Chapter Eleven: The Counselors

Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.

“...and so here I am.” I finished, taking a long breath after my lengthy explanation. I was at the Counselor’s Hall, describing to them my unexpected visit to their planet. I heard a faint sigh of relief, and turned to see the transcriber flexing his fingers. “I’ve been staying with Kurt and his family for about two weeks.” I added, watching the transcriber snatch up the pen to scribble down my comment.
“Two weeks? Dokla Kurt, we have a deep respect for your family and have always relied on your judgment.” one of the counselors said in concern. “Was it wise to allow so much time to pass?”
“Sir, I trusted in my own discernment and that of my fellow apprentice Jarvis. If we were wrong, strip us now.” Kurt said. I felt suddenly grateful for his solid, reasonable presence.
“No, no.” another counselor protested, waving his hand gently from side to side. “Nothing so drastic as that. By all accounts and appearances, you have acted well. Bring him in.” he said, suddenly raising his voice. There was a moment of tense anticipation in which everyone turned towards the door of the room. As the figure entered, I drew in a quick breath.
“Natalie.” Toald said, his tongue flicking in and out quickly.
“Toald.” I said, easing my tense body back into my chair. Toald looked nervously around the tall, arched chamber.
“Llly, aidpa. Hyllza flyva, kan xektanhyllza shnaza. Naatda syl Toald qwen?” he asked. I started quietly panicking, pressing buttons on the translator while the conversation continued. Kurt leaned over.
“Anything wrong?” he asked.
“I can’t understand him!” I said. “Something must have happened to the translator.”
“Neither can I.” he told me. “There’s nothing wrong with the translator; he’s not speaking in Thalan. He’s using a language called Zynlat frequently used for politics involving more than one planet. If I’m not mistaken it’s his native tongue.” I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in my chair, listening to the incomprehensible conversation.
After a series of cold questions from a counselor, Toald began to speak, hurried short phrases that cut each other off as the next started. His attempt at calm suaveness failed under the counselors’ combined gaze and by the end of his speech his voice had become raspy.
“Breenta!” he croaked at the end, gasping. A glass of water was brought to him and as he dumped it over his head, his breathing slowed to a normal rate. As he calmed his raspy breathing, the counselors withdrew to make a decision of some kind.
“You will be kept under house arrest until suitable transportation can be arranged off the planet.” a counselor said in Thalan when they returned. “If you return to Khnack again, you will be sent to the prison planet of Orgelon.” Toald cringed. Orgelon was famous galaxy wide for its harsh conditions. He was escorted away by two guards that had been standing outside the door, making a strange booming sound. As one, the counselors turned back to face me.
“You have been freed from all suspicion,” the same counselor told me in a deep kind voice. “The Zynlaton has confessed to manufacturing transporters with Khnack’s coordinates. The one that he gave to you was a test model, one of the first to be distributed. Because Toald has locating devices on all of the models we have high hopes of tracking them down before more damage can be done. Khnack thanks you; had you not come when you did the transporters could have been distributed all over the galaxy before we learned of Toald’s deception.”
I nodded, trying to be gracious, but my impatience broke out.
“And now what will happen to me?” I asked eagerly.
“Especially because of the situation with Toald and his transporters, we cannot have any word of Khnack leak out to other planets.” The counselor began, leaning forward to look at me intently. My head began to pound and I found myself nervously gripping the carved wooden arms of my chair tightly. I heard his next words as though from a long distance. “It would be injudicious to return you to the space station...” Before he could finish, I fainted.