Rakel smiled down companionably at the prosecutor, much as one would patronize a small child with no hope of comprehending the logic of an adult. The expression on her face was just short of patronizing as she gazed upon the Nietzschean woman. "Love," she said.

Woteel stopped her slow pacing in front of the witness box and eyed the other woman suspiciously, an incredulous semi-smirk crossing her face.

With a condescending purr of acknowledgement, Rakel nodded. "I suspected you wouldn't understand, my dear. Let me be more obvious in my explanation. The catalyst for my actions was love. If I am to be put to death for what you have so ineptly classified as high treason, then let me go down in history as a martyr who died for her beliefs and for love."

"A martyr? Love?" the prosecutor asked lightly, shaking her head.

Abruptly, the former first triumvir leaned forward, her well-manicured hands gripping the edge of the witness stand enclosure. "Yes, love! The kind of love a parent holds deep in her heart for her children, the kind of love that puts the child's well-being above and beyond any other endeavor," she declared earnestly.

"So, this court is to understand that you fabricated the appearance of a Magog attack on our planet, struck fear in the heart of countless souls, caused yourself to be reviled by the general populace…out of love?"

Satisfied, Rakel again leaned back, taking on an imperious air as she surveyed the disbelieving prosecutor. "You are quite correct. The governing parties of our homeworld have grown lax and complacent through centuries of peaceful hiding from the rest of the known worlds. That peace has engendered an incredible façade, an astronomically false sense of security and stability," she gestured in sweeping circles.

With a satisfied nod, she continued. "It was my obligation as triumvir—a moral imperative—to sound the call for the military, the government, and the general populace to awaken and take heed. I don't know that Admiral Telemachus Rhade has yet been called to the stand to present his testimony, but make note of the fact that even he will validate the fact that we were in no way prepared to adequately protect our planet—much less our system—against the might of a Magog attack. Also make note of that fact t hat assistance was requested from the Andromeda Ascendant."

April Woteel smiled broadly. "Ah, yes, the Andromeda Ascendant. Let's discuss the last remaining pre-Fall High Guard warship, shall we? You had a hand in bringing that auspicious event to fruition for Terazed, did you not? You must be quite proud of that accomplishment."

"Actually, I consider it a crowning achievement in my triumvirate career. It is a moment that defined our world, our very reason for being set aside as the last refuge of the old Commonwealth."

"I'm sure it was a defining moment for Lietenant Jamahl Hernandez-Rodriguez-Brown, also," Woteel commented, consulting her flexi for a moment. "He was the courier pilot who initially made first contact with the Andromeda Ascendant…"

Rakel had the good graces to bow her head for a moment. "He was a member of the Guard. Every man and woman who serves pledges their lives to the fulfillment of their duties, knowing full well that their lives may be the price required to complete a mission."

"That mission was a lie that cost an idealistic young man his life," Woteel growled. "A senseless waste! His blood stains your hands as surely as if you had slit his throat with a blade."

Rakel appeared bored and aloof. "It will be remembered as a token sacrifice, the last life generated on Terazed that was ever necessary to be lost due to Isolationist foolishness and the cowardice of countless generations. Very well, my lady prosecutor, lay his death at my feet amongst the other alleged crimes attached to my name."

"Have no doubt that you will be held accountable for it," Woteel affirmed. "But while we speak of the first contact made with the Andromeda Ascendant, let us speak also of the first encounter of a courier pilot with the warship."

"We have discussed Lieutenant Jamahl already," she said, straightening her back, frowning at the prosecutor.

Prosecutor April Woteel shook her head, flicked a piece of invisible lint from her skirt, and then looked up at her witness. "Think back, if you will indulge the court. Think back months and months when you first learned that a covert branch of the Guard had been sending out courier ships. For generations, these pilots have scoured the known worlds for hope of discovering the Andromeda Ascendant, for hope of guiding the ship and crew here to Terazed. Their missions have been conducted with the utmost secrecy, made known to the general populace only when Lieutenant Jamahl was at long last successful in his mission."

The prosecutor stepped closer to the witness stand. "Commander Borean Davys," she whispered.

Rakel Ben-Tzion's beautiful olive skin turned slightly paler.

Satisfied with the reaction she had engineered, Woteel continued. "It was he, was it not, who actually first confirmed the whereabouts of the Andromeda Ascendant near Infinity Atoll, almost a year and a half ago? How did it come to pass that you were able to persuade him to keep his silence about that particular discovery, an event an entire planet had anticipated for over three hundred years?"

With no response from her witness, the prosecutor began to casually walk across the expanse of the courtroom. "Was it because he enjoyed the pleasure of sharing your bed when your husband was away that he was willing to become your instrument of betrayal? Was it perhaps because of your promise to include him in a profitable business venture that Commander Davys became your pawn in a dangerous game of sabotage and intrigue?"

Reluctantly, Ben-Tzion sighed. "Borean and I have known one another all our lives. There was a time, when we were much younger, that we considered marriage. That option passed by, but it is true that we have been occasional lovers when the situation suited us. Is that what you wish to hear, prosecutor, intimate bedroom secrets? Would you like to know which position is his favorite during sexual intercourse?"

Woteel laughed. "I'm sure the court wouldn't be interested in anything so tediously mundane as the explicit details of your sexual pursuits. I was only trying to surmise the ultimate reason that Borean Davys became your conduit of information with the Kalderans."

Rakel's mouth opened, but no sound issued forth save for a garbled choking noise. Perspiration beaded her upper lip and her skin lost some of its exotic coloring.

