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Too long since he’d been placed in detainment.
Too long since he’d heard any news of the outside world.
Too long since he’d seen his mate.
But his people had adopted the Coalition Standard of judicial process, and the first part of it involved isolating all the parties involved. Rane hadn’t seen them, but he knew that Sandy, his mother, Drevor, Sal, and the rest of the team, had all been confined and interrogated.
It was a relatively short process, but not an easy one. He supposed he could count himself lucky, as the Coalition used a technique of interrogation that didn’t involve direct questioning or long, drawn out investigations. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was absolutely reliable.
Essentially, Rane had just been forced to relive every terrible, horrible thing his mother had done to him. In their quest for the truth, they’d ripped and read the memories right from his head. It was a complex process he knew little about but required him to sleep, to dream, through his memories. It had been like watching it all on a holodisplay – slightly separate from him but still very much connected. Elsewhere, he knew, his mother and friends had all undergone the same process.
After they finished, the only thing left was for Rane to wait for the tribunal to convene, go over all the recorded data gathered from the process, and reach a decision.
All of that, Rane knew.
What he didn’t know was what would happen now that the tribunal knew the whole truth.
He’d never needed to undergo this process before. It was performed on criminals and, as bad as his misspent youth appeared, his mother had never actually made him do anything that would earn such treatment. It wasn’t even something he could have requested before, as it was too expensive and exhaustive for all crimes – only violent ones with clear victims.
Now having undergone the process, he understood why. And also, why only those accused of a crime had to do it. It was not meant for victims – unless they requested it – as it would force them to relive their worst moments.
That was why Sandy didn’t have to undergo this.
Though she had been isolated, it was for her own protection, not for the investigation. Until they knew who was telling the truth and what was going on, no one was allowed to see her. The domini, the primary sponsor species of humanity, had claimed temporary guardianship of her, and that wouldn’t change until the outcome of this tribunal was decided.
Something Rane could only wait for. He stood before the seven-person strong council – five females, and two males all with somber expressions on their faces – within a cube that was opaque on three sides. All but the front, which remained clear so he could see the council members. He knew that, to one of his sides, Sandy was standing. But so was his mother, his teammates, and Drevor. They couldn’t see each other, but they were all there.
Whoever was found innocent would be released from the box.
Whoever was not would remain inside and be remanded into custody.
Because the crime now before them was bad. Very bad. The kidnap and rape of a human was considered to be a high crime within the Coalition. Its punishment was similarly harsh.
And that was why Rane was so nervous.
They had seen, in his memories, all the things he had done – either because his mother staged it or he just did it himself since he was already being accused anyway, he might as well still get the joy of being high too. They saw the way he had been forced to taste Sandy’s blood, and the way he had ravished her afterwards.
They knew every sordid detail. And while he was absolutely sure that what his mother did was illegal, he actually didn’t know if what he did was considered illegal.
And even if it wasn’t, he didn’t know if he would be allowed to be with Sandy again.
There was so much riding on this moment, it was a wonder he could even breathe around his nerves.
The head of the tribunal – a fierce looking, older female with unforgivably sharp features, read in a short, clipped voice, from the console before her:
“A total of nine people were implicated in the investigation of the imprisonment of the human female, Alexandra ‘Sandy’ Tollman. The investigation was carried out according to Standard guidelines set up by the Coalition using the Hekvay neural reading technique. Ten readings were carried out, as the victim of the crime requested that the investigation include her as well. Therefore, using the data from all ten readings, the tribunal has created a complete and accurate timeline of events. We have thus come to the following decisions:
“Firstly: Elffa el Avanie el Mureen has been charged with lying and presenting false evidence to a tribunal. Intoxication assault. Assault. Imprisonment. Forging government documents. Bribery. Kidnapping. Extortion. Thievery. Parental alienation. Abuse of a youngling. As well as the high crimes of kidnapping, imprisonment, and sexual assault of a human female.
“For the high crimes, the Coalition has claimed right of punishment. And so, Elffa el Avanie el Mureen shall be remanded into the custody of the Coalition, where she will be sentenced and serve out her time of punishment and rehabilitation. She will have her guardianship status of all persons revoked. Her right to ever have guardianship over any person, regardless of their blood relation to her, has similarly been revoked.”
Rane let out a short breath of disbelief.
His mother had essentially just lost everything. Not just because she was being exiled from Levtiram and forced to serve her punishment and rehabilitation through Coalition authorities but revoking her guardianship of him meant that she no longer had access to his credz, his properties, his belongings, or anything that might belong rightly to him.
The look of disgust on the various faces of the tribunal was somehow vindicating. And satisfying. They, no doubt, hated her for the fact that she had taken advantage of the tribunal system so thoroughly more than anything else. Though this tribunal was not the one she had bribed into keeping Rane in her guardianship, the fact that any tribunal had been was a mark against them all, and their anger towards her was not lessened for not being directly related to them.
And now, finally, she was being held accountable for her actions. Part of Rane wished he could see his mother’s face. Revel in her defeat and know that she was finally getting what she deserved.
