I glanced at the satellite and nodded. What I didn’t get was why this was here, or why the council had it. It couldn’t do much damage in their hands, but you never knew.

“It’s a prototype 19 HANSEL Satellite from my universe. What– how is it here?”

Machi nodded. “And what does HANSEL stand for?”

“The name of the thing. High-Altitude Near-Space Exploration Launcher” I replied inspecting the large model in front of me. It had several circuits missing something Lana and I could easily replace and fix in a few days. A plan began to form but first I needed to know what it was to be used for. I asked Machi but he was quietly assessing me with those sharp eyes of his.

He nodded and righted himself from the wall. “I have seen enough. You do come from the stars! Imagine that!”

I, however, wasn’t so sold on this council. Something was off about them. How did they know about what this satellite was? How and again what did they need it for? That was the zillion-dollar question. These satellites could be used for many things. Some of them were not so great for humanity. Within these satellites was the power to harness a nuclear device, and so of course, they were kept in secure facilities, where only the highest-ranking officers could deploy one if necessary. They had homing beacons. My crew and I had followed this one’s homing beacon which was somehow still active.

I was taken back to the red-carpeted hall, where more people were seen working now. It seemed these people were late risers, and took care of public stuff, as people flocked to the doors waiting for them to open. Every once in a while I got a curious glance from one of the workers or passersby. As I looked human, it was all I got, thank the Universe. They wore identifying jackets of what looked like burlap. They were dressed in clothes made of some animal hide for pants and flowing cloth shirts. More animal fur for coats and things of that nature.

Machi shoved me into the oval council room with a flourish. I almost slammed into a column. I was stopped by a guard who grabbed me from Machi’s hold and held me tight in a prisoner’s hold. I couldn’t move an inch or so they thought. I was trained to break these holds and if push came to shove…

“The boy knew what it was,” said Machi as he joined the rest of the entourage up on the floor.

“Then he was telling the truth,” said Reynolds as he stroked his long grey beard.

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The bird woman, Wanda spoke. “Not quite where is your trithingamagigee?”

My eyes narrowed. “How do you know about triphones?”

She smirked. “We the council know plenty and…”

“Not about a universe you never encountered or have you?” I said. glancing from smirking council member to smirking council member. Even Machi hid a sly grin. I had to play my cards right. I couldn’t accuse them of anything if I wanted to get out of here with my crew alive. I had a chance of that I just had to play it right!

“What is the satellite for?” I asked.

Wanda laughed. “None of your business.”

Time to dangle the carrot. “My crew and I are equipped to make reparations on the satellite. We have the materials, the time, and the knowledge to repair the Prototype 19 HANS–EL model. We can do so, on account that you let us go afterward. We come from a different universe and would like to go back.”

Wanda sneered. “We say when you can go. You are our prisoners. We can…”

“That’s enough, Wanda,” boomed Van Gogh, I mean Reynolds. His hands were clasped in front of him. He had thicker fingers than I thought he would and now looking at him he had dark eyes instead of Vincent’s blue. He really looks like the guy though, with angular features, short scruffy beards, and sweeping mustaches. They could have been twins or reincarnations. I didn’t believe in reincarnation but with this guy, I was starting to wonder.

Reynolds turned that piercing black gaze on me. “Can you really fix the satellite?”

I nodded.

“How long would it take,” asked the brunette I forgot her name. She too had a very unnerving stare. It was liquid instead of piercing but no less potent. Machi’s on the other hand held a strange light to them.

“A–A w–week, maybe two. N–No m-more t-than three,” I replied trying not to stutter and failing. I wasn’t afraid, I was anxious. It was when I stuttered most. Wanda smirked obviously she thought she had me cowed. I stood straighter and glared at her momentarily before it smoothened out into a nonchalant stare.

Reynolds folded his long fingers in front of him and clasped his hands. “Very well. If you fix the HANSEL Prototype then we’ll let you go free with previsions but only if you fix it on schedule. We will give you a time and you will comply.”

I nodded. They still hadn’t told me what it was for but I guessed that wasn’t needed right now. There wasn’t much they could do with it and I doubted they wanted to blow themselves up. They couldn’t harm my universe with it anyway. I knew that they could screw me over with the time and I wasn’t expecting much from them in terms of that.

“You have two weeks. Ample time to get things done. Officer Raedon will be your timekeeper. You start in three days. Enough time to settle in and mingle with others, learn your way around this place,” replied Machi smiling slightly as Wanda scowled at me. I had my eyes on that one. She and I didn’t see eye to eye.

I glanced at the woman who had brought us. She was my age at least and held herself with decorum and grace. She was beautiful in a dark way everything about her was dark colored except her skin, which was a burnished gold. Her eyes resembled milk chocolate and she had freckles from the sun. Possibly, except I was pretty sure there was hardly any of that here. Even now I felt the heaters on at full tilt.

The guard sighed and spoke. “Can I take him back?”

Reynolds shook his head. “Release him. Raedon, show him to his new quarters. Sgt Tarric, go and release the others. Bring them here. We’ll see how worthy each is to be free in our home.”

I sputtered. That was not the agreement! I prayed to everything the Universe was that Jude did not mess things up for Lana. I was led away from the room and towards the last carpeted area. Tarric went the opposite way towards the crew. Please let nothing happen!