The Last Hawk

by Catherine Asaro

  "I swear," Evid said.

  "Please call your first witness."

  Testimony of officers from the CityGuard filled the morning, and after Midday recess the airfield personnel were questioned. The witnesses laid out a list of Kelric's actions; fights, threats, assaults, abductions it all formed a violent picture incongruous with the quiet man who sat in the Square of Decision.

  "And so the matter before this Tribunal," Yeva finished, "is one with no precedent in modern history. As such, it requires unprecedented justice. Yesterday it was claimed we regress to barbarism if we deal with the accused as he has dealt with us. I answer with this: if his crimes go unpunished what message will that send out? That a person may murder without censure?"

  Mutters rumbled among the witnesses. The Elder waited until the noise died down and then spoke. "No one would deny we must avoid such a message. However, we remind you that Sevtar Dahl has been convicted of nothing."

  "I understand, your Honor," Yeva said. But as she returned to her seat, others nodded their support to her.

  The Elder turned to Evid. "Summon your next witness."

  "I call Dabbiv Dahl," Evid said.

  Dabbiv went to stand before the Bench. The Elder said, "The Tribunal oath requires you tell the facts with truth. Do you swear to do so?"

  "Yes," Dabbiv said.

  "Be seated then."

  The Square of Witness, to the left of the Bench, looked much like the chair where Kelric sat. However, no guards stood around its rail. After Dabbiv was seated, Evid said, "Doctor, in what capacity do you know Sevtar Dahl?"

  "l was his physician," Dabbiv said.

  "Was? You no longer are?"

  "Manager Dahl took me off his case."

  "Why?"

  Dabbiv hesitated. "We disagreed about his treatment."

  "Disagreed how?"

  "She wanted me to give him drugs that made him sick."

  Evid raised his eyebrows. "Manager Dahl wished to poison her Akasi?"

  Dabbiv flushed. "Of course not. The drug was a sedative, a powerful one, but safe under proper supervision. Safe for a Coban, that is. Kelric, I mean Sevtar, isn't a Coban."

  A prosecution judge beckoned to Evid. He talked with her, then turned back to Dabbiv. "When was the last time you gave Sevtar the drug in question?"

  "The day of his Oath ceremony," Dabbiv said.

  "After which he escaped from a locked room at the top of a tower, knocked out all of his guards, shot. Manager Dahl, wrecked the airfield, kidnapped a pilot, and flew to the starport?"

  Dabbiv reddened. "Yes."

  "Since these events, do you believe the drug had any effect on him at all?"

  "I don't know how he managed to nullify it, but it was poisoning him."

  A neutral judge bent to Evid. He listened then spoke to Dabbiv "Could a side effect of this drug be to induce psychosis?"

  "It made him physically ill," Dabbiv said. "Not mentally."

  "But is it possible?"

  "I don't know."

  "Could his adverse reactions, both to food and medicine, be psychological in origin?"

  "I doubt it."

  Evid leaned forward "Then tell me this. Can a change in eye or skin pigmentation dramatically alter the way a person reacts to sedation?"

  "I don't know. It doesn't seem likely."

  "Yet," Evid pounced, "the only difference between Sevtar and you or me is coloring Why then should a substance that is harmless to us poison him?"

  "He only looks like us." Dabbiv thumped his fist on the chair. "What do I have to do to make you people see? This man isn't from another Estate. He's from another world."

  "Young man," the Elder said. "Please control yourself."

  Dabbiv scowled at her.

  A prosecution judge beckoned Evid He listened, then turned to Dabbiv. "Are you still a member of the Estate staff?"

  The doctor stiffened. "No."

  "What is your position?"

  "Medic for the city maintenance crew."

  "Manager Dahl dismissed you from the Estate?"

  Tightly, Dabbiv said "Yes."

  "I see." Evid glanced at the judges for confirmation then said, "We have no further questions, Doctor."

  Chankah frowned. The more she heard, the less impartial Evid sounded. She rose to her feet. When the Elder nodded, Chankah said, "It should be made clear in transcript that Manager Dahl fully intends to recall Dabbiv in his position as one of her physicians."

