“Mike!” Todd said. “The rest of you, quiet!”
“My two assistants and I were showing Cinnamon around the veterinary hospital,” Mike began, shouting at first but lowering his voice as the others stopped talking to listen. Dr. Adjei, head of Veterinary Services, stood at Mike’s shoulder behind Robin. “He was our special visitor today. I had morning surgery, so I left Cinnamon with my assistants, Dr. Gross and Intern Errme. They took him around the place and ended up at the corral where we were holding about thirty animals, mostly geldings. I heard a howl and came running. The Gringg, Cinnamon, was in the corral”—Mike shot a furious glance at his erring employees “—with the dead mare at his feet.”
“He killed it,” Bert Gross burst out. “With one punch!”
“You’re out of order, Gross,” Todd told him sternly.
The plump woman from Humanity First! pounded on Todd’s desk and thrust an accusing finger at Cinnamon. “This monster should never have been allowed to go unsupervised among decent beings! It could have been one of us!”
“It was an accident,” Robin Reeve said firmly. “Cinnamon has repeatedly said so.”
“I will recompense for its loss,” Cinnamon said miserably. “I will adopt its youngster and nurture it.”
“It’ll need a foster mother of its own kind,” Mike Solinari explained, but the spontaneity of Cinnamon’s offer softened his harsh expression. “There’s a couple of mares who have lost their foals. We can put the colt in with one of them. That part’ll be all right.”
“But he killed . . .”
“Ma’am, it’s upsetting, but can we put the incident in perspective?” Todd asked politely.
“What perspective is that, Reeve?” Greene asked sardonically. He stood with fingertips poised on Todd’s desk, not as loud or insistent as the angry woman, but somehow much more menacing. “That one of these gigantic aliens of yours killed a horse, or that he did it with one blow? They can break necks with as little effort as it takes for you or me to brush away dust. You’ve sown them among the population of a civilian planet like poisonous weeds. Where in this perspective do we find responsibility?”
“Oh, very picturesque, Commander,” Robin Reeve said, applauding with sarcastic exaggeration.
Greene showed no signs of impatience or temper. “As Admiral Barnstable has repeatedly requested, these creatures should be sequestered.”
“Locked up like wild beasts?” Hrrestan said, shaking his mane. “Unrrreasonable. You would not lock up a Hayuman for killing a hrrss. You would fine him and set him frrree. So would a Hrruban trrrbunal.”
“Only in cases where malicious inzenz does not exist,” Second Speaker Hrrto said. He was as far away from the Gringg as the dimensions of the room, and the crowd, would allow. Todd was relieved to observe that Barnstable was not present. “Ze question now remains if ze Gringg intended to kill.”
“Why would he? And let me remind you that in our laws,” Todd said, “as in yours, a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Prove that Cinnamon acted in malice.”
“Our laws forbid violence,” Eonneh protested, making his way forward to stand beside his colleague. The room seemed to shrink around them. The animal rights woman from Terra let out a squeak of surprise and retreated behind Mike and Robin, who exchanged a glance of disgust.
“I am sorry,” Cinnamon repeated, staring at his big paws reproachfully. “I strove only to push away the hrrrss’s attack. It hit me with its feet, here.” He showed a torn patch on his coat where the mare’s hooves had struck his chest, and the gash on his broad muzzle. “I did not realize I had struck it so hard until I heard—” And somehow he imitated the precise sound of a bone breaking. Everyone in the room shuddered. “I grieve to have killed a harmless animal, especially one prized so highly by our new friends. My hosts assured me that the hrrrsses were eager to have friendship. I sought only to make friends with the beautiful animals.”
“Dr. Gross,” Todd said, keeping his voice level and consequently forcing the crowd to hush to hear him. Inwardly, he was ready to roar with fury that a petty, though tragic, incident had given such fuel for trouble.
Bert Gross came forward and cleared his throat. His face was red, and he nervously rearranged his hands from pockets to belt to hip; his right hand twitched toward Cinnamon, and ended up scratching the nape of own his neck.
