Illegal Alien

*21*

“The People call Kelkad,” said Linda Ziegler.

The alien captain was sworn in.

Ziegler stepped up to the lectern. This time, she chose her words carefully.

“Kelkad, what is your working relationship to the defendant?”

“I am captain of a starship on which he serves.”

“So you are his boss?”

“Yes.”

“Are you also his friend?”

“We are not close emotionally.”

“Kelkad, how long have you known Hask?”

“Two hundred and nineteen of your years.”

“But you spent most of that time in hibernation, no?”

“That is correct.”

“How long were you in hibernation?”

“Two hundred and eleven Earth years.”

“So, setting aside that time, you’ve still known Hask for eight years.”

“Correct.”

“Have you ever had to discipline him?”

“Of course. I am his commanding officer.”

“In other words, Hask in the past has failed to observe regulations?”

“From time to time.”

“Would you please give an example of Hask’s disobedience?”

“Certainly. Regulations require venting the reclamation facilities aboard our ship after each use; Hask has occasionally failed to observe this protocol.”

A couple of jurors laughed.

“I beg your pardon?” said Ziegler.

“It is comparable to forgetting to flush the toilet,” said Kelkad.

The rest of the jurors laughed, and so did Judge Pringle. Ziegler turned slightly red. “Can you give a more significant example of his disobedience?”

“I have no way of knowing what you would consider significant,” said Kelkad.

“Isn’t it true that your crew originally consisted of eight members?”

“Objection,” said Dale. “Irrelevant.”

“Overruled.”

“Yes,” said Kelkad.

“And isn’t it true that one of those crew members died en route to Earth?”

“Objection,” said Dale. “Irrelevant.”

“Overruled.”

“Yes,” said Kelkad.

“What was the name of this dead crew member?”

“Seltar.”

“Did you have to discipline Hask over Seltar’s death?”

“I was not pleased about it, but it seemed unavoidable. However, I did discipline him for making contact with you humans before I was revived; I felt that Hask had been presumptuous in exceeding his authority.”

“Do you personally know for a fact what killed Seltar?”

“Hask told me that—”

“Hearsay is inadmissible,” said Ziegler. “Do you personally know for a fact what killed Seltar?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I was informed by Hask that—”

“Again, that is hearsay.”

“I trust Hask,” said Kelkad.

“Nonresponsive,” said Ziegler. “Move to strike.”

“The jury will disregard the witness’s last comment,” said Pringle.

“Did you yourself examine Seltar’s body?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I was still in hibernation when the accident occurred.”

“But Seltar was not?”

“That is correct.”

“Who else was not in hibernation?”

“Hask had also been revived.”

“Hask and Seltar were the only ones conscious aboard your ship at that time?”

“Correct.”

“And Hask was the only possible witness to Seltar’s death?”

“Correct. However, I do not know if he actually did witness the death. She died while performing repairs to our ship.”

“I didn’t ask you that. What became of Seltar’s body?”

“It was expelled into space.”

“The whole thing?”

Kelkad’s tuft waved in confusion. “I beg your pardon?”

“Was the whole, intact body expelled into space?”

“No.”

“In what way was it not intact?”

“Its significant component parts were harvested prior to ejection.”

“ ‘Harvested.’ What do you mean by that?”

Kelkad paused. He glanced uncomfortably at the other Tosoks. “Her organs were removed and stored in case they might be required for transplant at some future time. Of course, if a single organ is damaged, it can usually be regenerated internally, but if two or more are damaged simultaneously, a transplant may be required.”

“Who performed the organ harvesting?”

“Why, Hask, of course.”

“Let me get this straight,” said Ziegler, now facing the jury. “Prior to your arrival at Earth, Hask had been awoken early, and one of the principal tasks he performed at this time was carving the organs out of a Tosok body.”

“It was not a principal task.”

“But he did do it.”

“Yes. I have seen Seltar’s organs in cold storage aboard the mothership.”

“So Hask opened up her body, removed the hearts, the lungs, and so on.”

“Yes.”

“Blood spilling everywhere.”

A sucking in of breath from juror four.

“Your Honor!” said Dale. “Objection.”

Judge Pringle frowned at the prosecutor. “Sustained. Ask a question, Ms. Ziegler.”

“Hask is not a doctor, correct?”

“That is correct. But he was consecrated by a priest-physician to perform certain medical procedures; we all had such training.”

“Despite the Tosok taboo about such matters?”