  "Very well." The Elder glanced at the Scribe. He sat to the right of the Bench at a Quis table recognizable by its distinctive structure, a round top on a fluted pedestal. The Scribe dipped his quill in ink and turned Chankah's words into hieroglyphs on his parchment.

  The next witness was Senior Physician Rohka.

  "His reaction was severe," Rohka said when. Questioned about Kelric's bout of Kevtar's disease. "The night they brought him back here his fever was so high we had to pack him in ice. Without treatment, he would have died."

  "Do you know what caused it?" Evid asked.

  "He probably lacks immunities we're born with."

  "Can't emotional stress make some people sick?"

  Rohka considered the thought. "It's possible."

  "Could that have led him to attack the escort?"

  "It would take more than stress to explain how he killed Llaach Dahl " The doctor blanched. "Every blood vessel in her brain was ruptured."

  A murmur rumbled through the petitioners and witnesses. Evid waited until it quieted, then said, "We have no more questions, Doctor."

  After Rohka left the chair, Evid bowed to Chankah. "I now call the acting Estate Manager of Dahl."

  So, Chankah thought. It was a rare occurrence for a Manager or her successor to be called in a Tribunal. But then, this was no normal Tribunal.

  When Chankah was seated, Evid said, "Successor Dahl, please describe the events that led to your discovery of the escort." .

  "I was with the two riders that found Balv," Chankah said. "After he took over as pilot for the other craft, it outdistanced the one in which Manager Dahl and I rode. We found it that night near the starport."

  "And the escort?" Evid asked.

  "Their bodies were on the ground nearby."

  "What was Sevtar doing?"

  "Kneeling in the sand."

  "That's all?"

  "There wasn't much else he could do. He was catatonic."

  Evid frowned. "Then what caused Manager Dahl's heart seizure?"

  "It happened when she realized Llaach was dead. She knelt next to the body." Chankah steadied herself against the memory. "Then she said, 'No, I'm not ready,' and collapsed."

  "Ready? For what?"

  "I think she realized she was having a heart attack. " Quietly Chankah said "She meant she wasn't ready to die."

  "How did Sevtar react?" Evid asked.

  "Her voice roused him. He tried to go to her. But he could hardly move."

  Evid considered her. "Successor Dahl, your statement indicates that besides Manager Dahl and the escort, only Ixpar Karn knew Sevtar well. Since Minister Karn refuses to let her successor testi-"

  "Her what?" Kelric's interruption vibrated in the air.

  Silence followed the words. The Elder looked down at Chankah, her face flushed. "Perhaps you should . . . ?"

  The request startled Chankah as much as Kelric's outburst. By law, no witness could intervene with any person in the Square of Decision. Then she understood; as acting Estate Manager only she could speak to a Calani.

  Chankah hurried over to Kelric. "Please. You mustn't disrupt the testimony"

  He clenched the rail In front of him. "Ixpar is the Minister's heir?"

  "Not heir. Her successor to the Ministry."

  "Why isn't she here to testify? Her word could make a lot of difference"

  "Sevtar, please. Now isn't—"

  "My name is Kelric."

  "Outbursts like this only hurt your case."

  He regarded her with the look of a man who
expected to die. "What case? They've already convicted me."

  Chankah regarded him. Then she returned to the Bench and spoke to the Elder. "We need a recess."

  The aide Corb sat on the bench that circled the alcove, watching Chankah pace across the small room. Sunlight slanted through the arched window and reflected off his spectacles.

  "Kelric is right," Chankah said. "They've already decided his guilt. Evid is hardly. any more objective than the petitioners who want an execution."

  "They're afraid," Corb said.

  "That doesn't excuse the Charade going on in there." Chankah stopped. "Ixpar Karn should be here Her testimony is important."

  "I don't see how the Minister can refuse our summons."

  Chankah grimaced. "She's the Minister, that's how."

  "You should talk with Elder Dahl."

  "Good idea. Check with her aides. See if we can meet before the Tribunal reconvenes." She went to the window, watching the hawks drift in lazy circles above the city. "Tell me, have you ever seen an althawk?"

  He adjusted his spectacles. "Well, yes. Of course. A lot of them nest in the peaks above Dahl Pass."

