Bast Shamant quickly dragged a hand through her hair, tried to rearrange her wrap and settle her Advocate’s jacket back into their proper positions as she hurried through the main corridor of the Judicial Centre, mentally asking forgiveness from the All-Seeing deity that the Cathuriians worshipped.

The doors to the Custody Centre parted upon her approach and she strode in, anxiety making her check over her shoulder as the first set of doors closed and the inner set slid apart. Three scaly, greyish-blue bald heads turned in her direction as soon as she entered the waiting area. One of the muscular, four-armed guards buzzed open the door from the observation booth and stepped out to face her.

“Advocate Shamant,” the man’s gravelly voice addressed her. “We were not expecting you to return so soon.”

Bast’s eyebrows rose on her smooth green feline forehead, her surprise evident. “I … I have … further questions … for … the detainee … the Inspector,” she said, nervously stumbling over the words.

Ulnar stared coolly at her. “We have not received documentation from your office. Without documentation, no one is allowed access to any detainee.”

Bast froze for just a moment, her cheeks turning a darker shade of green. “Perhaps … perhaps it was … delayed.” She fumbled with her attaché case. “I should … contact my office. Make sure it’s … being processed.”

The dozen or so chairs lining the walls of the waiting area were a variety of sizes and of materials. The advocate selected a seat that best fit her body’s frame and settled into it, setting the attaché in the adjacent chair. She opened it and pulled out her tablet.

The guard Ulnar still watched her, a hint of suspicion in his eye. “Madam Advocate, are you feeling well? You appear to be perspiring heavier than the environmental conditions dictate.”

Shamant felt immediate shame. If it were that obvious, someone would be liable to alert her superiors of what she’d done. Though it went against every fibre of her being, she forced herself to smile, look up at him and say, “I was in a hurry … perhaps I exerted myself too much in my haste.”

A lie? No, stretching the truth, she decided. I have done nothing wrong. Forgive me!

Bast avoided raising her eyes to the ceiling, even though it was a struggle to prevent the movement. If Ulnar saw her raising her eyes, he would know it was a lie. It was one of the tells of true Cathuriians, that they did not lie without seeking forgiveness from Above.

It took a moment, but Ulnar appeared satisfied with the statement. Bast hurriedly entered a message to her supervisor:

“I have completed deposing Miss Weaver. Deposition raised further questions for the Inspector. Request permission to resume deposing him at this time.”

The clicking of her razor-sharp nails against the tablet’s surface seemed to echo loudly in the otherwise silent room. Bast kept still, her hand hovering over the tablet as she waited for a response. As time seemed to stretch on longer than she could bear, the screen changed and a short message appeared on its surface:

“Permission granted. Authorising access to the Inspector to resume deposition now.”

One of the guards still inside the booth summoned Ulnar, who gave Bast an icy stare before buzzing himself inside. He returned seconds later holding a computer tablet and reading its display. “You have been given authorisation, Advocate Shamant. Please follow me.”

Bast was on her feet as quickly as she could be, shoving the tablet into her attaché. The door to the custody cells buzzed as soon as she stood behind Ulnar. They entered the holding area and Bast had to walk quickly to keep up with the Barlurian’s wide strides.

Ulnar announced Bast’s presence to the Space Master, who stepped into view in the centre of the cell and turned round for a quick inspection by the Barlurian. Satisfied, the guard activated the cell door’s opening mechanism and allowed her in. The door shut quickly behind her.

Shamant closed her eyes and muttered a series of “forgive me’s” after the door had locked.

The Inspector appeared worried by this. “Madam Advocate?” he prompted.

Her eyes opened and she turned to stare intently at the Space Master.

“I inseminated your Miss Lily … I mean, Miss Weaver,” Bast said sorrowfully.

The Kayaclaschian frowned in confusion. “I beg your pardon?”

“No, no, it is I who should beg your pardon,” the Advocate said seriously.

The Inspector let out a single soft laugh. “I only mean, could you repeat what you just said?”

“I inseminated Miss Weaver,” Shamant stated plainly, her eyes focused on his for his reaction.

