The Faarian Chronicles: Exile

by Karen Harris Tully

  “The court,” Rjen said coldly, “does not allow testimony from Ahatu.” I heard Micha snort derisively from the back. “Their thought processes are too different from our own to be reliable.”

  At that, Micha visibly bristled and paced, growling low in her throat, but didn’t leave her spot at the back of the room. Still, the crowd pushed further away from her in a visible wave with her pacing. Even Thal stood against the wall so as not to get accidentally stepped on.

  “And how would you know that when none of you have ever had an Ahatu partner?” Mom asked.

  “Be that as it may,” Rjen said, “you and your… Ahatu… will not get any special treatment from this court.”

  “Am I to take it that you aren’t even willing to review the Kindred security video that shows everything that happened on the ground?” my mother asked.

  “Video can easily be tampered with, as everyone knows,” Lu’cron answered and turned to his fellow justices. “If the General were indeed innocent as she claims, she could prove it right now with her own memory testimony or even that of her daughter. I find it telling that she instead wishes to rely solely on inferior physical evidence. That in itself is an admission of guilt, to my mind.” Rjen nodded while McCall only stared at his hands with an expression of distaste.

  “And when combined with the memory evidence we have from the victim, I do not see any reason that we should delay the inevitable any longer, justices, do you?” Lu’cron continued.

  They shook their heads.

  “Then I believe we are ready to vote,” Rjen replied.

  What? No!

  Justice McCall had his lips pressed together in seeming disapproval, but only shook his head and said nothing.

  “Just a moment, please!” a woman’s voice called and a rumble of interest ran through the audience. I looked over to see a familiar, polished-looking businesswoman standing now in the midst of the seated audience, several rows behind and to one side of myself and the Kindred members. She strode to the front in an American-style designer suit, her short heels clicking on the marble, understated jewelry completing the look. The first time I’d met her, I’d found the American business clothing familiar and reassuring. Now it just looked out of place in the midst of flashy Glass City residents and bland Kindred farmers.

  “Dr. Souchie,” Justice Lu’cron seemed surprised. “May I ask what connection you have to this case?”

  “The same as every person here, to see justice served, despite the General’s attempts to sabotage herself for unknown reasons.”

  “Nereus,” my mother said. “I neither need nor desire your help.”

  “My dear General, I beg to differ,” Dr. Souchie replied dryly. “Justices, I am here to offer my services as an alternative to the usual memory testimony for General Vaeda Katje and her daughter Veridian. It’s common knowledge that I am an unusually good telepath. Simply through touch, I can read their minds and then present their memory testimony to the court myself. It is a rather circuitous method to be sure, but I’m sure it will suffice, and I’m asking the court to allow it.”

  What? She was offering to read our minds, like some circus act magician? And the justices were supposed to buy that? But… it looked like they were buying it, nodding and looking thoughtful, looking at each other as if they were having some sort of unheard, private conversation. My mother sat stiffly, glaring at Dr. Souchie.

  “Yes,” Rjen said after only a moment’s consideration, “that is acceptable.”

  “No,” my mother said.

  “General, please be reasonable,” McCall said. “This is a very generous compromise, non-invasive, and involving no physical or mental changes. We suggest you take it.”

  “Absolutely not,” she replied. I shook my head. Was she going to go to jail for her pride?

  “I’ll do it,” I said, standing up.

  “Veridian, you will do nothing of the sort. Sit down,” she ordered. Sensei and Penthe tried to pull me back down, but I crossed my arms and refused to budge.

  “I’m old enough to make my own decisions, Mother.”

  “Veridian, sit down,” she ordered in that quiet, deadly voice.

  “No,” I replied, glaring back at her. The Kindred members around me gasped.

  “Legally,” McCall interjected on our staring contest, “because this does not involve conversion, even temporarily, this is not an action the court can prohibit due to lack of parental consent.”

  Ha!

