Page 24 of Sky Song
She shook her head. Unbidden, Kim Creek’s wild rants about alien mischief reverberated inside Cricket’s head, although she’d never pegged Lyle for a mischievous sort.
“What are you going to do about your transport?”
“Get in contact with it. But I don’t have access to a transmitter… yet.”
“Why didn’t you ask them at the depot? They have transmitters.”
He looked at her, she knew he did. “They think I left.” And he smiled.
He was missing a front tooth, right underneath the scar that ruined his upper lip. The hole had probably shrunk overthe years and was not readily noticeable between his dark-colored teeth. His many teeth. The teeth that were long, sharp, and blatantly carnivorous. But that gap broke up the terror and added an innocent, boyish air to his sweet smile.
Cricket sat down on the couch.
“How can someoneappearto have left on a spaceship transport?”
Lyle cocked his head in a manner that was vaguely condescending. “We were at aspaceship depot. It’s a great setup, by the way, your people did well. Do you know how many transports are anchored there at the same time?”
“Not really, I don’t.”
“Close to a hundred. I made my way to the one that was about to leave, and my minders let me. The ship took off, but I didn’t. No tricks, I swear.” He put up a hand.
No tricks, my ass. He got out of the depot that was heavily guarded.
“Just tell me the truth, is what you’re doing here illegal?”
He turned on the heat to his smile. “Under whose law?”
“That’s not the answer I’ve been hoping for.”
Lyle got serious. “No. The only illegal thing I’ve done is to evade your stupid enforcers. And that’s only illegal if you count Meeus law. I’m not a Meeus citizen, does the law apply to me?”
“Lyle, the law prohibits non-citizens from inhabiting this planet illegally. So, yes, it applies to you.”
“I’m not inhabiting anything.” He pursed his lips, reminding Cricket of Paloma when she couldn't get her way. They both shared something endearingly childish about them.
The enormity of the situation began to set in. An alien couldn't stay here. She’d heard that Rectar city-continent, where the mineral mines were located, operated under a more relaxed set of rules towards aliens. But Shadush wasn’t Rectar. Shadush was meticulously regulated.
Unperturbed by Cricket’s troubled silence, Lyle moved around her room looking at the walls that displayed her watercolors. He had a slow yet sure way of moving, very contained. Something about the painstaking way he controlled his body reminded Cricket of her younger, sicker self, when the economy of motion was important lest she provoked a debilitating respiratory attack.
“You created these images?” he asked.
“Yes. They are of Earth.”
He turned toward her. His solid black eyes took in the whole room with her in it, on the couch, arms wrapped around her knees. “They are beautiful.”
Heat rose to her face in pleasure. “Thank you.”
A quiet chime from her link system alerted Cricket to the event she’d been waiting for - the letter from mama had come through. She threw a quick look at the link system.
He noticed. “Something important?”
“A note from my mother.”
“From Earth?”
“Yes, she’s on Earth. She’s the only family I have.” She didn’t know why she shared this personal detail with him. “Is your mother still living?”
He hesitated almost imperceptibly. “No. She died when I was very young. I don’t remember her.”
