Sylvie's eyes shot to X. He had the strangest look on his face. A cross between annoyance and acceptance. He looked extremely tense.
"Hello, Mother."
Her jaw dropped.
"Mother?" she whispered. The woman whose clothing she was currently disgracing with her inelegant human form?
"Such a good boy, coming to visit your mother!"
"Yes, Mother," X said, exhaling heavily. "Unfortunately I don't have much time to visit. Zanthar is under a bit of a crisis."
"A crisis? I leave you to doonething, and now there's a crisis?" The chamber dripped with his mother's disapproval.
"It's the Hareema, Mother. We believe they may have infiltrated Earth, and even now they could have an agent on our planet."
His mother's gasp echoed through the chamber.
"A Hareema agent on Zanthar?" She paused, her voice becoming stern. "If there's one, there's bound to be more."
"I'm keeping things under control but I need your advice. I need to know if you believe the Hareema are working with the Earthlings."
"And whether that Earthling female is an enemy spy?"
The severe tone of his mother's voice made Sylvie uneasy. Apparently, X's mom was a force to be reckoned with.
"Well, young lady, are you an enemy spy?"
Sylvie looked at X, bemused. "No, Your Honor."
"Good."
X sputtered. "That's all you're going to ask her?"
"That's all I need to know. Now stop wasting your time and get back to protecting the planet."
Sylvie noticed that X was smiling. "Understood, Regent."
His mother's happy laughter reverberated through the chamber.
Their relationship must have been special.
He misses her. And whatever remains of her misses him.
The pink light began to fade. The former regent, who just happened to be the current regent's mother, was departing.
Before the chamber went dark, a voice arose. "The alien can be trusted. Not all those close to you can."
Sylvie grabbed hold of X's arm. "That wasn't your mother."
"No, it wasn't." He frowned and eyed the two guards standing nearby. "You two, initiate an electrical exchange. Now."
The two guards said nothing but moved to comply. Light waves built in both, which were released in a bright flash when they clasped hands. X nodded, then motioned them all forward.
No one spoke as they left the cave. Perhaps the warning whispered by the ghostly voice had left them unsettled. They entered the craft and X submerged them.
Finally Sylvie couldn't take the silence any longer. "I guess I've passed both tests so far. What else have you got up your sleeve for me?"
"Up my sleeve?"
