“We shall confirm the location from him and investigate,” Oozaru concluded.
“Will this delay the inquiry?” Sophia asked.
“No,” Oozaru shook his head. “This will more likely take place during the inquiry. My team and I must convince the Accusation and the Council of the validity of these new findings. To begin a search for someone in a void is neither a safe nor easy matter. However, if the evidence presented is credible, they will proceed.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed with concern as she picked up some distress coming from Oozaru as he lowered his head a bit.
“What is it?”
Oozaru raised his head to look her in the eyes.
“As a Council member, this is very distressful information.”
“You’re a member of the Dominion Council …defending me?” Sophia asked with a shocked tone.
“Of course,” Oozaru nodded. “It is one of my many duties as a member of the Council.”
“Huh.”
Sophia reset her focus as Oozaru continued expressing his troubled thoughts.
“If this evidence is valid, this Peace individual did not orchestrate these attacks by herself.”
“That did come to mind,” Sophia nervously answered.
Oozaru walked across the table, standing in Sophia’s personal space as he looked up at her.
“Let me be forthcoming, Ms. Dennison; I lost colleagues and good friends in those attacks. I willingly took this case to unveil the truth and bring those responsible to justice.”
“Shouldn’t you be on the other side for that?” Sophia asked.
“Justice is only acquired when both sides of the law play their part to seek it,” Oozaru answered. “My part is to ensure that the wrong party is not falsely accused and sentenced. However, as a Dominion Council member, this case seems to be pointing to something far more nefarious.”
Sophia calmly clasped her hands on the table.
“Like …an inside job?” She asked with an ominous laced voice.
Oozaru’s face told her what he would not verbally say out loud. It was in total agreement with her.
“I suggest that we end this session here, Ms. Dennison. My team and I shall continue to work on your defense. Get some rest and prepare for the impending inquiry.”
CHAPTER 15
The Grand Canyon National Park, Colorado, the Project EVOlution base,
Graves and Dr. Egan Alexander once again stood side by side, this time behind the heralds of Vitruvian Absolute.
All of them stood as witnesses to Horus and Sekhmet dawning visages of proud parents as they strolled by each of the remaining four reconstruction pods that housed the dormant and sleeping superhuman clones, generals for their future army and the coming great universal war.
“They are quite pretty,” Sekhmet nodded with approval.
“Naturally, they come from us,” Horus informed her.
“Not just us,” she sneered. “Some of them come from that infernal woman.”
“Genetics stolen from you, my love,” Horus gently assured her. “Rightfully returned for our use.”
A smile returned to her face as Sekhmet nodded in agreement. She pointed to the pod housing, a male clone with onyx skin and cue ball head with his genetic father's look.
“Let us write this one’s mind first; I know how you always desired a male son. Meskhenet initiate the cerebral probe for mind writing.”
“As you command, goddess Sekhmet.”
A slot opened up on each side of the pod. Each had a digital handprint that lit up. Two small ports opened up within the pod itself, allowing for two long silver metallic probes, the shape of drummer sticks to extend. They each came to a stop touching the clone's temples.
As husband and wife placed their right hands on the digital print, the light on the panel turned from white to green.
“Ready to begin?” Sekhmet asked.
“I still do not see what was wrong with the regular process,” Horus pouted.
“I will not have my children undergo the same harsh treatment you projected onto me for my awakening,” Sekhmet snapped at him. “You’re just miffed because you did not think to add this to the pod.”
Horus threw her a quick sarcastic sneer before getting serious again. Both their eyes began to glow brightly as they worked together to write the clone’s memories, which they created.
Within the pod, the clone’s eyes began to rapidly flutter as his body gently twitched.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Billions of light-years away on Alvion Prime, Capital Planet of the Dominion Council, Freedom sat quietly laying on her back within her detention cell.
Even on the softest, most comfortable cushion she ever laid upon in confinement, she could not rest as her mind rambled. It was busy playing back the events in 4D that lead up to her trapped within another prison cell.
Sophia mentally rewound, fast-forwarded, and paused memories looking for a clue, which she probably missed. She zoomed, searching for an agent spying on her from the shadows working to scheme and frame her.
She left out a defeated exhale, concluding that she would find nothing in her memories.
This plan had to be constructed amongst the stars.
Sophia did make a promise to herself.
“When I get out of here, this will be the last fucking time someone puts me in a box.”
She switched her mind to more calming thoughts.
Kimberly was alive, stable, and safe. Despite it all, she trusted the Eye of Ra to take care of her. If she hoped to see her daughter or her homeworld again, losing the trial was not an option.
And if she did happen to lose, Sophia had to make sure alternate measures were taken.
Although the Dominion Council was made up of thousands of highly advanced and intelligent nations, they were not invincible.
Freedom nonchalantly examined her suit constructed to both restrain and suppress her power, searching for a chink.
The six orbs attached to the suit were vital to restraining her. Damaging or destroying them would be crucial to her release. She was considering it based on her conversation with Thoth.
