As Veda prepared to leave her pod, having arranged her outfit and hair to present herself well, she taken by surprise by a System notification. The morning’s hearing was being moved to the great Hall of Seeing near the hub’s endcap.
Her lawyer, Hal’Rhee, who she had hired to help out the Earthling rights complaint on behalf of Brightfeather Unlimited, sent her a quick message. Veda popped it up as she walked along the crowded Hub.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"So, I have some good news and some bad news," Hal'Rhee said. "The good news is we've successfully got a full tribunal hearing on the status of the humans."
"That's excellent," Veda said. She had half-expected their legal efforts to be shunted off into oblivion, heard by a single judge with the outcome predetermined. That wouldn't have been the end of things. They would have appealed. Getting a full panel hearing this early on meant that their case would be noticed.
"It's not all my doing," Hal'Rhee said. "The Order of the Progenitors filed as interested parties, and that just opened up the floodgates. We've got petitions here from dozens of small outfits, similar in size to yours, who are unhappy with how things are going and using this as an attempt to break their contracts with Alabaster Sky or one of the other big three. Proxima and ConSweGo are being called in as co-defendants, even though they have nothing to do with the original motion we've made." Hal'Rhee bit her lip. "I'm afraid your personal indenture hearing has been moved up to just before this and will be heard by the full panel."
"Wait, what?" Veda asked. She had given Hal'Rhee a retainer to shepherd her delinquency case along through the paths of justice, having checked with the humans that it was alright to use some of their war chest to defend herself. She had expected to file stalling motions, keeping her mother and the company off her back while she completed this Exploit. "I thought we were trying to get everything delayed."
"We were. Proxima is backing your family's bid to have you reined in. They have much more expensive lawyers than you do, unfortunately, and they've managed to get this in front of a full panel. It's partly to set the stage for the next hearing, I'm afraid. You're, um” Hal'Rhee looked uncomfortable.
“Probably about to get massively screwed over," Veda supplied.
"I was looking for a slightly more legalese way to put it. You're in big trouble, Veda. Your family’s complaints are valid. There’s not much way around it.”
"I understand," Veda said. "But they can't touch me until this exploit is done."
"They can make your life very uncomfortable."
"They already have," Veda said grimly. She disconnected and continued on her way.
The Hall of Seeing was a vast amphitheater capable of hosting 10,000 beings in person and even more remotely. It hung in the middle of the Great Hub with connecting tubes leading away to other portions of the facility. The gravity here was lessened due to its placement in the center of the great cylinder that was the Hub. That made it more comfortable for certain species such as the elves that often came from lower gravity worlds. Veda didn't much care, but all of the orcs and lizardfolk she saw seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the lessened gravity.
Veda made her way forward, ignoring the various calls for her attention. She presented herself to the adjutant at the front of the room.
"I'm Veda Tvedra, reporting as summoned," she said.
The adjutant quickly scanned her DNA to confirm her identity, then gestured to a small viewing box to one side.
"You will be called for your testimony at appropriate times. Do not attempt to interject. The system will prevent any interruptions. You are not permitted to communicate with anyone except your own attorney from the moment you enter that box."
"Understood," Veda said.
"If you need to send messages, now is the time.”
“Thank you," Veda said. "I appreciate the reminder." She stepped aside and hesitated. Her team was having difficulties. Juana had just informed her of Major Waters' involvement. Did she really want to distract them right now?
Yes, they deserved to know what was going on. She composed a quick message to Juana, Colonel Twofeather, and Shad explaining that she was about to go into seclusion for the course of this hearing and mentioned that the status of the human contractors with outstanding debts owed to Alabaster Sky would be argued immediately afterward.
Colonel Twofeather replied back at once, "Knock 'em dead."
Juana took a minute longer to respond. "Take care of yourself. I hope it works out."
Shad's reply was characteristically direct. "Let me know if they offer you a trial by combat option. I've got some tricks that none of these assholes have seen."