  She glared at Justice McCall before turning to me. “Veridian, you don’t understand,” my mother said. “Your mind is the most precious thing you possess. You can’t give that woman access like this.”

  I looked into her eyes. Please, they said. Don’t do this. I almost relented, but then I looked around the courtroom, at the people with protest signs calling her a murderer, at the justices itching to convict her. In this messed up place, lacking in justice, that paid lip service to equality, I was her last chance to be exonerated. If her pride wouldn’t let this well-known, well-liked, philanthropic woman read her mind to secure her freedom, I’d have to do it for her.

  I looked over at Dr. Souchie. “Let’s do it.”

  She smiled at me serenely and beckoned me forward, but not before I saw the flash of triumph and greed shine for a split second in her eyes.

  Chapter 30: Never Enough

  Mom had secrets. I guess I should have known that. But some part of me was still surprised when she didn’t relent and allow Dr. Souchie to read her mind instead of mine. I mean, if she was so adamantly against me letting this woman into my head and all. But she didn’t. So, whatever she didn’t want to reveal with her own memories must have been worse than her worries about me.

  Was I way off base here? Could she have done it? Not that I’d particularly care since the guy was going to kill me. I gave my head a little shake. No, I knew she didn’t, not in cold blood the way they said.

  Dr. Souchie waved me over to a chair one of the guards set in front of her, facing the audience, like I was on stage. “Come dear, sit.”

  And then I thought about what Mom had said. Your mind is the most precious thing you possess. Maybe I shouldn’t do this, I finally thought. What if the good doctor brainwashed me while she was in there or something?

  I turned and squinted up at her. “I’m not going to end up a vegetable am I? Or some kind of sleeper spy?” People laughed, like I was joking. But not my mother, and not the Kindred members in front of me.

  “You have my word. I will only search out and share the pertinent memory,” she replied. “You will be perfectly safe.” She set one hand lightly on one side of my face and the other where my neck met my shoulder. I wondered briefly if she’d ever seen Star Trek as she readied to Vulcan mind-meld me. “It will be easiest if you try to relax, dear.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, blocking out the audience and trying not to think about being on TV across the globe. I knew when she started because I felt a brief, sharp jab under my ear and then her soothing voice in my head.

  Breathe and relax. Open your mind. This won’t take long. I did as she said and started to see bits and pieces of my memories, complete with thoughts and emotions, flashing before my eyes like my brain was being downloaded. I tried to think about the attack, to bring up the correct memory for her, but it kept floating away on the sea of my memories, like it was being gently brushed aside.

  When we finally did get to the memory of the attack, my mind seemed to pause on the image of Drazen, snarling and leaping at me, disgusting fangs leading the way. For the first time I felt pity for him, and determination to help.

  Sunny, this never has to happen to anyone ever again. I believe your mixed heritage DNA holds the key, but I need your help to prove it. A few samples are all I ask, virtually painless to you, but oh, so essential to my research. Think about it and contact me with your price. I think you’ll find me very generous.

  When I resurfaced back in the courtroom, it was like waking up f
rom a nap I didn’t know I’d taken. Only then did I realize that the feelings of pity and remorse were not my own. Dr. Souchie’s hand was squeezing and leaving my shoulder, signaling we were done. The courtroom was buzzing, people still staring at the wall where an image was projected, that of Mom looking up at me, her eyes already back to hazel, the seemingly dead Anakharu at her feet.

  From her seat on trial, my mother was looking at me with an odd combination of worry and pride. She gave me a wry half-smile and nod that seemed to acknowledge, you did have him. In return, I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but couldn’t refrain from rubbing the back of my neck. My brain throbbed. There was a sore spot under my ear. And Dr. Souchie looked smug as she sat back down, smoothly folding her hands in front of her, adjusting a jeweled ring.

  The three justices were once again huddled together in silent discussion. Could all Molinidae communicate without speaking?

  “Unfortunately, the testimony is, in the end, inconclusive,” Justice McCall finally announced with a frown.

