Fledgling_ a novel Part 33

"Did you try?"

"Your families made no secret of the fact that they didn't even believe in the G.o.ddess!"

From the hypothetical to the real. Careless of him. "Would that have mattered?" I asked. "Could my family have ignored a call to take part in a Council of the G.o.ddess?"

Russell said nothing. Perhaps he had remembered where he was and exactly what was being argued.

"Preston, would it have mattered?"

"The rule of seven would apply," Preston answered. "If the rule of seven is satisfied and the accused family refuses to attend, the Council would be carried on regardless of its absence. The family would be bound by any vote of the Council, as though it had been present. If the family were ordered to stop whatever they were doing, and they refused to stop, they would be punished."

I stared across at Russell. "Preston, has the Silk family ever tried to a.s.semble a Council of the G.o.ddess to discuss or warn against the genetic work of my eldermothers?"

"Not to my knowledge," Preston said. "Russell?"

Again, Russell said nothing. It didn't matter. Surely he had already said enough. I sat down and put my microphone back in its place.

"Does any Council member have questions?" Preston asked. No one spoke.

"All right," he said. "Council members, I ask you now to count yourselves. Is the Silk family guilty of having made human beings their tools and sent those human tools to kill the Petrescu and the Matthews families? Are the Silks also guilty of sending their tools to burn the Petrescu guest house where Shori Matthews and her symbionts were staying? Are the Silks guilty of sending their tools to attack the Gordon family here at Punta Nublada? And also, was Katharine Dahlman, the Silks' first advocate, guilty of sending one of her symbionts, Jack Roan, to kill one of Shori Matthews's symbionts, Theodora Harden?" He paused, then said, "Zoe Fotopoulos?"

I had decided that Zoe was the most beautiful Ina I had ever seen. Her age-over three hundred-didn't seem to matter. She was tall, lean, and blond like most Ina but was a striking, memorable woman. When she arrived, I had asked Wright what he thought of her. He said, "Sculpted. Perfect, like one of those Greek statues. If she had b.o.o.bs, I'd say she was the best-looking woman I've ever seen."

Poor Wright. Maybe one of the Braithwaite symbionts would have large b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Shori Matthews has told us the truth," Zoe said. "I have not once caught her in a lie. Either she has been very careful or she is exactly what she seems to be. My impression is that she is exactly what she appears to be-a child, deeply wronged by both the Silk family and Katharine Dahlman. Members of the Silk family, on the other hand, have lied again and again. And Katharine Dahlman has lied. It seems that all this killing was done because Shori's families were experimenting with ways of using human DNA to enable us to walk in daylight. And it seems that no legal methods of questioning or stopping the experiments were even attempted." She took a deep breath. "I stand with Shori against both the Silks and Katharine Dahlman."

"Joan Braithwaite?" Preston said.

"Shori told the truth, and Katharine and the Silks lied," Joan said. "That's all that matters. I must stand with Shori against both."

"Alexander Svoboda?"

"I stand with Shori against Katharine Dahlman," he said. "But I must stand with the Silks against Shori. Shori has told the truth, as far as she knows, as far as she is able to understand with her damaged memory, but I can't condemn the Silks as a family because of what one child, one seriously impaired child, believes."

And yet, every Silk who had spoken to the Council had lied about what he had done, about what he knew, or both. How could Katharine Dahlman be punished for killing one symbiont and the Silks let off for killing twelve Ina and nearly a hundred symbionts? But that was Alexander's less than courageous decision.

"Peter Marcu?" Preston said.

"I stand with Shori," Peter Marcu said. "I don't want to. My family has been friends with the Silks for four generations. There was even a time when we got along well with the Dahlmans. But Shori has been telling the truth all along, and the others have been lying. Whatever their reasons are for what they've done, they did do it, and for the sake of the rest of our people and all our symbionts, we cannot allow this to go unpunished."

"Ana Morariu?"

"I stand with the Silks and with Katharine Dahlman," Ana said. "Shori Matthews is much too impaired to be permitted to speak against other Ina. How can we destroy people's lives, even kill them on the word of a child whose mind has been all but destroyed and who, even if she were healthy, is barely Ina at all? It is a tragedy that the Petrescu and Matthews families are dead. We shouldn't deepen the tragedy by killing or disrupting other families."

She was the one who had said Katharine Dahlman might be telling the truth. Now she seemed to be saying that my families had simply been unlucky and had, for some unknown reason, died, and that it would be wrong to punish anyone for that. Nothing wrong, she seemed to think, with letting your friends get away with ma.s.s murder.

