Aria joined the family when breakfast was already almost over, resplendent in a dress uniform of black with red trim. Her rank insignia and battle decorations were absent, as she wasn't permitted to wear them while she was facing charges. She sat next to Jack, staring at the tabletop. Jack reached over and clasped her hand underneath the table. She looked over at him, tried to smile, and failed.
All too soon, it was time for them all to depart. A small military convoy came to the estate. From the moment she left home now, until the end of her trial, Aria would be a prisoner in custody. She took time to say goodbye to her family members, with more than a few tears shed by all. Sami was the worst of all. She wrapped her sister in a hug and didn't want to let her go, and Aria finally had to forcefully pull herself from the younger Ailian's grasp. Then two soldiers came up to her, clasped her hands in cuffs, and led her down to the waiting vehicles. As they drove away, Jack watched after them, wondering if he'd ever be able to hold her again.
******
The courtroom turned out to be a little different from what Jack had been expecting when he'd pictured an Ailian court. He thought it would be much like a courtroom on Earth or a human colony world, but this was not the case. The room was set up like a large amphitheater. On the lowest level were ten rows of seats, level with each other, arranged in a semicircle. In front of the lower level of seats, in the center of the room on a raised platform, was a table with two seats. Opposite this table, forming the other half of the semicircle, were two shorter rows of seats, raised up higher than all the rest.
Jack was seated with Aria's family, in the first row of the seats on the lower level. He looked up at the top of the courtroom, into the double row of seats. He saw a number of important-looking Ailians seated there, dressed in both military and civilian clothing. Looking around his own seat, Jack saw more civilians than military personnel. He supposed that they were seated in the spectator seats, while the upper level must be for the presiding court.
A door opened at one end of the room, and Jack looked over to see Li'ren entering the courtroom. She was dressed much differently than she normally did. Instead of her white, flowing robes, she was wearing a black suit of a cut much more like a military uniform, though her clothes were not as severe as those worn by the officers. The consort walked through the middle of the room, coming to the table on the raised platform. She was carrying a large stack of papers and data readers, and these she placed on the table. Then, seeing Aria's family, she came over to speak with them.
“Good morning, Jack,” she greeted him, once she had spoken with the family.
“Good morning,” Jack replied. He swallowed, looking around the room. “This all seems way too real all of a sudden. Does this sort of thing always feel so...I dunno...Bleak?”
Li'ren offered a sympathetic smile. “It does. Courtrooms are not usually for happy occasions, yes?” She smoothed down a wrinkle in her outfit. “Just try not to think about it. The trial will not start for a bit, yet.”
“Where's Aria?”
“She is waiting in a holding room. The trial cannot begin until Her Majesty arrives, and Aria will not be brought into the courtroom until then.” Li'ren reached over and touched his hand briefly. “Take heart, Jack. I am here to do my very best, and my very best has never failed before.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Alright, Li'ren. I'll try.”
******
Aria sat in the holding room, down a hall adjacent to the courtroom. She was seated in a chair in the small room, more of a cell than anything else. At least this room had a small window, though it did little other than allow a bit of outside light to filter. Most of the light in the room was provided by a single lamp hanging from the ceiling.
I feel sick..., Aria thought to herself. Her stomach was churning, making her feel as though she was going to throw up. It didn't help matters much that she hadn't had any breakfast. Maybe if she had forced herself to choke down a little something, she wouldn't feel quite so ill.
She knew that, within the next fifteen minutes, the door to the room would open and the guards outside would bring her out. They would walk her down the hall, and then she would emerge into the courtroom. Her trial was news all across the Ascendancy by now, so her face would be transmitted live to nearly every planet in Ailian space. And then she would sit down at the table next to Li'ren, and she'd have to look up into the tiered seats, where the Empress, and Admiral Te'rou, and all the senior officers who composed the court martial would be looking down at her.
