LITMIR.BIZ

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to force us to make an unnecessary attack on the alien sphere, we used the tactic of deliberately focussing public attention on Commander Tell Morrath,’ said Leveque. ‘That succeeded in its objective of making Devon betray his uncontrolled prejudice against both the Handicapped and the aliens to the public, thereby discrediting him, but has also had unforeseen consequences.’

      General Torrek frowned. ‘You mean one of my command decisions caused this?’

      ‘Indirectly, sir,’ said Leveque. ‘For the first time, people on all of humanity’s worlds have seen one of the Handicapped appear on their vid channels. Many of them are rethinking their old prejudices in the face of reality. The severely bigoted deeply resent this shift in the attitudes of society. The news that Commander Tell Morrath was to join an aristocratic Betan clan escalated that resentment into violence.’

      He paused. ‘This particular assailant intended to intimidate Commander Tell Morrath into returning to the obscurity he considers proper for her. It’s quite possible that others will attempt to permanently eliminate what they see as a threat to the proper social order. We must assume that Major Eklund is also a potential target as a result of his relationship with Commander Tell Morrath.’

      My head wasn’t working too well, and I found Colonel Leveque’s sentences confusing at the best of times, but it sounded like he was saying …

      ‘I’m not having my officers murdered by bigots,’ said General Torrek. ‘I’ll authorize whatever protective measures you want.’

      Colonel Leveque nodded. ‘I’ll flag them both with automatic pre-empt status so they can bypass the queues at Transits, assign them a bodyguard, and issue guns for them.’

      I’d been right then, I thought numbly. Colonel Leveque really was suggesting that people might try to kill Fian and me.

      ‘They’ve been instructed to continue their pre-history training while they’re waiting to rejoin the Alien Contact programme,’ said Leveque, ‘but if it proves impossible to adequately secure this location then …’

      ‘If I can interrupt you there,’ said Playdon, ‘several other dig sites are as inaccessible as Eden. I could arrange to swap dig site assignments with another team.’

      ‘That would be an excellent solution,’ said Leveque. ‘I’ll also be urgently investigating how this attacker knew exactly when your class would arrive here.’

      ‘I’ve repeatedly warned my students not to give information about Jarra or Fian to anyone,’ said Playdon.

      The class had been a silent audience to all this, but now Steen stood up. ‘That scum knew we were coming here because Petra told him!’

      Leveque raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you have any evidence for this accusation?’

      ‘I don’t need evidence,’ said Steen. ‘Petra started running a hate campaign against Jarra the minute she found out she was Handicapped, insulting her and making her life a misery. Petra was always calling Jarra a stinking ape, so I bet the skunk juice was her idea.’

      There was a brief pause, followed by Fian, Playdon and General Torrek all saying almost exactly the same words. ‘Why didn’t I know about this?’

      I didn’t need to reply. Fian was already answering the question. In fact, he was having an entire angry conversation with himself.

      ‘I knew Petra was prejudiced against Jarra, but I’d no idea she was actively insulting her. It’s always the same. We’re on our second Twoing contract, but does Jarra tell me when she has a problem? No. Does she ask anyone for help? No. Does she even hint someone’s been persecuting her for months? No, she doesn’t. I swear, one day I’ll strangle her!’

      ‘Please don’t strangle Jarra today, Fian,’ said Leveque. ‘When Military Security officers are guarding two people, and one of them tries to strangle the other, they get confused about the appropriate course of action. Besides, Jarra’s clearly suffering from shock.’

      ‘I’m perfectly fine,’ I said.

      ‘I disagree,’ said General Torrek. ‘I’d ask why the doctors didn’t treat you for shock, but after my years serving with your grandmother I can guess the answer. She hated taking meds as well.’

      ‘Were any other class members involved in this abuse?’ asked Colonel Leveque.

      Steen hesitated for a second. ‘Petra tried to drag some of the rest of us into the name calling, but we wouldn’t get involved.’

      I was grazzed to hear this. My own memory of events was that Steen had spent two months calling me a throwback and pointedly holding his nose when he passed me in the corridor. I opened my mouth to speak, but Petra was ahead of me.

      ‘It’s not true! I called Jarra some names, but you were just as bad. You’re only crawling to her now because she’s famous.’

      Steen shook his head. ‘If the rest of us ever said anything rude, it was only because you kept nagging us, just like you nagged poor Joth. You wanted to drive Jarra away so you could get your claws into Fian. When words weren’t enough to get rid of her, you tried skunk juice!’

      ‘What?’ Fian’s voice interrupted the pair of them. ‘What’s been going on here?’

      I urgently blinked my eyes. The regen fluid must have worked because this time the world came into focus and stayed that way. Fian was on his feet now, his face and stance showing his fury.

      ‘This is because of me?’ He advanced on Petra. ‘You helped that man throw skunk juice at Jarra because you wanted to split us up?’

      Petra scrambled to her feet and tried to back away, but only succeeded in knocking over her chair. ‘I didn’t have anything to do with the skunk juice!’

      Playdon moved to stand between them. ‘Stop this, all of you!’

      Fian looked past him at Petra. ‘Jarra and I are together. Nothing and nobody is coming between us.’

      He turned, came back to sit next to me, and took my hand. His unblemished skin against the mottled green and purple of mine.

      ‘I’m arresting Petra and taking her in for questioning,’ said Leveque.

      Petra’s eyes widened in shock. ‘You can’t arrest me. You aren’t a police officer.’

      ‘Incorrect,’ said Leveque. ‘Legally any member of the Military is also a police officer empowered to deal with interplanetary crimes.’

      ‘I may have called Jarra a rude name once or twice,’ said Petra. ‘That might get me warnings from Lecturer Playdon under the Gamma sector moral code governing our course, but it isn’t an interplanetary crime. I didn’t have anything to do with the attack on Jarra, but that wasn’t an interplanetary crime either.’

      I admired Petra’s courage, but I knew she was making a big mistake arguing with Leveque. I watched him give one of his relaxed smiles, and held my breath waiting for him to pounce on his prey.

      ‘Your last point is debatable, since the attacker came to Earth from Atalanta in Beta sector specifically to harm Commander Tell Morrath,’ said Leveque, ‘but I’m happy to abandon any action against you under interplanetary law.’

      Petra looked surprised to have won so easily. Steen started to protest, but Fian urgently shook his head at him.

      Leveque’s smile widened. ‘I now arrest you for crimes against humanity under the powers of the Alien Contact programme.’

      Petra gasped. ‘You can’t do that! I have rights.’

      Leveque shook his head. ‘Contact with an alien civilization potentially threatens the survival of the human race. Everyone studies the Alien Contact programme in school, so you should know its emergency powers override everything. I’m not even restricted by the protection of humanity laws, let alone your personal human rights.’

      He paused to

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