"Alice Rappaport?"

"I stand with Shori," Alice said. "Katharine and the Silks are liars, people who use murder but never think to use the law. They know better than anyone here that we can't let them go unpunished. And what about the rest of you? Do you want to return to a world of lawless family feuds and ma.s.s killing?"

"Harold Westfall?"

"I stand with Shori," Harold said. "To let this go would be to endanger us all in the long run. Both the Silks and Katharine must be punished for what we all know they've done."

He glanced at me unhappily. I got the impression he didn't want to be here. He didn't want to stand with me. I suspected he didn't even like me much. But he was doing his duty and trying to do it as honestly as he could. I respected that and was grateful for it.

"Kira Nicolau."

"I stand with Shori as far as Katharine is concerned," Kira said. "What Katharine did was completely wrong, and I have no doubt that she did it. I don't believe she even meant to convince us otherwise; it just didn't seem very important to her. But as to the other problem, I must stand with the Silks. I don't believe Shori's memories and accusations should be trusted. I'm not convinced that Shori understands the situation as well as she believes she does. She believes what she says, that's clear. In that sense, she is telling the truth. But like Alexander, I'm not willing to disrupt or destroy the Silk family on the word of someone as disabled as Shori Matthews clearly is."

Nothing about the lies the Silks had told. Nothing about my dead families. And yet, Kira herself was telling the truth as far as I could see. She really seemed to believe that I was so impaired that I didn't know what I was talking about. She had somehow convinced herself of that.

"Ion Andrei?"

There was a moment of silence. Finally Ion said, "I stand with the Silks and with Katharine. I don't want to. I believe the Silks may have murdered Shori's families. It's certainly possible. And Katharine may have sent her symbiont after Shori's symbiont. But, like Kira, I cannot in good conscience base such a judgment on the words of someone as disabled as Shori is."

It was painful to listen to them. I wanted to scream at them. How could they blind all their senses so selectively? And how could they see me as so impaired? Maybe they needed to see me that way. Maybe it helped them deal with their conscience.

"Walter Nagy?"

"I stand with Shori," Walter said. "And I would stand with her even if she were out of her mind because it is so painfully obvious that the Silks and Katharine Dahlman were lying almost every time they answered a question. They have committed murder and, in the case of the Silks, ma.s.s murder. If we excuse that in those we like, we open a door that we tried to lock tight centuries ago. Make no mistake. If we ignore these murders, we invite people to settle disputes themselves, and we risk exposure in the human world. We are, every one of us, vulnerable to the fires that consumed Shori's families."

There was a moment of silence. Finally, Preston said, "Elizabeth Akhmatova?"

"I stand with Shori," Elizabeth said. "For all the reasons Walter's just given, I stand with her. And I stand with her because I've watched her. She is impaired. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose the memory of nearly all of the years of one's life. Her memory was stolen from her. But her ability to reason wasn't stolen. The questions she's asked-questions that were answered again and again with lies and misdirection-were good, sensible questions. The questions she answered, she answered honestly. The murderers who killed her families and her symbiont, the thieves who stole her past from her-should these people be rewarded because they did such a savagely thorough job? No, of course not. Shori, on the other hand, should be rewarded for using her intellect to protect herself and to find the murderers."

Twenty-nine.

And that was that.

There was a moment of silence, then Preston stood up. "The decision is made," he said.

"A majority of seven members of this eleven-member Council of Judgment have stood with Shori Matthews and against both Katharine Dahlman and the Silk family. Therefore, Katharine Dahlman and the Silk family must be punished for the wrongs they have done. But because the decision was not unanimous, their punishment must be other than death.

"For the wrongs the Silk family has done-for their complete destruction of the Petrescu family, for their nearly complete destruction of the Matthews family, and for their attempted destruction of the Gordon family-the penalty, by written law, is the dissolution of the Silk family. The five unmated Silk sons must be adopted by five families in five countries other than the United States of America. Each will mate as the males of his new family mate. They will be Silk no longer."

The room was utterly silent. Even the Silks made no sound. I wondered how they could keep silent. Was it pride? Was it pain? Were they refusing to believe the sentence or only refusing to let others see their pain? I looked across the room at Russell Silk.

He stared back at me with utter hatred. If he could have killed me, I think he would have done it with pleasure. I realized coldly that I felt the same toward him. If he came after me and I could kill him, I would-joyfully.

