By reason of insanity

By reason of Insanity

                                                                          Starlight, starbright
                                                                          First star I see tonight
                                                                          Wish I may, wish I might
                                                                          Have the wish I wish tonight…
         

    The cost of a lie comes due sooner or later.  It’s a universal truth and no matter how you deny it, if you tell an untruth, someone will call you on it.  I just never considered how bad it could get.

         I was in a courtroom.  Or as close to a courtroom as anything I had ever seen on Earth.  Even though I was still dazed by the past day’s events, I have been in enough of these situations to realize that this was some serious shit.  The most amazing thing about it was my almost total lack of fear.  I could only attribute that to some kind of tampering on the part of the bugs.
         One of the bugs sat to my right, its large green eyes turned towards the front of the room.  It, or I guess - she, had not spoken to me for several hours.  Ever since coming to me to tell me that the time had come. 
         “Prepare yourself.” She hissed to me, the parts of her mouth moving in an obscene parody of speech.
         “What’s going on?” I asked, feeling my heart quicken and my mouth dry because she had come into my cage flanked by two of the smaller males. 
         The males were carrying something that looked like guns.  With evil looking snouts and long spidery metal frames.  But with those sharp spikes and their segmented arms and the wicked way they bent backwards like scythes, it was obvious was that the guns were for show only.  If they closed one of those arms around me, it would cut me in two before I could scream.
         “You are to be taken before a magistrate to determine if you should be tried by the HiveLord or simply terminated now.”
         She said it with such nonchalance that I felt my blood freeze dry.
         “You still haven’t told me what I’m being charged with.”  I cursed inwardly as my voice cracked.  Showing weakness was something that I have never done.  In my stint in the pen I had not been as uneasy as I was now, but I mean hey, this was a special circumstance.
         “When you face the magistrate you will be told the charges against you, and the possible penalties.”  She wiped one long antenna with the tip of a leg and I got the distinct impression that she was sizing me up for a loaf of bread and some sauce.
         “I didn’t do anything.”  I’d said that before, but this time I meant it.
         Her heart shaped head swiveled left and right, the large black spot in each eye studying me.  Something in her silent manner struck me as calculating.  She was cold and efficient, but also somehow unsure.  As if she was weighing my words looking for some flaw in them.
         “We will see.”  She said after a moment of observation.