“Well, he, I mean the Gringg, went right into the corral, and he started chasing the herd around and around. Anyone with sense wouldn’t have done that. Then the mare charged him, defending her foal. He struck her down like swatting a fly.”
“It is so,” Errme said with a terse nod.
“Why didn’t you stop him,” Dr. Adjei asked, his eyes narrowing, “when you saw the herd reacting? You had the voder.”
“Why would you leave ze Gringg alone in ze corrrri in ze frrst place?” Hrriss asked. He had stood beside Todd, silent until now.
“Huh?” Gross looked at his Hrruban comrade. Errme lifted both hands palm up, shrugging.
“I heard them.” A very soft voice came from within the muttering crowd.
“You were a witness?” Hrrestan asked, glancing around the crowd. “Come forward.”
A slender girl in a soiled coverall raised her hand. “I saw. Juanita Taylor. I work at the animal hospital.”
Robin elbowed his way through the crowd to escort her toward the desk.
“Will you tell us what you heard?” Hrrestan asked her in a kind voice.
Nita blushed deeply, but Hrrestan kept his big green eyes fixed on her deep brown ones. “Dr. Gross invited the bear, I mean, the Gringg, to see a herd of horses on the other side of the barn. I . . . I didn’t mean to be eavesdropping, but the barn’s open all the way through, and there’s an echo.”
“No one’s accusing you of anything, Nita,” Todd said in a gentle voice. “You’re helping us.”
The girl nodded, and swallowed nervously. “They told him to get into the corral and get close to the horses. It was their idea. They were laughing about it. I didn’t realize that anything was wrong until I heard the stampede, and then the mare screamed.”
“So you say that the two Rraladoonans led him to believe the situation was controllable, and then failed to act responsibly and in time to prevent a tragic occurrence?” Admiral Sumitral asked.
“That’s a leading question!” Bert Gross protested.
“You watch too many courtroom videos, Bert,” Ken Reeve told him. “Will you answer, Nita? Just tell the truth.”
“Well, my dear?” Sumitral prompted.
Nita nodded, not looking at the men. “I think they were trying to play some kind of joke on . . . Cinnamon, but it backfired. That mare was very protective of her foal. We had trouble getting close to her, and she knows us.”
“So the mare reacted out of fear of a stranger,” Todd said flatly. “I think that sums things up pretty well, don’t you, Hrrestan?”
“I agrrree,” Hrrestan said. “If it was not frrr zis witness who has come brrravely frrwrd, zeir dishonor would nevrrr be discovrrrd, since ze Gringg would continue to believe he was guilty of a crrrime.”
“We,” said Todd, including Hrriss at his side, “apologize, Cinnamon, that you were subjected to such infantile behavior.”
“Hey!” Bert Gross protested. Errrne hissed. Todd met their glares with a cool stare. Both of them suddenly found something else to look at.
“I’ll talk to the two of you later on,” Todd said, his voice cold. “But I think Dr. Solinari might have something to say to you first.”
“You’re damned well right,” Mike said grimly.
“I have a restoration to make,” Cinnamon insisted, inclining his big head. “I did not mean to cause a loss of life. I wished to make friends.”
“I am positive of that!” Todd replied earnestly.
“You are most courteous,” Eon
neh said, bowing.
“Is that all?” Greene asked. “You stand here and compliment one another ad nauseam, when this alien has shown the dismaying ability to destroy without effort?”
“Not at all,” Todd said, as if he had noticed the Spacedep commander for the first time. “As Cinnamon has already offered to make restitution, what else could be demanded of him? A day in the stocks? A month of bread and water? Mike’ll determine the value of the mare and how much fostering the colt will cost, and Cinnamon will pay what he owes. End of matter!”
“In whatever way becomes possible, I will make the value good,” Cinnamon promised.
“You forget the loss of use of a valuable brood mare and any subsequent earnings,” Greene said.
Cinnamon nodded his head obligingly. “That, too, is fair and can be decided. I await the decision.”
“But we have formulated no schedule of payment or value,” Second Speaker said, looking distressed.