Preston said, "Russell, you've heard your family's sentence."

Russell managed to turn away from me and direct his hateful stare at Preston.

"Stand," Preston ordered.

Russell made no move to rise. He turned to look at me again. He looked as though he wanted to kill me so badly that it was hurting him.

"Russell Silk," Preston said in that big, deep, clear voice of his. "Stand," he said, "Stand and speak for yourself and your family."

Russell Silk rose slowly, and I watched him. He was at the very edge of his control. If he lost control, he would certainly come for me. He was half again my height and easily twice my weight-an adult Ina male. Not a deer. But he was old. Perhaps not as fast as a deer. Watching him, I decided I could ride him. I could be on him before he could stop me. I could tear out his throat. It wouldn't kill him, although my venom might tame him for me, make him obey. If it didn't, it would surely slow him down, give me a chance to twist his head right off. No one could recover from that. I could do that. I could.

"You must accept the sentence," Preston said. "Then each member of your family must stand and accept it. By your acceptance, you give your word, each of you, that there will be peace between the Silks and the Matthews, peace between the Silks and the Gordons, peace for a period of at least three hundred years from today."

Preston paused, his eyes on Russell as intently as mine were. "The penalty for refusing to accept your sentence or for breaking your word once you've given it is immediate death-death for you, Russell, and for each mated member of your family." He paused and looked at the Silk family waiting in the audience. "Do you accept your sentence?" he demanded.

Russell launched himself toward me.

I stood up and away from the table, ready for him, eager for him. It was like being eager for s.e.x or for feeding.

But before he could reach me, before I could taste his blood, two of his sons and one of his brothers leaped up from the front row, grabbed him, and dragged him down. They held him while he struggled beneath them, screaming. At first, it seemed that he wasn't making words. He was only looking at me and screaming. Then I began to recognize words: "Murdering black mongrel b.i.t.c.h ..." and "What will she give us all? Fur? Tails?"

He didn't shed tears. I wondered suddenly whether we could cry the way humans did. Russell just lay curled on his side, moaning and choking.

I watched the whole group of Silks, cl.u.s.tered in the first few rows on Russell's side of the room. Milo glared at me, but the others were focused on Russell, who seemed to be slowly regaining his sanity.

Wright and Joel got up and came toward me, but I waved them back to their seats. They couldn't regrow lost parts. Better for them to stay clear.

Milo looked from me to them-a long, slow look. Then he looked at me again. It was an obvious threat.

Daniel Gordon, his fathers, and his brothers came up to stand behind me. In silence, they looked back at Milo.

The pile of Silks on the floor untangled itself, and all four of them stood up. After a moment, Russell went back to his table and stood by it. The rest of his family watched him, as the three who had restrained him went back to their seats.

At the same time, the Gordons behind me melted away and went back to their seats as silently as they had come. I sat down at my table.

Preston repeated in an oddly gentle voice, "Russell Silk, do you accept your sentence?"

It was as though there had been no interruption. Russell looked down at his table, then stared at me. "What is to be done with the Matthews child?" he demanded.

"Nothing at all," Preston said.

"She should be adopted. She's a child. She's ill. She should be looked after, brought into a family that can teach her how to at least pretend to be Ina."

"You created Shori's problems," Preston said. "But solving them is not your concern. Your only concern now is whether you accept your sentence or reject it. Now, for the last time, do you accept your sentence?"

Russell looked at his family-his father, his brothers, his sons, and his five youngersons who would soon be leaving the Silk family to be adopted by others. Adoption was apparently so permanent a thing that there was no possibility of their sneaking back home or uniting as Silks in another country or another part of the United States. For one thing, they would eventually be mated to different families of females. And their sons would never be Silks.

It took Russell almost a full minute to make himself say the words: "I ... accept ... the sentence."

"Milo Silk?" Preston said.

Milo stood up. In an ancient, paper-dry voice that I had not heard from him before, he said, "I accept the sentence." Then he sat down again and sagged forward in his chair, staring at the floor, elbows resting on his knees.

Once he had said it, each of the rest of his sons could say it. Then their sons could say it. Finally the youngest, unmated sons-those who were giving their word that they accepted absolute, permanent banishment-could say it. It still seemed wrong to me that they should be the ones to bear the worst of the punishment. Each might never see his fathers or his brothers again, and three of them were children. They were the only ones truly not responsible for what their elders had done to my families.

