Theis

Boo-10 Space Station 

AH Population

Done with their mission on planet Ee, they returned to Boo-10. Atlas got some good news on his return. They had caught the machinator of the engagement fiasco. Atlas had arranged for a hearing as soon as he arrived to determine the punishment for the offender. 

Presently, he sat with members of the council of Representatives as the alien standing trial stood before them. 

Only a few members of  the Council of Representatives were in the trial room, given short notice, the others attending remotely, their hologram presence replacing a physical one. 

Going by evidence gathered against the criminal, Atlas was ready to be seriously punitive with the man.

But it seemed that he was constrained by some invisible strings. The alien before him was no ordinary alien. He was a lost race of the asteroid planet, Dromore minor. 

Atlas could see how much of a resemblance he bore to Elara and this worried him. He was motivated to assume that the accused was  innocent. Problem was, he couldn't tell if it was because it was an alien from Elara's tribe or because he intrinsically felt the alien was innocent.

This must have come as a pleasant surprise to Azure- a litmus test to confirm her fears about the emperor or assuage said fears. 

Atlas watched the trial proceeding.

" Caelis...You bought this ship yesterday, didn't you?" A member of the council, the presiding judge for the trial said.

A hesitation from the alien. 

"We have electronic receipts confirming that you did," the council member said. 

Caelis nodded then. "I did. You know this. Why ask then?"

"To measure the strength of your character as a function of your credibility," came the disdainful response from the judge. "You would deny in the blink of an eye, wouldn't you?"

No response. 

"Why did you purchase said ship?" The judge asked. 

"For trade," came the response. 

"What trade?"

Hesitation.

"What trade? Please make this trial as quick as possible for all of us."

"Metal parts," Caelis said. 

"Could these parts be stolen, perhaps?"

"There is no reason to assume that."

"Very well. Do you have any idea how much havoc your ship caused over here?"

"I had no idea. I-"

"Nearly leading to the loss of hundreds of lives- members of the elite."

"The ship was in my garage. It was impossible for it to be moved unmanned out here-" Caelis was saying. 

"-Not except you did it yourself-" The presiding judge said.

"-I did not-"

"-Then the ship must have moved of its own accord then," the judge responded. 

 That was very unlikely. The respondent was quiet.

"Let's try something different, shall we?" The judge said.  "Could you have remotely steered your ship with a personal console, not knowing exactly what you were doing while inebriated?"

"-Inebri-"

"-Drunk. Whilst drunk-"

"-I had had just a little to drink that night. I couldn't have-"

"-Your ship leapt off the planet Boo-10 and up to space, targeted at the emperor and his guests and nearly laying their lives to waste. You give half-hearted responses and non committal answers that tell us nothing about your motivations. Motivations because this must be- is- deliberate. Let me guess, you want to get back at the emperor or some rebellious nonsense." The judge said.

"You make assumptions upon assumptions," Caelis said. 

"Such impetuousness." The judge shook his head. "That will be all. The council will confer and  arrive at a conclusion about the extent of your guilt."

Atlas watched them confer. After they did, they found Caelis guilty. It rested on him- the emperor- to state his punishment. 

Atlas knew the whispers all too well. The expectations. He gave the Council what they wanted. 

"You have been sentenced to life imprisonment on the prison planet Theis, " Atlas said. "The Council has found you guilty today for your deliberate act of treason to dare raise a hand to your emperor; to dare hold a weapon against him; to dare conceive and indeed plan and execute an attack against him. Take him away."

The alien was taken away. 

Atlas's gaze caught a flash of silvery hair dash out of the trial room. He knew who it had to be, but he refused to turn in the direction of the door.

That was not expected of him as Emperor.  He was supposed to take important decisions and deal with distractions. She was a distraction from his all-important goal of being the Emperor of the Twelve Planet Galaxy. 

He had an empire to run and an empress to give his people in just a week and five days. He couldn't afford to be distracted. 

Atlas did not see Elara in the days following- he spent his time doing his job as Emperor, and preparing for his marriage- and he wouldn't have seen her for the rest of the week but that Thyron talked about her.

