Chapter 20

"Triune's Code Book," she mused, pushing her finger into the ceiling, half absent.

Raylay chewed on his lip and tackled her arm back to the armrest.

"You're a thief," she remarked as she snatched her arm away.

His expression dimmed. He slumped a little.

"I didn't have a choice," he said. "I had to pay for a-a service. My family - we couldn't. There was no way."

"Why'd you get the service then?" Relda blurted out.

"I can't…" Raylay kept his mouth open; there was more to say. He was making no effort to say it. "I feel guilty every day about disobeying the Triune about the stealing command."

Relda shot a glance down the hallway. Her mind wandered to those little pant suits hanging in Ozla's closet.

"I see," she pointed out. "Look, what is the Triune's Code Book exactly?"

Raylay twisted a lever, and collected the viewing screen in his hands. After he tapped an application, he pushed it to Relda.

"I put it in Jucardian," he said. "Read it aloud."

"Do not steal. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor," she read the words aloud.

Relda's arms drained of strength under the viewing screen. With a swift movement, she rubbed the stolen bracelet in her pocket.

"I've messed up," she said. "Whoever the Triune is must be really angry."

"Nah," he said. "The Triune knows you don't know him."

"Who is he, by the way?" Relda searched his face.

"He made us," Raylay struggled for words. "He lives on a perfect planet that doesn't orbit a star. It exists outside of the universe. Our entire beings are made to serve him. It's complicated. Sorry."

Relda studied the home screen. The still image showed two Ozlas. One on either side of Raylay.

"It's alright," she said. "I think I understand."