Dante frowned. “But the temple decided—”
Regi cut Dante off. “The more serious charge is espionage. If you can convince them that you have no interest in Kowri technology, the issue of your temper will be far easier to handle.” Regi could never argue that Ter was innocent, but he might beable to convince them to allow the captain to handle discipline since Ter was under his authority. And he did not want Ter knowing that the temple had dismissed the assault charge. It would only encourage him to throw more equipment.
“It’s not as though Kowri will listen to logic when xenophobia will serve their purpose.” Ter’s elbows jutted out farther.
“I would ask you to avoid aggravating them,” Captain Cota said. “Sometimes being conciliatory is the best way to achieve a goal.”
Ter snorted. “Dante, get your useless sack of flesh and under-calcified bones up there and check the tertiary display.”
“He will not,” Regi said.
Dante narrowed his eyes in Regi’s direction. “And why not?”
Regi felt off-balance in the face of Dante’s aggravation. “Working in engineering requires safety equipment.”
Dante pushed off from the wall. “Are you suggesting I’m going to kill myself if I fall six feet?”
“You might.”
Dante scoffed. “I’ve fallen twice that far and walked away. No one has ever died of a bruise.”
Regi’s fur rippled with horror. “Many individuals have died of internal swelling caused by blunt-force trauma. I have investigated far more deaths of that nature than those maliciously killed by more direct means.”
Dante blinked. “It’s a saying. It means I think you’re overestimating the danger. I’ve been on this ship for a long time, and I know my limits. More than that, you don’t get to order me around. We’re both exalteds of Divashi.”
Regi felt the flush of shame. Dante didn’t answer to him in either the temple hierarchy or the crew, and Regi had no right to pretend otherwise. Still, he hated the idea of Dante dangling from the ceiling, and Regi did have authority to enforce rules on the ship. “There are safety protocols for everyone who works inengineering.” And since Dante’s people were not in the database, the most restrictive rules would apply, not that Regi felt the need to explain that different individuals had to obey different rules. “Ter, if you allow individuals to operate outside the required safety measures, I will file an official complaint.”
Ignoring Regi, Ter focused on his computer. “Now that you know I supervise experimental technologies, I’m sure you understand how pointless such a complaint would be.”
Captain Cota tapped his communicator. “We have a delegation of Kowri asking to speak with Engineer Ter. I assume we can all be civil and avoid antagonizing our hosts.”
Ter scoffed. “I will try to die at the hands of small-minded and paranoid Kowri without bringing too much inconvenience to your position.” Ter stood so fast that Dante started. Thank all the gods he had not been dangling from a strut when that happened. However, Regi refrained from saying as much as Ter strode past, elbows and knees protruding into the space around him.
The captain followed Ter, leaving Regi alone with Dante. Expecting Dante to demand an apology, Regi tried to sort the best words to communicate his regret at overstepping his authority without retreating from his essential position that Dante should not risk his health or life to assist Ter.
“Your people won’t execute him, will they?” Dante asked.
Regi had not prepared an answer for that. “I hope not,” he said. “If the exalteds insist on believing that he attempted to steal Kowri technology, that is a serious charge given that our technology was gifted to us by the gods. That is why we should be present.” He gestured to the door.
“Us being there will not stop Ter from saying something stupid,” Dante said as he exited.
Regi didn’t answer because Dante was correct. His mother thought speaking to Ter would clarify the course they shouldtake to achieve justice, but Regi feared that Ter would make any mercy his people might possess wither in the face of his sharp tongue. Ter did inspire homicidal feelings in the kindest of species, and Kowri were not kind.
Chapter Thirteen
Dante tried to vanish into a corner of the crowded conference room. Two dozen Kowri exalteds, the captain, Ter, and Bevit who had been called in to discuss the medical peculiarities of Ter’s species, all vied to be the loudest. Or at least it felt that way. Regi’s mother hadn’t yet spoken a single word, but there were still far too many opinions for one room. So far, the “trial” had been hours and hours of Kowri asking the same questions over and over.
Dante had expected something exciting. Maybe terrifying if they found Ter guilty. Instead, Gimi a’Onidba asked a question, and then Leevshi a’Dicia would ask the same question in a sharp, disbelieving tone and then Dwill a’Itzpach would insist that something was impossible before Bekdi a’Gavd rephrased the question in a blatant attempt to catch Ter in a lie.
Over and over and over again until Dante wanted to beat his head against the table so he could fall unconscious and escape the monotony.
Sometimes Nuruti a’Asza or Nawr a’Ectipic would interject, but the anti-outsider crowd dominated the questions, trying to catch Ter in a lie or undermine Gimi’s logic. If not for Ter’s detailed insults, it would have been unbearably boring, even with the fear the Kowri would condemn Ter to death.
They were stuck on a loop for literal hours until Regi’s mother took control, shouting over Bedki. “The behavior is one of permissive raising, and the temple has clear guidelines!”
Bekdi had been in the middle of asking about Ter’s discipline as a child for the third time, but now he glowered at Minait a’Otutha. “I require information.”
“You have information,” Minait snapped. “We have listened to you ask the same questions so often that the gods are likely annoyed with your inability to listen the first five times you hear a relevant fact!” Nawr a’Ectipic appeared amused and Bekdi glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Minait.