  "Not the common hawks. I mean the giants. The beasts our ancestors rode through the skies."

  "How could I? They're extinct."

  She turned to him. "Legends say a hawk chose one warrior and one warrior only whose touch he would tolerate. He killed anyone else who tried to catch him."

  Corb studied her face. "Why do you bring this up now?"

  "Because the giant hawks aren't extinct, my friend One came down from the stars." She rubbed her hands along her arms. "We caged him with an oath and pinioned him in gold. Now we're so terrified of what we've done, we're afraid to let him live."

  The Elder lifted her robe off the chair in her chambers where she had draped it during the recess. "To say your suggestion is unusual Chankah, is an understatement"

  "Who else is there to speak in Sevtar's defense?" Chankah asked. "Only Successor Karn, and the Minister forbids it."

  "Dabbiv spoke for him."

  "And Evid did his best to make Dabbiv look like a fool. We have only prosecutors in this hearing. No defense."

  The Elder settled the robe on her shoulders. "Perhaps because there is no defense."

  Chankah wondered what had happened to the Elder's vaunted neutrality. "Or because we wish to see none."

  "To let Sevtar take the Witness Chair would violate his Oath."

  "As acting Estate Manager I can allow it."

  A tap sounded on the chamber door. "Elder Dahl?" a girl called. "The other judges are ready to enter court."

  "All right." The Elder regarded Chankah. "I must think more on your suggestion."

  When the Tribunal reconvened, Evid summoned Hacha. Watching the captain take her seat Chankah felt as if a weight descended on her. Hacha's word carried authority in Dahl. And from the beginning she had despised Kelric Her testimony would destroy him.

  Evid spoke. "Captain, you were the only witness to Llaach Dahl's death. Can you describe what happened?"

  "Sevtar affected our minds," Hacha said.

  "He had a weapon that worked on your brain?"

  "No. He did it himself."

  "He attacked you physically?"

  "No. He didn't move."

  "Then how did he kill Officer Dahl?"

  "I'm not sure," Hacha said. "It was an accident."

  Evid frowned. "You mean the deceased 'accidentally' burst every blood vessel in her brain?"

  "No," Hacha said. "I mean Sevtar never intended for it to happen."

  "Then why is Officer Llaach dead?" Evid demanded.

  "He only meant to knock us out," Hacha said. "But he couldn't break his link with our minds. So he broke what created it. He burnt out his brain."

  "Ah." Evid relaxed. "I see." He almost smiled. "You believe he used—what is the word? Telepathy?"

  "I don't know what it was."

  "Llaach Dahl suffered massive brain hemorrhages," Evid said. "Isn't it possible the accused's weapon affected your brain as well, making you think this mental force existed?"

  "He wasn't carrying any weapons."

  "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say he had no weapons you recognized?"

  Hacha snorted. "Is that any less absurd? An invisible gun that explodes blood vessels in the brain?"

  Evid leaned forward. "No more absurd than a gun that does nothing until fired by the accused, at which time it tears holes in airfields and disintegrates hangars."

  "He didn't shoot us."

  Evid studied her. "The fact that he let you live must make you grateful."

  "I defend him," Hacha said, "because he didn't Commit murder."

  "No?" Evid demanded. "A member of our CityGuard—an officer in your command—is dead."

  Hacha leaned forward. "All four of us would be dead-if he hadn't sacrificed himself .to save our lives."

  Evid's voice grew louder. "Murder is no sacrifice."

  "Llaach's death was an accident."

  "How can you defend a murderer?" someone yelled.

  Looking out at the gallery, Hacha raised her voice. "I'll mourn Llaach for the rest of my life. But killing Sevtar won't make her live again." She turned to the Bench. "If you execute him, it's you who are the murderers."

  One of the judges flushed. "You dare make such an accusation?"

  "Winds above," Chankah muttered. The rumbles in the gallery were growing loud and harsh. Several of the witnesses stood up, staring at Kelric with hostility bred by fear. Watching him pull at his manacles, Chankah's mind formed the ugly image of a mob attacking a man trapped in chains.

