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At the time of the Revolution, dogs howled day and night all over Russia – Andrei Platonov

Outside the court, Dratha and Vidam fought to enter. They passed right by a field reporter, who said, "It's the Alpha's Prime Wife, and their eldest son! Are you here to pass judgment?" he asked eagerly.

"No," Dratha said, a bit annoyed, "we're trying to get in and testify."

The field reporter motioned to get someone to assist them, and then addressed the camera. "I wish we had a means for transmitting smells through the viewer. The Alpha's Prime Wife is truly legendary."

On the Cochrane, Travis said, "I bet they'll pay good money if someone could invent Smell-o-Vision."

"C'mon, this is serious," Hoshi said.

=/\=

The scene shifted to inside the court room again. The Starfleet contingent was still standing at the front.

"We don't presume to make you follow our ways," Jonathan said, "we just think that some things shouldn't be negotiable. Our Federation may need members, but everyone here is going to recommend – we are, potentially, going to jeopardize our careers," he glanced over at Malcolm, who was touching the metallic cuff something fierce, "we are going to recommend these three minimal standards. You are already one-third of the way there. Your press is free and open. It's an admirable standard that we all should follow. But it's hardly worth much if all they do is report on unjust laws and rulings, or if they can't really speak openly at all. You talk a lot about speaking truth, and that's good – you should speak the truth. Yet so many of you seem to be afraid to do so."

"I am not afraid," said Dratha, entering.

There were murmurings. "It is the Alpha's Prime Wife! She is even more of a beauty than I had thought! Such a trendsetter! Look at how she wears her whiskers! I have lived to see this day!"

She strode purposefully to the front of the room. "I will speak truth."

"Do you have a male to corroborate your testimony?" asked a spotted judge.

"I shall confirm her testimony," said Vidam, following right behind her.

"Then do you swear, in the name of all of the good smells, to speak truth?" asked a brown judge.

"I do."

"What was your price?"

"My name is Dratha."

"That is not the question," insisted the grey judge.

"I know that," Dratha gave the entire judicial panel a withering glance, "but it hardly seems courteous for you to inquire as to my value before my name. Unless you are planning on purchasing me?"

The brown judge swallowed hard and remained silent.

"You couldn't afford me, anyway. I was purchased for four thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three Stonds."

There were gasps in the audience. "You are indeed legendary," replied the brown judge, a bit taken aback. "What truth do you wish to speak?"

"I have known Mistra for over ten years. She has been a loving vessel and mother for that entire time. She has cared not only for the ones where she was the vessel, but for the ones where I was, and even for the ones where Inta was."

"Inta?" asked the grey judge, "Which female is that?"

"The dead woman is Inta," said Dratha, "you did not know that? You did not even know her name?"

"It was deemed unimportant," said one of the spotted judges.

=/\=

Outside the court, the crowds were getting larger. Cria and Trinning fought to keep their siblings together. They saw Thessa, Cama and Libba with their family, and joined them. "What is happening?" Cria asked.

"History, I think," Thessa said.

They could hear others speaking. "They said the dead woman's name was unimportant!" exclaimed a nearby secondary female.

"Well, she was only a last caste female," replied her companion, another secondary female.

"But she was the vessel for the Alpha's boy child!" insisted the first female. "Shouldn't that have counted for something?"

"Are they saying that Inta was not important?" Trinning asked, "Inta fed and swaddled me when I was an infant and my own vessel – mother – was sick or had to care for one of the others. She cared for all of us, regardless of caste. Inta was, she was good to us."

All around them, the females – and the males in the streets, too, for there were some of them, acting either as escorts, or they were the sons of some of the females, and even a few of them were husbands – they all began chanting together. It was one word, one name.

Inta.

=/\=

The Beta Council chamber was only a few buildings away from the court house. There was a camera crew, and they would not leave, even though they were supposed to do so when asked to by the Alpha. "We cannot get anything done!" shouted Arnis.

"Arnis don't lose your temper," Elemus said to him, "this was bound to be a difficult day."

"Alpha, do you have a comment?" asked a field reporter.

"I will be silent," he replied, fuming.

In the background, it could be heard on the broadcast, wherever the broadcast was heard – and that included the Cochrane and the Excelsior, and in all of the provinces on Daranaea – there was the chanting of the dead female's name.

