Free Stone in the Sky by Cecil Castellucci Page B

the commotion. They all knew that I was being arrested this evening, and they all knew that this was wrong. They might have been quiet, but they were on my side.
    My heart went out to Tournour. He was forced to be a puppet in this charade. I both admired his dignity but hated that he didn’t fight back. More than that, I knew that he was scared for me.
    â€œI’m scared, too,” I whispered.
    He pushed me forward forcefully, and as he did, he released the scent. I breathed in the musty odor and immediately felt calm and clear in a way that had me hyper focused. I only wished that there were something I could do to calm Tournour down.
    I was brought into the interrogation room to discover Brother Blue’s aide was there.
    She stuck her hand out to me in a Human gesture to introduce herself. A handshake. As though she were my friend and not my enemy. I refused to touch her, and after a moment, she let her hand fall to her side. She may have been one of my species, but to me, she was an alien.
    â€œI’m Myfanwy Yu,” she said. “I’ll be both your Human representative and also Imperium observer.”
    â€œIsn’t that a conflict of interest?” I asked.
    â€œYou are to have a counsel of your own species in order to ensure no speciesism.”
    â€œI can choose any Human to observe?”
    I would feel better if Reza were here. At least it wouldn’t be someone in Brother Blue’s pocket.
    â€œThere isn’t much of a pool of Humans to choose from,” she said.
    â€œThere is a Human on the planet,” I said.
    â€œYes. I heard that, but it’s too hard to get anyone back up here in a timely manner. Since Brother Blue has called against you, the task falls to me.”
    Myfanwy Yu. I knew that name. How did I know it? Then it hit me. She was the girl that Caleb pined for. She had been an Imperium Youth like him and Reza, only while their ship was being sent to the false colonies and sabotaged before they got there, she had been sent to Bessen, to serve at the Human Embassy there. It made perfect sense that she was here. Perhaps this was to my advantage.
    Hekcleck always said the only real wild card in any trade is love. You can never factor in for it.
    Myfanwy adjusted herself in her seat to make herself comfortable. I leaned forward.
    â€œWe have a mutual friend,” I said. “Caleb Kamil.”
    â€œYes, I do know him,” she said. “But that won’t distract me from my task at hand.”
    She didn’t even light up when I said his name. She did not twitch or show any hint of emotion. Could she really be the love of Caleb’s life?
    Love was confusing. But it was not indifferent. As still as I could keep my face, if someone asked me about Tournour or Reza some part of me would light up. I was trained to look for these kinds of little betrayals in aliens. I could only think that I had not enough practice with reading Human faces. Still I would try to pull on this thread and find her sympathy.
    â€œHe’s spoken of you to me,” I said.
    â€œWe were at the academy together,” she said, pushing at something on the datapad. “I barely knew him.”
    That surprised me. Caleb spoke of her as though she were the love of his life. But there were all kinds of powerful ways to love someone, even unrequited. Even unnoticed. I waited for her to speak again. As I did when I was bargaining for the upper hand in barter. She waited a good long time before she spoke.
    â€œFor the record please state your full name,” she asked.
    â€œTula Bane,” I said.
    â€œMy information says that you came to outer space with the Children of Earth initiative. What planet were you headed for?”
    â€œBeta Granade,” I said. “On the Prairie Rose. ”
    â€œThat ship burned with all hands on deck.”
    â€œNot with me,” I said.
    â€œYou survived the crash?” she asked, surprised.
    â€œNo,” I said.