“Welcome Ms McKinney, Mr Thacker, and, you are?”
“Jacob Sloan, Ms McKinney's assistant.”
“How do you do. I am Phix, head librarian of the Bibliothiki, the repository of all the world's written knowledge. This is my drawing room, please make yourselves comfortable. I will be leading your defense team for the tribunal. This is Prince Calvin Foxglove of the Fae. He will be assisting me. And you've already met Nudge, the other head librarian. She will assist you in gaining access to all the materials you can research to mount a defense.”
“I'm sorry, Ms Phix, but I'm feeling very out of my element,” said Ellen McKinney.
“Speak your mind. Get it out of your system and we'll all be better off,” replied Phix.
“This is not just another murder trial by any means. It's the environment, the characters I've seen running around, this building, this room...”
“I know you want to defend Mr Thacker to the best of your ability, but your perspectives are being challenged. Let me get to the point then.” Phix paused and looked behind her. “How many skulls do you see stacked in that ossuary behind me?”
“Eeep... at least a hundred!” Ellen replied.
“Yes, and that's just the front layer, and they are all dead by my hand. If you understand nothing else today, understand this: I am nature, red of tooth and claw. And so is everyone else in this building, period. Lest you think our civilization is harsh and cruel, remember – the universe operates by force. Forces in balance, forces in action, and forces deflected. To have a civilization you need rules, and if you have rules they need to be either enforced or discarded. Behind every law is force – either physical, social, bureaucratic, legal, or military. Do you follow me so far?”
Thacker, McKinney, and Sloan nodded.
“In ancient times, the para society mingled with human society and the end result was a human civilization that obliterated itself in a single day with it's technological pinnacle attacking it's own creator. Para society waited, and tried guiding the humans into a new age as they recovered their numbers. Rather than mingling, we gradually withdrew once various problems were dealt with – hence the pile of skulls behind me. We've now reached an age where we are trying to rejoin the humans and share our skills and knowledge. This was the purpose of the pact.”
“So,” Ellen offered, “You've been waiting for us to grow up, so to speak.”
“Basically, yes. And I don't mean that dismissively. If a society only knows family loyalty, how can it join other families – tribes – to form a larger nation, and so on? This is growth.”
“OK, go on,” said Ellen.
“Now imagine that a party turns against another, and, despite legal ruling to the contrary, forces the other into servitude, relocation, or other captivity. The other would object, yes?” Phix tilted her head.
“Absolutely!' said Ellen. “They'd be completely within their rights to object and resist by force if needed.”
“Exactly,” replied Phix. “And in your nation, this already happened. In the 1830s, the government forcibly relocated some 40,000 people – five Indian tribes – despite legal ruling in the tribe's favor. Many thousands died on the way.”
Phix paused for effect.
“Now imagine those were 40,000 paras, each with the ability to destroy a city if they were so inclined. You'd have a half million dead before lunch. Are you seeing the import of this?”
“Oh dear,” offered Ellen.
“This is the first major violation of the Pact. From the Para point of view, humanity has already embarrassed itself when the prior civilization immolated itself. So, now you're on Plan B. Everything you built, you did by yourselves, so no blaming others. Para memories are so far buried they appear only as fairy tales and ancient legends, many of which I might add are complete distortions. Never the less, here we are, and we have only our agreed rules – the Pact – to resolve frictions. So we must uphold the rule of law. Got it? You don't want the alternative.”
Ellen looked at Thacker and Sloan. “I think we understand.”
“Very well. It now comes down to three issues. One – was the Pact violated? I'll argue this. The request to end Mr Clarke's life came with lots of paperwork and guidance specified in the Pact. I have to counter the warden's actions that set up the vampires. Plus he perjured himself when he introduced them to Mr Clarke. I have poor hopes to beat this one.”
“Two – Was murder committed using actions under pact guidance? Calvin will argue this, and will need your guidance regarding mercy killing and related issues. We have a long history of deadly exchanges under conditions from war to revenge and defense. Your background is similar. Together, there may be an even chance to evade this. If not, Mr Thacker will be executed.”
“Three – If found guilty of murder, clemency and mitigation will be considered. This is your part, Ms McKinney. Opposition will be in the form of every human atrocity from Manchuria to My Lai and beyond. You need to focus it down to as narrow a circumstance as possible and keep to that.”
“So if found guilty,” Thacker asked, “I might not be killed after all?”
“No. They will eat you. The only question is when your head comes off to end your agony.”
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Edit -- The side story "
The Last Night" contains what follows this episode, and will link back to the next part of this story. Otherwise, carry on reading!
