You Have Been Judged

by Craig Martelle

  He put his back to the door and started a new monologue.

  “By order of the Magistrate, you will open that door.” She balanced on the balls of her feet and raised her fists. Sinraloo finally stopped talking, but didn’t move. “I hold you in violation of Section Thirteen of Federation Code, Chapter Nine, Paragraph Six. Kidnapping.”

  The Pretarian’s expression didn’t change. She started to spin, blurring with the speed as she jumped. Her roundhouse kick connected with Sinraloo’s jaw, and he started to fall. She hit the floor and followed through with a heel strike from her left hand as his face passed hers. Once he was on the floor, she straddled him and drove her fist toward his nose, stopping before it hit. She grabbed his head in both hands and absorbed his muddled thoughts.

  He was too stunned for any of it to be of use. She picked him up, finding the alien much lighter than she would have thought for one of his size and threw him into the wall across the room.

  She opened the door and stepped out. Red had his shotgun out and was ready to kick the door in. She looked over her shoulder. “Justice is served, you piece of shit.”

  Rivka stormed down the hallway until she reached the room set aside for the arbitration. She ripped open the door to find only the Keome delegation.

  “Where are the... Never mind. Yus, can I talk to you alone, please?”

  He started to walk toward the door, but Yutta stopped him. “How can we know she can be trusted with your safety, Primary Yus?”

  “Because she’s a Magistrate. The entire planet’s safety is in her hands, so I will be safe with her. Why are you so worried?”

  “I should come with you,” Yutta insisted.

  “No.” Rivka put her hands on her hips and looked up at the tall multi-armed aliens.

  “No,” Yus confirmed. He opened the door for Rivka with one arm and held Yutta back with two of his other arms while gesturing with his fourth.

  Rivka looked at the two guards. “I need an empty room,” she told them. Neither moved nor answered. Red pointed to the bathroom. “It’s nice, and no one’s in there.”

  “Good enough.” Rivka went in.

  Yus took one step and stopped. “But this is a toilet.”

  “It’s a place for privacy, is it not?”

  “It is,” the Keome conceded before following her in. They didn’t bother locking the door since Red was on the other side, barring entry.

  “What do you really want from this treaty?” Rivka asked. Yus didn’t answer, so she continued, “The treaty as written is a piece of garbage concocted by bureaucrats who want to stab pins into voodoo dolls.”

  “I don’t know what a voodoo doll is, but you are correct in that Keome has an agenda and has tried to force this treaty. They are ready to go to war, you know. Not over this treaty, but to be the supreme power in the system. We call it Keome System and they call it Pretaria System. That alone is enough to go to war over. Whoever names the system determines its fate. Water for us, thirst for them.”

  “I don’t agree, but I see. You still haven’t answered my question. Your words represent someone else’s position, not yours. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t able to speak for your people, so I implore you to answer. What would be acceptable to you?”

  “That the Pretarians don’t look at me like I am a bug to be squashed.”

  “That’s not asking for a whole lot.” Rivka cracked the door. “Red, can you have Maseer join us?”

  “He’s not here. None of the Pretarian delegation is.”

  “Tell one of those guards to go get him. I don’t know what the hell they’re guarding since people are walking around this place as they please.”

  “Will do, Magistrate,” Red replied. Rivka eased the door closed as Red delivered a profanity-laden stream of orders to the two Pretarians on the other side of the hallway.

  “You said earlier that you had already traded with the Federation. You and I both know that isn’t true. Neither of you has traded anything. Why?”

  Yus shuffled one foot. Rivka was learning that the movement was tied to anxiety. Whether angry or upset, it told her something. She had also learned that the tall aliens were patient and slow to speak, and even then, it wasn’t because they parsed their words. She waited.

  The Primary never answered her, but he stopped shuffling his foot. The door opened slowly and Maseer peeked in.

  “Please join us, Maseer,” Rivka requested pleasantly, waving the Pretarian forward. He watched Yus closely as he entered and Red shut the door behind him. “We were having what is known as a candid conversation.”

  Maseer and Yus both looked down on the human.

  “In law school and then as an intern, I learned that to get to the core of an issue you have to strip away all the distractions. In the end, it reveals the one thing upon which everything else is built. Sometimes I found that thing was missing, and in a puff of smoke the issue was gone. We have here the three who can make this deal happen. Build it from scratch and implement it in a way that benefits Keome and Pretaria equally.”

  Neither delegate answered.

  “I’ll take silence as consent. The best thing to do would be to talk. I think what you have in common is that no one has anything the rest of the universe wants. This trade deal is smoke and mirrors. You have nothing to trade, so as long as the treaty is tied up in this ridiculous feud, you both save face.”

  “I take exception to that,” Maseer argued. “We have something to trade. We are master builders. From the desert, we have formed cities that stand against the wind and the sand.” He vigorously bobbed his head, his beads clacking in rhythm with his movements.

  “We are also master builders, carving our homes from the cliff faces,” Yus countered.

  It dawned on Rivka why the Keome had extra limbs and eyes.