  “What?” I exclaimed. Dr. Souchie’s smile turned calculatedly neutral.

  “It is the finding of this court that the time between the witness seeing the General tackle the victim out the window and actually getting to the window herself, a matter of a few seconds, would have been more than sufficient for someone of the General’s expertise to kill the victim.”

  I slumped in my chair. So, after all this, risking my life, my mind, and publicly decimating my pride, it was all for nothing?

  “But wait,” I said, sitting up and pointing to the final image still on the wall. “What about after that, when the police opened the casket and put something inside, when Micha was trying to get into it? Did you see that part?”

  “Ms. Katje, are you accusing the red police of killing the victim? For what purpose?”

  “I don’t know why, but yeah, I am! If you’d let Micha testify, you’d see the guy was alive, in stasis in the casket!”

  “The officers have already given their memory testimony. The object you saw was a life sensor, which detected no signs of the victim being in stasis.”

  “Well then, someone messed with the sensor, or the memory, or something!”

  “That is enough! Ms. Katje, your defense of your mother is admirable, but ultimately misguided. We are back to where we were. The court still requires the General’s own testimony. So, unless she has changed her mind about testifying?”

  “No. I have not,” my mother answered, deadpan.

  “Then we are now, at last, ready to vote.”

  “In the case against General Vaeda Katje for murder of the Afflicted person known as Drazen, how say you?” Lu’cron asked his fellow justices.

  “Conviction,” said Rjen.

  “Retrial due to insufficient evidence,” said McCall.

  “Conviction,” Lu’cron said, and I felt as if all the air was sucked from the room.

  “Should additional memory testimony be brought forward, the case may be reopened,” Rjen said. “The vote is two to one. Vaeda Katje is hereby convicted of murder. We reconvene tomorrow morning for sentencing.”

  We watched mutely as my mother was led away, shaking her head in disappointment but not appearing surprised. Micha, who had been relatively quiet all this time, finally had enough. She roared and leaped forward at the justices.

  “NO!” I yelled. The room seemed to slow down in front of me. I leapt over the railing separating the audience from the rest of the court and rushed after Micha as the guards pulled guns from hidden holsters. Somehow I was able to leap on Micha’s back, sending us both crashing into the side of the dais platform. I ended up in front of her, hanging onto her neck.

  “Micha! This doesn’t help. Please! Micha, listen to me,” I somehow dragged her head down to look her straight in the eye. “I need you. We need you.”

  She snorted a few angry breaths before finally closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against mine. I buried my face in her ruff and sobbed, all the effort, all the emotion suddenly draining out of me.

  “Vicious, unpredictable animals,” I heard from above. “It should be put down before it hurts someone.”

  I looked up at Lu’cron and Rjen standing on the dais above us with their cruel superiority and something inside me snapped. I jumped up, howling and determined to get my hands around one of their throats, but I never got there. Micha grabbed me by my belt and dragged me backward until some of the others could grab my flailing arms and clap a hand over my mouth to stop my yelling American obscenities.

  Micha chuckled. That’s my girl-child, she said, bonking her head into my side. I didn’t know how, but I realized now that when she called me girl-child, she was really calling me something more like daughter.

  Chapter 31: Next Moves

  “Let’s get out of here, before we all get arrested,” Alten said grimly and led the way, waddling out the door to the lift. Immediately, reporters stuck links in our faces and shouted questions at us, while protesters jeered.

  “Walk tall, Sunny,” Sensei said, walking on one side of me, guiding me with a hand on my arm as silent tears of frustration and injustice streaked my cheeks. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  Her words reminded me that I was likely being viewed by people all around the world. I glanced down at my outfit: boring, long-sleeved tee, cargo pants tucked into ugly boots, my unwashed hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and no makeup on whatsoever. I lifted my chin defiantly. I really didn’t care what those soft, overly prettified Glass City people thought.

