Page 4 of Secretly Abducted
"But he was in pain. Terrible pain." My voice sounds distant to my own ears.
"Yes. Necessary pain, apparently. Pain that saved his life."
My hands are shaking now, the same way they shook ten years ago when I didn't know how to help him. But this time it's not fear—it's the slow, devastating collapse of everything I've believed about myself.
I can't breathe. Can't think. The guilt that's defined me for a decade, the shame that drove me into isolation—it was all built on a lie I told myself.
"He wants to thank me?"
"Desperately. He's been quite insistent since arriving. Already filed formal requests to meet with whoever conducted his transport."
I grip the chair arms tighter, my knuckles white against the dark material. "Does he know it was me?"
"The transport records were classified. Only senior Council members have access, and we've kept your identity sealed." Kav'eth finally sits, his patterns shifting to something almost sympathetic. "The question is: what do you want to do about it?"
What do I want? I've spent so long wanting nothing except to be left alone with my guilt that I don't know how to want anything else.
"Can I see him?"
Kav'eth considers this. "He's scheduled to address the Council tomorrow morning about his request. You could observe from behind the privacy partition."
"Yes." The word comes out too quick, too desperate. "Please."
"Very well. Be here at first cycle tomorrow. And Vel'aan?" He pauses. "Perhaps it's time to forgive yourself for a mistake that wasn't actually a mistake."
I leave his office in a daze, barely remembering the transport ride back to the agricultural district. The zhik'ra forest is as I left it, swaying peacefully in the afternoon current. But everything has changed.
The boy is alive. Has a name now—Alex Park. Wants to thank me.
The boy I thought I'd tortured actually wants to thank me.
For the first time in ten years, the maybe that keeps me awake isn't about damage I might have caused.
It's about absolution I might not deserve but desperately want to believe is possible.
Chapter Two
Alex
The Council chamber is even more imposing the second time. Maybe because this time I know they're going to disappoint me. Again.
I sit in the petitioner's chair—a deliberately uncomfortable piece of furniture positioned to make you look up at the Council members like you're a kid in the principal's office. Tev'ra stands beside me, his professional diplomat face on, which means this is going to go exactly as badly as I expect.
"Mr. Park," Councilor Kav'eth begins, his skin doing that formal swirling thing that probably means 'official business.' "We have conveyed your request to the researcher in question."
I lean forward, gripping the armrests. "And?"
"They have been fully informed of your wish to meet, your lack of anger, and your desire to express gratitude."
"Okay..." I wait for more, but Kav'eth just watches me with those unblinking golden eyes. "So when do I get to meet them?"
"That is entirely the researcher's decision. If they choose to accept your invitation, they will contact you directly."
Not a flat no, but not a yes either. Just... nothing.
"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?" I stand up, needing to move, to do something with the frustrated energy building in my chest. The chamber is circular, with walls that seem to pulse with a subtle bioluminescence of their own. I pace to the curved window that overlooks the city—all flowing architecture and water features that remind me I'm definitely not on Earth anymore.
"Mr. Park, please return to your seat."