-I can do this,- Aria said quietly to herself. -I can do this. I have to do this. For Jack, and Sami, and father. And for the Empress.- She squeezed her hands into tight fists, closing her eyes and keeping up the encouragement to herself.
She was jerked back to reality when she heard the sound of the door opening. Expecting to see the guards coming in, she was surprised to instead see her commanding officer, Major Tal'in. The elder female Ailian stepped inside, leaving the door open behind her as she face Aria.
-I came to wish you luck, Lieutenant,- the major said. She looked Aria over, appraising her uniform with her customary hard stare. -You're looking well. I'm pleased to see that you've recovered from your...injury.-
-Yes, ma'am!- Aria said, standing up from her seat and saluting. -And thank you.- She glanced at the floor, her ears flattening to her head. -I wish I could be anywhere but here. But I guess this is where I have to be.-
-Yes, well...,- Major Tal'in said. She walked past Aria, standing behind her and gazing out of the window, her tail waving serenely behind her. -It would have been better if this had never happened. But we can't change the past. All we can change is our future.-
-I suppose you are correct about that,- Aria agreed. She pondered that statement for a few seconds. Maybe that was the real lesson that she needed to take away from all of this. Aria had been so focused on dwelling on mistakes she'd made in the past, that she couldn't see what she could do to make sure she had a future. -Thank you, Major,- she said, starting to turn. -Do you know when...-
Then there was a brutal blow to the back of her neck, and Aria's vision went black as she crumpled to the floor.
******
Li'ren knew from the atmosphere in the courtroom that something was wrong. The Empress had arrived nearly thirty minutes ago, and yet the signal to begin the trial had not yet been given. She looked towards the door through which Aria should be coming, and made a small hand gesture to one of the guards there. He shrugged at her, shaking his head as though to say that he was unsure of what was going on. She looked up at Kri'a, sitting right in the middle of the top tier of seats. The Empress met her gaze, and Li'ren saw that she seemed unsure of the situation as well. Admiral Te'rou, the ranking officer in the court, was tapping his claws impatiently on his desktop, looking distinctly upset that his time was being wasted. Li'ren was very worried now. If the admiral didn't know what was going on, what could that mean...
All of a sudden, the door leading into the courtroom was thrown open, and a junior male officer rushed in. He looked about for a few moments, then spotted Admiral Te'rou and the Empress in their seats. He fairly ran across the courtroom and up to where they were. The lieutenant leaned down to whisper in the admiral's ear. Te'rou seemed perturbed, then angry, and then very alarmed. He leaned to speak to the Empress, who reacted to what he was saying with shock. Murmurs were starting to spread through the courtroom now, as the audience noticed the commotion.
-Lady Amani!- Admiral Te'rou called. His voice was slightly shaky, and the fur on the back of his neck was standing on end. -Come at once. Something has developed that we need to discuss.-
Shocked, Li'ren stood from her seat. Admiral Te'rou, the Empress, and several of the senior officers were walking out of the courtroom. With a glance over her shoulder at Aria's family and Jack, Li'ren followed after them. They went down a short hallway and came to a smaller conference room. They all went inside, and the Empress and admirals took seats. Li'ren, still quite conf
used but feeling an increasing sense of foreboding, sat next to Kri'a.
-What is this all about, Kri'a?- Li'ren asked her mate, looking to the Empress in surprise. -Has the trial been postponed?-
-In a way, Li'ren,- the Empress answered. Her voice and expression were both grave, and she looked to Admiral Te'rou. -Admiral, please inform my consort what we have just been informed.-
Admiral Te'rou cleared his throat, smoothing down the fur on the back of his neck. -I just received word, Lady Amani. Your client, Lieutenant Me'lia, is no longer present in the building.-
Li'ren blinked, total shock evident on her face to all in the room. -What? How...How is that possible?-
-That's not all,- the admiral continued. His voice sounded heavy. -We just received word from our intelligence assets throughout the Outer Colonies. The thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth fleets have mobilized, moving inbound. None of them are responding to our inquiries. And several of our Inner Colony worlds have gone off the communication network.-
Li'ren covered her mouth, her eyes going wide, and her hand went to grab the Empress' leg under the table. Her mate clenched her own hands into tight fists on top of the table. Her jaw clenched, and a look of sorrow came across the Empress' face.
