Vaughn waited at the bottom of the stairs for Dax. He’d finished his testimony in Tlaral’s hearing a little more than an hour ago. Though he hadn’t had any direct interaction with the Yrythny technologist, the judicial panel had requested that he explain the situation and circumstances surrounding the Consortium trade. Over the course of the day, Lieutenant Nog and Prynn had also offered their testimonies. His sense was that Tlaral faced an unpleasant fate.
The least of her crimes had been hiding her Wanderer identity and becoming a consort to a Houseborn male. Violating those laws meant, at minimum, a life in prison. Add conspiracy charges stemming from the attempted weapon/Cheka trade and Vaughn was certain the judicial panel would have few options in determining her punishment. She had helped her case by offering to share intelligence on the underground’s radical wing. Should her information prove valuable, the panel might be able to exhibit leniency, though some might argue a swift death was less painful than a lifetime haunted by bad choices. Vaughn wasn’t sure they would know Tlaral’s fate before they left in the morning. He almost hoped the panel would deliberate slowly, avoid succumbing to public pressure for a swift, dramatic verdict. Rash decisions were rarely the correct ones.
At last, the tall, curved doors opened. Ezri slipped through, her attempt to make a soundless getaway failing miserably when the metal handle clanged against the door panels. She swiftly sprang down the stairs, skipping every other step.
“Ready to go, Commander?” she said with a heavy sigh. She had been testifying for more than two hours.
“In every possible way,” Vaughn said.
Together, they strolled silently through the long, echoing halls of the Assembly Center, where only two weeks before Ezri had been brought to speak before a joint meeting of both assemblies. Vaughn wished he could have been there to hear her triumphal oratory—at least that’s how Shar referred to it. Ezri had been more circumspect in her replies to Vaughn’s inquiries. Maybe once they were back on the Defiantshe would share her account of her experiences among the Yrythny. Sensing that a more complex story lurked beneath the surface, Vaughn was willing to bide his time. “How is it going for Jeshoh in there?”
“Even though Keren’s facing charges of her own, her testimony was persuasive,” Ezri said. “I believe the panel accepted her explanation of her relationship with Jeshoh, that for most of their lives they’d been friends and they intended to follow the law as best they could. She came off sounding like she’d made the only possible choices in an impossible situation.”
That she’d done well pleased him; Vaughn had liked her since their first day on Luthia. If he’d had his druthers, she would have come to the Consortium in Minister M’Yeoh’s place. He had to pity the science minister, however. Within a day, he’d lost his consort and likely his political future. The Assembly had demanded the details regarding his union with Tlaral, assuming that he’d either conspired with her or was too easily deceived. When faced with similar circumstances, Keren had chosen the better path. Vaughn concluded, “Keren strikes me as an honorable individual.”
“Who broke the law. Who’s lost the position she’s worked for since she was 10 years out of the water. Who may lose the one she loves. And Jeshoh, because he aligned himself with the terrorists, is facing far worse charges,” Ezri noted pragmatically.
“At least you and Shar were able to persuade the panel to drop any charges relating to hijacking the Sagan.”
“It may not be enough.” She shook her head. “The panel hearing Tlaral’s case and Jeshoh’s will compare notes. If Tlaral shoulders primary responsibility for orchestrating the plan, Jeshoh’s punishment should be reduced.”
“Is he worried about the potential outcomes?”
“As always, he’s more worried about Keren.” She pursed her lips, wrinkled her brow thoughtfully. “For himself, I’m not sure. Losing his position as Vice Chair of the Upper Assembly didn’t seem to upset him, though the leaders of House Perian were devastated that their favorite son put illicit love above duty to home and world.”
“In all the wisdom and experience of the ages, no philosopher has yet found the magical formula for balancing love and duty,” Vaughn noted. God knows I’ve looked for it.
They exited through the Assembly Center’s main doors and into the Great Plaza. Every corner bustled with activity: vendors, government workers coming and going from their jobs, military officers and Vanìmel dwellers armed with petitions, lined up to enter the Assembly members’ offices. Vaughn had been surprised how well Luthia had absorbed the events of the past day. The population appeared quite calm, considering a top Houseborn official had been brought up on treason, the Wanderer underground had attempted to instigate a civil war and news of a major scientific breakthrough had broken within the last few hours. The business of daily life always propels us forward,he thought.
“Commander,” Ezri said, stopping in her tracks. “Before you go, you ought to try this delicacy from the Black Archipelago region. House Soid harvests massive darro,filets the meat into thin strips and marinates it for a year.” She tipped her head in the direction of a vending cart where a long line of Yrythny waited.
Having had little time to experience Yrythny culture, Vaughn readily assented. Any regrets he had about leaving involved not having had time to be immersed in the wondrous strangeness of this remarkable world.
They procured their lunch and resumed their walk back to quarters.
“You seem to have enjoyed your time here,” Vaughn said, chewing the dried fish off a skewer.
“‘Enjoyed’ is how I refer to vacation,” Ezri said. “I prefer to think I made the most of my time here. I learned a lot, not just about the Yrythny, but about myself.”
“Over my lifetime, I’ve found that often the most important thing we take from exploration is a better understanding of the world within than the worlds outside.”
Dax looked at him quizzically. “What are you suggesting? That the final frontier is less about exploring space than it is about exploring ourselves?”
Vaughn smiled. “Isn’t it?”
“You can follow along with the model on your desk screen,” Shar said to a filled auditorium of scientists, sitting in semicircle rows around the rostrum where he stood. More Yrythny sat in the aisles and squeezed in around the rear doors. The spotlight trained on him made it difficult to discern exactly how many had gathered to hear his presentation, but he sensed he had a full house. Nog was somewhere in the room, though that didn’t make him feel much better. He was still outnumbered about two thousand to one. Not seeing Yrythny faces made it easier to pretend he was back on Andor, presenting his senior thesis prior to his first year at the Academy.
Shar indicated the holographic projection of the Yrythny chromosome. “Here, on the nineteenth chromosome is where the most critical deletions and mutations are occurring.” He highlighted the segment in question. “The genes in this segment are responsible for frontal lobe development—upper brain functions. In this segment over here…” Shar continued speaking from the text he’d memorized earlier. Having reviewed his results dozens of times with Vaughn and his own staff, Minister M’Yeoh and his committee, and the senior Assembly staff, he could recite this presentation in his sleep.
No one had slept much in the two days since the Defiantreturned from the Consortium. The whole crew had been enjoying reunions among friends, staying up late swapping stories, and those who could finally took long-overdue shore leave. The Defianthadn’t been back an hour before Prynn was grilling Juarez and Candlewood about any and all knowledge they might have about Vanìmel’s oceans. Earlier today she had caught the first shuttle to the Coral Sea, leaving word that she would be back to Luthia in time for tomorrow’s launch, but not to call her back to the Defiantunless the Cheka, the Borg and the Romulans decided to drop by. After hearing Nog’s version of the Consortium trip, Shar couldn’t say he blamed her.