She smiled as she read the messages. Her smile faded as she heard a familiar voice behind her and turned. Her mother and Halithi Dreamwarden had just arrived, presenting themselves to the adjudicator.
Veda stiffened at the sight of her mother. Her mother's eyes narrowed. "I don't like airing our dirty laundry in front of the entire galaxy, but here we are."
"You're the ones who arranged this hearing for today," Veda said.
"What?" Her mother shook her head, sounding incredulous. "No, we're not. We're merely responding to your legal maneuvers."
Veda believed her mother to be telling the truth, at least as far as she knew it. Had Hal’Rhee lied and manipulated Veda into this situation in order to better position the second hearing? Or — she glanced at Dreamwarden. It was hard to read the smug elf's face. No, probably Proxima and Alabaster Sky were working together on this. A decision in favor of the humans would impact Proxima just as much as it would Alabaster Sky.
Veda let the matter drop. As her mother babbled at her, she stepped into the hearing box that the adjutant had pointed out to her and closed the door. Blissful silence fell.
Veda waited as the rest of the participants in the hearing arrived. The room was filling up. At a guess, there were a couple of thousand people here already, and more were streaming in all the time. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.
Patriarch Kvaltash of the Order of the Progenitors arrived and spoke to the adjutant. Veda couldn't hear what he was saying. He turned and raised his hand to her in what she chose to take as a blessing before going and claiming his own witness booth so he would not be one of the judges hearing this matter. That made sense. He was a party to the second action after all.
Hal’Rhee arrived and was assigned to one of the legal booths. She sent a message to Veda, "Just confirming that our communications are working. If at any point you think that you're not hearing me, just wave your hand and I'll see and find out what's going on."
"My mother accused us of being the ones who moved up these actions," Veda said. "Is that true?"
"We were merely responding to what Proxima was doing on your family's behalf," Hal’Rhee said, which struck Veda as not quite an answer. “All right, you’re now able to listen to what’s going on around us, but you won’t be able to speak unless called on.”
At last, the judges emerged from a door in the rear. Five of them: two male, two female, and to her utter shock, a Grignarian. Veda couldn't just hear the ripple of shock over the room, but she could see it. People were standing up, pointing, waving, gesticulating wildly, shouting, a riotous cacophony. Since when had a Grignarian been on the council of those who hear?
She queried her personal system. She wasn't allowed to communicate out, but it did have a vast offline database. "Answer unknown," her system said helpfully.
"Great," Veda said. "Well, maybe he'll be on our side."
The adjutant stepped up to the dais.
"All rise for the honorable judges," he said.
Everyone, including Veda, stood up. The judges sat. The adjutant went down the row, introducing them, their corporate backings, and their disclosed biases.
"Do any parties to this action wish to object to any of the judges at this time?"
Hal'Rhee sent Veda a quick note. "I think these are as fair as we're going to get. I know Judge Malander, the orc, has ties to Proxima, but honestly everyone does, and at least he's being upfront about them."
"That's fine," Veda said. "I defer to you."
The adjutant raised a hand. "We have received several queries from the audience and two from parties involved about the role of the honorable Mathander Raynault Bluehaven, our esteemed Grignarian judge. It is true that this is the first time a member of his species has overseen a hearing of this scale. However, they are signatories to the Reality Engine Exploitation Acts and therefore are fully entitled to have members in this judiciary. The system has chosen him as one of the five determiners in this matter. He does not have direct ties with any current Reality Engine Exploitation miners. Any suggestion that he is prejudiced merely because of his species is disqualified from further consideration.”
There was a pause, and then the adjutant raised his ceremonial staff. Eight colorful strips of cloth tied to the top waved in the air of its passing. “This court is now in session. First, we shall hear the matter of Tvedra Corporation versus Tvedra. The complaint is that while serving as the lawful representative of the Tvedra Corporation during this exploit, Veda Tvedra did, in fact, commit fiscal malfeasance, failed to sufficiently represent the interests of the company, and failed to accept the instructions of a superior member of the corporation. Is the defendant here and represented by legal counsel?"