         Now she sat beside me, watching as several hundred bugs filled the large room.  The females came is first, followed by a small contingent of males.  It wasn’t too hard to tell them apart.  My bug had given me a basic run down of how things worked here.  The females were large.  I’d say close to six feet tall with long forelegs.  The males were smaller; several were only half the size of the females they followed.
         I hadn’t been allowed to go anywhere since being brought here, but the female next to me told me several things about her people.  Things like the name of the race: Sh’Iraz.  And that this was a female dominated society and males were generally relegated to breeding and domestic chores.  Oh yeah, and sometimes (rarely, she claimed) as food.
         The females were several shades, ranging from forest green to an almost velvety deep purple.  The males were routinely gray or dark green.  I couldn’t be sure but it seemed like the body color was based on age.
         She must have noticed me, because she said, “Do not look directly at any of the HiveMasters.  It is considered improper.”
         “What’s the difference?”
         “The larger matriarchs with iridescent wings are HiveMasters.”
         “Are you a hive master?”
         “HiveMaster.”  She corrected.  “If I were, another would have been chosen to second you.  This is not a task for those of high station.”
         “Second me?  What does that mean?”
         “I am to act as a translator and guardian and several other tasks that have no meaning to you.”
                “So what do you do when you are not seconding someone?”
                ”I am…” She paused, as if unsure of her words.  “I am ResearchMaster of BlueWorld.”
                “Blue world?  You mean Earth?”
                “Yes, the place you were taken from.”
                “It’s called Earth.”  I said, not able to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
                She seemed not to notice.
                The throng filling the room began to slow, and then stop.  A general buzz filled the air.  There were too many conversations going on.  The little metal thing they put in my neck couldn’t keep up with all of them.  Then suddenly, as if a door had closed, all conversation ceased.  One of the largest bugs I had ever seen was standing at the front of the hall.  It was obviously female, judging from the fluorescent colors on its wings.  Its two cutting arms were swathed in a filmy gold material that swayed even though she was holding still.
                “All honor to the hive of Zuroc S’uluz.”  The bug standing next to me said.  Then she bowed low, tucking her cutting arms away from her head, exposing the back of her neck.
         The bug at the front simply stood staring at me for a moment.  Then in a voice I had to strain to hear she said, “I accept you obescence and loyalty.  Rise a free person.”
         My bug (I still didn’t know her name) stood to all four legs and turned to me.
         “I bring the alien before you for judgment.  It will be for you to decide if it should appear before the HiveLord for its’ crimes.”
         “The HiveLord is busy.  Why would she be interested in this thing?”
         “I’m not a thing.”  I said indignantly.
         It got very still.
         The magistrate glared at me.  My bug glared at me.  In fact, I could feel every pair of multifaceted eyes staring at me.
         “You will be silent until it is time for you to speak.”  My bug said.
         “I am not a thing.  I’m a man.”  I said.  I guess part of me no longer cared enough to be afraid.  I figured they were going to kill me anyway so I didn’t have much to loose.
         “Man?”  Someone in the crowd asked.
          A general babble broke out.  The magistrate let it continue for a moment, the imperiously raised an arm.  There was instant silence in the hall.
         “You will be given a chance to speak your side.”  My bug said quickly.  “But you must be quiet or face summary judgment.”
         I decided to bide my time.  I still had no idea why I was even here.
         As if reading my mind, the magistrate said, “You are here to answer for the crimes of your race.  I will determine if whether this is a matter that merits the attention of the HiveLord.  You will not speak again until you are directed to.”
         My bug was looking at me oddly.  I got the impression that she was waiting to see how foolhardy I could be.  When I didn’t say anything she turned back to the magistrate.
         With a slight nod, things got underway.
         The hall darkened and an odd glowing mist flowed from the ceiling.  It smelled like cinnamon and burnt hair.  At first I got nauseous, but it quickly cleared and I could see a small bright dot of light.  The light was tiny at first, but it grew rapidly to encompass all I could see.
         I was only slightly aware of what the others around me were doing.  The room lights seemed to come back on, but then I realized that the whole ceiling of the hall had brightened.  It was like standing 2 feet away from a giant movie screen.  All the colors were bright and I had to blink several times to keep my eyes from tearing.
         For a moment, all I could see was the bright light.  It took a moment, but I realized that the light was some kind of star.  The vantage point was as if I were zooming through space without benefit of a ship.  I was moving, but without sound or sensation.  The view meant nothing until I approached a large sphere.  It dwarfed me on a scale that was ridiculous.  For a moment the light was blocked out by the bulk of the sphere, then it came back strongly.
         I discovered that by craning my neck I could see what it was that I had just went around.
         The gasp that came through my lips was not voluntary.  On the far side, the light from the star made the surface of the sphere visible.  I recognized it from hundreds of pictures that I had seen as a kid.  The multicolored bands of swirling gas, the gigantic red area, said to be thousands of times larger than the Earth.
         Jupiter.
         Turning back, I realize that the trip had not ended.  I circled the giant planet once and then approached an area that was totally black.  I could see part of the clouds below, but the rest of the view was blocked out by the swirling darkness.