  Micha walked on my other side, my hand on her ruff atop her shoulder blades. Sensei kept her hand on my arm the whole way back to the pod, as if she thought I might bolt and go postal on the pretty Brown-Hairs gawking around us. Although, Brown-Hair was really a misnomer, since about half were shaved bald and the rest had hair of regular Earth colors, not limited to brown. They stared and took pictures and videos of the somber Katje processional walking by.

  “Veridian and I will take the pod back,” Alten announced as the others boarded a south-bound commuter train. I said a despondent good-bye to Sensei, who was returning to her school. She said something encouraging. I only nodded and got on the pod. Thal chose to ride on the train, and I didn’t blame him. The pod had apparently auto-cleaned itself, but still smelled slightly of disinfectant and puke. Alten tried to wave Penthe onto the train also, but she wasn’t having it.

  “It’s over four hours back to the Kindred,” Penthe said, shaking her head. “With all this excitement, it wouldn’t be unheard of for the baby to come early. Humor me.”

  They paid the fines to get the pod out of hock, since Thal and I had just left it on the tracks, and we were on our way. Micha rode with Alten, Penthe, and me, whether to keep an eye on me or to protect me from Alten, I wasn’t sure. She had to be pissed that I’d disobeyed, snuck out, and stolen the pod.

  “Veridian,” she began, then stopped with a sigh. “Sunny, I admire what you did today.”

  I stared at the back of the commuter train ahead of us, as we traveled - at most - a quarter of the speed we’d gone earlier, and waited for the “but” that I knew was coming.

  “What you did in court was reckless and foolish, but I understand why you did it. You put yourself on the line for your mother and that’s commendable. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be punished for disobeying her orders.”

  I gave a short nod.

  “In addition, you stole an emergency pod. The speed you had to have traveled to get there in time…” she shook her head. “Maximum speed is strictly reserved for emergencies.” Micha snorted and settled in for a nap.

  “What, you don’t consider Mom being on trial an emergency?” I asked, not expecting an answer. “And if you can travel that fast, why wouldn’t you?”

  “Technology isn’t infallible, Sunny. The pods were never intended to travel that kind of distance at full speed. You’re lucky you arrived in one piece.”

  “Well, then you
should have taken me with you in the first place!” I exclaimed. “She’s my mother. I deserved to be there.”

  “We all have orders to follow, Veridian. The General told you to stay with Teague and Sarosh and you deliberately disobeyed.”

  “Well, maybe you should just turn this thing around, go to the port and send me home then, if I’m such a problem!”

  She looked at me for a moment without speaking. “Is that what you want?” she finally asked.

  “Yes! No. I don’t know anymore. Maybe it would be easier.”

  “Easier than what?”

  “Just… easier. They all hate me, you know.”

  “All who?” she asked.

  “The Kindred! I know what they’re saying. That it’s all my fault Mom is in jail and now I snuck out, stole a pod, and it didn’t even help! I failed.”

  “The system failed your mother, not you. And I think you’ll be surprised. Yours was the kind of desperate, futile attempt Katjes tend to love.” She smiled wryly at me. “I understand why you did what you did, but we follow orders for a reason, Sunny. You’re going to have to get used to that, for your own safety and that of others. You and Thal will both have extra chores when we get home.”

  I sighed and nodded, spent and not wanting to argue anymore. And I guessed there were worse things she could do to us than assign extra chores. I rubbed the sore spot behind my ear and felt a tiny scab that I didn’t remember being there before.

  On arriving back at the Kindred, a huge crowd waited in the station for Alten, looking anxious and upset.

  “Alten, what do we do now?” people asked.

  “It can’t be over, can it? There has to be more we can do!”

  “File a complaint!”

  “Protest!”

  “This is wrong! We can’t just give up!”

  Alten made shushing motions and addressed the crowd. “Fellow Kindred members,” she began, “what happened at that sham of a trial today was the opposite of justice. I am working on our next move now, but know that this is far from over. We will not give up on our General, just as she would never give up on any of us.”