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.”