  “Your export is your people?” Rivka needed to review the diplomatic limitations for the aliens of the system to move around the galaxy. “Is this the foundation we need from which to build the framework for a stronger future?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Maseer replied.

  Rivka moved to the side so she could “accidentally” brush against Yus. She stayed in contact while gesturing toward Maseer. “The foundation must be strong,” she said slowly. Yus angled away from her, but the touch had lasted long enough.

  Fear. He was afraid of being killed by his own delegation.

  15

  Rivka sat in her recliner, rocked back until she was almost horizontal. An old movie played on the screen.

  Red had buttoned the ship against all intruders and was relaxing in the recliner next to hers. He snorted and laughed at the show. When she looked at him, he mumbled an apology before resuming his snort-laughing.

  Jay was nowhere to be seen. She was probably taking a bath, reveling in the decadence of using so much water.

  The Magistrate got up and went to her cabin. She closed the door and enjoyed a few moments of peace and quiet, then a meow shocked her from her reverie. “Hamlet. Don’t scratch me.”

  The cat watched Rivka carefully as the human gave him plenty of room on her way to open the door. He walked to it and sat down in the doorway. She tried to nudge him out with her toe, and he wrapped himself around her shoe and started to gnaw on the sole while scratching madly with his back claws. She tried to shake him free, but he clung to her foot as if part of her shoe.

  She laid him on the ground. After he had declared victory over the evil shoe monster, he cleaned his face and headed back into her room.

  “No, you get out!” she told him. He vaulted onto her bed and curled up on her pillow. Rivka pulled her chair to the side of the bed so she could stare at him. She locked her eyes on him and stayed there, breathing as loudly as possible. His fur fluffed with each exhale.

  After five minutes she gave up and went to the bridge.

  She lounged in the captain’s chair, leaning back while keeping her eyes on the main screen which showed a view outside the ship. “Chaz, bring up
Federation immigration law with any mentions of Pretaria or Keome.”

  The screen started to scroll. “Start at the beginning.” It returned to the top, and she began to read. She heard a thump and found the cat standing on the chair next to her. She’d been out of her room for a grand total of thirty seconds. “What?”

  Hamlet started to purr, and he climbed into her lap and curled up. “I’m Magistrate Rivka, and by the power of the Federation, I demand that you obey me or you will be punished to the full extent of the law!”

  She scratched his belly. He raised one leg without opening his eyes.

  “All that I am, and all that I will ever be, is minion to a cat that doesn’t like people. There’s my epitaph. Note that, Chaz and continue to scroll—slowly, please. Stop. What is that I see?” She started to lean forward but caught herself before upsetting Hamlet.

  “Nice. Continue scrolling.” Absentmindedly she stroked the cat’s soft fur, and he started to purr even though she would have sworn he was asleep. Brighter thoughts raced through her mind and made her smile. “I love the law.”

  The morning heat was as oppressive as the mid-day sun. Both sought to destroy human life by reducing it to cinders. The Magistrate’s team hurried from the ship to the building, finding that one type of heat had been replaced by another.

  “Did they turn off the a/c or what?” Jay asked. Red started to flush, and he splashed a canteen over his head to expedite the cooling. He had already drunk his fill aboard the ship. Rivka led the way through the inner doors and down the hall toward the meeting room. When they arrived, there were no guards or delegates. Inside, the conference table had been righted and returned to the center of the room.

  “What time do you have, Red?”

  “I have that we are right on time.”

  “Jay, any thoughts?”

  “Lots of them, but none are good. This looks like a setup. If I were back on the station, I’d be running for my life right about now.”

  Rivka thought of her pink hair flowing behind her. She had changed it at Rivka’s request, and it was now a golden blond that seemed to suit the young woman better. It was the same length and would flow behind her when she ran, regardless.

  “Good call. We’re out of here. We can call them from the ship to find out what happened.”

  Rivka walked quickly toward the door, but when she pushed through it she found the two guards in the entry area. They had their weapons in hand, although they weren’t aiming them.

  “You have no need of your weapons with us,” the Magistrate told them.

  “We were instructed by Lead Maseer to make sure you remained, since the delegation was unavoidably detained.”

  “I’m sure holding us hostage wasn’t what Maseer had in mind. And what about the Keome?” Rivka inched toward the guards.

  “What about the Keome?” the upstart asked.

  Rivka used her enhanced speed to cover the last meter to the guards, ripping their weapons from their hands before they could react. Red had his shortened shotgun up and aimed at the head of the closer Pretarian. Rivka held the weapons behind her for Jay to take.

  “Why did you detain us?” She grabbed the guard’s arm and held it. He tried to pull away, but she was stronger. His emotions flashed through her mind. Foremost was fear, but the images were jumbled. She had yet to figure out how to parse the alien memories. He had no family that she could tell. His existence was based on his duty, and he felt like he was failing.

  A spy! Rivka removed her hand, immediately wanting to return to the ship and wash with bleach.

  “Call us when Maseer and Yus have arrived.” Jay was first to the door, with Rivka close behind. Red held his shotgun close to the guard’s face as he passed.

