The Bonding (17 page)

Kuwal looked at Janet. “How do you travel
at light speed? What kind of shields do your ships have?”

Janet smiled. “Your technology is much
more advanced than my world. Our ships do not have shields.”

Kuwal, confused, looked back to Tarku.
“She is from the planet Earth, in the Kolozoy system, father. It is a
restricted planet.”

“Ah! You have not yet achieved light
travel,” Kuwal noted, and gave Tarku a knowing glance. “And you didn’t tell her
what was going to happen with the planet?”

“No he didn’t!” Janet scoffed, “And it
scared me half to death. I thought we were going to hit that planet and die.”

“Oh, Tarku!” Vela added, shaking her
head. “I can’t believe you would do such a thing.”

“It was just a joke,” he said,
defensively.

“You could have given this girl a heart
attack.” Vela said, shaking her finger at him.

Janet was eating this up, that Tarku’s
mother was on her side. She looked at Tarku and grinned. He squinted at her,
trying to give her a mean look, and she squinted back at him.

“So, I guess you know how the Phemix
Shield works?” Kuwal asked.

“Well, I don’t know how it works, but
Tarku did explain how it makes us like ghosts,” Janet replied.

“That sums it up quite well,” Kuwal
agreed. “As for how it works, I don’t really know the answer to that one
either. That’s why we have scientists. They do all the inventing and I sell the
technology. Has Tarku explained about the restricted planets?”

 
“Yes! He told me about the laws that prohibit him from going
there.”

Vela took Janet’s hand. “We have a
wonderful world here, Janet. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends and their
daughters. And soon, Jema will be coming home. She was excited about meeting
you.”

“We’re meeting with the council
tomorrow,” Tarku noted. “I’ll ask them if Janet can go with the next science
team, to her planet.”

“That may not be for a very long time,”
Kuwal added. “Perhaps, not even in her lifetime.”

“Yes, I know. Janet and I talked about
that also.”

All eyes shifted to Janet. She smiled.
“I’ve already come to terms with the possibility that I may never go home
again.”

Vela leaned over and touched
cheek-to-cheek with her, stroking the back of her head as she did with Tarku.
“Then you will become part of our family, Janet.”

Janet was overwhelmed with emotion and a
tear rolled down her cheek. “You are all so wonderful.”

Vela leaned back, still holding Janet’s
hand, and wiped her tear with her other hand as she smiled. “Let’s eat some
supper and Janet can tell us all about her world.”

They had a wonderful dinner. Janet
learned many things about Zintandu and the Zivok family, and they learned about
Earth and the Shelby family. Too soon, for Janet, the evening was over. She was
enjoying Tarku’s family so much that she hated for their visit to end.

“Tarku, be sure that she knows how to
call me,” Vela instructed.

“I’ll show her, mother.”

This time, as they prepared to leave,
Vela gave Janet the same handshake as she gave Tarku, again stroking the back
of Janet’s hair as she held her cheek-to-cheek. Janet closed her eyes and
smiled. She couldn’t believe that this family, who had met her for the first
time, was treating her this way.

“Thank you, Vela,” she whispered in
Vela’s ear, and Vela pulled her even closer.

Kuwal did the same and thanked Janet for
coming. On the way home, Tarku noticed that Janet was very quiet as she stared
out the window.

“Janet, are you all right?”

She looked at him and nodded. “Your
family is so wonderful. I can’t get over how they welcomed me as a daughter.”

“They wouldn’t do that for just anyone,”
Tarku said. “But there is something about you, Janet. I don’t know what it is,
but it is there, in your personality, your wit and charm. People are drawn to
you, like the girl in the mall. She was overjoyed that you asked her to be your
friend. I feel honored that I am the one who found you.”

She reached over and squeezed his hand.
“I’m glad that you were the one.” She smiled and turned back to the window.

Chapter Ten

The next morning came early. Janet was
still sleeping soundly when Tarku began calling her name. She crawled out of
bed and went to the door, not even looking in the mirror before she opened it.
Tarku was already dressed and ready to go. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Good morning, Janet. Did you sleep
well?”

She covered a yawn. “Yes. That is a very
comfortable bed.”

“We must leave for the council in
approximately one hour.”

“I’ll be ready in half that time,” she
replied.

“Would you like something to eat?” he
asked.

She licked her lips. What she wouldn’t
give for some bacon and eggs, or pancakes smothered in maple syrup. She knew
that whatever Tarku made would taste good. “That would be great. Thank you.”

“I’ll have it ready in fifteen minutes,”
he said, and walked to the kitchen.

She quickly made her bed and took a
shower. Her short hair was easy to style and she was done and dressed by the
time Tarku finished making breakfast. She walked into the kitchen like a
fashion model. “Does this look okay to wear for the council?” She twirled
around one time.

No matter what she wore, he thought she
looked stunning, and he nodded. “You look perfect.”

She sniffed around at the breakfast. “Oh,
that smells good. What is it?”

It wasn’t bacon and eggs, but it was meat
from some kind of Zintandian animal and something else that didn’t look like
anything she’d ever seen, but it tasted great.

“What is this?”

“The meat is from a small animal that
lives in the trees. We call it, koota. The other is a plant named barsenah.
Both are very good for your body.”

“You are a wonderful cook, Tarku.”

“When you live alone, you have to learn
to cook. I don’t like to go out to eat unless I must. My mother and Jema taught
me. My mother is a great cook.”

“I’ll have to ask her to show me a few
things,” Janet said. She continued to eat, but only a little. Her appetite
wasn’t there. She was extremely nervous about meeting with the council.