-So...It has begun.-
******
When Aria finally came around, her head was throbbing. She sat up, feeling that she was on some sort of low, flat surface, most likely a cot or rudimentary bed. The room she was in was dark and silent. She had no idea where she was. Putting a hand to her head, Aria winced, then opened her eyes and tried to see her surroundings, swinging her legs off of the cot so that she was sitting on the edge.
-It's nice to see you awake.-
Aria turned her head towards the source of the noise. The room was so dark that even she couldn't see very well, but her eyes were slowly adjusting to the dimness. Someone seemed to be standing at the other end of the room, looking at her. She squinted, trying to make out the figure. -Who's there?-
-You don't recognize me? Well, it has been a long time.-
The voice sounded eerily familiar. The figure began walking towards Aria, coming closer to her. Aria tensed up, apprehension growing as the unknown person began to resolve itself in her vision. Ailian...Female from stature, with white fur, wearing a crimson outfit in a very formal military cut. Finally, Aria's eyes adjusted enough to the light, and she felt herself grow faint. Her legs became weak, and she slid off of the cot, collapsing on the floor.
-Mother...-
Act Three
Madness
- 1 -
Everyone knew that something was very, very wrong when the soldiers came in and cleared the courtroom of the gathered crowd. The news people protested strongly, but when they were threatened with arrest by the lieutenant in charge of the soldiers if they didn't leave immediately, they grudgingly packed up their equipment and vacated the premises. Jack watched the entire spectacle with a growing sense of dread, wondering what in the world could have gone wrong this time. Aria's trial should have started nearly an hour ago, but the plans seemed to have changed. Twenty minutes ago, the Empress had left the courtroom along with Li'ren and many of the military officers who had been sitting on the court martial. Jack, knowing that he was in no position to make a scene as a mere human slave in this setting, kept his seat and held his tongue even though he wanted to stand up and scream demands for information to anyone within earshot.
One thing that Jack did notice was that several of the soldiers were keeping very close to him and the Me'lia family. In fact, several times Aria's family had tried to get up and leave the courtroom at the order of the lieutenant, like everyone else, only to be ushered back down in their seats. The soldiers around them kept their backs to the family, looking out at the people streaming from the room. Jack looked over at Sami quizzically, but she appeared just as confused and scared as he was feeling. Noticing his expression, the young Ailian shrugged at him, turning her head around as she gazed about the room, trying to figure out what was going on. Jack could see her sensitive Ailian nose twitching as she tried to make sense of the flurry of emotions in the area. But even with all of the information that her well-developed sense of smell could tell her, Jack didn't think Sami was having any luck.
When the room was empty except for the soldiers, Jack, and the Me'lia family, the lieutenant came up to them. Since Sami was the head of the family, as the eldest female in the absence of Aria, he spoke with her.
“A'kre me'lia sin hale ke ta're,” he said to her. Jack saw Sami stiffen, and knew that whatever the Ailian lieutenant was saying to her, it wasn't anything that she wanted to hear. With what Sami had been teaching him of their language since he had been living with their family, he could understand some of the words that were being said. He recognized the family name, of course, and he recognized the words sin, meaning “problem”, and ta're, which could mean either “nothing” or “absent” depending on the context.
“Mere sin sal'a kresa le sa?” Sami said, one hand coming up to her chin nervously. She looked at her siblings and her father, sitting around her, then back at the lieutenant. Jack understood her to be asking what the problem was.
“Te're me san li'a're,” the lieutenant said, his tone sounding rather short. “Ne la ai'ra me'lia sola kre'zele lupo.” He gestured at Sami with one hand, his ears laying back. Sami blinked, appearing taken aback by his manner of speaking. The lieutenant got an impatient look on his face, his lips drawing back, exposing his sharp front teeth. “Te're me san,” he repeated.
