There was a little noise from the crowd.
"Your age was just stated as sixteen," the arbiter said.
"Yes, but that's according to the ship calendar. As we are no longer on the ship, or even near it, it's safe to assume that the relativity of time in a location makes my age somewhat up for debate."
Absolute silence. I wondered for a second if that meant I passed or if it signaled failure. They weren't going to make it that simple for me, and Arbiter Lancaster gave me a droll look as he said, "The record will indicate the witness's age at sixteen. I do not suppose it will do much good to ask you the place of your birth?"
"StarTech deep space ship, Condor One."
The crowd got loud then. There was flashing, too, bright lights that made me squint. I was trying to look as important as possible, and the flashing really started to screw up my plan.
"Silence." The arbiter wasn't loud. He didn't shout the word. But everyone hushed at once as if he had. "Are you aware that your existence is illegal?"
I didn't really expect anyone to put things so bluntly. To be honest, I was a little relieved. I was raised by scientists, remember? I can deal with blunt. "Yes."
"And that StarTech intentionally broke the laws we have in place to protect humanity?"
"No, sir."
The crowd mumbled. The arbiter looked surprised. "No, what?"
"It was not a StarTech plan, sir. My parents acted of their own volition."
He made a little noise of annoyance. "Let's not pretend to be naive, Mr. Cosworth. StarTech has been skirting the law for years. They worked with your parents to hide your existence from the rest of the world. Why, when our governments finally..."
"No, they didn't," I said, interrupting him. There was a gasp from the crowd, though I'm not sure if it was because I interrupted or because I contradicted the mighty arbiter.
"You will explain yourself," he demanded.
"The files were there. The governments simply chose not to read them."
The arbiter looked angry then. His eye twitched. "More StarTech propaganda..."
"Propaganda nothing...sir," I added hastily. "It's right in the files. As soon as StarTech knew of my birth, they reported it. I can tell you, sir, that I have been a bigger headache to StarTech than I can possibly be to you."
There was a titter of laughter from the crowd. "Explain yourself," he said again.
"Look around, sir. Me showing up now has brought censure and scrutiny on StarTech, in spite of their compliance with all your laws."
"You haven't been on Earth for more than two days and already you think you know..."
"I do know, Arbiter Lancaster. From a purely logical standpoint, if StarTech was behind my birth, and they were trying to keep it a secret as you claim, then I would not be here now."
"That is flawed logic, young man. At some point, every secret comes out."
"Yes. And that is now. The secret isn't me, though. The secret is a lazy government that didn't bother to read my biography eighty years ago!"
The crowd all but roared then. Cameras clicked. Flashes flashed. The IOC members talked amongst themselves. Only the arbiter remained quiet. He waited for the crowd to calm. "So you believe you have it all worked out, do you?"
"No, not all, sir. Just that part."
"Tell me what you think of this StarTech you are defending. Did you know that they enslave children?"
He thought he had me. "I know of their indentured programs. Isn't it the parents of these children that sign them away?"
"Are you aware of the military roots of StarTech? Of their continued recruitment of soldiers? An army, Mr. Cosworth. Let's call it what it is. Are you aware of their vast military capabilities?"
"Good." He was trying to get me off guard and I had to keep up.
"Good? You believe we need an army that is above all law here on Earth?"
"I didn't say that. I said it's good that the people pushing to the edges of the universe can also protect themselves."
"And why is that a good thing? Do you not believe we should spread a peaceful human message?"
"Of course I do. But tell that to another tribe who doesn't feel as friendly."
He gave me a snaky smile. "So you admit that an invasion is a possibility."
Yes, he thought he had me. "It is always a possibility. However, if you have an army that can reach the outskirts of the very galaxy, then the Earth will never know the horrors of an interplanetary war, will they? We can stop them before it's even an issue." Ha! I wasn't half raised by the war loving Qitani for nothing. I felt the little victory hit home. The press went nuts. Some of the IOC members were nodding. Humans feared invasion. That's what the arbiter was trying to play on. And I made it backfire. I felt for a moment what Marlon must have felt.
"And how would you know these 'horrors' of which you speak?"
I knew too late my mistake. I was not supposed to speak of other tribes. I was not supposed to speak of any of that. Not here. Not yet. "I was speaking hypothetically."
"Have you been witness to an alien war?"
It felt as if he knew that word would push my button. I felt the anger rise. I tamped it down. He knew. He could read me, assess me. He was Christophe's double, his counterpart. "I have never witnessed a war among other races."
"But you have witnessed other races. You have seen aliens."
The crowd was so silent you could have heard a single heartbeat. Maybe they could. Maybe they could hear mine. "Other races exist," I said carefully.
"Answer the question."
"In your documents you have all the scientific and anthropological data collected..."
"Answer. The. Question." He said, slowly and carefully.
I was stuck. I looked at the crowd. All eyes were on me. People leaned forward, straining to hear. Cameras were rolling, microphones were stretched to the ends of their poles. I swallowed hard. Christophe was going to kill me. I turned to the arbiter. "Yes, Arbiter Lancaster. I have seen other races."
The roar from the crowd was not instant. They waited just long enough for me to notice a few very important things. Maybe it was Dad's training that I caught them at all, though I think he would have picked up on it all sooner. Maybe he could have saved me from stepping in it in the first place. Arbiter Lancaster's fist was tightly clenched. He wasn't mean...he was nervous. Okay, well maybe he's both. But he was more nervous than anything. And scared. He didn't breathe after I confirmed what they already really should have known if they bothered to read anything we gave them. I guess history really does repeat. He was nervous, scared, and on the edge of his seat. But the most important thing I noticed in the split second before the noise and flashing and wave of questions rolled in from the crowd was that he was also...alone. He was surrounded by IOC members who did not share either his fear or his hostility, and as the room was ordered silent and the questions began again, that became clearer and clearer.
"Silence!" yelled the little man who had brought us all in. He was now in the court, just to the left of the panel. I hadn't even seen him walk in. "I said silence! Silence, or this court will be cleared and the rest of the proceedings will be held in black out!"
Christophe explained later that "black out" during a court case or hearing meant that no press was allowed. They would have cleared the room completely and sealed the records from the public, with only the government representatives getting the transcripts. The only reason I am bothering to explain it at all is because to me, it sounds like parents and a group of kids, like the court will put the naughty brats on punishment. I don't know. It cracked me up when Christophe explained, in spite of him telling me over and over how serious it really is.
At the time, all I knew was that the threat worked. The crowd took in a deep breath of a gasp, and then shut up all together as one. People sat back down, though all leaning forward to be closer to whatever it was they thought I was going to say next.