“Omnishambles!” Niall shouted pacing on the table at home.

“What?” Naskia asked setting some tea down and taking a seat next to Loona.

“A complete fucking omnishambles!” Niall yelled again at the two confused looking Titanesses.

“What on Archavia is an omnishambles?” Loona asked confused.

“A clusterfuck!” Niall shot back.

The two girls looked at each other confused.

“How can your species invent faster than light travel and never invent swearing?!” Niall continued yelling.

Naskia picked up the angry Human to some protest and sat him in in the centre of her palm and stroked him softly with her thumb. Niall tried to stay mad but he found it difficult to as she stroked him. He was so angry, he wanted to hold her and protect her and tell her it would be ok. She had her deepest insecurities and confidences publically exposed and dissected, all for him. Worse still it had done a lot of damage to his side.

Niall sighed realising he wasn’t helping by just ranting at the only two people who were trying to help him. “I’m sorry…I’m just so angry at what that idiot Professor said about you. I’m sorry you got dragged into this Nas…”

Naskia lifted him to her face slowly so not to make the blood rush from his head and smiled. “Sweetie, I wasn’t dragged in to this. I jumped in with both feet. We’re in this together and I knew some hurtful things could be said. It’s ok as long as I have you.”

“But what about…” Niall said before she cut him off.

“Don’t listen to that man for a second. He’s a fool who knows nothing about me or you or us. Titan men are the ones who caused me to be shy and nervous! You’re the one who has helped me to stand up for myself. I’m not going to abandon you, ever! Do you hear me?” she said looking at him as his eyes tracked the lines in her palm. He didn’t want to look into her loving eyes when he felt this angry and exposed already.

Naskia extended a finger under Niall’s chin and gently raised his head to look her in the eye. “Never. Ok?”

Niall nodded and smiled meekly at her. No matter what the outcome he was going to have to make this up to her.

“I just want to be honest with you both.” Loona cut in to their private moment. “But this will probably get worse before it gets better. Lyroo will want to save her most damaging argument until last. As hard as it is, I need you both to stay quiet, stay calm and keep your hands off each other.” The last remark was aimed at Naskia. “The best thing either of you could do for her is to publically break. She’s trying to show that you are primitive and that you are unbalanced. Don’t help her, she will look foolish if you are both reasoned and collected.”

“Ok. I can do that.” Niall said standing. “Nas, would you mind taking me to bed for a bit? I need to catch up on my sleep before we head back.”

Naskia smiled at him. “All you Humans do is eat and sleep! How you survive, let alone built a fusion reactor and went to your moon I’ll never know!”

“I’ll be back soon…” Naskia said to Loona as she carried Niall through to the bedroom. She lay down on her back on the bed and set Niall on her stomach covering him with her hand and softly stroking him.

“Go back to Loona, I’ll be fine.” Niall groaned. He shook as he felt her laugh at him.

She stroked him some more. “Shush sweetie, just go to sleep. I want to stay with you for a bit. Loona won’t mind.”

Niall smiled and put his arm over her finger and stroked it as he drifted off sleep. Naskia lay watching him for a few minutes as he slept before gently slipping him into her hand and laying him out on the pillow. She felt warm just having him near her; she was so terrified that her failings would cost him the career he had fought so hard to get back. She couldn’t let that happen.

Naskia walked back to the living room to see Loona standing waiting for her.

“We need to talk….” Loona said.

————————————————————————————————————

Niall watched as yet another smartly dressed Professor took a seat at the table ready to take some sort of ill-informed pot shot at him. This Professor was younger, early thirties; he wore a dapper, pinstripe suit and had slicked back, dark hair and a baby face. Niall hated him already.

Lyroo was standing on her side of the stage pacing slowly, allowing her to address the whole room at once. “Please Professor, can you please tell us your name and your credentials please?”

