by Amy Thomson
Then there was their work at Snyder Research Hospital. The doctors had agreed to a two-week initial assignment in order to study the Tendu’s abilities. If things worked out, the assignment would be extended. But there were so many things that could go wrong.
“How is the baby doing?” Sohelia inquired.
“She’s fine,” Juna said, putting her hand on her belly. “But she doesn’t seem to approve of space travel very much. I was a little spacesick.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“A little tired, but otherwise fine.”
“There’s a mob of press outside the terminal,” Analin informed her. “Are you up to facing them?”
Juna shook her head. “Not really.”
“I can take you through the service tunnels to the hospital,” Chief Martin offered.
“That would be wonderful,” Juna said.
Martin called for a couple of service carts, then opened a small service panel in the wall and inserted an electronic key. A wide section of wall swung back, exposing a bare grey concrete tunnel lined with conduit and piping for air, water, heating, cooling, electricity, comm lines, and sewage. They waited in the corridor, listening to the pipes gurgle and hiss, until the service carts arrived to take them and their escort to the hospital.
“They’re expecting you up at the hospital,” Martin said when the carts arrived. “After that, the guards will take you to your quarters.”
He handed Juna a card. “Here’s my comm code. Let me know if we can be of any help, or if there are any problems with your security detail.”
“Thank you Chief Martin,” Juna said. “You’ve been very kind.”
He nodded, winked at Moki, and then vanished back into the access tunnels.
The hospital staff were polite, but guarded. Clearly they doubted that the Tendu had anything to offer them. Juna decided that it was not worth getting angry about. She was rather looking forward to their surprise when they discovered what Moki and Ukatonen were capable of.
Their quarters were near the hospital, just down the broad corridor from a park with a grove of large banyan trees. The security team checked out the apartment and then let them inside. The unit was small, but comfortable, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living room, and a tiny kitchen. Juna had stayed in much smaller places. She freshened up, and then joined the others in the living room, where Analin and Sohelia had set out tea, sweet biscuits, and sandwiches. Ukatonen vanished into the bathroom for a shower.
Juna’s fragile stomach was not quite ready for sandwiches, but she sipped the tea and nibbled gratefully on the biscuits. The sweetened tea and biscuits settled her queasy stomach.
“Thank you so much for this,” Juna told the women. “I needed it.”
“Good,” Sohelia said. She pulled her comm and a sheaf of paper out of her briefcase. “If you’re ready, we should discuss the hearing.”
“Go ahead,” Juna said. She would have preferred to have a good night’s sleep before this discussion, but there wasn’t time. The hearing would start tomorrow afternoon.
“You’ve gotten Judge Matthesen,” Sohelia told her. “She’s tough, but fair. I’d say our chances were decent.”
“Only decent?” Juna asked worriedly.
“It’s a difficult case, Juna. In this situation, decent is the best we can hope for. Usually both parents get permanently sterilized or transported to Mars. We’ll have to convince the judge that this was an accident, then hope for the best. Judge Matthesen has been kind to other women with extenuating circumstances. Hopefully, she’ll be kind to you.”
“I see,” Juna said. She placed one hand on her stomach, and closed her eyes. She had refused to think about the possibility of losing the baby. But now she could no longer ignore it.
“I was planning on calling Ukatonen as a witness. Do you think he’ll have a problem with that?”
Juna took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “You’ll have to ask Ukatonen.”
“Ask me about what?” Ukatonen said, emerging from the bathroom, still wet, his kilt stained with moisture. He laid a towel over an upholstered chair and sat down on it.
“We would like you to testify on Juna’s behalf.”
Ukatonen listened intently as Sohelia explained what that involved.
“Yes, I can do that. I will render a formal judgment that what I say will be the truth.”
“A-all right, en. Thank you.”
“It will be easy to tell the truth here,” Ukatonen said. “The facts are plain.”
“The difficulty will be in being believed,” Sohelia said. She lifted a hand to forestall his protest. “Humans do not know or understand you yet, Ukatonen. And almost all the information that we have about the Tendu comes from Juna. It will necessarily be suspect. I will be calling a few other witnesses to testify to your abilities.”
“Excuse me,” Analin broke in, “but will the case be open to the press?”
“Usually these hearings are closed. If criminal culpability is determined, then the subsequent trial is open to the press.”
“Good.” Analin said. “Most of the research reports on the Tendu are still classified. If word of what they can do gets out, then the press will be all over Ukatonen and Moki. I’ve also encouraged the hospital to keep a tight lid on the Tendu’s work.”
Sohelia made a note on her comm. “I’ll request that the judge enjoin all witnesses to silence on this.”
“Thank you,” Juna said. “I appreciate that. Sometimes I feel as if I’m living in a goldfish bowl.”
“It is hard,” her lawyer agreed. “Now, let’s go over the details of your testimony.”