Woteel crossed her arms in satisfaction and cocked her head. Smug triumph registered across her exquisitely beautiful features. "Oops, did we forget the little fact of the Kalderans, Former First Triumvir? We have irrefutable evidence and eye witness testimonies. Let me see if I have the facts straight, as they were explained to me."

With a dramatic sweep of her long skirt, Woteel meandered closer to the judge's bench. "Commander Davys discovered the long-lost warship near Infinity Atoll. Rather than report this news to the Guard, he told you about his find, knowing that somehow you could parlay that into some sort of profitable venture for the both of you.

"During his missions to 'search' for the Andromeda, he was also your instrument of communication with a neutral negotiator, carrying your instructions regarding what would most certainly become highly profitable…once Terazed again became an easily locatable destination amongst the known worlds. Your enterprise was profitable, but would be even more so…if only you could persuade Terazed to come out of hiding. The appearance of the Andromeda was necessary for that plan to come to fruition as you destired.

"Was it in the plan that your Kalderan business partners would have free and easy access through our defense grid, ushered in with hospitality to wreak havoc on our world? Or, did you somehow incur their wrath through a crooked business deal, and they repaid your treachery with their own brand of it?"

To her credit, Rakel Ben-Tzion bowed her head in silence. An actress who had honed her skills in the political arena, it appeared that unshed tears welled in her dark eyes and she made a show of dabbing at them with the edge of a sleeve when she looked up again. "That was a miscalculation, a misfortune of events," she murmured. "I make no pretense of attempting to hide the truth, although my involvement is not what you imagine it to be. It is true that I anticipated a day in the future when Terazed would again become a part of the known worlds, perhaps even the central world in the new Commonwealth. It was my plan to have solidified business partnerships and secure investments outside our current sphere of influence. Davys was my conduit toward establishing those relationships."

For a moment, Rakel gazed at her prosecutor, her expression unreadable. "Davys also established investments and partnerships of his own. It was agreed that it was a point of mutual advantage to delay the inevitable announcement of his discovery of Captain Hunt and his warship, although he was able to keep track of their whereabouts. We entered into a complicated arrangement with a group of Kalderans and Nightsiders. The profits were astronomical—but something went terribly wrong..."

Woteel rested her chin in her hand and nodded. "Obviously something went wrong. You trusted Kalderans and Nightsiders."

"The business deal went sour. The Nightsiders placed the blame on me and Davys, and the Kalderans bought their sordid tale of deceit and fraud. We all lost fortunes, the association was disbanded, and the Kalderans swore vengeance against us. By the time I realized what was inevitable, Davys had lost the scent on the trail of the Andromeda, and with it, any hope of salvation from impending doom."

"You knew an attack was coming, and you kept your silence?" the prosecutor asked, her voice pitching oddly.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that they could breach the defense grid. Granted, over the last hundred years, we have had the odd attack on an orbiting station, and I assumed it would be no worse than that," she offered in reasonable tones. "I still don't know what went wrong, how they…how it…the attack…" For the first time, it seemed the woman was at a loss.

"Perhaps this might help. I offer Exhibit 58D," Woteel announced, triggering a remote that displayed a holographic image of Commander Borean Davys.

The man was in his early forties, his face best described as boyishly handsome, a strange contrast to the early graying at his temples. Dark circles hung under his eyes. "This message was retrieved from the redundant storage arrays. It's taken a considerable amount of time to restore the data, but we've had some of our best people working on it," Woteel announced. "It's quite…fascinating."

There was a hiss of static, and Davys hastily glanced over his shoulder. "Rakel, my love, I hope you get this message. I've proposed a solution for our former business associates, a peace offering, if you will. They are coming—there's no preventing that, but I'm hoping to try and put some focused control on the situation. I've made arrangements to temporarily drop the grid, let them in, sound the alert and then the Guard can obliterate them. All of our problems will be…."

The look on the man's face was one of indescribable shock and pain. A plasma beam pierced his chest and he slid from view. A cackling laugh could be heard over Davys' dying moans as the image broke into static.

XXXXXXX

Telemachus now understood how people confined to small spaces for great amounts of time could go insane. The constant shuffling of feet, whispered conversations, and restless movements of the other people in the small room was beginning to grate on his nerves in ways he hadn't anticipated. It was difficult to keep his mind focused on anything except for Stasia and her potential reaction to the outcome of these trials.

Try as he might to not dwell on it, his thoughts were deeply centered and troubled on a single issue. Stasia had announced to him the circumstances under which she would assassinate the former First Triumvir. He had a sickening feeling that those circumstances were about to be met within the next few days, if not sooner. He'd assigned Jetring to remain with her at all times, and she was livid because of it.

He smiled despite the seriousness of the situation. Better that she should be furious with him today than in prison tomorrow. On the other hand, if Ben-Tzion did prove to be the instrument that allowed the Kalderans to lay waste to entire cities, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands, she deserved whatever punishment befell her. The bright lights of his life that had been his three children were forever extinguished by that attack. If Rakel had caused that monumental loss in his life, he might easily forget that he had pledged his life to the Home Guard, and the protection of every citizen of his homeworld.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the call to attention from the doorway. "…please, attention, everyone," called a female voice.

He glanced up to see one of the judicial administrative clerks standing in the doorway, a flexi in her hand. "The high court thanks you for your time, but your services are no longer required. The trial has concluded, and you are free to leave."

There were shouts and cheers, applause, and even a little weeping. Telemachus was deeply confused and made his way to the door.

"What's happened?" he asked, taking the young woman by the arm and leading her into the corridor.

"The trial is over, admiral," she repeated. "Rakel Ben-Tzion confessed to all the charges against her. Formal sentencing will take place tomorrow morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm needed in the processing office."