         Suddenly I was to it.  Everything went black.  The room disappeared and I felt my soul shrivel.  It was the most frightening thing that I have ever experienced.  Icy creepers climbed my spine seeking purchase to the enter the most instinctual areas of my brain.  I actually felt the hair on my arms rise in a prickly sense of panic.  It was hard, but I managed to keep from passing out.
         The blackness slowly changed to a featureless gray.  No sense of up or down.  No way to tell direction or speed.  It was not as scary as the blackness, but it gave me vertigo.  There was no way to know where I was, or if I were even still moving.  The panic feeling grew to the point where I was sweating and very close to running away.
         And, as quickly as it started it ended.
         The black came again.  For some reason it did not last as long and there my panic began to subside slowly.
         There was another bright flash and a familiar blue-green sight availed itself to me.  I am not a geographer so I don’t know what area is was that passed under me, but this was definitely home.
         Puffy white clouds slowly drifted by, obscuring the land here and there, as if it were playing some kind of cosmic hide-and-seek.
         Without realizing it, I felt my hand reach out as if the grab the slowly spinning globe and make it part of me again.
         The perspective changed and suddenly the ground was rushing up at me.  Down through the clouds I raced, and when it seemed like I would crash, I leveled out and slowed down.
         I began to realize that what I was seeing was not actually happening.  It was like some kind of movie.  A few seconds later, my guess played out.
         A small town slipped by, and then another.  I seemed to be following a two-lane highway.  It looked familiar, but not enough for me to know it.
         Memories began to flood back in.  Somewhere in the Tennessee foothills.  I had been walking along a lightly traveled highway.  Only two cars had passed me in an hour.  I saw a bright light approach from the north.  Thinking that it was a plane I ignored it.  Not that watching it would have made a difference.
         There had been moment of disorientation when I realized that it wasn’t an airplane, and then nothing.
         All sorts of weird symbols began to appear before my eyes.  Glowing red and blue letters that looked like Chinese script.
         “Explain this.”  The magistrate said.
         “These are the initial findings from this beings acquisition.  As you can see, based on our examination, it was decided not to allow it to remain conscious.  Our control alien had already been studied and released.  The plan was to bring the new alien to consciousness aboard ship and begin testing under a controlled environment.”
         “What would this testing have consisted of?”
         “Primarily questioning, with sensors attached to key areas of its brain.  Our goal was to determine if the responses discovered with the control alien were genuine or the result of equipment malfunction.”
         “What were your findings?”
         “As with the control alien, this one displayed a remarkable ability to create absolute falsehoods without preparation or noticeable change in expression or temperament.  It was astonishing and very frightening.”
         There was a murmur of agreement from the gathered crowd.
         Some of what was going on went past me sort of fast, but I was beginning to get and idea of the what.  Now I just had to figure out the why.
         “At what point did you terminate the experiment?”
         “The ShipMaster determined that to continue might be more than some of the technicians could bare.  I was willing to go on, but realized that to proceed might invalidate our study.  The ResearchShip is only capable of so much without a full laboratory.  And the facility on BlueWorld is not equipped for the type of study we really need.  I consulted with the command staff and it became apparent that we would have to continue here on HomeWorld.  That is when we terminated and brought the subject here.”
         “You bring me an interesting puzzle.  This is unusual in the extreme, and possibly a breach of the InterHive treaty.  No outsider is casually allowed here.”  The magistrate paused and turned to me.  “Do you understand the charges against you?”
         “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
         “That is not the issue.  What is important here is the potential for harm.”
         “What?”  I asked, not understanding any of this.
         “In 3000 years of exploration, among 40 sentient species, yours is the only one that has this ability.  We have checked the records as far back as we can and there is not mention of anything remotely similar.  There are others who have your ability, but none have your control and lack of character in using it.  Your kind poses what could be the most dangerous threat to the safety of the galaxy what we have ever seen.”
         “What the hell are you talking about?  I don’t think that anyone even knows you exist.”  This was more than unreal.  This was insane.  Although I tried to control it, I felt my voice begin to slip into high revs.
         “And only for that fact are we currently safe.  Consider what chaos would result if your race discovers true space flight.  You would spread to the stars like a plague.  We would have no defense against a race with your ability.”
         “What ability?  I have no idea what you are talking about.”
         My bug turned to me; her already large eyes seemed even bigger.  The luminous intensity drove through me like a spike of 10-year-old bad scotch.
         “It cannot be that you do not know.  Though you seem to do it subconsciously.  Like a reflex…” She paused as if in thought.
         “Do what?”  My voice was shrill now.
         I had been able to keep my composure to a point.  Hell, I had seen enough episodes of Star Trek to convince me that we might not be alone, and that was the only reason that I had not cracked before.  But this?
         I was an abductee.  My god, I had been kidnapped by aliens.  It was like a really bad DT or something.  Or a second rate horror movie.  For a while I kept expecting someone to yell ‘Cut’ and watch as the sets came down and the makeup came off.  That had not happened.  This was stone cold for real.
         And now the bugs, these damned six foot tall preying mantis look-alike sons of bitches were sitting in judgment on me and I had no idea why.
