“You can’t be serious, Hedyn. You’ve got a terrific case! You barely touched the roe, and there’s no evidence you did – they didn’t pump your stomach – and who’s going to testify against you? I can probably get this dismissed outright, and if not, plead to disorderly conduct and you get probation.”

Hedyn Bakas stared disconsolately at the table. He had a healthy stubble, and a haggard expression. He hadn’t slept well since being arrested, and none of it was down to having been arrested.

It was his fault. All of it. He should have stopped her. Told someone. Yes, Keeran was headstrong as hell, but Gods, she was smuggling Dunnermac roe! If she’d been arrested, she might have hated him, but she’d still be alive….

And his crimes didn’t stop there. He had actually tried the roe – and how many humans had died at that party? No, he didn’t eat any, but again, had he told someone, stopped Keeran…maybe they break up the overseers’ feast before it starts.

“I’m guilty,” Hedyn said, quietly. “I don’t want to plead down. I don’t want to fight it. I want to serve my sentence.”

The young attorney shook her head, but she got up, and pressed a button. Two officials, one Titan, one Dunnermac, walked into the room.

Hedyn couldn’t look at the Dunnermac.

“Okay, well…Mr. Iaylimei, this is going to be the easiest prosecution you’ve ever had. And, I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met?”

The turquoise Dunnermac held out her hand. “I am Cinti Blau, Ms. Ustiu. I am here representing the Great Ocean ministry of justice. We would like Mr. Bakas to serve his sentence on Great Ocean.”

“Oh, come on! Now you’re just piling on. Move him from his friends and family to the bottom of the sea? How….”

“That’s fine,” Hedyn said. “That’s fair.”

Jara Ustiu looked at her client, and said, “You know, perhaps my client needs a mental evaluation, he….”

“I ate roe, gorram it! I’m guilty!” he said, looking up in anger. “I’m not crazy! I just think…I did it, okay? I’m guilty. I deserve whatever I get for this. Keeran is dead because I was scared to face what was happening. I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

He looked at the Titan prosecutor – he still couldn’t look at the Dunnermac – and said, “I will serve my time in Great Ocean.”

“Mr. Bakas,” Blau said, “please look at me.”

Hedyn forced himself to look at the Dunnermac, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, barely above a whisper.

“I know,” Blau said. “And that is a good start. You have made a grave mistake, but you seem willing to accept responsibility and learn from it. That is a good beginning. In your deposition, you said you tried to save the humans on your plate.”

“For what good it did,” Hedyn said.

“An attempt at doing the right thing is always good, whether or not it succeeds. And it is why I believe you are worthy of salvaging. You will be incarcerated, but we will ensure you are able to continue your schooling while you are there. Mr. Iaylimei, the Great Ocean Council would appreciate it If you structured this plea so that Mr. Bakas’ crime may be removed from his record should we deem him fully rehabilitated.”

“But – he isn’t requesting….”

“I know,” Blau said, quietly, to her Titan counterpart. “But many lives have been ruined by this affair. It does no favor to anyone if Mr. Bakas’ is as well. Now, Mr. Bakas,” she said, turning to the young Titan, “you will have to be honorable in your conduct. This is not a guarantee. But if you are earnest in pursuing rehabilitation and atonement, we will help you to find it.”

Hedyn wiped tears away. “That’s more than I deserve.”

“No, it is not,” Blau said. “This was not your idea or plan. You are not an innocent victim, but neither are you a monster.”

Hedyn covered his face and began to sob, uncontrollably. He couldn’t – the kindness of the Dunnermac was too much for him to bear. He was given time to recompose himself, and he simply said, “I…I will try to atone for this every day. And I will do whatever you want me to.”

“We want you to learn and be better. You have taken the first stroke in a long swim, and there are more to take. But with that attitude, you are an excellent candidate for full rehabilitation.”

There were formalities, of course – Hedyn had to sign the agreement, appear in court; soon, he would be on a secured Imperial ship bound for Dunnermac, and then, in a wing for land-dwellers in a Dunnermac prison. But for now, he finally felt something other than numb guilt. He felt hope – hope that maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to look himself in the mirror. It would be a long road, but he was willing to walk it.

* * *

About an hour later, a man jogged through the halls outside the Imperial House of Representatives. “Representative Sezhow! Do you have a second?”