“My name is Professor Gernhatt, I’m a Human Sociologist and hold several doctorates in various fields of the Human species. I have spent the vast majority of my life studying Human history, psychology and interaction. You would be hard pressed to find someone more knowledgeable on the Human species in the whole Empire.” Professor Gernhatt spoke with such arrogance that even Niall found himself disgusted.

“Thank you for appearing today Professor.” Lyroo said quite pleased with the calibre of her witness. “As you are aware we have a Human male who wishes to teach here at the University and presumably become a citizen of The Empire. What is your opinion on the readiness of wild Humans to join The Empire?”

Professor Gernhatt stifled a laugh. “They will never be ready to join The Empire. This, apparently intelligent, Human isn’t even worthy to be a Citizen of the Empire, never mind his entire race.”

“Could you please elaborate on that Professor?” Lyroo said.

“If Humans had what it took to be members of The Empire they would be members already. Look at the history of our species, look at the history of the other space faring species and compare them to that of the Humans. Our species was quick to recognise the benefits of working as a group, joining together for a common good and letting strong leaders make decisions. Every other space faring species has done the same. In my professional opinion it is not their limited life span, small stature or basic intelligence that hinders them. It is their fractious nature that is their main fault.” Professor Gernhatt spoke his voice steeped in well-practised condescension.

“Fractious is not a word I’ve heard used to describe Humans before; Humans here are so friendly and open. How could they possibly be fractious?” Lyroo asked with what seemed like genuine surprise.

Professor Gernhatt chuckled and smiled at Lyroo. “My dear, your precious tame Humans are nothing like their true selves. Your average Human is a vicious, selfish creature. Lying in a warm bed with their bellies full, Humans can be nice and friendly but in the wild they a totally different animal. They will attack and kill their own kind for almost any reason; to take a meal, a trinket, a mate, skin colour, group association and even for fun. As groups they act even worse, absolving themselves of responsibility for their own actions. In the last two decades they have engaged in global conflicts involving nuclear fission based weapons, wiping out entire cities in seconds.” The Professor paused for a few seconds as the crowd muttered. “Throughout their history, every advance they have made has been tainted or destroyed by vicious infighting between various factions; religions, nation states, so called empires have all attacked those around them and even their own members and eventually are destroyed by the biggest flaw of the Human, selfishness.”

“And this Human? Surely allowing this one Human to teach here wouldn’t cause any harm?” Lyroo asked.

“It could cause irreversible harm. He is clearly immensely intelligent, cunning and manipulative. The poor, sensitive Miss Bass, a beautiful, loving, trusting Titan woman, was easily manipulated to serve his own selfish purposes.” Professor Gernhatt spoke eying Naskia in a manner that made her feel uncomfortable.

She saw Niall step forward as if to speak and she moved her hand round to half block his path. “Don’t sweetie…” she whispered.

“Unleash this being on a classroom full of impressionable young Titan minds and it is only a matter of time until they start acting on his behalf. They will lobby for Humans to be admitted to the Empire and if that happens they will infect our great civilisation with their fractious nature. If we extend our hand in friendship to them as equals, give them access to our technology, our resources, our weapons, we will wake up one day to find ourselves at the mercy of the fickle whims of this highly unstable species.” Professor Gernhatt spoke seriously.

“Really Professor? That all sounds a little far-fetched.” Lyroo asked now starting to worry about her witness’ credibility.

“Miss Prenn, you asked me here for my expert opinion. Humans are no threat to us, not now. However one day, if they do not destroy themselves first, they could be. One thousand years ago a creature roamed their world, the largest land animal on Earth at that point, the Mammoth. It weighed 150 times as much as a Human and was immensely powerful in comparison, with a thick hide and tusks longer than a Human. They hunted it to extinction mercilessly with nothing but wooden sticks and rocks. Only a few hundred remain in collections across The Empire. I fear that one day if we let these seemingly weak and harmless creatures into our Empire, give them our friendship and support, help them to become our equals, we will one day find out what it is to be in the position of the Mammoth.”

