The Forgotten Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 6)

Chapter 10.2

The meeting room was surprisingly plain, Sabrina thought, not intimidating as she had expected. She, Ford, and Stecklan took the chairs that were set out for them at some distance from the unoccupied table. Then the nine Wayfarer committee members filed in, and she decided she was intimidated after all. She wished she were wearing a suit.

"This hearing is now in session," the Wayfarer in the center chair announced. "We summoned Niavar ya Yanklozhquar nar Tassan of Praxatillus and Sabrina Devon of Earth. Are they present?"

"We are," Ford replied.

"And your companion?"

"Captain Mikolal Stecklan of Praxatillus. He was assigned as our bodyguard."

"And he was present on Fiersai at the time of the anomaly?"

"Yes."

"Then he may remain. This hearing is to investigate a temporal anomaly that occurred on the planet Fiersai in your vicinity. Did any of you witness anything you could identify as a temporal anomaly?"

Stecklan said, "No."

Sabrina resisted the urge to glance at Ford and waited for him to speak. He hesitated, then said, "Yes."

"And Miss Devon?"

Sabrina sighed. "Yes."

"We will require a full narrative of each of your actions on the planet, to be delivered while the others are not present. Captain Stecklan, we wish you to understand that this questioning is necessary, since you may have seen the anomaly without recognizing it. Since you are unlikely to be responsible for it, however, we do not require that you submit to a mindscan. Prince Niavar, you are required to submit to a mindscan as standard procedure. Miss Devon, you present a problem."

"I have no intention of lying to you," Sabrina said.

"But you may unintentionally omit important details."

Ford said, "A chance you will have to take. I think you will find from my report that Miss Devon was not a knowing participant in the anomaly, and therefore her testimony is not relevant to determining responsibility."

"Are you then taking responsibility for the anomaly yourself?"

"I did not initiate it. But it involved me, not Sabrina or Stecklan."

"Then we will begin with you. Captain, Miss Devon, you may retire for the moment. Your conversations will be monitored. We ask that you do not discuss the subject at hand while you wait."

Sabrina glanced at Ford, alarmed. He shook his head slightly and gave her a half-smile that was meant to be reassuring.

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The whole process reminded Sabrina of Senate hearings she had attended in her time on Capitol Hill. It was lengthy and would have been mind-numbingly boring had she not been worried about Ford. It was no use trying to hide what had really happened; from the beginning, the Wayfarers had surely known that only Ford had the ability to cause a temporal anomaly.

She and Stecklan were allowed to keep each other company when not being questioned, but they did not see Ford again until the following morning. Sabrina had taken some comfort in the fact that she hadn't had any nightmares—at least not any that could have come from Ford—but she was still nearly frantic by the time they were reunited in the meeting room after breakfast.

"Thank God," she let out on a long sigh, reaching out a hand.

Ford took it, smiling. He looked weary but unharmed. "It's all right," he said. "You and Stecklan are completely off the hook."