The Secret of Zormna Clendar by Julie Steimle (great reads .TXT) 📖

composure. Zormna squared up her shoulders. Jennifer had seen the girl do this before, but until now she had not understood it. Zormna really was barely holding it together.

The pair on the TV screen turned toward each other and exchanged a look of relief. Then Salvar glanced back towards the screen.

He said, <<He is gone. The Kevin wishes to speak with you.>>

Maybe now Zormna would get what she wanted, Jennifer thought. A way home.

But Zormna hesitated, her arms pulling in. Squaring her shoulders once more with resolve as if she expected an argument, she put the small TV back on mute then turned the camera to face her.

<<Alea Zormna, you know the regulations. You are not permitted to make contact— >>

“Unless my life is in danger,” she cut him off briskly. Chin stiff, shoulders back, she looked the perfect soldier. Jennifer could hardly tell she was scared.

The older red-haired man gazed at her with severe disappointment. In a way, he reminded Jennifer of her father.

<<It is not.>>

“My great aunt was murdered,” Zormna said, emphasizing the word. “She didn’t just die.”

<<Based off of rumor,>> he said briskly

Zormna resisted her usual instinct to glower at him. Jennifer was impressed. It must have meant Zormna genuinely respected the man.

“Not a rumor!” Zormna shot back. “I researched it. On their Internet. Fact. She was murdered. Their Federal Bureau of Investigations even came to investigate it. Fact.”

<<You are living with a family, though. You are not alone,>> he said.

Zormna frowned. “Their family name is McLenna.”

The man in green stiffened. <<And do they know?>>

Huffing, Zormna looked skyward with annoyance. “The parents understand, but do not know all the details. They raised their offspring right, so their offspring are ignorant of the situation.”

Offspring? The walking dictionary rears its ugly head again. And ignorant? Jennifer frowned. How rude! She was not ignorant.

“But I do not think it is safe to remain with them much longer,” Zormna said. “Eventually it will get back to their Federal Bureau of Investigations that I am here. They investigated my great aunt right before she was killed and—”

<<Those emigrants will keep your secret,>> the man said. <<You have nothing to worry about.>>

“My entire secret?” Zormna went a little paler.

He frowned at her. <<You are being careful, aren’t you?>>

“Always,” Zormna said through her teeth.

<<Then you have nothing to worry about,>> he said.

Zormna groaned. “Kevin—”

<<No. I have had enough of this nonsense. You cannot return to Arras.>>

“I can fight!”

The military leader’s frown deepened. <<That is completely out of the question. Coming back is the last thing you should do. You must have overheard Dural Korad. They’ve singled you out. You are in suspect.>>

Zormna closed her eyes. “He just said all that stuff to harass me. He’s done it before. He knows nothing.”

<<All the same,>> the man in the green uniform said, <<You have always been at risk, Alea. And I won’t have you in the middle of this mess, especially with Alea Arden getting tangled up in revolutionary things again.>>

Zormna murmured “Alea Arden” under her breath, frowning deeper at the sarcasm in her leader’s voice. Squaring her shoulders again, she shot back, “Well, I agree with Alea Arden. Besides, Kevin, you need me back in the Zeta district doing what I do best.”

<<Alea Salvar is leading the Zeta district now,>> he replied. <<We told your subordinates that you have been stationed permanently on special projects.>>

Zormna nodded darkly. “I know. I heard. But what do my subordinates working in special projects say about that?”

The older man didn’t answer. He just shook his head and said, <<Look, I know what you must be going through, but believe me, this is for the best.>>

“No, Kevin!” Zormna snapped. “You don’t know what I am going through! My great aunt is dead! My entire family is gone! I have been living with strangers for the last month waiting to be found by those who killed her! You have to get me out of here! I’ll go back to the moon base! It doesn’t have to be Arras.”

<<The moon base has already been infiltrated by an oversight committee,>> he countered.

Zormna froze.

<<You cannot come back.>>

“Never?” Zormna looked likely to shatter. The porcelain soldier doll, broken.

<<I cannot say.>> The man in the green uniform lowered his gaze briefly. <<It is better that you are on Earth. My son can handle your district until you can safely return. In the meantime, do not call. This is my final command to you.>>

Zormna opened her mouth to protest, but the man told Salvar to sign off.

The boy obeyed.

“Kevin—”

The image vanished on the screen, leaving it blank.

Staring at it, Zormna blinked, breathing hard. She closed her eyes, hung her head, and exhaled with weight.

The door creaked.

Lifting her eyes, she turned toward the open crack.

Jennifer bolted.

Her worst nightmares were after her. This just wasn’t real.

“It is better you are on Earth” echoed in her head. On Earth. On Earth.

Earth.

Why didn’t he say the United States? Or the US? Or America?

But he said Earth.

Darren was right. Zormna was an alien. Because they were so not Irish.

It was lunatic.

Crazy.

Yet all the memories she had had of the crazy lady of Hayes Street came back to her. The pale fat woman with the bizarre name always talking about how primitive their technology was. And celebrating none of the earthly holidays, but weird alien ones? And the FBI, who were in charge of national security, investigated her on the premise of a drug house? Really?

Why was dorky Darren Asher the only one who realized it was real?

Down the lawn then into the street, Jennifer ran for the alley. Jennifer’s heart pounded in her ears. Her lungs ached as she sprang onto the other sidewalk.

But light feet darted after her. Zormna’s shoes hit the concrete right beside her.

Jennifer lurched away, falling against the fence next to the alley opening.

Zormna grabbed on her arm, turning her around to face her. “Jennifer, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Her alien green eyes inspected Jennifer sharply.

