“I won’t resist.”
“That will make our task easier. Please come with us.” One of them unlocked the cell and Chris quickly stepped out, took Audrey in his arms, and kissed her lovingly. They broke the kiss and Chris walked up the hall with the two warriors. Audrey managed to hold back her tears until she heard the door close at the end of the hall and then she broke down.
The Welken Royal didn’t like what was going on. He didn’t want to have this trial and he certainly didn’t want to execute a human. But the other civilizations demanded justice and the humans had said they would not try the one that stopped the attack. They sent the human to be tried by the Fellowship. The Royal knew the human was the one sent to command their fleets. This was not a good thing. The room was loud when he called for the defendant to enter. When he was escorted in by two massive armored warriors, the room grew silent. A warrior on each side was holding the human’s arms and they brought him to the front of the huge room and sat him in a chair. They then moved behind him and each put an arm on one of his shoulders.
The Lead Prosecutor stared at them for a moment and then looked at the Welken Royal. The Royal’s expression showed his displeasure but he said, “You may begin.” He looked out at the huge gathering and saw they were anticipating a guilty verdict. Their lust for blood was obvious. There were some that didn’t share that view, but they were lost in the sea of faces.
The Droken smiled and said, “I am going to play the records of the battle along with the communications that took place. This won’t take a long time but all of us should see what happened.” The huge monitor behind the Royal’s chair came on and the assembly saw the gigantic fleet of Green Warships moving through space. The sudden appearance of the small Silver Ships hitting the center of the Invader’s formation startled the gathering and then they were lost in the madhouse of a space battle.
Chris sat in his chair and watched the video with the representatives and was amazed again at how quickly a million warships could be destroyed. He shook his head at the number of lives that were lost in such a short time. He heard his voice ordering Admiral Jekins to call off the attack and the anger he felt at having to do it. Chris shook his head and wondered if he would do it again after having time to reflect on what the consequences were. Before the recording ended, he decided he would do it the same way. He took a deep breath and blew it out. One of the hands on his shoulder lightly squeezed and he was thankful for the gesture.
The Prosecutor stood up after the video ended and looked at Chris, “Is that your voice ordering the attack to be called off?”
Chris looked at him and said where everyone in the room could hear, “It is!”
The Prosecutor smiled and said in a loud voice, “WHY DID YOU CALL OFF THE ATTACK?!”
Chris thought the silence in the room was almost deafening. It was amazing that a room could be this quiet with so many beings in it. “I communicated with the being commanding the Invader’s Fleet and he told me that he received a communication from his galaxy that all of his planets were being attacked by ships from another galaxy.”
“What is that to us?”
“The Leaders that ordered his fleets to invade had every ship sent in the invasion. None of his planets were defended and he was leaving to go and defend them.”
“I ask you again, what is that to us?”
“I told all of you in our first meeting that humans do not desire to conquer anyone. Our mission is to defend our galaxy against all aggressors. Those ships were leaving and no longer represented a threat to our planets. I decided that I would not participate in the deaths of trillions of defenseless beings in their civilization.”
“That’s stupid. It would take six months for them to return and most of their planets would have been destroyed by the time they arrived. This is the best thing that could possibly happen. Their entire inventory of warships would be destroyed and probably all of their planets as well. This is exactly what should have happened.” The room started a low current of grumbling and the Prosecutor yelled, “That’s what would have happened if you had kept your mouth shut and allowed us to do our job!! An enemy of this galaxy would have been removed from existence and they deserved it!”
Chris stood up and looked at the assembly. The loud shouts for his execution grew quiet and he said, “None of you have had your planets bombarded from space and every being on the surface killed. We’ve endured that! Standing by and allowing hundreds of thousands of worlds to endure the same thing is not the right thing to do!”
The Prosecutor started to speak but heard the cries for the human’s execution. He closed his mouth and looked at the Welken Royal. The Royal sounded a tone and the room grew silent. He stared at the assembly and then looked at Chris, “They were coming to kill all of us.”
“Yes they were, Great One. But they were totally incapable of doing it. Their ships stood no chance against any of our ships and they don’t represent a real danger to us. If they did, I would have done things differently.”
The Royal stared at Chris and looked out at the assembly that were shouting for Chris’ execution again. The Prosecutor yelled and the room grew quiet. He repeated himself, “It’s clear the human is judged guilty and the Assembly has called for his execution.”
The Welken looked at the Prosecutor and said, “I do not vote for execution.” He looked out at the gathering and said, “Who else agrees with me?” Silence dominated the room but after a moment, the Myot Ruler stood up and walked up to stand beside the Welken, “I also do not agree.” The Johan Ruler stood and joined them on the stage. “I also do not agree.”
The Prosecutor looked around and no one else stood. He smiled and looked at the three standing on the stage, “It appears the vote is against you.” He looked at the two warriors standing on each side of Chris and said, “You will turn him over to us.”
One of the tall warriors stepped forward and said, “I do apologize if you’re under the mistaken opinion that we were here to defend you from him. We are here to defend him from you.” Chris’s eyes widened and he looked at the other warrior standing beside him. The Warrior facing the gathering said, “Before any of you start thinking about doing something rash, you should know that this armor I’m wearing has the same power and weapons of the small ships you saw during the attack.” Suddenly, a white force field appeared around both warriors with Chris sitting inside it.
The Royal said, “What’s going on?”
“We needed to see if the Members of the Fellowship have learned from their past mistakes. We allowed him to be tried here to determine if you have become species that love peace more than war. It is clear that only the three of you have passed that test.”
The Prosecutor felt a slow sense of dread invade his soul, “What are you saying?”
“The three standing on this stage will be defended if any of you attack them. The rest of you will no longer participate in any attacks against forces from outside this galaxy. We will also not share any of our most advanced technology with you or allow you to take part in future decisions concerning how we will survive. You may go back to attacking each other and no one will stand in your way. I truly hope you destroy all of yourselves.”
The Royal said, “You can’t do this!”
“Royal, you’ve seen their hearts today. I can do nothing else. My Leader said to tell you that if you passed this test, he will agree to accept you and the others that passes as an ally. Now you have to decide what direction you’re going to choose to go.”
The Johan Ruler said, “I choose the humans.”
The Myot nodded, “I do as well.”