Beyond the Stars (42 page)

“I clearly state that my intentions are pure. I had not anticipated encountering my companion on this mission, but I did. I choose her. I do not see this as a problem, for we seek a long-term relationship with the people of Earth.”

“You, Samantha, do you feel the same way?” his deep voice echoed across the room.

“Yes, I do,” I replied.

“Witnesses, please verify what they say is true.”

“They are devoted to each other. Gaelan has never taken this commitment lightly. It is the only time he has taken such a vow,” explained Tyden.

“Did you approve the arrangement?” The councilman focused in on Tyden.

“Yes, I did freely,” he answered firmly. There was a dragging moment of silence before either of them spoke.

“I know you would only approve those you believe in,” replied the councilman. “But we do not want to interbreed like the Dreons have. We cannot commit such an atrocity in our society.”

“There is no reason for such a fear,” Urit interjected. “She is exactly the same as us. Our chromosomal make-up is identical.” I wanted to chime in that Gaelan and I hadn’t considered starting a family together but managed to keep quiet. I suddenly worried about my irresponsible behavior of having unprotected sex.

The councilman’s eyes met Urit’s. “This is true, but the Dreons are aware of her. It may uncover a trail revealing her true identity. It will fracture our excuse. Then what? The Dreons will break the treaty. They will take more than our DNA. They will start taking our people again. We could not defend our position that interbreeding is against our beliefs.”

“Surely, this one girl cannot damage our arrangement with the Dreons,” Tyden replied.

“It threatens our reputation,” replied the councilman angrily. “Our peaceful world will cease to exist. They may be planning an attack. We will be forced into battle. Tyden Rigel, I do not have to remind you, of all people, of the casualties of war.” Murmurs of discussion passed through the stands. I looked at the people, only to be met with unfriendly glares.

“Samantha, did you tell them you are from Earth?”

“No, but they kept asking,” I answered truthfully. Voices of the council members exploded into an uproar. We looked around as the previously demure people came to life and started yelling and fighting with one another. Now I was really getting nervous.
Oh, please let them not have news on how the Dreons had implanted a tracer in my body.

“Silence!” shouted the councilman with deafening volume. The group immediately obliged, and the room became uncomfortably silent. The councilman paced back and forth in front of us while he thought. His shoes tapped loudly across the hard floor. “Can you be
certain
you did not tell them of your planet?”

“I did not, sir,” I answered weakly.

“Are you
absolutely
certain?” he said, jutting his face up to mine while grabbing both sides of the armrest of my chair, blocking my escape.

“Yes,” I said defensively.

“Good,” he said, slowly backing away. “Because if you are wrong, and I’m not saying you are, but if you
did
imagine your home, the repercussions are unforgivable. We need to be certain that your return to Earth will not cause your people to become the Dreons’ next victims. I would insist you stay here rather than cause your people any undue suffering inflicted by the Dreons.” I looked at Gaelan in terror. He looked back at me from the corner of his eyes and took in a deep breath, followed by a quick exhale. I was sure he was trying to control his temper. Suddenly, I worried the council would prevent me from returning home. My adrenaline surged, making my hands turn to ice and tremble on the armrest. I didn’t want to be stuck here for good.

The judge continued his deliberate stride around the room as he collected a sheet of paper from the panel of men and women in the front row. Each of them wore a wide white scarf over their black robes. He stopped walking and carefully read each note. I waited for him to speak. The seconds slowly ticked by. Finally, he looked up from the pile of papers. “Hmm,” he groaned to himself before he flicked the papers with the back of his other hand. “Samantha, are you planning on residing on Kataria?” he said, turning his attention back on me. Oh, thank goodness—it sounded like he was offering me a choice.

“No. I would like to return home. I have a family there.”

“Gaelan, I do not understand. Do you plan to leave Kataria forever?”

“I would like the ability to return home at will,” Gaelan replied. The judge gave Gaelan a hint of a smile. He seemed pleased by his answer.

“I see.” He turned to face me. “Samantha, we will no longer burden you with our legal matters. You have given us all the information we need. We will make our decision after we discuss this matter further with Gaelan and Tyden,” he said with a lighter tone in his voice. “You are, by the way, as I imagined. We have heard much about you from your friend, Noah. I hope that we will remain allies for years to come.” His demeanor changed from terrifying to sweet. His dual personalities made me wary of trusting him.

“Yes, of course,” I replied graciously, hiding the deep anxiety I felt about their reports.

“Urit, you may return to your responsibilities. Samantha, please allow Urit to show you the way out.”

Urit took my hand to pull me from my chair and led me out of the courtroom. Tyden and Gaelan stayed behind for further questioning. Gaelan looked up at me with his piercing blue eyes when I walked by him. I didn’t know if he thought it was going well or not. But judging by his expression, I knew he wouldn’t back down from what he believed in. His eyes were bursting with determination.

“That’s it. That’s all we get to say?” I asked Urit once we got outside of the courtroom.

“Yes, sometimes less is more,” Urit replied. I sighed. “I think it went well,” Urit said encouragingly as he put his arm around my shoulder.

I shrugged. “I’m not so sure. I wish they would just say everything is okay and let it go.”

“Don’t worry, Sam. Some things take time. Be patient. You must have faith in Gaelan. He will do what is best.”

“Thank you. You’re a good friend.” I smiled at him.

“As are you,” Urit replied.

“Urit, has everyone here heard stories about me?”

“No, only people in our field and the council. It will be to your benefit, though. I am sure that their previous knowledge of you only helps your defense. In case you haven’t noticed, they like to get into everyone’s business. Now you understand why so many of us prefer to live on the ship, to avoid getting involved with this nonsense.”

“Are your people considered free?”

