A
chime rang through the open area, and a communication panel in the support arch
to their right lit up.
"Mestra
E'bett of the Defender," the warm, buzzing computer voice said.
"Please contact Commander Harmays of courier ship Wingswift. A
priority level three communication is waiting from the Academy."
E’bett
raised her wristband and tapped the tiny screen, so it lit up green. "This
is Mestra E'bett. I am in the arboretum. It should take me twenty minutes to
get to the courier docking arm. I must return four students to the Defender,
first."
"Security
personnel will meet you and escort the students. The Wingswift is on a
slingshot course and must depart ASAP."
"Understood.
Please notify Commander Harmays I am on my way." She tapped the tiny
screen and nodded to the O'goali man. "If you will excuse us, a priority
three communication and slingshot schedule for a courier ship cannot be
delayed."
"Can't do anything. They're probably watching. Weakling Alliance folk. Always watching."
Again, the O'goali man spoke without moving his lips. He nodded politely to E'bett and his lips flattened, pressed so tightly together they went white so his face seemed dirty. He watched the girls as they followed E'bett out the other side of the domed area. A doorway half-hidden by a screen of purple leaves lit up, giving them a way out of the arboretum without having to follow the winding pathway to the door where they had come in.
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