“You can’t just let these . . . aliens”—Greene larded the word with repugnance—“buy their way out of any incidents. This one involved only the death of an animal. You let the Gringg wander where they like. What happens—”
“We Gringg will cooperate in any way we can,” Eonneh interjected, looking intently from Greene to Second Speaker to Todd. “The just reparations for accidents must be decided, clearly stated, and set down. This regrettable incident is unlikely to be repeated, but we Gringg are big and accidents can happen no matter how careful we try to be in our excursions.”
Greene rolled his eyes, and was gathering himself to speak, when Hrrestan held up his hand.
“Agreement must be formulated with all dispatch,” Hrrestan said, “so zat justice—unlike zis . . . inforrmal and crrowded hearring—can be calmly and sensibly rendered on any matters zat could be required. A tribunal of one each of our zree species should do very well, should it not, Zodd? Sumitral?”
“Now wait a minute—” Greene said.
“You are not, Commander Greene, a resident, nor even a frequent visitor to Rraladoon,” Hrrestan said, gently but firmly dismissing the man’s protest.
“We Gringg agree,” Eonneh said, looking from one to the other, “justice must be clearly stated and set down. It is the only fair way in which we can interact, now or in the future.”
“A second Decision at Doona,” Todd said, with a grin at his mentor. Today’s accident—so nearly a tragedy—had provided a major forward step in the tripartite relationships. The Rraladoonans in the crowd cheered, but not all the visitors looked pleased by the outcome.
“Impossible situation,” Greene protested, realizing he had lost control of the situation. “There are ramifications you cannot understand—” He broke off suddenly.
At Second Speaker’s side, Mllaba stared at the commander, her huge eyes glinting, and a hot flush rose from Greene’s collar to flood his face unbecomingly. In his presence, almost with his cooperation, the ridiculously naive Doonans had struck a bargain with their would-be destroyers. They proposed galactic policy with a dangerous species, and were grinning like idiots. Sumitral, beside them, who should have been wary, was behaving just as foolishly.
“This whole thing is an inappropriate response to the situation,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Not at all.” Todd raised his voice to be heard over the hubbub. “The malice was not on Cinnamon’s side. If he had deliberately destroyed property, it would have been necessary for him, as it is for anyone on Rraladoon, to be disciplined in some fashion. However, we have established—haven’t we?—that he was the victim of an ill-conceived trick.”
“Hear! Hear!” Mike cried.
Robin, breaking off his quiet but intense conversation with a blushing Nita, echoed the vet’s sentiment, glaring at the dissenting expressions of faces in the crowd.
“Since it seems that Rraladoon is fast becoming a popular spot for aliens to meet”—Todd went on, injecting some levity into the discussion, for which he was rewarded with a few grins—“it behooves us to consider contingency plans and guidelines until formal proceedings can be initiated. This is my world, and I am the Hayuman leader of it. Hrrestan, as my Hrruban colleague, do you concur?” Hrrestan nodded, his gleaming eyes never leaving Greene’s face. “I could almost suspect”—Todd paused significantly, though he pointedly did not look in the commander’s direction—“that the whole incident was manufactured by those intent on causing trouble between our people and our new friends. Our guest”—Todd emphasized the word—“has been most gracious, considering he was the butt of a bad joke. End of incident. Now, you all, clear out of here, and tend to your own business. Not mine!”
Greene stood staring at the desktop, then looked up to meet Todd’s eyes.
“I . . . I agree with you, Reeve,” the commander said, nodding his head slowly. “You should not have become involved with a tempest in a teapot. Delicate relationships between our three races should not be fractured. As Human colony leader, you are in a superior position to facilitate such guidelines. Spacedep wishes to offer any assistance you require.”
Todd gawked at the Spacedep officer’s sudden change of direction. He was unable to detect any sarcasm in Greene’s earnest face.
“That’s very wise of you, Commander Greene,” Sumitral said. “And the sooner we can devise final terms the better. In the meantime, let us extend immunity to these stray visitors of ours until we have achieved a proper treaty with the Gringg.” He sighed. “If only they came in a slightly smaller package, there’d be less objection!”
The officers were talking in a tight group as Robin and Mike were urging people to disperse, joking that the show was over for the day.