Juna sat in the courtroom with Sohelia, waiting for the hearing to begin. Security Chief Martin had arranged for them to go through the service tunnels to the courthouse, avoiding the mob of reporters waiting outside. Analin was out there now, issuing a statement. Juna looked at Ukatonen and smiled nervously. Moki reached forward from his seat just behind the defendant’s table, and brushed her shoulders with his knuckles. Juna glanced back at him. “Thanks,” she whispered.
He turned a clear, reassuring shade of blue and nodded at her.
At that moment, the clerk came in from the judge’s chambers. “All rise,” he said as the judge, a severe-looking woman with greying hair and long black robes, came in and sat down. She convened the court, and the prosecutor, a plump, deceptively friendly-looking man named Parker, got up to make his opening remarks.
“Your Honor, the defendant is illegally pregnant. She plans to burden our solar system with another mouth to feed, another set of lungs that will need air. This illegal pregnancy has been on the top screens of all the news nets. If she is allowed to keep this child without punishment, then others will be encouraged to follow her example and flout the laws that humanity has created to save itself from itself. Each new child adds to the burden our solar system must support, during a time when we can ill afford it. I strongly suggest the maximum punishment for this high-profile case.”
The prosecutor returned to his seat. Sohelia rose gracefully from her seat.
“Your Honor, if, as my esteemed colleague implies, my client intentionally flouted the population laws, then I agree that she should be sentenced accordingly. Dr. Juna Saari is pregnant without approval from the Population Control Board, but there is compelling evidence that this pregnancy was accidental. Dr. Saari underwent a harrowing physical transformation when she was marooned on the planet Tiangi. The alien responsible for this transformation also undid her contraception, without fully understanding the consequences of his action. When my client was rescued, the Interstellar Survey failed to check her contraceptive status. My client assumed that her contraception was still intact. She had the misfortune to sleep with a man who had never been given a contraceptive shot. Dr. Saari’s accidental pregnancy was due to an incredible series of circumstances. The odds of its happening again are astronomical. Punishing my client as an example to others is completely pointless.
“I further state that my client has made great sacrifices, and endured much hardship in order to further humanity’s scientific and diplomatic goals. Penalizing her for an accidental pregnancy that occurred as a result of her discoveries would be a shameful thing to do. The remarkable circumstances of Dr. Saari’s pregnancy must be taken into account when deciding this case. Thank you, Your Honor.”
There were a great many witnesses called to establish the facts of the case. Perhaps the most telling was Dr. Engle. Sohelia quizzed him about how long he had known Juna, and the particulars of her contraceptive shot. Then she asked him about the pregnancy test.
“Dr. Saari complained of symptoms that were very characteristic of pregnancy. So I decided to test her to rule that out.”
“Did you consider it a likely possibility, Dr. Engle?”
“Objection!” called the prosecutor. “Counsel is asking for opinion rather than fact.”
“Counselor Gheisar?” the judge inquired.
“I have already established that the witness has known the defendant since her childhood. Further questions will reveal a factual basis to this line of inquiry.”
“Objection overruled,” the judge said. “Please answer Counselor Gheisar’s question, Doctor.”
“No, I did not.”
“While you were giving her the test, did anything happen to support your opinion that this was not an illegal pregnancy?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Please tell us, Dr. Engle, what that was.”
“I asked Juna if she was planning on starting a family. She told me that she was considering selling her child-rights, since it looked like she wasn’t going to be using them.”
“And did she know that you were doing a pregnancy test at the time?”
“No. In cases where there is no pregnancy permit, I do not inform the patient of the nature of the test. Juna didn’t know that I was performing a pregnancy test until I told her the results. Actually, I was so surprised, I performed the test a second time.”
“And how did Dr. Saari react?”
“She was extremely surprised. She told me several times that it was impossible. She told me that she had been on a Survey ship for the last six months, and before that on another planet. Then she realized what had happened. I saw her face. I believe that her astonishment was completely genuine.”
“What did she say then?”
“She told me that the Tendu must have reversed her contraception shot.”
“I see. And what did you think of this?”
“I was amazed,” Dr. Engle told her.
“Did you believe her?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because she was so completely surprised by it all. She blamed herself for not getting her status checked. I told her that she had done nothing wrong, and that the Survey doctors were the ones who were at fault.”
“Objection, Your Honor,” said the prosecutor. “The witness is not in a position to determine liability.”
“Sustained,” the judge said.
“Dr. Engle, did you see anything to convince you that the Tendu could have reversed her contraception?”
“Not then, but later I witnessed something that made me believe that the Tendu could have done it.”
“Would you tell the court what happened to convince you?”
“Juna’s brother, Toivo Fortunati, was in a spinball accident about a year and a half ago. He was paralyzed from the waist down. There was nothing more the doctors could do for him. The Tendu healed him. I examined him just before I left Berry Station to come here. Feeling had returned to his lower body again, all the way down to his toes. He was able to wiggle his toes, and move his legs.” Dr. Engle spread his hands in a gesture of amazement. “It was a miracle, but it happened. If they can do such a thing, then reversing a contraceptive shot would be easy.”
