Ben Blazze and Heimdall's Orb

Chapter 7: Talking to Grandma

The hatch on the floor opened, and Ben walked into the lilac light. He was gently carried to the bottom floor, landing on the tree design – where he remembered to take back the pendant. Then he went to the door and opened it carefully, making sure Keller was not around.

Ben ran into her in the dining room while still looking for him.

"Where have you been?" she grumbled moodily for a change. "I searched for you everywhere!"

"I was just taking a look around," he lied, feeling his face blush. "We must have missed each other."

"Hmmm... Come, your grandmother wants to talk to you," she said, making no effort to hide the suspicious look.

Miss Keller led him to the library, where they found his grandmother sitting at the desk, making notes in some scattered papers before her. She looked at him over her glasses. "Hello, sweetheart," she said with a discreet smile. "Have a seat and wait a minute while I address some urgent matters."

Ben sat in one of the brown leather cushioned armchairs before the desk and then took a look around. The library, which his grandmother also used as an office, was impressive. It had a two-story height and shelves packed with books on all walls, from the floor to the ceiling. There was no window. At mid-height, a wooden catwalk and railing contoured the whole room, making it easier to reach the upper shelves. A magnificent crystal chandelier hanged in the middle of the room, right above the desk.

Ben loved the place. It was beautiful and had a pleasant smell of wood and books – a scent of antiquity, but not of decay. The dimness dominated the room. It was broken only by the soft light of the chandelier and the desk lamp, which made the ambiance cozier.

Unable to hold back his curiosity until they were alone again, Ben decided to talk to Marvi:

"Marvi, are you here?" he asked in thought.

The assistant appeared sitting in the next armchair. "Whenever you're wearing your DUPER," she replied, winking.

Jarvis also appeared, standing on the desk. Ben wondered where Sweetflower would be, and the answer came in Jarvi's voice in his head:

"She is at the shelf on your right-hand side," said the assistant, "distracted by those books about animals."

"Sweetflower," Ben called in thought.

"Look at this!" said an excited little black bat, not taking its eyes away from the book row. "Here's the complete set of the Wildlife Encyclopedia! Of course, we have a lot more than that at Aliennet, but anyway, it's a human science classic, right?"

" Aliennet?" asked Ben frowning, turning to Marvi.

"Sort of an alien's internet," answered the assistant. "All DUPERs automatically connect to it."

"Oh, I see, thank you," he said but immediately remembered the only subject that interested him at that time. He turned again to the bat's direction and frowned. "SWEETFLOWER!", Ben insisted with a thought-shout.

"Uh, ah, hi Ben," she replied, smiling and finally turning to Ben.

"Sweetflower, what were you about to say when I told you my father is dead?"

"The Council informed that your father suffered an attack," she said. "Is that right?"

"Yes. An armed group came into the camp, shooting and killing all men at sight," he answered.

"But his body was never found, right?"

"Right."

"It is improbable that they have managed to kill him," Sweetflower said. "You see, there is a security mechanism built into every DUPER that turns the user's body into an inert and indestructible matter in the event of critical risk. Such a mechanism exists to prevent aliens from being captured and tortured for information by, you know, Acharn."