———————————————————————————————————————

Lyroo talked at length after Professor Gernhatt left the witness chair. She had hoped that someone with such an in-depth knowledge of Humans and the qualifications to match would be very useful to her position but instead he had seemed to cause damage. His grandiose claims and arrogant manner hadn’t sat well with the committee or the audience in the lecture hall. She did her best to salvage what she could but her last argument would need to be explosive.

“I’d like to call Miss Naskia Bass.” Lyroo said setting off murmurs throughout the crowd and sending a jolt up Naskia’s spine.

Naskia pushed the chair back sending a screech from its metal feet through the lecture hall as she stood up. The sudden noise startled her as all eyes in the room focused on to her. She shot frightened glances to Loona and Niall as she rounded the table and headed towards the lonely witness table in the centre of the stage. Naskia felt hundreds of pairs of eyes watching her as she sat on the chair; Lyroo stood off to the side of the witness table waiting for her to get comfortable before starting. Naskia took a big gulp of water from the glass on the table, her mouth had developed a bitter taste from the adrenaline she now felt coursing through her body.

“Miss Bass, first off let me apologise for the invasion of privacy, I know it must be very difficult for you having your private life exposed like this.” Lyroo said trying to adopt a superior position to Naskia.

Naskia spotted the ploy from Lyroo to adopt the moral high ground and quickly countered. “No apology necessary Miss Prenn, I’m doing this for Niall. He’s lost a lot more than just his privacy. I’m willing to do this for him. I know he’d do the same for me too.”

“Ehh…yes…I’m sure.” Lyroo said caught off guard at having her opening salvo glance off Naskia. “Miss Bass, can you please describe to us the circumstances that led you to discovering Niall’s intelligence?”

Naskia smiled as she recalled the first time she and Niall met. “I’d been getting lonely, locked in my room studying all the time and struggling with some equations so I bought a Human…Niall. He didn’t turn out anything like I thought he’d be like. He was rude, arrogant and angry. We didn’t get along at all to start with. I had to lock him in his tank he upset me so much.”

“He upset you? How?” Lyroo interrupted.

“He called me names, they cut into me. He quickly saw I was more nervous than he was and that I was easy to upset. He pushed my buttons…” Naskia said before Lyroo cut her off again.

“And you didn’t seek help? Or to train him?”

“I fell asleep, it was late. I’d left my books open on my desk and when I woke up in the morning Niall had written the answer to an exceptionally complex equation in his litter tray. I couldn’t believe it, it was astounding. He translated our language and resolved a high energy equation in a night! It was plainly obvious he was intelligent, more so than me. So no I did not attempt to train him, it would have been wrong. He helped me with my work, so I helped him.” Naskia spoke with a steady pace, calmly like Loona had told her.

“Miss Bass, as I’m sure you’re aware we have access to redacted copies of your psychological notes. There we some things in there that seemed less like help. A lot less like help, in fact they were just outright disturbing.” Lyroo said her pace quickening and her voice raising.

“I’m not perfect…letting Niall be totally free was sometimes testing…” Naskia’s composure looked like it was starting to crack a little.

“C’mon Nas…hold it together.” Loona muttered. Niall was keeping his distance, standing in front of Naskia’s seat with his eyes locked on to her.

“From these notes it’s clear that you are far from perfect Miss Bass. In fact I’d go as far as to say I can think of few people worse to own a Human than you.” Lyroo said her voice now clearly dripping with malice.

“Niall knows how to press my buttons; he knows me better than anyone and he pushed me, it’s not an excuse but that’s what happened.” Naskia said controlling her voice. Her instincts were telling her to run away but she knew she had to hold herself together for Niall’s sake.

“You hit him Miss Bass! Broke his ribs! Nearly killed him!“ Lyroo shouted slamming her hand on the table for effect.

There were more murmurings from the crowd. Naskia watched as people turned to each other and whispered before looking back to her; she felt intensely judged and ashamed. One of the worst things she had ever done had been publically exposed. She felt like a tupp before a shaar as Lyroo’s eyes cut at her. Loona had warned her earlier in the day this would happen. Loona told her she couldn’t bend or break. She had to stay calm, be honest and talk from her heart. The committee and the audience had to see her how much she had grown since then.