Never once did he mention that a Cosmivorse possessed her defensive healing genetics. Which meant that ability was unique only to her. There was a possibility that she could overcome the poisonous toxins the orbs would inject her with should she attempt to destroy them.
Her thoughts of escape were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching her cell.
She took a breath and sat up as the oval door to her cell slid open. Standing in the doorway was Overseer Molctura and two guards.
“Prisoner Sophia Dennison of Earth, it is time for the inquiry.”
Freedom nodded and rose to her feet. She glanced to see the cushion once again on her bed deflate, flattening out as the frame slid back into the wall, becoming part of it.
“Okay.”
Molctura and the guards stepped back a bit, allowing her to enter the hallway. As the door to her cell slid close, the guards took up their position, flanking her left and right.
“Let me say that you have been a model prisoner while in my care. I hope I have been the same to you as your Overseer.”
“You have, thank you,” Sophia nodded with a faint smile.
Molctura, with no more words, turned, standing in front of Sophia. He took a step beginning the march.
Freedom took the cue following suit, with the guards heading to the inquiry chamber.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Minutes later, Sophia’s procession went through a sizeable oval hallway heading toward a circular door with a symbol of the Dominion Council laser etched onto it. As they neared it, the doors parted, sliding away from each other into the wall.
Freedom’s eyes widened as her breath was taken away.
The inside of the Hall of Inquiry
was gigantic, rivaling the size of a baseball stadium, but more formal than the US Senate. The color scheme was a milky white with accents of blue and silver about the room. As far as her eyes could see were rows of representatives from different planets and species seated behind long metallic silver desks that ran the length of one side of the room to the other.
Each of them sat in soft, marshmallow height chairs.
Her heart sped up a bit, realizing that all eyes were on her. Like her arrival, Freedom could feel the wave of mixed emotions that bombarded her as she made her way to the front of the chamber.
For a second, she felt smaller than an ant until a familiar sensation washed over her.
It caused her to involuntarily snap her neck left and right, searching for him. The closer she got to the front, the more her blood began to boil, and her hairs became needles.
Being around EVO’s with lower power levels never triggered the ability within her.
Peace’s monstrous and continuous power surge made it impossible for her to be detected.
His power was both massive, controlled, and focused.
As her eyes finally fell upon him, Merc dawned in traditional dignitary garb returned the subtle murderous glare she gave him.
Sophia forced herself to pry her eyes away from the Thracian Prince, focusing back on the selected Tribunal officiating the inquiry.
The proceedings were similar to Earth trials, with one side for the defense and one side for the prosecutor. A cylinder-shaped witness stand was placed in the center of the room.
It was the divider in the room for the Tribunal bench. It was tall, elevated, and made of a shimmering white stone material comprised of six seats for the judges chosen to preside over cases.
Sophia was escorted to the defense table. Oozaru sat in a miniature chair on top of the table, going through his notes on his tablet.
She glanced over to her right to see Head Accuser Novtia at her table with what appeared to be a member of her staff doing the same.
As she sat down, Sophia’s mind briefly wandered back to the interrogation room, where Oozaru explained the trial process.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
“The inquiry is slightly similar to your trials on Earth,” he began. “With the exception that instead of a judge, we have a Tribunal of six selected members of the Dominion Council. Your jurors will be the remaining members of the Dominion Council, not overseeing, defending, or prosecuting this inquiry.”
“All of them?” Sophia asked with a raised eyebrow.
He slowly nodded.
“All of them.”
Sophia sat back in her seat, attempting not to be stunned as Oozaru continued.
“The duration of the inquiry lasts as needed for both parties to present their evidence and witnesses. Deliberation takes a mandatory two of your Earth days. During that time, Council members can request evidence to review and debate amongst themselves to reach their verdict. The Majority vote determines the judgment, which is announced on day three. The Tribunal will then retire for a day to determine the sentence.”
Sophia slowly nodded, processing all that Oozaru had said.
He answered her question after reading her facial features.
“If you are inquiring what our odds currently are, I will not lie to you, Dr. Dennison. It will be an uphill battle. A battle that is not unwinnable. In the end, all of the Council Members' desire is to bring the responsible parties to justice, which means placing doubt in their thoughts that you are the responsible party.”
Words that were supposed to give Sophia a wave of reassurance painted her face with skepticism. History on her planet had taught her that if justice could not get the one responsible, it would be satisfied with a sacrificial lamb.
And she had no intention of taking Isaac’s place in this scenario.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
“All rise!”
The request from the Chamber guard pulled her from her thoughts as she stood up along with everyone else as the Inquiry Tribunal entered the room through a side door.
“Introducing the Inquiry Tribunal, Council Members selected by their peers to give fair judgment of the inquiry of Sophia Dennison of the planet Earth on the charges of terrorism, mass murder, and the destruction of Dominion Council property.
All remain standing for Tribunal Sashal, Vice Prime Minister of Femado!”
As with both males and females of her race, Femadorians, both male and female, were hairless humanoid beings with a large round head, five fingers and toes, large dark jet-black slant eyes, and tiny ears wrapped in pinkish-grey skin.
