CHAPTER 7 [PLESKIT] UPROAR

The Fatherly One was sitting in his command pod, which raises him several feet above the floor. A clear blue shell curves around and over the deeply padded chair, leaving a two-foot-wide opening in the front. The armrests are covered with devices that let him enter commands and queries.

The large screen on the wall facing the command pod showed a scene from the wampfields of Hevi-Hevi. The sight of that purple sky made me long for home.

The Fatherly One didn’t say anything. He just rolled a knob on his control pad. The scene from Hevi-Hevi vanished and was replaced by an Earthly newscast.

To my horror, the entire Misty/Veeblax episode was played out again right in front of my eyes.

“This event was captured by a long-distance video camera focused on the school,” said the Fatherly One. “Even worse, the images I just showed you are currently being broadcast around the world.” He tweaked his sphen-gnut-ksher, then said sadly, “Pleskit, Pleskit, Pleskit. Will you ever stop bringing me grief?”

I wanted to curl into a ball and gerdin poozlit. “I cannot believe you took the Veeblax to school without clearing it with me first,” said the Fatherly One. His voice was sharp now, and I could hear the barely controlled anger.

“You were not available,” I said, trying to keep my words clear and unfouled by my fear and sorrow.

“And was it so important for you to take the creature immediately? Was there some emergency that made it impossible to wait for a day or so?”

I hung my head. “No, sir. I have made another error.”

When the Fatherly One was done expressing his feelings about my decision to take the Veeblax to school—a process that took nearly a quarter of an hour—I left his office. To my surprise, I found Wakkam Akkim waiting for me.

“Do not be downhearted, Pleskit,” she said gently, resting the clawlike fingers of her right hand on my shoulder. “Errors are the source of wisdom.”

“If that’s so, I should be a genius!” I replied.

The wakkam shook her head, which caused her feathery brows to wave. “Alas, no. There are thousands of mistakes still to be made!”

This did not make me feel 100 percent better.

The wakkam went in to speak to the Fatherly One. I trudged to the kitchen.

McNally, Barvgis, and Ms. Buttsman were there already, sitting at the table and talking in low tones.

“Another bad one, eh, Pleskit?” said Barvgis. I recognized his tone of voice; it was one he generally saved for the funerals of important galactic leaders.

“I have erred in judgment yet again,” I said.

“You’re not the only one who thinks so,” said Barvgis.

The words stung. My reaction must have shown on my face, because Barvgis, who is usually quite kindly, said quickly, “I didn’t mean that as a condemnation, Pleskit. Just a statement of fact. We have been listening to the Earthly radio talk shows. You and the Veeblax are the primary topic of conversation.” He put up a hand to indicate he needed a second, belched heartily, then continued. “I am amazed at the number of people willing to call in and give an opinion regarding something of which they have no actual knowledge. It seems there are now thousands of Earthlings who consider themselves experts on what happened today.”

“Yeah,” said McNally, carefully pushing aside the cup of coffee Shhh-foop had given him. “And I’ve noticed something else, too.”

“Which is?” asked Ms. Buttsman.

“Generally speaking, the lower the IQ, the stronger the opinion.”

“This appears to be true,” said Barvgis. “I have also noticed that the strongest opinions of all seem to be held by radio talk show hosts. Are they humans, or is there another species on the planet that I was not aware of?”

“You know,” said Ms. Buttsman smugly, “the reason I was assigned to the embassy was to help avoid situations such as this. If anyone had bothered to ask, I would have advised against taking the Veeblax to school, which would have saved us from having to endure all this terrible publicity.”

“Thank you for that insight, Ms. Buttsman,” said McNally coolly.

I tried to eat something, but my kirgiltum was in no mood for food. Finally I excused myself and trudged back to my room.

I requested permission from the Fatherly One to stay home from school the next day. Though I have had to leave early several times, this was the first time I just stayed home since I’d arrived here. But I did not think I could trust myself. I feared if anyone said something about the Veeblax, I might do something to further endanger the mission.

Late in the afternoon the comm-device I’d set up with Tim announced an incoming call.

“Call accepted,” I said.

Tim’s face appeared on the screen. He looked horrible. “Pleskit,” he said urgently. “I have to tell you what happened after school today!”

“Is it bad?” I asked, feeling the coldness of pizumpta again.

“Bad?” cried Tim. “It’s a disaster!”