averie is in pain, someone will die here.
The Superintendent yells “stop!” in the shrillest voice I’ve ever heard.
Everyone in the room freezes.
The Superintendent comes slowly around the table, eyes glued to the floor next to Averie. He bends down and carefully picks up her little device with all four hands, staring at it. “What is this?”
21
- Averie -
The chief Star Marshal stares at my cell phone like it’s the Holy Grail.
“That’s my cell phone,” I reply, rubbing my arm. “Please hold it closer to my arm so I don’t get shocked again.”
He comes up to me, and the other Star Marshals are now holding me so securely that I can’t move.
“Where did you get this?” the Superintendent asks in a tone that’s almost reverent.
“The Bululg force us to carry those,” I explain. “To keep track of us.”
“No, not the device. The images!”
I turn my head and squint to see what he’s looking at. “From the moon. Verv.”
“That… is inside Verv?”
Zaroc is getting back on his feet, and I raise my eyebrows at him. I have no idea what’s going on here.
“It’s the inner shell,” I confirm. “The center of the Elder moon. It’s not illegal to go there.” At least I hope it isn’t.
“This orb… it was white, and now it looks like a planet. Is the orb inside Verv?”
“In the dead center of it,” I tell him. “We think there may be an Elder inside. You should be able to hear it. May I?” I hold my hand out.
He reluctantly holds the cell phone out to me, not letting go of it. I press the side buttons to raise the volume.
“... certain things... must be made to happen…” the ghostly voice says from the tinny speaker.
“What kind of things?”
“... Earth must resist… Averie must resist…”
“We must resist the Bululg? How?”
The Superintendent’s eyes are huge and round. “Verv! It’s Verv himself talking! You! Run and fetch the Senior Justice back here. She must see this!”
A Star Marshal runs out of the room.
The video reaches the end and starts playing from the beginning. Now that I have an audience, I wish my camera work was better, a little more steady. But the orb looks pretty good as a model of the Earth.
The Justice and the uniformed errand boy come back, four guards around her. “What is it, Superintendent?”
“Averie Dashey has this device, and on it are these images with sound. Observe!”
The guards pull Zaroc further away from us, and the Justice comes in close to see.
She stiffens. “That is… is it… Verv? But this is remarkable!”
They both see the video from start to finish three times, then look at each other as if dumbstruck.
Then they look at me.
“Have you been inside Verv?” the Justice asks.
“What do you think?” Yeah, I didn’t like her previous decision one bit.
“We have,” Zaroc says quickly.
“They have,” the Superintendent says. “This is plainly the center of Verv.”
“Only the outer eight shells are open,” the Senior Justice objects. “Nobody has ever seen the ninth.”
Zaroc nods solemnly. “Averie was granted special access by Verv itself, and I was allowed in, too. We have been there.”
The Superintendent starts the video again. “They have. This is Verv himself, the Elder of the Elder moon Verv. He’s still there. And talking to Averie Dashey, having let her into his inner domain. It’s extraordinary! It changes things, Your Honor.”
“It does,” the Justice agrees, watching the screen intently.
“Leave in peace… take what is needed… all must support Averie… Earth of the most vital importance...” the Elder voice says.
The two officials look at each other.
“‘Leave in peace,’” the Senior Justice echoes, whispering.
“‘All must support Averie,’” the Superintendent replies. “We haven’t done that. An Elder commands it. We are delinquent!”
“We did not let her leave in peace,” the Justice adds. “We’re at fault.”
They both look at me like I’m a space alien. Which I guess I am.
“Please disregard my previous decision,” the Justice says. “It was the right decision legally, but the command of an Elder supersedes any galactic law. You are of course free to go about your business.”
“We will repair your ship,” the Superintendent adds. “Immediately.”
“We should give them a new one,” the Justice suggests. “If it is as you say and we broke theirs.”
“We have no ships except this one,” says the chief Star Marshal. “We only have fighter craft in this system. But we can send for one. It will be a while.”
“No need,” Zaroc says. “We must leave now. We’ll trust our own ship to carry us