Free Sacred Trust by Roxanne Barbour

thing happened on Arandis.”
    The Basilian with whom I’d been carrying on this unwelcome discussion turned to the students beside him and the muttering grew in volume. I noticed Daro Est standing with the crowd, but when he saw my glance, he turned and walked away.
    â€œWhat should we do?” I asked Tata.
    â€œUnknown.” Tata’s pinched expression reflected his anxiety, and he wasn’t the only one who was worried.
    Before either of us could think of a plan, the crowd began to part. It didn’t look promising. But then Ruen and a number of security guards walked through the gap. The first guard to reach us turned to the gathering and said, “It is time for class. Everyone needs to go, leave the area. Now.”
    The crowd murmured for a moment, but then our spokesman turned and left, so the crowd began to disperse.
    The lead security Basilian turned to Tata and me. “You need to be more careful. Stay away from crowds.”
    â€œOh, yeah...that’ll be easy peasy,” I snarked. “This is a school...with lots of students.” The three of us had been pretty much alone on the patio—before the mob gathered around us.
    After the guards left, I turned to Ruen. “Thanks for getting security. I don’t know what would have happened next. Those BSU students are certainly unhappy about our presence.”
    â€œThey are silly. And they are mad at Tata about making the news public. But it should not have been a secret in the first place. We needed to know the truth.” Ruen paused for a moment. “Do you two think there are other truths being kept from us?” she asked.
    I shrugged, and Tata said, “Unknown.”
    â€œWell, I need to get to class,” said Ruen.
    As she started to walk away, I said, “I’m not going to class this afternoon. I wouldn’t be able to endure it; I’d be watching everyone to see if they were watching me. I would be too stressed to concentrate.”
    Ruen’s eyes widened—she hadn’t expected my decision.
    Tata said, “Run away.”
    I stomped my foot. “Yes, I’m running away. But I’m totally justified.” Tata doesn’t understand me, one little bit. He is so infuriating .
    â€œWhat are you going to do?” asked Ruen.
    â€œI’m going home. I can study or something.”
    â€œI have a better idea. We should go to the Space Museum and look for albinos again.”
    I laughed. “I don’t think so. I’m in enough trouble with your father as it is.” I started to put my bag over my shoulder.
    â€œHow about this? The Art Museum is close; maybe we will get some inspiration there.”
    I studied Ruen. Her idea struck me in a positive way, and she’d been instrumental in getting us out of a sticky situation. “Okay. I like your idea. Tata, are you with us?”
    He didn’t speak for a moment. I suspected nervousness from the situation we’d just encountered. In the end, he said, “No.”
    Pretty brave decision after what had just happened. Maybe he’s braver than I thought. “Take care of yourself, Tata. Get security if anything happens. I’ll see you later.”
    When I turned and left with Ruen, I couldn’t help but wonder why Tata hadn’t come along. Does he have something else planned? Something he doesn’t want to tell us about?
    I shrugged off my concern by the time we reached the Art Museum, which turned out to be closer than I thought. I’d expected a building that flowed with curves and strange shapes, but the outside turned out to be a three story cube—most unremarkable. However, inside we found the maze of partitions for which I was looking.
    Neither of us knew where to start. Surprisingly, Ruen had never been to the art museum either. “Why not? I thought you would have been everywhere by your age,” I said.
    â€œMy focus is science, and this museum is the