The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord Read Free Book Online Page B

Fortunately, the others from her country were better at mingling, which meant that her antisocial leanings were taken as a personal quirk rather than typical Uplander behaviour.
    In spite of her irregular schedule, Ntenman always knew where to find her.
    ‘I need your help,’ he said, sitting beside her.
    She glanced nervously at the lecturer, afraid that he could hear them. ‘Shh, Ntenman. Not now.’
    ‘Come, you don’t need this subject and I need you to help me now,’ he insisted.
    The complete absence of his usual slight deference towards her made her pay attention. She took up her slate and followed him quietly out. ‘What is it?’ she asked, pausing in the corridor near a window.
    ‘I need your clearance. Ageday number eighteen is only good for certain kinds of information. I want to find out about Moo’s father.’ He extended his handheld to her, much to her surprise. She rested her own slate on the broad brick windowsill and took it carefully.
    ‘I’m nineteen. My clearance can’t be much better than yours,’ she admitted.
    ‘Yes, and no. You’re not registered as a student and a minor, so you have a few more freedoms.’
    She entered her ID on his handheld, but instead of giving it back to him, she held on as he tried to take it. ‘What next?’
    He tugged hopefully, but she kept her grip firm. His face became distressed. ‘You don’t want to see this.’
    ‘I do. Is this how you get into the Lyceum staff records? Have you used that to your benefit?’
    ‘I look. I don’t tamper.’
    ‘Then we’ll look together,’ she declared, positioning the handheld at a good viewing angle for both of them.
    He surrendered quickly. The corridor would soon become busy again. ‘Abowen, that’s a patronymic. His father’s name is most likely Owen or Owain, and his homestead is in Montserrat. The nearest Central Court would have been at Ophir.’
    He spoke the names in, nudged a few commands with his finger and shook his head. ‘Let me try something else.’
    She let him mutter and poke around with the shreds of names and family history Rafi had told him. At one point he gave her a sly smile. ‘Marvellous access you’ve got – not only an adult, but a taxpayer!’
    ‘My time here is paid research on behalf of my community,’ she explained, mildly surprised that he had not known. His fingers suddenly tensed on the handheld. ‘What is it?’
    ‘A minute,’ he mumbled. His eyes scanned rapidly and his thumb tapped past a few pages too quickly for her to read them.
    ‘This is it,’ he said at last, very sombre in tone and expression.
    Ioan Adafydd ex-Montserrat
    That was the name. There were some other words in the charge sheet, serious words.
    Coercion. Kidnap. Rape. Illegal influence .
    The final word was also striking.
    Terminated .
    ‘They executed him?’ She knew enough to know that these were not capital crimes, not unless his influence had been such that they felt he could not be controlled.
    ‘No, that means the ID has been terminated,’ Ntenman clarified, much to her relief. ‘Wherever he is now, they’ve given him a new ID. He’s untraceable, unless you want to submit a formal request.’
    ‘Me? You were the one who wanted to search.’ She tapped her access closed with nervy but useless speed – if they kept track of who accessed the records, her ID had been logged long before she started reading.
    Ntenman was too lost in his own thoughts to care when she shut down the handheld. ‘So that’s our little Rafi’s father. What a charming brute. No wonder they’ve given him the cap. I remember a boy in my second year . . . lovely, shy person till they capped him. Then he started setting his bed-sheets on fire.’
    ‘With his mind?’
    ‘Of course. His uncle had been a pyromaniac . . .’
    She was listening and believing, but a tremor at the corner of his mouth brought the charade to an end. He laughed as she hit his arm in exasperation.
    ‘Your fault for shutting me out of your