Aeva

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair in the ready room of the captain. I had only been here a few times, but every time was accompanied by a major shift in my perception of the galaxy. It’s probably going to happen again today, I soberly thought to myself as I felt the sweat start to form at the base of my spine, despite the cold temperature of the room. I felt one of the cold tentacles of the captain fall on my shoulder and stay there.

“Hey,” she said. “We’re going to get through this. Just stick with what Mr. Jefferson told us, and Alex is going to be a free man.”

I turned to look at her. The unease that I felt was no doubt shared as I looked into her eyes. It had been over a month since Alex had joined the crew, and here we were, where we had originally picked up the tiny Terran that had been nothing but trouble. Despite this, he was still my friend, and I felt the unease rise more.

“I hope so. I just wish that we had more time to prepare.”

The captain flipped her tentacle dismissively as she reached over to her desk to activate the holoprojector. “No point in crying over it now, it’s about to start.” The now familiar view of the ready room was replaced by a completely unfamiliar room. The ceiling was high above me and covered with some kind of white stone-looking material gilded with gold and all kinds of precious metals. It was clear from this alone that the Terrans took great pride in the mineral wealth that they sold so freely to the rest of the galaxy. Once I felt I got a good enough look at the ceiling, I finally looked to my eye level and was shocked to see Terrans seated in organized rows facing one direction, and that they were the same height as me! They were wearing the same style of clothing that Wilson wore when I met him, but in different colors, a far cry from the garishly orange jumpsuits that Alex would wear. Some of the Terrans looked just as surprised as me, as they glanced in our direction before conspiratorially whispering to each other. We were on the end of one of the rows, and we had a perfect view of a large and imposing stand, no doubt made from some Terran tree. There were cameras everywhere in such a way that every inch of the room was being watched, no doubt for security along with recording the proceedings.

“Well, it’s good to see that you two made it, one way or another, it’s gonna be one hell of a show,” came a familiar voice coming from behind us. I turned around in my chair to see Alex in handcuffs being escorted down a pathway in the chairs that we found ourselves in, surrounded by armed guards.

“We’ll tell them the truth, and just hope that it’s enough!” I responded confidently.

He shrugged, a movement that I had only now realized had rubbed off on me so much. “That’s all we can really do is hope at this point.”

“We’ve prepared the best we can, I’m confident that this day will end in victory!” exclaimed Wilson as he strode into view behind Alex. “But we really must get going.”

After that brief exchange, Alex was once again swept away by the guards, who after chaining him to a table, dispersed around the room, reminding all the people here of the very clear threat they posed to anyone that would dare interrupt the proceedings.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I turned to the Terran that was sitting next to me. “So, when will the judge come out and we can get started?” I asked.

She stared at me for a moment, as if trying to decide if I was worth talking to. Once I had passed what I was sure was a secret test, she finally spoke. “Well, he should be coming out any second.” She paused for a moment more as she bit her lower lip. “I don’t know if this is a sensitive topic or not, but how tall are you?” she finally blurted out, her words getting faster and faster as they came out. “I’m asking because the shortest alien was supposed to be twenty-five or thirty feet tall, and admittedly I haven’t had enough time to get to know all of the aliens in the GC when all of this happened, and once again, I’m sorry if this was a sensitive subject!” she finally finished, her face growing bright red.

I waved my hand dismissively. “I don’t mind it at all, now if I was a Yalayan, I would have some issues with that. But to answer your question, I’m about [50 feet] tall, heck,” I looked back to the vaulting ceiling, “I could have probably attended in person, granted I would have most of the room to myself.”

She gave a little chuckle at that, clearly still embarrassed by the whole thing. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind. I’m Alicia Húron, I’m a reporter for Sol News.”

I nodded. “Aeva. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Up until recently, I’ve only really had the chance to speak to two on friendly terms.”

Her eyes widened once more as she dived into her bag and pulled out a data pad. “Wait a minute, you’re the one that was there for the whole thing?!” she asked incredulously.

“Well, yes, but-”

My words were completely cut off when another Terran near the front of the room, wearing some kind of clothing, shouted “All rise for the Honorable Judge Kimbal!” It left my mind reeling until I remembered what Wilson had told the Captain and I and stood up with the rest of the Terrans. I could barely see over the heads of the ones around me, but I was able to get a glimpse at the man. He looked tall, at least compared to the other Terrans, and he seemed to glide under the dark black robes that he was wearing. There was the occasional flash of light as someone took a picture of the scene.

He eventually got to the stand, where he sat down, and I was finally able to get a good look at his face. He was a stern looking Terran, reminding me of the ambassador, with bags under his eyes that you could barely see behind the square rimmed glasses that he wore, and wrinkles on his skin. I knew from conversations with Alex that he was old. He picked up a small hammer that was sat on the stand and banged it once. He began to speak, his deep and melodious voice carrying far more than it should have thanks to the microphones and speakers around the room, along with the room’s acoustics. “This is the case of Alex Davis versus United Terra.” He stared down at Alex with a piercing stare. “Defense, are you ready to proceed?”

Wilson stood up and nodded his head. “Yes, your honor.”

“Prosecution, are you ready to proceed?”

Another Terran, not too far from where Alex and Wilson were sitting, stood up and nodded their head. “Yes, your honor.”

The judge nodded his head. “Mr. Davis, you are accused of conspiracy to reveal classified materials, seven counts of revealing classified information. How do you plead?”

Alex hesitated for a moment as I could see him trying to collect his thoughts. “N-not guilty, your honor.”

He nodded, as if expecting this answer. “Very well, defense, your opening remarks?”

---

Alex

I took another shaky breath and tried to steel myself as I watched Wilson stand up and start to give his opening remarks. He had said that the court environment would be the most stressful thing that I had ever been a part of. I had countered with the recollection of having to fight off a pirate vessel two weeks back, but he had just smiled and laughed. I understood why he was laughing now. I tried to wipe my shaking hands off on my jumpsuit, only to be prevented by the restraints.

I think I’d prefer fighting off a pirate incursion than this.