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"She is," Hal'Rhee confirmed. "Forms have been filed with this court."
One of the judges leaned forward. “We see you are also listed as the corporate lawyer for Brightfeather Unlimited, the entity involved in our next case. Is that true?"
"Yes, Your Honor."
"Is there any kind of conflict of interest here?"
"No, Your Honor."
"The funds to pay for Veda Tvedra's defense, do they come from Brightfeather Unlimited?"
"Yes, Your Honor. Veda Tvedra is one of the chief officers of Brightfeather Incorporated. As such, any action affecting her may affect the company, and the company board of directors has voted unanimously to front the costs for her legal defense. All documentation has been filed with this court."
The judge sat back. “Very well." Veda couldn't read the expression on his face. He was a lizardfolk with pale white skin, and she'd always had trouble following their body language. "Let's hear the evidence against the accused, and then she may enter her plea."
Veda sat rock solid as her mother rose to speak. "Your Honors, I am Marinda Tvedra, mother of Veda Tvedra, and I am here on behalf of the rest of the Tvedra family. When we appointed Veda as our representative for this reality engine exploit, it was with a very clear mission to reach Phase Two and maintain our corporate license. We did not at any time authorize her to back a Phase Three attempt."
The human woman at the far end of the long table full of judges leaned forward. Her dark purple hair was piled high on her head, rising a good two feet up. It was studded with gently blinking lights in blue, green, and red. She folded her hands together.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Tvedra. Are you complaining here that your representative was too successful?"
Veda's mother turned pink. "No, Your Honor. What I mean to say is we feel that Veda's actions have overstepped her bounds and exposed our company to both financial and reputational risk."
It sounded as though she were reciting something she had memorized or repeating back words that were being given to her by someone else. Veda’s mother was a socialite. She enjoyed parties, interacting with people in personal settings. She was very good at manipulating them, getting under their skin, working one against another. But she hated public displays. This must be driving her mad.
Good, Veda thought, serves her right for having done this to me. She sat back and enjoyed her mother's squirms.
The Grignarian judge was seated at the middle of the table. He — Veda assumed he because the adjutant had used that pronoun, but she didn't honestly know how many sexes Grignarians even came in, let alone how to tell one from another if they had more than one — raised a hand. "By being too successful, she risks you suffering damage? How so?"
"She had acquired a large profit from Phase Two and then turned around and staked it on this foolhardy Phase Three attempt," Mother blustered.
"Yet you said that her task was merely to get your company into Phase Two and maintain your license, and she has done that, yes? So anything else should be considered a bonus."
"She has a fiscal and fid-fiduciary," Mother managed to get out, "duty to our company to see that all profits are maximized. We were sitting on a windfall. It could have reinvigorated our company. We're sorely in need of cash. Many of our family had to take out personal loans at great cost in order to back this. She had the ability to repay all of those loans with interest, and she threw it away on a bunch of indigenous miners and their mad attempts to thwart the will of the Reality Engine Exploitation Committee. Why, we heard about this back home in Naradella. Half the galaxy's heard by now, and our family's name is indelibly associated with this attempt."
"We understand the grounds for your complaint," the female human judge allowed. "You may proceed to enter evidence."
Mother sat back down as a trio of Proxima lawyers rose to speak. They entered documents, interviews, sworn testimony, and financial statements into the record for at least 45 minutes. Even though this was Veda's future on the line, she was tired of it. About five minutes in, some of the judges seemed to have crossed eyes.
When the lawyers at last concluded, the Grignarian judge asked, "Is that all?"
The crowd in the room laughed as the Proxima lawyers sat down, and the judges spoke to Veda and Hal'Rhee.
"How does the accused plead?"
Prompted by Hal'Rhee, Veda stood up.