The Representative from Dunnermac South Sea turned to face the balding, goateed man trotting behind her. She nodded. “Certainly, Minister Zeramblin. You have news about the human?”

“Yes. I think you’ll be pleased with it,” Rodrec said, slowing. “His euthanasia has been stayed pending an evaluation – assuming he doesn’t prove dangerous, he won’t be put down.”

“Well. That is good news,” Jolana said, nodding. “Between that and the news about the Titan college student, I can say that the people of Great Ocean are appreciative of the actions the government has taken.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Rodrec said. “I wanted to make sure you knew. Hopefully this can put the issue to rest.”

Sezhow tilted her head slightly, and in the ultraviolet range she betrayed a bit of concern. “I’m not sure if it can, Rep. Zeramblin. Not forever.”

“Beg pardon?”

“The High Council is curious, Representative; is there any plan to revisit the sentience class of humans?”

“What?” Rodrec said, confused. “No, no. Definitely not. You agreed, they’re animals.”

“Perhaps,” Sezhow said. “But have you read the latest data from the Imperial Department of Citizenship? The humans have limited space travel now, you know.”

“I…I hadn’t heard that,” Rodrec said. “But….”

“Oh, it may prove to be more luck than skill. But at some point…we may have to reconsider our assumptions.”

“I don’t think so,” Zeramblin said. “Look, this has been trying for everyone, but do you know the chaos that would ensue if we suddenly decided humans were equal to the rest of us? I doubt I’d be able to sit for a month after the ass-chewing I’d get from the Korafia Human Chow Company and Selana Human Breeders Amalgamated. And that’s just business, the pet owners – what the hell would they do? I can tell you, Kaila would give up me before she’d give up Snafar, and that would probably be the right decision. If we declare the humans to be people, we may as well dissolve the government immediately. People won’t stand for it.”

Sezhow frowned, and it was fortunate for Zeramblin that he could not see ultraviolet, for he would have realized to his shock how enraged Sezhow was, at least by Dunnermac standards.

“Rep. Zeramblin,” she said, hoping her translator did not catch all the fury in her tone, “that was a very lovely speech. You remind me very much of a former Prime Minister. Are you familiar with Garba Gleebo?”

“Oh, come on! Gleebo was horribly wrong about your people – but there was clear evidence of your intelligence, she just chose to ignore it. How can you even suggest –”

“I suggest it, Minister, because nothing in your argument was about the capabilities of humans. It was about the difficulties your people would face if it turned out you were wrong about them. If I remember my history, it was a similar argument that Gleebo and her partisans made when they were justifying keeping my people as slave labor.”

Zeramblin was almost purple with rage. When he gathered himself, he said, “That’s gorram tuppshaka, you know that! Humans aren’t people! We know this, gorram it!”

“Do we?” Sezhow said. “Maybe. But if they continue to develop…well, the day will come when this body will have to reckon with the fact that we may be wrong about them. I would hope we would start considering this now, but I see there is no thought of that.”

Zeramblin sighed. “No, Representative. There isn’t. You get back to me when they’re building warp ships, if either of us are still alive. You get back to me when they’ve mastered gravitics.”

“I won’t have to,” Sezhow said, quietly. “Should that day come – and I do not know if it will – but if the humans are capable of that, they will not need me to present their arguments for them. If that day comes, they will be able to present that argument themselves.”

Zeramblin chuckled. “Well, I’ll take that up right after the insectoids demonstrate that they’re friendly and giving. At any rate, please let the High Council know about the human. And let them know that we appreciate their input, but there is no plan to revisit human sentience for the foreseeable future.”

Sezhow nodded. “I will let them know.”

As she began to walk away, she said, “Do understand, Minister – the High Council will pursue its own course on this matter. The fact that this government is not interested in further investigating humans does not mean Great Ocean will not.”

“You have fun with that,” Zeramblin steamed, and headed back to his office. Humans recognized as Class One? Not a chance. They were animals – smart animals, no doubt, but animals. He couldn’t imagine sitting in the House Chambers alongside a human representative – it was simply ridiculous, like debating whether to seat a plant.

He shook his head, and headed back to his office. This was all a sideshow anyhow. The discussion of humans was distracting from important issues, issues that affected actual people. And he had a backlog to get through.