“I see,” was all the Inspector could come up with at first. He pondered the Advocate’s statement. The physiology of the two species was quite different; he had a difficult time determining how the Cathuriian could impregnate a human, considering that the two species’ sex organs were in very different places. It was likely Shamant simply assumed she’d impregnated Lily because she performed the normal Cathuriian sex act.

“What precisely did you do?” he asked, back in his element as a deducer of truth.

Bast blushed darker green again. “It is not something Cathuriians discuss with outsiders.”

“I’m simply trying to determine whether you did, in fact, impregnate Lily,” the Kayaclaschian said matter-of-factly. “If you used your oral organ in her mouth, trying to place your spermatozoa in her egg sac, you have nothing to worry about.”

The Advocate looked confused, then uncertain. “But, I did do that.”

“Humans don’t have egg sacs. At least, not the way you understand them,” the Inspector offered. “You probably just planted your spermatozoa in her stomach.”

Shamant frowned, thinking about what she and Lily had done, blushing. “Forgive me,” she muttered toward the ceiling. “I am certain I placed it in the sac adjacent to her stomach. That is where the egg sac is located.”

“The appendix,” the Space Master said with a slight smile. “An appendage to the human stomach, not an egg sac. She’s just going to end up with a bit of a stomach-ache, vomit it up and there’ll be nothing to worry about.”

“But, I must worry about it,” Bast said anxiously. “I have violated my oath as an advocate. I will lose my career.” She looked up toward the ceiling again. “Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.”

“Why worry so much?” wondered the Inspector. “What happens privately between two beings is of no one else’s concern. Lily won’t disclose what happened between the two of you. You are allowed to have a private life, aren’t you?”

Bast looked defeated. “Yes, we are.” She was quiet for a long time. “But, my deoxyribonucleic acid will turn up on her biometrics scan before she can testify. That alone will uncover my indiscretion. I will be removed from my position and barred from practising law.”

The Cathuriian cried and the Kayaclaschian placed his arms round her shoulders. This time, Bast didn’t pull away and let the Inspector to comfort her.

“I’ll figure something out to remove any doubt that you didn’t do this,” the Space Master promised her. “There are a number of explanations that will cover this indiscretion up. No need to worry.”

Shamant sniffled her feline nose and shook a bit. She released the guilt and cried a little more. The Kayaclaschian held her and rubbed her back to comfort her. After a couple of minutes, she finally straightened up and disentangled herself from his embrace.

“Still, if my supervisor learns that I have been … involved … with Miss Weaver …” Bast simply trailed off, unable to voice the rest of the thought.

The Inspector smiled sadly, then looked thoughtful. “What if he don’t know of it? I mean, if your supervisor doesn’t learn of this incident? Couldn’t you just continue the case?”

Uncertainty reigned in the Advocate’s eyes. She broke the gaze and looked up to the ceiling, as if searching for her deity somewhere amongst the lines between panels. Her jaw worked, as she tried to stop herself from vocalising the prayers to her people’s All-Seeing deity.

Finally, she looked sadly at the Space Master. “I … am …” She stopped speaking, still trying to put words together. “I do not know that I should continue. I feel I would be unable to function properly … with Miss Weaver near.”

“It’ll be awkward,” the Inspector agreed. “If you simply don’t show that awkwardness, who’s to know that something happened between you?”

The sadness of her face intensified a bit. “I … I am … my people, we do not ignore that an event … such as this … has not happened. It is false to believe otherwise.” The sadness was replaced with curiosity. “I was able to gain access to you although I was not supposed to. I … told my supervisor … I had more questions for you.”

The Inspector appeared impressed by Bast’s admission. “In a way, you weren’t lying about that. You simply told him enough to get what you wanted from him. If you can do that, you can certainly convince everyone that nothing untoward happened between you and Lily.”

“Forgive me,” the Advocate muttered toward the sky, after being reminded of this and having to consider repeating the action on a much broader scale. She returned her eyes to meet the Space Master’s. “If … I can … do as you suggest … I would be able … to continue … in my capacity … as your Advocate.”

Her eyes went to the ceiling again briefly, but this time, she said nothing before looking back at the Inspector, expecting his judgement.

“Fabulous!” he declared with a grin. “See, nothing to worry about.”