"On the charge of fiscal malfeasance, not guilty outright. On the charge of disobedience of corporate orders, not guilty outright. On the charge of failure to represent company interests, I plead not guilty, due to mitigating circumstances."
"And you have evidence to support yourselves?" the adjutant said.
"My lawyer will enter our evidence now." Veda sat back down, feeling exhausted, as Hal'Rhee stood up and began to enter her own exhibits. The clever corporate lawyer spoke rapidly as she fanned out sheets of images in the air in front of the judges before flicking her claws together and sending the images whooshing through the air in a pile to land in front of each of the judges. A nice bit of showmanship, perhaps, but unlikely to impress the judges, Veda thought.
The judges pulled up various documents in front of themselves, having the holograms hover in the air. Veda craned her neck, trying to see what they were looking at, but it was impossible.
"So you see," Hal'Rhee was saying, "the charge of fiscal irresponsibility is clearly overstated. Our projections suggest that the expected return from a Phase 3 bid is—"
"Yes," the orc judge, Malanader, at the end of the table interrupted, leaning forward. "However, your particular Phase 3 bid has gone rather off the rails, hasn't it?"
There was a stir across the spectators. Veda closed her eyes. She had been worried something like this would happen.
"I don't see—"
"There won't be a fiscal return here because the indigenous group that the accused has backed has condemned themselves to complete ruin," Judge Malander said.
"That's facts not in evidence, your honor," Hal'Rhee said. "First of all, the conclusion of Phase 3 has not yet occurred. It is impossible for anyone here to say—"
"It's not impossible for us to say that a group of savage indigenous miners, barely out of the Stone Age, has no chance of defeating the galaxy's best and best-equipped. This reality engine exploit will be concluded in a matter of weeks, and the Earthlings frozen out. There's no two ways about it. Therefore, Veda Tvedra has failed her fiscal responsibility to her company."
"Ah," Hal'Rhee was clearly scrambling. "However, when she made the choice, that was not known. We had no way of predicting that this would be anything but a normal Phase 3 exploit. And that, your honors, is a financial known quantity. All predictions at the start said—"
"Nevertheless, she bet the family fortune on a bunch of clowns, and now her family's paying the price for it." The judge sat back.
The human female judge, named Estoni, leaned forward. Veda was hoping that perhaps she was slightly more sympathetic to the Earthlings. Though, of course, she was from who knew what system and had no more in common with Shad and his people than did the orc judge.
"How about this claim that she did not obey corporate orders?"
"Ah, that." Hal'Rhee sounded like she was back on much more solid ground. "Yes, I would like to call your attention to the form of contract issued here between Tvedra Industries and Veda Tvedra. She is serving as the reality engine exploit coordinator and representative hereof in the system identified as Sol for the reality engine exploit 214793 to commence on galactic standard date 1497.17.6. You will note that this agreement gives my client significant leeway. Everything she did is perfectly within her purview here."
"That's possible," Judge Estoni agreed. "Let me see the language." She flicked up a copy of the agreement and scrolled through it. As she read, her smile became sharper. "Yes, I see. Well, this is what comes of using older documents. I will enter as a side note a warning to anyone who has not updated their business practices in the last 300 cycles that they might want to take a look and see where they can improve." The judge shook her head and turned to the others. "I vote that we declare Tvedra innocent on this particular charge. I feel the other two charges are much more interesting."
"Agreed," the Grignarian said at once.
"Agreed," grunted Malander. The other two judges nodded. Veda tried to allow herself a sense of relief, but she still had two charges pending against her.
"Well," the orc judge said, "as far as failure to represent company interests, that one is plainly guilty. Her mother is here and has leveled the charge against her, entering supporting documentation from multiple members of the family. Even if she argues she had the right to take the actions she did, I don’t think she could justify the results.”
“The plea is not guilty, due to mitigating circumstances.” The white-scaled lizardfolk judge, Lish’ha, looked sideway over the table toward Veda. “What circumstances?”