“I did.” Naskia nodded keeping control.

“And you realise I could end this right now and lodge a petition to take Niall into our care?” Lyroo pressed.

“No you couldn’t, I took steps to ensure Niall’s best interests are looked after. Loona owns Niall, if she thinks he’s at any risk she will take him. She believes in his rights as much as I do.” Naskia said locking her eyes on to Lyroo’s .

The crowd muttered some more and the latest exchange. Niall went white as a sheet and looked up to Loona. She smiled slyly and winked at him, Niall didn’t know if he should feel better or not. He couldn’t believe Naskia had sold him without telling him or consulting him. Judging from the look on Lyroo’s face she was just as surprised as he was. That was probably the point. Naskia looked over at him briefly and quickly raised both eyebrows as if to say “sorry sweetie”.

“Ehhh….I…ehh…” Lyroo stammered as she looked through the notes on her pad. She was completely caught off guard.

Naskia didn’t give her time to regroup. She wanted to press her advantage. “Can you tell me just who referred me for counselling?”

“I’m asking the questions here, Miss Bass.” Lyroo shot back as she looked through her notes.

“No.” Naskia’s tone was firm and assertive. ”You put me up here to tell my story, the whole story, not cherry picked snippets to suit your argument. Who referred me for counselling?”

Lyroo sighed realising she’d been publically backed into a corner. She had thought Naskia would crack, break down on the stand and would show how unfit she was to have a Human. Naskia was obviously a lot more resilient than she had thought. “You referred yourself.”

“That’s right. I recognised I had a problem. I felt sick after what happened and I was determined to make sure it never happens again. Niall knows just how determined I am to change. He’s supported me every step of the way. If he thought I was still a danger to him he would have left. He knows he has the option to go with Loona and he knows she would support him just as I would.” Naskia paused for a second to gather her thoughts. “I have made mistakes, no one is perfect, not even you Miss Prenn. I forgot myself for a moment and hurt someone I love. That was my mistake and one I’m working to correct. Your mistake is to assume all Humans are weak and need Titan help. Niall was doing just fine before he was taken from Earth. He has the potential to do great things here, he could live independently and support himself but you seek to block his appointment because it could somehow hurt your pets?!”

“It has the potential to lead to disaster for the entire Human species Miss Bass.” Lyroo said before Naskia cut her off.

“Slippery slope Miss Prenn? I was unaware Tannhauser Law School taught logical fallacies as legal arguments. We have to face the facts, the Human species is growing up. Sooner or later one of their ships will land at Titan Station and what will we do? Make them pets as well? Sorry but we own you and your whole planet so you’re all to be pets! “Naskia shot back sounding reasoned and strong having found some confidence she didn’t know she had.

“Straw man is also a fallacy Miss Bass.” Lyroo replied trying to get back on to the offensive.

“Well I’d be happy to hear from you what we should do in 20 or so years? Your own expert witness said Humans will have developed space travel by then. He seems to think we should kill them all before they kill us. But what do you think?” Naskia easily parried Lyroo’s remark. Her not so diminutive intellect was now fully on show.

Lyroo gritted her teeth, she had no answer and she was losing. If she pressed on any further she could seriously damage her case. Her only option was to cut her losses and hope Loona messed up somehow.

“Thank you Miss Bass. That will be all.” Lyroo said turning and walking back to her table.

Naskia contemplated shooting off a couple more points but decided she had come out of that pretty well. She stood up and looked at Niall. She wanted to grin at him from ear to ear but she didn’t want to look like she was gloating. That could wait until later. Loona gave her a discreet thumbs up.

“Miss Prenn, you have completed all your arguments. We will adjourn until tomorrow and then Miss Armac will present her arguments.” Professor Kurathen announced.

“You sold me?!” Niall said to Naskia as she sat down, his arms waving in the air.