         My bug watched me dispassionately for a moment.  Then turned back to the magistrate.
         “It is possible that they do not know.”
         “What are you saying?”
         “Much as our own ancestors did things based on instinct, it is possible that these beings developed the ability on an evolutionary scale and are no longer aware of it.”
         “Preposterous!”  Cried someone behind me.
         “Continue.”  The Magistrate said calmly.  Nothing seemed to ruffle her.
         I, on the other hand, felt like I was loosing it.
         “Perhaps at some time in their prehistory this talent developed in order to gain safety from some predator.  It is not difficult to extrapolate forward the effects that such a thing would cause.”
         The Magistrate turned to me.  “Are you saying that you have no idea what we are talking about?”
         I resisted the impulse to scream.  “That’s exactly what I am saying.”
         “Your race has been found to possess the ability to create falsehood with your words and actions.  No other race can do that and it is not something that we have a defense against.”
         It took me a moment, but finally light began to dawn.
         “What are you implying?”  I asked, even though I had a nasty suspicion.
         “You are here as a representative of your race to answer charges against you.  Your conviction or acquittal will determine the fate of your kind.”
         At that point I almost went berserk.  This had to be some sort of sick joke.  Me, responsible for the fate of everyone on Earth?  Boy, wouldn’t my probation officer love to hear that.
         “Let me see if I get you.  You are planning to destroy the entire human race because we can lie?  Are you fucking for real?”
         “Lie?  Is that what you call it?”  My bug said.
         “Lie, deception, subterfuge, cheat.  Pick a adjective.  This is absolute bullshit!”
         “What do these words mean?  The translator has no record of them.”
         I brought myself up short, slapping my hand to my forehead and groaning loudly.  Every single curse word I knew flashed through my head.  Giving vent to them would probably have made me feel better, but I don’t think it would change anything.  So I shut my face and tried to decide what to do next.  This situation was absolutely unreal.
         “Please answer.”  She tried again.
         “The words don’t mean anything.  They are expressions of surprise and contempt.  This is so unreal to me.  Not too many people have been kidnapped by aliens and put on trial for something as petty as being able to lie.”
         “Do you understand that to us this is not a small matter?"
         “No I don’t.  Everybody lies, it’s a fact of life.”
                “Not for us.”
                “No shit.”  I mumbled.
                “This is very disturbing.”  The Magistrate said.  “I must decide if this should be brought to the attention of the HiveLord.  As distasteful as the task is, it is none the less paramount.”
                “Our purpose here should be twofold Magistrate.”  My bug said.  “In order to determine this beings guilt, we must first attempt to find the cause and possible effects of this odd ability.”
              “Agreed.  I shall leave it to you to question this creature and find a cause.  We shall convene again in two rotations.  Please have the data.”
              The mist began to lift.  For a moment I felt lost.  The sense of expanding was gone in an instant.  The courtroom feeling came back with a disquieting emptiness.
              The Magistrate raised one arm and the assemblage began to break up.  Several of the larger females stared at me as they left the room.  Because their faces were so rigid it was hard to get a sense of what they were thinking.  I tried not to stare back but it was hard.  The bugs were odd, of that I had no doubt.  But they were also strangely attractive.
That brought me up short.  I don’t even like insects.  Here I am, on trial for my life and I could think about was how well put together their bodies were.  Their four walking legs supported their weight with obvious ease.  The shiny wing cases sparkled in the smoky gray light of the courtroom.  The cutting arms held a grace and savage power that made me shiver.
I watched them exit the room in a stately manner that made a mockery of bipedal motion.
              “Why is it that I am not afraid?”  I asked absently.
              “You were given a special sedative when we removed you from BlueWorld.  It desensitizes certain of your glandular functions.  It is standard procedure.”  She raised her cutting arms in what appeared to be a very human shrug.
              “Procedure.  Is that all you people know?”
              “Explain.”
              “What do you do to relax?  How do you have fun?”
              Her head tilted to the left and one antenna quivered.  “I do not understand.”
              “Recreation.  Time off.  You know something other than rules or work.”
              “We raise our young.  We study the nature of the Galaxy.  We explore.  That is our purpose.”
              “What do you do when you are not exploring?”
              “We catalog our knowledge and teach others.”
              “What do you do with the knowledge?”
              “We grow.  We assist the younger races.  What else is of importance?”
              “How about enjoying yourselves?”
              “Our work is our joy.  There is no greater pleasure than discovery.”
              I sighed.  There was no way to argue this.
              “Our races are different. Does that make us so bad?”
              “It is not the difference that causes the concern.  It is this ability that you have.  Imagine what will happen when your race discovers space travel.  Or worse, a GateWay.  You will have access to the entire galaxy and nothing could stop you.  No race yet discovered has a defense against the ‘lie’.  Just one of you could destroy an entire culture.”
              I could not believe that I was hearing this.  “So what you are saying is that I am no better than some bacteria.”
She closed her mouthparts with an audible click.  “There are those who believe that.  I am not one.”  He voice was very low.
              “Great.  So now what?”
              “We will speak more and then run several tests on you.  It must be determined whether this ability is genetic and if it might be controlled.  It is not our wish to destroy your kind, but if needs be…” She did not finish, but then she hardly needed to.


