Volume 4: Beta-09, Chapter 4.8

The Judicator

courtroom was a strange mix of futuristic and ceremonial; it was all black and chrome with some gold trimmings, making it look like a traditional senatorial room got a cyberpunk makeover. There were several rows of raised seating all around the room, but I was surprised to see hardly anyone else was in attendance—a few droids or bots, even a couple holograms, and no one we recognized from

The Radiance

.

The power armor soldiers pushed us to the center of the room, leaving us on some black and white pads that looked like they would also work as containment units, but since we’d already been secured they were probably unnecessary. The power armor soldiers left the center stage then, set to wait and guard us from the far side of the room.

Before us was a long black row like a judge’s bench, with three raised seats in the center towering over everyone else, with six lower seats on either side. The lowered seats were mostly people we didn’t recognize in some high-officer uniforms, but one person on the far end we knew from

The Radiance

.

It was Captain Quinna.

So, the strong silent type who hardly said a word was the spy all along then? Reporting us to high-command, probably using her soldiers to keep constant eyes on us. I had to say I had a hundred people I would’ve guessed before her, so I suppose that meant she was a really good spy after all.

“Presiding over these proceedings are Lord General Kei-Torruk, Lord General Belmond, and Lord General Fextrenn.” The red alien officer said beside our containment units. I looked up to see the high-command members take their seats. Lord General Belmond on the left was a tall, muscular man with ridged blue skin, with the ridges coming to a point on his bald head to almost look like a fauxhawk. He had three red eyes arranged in a triangle above the empty space where a nose should be and a rather wide mouth. On the right was Lord General Fextrenn, an anthropomorphic red fox woman with a fan of 12 long black, furry tails around and behind her. And then Lord General Kei-Torruk was seated in the middle, larger than all the others by far, over eight feet tall I would guess. His skin was grey with an odd metallic sheen, and his arms were completely mechanical. He had on some face modulator even more invasive than Commander Durgo’s, with several silver tubes leading from the mask to his chest and back. He also had one eye replaced by what appeared to be a red-monocle scope; he looked like he was more machine than man at this point, giving him quite the villainous appearance.

All three Lord Generals wore officer uniforms mixed with judge robes, with gold trimmed capes and several rows of medals adorning their chests. There was no doubt these three were the upper-ranks of the military—the highest ranks probably.

“Thank you Lieutenant, you are dismissed.” Lord General Kei-Torruk said flatly, his voice deep and mechanical, sounding like some evil robot from a cheesy old sci-fi movie.

The lieutenant who escorted us all this way bowed and then took a seat in the general assembly.

Someone activated their console and a hologram displayed before us, showing my picture and a list of grievances or offenses. There was an estimation for lives lost and property damage at the bottom, as though they really were blaming us for everything.

“Agent Adam Samson, is it true you’ve entered an intimate romantic relationship with the Predazoan asset, Alpha-03?” Kei-Torruk asked bluntly.

Well, they certainly weren’t pissing around now; they just dove right into the heart of the matter, no chance to dance around anything at this point.

“Yes.” I said simply.

Someone activated another hologram to show security camera footage of the old containment cell where Eve was first housed when we got on

The Radiance

; the footage displayed was when she revealed her true form and told me her plans to be my mate.

“The Predazoan asset Alpha-03 revealed her intentions to force you to be her mate, which you originally resisted, correct?” Kei-Torruk continued.

I looked over at Eve who seemed to be purposefully keeping her face neutral, but I could see her fists balled up in restrained anger, “Yes, I initially thought there was more she wasn’t telling me, I didn’t believe she just wanted a mate.” I confirmed.

“Can you expand on that?” Lord General Belmond asked, his voice a low rumble.

The happy feelings Eve instilled in me were quickly draining away as I felt myself standing before a dangerous precipice, our future riding on the words I was going to speak, “I thought maybe Eve was seeking to control me for the sake of her freedom.” I admitted.

Everyone in the high-officer row was busy writing things down on their consoles, doing what I couldn’t tell. But the three Lord Generals in charge remained totally focused on me and my words. “Can you describe the day’s events that led to Alpha-03 revealing her plans for you?” Kei-Torruk pressed.

I knew exactly what they were reaching for, and unfortunately there was no way around it; I know I screwed up majorly in the past by letting the researchers put the failsafe in Eve, but her actions on Entana and

The Radiance

afterwards were definitely going to bite us back here.

“I had become romantically involved with a woman on the mission team, and that night—”

“The woman, Doctor Tillia, correct?” Lord General Fextrenn interrupted, her voice much lighter in pitch than the others, but it sounded careful and precise.

“Yes, Doctor Tillia.” I nodded.

“Were you in an exclusive relationship with Doctor Tillia at the time?” Fextrenn pressed.

“I, uh, we hadn’t really gotten around to defining anything yet. We had just gone on our first official date.” I admitted, feeling quite awkward about delving into my past with Tillia before a fucking military tribunal.

“When you went on this date with Doctor Tillia, you left Alpha-03’s scout-form secured in the mobile containment unit back in your hotel room, correct?” Kei-Torruk confirmed.

I nodded, “I had authorization from the mission team leader, Doctor Wit, that would be alright.”

Kei-Torruk’s face was as emotionless as any machine, so there was nothing I could read off him for a reaction, “So with Alpha-03 securely contained, you went out for a romantic evening with Doctor Tillia; do you remember how long you were out?”

I shook my head slowly, “No, but it was early afternoon and then evening, anywhere from 6-10 hours I would guess.”

“And when you brought Doctor Tillia back up to your hotel room, did the two of you engage in intercourse?” Fextrenn asked bluntly.