“I’m going home,” Jennifer breathed out. She pushed off the fence, hurrying into the alleyway.

“You came all this way just to leave?” Zormna followed. She exhaled hard and lowered her voice. “Were you eavesdropping on me?”

But Jennifer did not answer. She pushed to get around.

“Jennifer, what did you think you saw? You are acting crazy.” Zormna got in the way again.

Jennifer stopped, avoiding those probing eyes by looking to the sky. “I’m not the one who’s crazy.” Then she attempted to round the corner to get beyond the fence. A pile of dumped-out garbage obstructed most of the entrance. Zormna placed herself into the only gap.

Jennifer drew back. “Get out of my way.”

Zormna shook her head. “You eavesdropped on me. What did you hear? I am not letting you go until you tell me.”

Though she was small, the utter alien greenness of Zormna’s eyes framed by such porcelain-white skin caused Jennifer to back off. After all, that little blonde had tackled and pinned one of their top wrestlers. And the Pennington Pirates were state champs.

Swallowing, Jennifer lifted up her chest, feeling the sweat dribble down her back. “Darren was right. You…you’re a stinking Martian!”

Those green eyes dulled into a dumbfounded stare. Zormna’s shoulders hung and she rolled her eyes.

“Jennifer,” Zormna said with a moan. “Put your head back on. Darren is nuts. There are no such things as Martians.”

Oh, so logical. Zormna’s words caused Jennifer to hesitate. And to feel foolish. Yet the panic in chest had not left. After all, the words of that leader kept repeating “It is better that you are on Earth” in her mind like an obnoxious jingle.

Jennifer shook her head. “But you are not from Earth, are you? You’re an alien!”

Breaking past Zormna with a leap over the half-smashed cardboard box that barred her way, Jennifer rushed into the alley. Three steps ahead, Jennifer sprinted with all her will toward the other end.

But it wasn’t enough. Zormna came right behind her. And she pounced with the force of a truck right onto Jennifer’s back. All air in Jennifer’s lungs gushed out as her chest smashed into the grimy earth. Pain shot up and down her body, paralyzing her long enough for Zormna to turn her over then then pin her hard on her back. The blonde straddled Jennifer’s legs and held down her arms. She could not move.

“What did you hear?”

Regaining the feeling in her limbs, barely, her breath returned. Jennifer squirmed. She averted her eyes, trying hard not to make eye-contact. After all, didn’t aliens read minds? Wasn’t that how they did it?

Zormna’s voice came low, almost snarling with disgust. “There are no such things as aliens, Jennifer. Darren Asher is a moron. And you are sounding lunatic. Just like my great aunt.”

“I don’t care!” Jennifer snapped, trying to shove the surprisingly heavy blonde off.

“Everyone will think you are crazy, you talking like this,” Zormna added, warning her.

Jennifer met her eyes this time. “My parents won’t. They’ll believe me. I’m not going to let an alien stay at our house! You’ll suck our brains out or something!”

Zormna flinched, leaning up. “That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.”

“They’re gonna find out!” Jennifer shouted out, hoping someone would hear and rescue her. Even Darren would do. “I’m telling them, and you’re not gonna stop me!”

Her words had had a frightful effect on Zormna. Her green eyes looked a shade deeper. Her pupils tightened. Her usual pale skin went sallow, her lips white. Zormna’s jaw set. And what concern the girl had for her captive entirely vanished.

“You are not telling anybody.”

Zormna raised her fist.

And that was the last thing Jennifer saw.

*

Her head killed.

It throbbed from the back of her skull to her forehead. Reaching up to it, Jennifer felt a tender lump.

“Oh! Finally!” her mother exclaimed. Until then she had not realized someone was gently tapping her cheeks with their hands.

Jennifer’s eyes fluttered open, focusing on her mother’s face first. Her mother and father were just inches away, hovering over her as worried as any frantic parent.

“You’re awake!” Her mother was pale. “Let’s get you up. Can you stand?”

Dizzy, Jennifer was not sure. She could not quite remember what happened at first, or where she was. But as she looked about herself, she saw that she was lying on her back at the base of the stairs in crazy lady’s living room. Her eyes locked on Zormna who stood off to the side with an anxious expression on her face, her fingers pressed over her lips.

Jennifer sprang up, almost knocking heads with her father. Pointing at Zormna, she shrieked. “Get her away from me! She’s an alien! I saw her talking to other aliens on her old TV set upstairs!”

“Wha—?” Her mother turned with a look to the blonde.

But Zormna blinked with that I’m-a-clueless-blonde expression and shrugged. “I have no idea…”

“Jennifer,” her father put his arms around Jennifer’s shoulders, steering her towards the couch, “The beam over the stairwell fell down just as you were passing under it, and hit you in the head.”

Jennifer quickly looked over at it.

Sure enough, the large wood carving was hanging by one wire from the wall while the other half had crashed into part of the stair railing. One of the horses’ heads was off. Three legs were broken off on another.

“Zormna heard the noise and found you unconscious,” he said.

Jennifer shook her head. That couldn’t be right.

“When she could not wake you, she ran home and got us,” he said.

Jennifer shook her head harder. “No. No! That is not what happened.”

“Then what happened?” her mother asked.

Taking in a breath, casting Zormna a look, Jennifer tried to recall the events through her throbbing headache. “I…I came here to make sure Zormna wasn’t brooding. I saw a light coming from that junk room upstairs, and I just peeked in. She was…” She looked at Zormna again. The girl watched as if everything Jennifer was saying was news to her. “She was Skyping someone. Her school.”

Mr. McLenna shot Zormna a look.

But Zormna’s expression remained bemused,