It occurred to me suddenly that Russell had asked about my being adopted because if I, like his sons, became a member of a different family, he might not be legally forbidden from attacking me. If I were not Shori Matthews, but Shori Braithwaite, for instance, I might be fair game. The Braithwaites might be fair game. I had no intention of being adopted, but I did intend to ask Preston if my suspicions were true.

The Gordons quietly separated the Silks from their unmated sons. The sons' symbionts joined them quickly, and that was a good thing. It would ease their pain to have these loved and needed people with them, people they had probably known most their lives. The sons would be taken from their fathers but not from the humans who were closest to them. In fact, someone would have to collect the rest of their symbionts back at the Silk community and reunite them with their Ina. I was glad to see that one of the son's symbionts was the doctor who had questioned me. It was good that he could be away from the ugly contempt of the adults. The Silk son to whom he was bound was taller than I was, but he looked no older.

The youngest Silks and their symbionts were herded out of the room by several adult Ina-the siblings of those who had served on the Council of Judgment. Perhaps these were the people who would have had to carry out the death sentence if there had been one. Was that the arrangement? One brother or sister pa.s.sed judgment and the other helped to carry out the sentence?

The adult Silks watched, distraught. Their obvious pain was so much at odds with their utter stillness that it was hard to look at them. They stared at their children, their family's future, walking away, and in that vast room, no one spoke a word.

Then the youngest Silks were gone, and we all sat looking at one another.

Preston coughed-an odd sound from him since he did it to get our attention rather than to clear his throat. "We must also attend to the matter of Katharine Dahlman," he said. He looked at her where she sat near the Silks. "Stand, please, Katharine, and come forward."

Very slowly, she stood up and came to the microphone that stood alone in the arc.

Preston, also standing, faced her. "For the wrong that you've done, Katharine Dahlman-for using your own symbiont, Jack Roan, as a murderous tool, for having him kill Theodora Harden, the symbiont of Shori Matthews-you must, according to written law, have both your legs severed at mid-thigh." He took a breath. "Katharine, do you accept your sentence?"

She leaned forward to speak into the microphone, then had to lower it to her height. "I do not," she said when she had finished. "The punishment is too extreme. It does not fit the minor crime that I committed."

"Minor crime!" I said loudly. "How can murdering a woman who never harmed you, who never even threatened you be a minor crime?"

She didn't even glance at me. "I ask that the members of the Council consider my punishment and count themselves for or against it."

I looked at Preston. I found it intolerable that Katharine would be permitted to live. Now she was whining about having to suffer at all. If she accepted her punishment, in a year or two, she would have legs again and be fine, but Theodora would still be dead. Minor crime?

"I will give up my left hand to pay for my ... crime," Katharine said. "That's more than justice."

"Or perhaps only a finger!" I said. "Maybe a fingernail would do. But if the penalty is so small, then I should be able to do to you what you did to me. Which of your symbionts shall I take?"

She looked at me with more hatred and contempt than I would have thought she could manage, then she turned away and spoke to Preston. "I demand a count of the Council. I have a right to that."

"There has been a count as to your guilt. Once that vote went against you, your guilt and punishment were decided. You have no right to negotiate, and you know it. You knew the law long before you decided to break it."

She looked away from him, stared past him, and said nothing for several seconds. Finally, she shook her head. "I can't accept it. It's unjust. That human was not a symbiont because Shori is not Ina! And ... and at my age, the punishment would probably kill me."

What did that mean? Was she saying she thought it was all right to kill innocent human beings who were not symbionts?

Preston hesitated, then spoke gently. "Katharine, this isn't a death sentence. It will be bad. It's supposed to be bad. Consider what you did to earn it. But your family will look after you, and in a year or two, you'll have healed. But refusing the sentence, Katharine ... that would be death."

She shook her head. "Then kill me! Go ahead. Kill me! I cannot accept the punishment you've ordered."

The two of them, not far apart in age, stared at one another. "We'll take a short break," he said. "Katharine, go talk with your sister and your symbionts. Think about what you're doing." He stepped away from his place at the table and glanced at his silent audience. "We'll resume in one hour."

My symbionts hesitated, then came up to me. I didn't know why they hesitated until they stayed back and let Wright be the first to touch me. He took my hand, and when I took his huge hand between both of mine, the others came up to me.

I realized that they were afraid of me. What had I said or done? How had I looked or acted to make these people whom I loved and needed most afraid of me? I stood and hugged each of them, holding Brook for a little longer than the others because she was trembling so.