“Or were they less dangerous,” Mllaba said, staring at the dejected Cinnamon. “It is not merely ze sheer size of the Gringg zat is off-putting.”
“Not to menzion ze zurprize of zeir trade items,” Hrrestan said.
Hrrto was shaking his head, and his tail tip twitched convulsively. He spoke Middle Hrruban in a low voice. “Perhaps if all business was conducted by comlink, there would be less need for protection.”
“Why, Honored sir, when they offer no violence?” Hrrestan asked. “I think some responsibility devolves on us—to be sure they are not victimized, as they were today.”
That aspect had clearly not occurred to Hrrto. “Yes, yes, I take the point, Hrrestan. But . . .” And he sighed heavily. His priorities were in constant turmoil. Only the prospect of the essential purralinium remained of constant importance. “It always depends who the victim is, doesn’t it?” he added enigmatically.
“Hall’s cleared now, so goodbye. I’ve got a hospital to run,” Mike Solinari said over his shoulder as he firmly pushed the last of the curious out the door.
“Especially when the victim does not realize he has been made one,” Hrrestan said, looking at the retreating figures of the veterinary contingent. “The laws of Hrruba are far more stringent than are needed here on Rraladoon, Second Speaker. Diplomatic immunity should be tendered. The terms of such immunity are already known to both Hayuman and Hrruban. Let us examine them first. Then we must learn the law forms of our visitors, so that there is no ambiguity or misinterpretation.” As he spoke to Hrrto, Hrrestan leaned away from Greene, as if he hoped the commander would take the hint and depart. “We of Rraladoon will be honored to mediate such discussions if that would solve the current dilemma of jurisdiction.”
Mllaba nudged Hrrto. “Such a project would greatly enhance your prospects for election, Speaker!”
“I . . . yes, of course it would, Mllaba,” he told her testily. Then he turned to Hrrestan. “Justice for all is the primary purpose of the Council,” he said. “And also of our allies on ze Amalgamated Worlds Council.”
Greene, who had not taken the hint to leave, entered the discussion, also using Middle Hrruban. “Diplomatic immunity is certainly a good point at which to
start, since we are all familiar with its workings. I was for a while attached to Spacedep Legal, so I would like to assist.”
His offer surprised every one in the room, so that he was able to glance meaningfully at Mllaba without comment. She nodded, understanding that the two of them must have a private conference.
“Then it’s settled,” Sumitral said cheerfully. “Ah, Captain Grzzeearoghh, we’ve been expecting you. There’s a matter of great importance I wish to broach to you.”
Todd glanced up. The enormous Gringg filled the doorway, her red eyes nearly sparking. Behind her were her cub, Kelly, Jilamey Landreau, and Landreau’s servant, Barrington.
“What matter is that?” Grizz asked carefully, her sweeping glance having taken in the forlorn Cinnamon. Eonneh went to her side and began to speak in a low voice. Grizz bent over him, and waved her claw now and again in assent.
“If I may,” Admiral Sumitral began, nodding to Todd and Hrrestan for permission. Then he approached the Gringg captain. “As Honey undoubtedly informed you, there has been a slight mishap involving Cinnamon, which has been resolved under our laws. As guests of this planet, Rraladoon, you are now granted diplomatic immunity, the ramifications of which I will gladly explain to you. I can safely assure you that this will be immediately ratified by the governing body of Amalgamated Worlds.”
Somewhat stunned by Sumitral’s announcement, Hrrto forced his way over and said, “And by the High Council of Hrruba.”
As he heard himself saying such words, he wondered that he had so spontaneously promised what he would have to argue at his most eloquent, in the Council, to obtain. And yet, all he had to do now was mention purralinium to them and they’d agree to any measures needed to procure the metal. Nevertheless, he had been forced to take an action which he ought to have discussed, at least with Mllaba, before committing himself. Could the Hayumans and Zodd Rrev have cunningly maneuvered him into agreeing? Or was it that Sumitral had once again made the Second Speaker of the High Council dance to his tune as if Hrrto were a mere apprentice in the halls of diplomacy? Perhaps both. Sumitral had always been a formidable mediator, and young Zodd had indeed grown up.
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