              Several hours later, back in my cell, she came to me.  She was alone.  She did not have any weapons that I could see, but with those arms she didn’t need any.
              “We must conclude our tests.”
              “What happens if I, if we are found guilty?”
              “The forum will change.  All data will be taken before the Imperium for adjudication.  All of the member races must agree that you are a potential threat.  You personally will long since have been returned to BlueWorld.”
              “And if they don’t all agree?”
              “Then the HiveLord must break any stalemate.  In three thousand years it has not come to this.”
              “Okay, so after that?”
              “It depends on what we find here.  If your race is genetically unable to control this ability, then it might only result in reformatory action being taken against you.  If it is determined that you do this out of some form of perversion or on purpose, the surface of BlueWorld will be cleansed.”
              I leaned back against the wall.  The large cell seemed suddenly stifling.  I felt a muscle under my right eye twitch in time to my heartbeat.  She was so cold about it.  Either way we lost, but to her it was no more than a science experiment.  Then her remark about reform came back to me.
              “What do you mean by ‘reformatory’?”
              “We are not barbarians.  We understand and accept the fact that millions of years of evolution cannot be overcome instantly.  Should it be shown that this can be unlearned or controlled, your race will be given time to correct it.  There will be stipulations though.”
              “How much time?”
              “As long as it takes.”
              I felt a huge breath leave me.  The heaviness that had settled around my heart like a half-ton pail of ice seemed to crack slightly.
              “You seem relieved.”  She said.
              “Hell yes.  I thought we were goners for sure.”
              “There is still no surety.  And as I said, there will be certain stipulations.”
              “Like what?”
              “You will be shut in.  The BlueWorld GateWay will be closed and you will be alone.”
              None of this mattered much to me.  I didn’t really understand what she was saying, but if it meant that I wasn’t going to die, I could live with it.
              “So what tests do you need to run?”
              “We must study the responses of your brain when not under conscious control.  There also remain several genetic tests to conclude that we could not perform on BlueWorld.”
                “You’re not going to remove my brain or something, are you?”  I asked, getting nervous all over again.
                She started to speak, paused as if unsure how to respond, then said.  “Of course not.”  The exasperation in her voice was unmistakable.
                “Sorry, I guess that whatever you guys did to make me not afraid is wearing off.”
                “That is not possible.  The implant that allows language translation also control glandular displacement.  Since we are still able to understand each other, the implant is functioning normally.”
                “Maybe it has something to do with my life being threatened.”
                “Perhaps.  We need to begin the testing.  Please attain a supine position.”
                “Huh?”
                “Lie down on the bed.”
                “Scientist are the same all over.”  I said as I lay down.
                She stood over me and I caught an odd smell coming from her.  Almost like new cut grass.  Fresh and airy, oddly comforting.  From this close, I could see that a plastic looking material covered her body.  The material was filmy and I could see the surface of her body through it.
                It seemed strange to me that she would be wearing some type of clothing.  The bugs had hard shells over most of their bodies.  The wing cases covered from where the body segments joined all the way back to the tail that resembled a small red spike.
                Having her stand this close was scary.  It was obvious that she had the strength to cut me in two, but she was very gentle.
                From a case she was carrying she removed several lengths of cable.  One of the cables has a blue-white cap on one end.  She attached the cable to the side of my head, right behind my ear.  I felt suction and head a click as the cable attached to me.
                Instantly my vision began to blur.  My sense of smell blossomed through the room like a cloud.  The cut grass smell increased to the point of being painful and the sour smell of my own body irritated me to the point of a sneeze.
              She backed away from me suddenly.  Her alarm evident by the way her antenna shot straight up and her cutting arms opened.
              “What was that?”  She hissed.
              “Sorry, I sneezed for some reason.”  I said trying to clear my head.  The misery in my sinuses continued.  I tried to breathe shallow, but it did not work.  “It’s hard to breathe.  All the smells are so intense.”
              Her arms came down.  “My apologies.  The sensor is set for one of my race.”
              She touched something in the small black bag that made the intense odor go away.  It left me feeling dizzy.
              “If that is how you experience smell, Earth must really stink to you.”  I said closing my eyes.
              “Your world is not without its good points, but you are correct.  Except for certain areas we do not leave our ships.  The layer of petrocarbons in your atmosphere is particularly damaging to us.”
              “Yeah, that’s us, the petro kings.”  I felt myself slipping and was unable to do anything about it.
              “Relax.”
              And that was the last thing I heard her say for a while.


