Jal set out its wares on the table in the general store. Tunne picked up a mug. “These are wonderful. I think I’m going to buy two of these for myself.”

“Wait! I have something even better. This is for you. A gift from me to you.” Jal gave him a shiny blue mug that said “Tunne.”

“Perfect! It’s perfect for my morning brew.” Jal handed him a bright yellow one that said “Ans.” A huge smile spread across his face. “Wonderful! Wonderful! I’m getting a lot of positive comments about the new colors. Some of the older folks would like them toned down a bit though.”

“I gave you a good mix today.”

“Where are you getting your supplies from, Jal?”

“Sage Elvan had a lot of supplies."

“Let me know when you need to order some. Here’s your sales from last week.”

Jal glanced at the list. “The large platter isn’t on here. Did it sell? Or maybe it got moved?”

“Slow down, Jal! It’s right here. I would like you to hold it for me. These are the pieces I would like you to make to match it.” Jal looked it over. “I don’t want an estimate, and I don’t want to haggle, Jal. I will pay the full price to you. Just don’t tell anyone about it. It’s an anniversary gift for Ans.”

Jal sighed. It was going crazy not going anywhere. Camping, running, going to different places, seeing people and new things were what it craved. Working on another order was not on that list at the moment. “When things settle down, I’m going to …" Jal stopped.

Nel Bron had come through the door. He looked up at Jal. “What will you do, Mr. Jomari? What will you do when things settle down?”

Put on the spot, Jal said the first thing that came to mind, “I want to learn how to fish from a boat.”

“That sounds like fun!”

“The problem is that I don’t know how to swim.” Jal shook its head.

Nel laughed. “We learned how in the bokan water tank this summer. Shh, don’t tell my mom. She’s on her way. You might want to leave.”

“Thanks, Nel.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“I took a lucky guess.” Jal looked at its brother. “You’re not really my brother,” it thought. “But I’d recognize you anywhere.”

Tunne stepped through the doorway to sell Nel some sweets, Sage Elvan checked out the merchandise on the shelves, and Jal ducked into the back room. It unloaded the second box of wares onto the stockroom shelf and went to the hovercar for the third box. As Jal unloaded its products in the stockroom, it tried to figure out a reasonable delivery date for a set of dinnerware.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, Mister Jomari! Excuse me!” Geldou Bron was suddenly in Jal’s face. “I was in this store first! You need to leave!”

“Just a moment, Jal,” Tunne grabbed Geldou by the arm. “Mrs. Bron, customers are not allowed in the stockroom.” He escorted her into the store area, closed the door and pointed at it. There was a sign indicating that the area was off limits to customers. “Excuse me. I’ll be with you in a moment.” He returned to the stockroom.

Jal looked at Tunne. “Please sign here acknowledging delivery. I’ve subtracted this specific piece, at your request.” Jal saw Geldou headed their way. “The order that we discussed, did you have a delivery date in mind?”

“Excuse me! I was in this store first! You need to leave!”

Tunne looked at his own electronic pad. “Two months,” he suggested.

“I can do that.”

“I’ll be right with you, Geldou.” Tunne led her to the doorway and pushed her through it again. “Wait out there.” He began to count Jal’s payment. “Here’s the money from your sales this week.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Tunne was counting the currency when there was a shout from the front of the store. “Mom! Stop, Mom! Mom!” The sound of breaking dishes was unmistakable.

In moments Tunne backed Geldou up against the wall. Broken ceramics were all over the floor. The table was empty. Nel stood at the table. “I tried to stop her!”

“You’ve destroyed my new merchandise! What are you thinking?”

“I was in here first. He’s not supposed to come in a store when I’m in it first.”

Sage Elvan stood watching as Eiske came in the door. Eiske had seen Geldou flinging dishes to the floor, then turned around and left.

Sage Elvan followed him out. Jal went to the hovercraft, where Jan sat waiting. “You were in there watching when Geldou started throwing ceramics. Why didn’t you stop her?”

“That’s not my job. I’m here to support you. Let’s have our noon meal.”

Two security people entered the store. "Where’s the video record?” Tunne led one to the office in the back. One security person stood watching Geldou until the second one returned. “Evidence shows she did the damage, one piece at a time.”

