I, Alien Read online

  Instead, I do as I have done before. I recite the law and the history. “The MugwL have requested our presence because they believe an injustice may have occurred.”

  “Hell, yes, an injustice occurred,” says the vocal human. “They murdered our children. That’s an injustice.”

  “But you did not request the proceeding,” I say. “They did.”

  The vocal human starts to answer, but the John Graf steps in front of it. [Him? The genders are difficult to determine. I shall cease trying until I am told with certainty which of the six known genders I am dealing with.]

  “Because of us,” the John Graf says. He looks over his shoulder at the MugwL.

  The two of them stand, hands together, heads bowed, as is proper procedure. Emotion does not cross their faces. Only the slight change in their peppery odor tells me that they are reacting to this at all.

  “We went to them!’ the John Graf is saying to me, “right after the deaths. My people wanted an arrest, some kind of charges, sanctions—a few, like Victor here, wanted to take matters into their own hands. But we want to peacefully coexist. 5o I want to handle this by the book. I go to MegrP, their leader, and I say just that, we need to handle this properly so that we stay allies. Me listens, then asks if I think an injustice has occurred. And I say, “Well, yes. Our kids are dead. He nods, and says he will contact you.”

  I let him speak, even though the history of the request is not relevant. That, too, was explained in the first two days, and apparently not conveyed to all of the humans.

  “Nonetheless,” I say when it becomes clear that the John Graf is done speaking. “They are the Requesting Party, and it is by their aegis that I am here.”

  “So?” the John Graf asks.

  “So you must let the proceeding continue.”

  “What so they can tell you their side of the story without us saying ours? Mow fair is that?” His voice has risen to nearly intolerable levels. “It’s our kids that’re dead, us that’ve suffered here, and it sounds like we’ll suffer some more when fall—however you people define your seasons—eventually shows up and washes our homes away. That’s Injustice, Mr. Collector. We haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “This is not a Judgment,” I say yet again. “This is a Justice/Injustice proceeding.”

  “Yeah,” the John Graf says, “and I thought that meant a finding of fact. You know, the truth will out and all that. Some impartial person would investigate, maybe even go to the crime scene, interview some MugwLs and the surviving kids and find out what happened. But if I understand your rules right, you’re just going to let this guy talk— and he wasn’t even there. Then you’ll make some kind of judgment, and we’re done. That’s not Justice, Mr. Collector. That’s just plain wrong.”

  The bag is a darker shade of purple. I use my middle arm to check the knot. The knot is tight. The bag will not get loose.

  ‘This Proceeding was Requested,” I say. “It must continue. When it is finished, you may seek this ‘investigation’ and ‘judgment,’ perhaps from your own people. This Proceeding is what it is, and I cannot make it anything else.”

  [An Aside: although, in some ways, the Proceeding has become something else. It resembles the Proceedings of the early Alliance rather than modern Proceedings, partly because of these protocol breaches.]

  “We have spent more than Eight Cycles here,” I say. “If we continue at this pace, we will be here until fall. The Requesting Party must complete his testimony. If there are no further objections, I shall send my staff for the Bystanding Party, and we shall—”

  “But there are objections,” the John Graf says. “The very objection that started me. Children can’t be here without their parents’ permission. And no parent is going to allow a child to take part in this force.”

  Again with the unexplained words. I chose to ignore them.

  “What your people want now does not matter,” I say. “All that matters now is the Proceeding itself. These ‘children’ are, at the request of the Requesting Party, the Bystanding Party, and by our regulations, required to be here. You cannot change centuries of law simply because you do not agree to it.”

  “What’ll happen to the children?” the John Graf asks.

  I am at the end of my patience. “We discussed Bystanding Parties on the first day. Consult with your representatives. We shall indulge you no longer.”

  The John Graf clenches his hands into fists and does not step away from the Decision Desk. The vocal human moves its head from side to side.

  “Told you we should’ve blasted them/’ it “whispers.” Its gaze is on mine as it speaks, and I know the comment is somehow directed toward me.

  “Proceed/’ I say to the MugwL representative, and he does, with obvious relief.

  Record of Proceeding

  Incident at Gray’s Brook

  Injustice Collector 0080 Presiding

  Testimony of Requesting Party [continued]

  As I said more than Eight Cycles ago now, the humans trusted us with their children. This was not a trust we asked for or even understood. We had no desire to interact with the humans, but their intrusiveness forced us into relations.

  They asked questions; they tried our food (and complained when it made them ill); they even came into the village during Privacy Cycles, demanding attention. All of that, we accommodated. We listened, we spoke, we spent time with them at their request.

  We did not ask them questions, knowing that our lack of interest would show them they were not wanted. Yet they seemed to ignore that message.

  Part of the problem, we assumed, was that they always sent new representation. The early Elders vanished, replaced by other Elders, and now we are being introduced to yet a new set of Elders. Even though the shiny silver ships the humans arrived in seemed small, they carried a multitude of beings, so many that we often found ourselves confused.