=/\=

"Inta and Mistra and I all worked together to raise the children," Dratha said, "I may be the Alpha's Prime Wife but changing dirty swaddling is not beneath me when it is one of our own. And I say our – not my – for I cannot bear to see a child who is uncomfortable or frightened."

"Do you have any more to say?" asked the grey judge.

"Yes. If Mistra loses her case, I wish to adopt her pouchling in addition to her unborn boy child," Dratha announced.

"We will need to deliberate about this," said one of the brown judges.

"Do you speak truth?" asked a spotted judge.

"I speak truth," Dratha said, and gave him a look that seemed to say – how dare you assume otherwise.

Vidam looked around, "I, before you deliberate, I, too, wish to speak truth."

"You swear in the name of all of the good smells?"

"Yes."

"Speak truth," said the grey judge.

"I, we were in the learning room. It was everyone except for Dratha, who was not at home, Father, Inta and Seppa."

"Who is Seppa?" asked a brown judge.

"She is Inta's girl child and was not allowed to be in the learning room. I, I don't know why," Vidam replied.

"A third caste child has no business with learning," sniffed a spotted judge. "Go on."

"We heard a crash," Vidam said, "and we all got up to investigate. I began to run over to Father's room. We are not supposed to go into Father's room when he is alone with one of the wives but it sounded like someone had been, had been hurt."

"And what happened then?" asked the grey judge.

"I ran in and I, I saw Inta on the floor. She was bleeding and not moving. I think she had already gone to the place with all of the good smells," Vidam said.

"Where was the accused?" asked a spotted judge.

"Mistra was behind me," Vidam said, "when I first ran in; it was but the three of us. Four, I suppose. It was me, it was Inta, it was her boy child and it was Father."

There was talking in the audience, and it was getting louder. "How can this be? The Alpha, what did he do? Did the Alpha slay his own boy child?"

=/\=

The scene on the viewer then shifted back to the Beta Council. The field reporter asked, "Alpha, will you comment now? This does not look good."

Arnis looked flustered, and said, "She refused relations. Any of you would have done what I did."

"No, Arnis," Elemus said, "we would have gotten angry, yes. Taken away privileges, perhaps. But we would not have struck and we would not have slain. That is wrong. It is not our way."

Arnis became even more agitated. "Rechal was in on it! The prestigious Doctor Rechal stayed silent in exchange for research funding! You must accuse him if you are to accuse me!"

=/\=

"Have you spoken truth?" asked a brown judge.

"I have spoken truth," Vidam said, "Please do not euthanize my, my secondary mother. Or my half- , uh, my sister."

"We will deliberate," said the grey judge, who motioned to a security officer.

The security officer went over to Rechal, "Hold your hands together." When Rechal did as requested, the officer shot a magenta beam. "Do not attempt to pull your hands apart, or you will increase the range of the paralytic field."

Rechal spoke. "Doctor Phlox! Doctor Nguyen! Thylacine paramyxovirus is still a problem for us, a horrible killer of any kind of Daranaean! I know that this is wrong, what I have done. But I still hope that our doctors – perhaps Varelle could work with you – I hope that our doctors can still exchange information with you. Regardless of my faults and my greed and my motivations, our people are still suffering. I ask that you not punish them because of me."

In the background, there could be heard more chants from the outside, of "Inta! Inta!"

The security officer began to lead him away, and Rechal said one more thing, "Please take me over so that I may face the accused." The security officer did so, and Rechal said, "I, it is rare that a male apologizes to a secondary such as yourself. But I must. I must tell you that I regret endangering you and your pouchling. And I regret possibly setting back our research. I will be back in this court soon enough, and humans and Prime Wives will not come to try to save me. You have powerful friends. I hope you realize that."

=/\=

"Holy cow," Hoshi said, "you think she's been exonerated?"

"I dunno," Travis said, "look, there's more. They're switching back to the Beta Council."

=/\=

"Do not try to move your hands apart or the paralytic field will –"

"I know what the damned paralytic field will do!" yelled Arnis. But in his angry mood he lost his judgment. He pulled his hands apart, hard, and the field did, indeed, spread. He could not hold himself up, and he fell. Two security officers had to make the Alpha of Daranaea suffer a most regrettable indignity, of being carried out of the Beta Council chamber, not unlike how a Prime Wife in labor is carried to a doctor's office.

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