Veda stood up. “I made a judgement call. In retrospect, it was wrong, but I believed it to be correct at the time. I may have failed, but it was a mistake, not a deliberate action.”
“That’s not mitigation, that’s just excuses,” Judge Malander said. "Very well, shall we declare her guilty, decide on a penalty and move on?"
"Yes, I think so.” There were nods all along the judges’ table.
Veda held her breath, waiting as the judges conferred. After a moment, the Grignarian judge leaned forward.
"On the count of failure to adequately represent her company’s interests, we find the defendant, Veda Tvedra, guilty. She shall be sentenced to a fine of equal to approximately 18 months of her estimated earning value to be paid to her family."
Veda closed her eyes and slumped. It could have been a lot worse. 18 months was a debt she'd be able to pay. Usually the condemned were given 10 years to pay it back.
"Fee to be adjudged based on the profit Tvedra received as head of Tvedra Incorporated's exploit."
Veda's eyes snapped open. Did that mean what she thought it did? She started a query to Hal'Rhee, found herself all jumbled up in her thoughts and finally asked, "How bad is that?"
"I'll try to get it adjusted on appeal," Hal'Rhee said, which wasn't reassuring at all, but the judges were moving on.
Veda tried to do some calculations. If the judges were saying the fine would be calculated based on all of the Soul Coin income Team Twofeather and the Misfits made during Phase Two, as if that had been hers personally— her math failed while she was trying to figure out if it was going to be equal to 300 or 400 years worth of her actual earnings expectation.
For that kind of money, her mother could sell her into debt slavery. And she had a terrible feeling that Proxima would be willing to pay.
“The final charge. Fiscal malfeasance.”
"Wait," Hal'Rhee said. "I'd like to enter a motion on my client's behalf."
The judges frowned.
"Your honors," Hal'Rhee said, "I know it's slightly unusual, but this entire situation is. The claim of fiscal malfeasance is based on the supposition that all of the company's money will be lost here in Phase Three. I would like to propose that this be held in abeyance until the conclusion of Phase Three. If my client is able to return her corporation's monies, then no fiscal malfeasance has taken place. If she's not, well then," Hal'Rhee shrugged, "you can add it to her debt."
The Orc judge and the lizardfolk man exchanged smirks.
"Why not?" Judge Estoni said. "She's already looking at debt slavery. What's an extra lifespan? All right. So ruled. The matter of fiscal malfeasance is held in abeyance until the conclusion of this phase of the reality engine."
The adjutant returned to the dais and banged the end of his staff hard against it.
"Hear it! So concluded!" he shouted. "The matter of Tvedra Incorporated versus Tvedra is settled. There will be a five-minute recess before the case of Alabaster Sky versus various concerned parties, primarily Brightfeather Incorporated, as representative Earthfolk."
The audience members turned to each other and began talking as the judges stood up and disappeared into the back room. Veda stood and tried to leave the booth, but it wouldn't open for her.
"Why can't I leave?" she asked Hal'Rhee.
"Sorry, you're a concerned party in the second matter. You're going to have to wait for it to conclude.” Hal’Rhee was across the room, approaching some of the other lawyers. Veda felt her irritation growing.
"What am I going to do about this debt?" she asked.
"We can appeal," Hal'Rhee said. "And Brightfeather's handling my fees, so at least you don't have to worry about that."
Veda muted herself before she accidentally spewed a host of obscenities at her lawyer. She was starting to think maybe Hal'Rhee was the one who'd sped up the timeline on her case.
"Anyway, they can't do anything until the end of this exploit," Hal'Rhee said.
"That's supposed to reassure me? That could be days away for all we know. And then Proxima's going to buy my indenture, and then what?" Veda sat down.
Where had this all gone so wrong? A year ago she’d been handling a single team of human miners, looking at getting into Phase Two, pleasing her family, and making a small profit. Now she was on the verge of ruin, the humans had started a rebellion, the exploit was about to come crashing down, and Veda was stuck right in the middle of it.