  We did not even note the presence of “children” until late in the days of the first set of Elders. Then the Elders brought small creatures to us, and showed us the “children” proudly. We believed they had been sent in another mission, that the humans, in their folly, thought they could add their native creatures to our environment.

  We did not know that these creatures were the young or that they were somehow created without waterbaths and the freezings of six winters. We did not know that the young could be created off the world the humans call Earth.

  Interruption in the Proceeding

  Nine Cycles into the Requesting Party’s Testimony,

  The Arrival of the Bystanding Party.

  This interruption is one I had requested when I insisted the Requesting Party continue with its Testimony without all Requested members present. The “children”—some thirty of them of various sizes and shapes—have been brought in by two Collectors-in-Training and five robotic helpers.

  Like the other humans, the “children” do not seem to understand the proceedings. since explanation did not work with the older humans, I do not believe it will work with the younger, and chose not to take the two days to reiterate the rules and regulations.

  If any member of the Review Board has an objection, I refer him to the Board of Governors’ Response to the Official Inquiry on the Humans [attached above].

  —Injustice Collector 0080

  In the midst of the arrival of the Bystanding Party, the humans committed yet another protocol breach. I note this here, but do not place it into the record as a secondary interruption since this is an interruption of an interruption.

  Nonetheless, I report it here:

  “I object,” says the John Graf. “These children have no legal rights here. Their parents must be present.”

  [An Aside: there are now fifty humans, two MugwL, two Collectors-in-Training, five robotic helpers, and the bag in the Great Hall. Even if I complied with the John Graf’s demands, the additional humans [if, indeed that’s what these “parents” are] would not fit into the room. I do not mention this. I have ceased arg
uing with the humans.]

  “The ‘children’ are the Bystanding Party,” I say. “If the Bystanding Party does not understand its function here, I suggest it choose one representative member, and set the rest free. The representative member will listen to the testimony, will spend time with the Collectors-in-Training to gain an understanding of the rules session which was missed, and will, if need be, relay the Justice/Injustice to the remaining members of the Party.”

  “Your Honor,” one of the “children” says. It has a high voice with many overtones, “Our parents don’t want us here.”

  Again, I ignore this. “We shall recess for One Cycle while the Bystanding Party picks its representative.”

  And so we do.

  [An Aside: After the Great Hall empties, and the 5crubbers enter, attempting to clean the vile stench from the air, I look down at the bag. It is a faint lavender.

  [It senses my attention, and sends me this message: There have been too many protocol breaches already. This proceeding will fail its Review. Let me take the Perceived Injustices now in the interest of time, and it will save us all more Cycles of this.

  [I note the communication here in an aside, since it is within the bag’s rights to make such a communication. Each case I have administered has included such a communication.

  Only this time, I actually contemplate the bag’s request. This procedure is unusual and will receive great attention from the Review Board. I am tempted to save all of us the trouble and allow the bag this one indulgence.

  [Apparently, it senses my hesitation and turns a violent purple. The color change and the shimmering hatred that rises from the bag’s porous exterior remind me that, no matter how logical a bag’s argument the bag is always concerned with its own power. Too many Injustices, even Perceived Ones, might overload the safety protocols, and the bag would be freed.

  [There are fifty bags within traveling distance of this sector. One free bag could free the others— that’s how the Attwne System dissolved.

  [I reject the bag’s request, but note my hesitation here, in case the Review Board would like to bring me up on charges for even considering it.

  [By the time the Representatives return—two MugwL, two human [as I note with relief], and two “children” of the larger variety—the bag is again pale lavender, and I have made certain the knot and the imprisoning devices are fixed securely.]

  Record of Proceeding

  Incident at Gray’s Brook

  Injustice Collector 0080 Presiding

  Testimony of Requesting Party [continued]

  By the time of the Incident at Gray’s Brook, we had already been to the human settlement six times with the express purpose of seeing the “children.” The “children” gather every other Cycle in a building called the “school.” There they sit while a full-sized human passes knowledge to them via three different means—vocal communication, printed communication, and written communication. The system seems inefficient to us, and is part of what led us to believe the “children” were another species. We now believe that the human young are not born with the knowledge of the community implanted in the brain. The knowledge must be transferred by these inefficient means.

  Since we use these means only with inferior creatures, ones that we hope to domesticate, we place this assumption of ours before the Decision Desk as a simple Misunderstanding, not an Injustice.

  Interruption in the Proceeding

  Eleven Cycles into the Requesting Party’s Testimony, A Breach of Protocol:

  Cause of breach is, as noted above, human ignorance.

  —Injustice Collector 0080

  “I don’t suppose anyone wants to explain that distinction/’ says the John Graf. I believe he is referring to the distinction between the “Misunderstanding” and the “Injustice.”