Floating in a gray void.  No down, no up.  I existed on multiple planes.  Awareness of my self on a level I had never known before.  My arms felt as if they stretched into infinity.  My toes tingled like electricity was running between them.  There was a pleasant ache in my groin.  I could see everything and nothing all at once.  Long buried memories flashed across my consciousness.  A good childhood in upstate New York, playing with my friends, roller-skating in the street.  Going to school.  The first kiss I ever had.

It made me sad to see these long ago events with such perfect clarity, as if they were still reachable.

“Who are you?”  A voice asked.

“James Brooks.”  I said.  The words echoed from somewhere deep inside me.  I was aware of the fact that my mouth had not moved and marveled that I still answered.

“Where are you from?”

“Utica, New York.”  The answer brought another flood of images.  Some good, some not so good.  I lost myself in the images for a time until the voice called again.

“Why do humans lie?”

What an odd question.  Because we need to?  Because we like to?  Was that the real answer, or only a guess?  Some far away part of me sensed that the answer was important.

“It depends on the person.  Some lie because they must, others because they can.”

For a while nothing happened and I was allowed to drift in my memories.

“Have you ever lied?”

The image of being hauled before a judge flashed brilliantly.  Simple mistake, should never have gotten as bad as it did.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

An even stronger image this time, my first day behind bars.  Fear, revulsion, anger and an entire gamut of emotions racked my mind.  I didn’t want to answer, but I felt compelled.  “To try to keep from getting into trouble.  And to get what I wanted.”

“You use it as a method of obtaining favorable results?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Who else does this?”

“Everybody.  It’s a part of life.”

Suddenly I was deluged with images that cause memories to surface.

Television shows from my past.  Bugs Bunny creating mischief out of thin air.  Ralph Cramden threatening to send his wife express to the moon.  Lots of explosions and gunfire.  Arnold’s famous line, “I’ll be back.”  Snatches of conversation from radio programs I had listened to as a child.  It came at me so fast that I could not really separate the images.  They all caused various feelings to emerge in me, but there was no way to tell them apart.

“These are all lies?”

“Stories.  Fables.  Entertainment.  They give us diversions from the monotony of life.”

“The situations are untrue?”

“Some are true.  Others are made up, what would be the entertainment value in only telling the truth?”

“So lies serve the purpose of entertaining your people?”

“Sometimes.  Other times no.”

“Explain.”

“Sometimes the only way to save face is to lie.”

“This is important?”

“If it becomes a choice between living and dying it can be.”

“Lies are told to continue living?”

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”

“How do you discern the truth?”