Tarku immediately noticed. “You shouldn’t
be nervous. The council isn’t going to kick you off of the planet. They’ve
already given permission for you to stay. They simply want to explain the laws
and ask you some questions about Earth. Of course, our scientists already know
most of what there is to know about it, but they’ll want to hear what you have
to say.”

“Well, I’m still nervous. This is a big
deal for me. You have to realize that I’m about to go before the ruling council
of a world that is alien to me. Me, who, until a couple of days ago was never
farther than the moon that orbits my planet; until a couple of days ago, never
saw a being from another world.”

“I understand. I guess I would be nervous
also.” He looked at the time. “We need to go.”

“I want to clean my teeth first,” she
replied.

He smiled. “Good idea. I’ll do the same.”

Within ten minutes they were in the IAV,
zipping to the council chambers. Janet was mostly quiet, speaking only to ask
an occasional question about something she saw below.

“How are your lessons coming along?”

“I love those glasses,” Janet replied.
“Since they continue to teach, even while I’m sleeping, I wear them all night,
so I can learn faster.”

“That’s wonderful. In a few days, you’ll
be speaking the language as well as any Zintandian. You’re already doing
extremely well.”

“Where is the council?” she asked.

“The council is in the Capitol City of
Voltai, in the province of Tigna. It is approximately a thousand wolnes from my
home city of Kazpin.”

Janet quickly calculated a woln, which
was almost exactly the same distance as a mile.
A thousand
miles away, she thought.
“How long do you think it will take to get
there?”

“We should be there in only forty
minutes. The IAV travels at just over one thousand miles per hour, at altitudes
near ninety thousand feet.”

“Wow! On the Earth, only military
aircraft could reach speeds and altitudes like that,” she stated.

“The military craft do not even enter the
atmosphere. Only the planetary police fly around the planet, and their craft
fly five times faster than the fastest IAV.”

Janet thought that Tarku’s city was
amazing, but below them was a city even more spectacular. The buildings were
taller and all of the government buildings were elegantly styled and adorned
with beautiful sculptures. She stared out the window in awe. “This city is
magnificent, Tarku.”

“Yes, the capitol is the most beautiful
city on Zintandu.”

Tarku parked the IAV at a landing pad
near the middle section of a building that she guessed was over five thousand
feet tall. As at the shopping mall, an attendant was there to park it. Tarku
and Janet got into the elevator, along with several other Zintandians, who
looked at Janet curiously, but didn’t say anything. Each spoke the number of
the floor they needed, including Tarku. Janet watched the numbers at each stop.
She heard the floor that Tarku said and was nervously ready when the doors
opened.

“Are you okay?” Tarku asked.

She nodded and forced a smile. He took
her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Everything will be fine.”

“Will you be there?” she asked -
something that she hadn’t thought about until now.

“I’ll be in the room, but not directly
beside you. You’ll be seated in a chair before the council and I’ll be about
thirty feet away.”

They walked down a long corridor, filled
with people, and came to a large door that slid open as Tarku waved his hand in
front of the sensor. “This is the waiting room for the council chambers,” Tarku
said.

There was a secretary, a young lady with
short, auburn hair and a cute, brightly colored dress, seated behind a large
desk. She was speaking into the computer, but stopped and looked up as Tarku
and Janet approached.

“May I help you, sir?”

“We are here to see the council. I am Tarku
Zivok, and this is Janet Shelby.”

The secretary quickly scanned the
council’s schedule. “Zivok and Shelby, for alien residence?” she looked up at
Tarku.

“Yes! Alien residence,” he replied.

“I’ll announce that you’re here. Please
be seated. They should call for you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you!” Tarku said, slightly bowing
his head, and he and Janet took a seat. Tarku noticed Janet’s jiggling leg and
smiled.

She caught his glance and looked down at
her leg, nervously bouncing up and down. “I can’t help it. It’s what I do when
I’m nervous. What do you do when you get nervous?”

He calmly replied, “I don’t get nervous.”

“Somehow, I believe that,” she said. “You
don’t seem like the nervous type to me.”

She picked up a magazine and flipped
through the pages. This was the first time she had looked at one, since
learning his language. “Oh my God! I can actually read this,” she said
excitedly, and started reading the page out loud. He was impressed.

“The council will see you now,” the
secretary announced.

“Thank you.” Tarku looked over at Janet.
“Okay! Just be
yourself
. There’s nothing to worry
about.”

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Non-nervous.”

The secretary opened the doors to the
council chamber. The room was very large and round, and elegantly decorated. It
was divided into a section of seats for spectators and visitors, a single large
chair, between the seats and the council, where Janet would sit, and the
council, seated in seven elevated chairs in a semicircle around the chamber. In
the center chair was the Head of Council, who greeted Tarku and Janet with a
deep, mellow voice. He was a large man, rather heavy, with graying, short hair,
and wearing a dark robe, similar to an Earth judge.

“Welcome Mr. Zivok, and Miss Janet
Shelby,” he said. “Mr. Zivok, I believe you know the procedures, correct?”

“Yes, Mr. Councilman,” he replied, and
led Janet to the single seat before the council. “I’ll be right over there,” he
said, pointing to a nearby chair.”

“Thank you, Tarku,”

He smiled and gave her an assuring nod.

“Good morning, Miss Shelby,” said the
Head Councilman.

“Good morning, sir,” she nervously
replied.

He smiled at her. “There’s no need to be
nervous, Miss Shelby. May I call you, Janet?”

She was relieved at his ease with her.
“Certainly, sir.”

“You don’t have to call me sir. My name
is Tipas Sardin. You may call me Mr. Sardin. Would you like some cold water to
drink, Janet?”