Hopefully they couldn’t hear it, but I heard a low rumbling growl come from Eve’s containment unit, “No, we, uh, never actually had sex.”

“Please describe the details of what happened in your hotel room.” Belmond said.

I looked over to see Eve barely holding herself back from snarling, her upper lip curled with her fangs just barely extended. I let out a weary sigh, hating that I was going to have to relay the whole story—hated how it would hurt Eve. “Tillia and I made it up to my hotel room and the two of us started making out. Then we began to remove each other’s clothes until we were both completely naked. At that point Tillia asked for me to, um, have sex with her. I was going to insert my, uh, myself into her, but then we were, well, interrupted, and the two if us lost consciousness.”

“What interrupted you?” Kei-Torruk inquired.

I looked over to see Eve’s eyes were blazing with fury, but beneath that was a deep hurt—not quite betrayal, but I knew how much she hated the fact I got involved with Tillia in front of her. If I could redo it all now I never would’ve gone on that date with Tillia, would’ve instead focused all my attention and affection on Eve. Well, if I could redo everything, I would’ve refused to ever put that failsafe bomb in Eve, that would be the first of many mistakes to fix.

“Eve’s scout-form unleashed some kind of screeching sonic-attack. We were woken up by the rest of the mission team, and I saw then the scout-form had destroyed itself somehow.” I explained.

“And then you returned to

The Radiance

to confront Alpha-03, where she revealed her true form, the goal to her supremacy drive, and her plans for becoming your mate.” Fextrenn finished for me.

I hated how they called Eve Alpha-03, as though they didn’t see her as a person at all—just a tool for war and profit. It was like a knife through my heart every time I heard that title, made me want to correct them each time—scream at them to look at my wonderful Evie as the amazing person she was.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then you brought her to the command center on

The Radiance

, where she took over and held the crew hostage.” Kei-Torruk leaned forward, and the hologram changed to show a scene with Eve breaking out of her mobile containment unit, “Agent Adam, did you know about Alpha-03’s plot back then?”

“What? No, when would we have even discussed that?” I gestured to the hologram, “You have all the footage, you know we went straight from the main containment cell to the command center, and we had an escort all the while.”

“Agent Adam, did you undergo regular medical exams after you were exposed to the Predazoan asset?” Fextrenn inquired.

“Not regular, no, but I had a few—one just after everything happened in the command center when Eve was freed to walk around

The Radiance

; everything came back clear and clean.” I confirmed.

“And why did you decide you needed that exam?” Fextrenn pressed.

I let out a quick sigh, “Because Eve injected me with something she called an immortality enzyme, said it would be for my protection.” I glared at all the Lord Generals, “And the doctors aboard

The Radiance

confirmed it was exactly as Eve said, no mind-altering additives or anything; they said it was the most sophisticated longevity serum they’d ever seen, something impossible for them to replicate.”

“Has Alpha-03 administered any other pharmaceuticals into your system or altered your biology in any way?” Kei-Torruk asked.

“No, nothing that—well, she’s given me regular medicine, like to cure a hangover and headaches, and something to help improve my stamina.” I admitted.

“As what, some kind of battle-stimulant?” Belmond inquired.

I shook my head slowly, hating another admission I was going to have to make, “No it was a…a

sexual

thing, alright?”

Fextrenn activated something on her console, and another hologram popped up to show my old personnel file, “Originally you were recorded saying you saw Alpha-03 as a surrogate daughter and were very protective of her. Don’t you think it’s strange you went from seeing her as a daughter to having a sexual relationship with her?”

I held a hand up to try and put a stop to that questioning, “That change was slow and gradual; we spent over 40 days down on Entana before we crossed over any lines. There was plenty of time for me to adjust to this new adult Eve so I no longer saw her as a daughter-figure.”

“But Eve reportedly said she

wanted

you to see her as a daughter, to groom her into her adult form, and then she would seduce you. Doesn’t it sound like you followed along with her plans perfectly?” Fextrenn continued.

I shook my head, “No, no that’s not what she was saying back then, that was when she was going to grow up steadily in front of me, but that thing with Tillia accelerated everything so she revealed her adult form right away and then declared herself my mate.” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers, “I know it all sounds weird on the outside, but for a while I saw those two Eves as completely separate individuals, and it was only later I came to terms with them all being one Eve—a new Eve.”

“It just seems like a drastic and significant change that happened relatively quickly; you were adamant you wouldn’t fall into Alpha-03’s machinations, saying you found the entire grooming plot horrifying and disgusting.” Kei-Torruk stated.

I held both my hands up now, trying to stop them, “Look, I know a lot changed, but it was all a natural progression where Eve showed herself as a real person to me, and I came to fall in love with that person. No schemes, no tricks, just the normal progression of our relationship.”

“It seemed an awful lot changed down on Entana, and when you returned to

The Radiance

you never had another medical exam, is that correct?” Belmond questioned.

I let out another sigh, this one more frustrated, “What are you thinking, Eve’s been manipulating me with brain spores all this time? Do your exams, run your tests, I promise you everything will come back clean.”

Kei-Torruk nodded down at me, “We already ran several medical scans before you came aboard

The Judicator

, and we cleared the air of any contaminants or spores during your transfer.”

I waved my hands out in an annoyed gestured, “Then what the hell’s with all the questions if you know I’m not contaminated or whatever?”

Kei-Torruk glowered at me, his digital red monocle narrowing its focus on me, “We’re not concerned you’re being manipulated with spores or pharmaceuticals, no, our concern now is that you’ve been psychologically compromised.” He confirmed.

I scoffed at that, “What, you think she’s just been stringing me along, running the honeypot gambit all this time? To what end?”

Kei-Torruk steepled his hands before his face mask, “That’s

exactly

what we intend to find out.”