“What did he say?” Jack asked, a little defensively. As the only member of Aria's family who had known about his relationship with Aria since his arrival on Lirna, Sami had been a welcoming presence since the very beginning of his ordeal. He'd even started to think of her rather as a little sister, or as little as was possible when she had almost three feet of height on him. And the way this officer was talking to Sami was pissing him off, aggravating his already bad mood.
“Ah...He say...ah...,” Sami said, struggling a little as she called upon her rudimentary knowledge of English. “Say problem with trial. Not want talk with family here.” Sami's ears were flat to her head, her robin's egg blue eyes full of worry. “Say I come. Tell more.”
“So he knows what happened? He knows what's going on?” Forgetting where he was, and forgetting the slave collar tight around his neck, Jack stood up from his seat. Before he knew what was happening, one of the soldiers around the family hammered him on the shoulder, sending him back on his ass.
“Slave!” the Ailian lieutenant spat at him in horribly accented but recognizable English. “Sit!”
“Hey, fuck you, asshole!” Jack snarled. Frustrated and in pain, he started trying to stand up again. “You don't own m-”
A firm hand on his other shoulder made him shut his mouth and stay in his seat, and Jack looked to his left to see Sami getting to her feet. The fur on the back of her neck was raised up, and he could see the muscles in her jaw trembling with barely restrained anger. Other than when Aria had put herself in the hospital, Jack couldn't remember ever seeing her angry. As she stood up straight, Jack thought he saw the lieutenant take a small step back. Sami was not an intimidating person, especially by Ailian standards, but she was upset, she was exhausted, and more than that she was at least six inches taller than the lieutenant. And even though she was a civilian, and not a military officer, she was still female, and that counted for a great deal in the Ascendancy.
Keeping her anger in check, Sami resisted the urge to take her claws to the officer's face. Instead, she leaned forward, one hand on her hip and the other shaking a finger a millimeter in front of his muzzle. “Po'krai le tok me sha'la arai dana!” she shouted. Her tail was thrashing the air behind her like a whip. “Ala're masha kera'na te ra ka'i'len!” Then she swatted him in the face with an open palm, baring her fangs. “Po'krai! Da'na le kot!”
Jack couldn't help but be amazed by her behavior. Usually quiet an
d demure, he hadn't ever seen this side of Aria's younger sister. Then again, Jack realized, with Aria gone for months at a time and Sami the eldest female in the home otherwise, she had to act as the head of the household frequently. She certainly must have had a lot of practice in asserting herself when she had to.
Whatever she had said to the lieutenant, it seemed to have had an effect. The male officer stared at her for a few moments, and then he backed off, a grudging expression on his face. “Mea'le re ka...,” he grumbled. Words of apology, though obviously not entirely sincere. He turned half away from Sami, gesturing towards the door leading out of the courtroom. “Tere me san li'a're. Shoka.” Jack recognized the word for “please” this time.
Nodding, Sami watched the officer begin to move off, then she put a hand on Jack's shoulder, urging him to stand. “Come,” she said.
Looking over his shoulder, Jack put his eyes on each of the surrounding soldiers in turn. When it became clear that he wasn't about to be slammed back down again, he slowly rose from his seat and started to follow Sami as she went with the officer. “What about the rest of the family?” he asked her quietly.
“Later,” she said, a pained expression on her face. She clearly didn't like leaving them behind, but she couldn't very well bring everyone with her. And though Jack knew that Aria's father and siblings were just as terrified and confused as he was, he was glad that she was letting him come along. “They fine for now...You come.”
“If you say so.” Jack kept walking, but before they got far, the lieutenant looked back and saw him. He got a sour look on his face and stopped.
“Sala'a'kre...,” he started to say, but Sami cut him off with a low growl.
Transmission Lost Page 36
