IDChapter18
The alarms sounded furiously throughout the Shadow Proclamation buildings. The entire facility was in lock-down. In the room where M1's body lay slumped over the console a group was gathered. The Shadow Architect, the Shadow Mentalist, the Shadow Mentalist's Second Assistant (aka M2), the Shadow Security Chief (who happened to be a Judoon), the Shadow Engineer, several Guards, two Ood, the Shadow Physician, and the Shadow Coroner and his assistants. The non-Oods all talked excitedly among themselves while the two Ood stood together silently off to the side, observing. An apparent murder had occured within the Shadow Proclamation, such an event was unheard-of.
The body had been discovered when one of the Ood servants had entered the Mentalist Lab in order to tidy up, restock, and provide refreshments for the morning shift. The Physician and the Coroner had been summoned, a quick scan had indicated that M1 had experienced some sort of mass synaptic overload which had turned her cerbral cortex into mush. The Security Chief, the Engineer, and the Architect were immediately summoned. By review of M1's activities and a scan of the console, it was determined that the overload had not been generated by the console, but psychically.
While the Assistants to the Coroner removed the body for further examination, the rest of the group turned off the gas to the family's quarters, which had been on all night, and viewed the recorded events of M1's investigation. The record showed M1's attempts to enter the minds of the newest guests. It detailed her inability to determine the source of the blocks she was encountering, and detailed the dose of gas that she had implemented in order to penetrate the blocks. It showed her interaction with the youngest of the guests and when they viewed the record they could not help but jump a little when the golden wolf defended its young companion. The Mentalist paused the record at that point.
"I have never seen anyone that young, even among our own race, able to form that strong of a psychic defense," marveled the Mentalist. "We must examine these beings further. They possess abilities far more advanced that their race has ever had before."
"Do we know that for a fact?" The Security Chief inquired, "After all, their planet of origin and their entire race seemed to disappear completely a decade ago. How is that possible unless they had either abilities we were not aware of, or were taken by an advanced race? If they were taken by an advanced race, their abilities could have been enhanced, and these could have been sent back as spies. Either way," the Judoon concluded, "I agree, they need to be examined thoroughly."
"And by thoroughly," the Physician said with distaste, "I expect you mean dissection?"
"Well why not?" The Coroner joined in, "These beings have violated our laws, we own them, essentially, we can do as we please with them."
"Really? What laws have they violated? They came here in peace, and we imprisoned them. Then we invaded their minds. It seems to me that our actions are the ones that were criminal."
"Your continued opposition to the security measures which, up until now, have kept this compound safe are again noted, Physician," the Security Chief said with exasperation, "but this is exactly the kind of attack those measures are designed to prevent! Look at what the female is capable of!"
At that the Security Chief continued the record. It showed M1 entering Rose's mind, quickly surveying her memories, and then posing as her mother (a human! How is this possible? M1's thoughts were noted in a caption at the bottom of the record), and trying to get the details of how she could be the daughter of a human and yet belong to another species entirely. The record showed Rose exploding into golden energy and then the screen went blank.
The Security Chief stared coldly at the Physician. "You don't think that concealing their true origins and murdering our investigator is criminal?"
The Physician retorted, "She was imprisoned, drugged, and her mind was invaded. She had no idea who was invading her mind or why, and," the Physician emphasized, "we have no reason to believe she had any control over her reaction, or that it was deliberate!" The Physician turned to the Mentalist.
"If that had happened to you, would you not have defended yourself?"
The Mentalist thought it over and responded carefully, "Yes, I would have. But I would not have killed."
"I believe that you would not have killed - at least not intentionally. But how do we know this was intentional?" The Physician asked.
"Does it matter? Our law is clear. The penalty for harming a Shadow is death!" The Security Chief retorted.
The Architect finally spoke up. "It is true that our law is clear. It is also true that we have not actually spoken to these beings, they do have the right to defend themselves and their actions. Release the rest of the compound from lock-down. Physician, go examine them, and then once you have ascertained that they are recovered fully from the gas and are fit for questioning, Security will bring them in front of the Tribunal. We will get their testimony before we take any further action. Make it so." With that she left. The others followed her, except for the two Ood. Eyes glowing, they looked at each other, then the first resumed his morning activites while the other left.
Jon stretched sleepily in the chair where he had fallen asleep. He felt drugged. Slowly he rose and went to check on his family. Rose was still asleep and Arianna was sitting in her bed, something very uncharacteristic of her.
"Daddy, I don't feel right, and I had a bad dream," she complained when she saw him standing in the doorway. He came over and scooped her out of bed.
"I don't feel right, either. Let's wake Mummy up and see if we can find some nice tea."
Gently they shook Rose until she stretched and yawned.
"What is it, what do you want?" She started pushing herself away from them, as if she didn't know them.
"Rose, it's just us, your husband and your daughter. It's OK." Jon reached out to her mind gently. Slowly Rose opened her eyes, then rubbed them.
"God, I had a bad dream. I dreamt some alien had taken over Mum and was trying to interrogate me."
"I dreamed that that Shadow lady was asking me questions, and Wolfie chased her away." Arianna added.
"Wolfie?" Jon asked, puzzled.
"Wolfie is my friend. I dream about her sometimes."
Rose looked at her daughter sleepily. "How come you never told us about Wolfie?"
Arianna shrugged innocently. "I forgot."
At that moment they heard the door open and Ood Sigma brought a tray in. The tray held a teapot, cups, and some fruits.
"Eat and drink," he instructed, "you need to cleanse your systems."
"Were we drugged?" Jon asked.
"Yes."
They heard the door open again. A Shadow representative walked back to them. Ood Sigma left without a word.
"Hello, I am the Shadow Physician. I am here to examine you."
"Well that's certainly considerate of you! Want to make sure the drug is all worn off, do you?" Jon asked, the fury evident in his voice.
"I am most regretful of that," the Physician assured Jon, "but I had no hand in it. I am simply making sure that you are well, you received more gas than you should have."
"How long were we exposed to the gas?" Jon asked.
"All night." The Physician answered, "Although it is harmless, generally, and you should feel no side-effects except for some wooziness." She took an instrument out of her pocket and scanned them each.
"And why, might I ask, were we drugged?" Jon asked, tight-lipped.
The Physician regarded him sympathetically. "I am unfortunately not at liberty to divulge that information." She lifted the lid to the teapot and sniffed appreciably, then took note of the fruit with satisfaction. "Just what the Physician ordered," she said ironically. Meeting Jon's eyes she told him, "Eat and drink this. You need to clear your heads." With that she, too, left them.
"Clear our heads for what, I wonder?" Rose spoke what they were all thinking.