They ran through a summary of the rest of the accusations, during which time Sirena kept looking at her wristwatch. Then it was time to review evidence and hear witness statements. An overhead projector was dragged into the room and a man came forth to give a talk on the snakes. It went on for quite some time and was followed by an entirely different man giving a very similar talk with some subtle variations.

  Sirena’s witness made a compelling argument from a financial perspective, but it was the argument about culling that really made Amanda second guess things for a second. She was familiar enough with the animal market to know that if the shipment of an animal got to be too expensive or the market too competitive then, particularity for fast breeders, sometimes the less appealing animals would simply be killed.

  Did this apply here though? From what Amanda knew of the snake, they only bred once a year. Beatrice’s snake expert must have been thinking the same thing, for he stood up and interrupted the other man’s talk to point it out.

  “This man doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Carpet pythons do not breed fast enough for this culling argument to apply.”

  “Well, actually, I need to make a small correction,” rebutted Sirena’s expert calmly. “This snake is not a carpet python.”

  The man’s statement caused significant muttering among both the crowed and the council.

  Renault held up his hands. “Order! Order!”

  Sandy spoke next, directing his question at Sirena. “Either the snake is Morelia Spilota or it is not, Sirena. Make up your mind. Which is it?”

  Sirena looked stressed but it probably had more to do with the fact that she’d given up looking at her watch sometime during her own expert’s talk. Evidently, whatever other appointment she had, was likely well overdue. At one point she had waved for one of her supporters to come over, had whispered something to them, and then they’d left the room.

  Sirena’s expert was much more responsive. “I believe I can explain.”

  He then proceeded to get into a talk about genetics that went well over Amanda’s head.

  “So, you see,” said Sirena’s expert, “With the recent advances in genetic modification, these may look like Morelia Spilota, but they are actually a slightly different variation that can breed much faster, thus resulting in increased competition in the snake market for either attractive or cheaper snakes. Shipping costs must be kept low if these snakes are to survive at all.”

  Beatrice stood up from her seat. “That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! So you breed more of them only to cull them?”

  Sirena’s expert witness shook his head. “We do not practice the culling as so far we have managed to keep shipping costs low. The snakes do not get too stressed and ultimately they go on to live very healthy lives. The demand for attractive pythons has risen greatly in recent years. Ms Silver’s buyers are all well vetted.”

  “Just like her contractors?” Sirius asked in a voice that was soft but deep enough to echo through the room.

  His statement prompted a few titters and then several voices started speaking all at once. Soon Beatrice and the Sirena’s snake expert were yelling at each other across the room.

  “Woman deserves to find a viper in her bed,” muttered a voice to Amanda’s left, and she turned to see Crick gently soothing one of the pythons that he’d brought with him and which was currently wrapped around his body and over his shoulder.

  Renault called for silence but the room was out of control until Sirius stood up, put two fingers in his mouth and gave a piercing whistle.

  The room was reduced to a hush and all eyes turned to Sirius, who simply sat and gestured at Renault to talk.

  Beatrice opened her mouth to continue her own debate but Renault held up his hand. “That’s enough Beatrice. If you have an argument to make then make it but only in turn. There will be no back and forth so think carefully. Are there any more points you wish to make which you have not said yet?”

  Beatrice said a few things on behalf of the snakes and then sat down again.

  “Anyone else?” Renault asked.

  Mephistopheles stood up and adjusted his waistcoat. “Actually, I would like to make an argument in defence of Sirena and her care of animals. As a long time client and purchaser of her imports in the past, I have always found them to be in an utmost quality condition. Sirena has provided many of the plants in our gardens, as well as the fish in our ponds. Her knowledge of care is exceptional. I have seen other snakes sold by other handlers and not one was as well-cared for as hers.”

  “That says more about the snake market than Sirena,” Amanda mumbled to Crick who chuckled. This was concerning though. Sirius had mentioned that Mephistopheles had a lot of sway over the other councilors. If Mephistopheles was on her side for the snakes, then what was going to happen when they got to the murder charge? And what were the penalties of being convicted?

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Mephistopheles continued to talk for a little while and Amanda watched with growing dread as other council members started nodding along.

  The judgement wouldn’t occur until the end but she was glad when they moved onto the next accusation.

  Renault coordinated things once more. “Glory, is your teleporter back now?”

  “She is.”

  “And what was the condition of the crates?”

  A runner handed Glory a sheet of paper and she read what it said. Every time Glory spoke she seemed to get a little more confident. “She found that the crate belonging to the beetles was extensively damaged by acid, likely the cause of the beetles escape. As for the arasnids, the infusement mark appeared to be damaged, likely from being dragged aross something when the crates were moved.”

  “During shipping?” Sandy asked.

  Sirius shook his head. “They didn’t move during shipping and the arasnids escaped within hours of being loaded onto the ship.”

  “How were they loaded?” Ren asked.

  Amanda half-listened as they went through the process for loading crates onto a ship in painful detail. By the end of it she was 80% sure they’d all decided the damaged infusement was no one’s fault in particular, but it was difficult to be certain given she kept zoning out. Her mind kept wandering back to Mephistopheles’s speech and all the council members nodding. Well, not all of them. Who did they have?