She was adorned in a single shoulder white and sky-blue outfit similar to Shaolin monks with open-toe Grecian sandals on her feet.
“All remain standing for Tribunal Shogonite Faustra of the Sar Republic.”
Like his species, Shogonite Faustra had the appearance of a purple furred humanoid fox with sprinkles of white covering his entire body. Like Earth foxes, Sarians also had long bushy tails. The color scheme of his attire was similar to Vice Prime Minister Sashal. His three long busy tails hung out of a hole in the back of his outfit, which was a combination of samurai kimono meets three-piece English business suit. Like his Earthly counterparts, he walked barefooted on digitigrade hind legs with three toes. His black-trimmed claw toenails matched the nails on his three fingers and an opposable thumb.
“All remain standing for Tribunal Nephthys, Head of the House of Set from the Nation of Anu!”
Sophia’s eyes slightly widened; during her time on the planet overseeing her daughter’s care, she never came in contact with a ruler of Anu.
Anubis's mother was a golden-eyed ancient beauty coated in deep bronze ageless skin with pearl black hair that hung straight down to the middle of her back.
Nephthys entered adorned in a slightly modestly sheer white fitted skirt and bustier top made from several thick blue pearl beads.
“All remain standing for Tribunal Mulfus Siral, Interim Grand Sai of the planet Glissand!”
The Interim Grand Sai was of an aquatic humanoid species. Similar to Femadorians, his slate grey-blue body was hairless but scaly with tendrils similar to cephalopod limbs attached to the dome of his head. Two-gill slits made up the nose on his face. The artificial light in the chamber caused Mulfus’s fire-red eyes to gleam.
His outfit consisted of a very airy two-piece shirt and pants with sandals that appeared to be made of a blue material similar to seaweed and algae sponge.
“All remain standing for Tribunal Fenian Dayra, High Lourdes of the Southern Territory of the Navar Empire!”
To Sophia, the female Navarian was a tall, slender, hairless pointy-eared elf with two fingers and a thumb on each hand and three toes on each foot. She had a boney ridge that ran up her nose, stopping at her slightly domed forehead below her eyebrow. Her skin was a minty sea green hue that, for some reason, matched her eyes and hair, which was long, heavy, thick, with a wiry dread texture.
Unbeknownst to her, Navarians was one of the oldest species in the universe who stopped showing physical signs of aging after reaching maturity. Instead, the High Lourdes’s veins underneath her skin and hair revealed her actual age as they emitted a medium bright glow.
She wore a form-fitting blue and white gown of a wet look material with a flowing skirt and incredibly low U-shaped exposed back.
“All remain standing for Tribunal Marcus Salt, the Vice Maul of the Kergan State!”
At that moment, Sophia wished she had her iPhone.
The Vice Maul’s humanoid reptilian physiology, which closely resembled dragons, was proof that lizard people from space were real. His hulking bright red muscular scaly body minus a tail was carried atop two digitigrade hind legs with three toes. His toes had nonretractable brown claws similar to the ones on his three fingers with a thumb. His sizeable thick skull had boney r
idges running from the top of his head down to the base of his spine. Inside of it blazed yellow emotionless eyes.
His attire was a weird hi-tech amalgamation of Roman Gladiator meets Scottish Highlander.
All six Council Members wore the temporary metallic silver Tribunal sash chain with the Dominion Council's emblem in a gold material hovering over their left breast.
As all six made their way to their assigned seats, they took a moment to look around before sitting down.
All currently in the Chamber save for the guards followed, taking their seats.
“As agreed upon by my fellow Tribunals, I shall begin the proceedings,” Marcus Salt announced. “A reminder, we will be speaking in the accused’s native tongue during the duration of this inquiry. For those that are not accustomed to the tongue, please have your translators properly set. Defender Oozaru, please stand with Sophia Dennison of Earth.”
Freedom rose the same as Oozaru taking a poised, respectful stance.
“Before this inquiry officially begins, is the accused aware of the charges against her?”
Oozaru turned to Sophia, who nodded.
“Yes, she does, Tribunal Marcus Salt.”
“The accused has a final chance to change her claim in exchange for a lesser sentence. Does she wish to change stance, or does she maintain her original position?”
Oozaru answered on Sophia’s behalf without turning to ask her.
“Sophia Dennison maintains her stance of innocence, Tribunal Marcus Salt.”
A soft smile grew on her face as faint grumbling was a wave over the hall before returning to the ocean whence it came.
“Very well,” Salt nodded. “Head Accuser Novtia, you may begin with your opening remarks.”
Novtia used her feet to float her seat back before rising with a smile of confidence as Oozaru and Sophia sat back down.
As she walked to stand in the circular disk in the center of the hall, her expression transformed to solemn sternness.
She turned, giving the Assistant Accuser aiding her a nod. With a few taps from his tablet, he activated a projection video for all to see.
Sophia massaged her nose in frustration as she bore witness to a projected history of human violence.
War of Mortal Gods Page 20