“We view the internal workings of the body the way you view sexual intercourse. They are private matters, but at appropriate times they can be appropriately explored. Given that five individuals are involved in Tosok mating, we have no privacy taboos associated with that act, and I assure you, Ms. Ziegler, that human embarrassment over sexual matters seems as strange to us as our reticence about interior biology is to you.”

“Understood,” said Ziegler. “When Hask was confronted with the task of harvesting Seltar’s organs, this would have been his first time performing such a procedure on an actual corpse, no? His training would have been done on simulations or dummies, correct?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” said Dale. “Compound question.”

“Sustained.”

“To your knowledge,” said Ziegler, “Hask would never have dissected in actual corpse before?”

“Object to the term ‘dissected.’ Inflammatory.”

“Sustained.”

“To your knowledge, Hask would never have removed organs from a real body before, correct?”

The clock whirred again. Someone coughed in the back of the courtroom.

“Correct.”

Ziegler locked her gaze on the alien captain. “Is it conceivable that Hask took pleasure in this act?”

“Objection! Calls for speculation.”

“Sustained.”

“Very well. As leader of your expedition, you no doubt received training in psychology, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Tosok psychology, right?”

“Yes.”

“So you are qualified as an expert in this area—more so than any human psychologist?”

“Yes.”

“And of all your crew, you’ve had the most psychological training?”

“Your Honor,” said Dale, spreading his arms. “Objection. Ms. Ziegler has tried this same stunt before. We’ve got no way to verify any of this. Surely the Court can’t rely on such opinions.”

“The People are not asking you to accept Kelkad’s opinions, Your Honor,” said Ziegler, “but the Tosoks are the only witnesses who can offer any sort of testimony in these areas. To that extent, these are factual matters, not matters of opinion, and they are clearly probative.”

“Normally I wouldn’t allow it,” said Pringle, “but, Mr. Rice, I’ll give you similar latitude should you wish to pursue similar lines of questioning during your case-in-chief.”

“Thank you,” said Ziegler. “Kelkad, as an expert in Tosok psychology, let me ask you a hypothetical question. Given the taboos surrounding internal bodily processes in your culture, is it conceivable that a Tosok could find pleasure in performing organ extraction?”

“Not a normal Tosok.”

“No, not a normal Tosok,” said Ziegler. “But in the annals of Tosok psychology, have there been cases of aberrant individuals taking pleasure in carving into other people’s bodies?”

Kelkad said nothing.

“Come now, Kelkad. I realize you’re trying to put the best foot forward for your people, just as our race has been trying to portray itself positively in your eyes. There are human beings who take pleasure in such matters. We consider it sick and deviant, and it is mercifully rare, but such human beings do exist. Are you telling me that no such Tosoks exist?”

“They exist,” said Kelkad slowly.

“In Tosok psychology, are there predictive tests for such a predilection?”

“I do not understand the question.”

“I mean, how is it that you discover that a Tosok has this particular aberration? Can you determine it just by looking at the Tosok?”

“No.”

“Would a normal Tosok psychological test—say, the kind your crew might have undergone before being assigned to this mission—reveal this predilection?”

“I doubt it.”

“In fact, in most such cases, a Tosok would not know that he found this pleasurable until circumstance forced him to actually expose the internal organs, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes, I suspect that is probably true.”

“And if a Tosok did find itself stimulated by this action, he or she might be as surprised as anyone, no?”

“It would certainly shock me to discover it about myself,” said Kelkad.

“I’m sure it would,” said Ziegler. “Psychologically speaking, do individual Tosoks desire to repeat experiences they have found stimulating?”

“Possibly.”

“You’re hedging, Kelkad. The answer is surely more direct.”

“Objection,” said Dale. “Badgering.”

“Overruled.”

“Yes, they may well desire to repeat pleasurable experiences.”

“So,” said Ziegler, “if Hask had found himself enjoying the act of removing the organs from—”

“Objection! Your Honor, counsel is arguing her case.”

“Sustained.”

“Very well,” said Ziegler. She looked at the jury. “Very well. Your witness, Mr. Rice.”

Dale rose. “Mr. Kelkad, in your experience, has Hask ever exhibited signs of sadism?”

Kelkad’s translator beeped. “Sadism?”

“Deriving satisfaction from inflicting pain on others.”

“No, Hask never exhibited any such thing.”

“Did he demonstrate an unnatural fondness for the gory?”

“No.”

“Any bloodthirstiness?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen him cause deliberate injury to other Tosoks?”

“No.”

“What about animals on your world?”

“Hask in fact had a pet kogloo he was quite fond of; he treated it extremely well.”

“Thank you,” said Dale, returning to his seat. “No further questions.”