“Yes, we are free to pursue our interests. The council only gets involved when politics are challenged. They want us to act in a morally acceptable manner and uphold Katarian law. They serve to maintain order but tend to blur the lines to serve their own curiosity.”

“
Gaelan
,” I shouted excitedly when the courtroom door opened and he and Tyden stepped out through the door.

“Samantha, we need to talk.” Gaelan took hold of my hand and led me briskly down the hall into the lobby. Tyden gave Urit a look filled with apprehension.

“What did they say?” I asked impatiently.

“Not here,” he muttered. He rushed me towards the door. He seemed to be in hurry to leave.

***

We exited the building, walking directly into a mass of people awaiting us for questioning. There had to be seventy-five of them. Word of our trial had gotten out. Inquisitive people were yelling their questions at us once we walked out the door.

“Thank you all for coming,” Tyden spoke out to the rambunctious group of people in a deep voice that overshadowed the others. “This is Samantha Bennett, our visitor from Earth. I would appreciate it if you would allow her trip to Kataria to be a peaceful one,” he said with authority.

“Gaelan, is it true that you and Samantha are together?” shouted a man from the crowd.

“Samantha, are you staying on Kataria?” a woman added. The murmurs of their voices were coming from every direction.

“No, I’m going home,” I mistakenly answered her. They became thrilled at my response and eagerly fired more questions at us.

“Gaelan, are you and Samantha companions?” asked a young man walking beside us. He was close enough to notice a slight smile cross Gaelan’s face. “You are! I knew it,” he blurted out and looked back at Gaelan. This threw the group into a full frenzy, causing their yelling to escalate.

“Please, your questions will be answered in time.” Tyden held up his hand to motion them to stop. His stiffened stance made him appear unshakable. We quickly made our way to our vehicles. Their shouting only became louder as we rushed to get away. It was unnerving to walk through the congested mob clamoring to get close to us. I hated crowds. Gaelan ushered me to the levitron. I clung tightly to his arm while Urit and Tyden acted like physical barriers.

Tyden leaned into the vehicle above me after he helped me with my door. “Sami, I will see what I can do,” he said, ignoring the yells behind him. “Right now, I have to get home to Willa. She will wonder what’s taking me so long.” He pulled his body back, ready to close the door.

“Thanks, but who’s Willa?” I asked curiously before Tyden shut the door on me.

“My companion,” he answered, ducking his head back inside the vehicle.

“Tyden,
you’re
married?” I asked, sounding surprised. I tried to ignore the chaos around us. “Why didn’t you ever mention her to me before?”

“Well, I have been married … for 243 years. We decided it was best for both of us if we gave each other some time apart. She claims that I’m bossy and likes to complain that I’m difficult to keep entertained.” He frowned. Gaelan was now sitting in the driver’s seat beside me and caught the tail end of our conversation. He let out a small chuckle.

“Bossy,
huh?
No way, not you, Tyden.” He smirked. Tyden shot him an irritated glare before nodding good-bye and slamming the car door shut. He didn’t have time to stay around and argue. The commotion outside the courthouse was gaining momentum.

Once in the car, Gaelan told me that he’d filed a petition to the court’s ruling and that certain things still needed to be worked out. I didn’t understand the verdict. The suspense was killing me, but there was no time for questions. The following mob seemed to grow impatient in their quest to hound us for answers. Urit and Tyden flew away without a problem. We were what the crowd hungered for. People started pounding their fists on our windows and screaming their questions at us as they surrounded our vehicle. I was nervous that they might break in. Their voices were only slightly muffled by the glass and were downright frightening.

“We have to get out of here. Hang on,” Gaelan huffed. He rushed to elevate the car from the ground. As he did, I saw a dozen other levitrons around us lift up as well. They had been sitting in their vehicles, waiting for us to leave.

“Who
are
these people?”

“Reporters, most likely. Strap up and hang on,” he instructed me before we took off. Immediately, I flew back in my seat with the rush of body-crippling speed.

“
Ahh
… Gaelan, don’t kill us. Do you have to go
so
fast?” I yelled. We swooped in and out of the surrounding vehicles, barely missing them before reaching the clear blue sky. This was not the leisurely drive we had taken on the way to the courthouse. The swarm of cars followed our lead and circled in on us tightly. The niceties were over. Things had progressed into a full-fledged chase. I braced myself tightly against the door and seat with my sweaty palms. Gaelan quickly peeked over at me, meeting my eyes, before returning his gaze straight ahead. I was certain that he managed to see the panicked look across my face during his quick glance.

“I had no idea you
hated
flying so much,” he said, sounding intrigued at finding something he had failed to notice before. He turned his eyes, holding them on my face instead of looking at where he was going. He appeared more interested in learning more about me than the chasing cars.

“I’m not crazy about it, if that’s what you mean,” I said lamely. “Could you
please
watch where you’re going?” I demanded.

“Trust me, these guys have nothing on me,” he stated with certainty. He then easily zipped above someone trying to block our way and shot past them without giving it a second thought.

The levitrons traversed our path from every direction and seemed to be dive-bombing us in order to pressure us to land. Gaelan tapped on a dashboard display. A holographic navigational chart expanded in front of us. It showed our position as well as the levitrons around us. I tried to decipher the foreign screen but struggled with its complexity.

“Watch out!” I screamed after another car tried to cut us off. It appeared to have come from nowhere. Gaelan swerved sharply to keep us from colliding.

“Damn—that was close,” he said in a steady voice. I couldn’t believe how calmly he reacted to the near miss.

“Here comes
another
one,” I said, peering out my side window.

“Yeah, and he’s persistent.” Gaelan accelerated even more. He pushed the throttle of the levitron down to the dash. We thrust back in our seats with the sudden release of explosive power.