“Thank you, Dr. Engle. Your Honor, I have no more questions, but I would like to submit as evidence the following documents on Toivo Fortunati’s medical condition following his accident, and Dr. Engle’s report on his present medical condition.”
“Thank you, Counselor Gheisar,” the judge said.
The prosecutor got up and did his best to try to pick holes in Dr. Engle’s testimony. But the doctor refused to be rattled despite the unbelievable claims that he was making about the Tendu. Dr. Engle smiled through his beard at Juna as he left the stand. Juna smiled back.
Her smile vanished when the next witness was called. It was Bruce. He gave her a dark, angry glance as he was sworn in, then refused to look at Her while he testified.
Sohelia questioned him about his role in the case, most of which had already been established. She quizzed him about his contraceptive status, and he admitted that he had never had the shot.
“My father filed for a religious exemption,” he explained. “He was afraid that the shot would permanently affect my fertility. As long as the girls were all getting them, it didn’t really matter. Or, at least, I didn’t expect it to matter,” he added, his skin darkening with embarrassment.
“I see,” Counselor Gheisar said. “And has this predicament changed your view of things?”
“Yes,” he said. “I got the shot. It was shortly after visiting your client.”
“Thank you, Mr. Bowles. No further questions. Your witness, Counselor Parker.”
The prosecutor rose, smiling. Juna glanced at her lawyer, who was frowning nervously.
“Mr. Bowles, were you surprised when you heard that you were going to be a father?”
“Very much so, yes,” Bruce answered.
“Are you pleased?”
Bruce frowned. “Not really, sir.”
“Could you tell the court why you’re not pleased at the prospect of being a father?”
Bruce glanced past Juna, at the two Tendu sitting behind her. “I don’t agree with how she wants to raise the child.”
“Could you please explain?”
“First, I think she’s going to be too busy with the aliens to do an adequate job of parenting. Second, she’s going to be a single mother. Who is going to be there for the child when she’s too tired? And lastly”—Bruce paused, licking his lips nervously—“I want my daughter to be raised by humans, not aliens. Who knows what strange ideas they might teach my daughter?”
“Objection!” Sohelia said. “Witness is stating personal belief, not facts.”
The judge looked over at the prosecutor. “Counselor Parker?”
“I believe it’s important to hear both sides of this issue, Your Honor. This is Mr. Bowles’s daughter we’re talking about here.”
“This is not a custody hearing, Counselor. In the future please confine yourself to the Population Control regulations in question.”
“Yes, Your Honor. No further questions.”
The judge adjourned the hearing until the following morning.
Juna watched Bruce gather up his things. Finally she found the courage to approach him. He steadfastly refused to look at her.
“Bruce,” Juna said, “I’m sorry you’re unhappy about my decision to keep the baby, but you’re her father. I hope someday you’ll be there for her. She’s going to want you in her life too.”
He finally looked up at her, his eyes dark with anger. “Juna, the child is more important than those aliens. Let someone else take care of them. You take care of the baby.”
“You know I can’t do that, Bruce,” she said.
“Then I hope you lose. You shouldn’t be allowed to have the child.” He tucked his pad of notes under his arm and stalked off.
Juna watched the door swing shut behind him. Her lips tightened in sudden anger. “Well, to hell with you, then,” she muttered to herself.
Sohelia laid a hand on her arm. “Come on,” she said. “You’ve got more important things to worry about. Let’s go get some dinner. Tomorrow I’m putting Ukatonen on the stand. I need you to help get him ready to testify.”
The p
rosecutor objected when Sohelia called Ukatonen to the stand. Juna leaned back in her seat, and watched the two attorneys battle over the enkar.
“Your Honor,” the prosecutor said, “calling this witness is highly irregular. We know very httle about these aliens. Do they even understand what testifying in court means? How do we know if we can rely on his testimony? What kind of precedents will this be setting?”
“Your Honor,” Sohelia responded, “Ukatonen is an unusual witness, but he can provide us with facts and information that no one else can. He knew the accused during her time on Tiangi. He understands what is required of him as a witness. Ukatonen holds a position of great responsibility among his own people. The Tendu hold their officials to an even higher level of responsibility than our own. If he violates his word, he is expected to take his own life.”
“That will not be necessary, Mr. Ukatonen,” the judge said. “Objection overruled. The witness may take the stand. This court will hold you only to the standards of a human court.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Sohelia said.
“Excuse me, Your Honor,” Ukatonen broke in. “Even though you do not hold me to the Tendu standard, I wish you to know that I must hold myself to the standards of my people.” He straightened, and speaking formally in both Tendu skin speech and human Standard declared a judgment. “My life is forfeit if I lie.”
The judge raised one eyebrow. “If you insist, then so be it. Only I entreat you not to lie in this court. I don’t want your death on my conscience.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Ukatonen said. The bailiff approached the enkar and instructed him in the human oath, and he raised his right hand and swore it also.
First, Counselor Gheisar asked him to explain to the judge who he was, and what his status was on Tiangi. Then she had him tell the court about the circumstances surrounding Toivo’s healing. The judge listened raptly and even the prosecutor left off objecting.