  We have explained this, taking days—not cycles— to do so. But I weary of reminding him of that so say nothing.

  After a moment of silence, the John Graf says, “I thought not. Why do I even try?”

  Record of Proceeding

  Incident at Gray’s Brook

  Injustice Collector 0080 Presiding

  Testimony of Requesting Party [continued]

  Just before the Incident at Gray’s Brook, one of the human Elders came to our Village Council and requested a “field trip” in which their “children” would see how we tend our own young. This “field trip” as best we could understand it was an educational venture designed to exemplify the distinctions between our two species.

  It took the humans several visits to explain the need for such an event to us. Even so, we are uncertain as to whether we sufficiently understand it, and believe on this point that the Non-Requesting Party might like a voice.

  [An Aside: I offer the opportunity to the John Graf. He raises and lowers his shoulders.

  [“This isn’t a proceeding, it’s a joke, and we’re here under protest,” he says by way of explanation.

  [The MugwL seem to find this response as unsatisfactory as I do. But that does not stop their testimony. Their representative continues.]

  To understand what transpired next, we must explain a distinction that we have learned over this half-season of dealing with the humans. In their language, “day” means “cycle.” Their concept of time is different from ours in significant ways, ways we do not yet completely understand.

  We have come to realize that even though we speak the same accepted Alliance tongue, our understandings break down at even this most basic level. Some of our scientists postulate that the humans have a summer’s lifespan, although others believe this to be impossible based on the humans’ ability to learn Alliance languages and travel in space.

  This digression stems from our attempt to understand the humans’ extreme reaction to the Incident at Gray’s Brook and our culpability, if any, in it.

  Interruption in the Proceeding

  Eleven Cycles into the Requesting Party’s Testimony, A Breach of Protocol:

  Cause of breach is, as noted above, human ignorance.

  —Injustice Collector 0080

  “Culpability, hell!’ says the other human representative quite loudly. “We’ll show them culpability.”

  Record of Proceeding

  Incident at Gray’s Brook

  Injustice Collector 0080 Presiding

  Testimony of Requesting Party [continued]

  At the time of the incident, our young were in the water-bath. The waters are at their lowest this time in the season, and the fetal pods are clearly visible.

  The waters are also quite warm and, in the words of one of the “children,” “inviting” although, it must be noted for the record, the MugwL heard no such invitation.

  The “children” asked if it was permissible to touch the pods. We apparently did not understand the nature of their question. We told them that, indeed, it is always permissible to touch the pods.

  We did not, however, expand the answer, expecting more questions. Apparently, however, the “children” are unlike the humans in more ways than knowledge and size.

  The “children” did ask one other question. They asked if the water was harmful.

  The question was, on its surface, unnecessary. If the water was harmful, would we have put our fetal pods into it? Of course not. We answered the question we believed was asked. We answered according to our biology and our customs. We did not realize that the “children” could not frame their questions correctly.

  Again, we plead Misunderstanding, not Injustice.

  Interruption in the Proceeding Eleven Cycles Into the Requesting Party’s Testimony, A Breach of Protocol: Cause of breach is, as noted above, human ignorance.

  —Injustice Collector 0080

  “Lying manipulative bastards!’ says the other human representative.

  The John Graf puts his hand on the other representative’s arm. The other representative moves away.

  Record of Proceeding Incident at Gray’s Brook Injustice Collector 0080 Presiding


  Testimony of Requesting Party [continued]

  The devastation was stunning and terrifying. The people who witnessed the deaths are not the same. They cannot go near the human settlement; they are appalled at the very mention of humans. This emotion grew worse when it became clear to all concerned that the “children” are also human young.

  [An Aside: for the first time, the MugwL representative is having troubie controlling his voice. It breaks. This is the first obvious sign of emotion from the MugwL and it is quite moving. [I do not look at the bag, waiting at my feet, below.]

  The “children” shed their clothing with a rapidity that startled us. Then they plunged headfirst into the water. A few jumped feetfirst.

  We had never seen anyone but registered tenders step into water, and even then, they followed distinct and important protocols.

  These “children” followed no protocols at all. They drenched themselves and arose, laughing—a sound that is the same among both of our species (something we did not know and did not want to learn in this context).

  Then the laughter turned to shrill, high-pitched sounds that the humans later identified as sounds of extreme fright. The “children” had rested their feet on the pods— a few “children” had gone underwater and touched the pods with their hands—and the pods—the pods—

  The pods absorb food through the exterior shell. It supplies the fetal material and maintains the growth necessary for development. Anything that touches the pod becomes food, unless certain protocols are followed.

  Even the tenders do not touch the pods without wearing special equipment, equipment that we did not bring on our “field trip” with the “children.”

  We managed to save five of the children, but ten of them—ten of them—

  We learned, to our dismay, that human blood is red. When combined with water and flailing limbs, bubbles are created, making a pinkish foam.

  Many of us still see this foam in our dreams.