Atlas had just finished talking with the ruler of Grenala on plans for evacuation, because the bug issue had become very problematic, when Thyron stepped in. 

"Primera," Thyron said. "Greetings."

"Thyron," Atlas said. "It seems you have now become Elara's aide and not mine. You are everywhere with her. I hardly see you anymore."

"Only on your orders, your eminence," Thyron said. "Do you propose I stop being her guide?"

"No," Atlas said. "She needs someone to keep her out of trouble. Speaking of which, she has been very calm these days. Good job."

Thyron hesitated, wanting to say something. He closed and opened his mouth, but did not say anything.

Atlas gave him a brief glance. "Problems?" He asked, taking his gaze back to the hologram screen in front of him.

"No. Not at all. Only…"

"What happened?" Atlas turned to him seriously.

"I had the matter quelled as quickly as was possible, knowing that that would be what your majesty would prefer," Thyron said. 

Atlas let out a breath. "That was not the question."

"She got in a fight with one of the crew a few days ago," Thyron said. "Smashed him against the control console of one of our cargo ships. He has a broken bone, but medic bots attended to him and he is doing quite well now and will recover very soon."

Atlas cursed angrily under his breath. "What were they arguing about?"

"The sentence on the Creuskin the other day."

Ten minutes later, Elara stood before Atlas. 

"As a rule, we don't break our crew," Atlas told her.

Elara turned to Thyron as though he had betrayed her by having told on her.

"He started it," Elara replied Atlas. "He called me names because of the Creuskin that was sent to Theis the other day. Normally, I don't go looking for trouble."

"I would have expected you both to have applied a level of maturity," Atlas said, "not banter like kids."

"He did most of the bantering," Elara said. "I don't like to banter."

"But you like to crash people's bodies against control consoles," Atlas said. 

Elara did not speak.

Atlas let out a sigh. He turned to Thyron. "Get my sister to send ships to Grenala for the evacuation process. The officials of Grenala have decided to remove civilians from the planet to properly combat the infestation."

Thyron nodded. He left.

"You knew the Creuskin that was taken to Theis two days ago," Atlas said. It wasn't a question.  He just knew she had to know him given her level of sentiment.

"We are not so many that survived the destruction of Dromore minor. We know one another," Elara said. "I considered that one...a brother." She turned her gaze to the floor.

Atlas watched her. "He still lives."

"He is on Theis," Elara said. "Many hardly survive it. And those with shorter terms come back so changed they are afraid to live again."

Atlas did not respond. The officials on Theis were very strict with their punishment- a consideration when the Twelve Planet Galaxy made a pact to send their worst criminals there to be adequately disciplined.  No one knew their methods, but given the wave of reduction in the worst crimes galaxy-wide, their methods had serious efficacy.

"Theis is a criminal's worst nightmare in the Twelve Planet Galaxy," Atlas said. "I know how lifeless criminals that survive their term look when they are brought back to be included into society. That is why our criminal justice system works." He gave a sigh. "And that's why I'm trying to help you. I don't want you sent off to Theis. You can do a lot with your life. You just need to drop these criminal and violent instincts."

Elara stared at the ground. "You know the Creuskin was not guilty."

"All the evidence pointed to his guilt," Atlas said. 

"Your Representative Council were only interested in laying the blame; giving the blame to someone rather than serious investigation-"

"-That's enough," Atlas said. "I don't want to hear any negative report about you from now on. Else, Theis is far...but not too far away."

"You know I won't survive," Elara said, eyes glowing in shock. 

"You won't go," Atlas said, chuckling drily. "I know you respond well to threats."

Elara glared at him.

"Now prepare," he said. "We'll be going to Nidia tonight. You will transport me past the hyperion divide. I need to get some moon pearls for my wedding and pay the leaders a courtesy visit."

"Right away," Elara said. "Let me get the crew."

"The crew are not coming with us," Atlas said. "Neither is Thyron. It's just us."