“She did! She did!” Nel shouted. “I tried to stop her! She hit me.” He took his hand away from his face. A bruise was rapidly forming.

“Tunne, we’ll put this on the list of charges. Destroying private property. How much damage?”

“Three hundred mu-toc.”

The guards led Geldou away in handcuffs. “We thought you were in a hurry to eat,” they said to Geldou.

“I saw my brother’s vehicle and came to see if he would attend this afternoon. I want him to be a witness for me. Where is he? His vehicle’s outside.”

“Let’s go.” The officers handcuffed Geldou.

“Where are you taking her?” Nel asked worriedly.

“To the courtroom.”

Geldou glared at Nel. “We were going to get food and she insisted that Eiske needed to be at the trial. You said a noon meal, Mom.”

“Shut up!”

“I need to eat. You wouldn’t give me any breakfast!”

The officer pulled out a voucher, wrote on it, and handed it to Nel. “Go get lunch. We’ll meet you in the courtroom in twenty minutes.”

Eiske and Jal were in the middle of their meal at Litske’s when a young man came to their table. “Jurian de Clerk asked me to see if you had come here for lunch. Are you finished?”

“Very nearly.”

“He’s in the legal building across the street. He’d like to meet with you for a few minutes,.” Eiske and Jal took their last bites, handed currency to Piter and followed the legal aide. They entered the courtroom silently and sat in the back seats. The courtroom was nearly empty. Haerm and the seven boys filled the front row. Each one wore a new orange shirt, blue jeans, and work boots.

Jurian ushered Eiske, Jal, and Jan into a small conference room off the main hall. “The prosecuting attorney’s name is Bearend Jongsma. He might put you on the witness stand, Jal. Do you have your identity papers with you?”

“Yes. What is this about?”

“I’m not certain. I want you to tell me whether you think you can face Geldou Bron without getting caught up in your emotions, Jal.”

“I can.”

“I’ll need those papers.”

“Why?” Jal faced him and looked down at him, arms crossed.

“If the issue of your identity comes up, the judge will ask for the documents.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not obligated, am I? I’m not the one on trial; she is. This has nothing to do with my identity. It has everything to do with her actions.”

“No, you’re not obligated to show them. Why don’t you want anyone else to see them?”

“Because Geldou Bron can’t seem to keep her mouth shut. The only person that I will allow to see these is that judge. If the judge can't promise that no one else will see them, then I refuse to allow it.” It turned away and slipped the papers out of its pocket. “You can’t tell anyone else, is that correct?”

“Yes. I won’t tell anyone. I do need to look them over, so I know what they say if this comes up.” Jal gave the lawyer the paperwork. He quickly reviewed it, then nodded. “Everything is in order.”

The judge listened to the prosecution’s argument that Geldou was involved in the planning of accessing the funds in the various accounts. “We’ve heard all of this previously,” the judge stated. “Why has this person been singled out from the others?”

“Your Honor, the computer records indicate that the Jaeger and Smid business accounts were typically accessed between the hours of 02:00 and 03:30. Entrance to local private accounts were made during the same time frame. Here is a list of times that these were accessed. You can see that the computer’s access code has been linked to all these activities.” The judge and jurors looked at their electronic pads. “You can see here that the Bokma account was opened, then private records belonging to Jal Jomari were opened, the Van der Laan account was accessed, and the Bokma account was closed. The Jomari communications were written and sent after the Van der Laan account was closed. No one else’s computer logs indicate that the Jomari files were opened or closed; therefore, this charge is solely against this defendant.”

“I see.”

“We would like to see what the accounts were that Mrs. Bron accessed that belong to Jomari,” the defense attorney, Sapkje Gaastra responded. “Show us what was changed.”

“The account looked like this when Jomari saved it previously.” A document popped up. “This is how it read when Jomari opened it.”

“That’s such a paltry sum,” the defense objected.

“That is a large amount of money to a young entrepreneur who is just getting started. Jal didn’t understand that the numbers had been altered. Jal believed that the bank had made errors. This happened five more times before Jal told Sage Elvan what was happening.”

“This is the accounting system of a youngster,” the Defense Attorney Gaastra argued.

“This person that you call a ‘youngster’ is an adult,” the prosecutor responded.

“We need to see the identity papers of this young man.” Gaastra announced.