Shamant smiled anxiously, but finally bobbed her head in agreement. “Nothing … to worry about.”

“Exactly!” the Space Master said emphatically.

Bast was quiet, but appeared to relax with the matter having been concluded. Although something niggled at the back of her mind that she was being unfaithful to her deity, she did her best to ignore the sensation. It was more important right now to do what the Inspector recommended than obeying the dictates of her people, she decided.

“Then, shall we resume the deposition?” the Kayaclaschian suggested. “Ask me more questions about my past, all the peoples I could have possibly wronged somehow? Go over all the details before you represent me before the Judicial Panel?”

Bast Shamant pondered the questions, finally agreeing. Knowing that the Chief Prosecutor would be setting out the charges against him, she would need to be prepared for just about anything, despite the charges that he’d declared and presented to the Defence Office.

“Indeed,” the Advocate said agreeably. “What event or people wish you to start with?”

“Oh, we might want to start with the Drall,” the Inspector said and launched into an extensive explanation of his numerous interactions with the secretive society from deep in the Orion Cluster.

* * *

Lily had ended up falling asleep after having the intense snogging session with Bast. Her throat tingled and she felt discomfort in her oesophagus as she sat up on the sofa in her quarters’ main room, where she and the Cathuriian had settled for all the activity.

Then came the unspeakable pain that felt like a sharp knife was stabbing her hard in the abdomen. She doubled over, immediately sick to her stomach. The pain abated a bit with the movement, then reasserted itself.

Lily shambled across the room toward the lavatory, coming to a stop against the door frame. She felt she was going to sick all over the place.

The tingling in her oesophagus prickled more intensely and she fell to her knees. The nausea suddenly diminished, but lurked in the pit of her stomach. She waited a moment before attempting to get to her feet; when she did, her legs were rubbery, uncertain. And, the nausea returned.

She wobbled across the room and slipped heavily into the chair, activating the screen.

“Medic,” she mumbled, her vocal cords feeling a little tight and possibly paralysed.

A voice sounded all around her. “Medical Centre. How may we assist?”

“I’m sick,” the platinum-blonde woman forced out. “Can hardly move.”

“Residential Centre, Quarters Four-Delta-Seven-Bread,” the voice said, somewhat quieter as the speaker appeared to have turned away from the microphone for a moment. “A team will be with you momentarily. Tell me more, if you can. We need to keep you alert.”

Lily tersely described what she was experiencing, answered the medic’s questions as best she could until the doors slid apart, revealing a brown-skinned man and a reddish-skinned woman decked out in blue-green jackets. They did a quick assessment once the Medical Centre signed off, then bundled her on to a stretcher-bed and wheeled her to the Medical Centre.

The Chief Medic had her taken directly to an operating bay and put her under, after of course, informing her that she having an appendicitis. Lily barely understood what he had said, her mind swimming with chemicals that put her off balance.

She didn’t remember agreeing to any medical procedure, but woke up hours later in a hospital bed with a straight rosy-coloured line across the left side of her abdomen and a soreness in her left ribs. The line cut directly across a stylised tattoo of the Sun that she had had put on without her father’s permission during secondary school. It was something that Minnie had much approved of before they had become lovers. That may have been why it was so disturbing to see the image marred. The anaesthetic still made her a little nauseous and tired, but she felt she had had quite a bit of sleep that day, so lay awake on the bed, listening to the sounds of the medical workers going about their business.

* * *

The message came while Bast Shamant was in the cell with the Inspector. Naturally, the guards had no intention of releasing their detainee from custody, even though he was the only person with any relation to Lily in the Judicial Centre, or in that time frame for that matter.

The Advocate had delivered the news anxiously and adamantly refused to visit the young human, despite the Inspector’s imploring her. She was completely convinced that her attempt to inseminate Lily had led to her hospitalisation and she didn’t plan to face up to her impulsive act so soon, especially considering that the young woman had ended up getting emergency surgery.

The Space Master had yielded to her wish and dropped the matter. It would end up worrying him until he saw her and saw that she was well, but that’s how it went when you were locked up in gaol. He bid the Advocate a modest farewell and encouraged her to focus on her work. Hopefully, they would be as prepared as possible before the hearing came.