“Sometimes you can’t.  Other times the truth comes out on its own.  Depends on the situation.”

“A very unpalatable existence.  Do you know anyone who does not lie?”

“No.”

The gray began to fade.  A falling sensation engulfed me.  All of the memories began to fade back into the depths.  One moment I floated free, the next I felt myself rammed back into a tight confining space.  Claustrophobia threatened to drown me in a lack of awareness.  Then there was nothing.


    It took all my concentration to reopen my gummy eyes.  The feeling of being elsewhere faded slowly and I found myself reluctant to let it go.  I was unaware if any major amount of time had passed.  It felt to me like only seconds, but when I finally did get my eyes open the cell was dark and my bug was gone.
    Sitting up was a chore.  Every muscle felt abused, like I had decided to go on an aerobics bender.  My head throbbed with what promised to be a marginally destructive headache.
    The spot behind my ear was sore, but the silvery cable was gone.  Leaning back against the wall, I decided to take it easy until they came for me.  No sense in getting worked up.  The fact that I had woke up seemed to be a good sign.


    Two hours later she came for me.  There were no guards with her this time.  I guess they weren’t that afraid of me after all.
    “You will be taken before the HiveLord, she will make her decision and you will be returned to your world.”
    “Is that good or bad?”
    “It is neither.  We have the information we need and all will be explained to you.”
    “Fine.  But at least tell me your name.  You have been around me constantly for…” Oh, shit.  How long had I been here?
    “It has been four of your days.  My name is Helmi I’loci.  Are you ready to travel?”


    Back in the courtroom.  Seems like ever since college I have found myself into this kind of setting with depressing ease.  (Well, only once, but that was more than enough.)

    Several differences made themselves apparent.  The throngs of bugs who had been here before were absent.  The magistrate was there with two or three others, but that was all.

    Standing in the space formerly occupied by the magistrate was the largest bug I had yet seen.  Obviously female, her wing cases were much thicker than any other female present.  She towered what had to be eight feet tall, the tips along her cutting arms were some type of crystalline material that caught the low light and played it about her like a thousand tiny rainbows.
    She was impressive.  I felt my mouth drop in awe.
    “Our Regis, the HiveLord Kuroz N’Dakra.  Queen mother of the Sh’Iraz.”  My bug said in a low voice.
    The magistrate repeated the ceremony that my bug had gone through during the first session, the HiveLord watched dispassionately.  At first I thought she was not going to respond, then she nodded her massive head.  The antenna quivered slightly and I got the impression that she was less than pleased to be here.
    “Zuroc S’uluz, why have you brought me here?”  Her voice was like ringing a bell.
    “Mistress, before us lies a potential threat to the harmony of the galaxy.”
    “Do you refer to this thing you have brought from BlueWorld?”
    Here we go again, I thought.
    “The species is called ‘Human’.  They possess an ability not cataloged in over 40 sentient species.  Our concern is for a way to safeguard against this threat.”
    “And what is that?”
    “Our data shows that the ‘humans’ can create falsehood without any outward sign or difficulty.  They call this ability ‘lying’.”
    The HiveLord swiveled her head towards me.  Her left cutting arm opened slightly, giving the room a blast of color.  Reds and blues shifted slowly as the arm closed.  The room was dead silent.
    “Is this true ResearchMaster?”
    “Yes, mistress.  Our data has been confirmed by the Gray test.  The human created falsehood without realizing that it was doing so.  It explained several uses for this ability.  Among them was the need to achieve goals.”
    “Is the condition genetic?”
    “Yes and no mistress.  Although they have conscious control over it, it is so deeply bred into them that only a massive shock to various areas of their sub-brain would completely remove it.  This would unfortunately render them non-functional.”
    Damn.
    “Do you have a recommendation?”  Zuroc S’uluz asked.
    “Since the condition is genetic, there may yet be a way to remove it from them without damaging them.  Perhaps given another million years or so of evolution, the trait will breed itself out.  This is providing that they do not destroy themselves in the process.”
    “Do they have space flight?  Have they discovered the GateWay?”  The HiveLord wanted to know.
    “No mistress.  They have a primitive form of flight, but seem bound to the planets gravity well.  They are perhaps 200 years from developing the technology necessary to access the GateWay.”
    The HiveLord paused.  “I must take this to the Imperium, but I already know what will be decided.  It is not for us to destroy any developing race, but we have been charged with the safety of the known races.  The ultimate punishment is traditionally used only for races that have demonstrated a total unwillingness to develop for the common good.  And exception will have to be made in this case.  Prepare the gravity screens.  Unless the Imperium rules differently, our judgment is for LockIn.
    The magistrate and Helmi both bowed as the HiveLord made her exit.
    I stayed quiet during the exchange, but now that it was over several million questions occurred to me at once.
    “Whats going on?”
    “She has passed preliminary judgment.  Your solar system will be shut in.”
    “Shut in?  What does that mean?”
    “Your race will not be allowed to expand into the galaxy until the genetic disposition has been removed.”
    “Expand?  Christ, we’ve barely been to our own moon.  You people are worried about the stars?”
    “We must take the long view.  It is our duty.  Your solar system will be encased in a gravity well and your GateWay will be closed.  You will be free to travel anywhere inside that space.  There will be no contact with the others until you have demonstrated that you can change.”
    Well, whoop-de-doo, I thought.  How bad can it possibly be?
    After a moment, what had happened began to sink in.
    “Your putting us in solitary.  Locking us up for being human.”
    “Explain.”  She said.
    “We have a saying on Earth.  It applied to people who are put on trial, but found not guilty because what they did was not intentional.  It was bad, but it was uncontrollable.  They still end up being locked away, but instead of going to jail, they go to the nut house.  That’s what you are doing to us.  You’re locking us away in a rubber room to protect society.”
    “An apt expression.  LockIn is not something we do lightly.  In the only other case it caused the extinction of the enclosed race.  Your people will be given 30 days warning.  You will be the messenger of that warning.”
    “Oh yeah, that should work just fine.  You forget, we know how to lie.  No one will believe me.”
    “That is unfortunate.  Many of your people will be unprepared when the LockIn begins.”