  She strode to the Bench. "Stop the Tribunal. Now."

  Rising to her full height, the Elder banged her mallet on the gong. A sonorous note pealed out above the din.

  "This is Tribunal," the Elder boomed. "Not a contest of lung power." When the room quieted, she said, "We are in recess until tomorrow morning. If an outbreak like this occurs again we will close these proceedings completely."

  "And so it is our decision," the Elder finished, "that Sevtar be allowed to make any statement he wishes. Anyone who interrupts him will be expelled from this courtroom."

  Chankah looked out over the gallery. The watchers sat in silence as if subdued by the capacity for violence they had discovered in themselves the previous day.

  As Kelric sat in the Witness Chair, he pushed a curl of his hair away from his eyes. His sleeve slipped, revealing both his Calanya guards and manacles. cold iron paired with gold. Murmurs of dismay came from the witnesses.

  Is this how Dahl will become known? Chankah brooded. As the Estate that put a Calani in chains?

  Kelric took a breath "I come before you with—with great regret."

  His voice was deep and husky, with a lilting accent. From a normal man such a voice would have captivated. From a Calani, it devastated. Hearing him, Chankah could believe the legend of the warrior who, after coaxing only one word from her queen's Akasi, became so enamored of him that she committed suicide because he was unattainable.

  But after his first words, Kelric froze. The Elder waited, then motioned for Dahl's acting Estate Manager.

  Chankah went to the Chair. "Kelric? What's wrong?"

  He swallowed. "I'm not sure I can do this."

  "But why?" .

  "Speaking in public—I could never do it well. I'm a soldier, not an orator. And now I'm—I've a neurological problem. The electrodes in my brain. They're damaged. They're making my neurons misfire."

  "I know what an electrode is," she said. "But how could you fit something so big in your brain?"

  "They're small. You can't even see them with the unaided eye."

  Chankah wondered at the marvels his people had achieved. But at what price? "You're talking to me."

  He twisted the chain that joined his manacles. "Public speaking—it makes my tension jump. l can't—it's triggering something in my brain that affects the electrodes. They make my neurons misfire. Then
I stutter. Or lose my thoughts."

  Although Chankah knew his reaction had no connection to his oath of silence, the instincts it evoked in her went deeper than logic. Every time he stumbled with his speech, it was as if he struggled against breaking his Calanya Oath. It made her want to protect him, care for him, assure him everything would be all right.

  It was, in fact, an effective defense on his part.

  "Going ahead with this could help you," she said.

  He rubbed his palms on his knees. "I'll try."

  After she returned to her table, Kelric said, "Manager Dahl and her guards—they saved my life. I have the greatest of gratitude for that. I never wanted—I never meant for Llaach's death to happen. If I could change it—undo it—if only . . ."

  If only, Chankah thought. So many if onlys.

  Kelric glanced at the petitioners who wanted his death. "Deha is my wife. I would never—how could you believe I would try to kill her?"

  Spots of red touched Jaymson's cheeks and even Yeva looked subdued.

  Kelric took a breath, then continued. "My mind has injuries. I've described it—to your doctors. It is real. I needed—need even more now—I have to get treatment. And I—the food. The water. I can barely even eat here."

  He pushed back his curls, looking like a Calani out of an Old Age legend. "In the desert—the link Captain Hacha described—it was real. I—I malfunctioned. I became the escort." He swallowed, his face pale. "When Llaach died—I died with her. I couldn't make it stop." His voice cracked. "For the rest of my life I'll live with the memory of her dying."

  Then the only sound was the scratch of the Scribe's quill.

  Chankah wondered if the others realized the full impact of his words. His own mind had imposed a sentence on him worse than any a court could issue. He would live with Llaach's memories until the day he died.

  When it was clear Kelric had no more to say, the Elder spoke in a subdued voice. "This Tribunal is now in recess until the Bench reaches its decision."

  The clang of metal woke Kelric. He lifted his head from the cot and peered into the darkness. A glow lit the end of the hall outside his cell. It came closer, resolving into a guard who carried a lamp. Captain Hacha walked with her.

  When they reached the cell, the guard peered through the bars. "I think he's asleep, Capt'n."