  Beatrice was definitely on their side with respect to the treatment of the snakes and likely Sandy too but that was only two of thirteen. Ren kept asking overly specific questions that made Amanda think he was more on Sirena’s side. Sirius had said that Eddie and Nap would vote however Ren did. Marie had asked a lot of questions about the snakes so maybe she was on their side. But then there was Mephistopheles, and Klaus, who had been nodding along with everything Mephistopheles had said. Likewise for Mickey, the kid, and Glory too, although Glory seemed to nod along with everything that was said. How many was that? It wasn’t looking good.

  They moved onto the topic of the ownership of the animals and Amanda was called forth to talk about Ghost. She gave it everything she had, weaving a long and detailed description of how she had came into possession of Ghost, her journey through the desert with her father, the dead mare, the danger from the other musterers, and how Ghost had later been stolen. She included details about his care and even some heart-tugging stuff about his mannerisms, like how he’d stick his nose in her hair when she brushed his mane and blow raspberries, how he had a very specific whinny when he wanted a treat, the way he liked his left ear scratched more than his right one. She gave so many details that even a competent liar would have had trouble keeping track. That was the point.

  And Ren certainly tested her on every single one of them.

  By the time Ren was done questioning her, she knew she had them all convinced that the pegasus was hers. As long as the council was honest, then Ghost would be safe.

  As if Sirena knew the same thing, and that there was little point in challenging it, her defense was brief, to the point, and entirely unconvincing.

  The snakes however, were a different story. Every time Amanda glanced sideways at Crick, she could see how worried he was for them. If he kept on patting that python so much, he was going to wear a patch down on its head.

  The evidence for the theft of the animals at the docks of Scarlett was also strongly in Sirena’s favor. Even worse, Sirius made no argument in his own defense beyond bringing up concern for the welfare of the animals. It was as if he wanted to take responsibility for it even though he’d had nothing to do with it, the stupid self-sacrificial fool. Somehow it just made her love him more.

  None of the crew who were called as witnesses disagreed with him either. Every single one of them denied knowing anything about the event at all. Even Crick.

  “We don’t know nothing about no snake theft,” he said with the carpet python hanging around his neck while the council silently made their notes.

  Sirius refused to name who had done it but it was obvious. It was also obvious from his posture when they got up and denied everything that he would have preferred they’d owned up. The crew may care for him, but they weren’t willing to sacrifice themselves for their captain. Amanda wished Sirius knew what it felt like to be protected. She doubted he ever had. It made her determined to give him that.

  She wasn’t going to sacrifice his crew for him. He wouldn’t want that, but there must be something she could do?

  “Alright, onto the next item, the murder of Michael Von Whisker,” Renault declared. He turned to Sirena. “He was your nephew yes?”

  She gave a nod.” My brother’s son.”

  “Is your brother here today?”

  She shook her head. “My brother and his son are… were estranged.”

  Amanda could hear a slight shake in the woman’s voice, and it sent a sudden pang of guilt shooting through her, even though she’d had nothing to do with Michael’s death. She knew who had though. She was almost certain Shiv had done it, and she and Sirius were protecting him. As far as she was concerned, even though she’d told Sirius the opposite, that made them just as responsible.

  Despite what Michael had been like, it was difficult to listen to Sirena talk about him. It was obvious she’d cared for him.

  Like before, every member of the crew present denied everything. Even Sirius simply said that he knew nothing of what had happened to Michael. Shiv was not at the hearing. The council had no reason to suspect him specifically and so they did not call for him.

  The council had their teleporter find witnesses in Scarlett, but there were none. There was very little evidence at all. Amanda was starting to think that maybe the murder charge would slip away.

  “Why do we not just call a mindwalker? I know one,” Klaus said, after yet another witness turned up nothing. As the trial had progressed, his slouching posture had gotten worse and worse, but when he spoke he sounded alert and attentive.

  Amanda’s blood ran cold at the suggestion. No way would they be able to hide the truth from a mindwalker.

  But just as quickly Renault replied, “You know that is not an option. Memory is fallible, as is mindreading. Even eye-witness statements only hold weight when multiple independent parties agree unprompted. The very act of reading a memory alters it and we have limited ways to test the accuracy of the mindwalker.”

  The law was the same in Little Rock and Amanda was glad that it was like that for Cap too. There were some places that relied heavily on mindwalking for making convictions, or worse, for punishment.

  Amanda fixed her eyes on the back of Sirius’s coat, but his posture remained solid and unmoving. Perhaps he was worried about other options? Lie detection was one, and it was less fallible than mindwalking. Now that mindwalking had been brought up, they were sure to suggest it.

  But for whatever reason, they didn’t, at least not immediately. What they did do, was almost just as bad, but for a completely different reason.

  “I think it’s time we look at motive,” Renault said. “Michael was accused of harming one of your female passengers, correct?” he asked Sirius.

  “That’s correct,” Sirius replied.

  Renault fixed his eyes on Amanda. “Would she please step forward.”