  “Try something, shit stain. I want to see how Pretarian brains splatter.” The guards did not give him the opportunity, just remained motionless until after Vered had backed through the front doors and raced into the ship.

  The hatch closed, but Red continued to aim his shotgun at it.

  “I think we’re good,” Rivka suggested.

  “What in the hell is up with these dickweeds? I can’t figure them out, which gives them the upper hand. I hate that.”

  “And dogs, and cats, and the heat. Next time, we’re going to request a special parking spot just for you.”

  Red pointed at the deck. “What do you call this?”

  “The deck?”

  “A parking spot right next to the building. You’re welcome,” he told her as he slung his shotgun over his shoulder and headed for the lounge.

  Rivka couldn’t argue. She took the captain’s chair on the bridge while the others went about their business, efficiently killing time until being called back into action.

  “Chaz...” she started to say before he interrupted her.

  “You have an incoming video communication from Maseer.”

  “Onscreen,” she directed in a low and commanding voice.

  “Magistrate! Good to see you. We must have just missed you, like two desert schooners passing in the night.”

  “I’m sure it was just a minor mix-up where the clocks of your entire delegation failed you all simultaneously. No matter. Call us when the Keome delegation arrives, and then I need both of you to wait for us in the lobby. Thank you.” She signed off before they could respond.

  “Chaz...”

  “You have an incoming video communication from Yus.”

  “Onscreen.”

  “We are here, and you are not. We won’t be trifled with!” he shouted at the screen.

  Rivka angled her head. She hadn’t expected such theatrics. His eyes darted to the side and back to the screen. “We were there on time and left one minute after the appointed meeting start time. I will not tolerate further obstructionism from Keome! I am on my way in right now.”

  She didn’t want to come across as too demanding; make it look like she was forcing Keome to be subservient. Let him save face.

  “Time to go,” she yelled toward the lounge. Red and Jay both appeared. Red held his shotgun, and Jay had one of the two guards’ weapons. “What are you going to do with that?”

  “Protect myself?” she answered with a question. “These people seem pretty hostile. It’s like they are channeling their anger away from each other and onto us.”

  “The enemy of my enemy,” Rivka offered. “Leave the weapon here, please. I need you focused on them. Your idea to share water was a great way to break the ice, not that there is any ice on this planet. We need to start each day that way.”

  She motioned toward the hatch, and Red took his cue and dove headlong into the heat. He marched quickly across the intervening space and went inside, then stuck one hand back out and gave the thumbs-up.

  “Showtime,” Rivka decreed.

  The two delegations stood as far as possible from each other. Rivka walked into the open area in between. “Would you share water with me?” she asked.

  Jay produced a number of thin steel stackable glasses and started to pour. No one else moved. She half-filled the glasses as the Pretarians had done when they first arrived. Rivka thanked her and picked up one glass.

  “Will you join me?”

  The two delegations stood like statues, unflinching in their resolve.

  Rivka fought back her growing anger. She took a sip of the water, let it run over her tongue. Then she drank the remainder and turned the glass over as she returned it to the small table. She started to pace slowly, with her hands clasped behind her back. Red leaned against the entry door and watched the delegations, wondering where the two security guards had gone. Jay studied the aliens, looking for their tells.

  “Travel requires movement, which starts by putting one foot in front of another. How long are we going to stand here? You are both wasting all of our time. This grandstanding accomplishes nothing, except forcing me to exercise my further rights under the Law of Arbitration. I am designating a single delegate from each party. I will work with those two only, i
n private, until the arbitration is complete. This is the only way we move forward. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Well, my esteemed colleagues from Pretaria and Keome, we are about to go far.”

  The foot-shuffling began.

  Rivka took another glass of water and drank it. She swapped the empty for another full glass and strolled up to Sinraloo. “How’s that jaw?” she asked him and walked to the Keome. She looked at Yutta. “How’s that gut? I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?”

  The Keome loomed over her. “You surprised me.”

  “As you surprised me. No one expects to get barbarically attacked while on an official mission and in formal diplomatic chambers. That does not reflect well on your people.”

  She walked back to the open space.

  “Yus and Maseer, we will go to my corvette. That is where the arbitration will take place. Follow me.”

  “No, wait,” Yus said. He pointed at the door to the conference room.

  “Absolutely not. My ship. Now.” She held the door and the heat entered in waves. Red grimaced and moved farther into the room. Jay picked up the glasses and poured the water back into the jug, then replaced everything in her carry bag.

  Rivka glared at the two delegations. “I will give you five seconds before I hold you both in contempt. I didn’t come here to deliver punishment, but you’ve already forced me to twice judge lawbreakers. Is that going to be you, too? Do you even know what you signed when you joined the Federation?” She shuffled a foot in the way the aliens did.

  She began her countdown “Five. Four.” She moved closer to Maseer. “Three.” She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him nearly out of his boots. “Two.” She started to drag him across the room. Yus stepped back. “Come here, criminal,” she growled. “One.” She lunged forward and grabbed Yus. She propelled both of the tall aliens toward the door with as much shove as she could manage.

  They both stumbled two steps and stopped.

  “FREEZE!” Red roared and slapped the handgrip of his shotgun.