    I’ve been back on Earth for a month now.  The deadline given to me by the Sh’Iraz.  The time when we would be judged and most likely found insane.

    If you watch TV I know you've seen me.  The talk show circuit picked me up right away.  I did six of them in three weeks.  People ooh’d and ah’d, but no one took me seriously.  No one believed.
    Well, except maybe the government.  Because three days before I was arrested and brought to this hospital I got a visit from the real Men in Black.  They questioned me, made some odd threats, swore me to silence and then left.
    So anyway, here I sit. 
    Tonight is the last day of the 30.  The sun went down around 8:30, summer was on its way back around again.  Below me, on the grounds of the hospital, crickets were merrily chirping away.  The moon showed a small slice of its glowing face and the stars were very visible.  Out here, away from the city, there were no lights to obscure a perfect view of the heavens.
Someone passed by in the hall outside my open door and for just a moment I pulled my eyes away from the sky.  When I looked back up, it was slightly less bright than it had been a moment before.
    I really hope that I wasn’t the only one who noticed when it started to happen.  One second everything was normal and then the stars began to go out in a wave.  It started low on one horizon and seemed to slowly ripple across the sky.
    A wave of blackness, blotting out the stars.
    At first it didn’t clue in how devastating this would be.  Then I realized how long we had lived with the stars.  How much of our history and current life depended on them.  Ships at sea used them to navigate.  Lovers made wishes on them.  Whole catalogs of books had been written about them.  Part of the human dream of exploring space came from their simple presence.  They had always been an inviolate dimension of the human psyche.  Now, one by one, they were going away.
   
    You will be locked in.  Your GateWay will be closed.  You will be alone.

    That was what she meant.  That was the ‘ultimate punishment’ that the HiveLord referred to.  Now it all made sense. Well, I guess the rest of the galaxy would be safe.
    It was true, I guess.  All lies come due eventually.  I felt an involuntary laugh slip out.  Maybe they would believe me now.

                                                                          Starlight, starbright
                                                                          First star I see tonight
                                                                          Wish I may, wish I might
                                                                          Have the wish I wish tonight…









End