“As a boss, she’s ambitious,” Sullivan concluded.

“It’s not bad for you,” Holloway said. “Ambitious bosses leave vacant jobs behind them.” “True enough,” Sullivan said, and then smiled broadly as he saw another person down the hall: Isabel. She smiled in return and when she came up to Sullivan, gave him a warm but publicly decorous kiss on the cheek. She turned to Holloway.

He held out his hand. “Jack Holloway,” he said. “I’m your fellow expert witness.” “Very cute, Jack,” Isabel said, and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Are you nervous about this?” “No,” Holloway said. “Are you?”

“I’m terrified,” Isabel said. “What I tell the judge here could mean the fuzzys are recognized as people. I don’t want to screw it up. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since my doctoral defense.” “Well, that turned out all right, didn’t it?” Holloway said. “So you have a track record.” “When did you get in?” Isabel asked.

“Carl and I landed about an hour ago,” Holloway said.

“Where’s Carl?” Isabel asked.

“He’s in the skimmer,” Holloway said. “Relax,” he added, catching Isabel’s expression. “The skimmer has autonomous climate control. He’s cool as a cucumber. You can see him after the inquiry just to be sure.” “Speaking of which,” Sullivan said, “it’s time for the two of you to get in there. This thing starts in a few minutes, and Judge Soltan isn’t the sort to be kept waiting.” *

Judge Nedra Soltan came in and took her seat without preamble; there was no bailiff to announce her arrival or to tell everyone to stand. By the time everyone had stood up, Soltan had already sat down.

“Let’s get through this as quickly as possible,” Soltan said, and then looked at her inquiry timetable. “Dr. Wangai?” “Yes, Your Honor?” Isabel stood. Holloway sat next to her, at the table generally reserved for the defense. Janice Meyer and her assistant sat at the table usually reserved for the prosecution. Not a trial my ass, Holloway thought. The audience portion of the courtroom was empty save for Brad Landon, in the back row, whose expression was one of polite boredom, and Sullivan, who sat directly behind Isabel.

“Our schedule calls for you to give an overview of the research materials,” Soltan said.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Isabel said.

“Is there anything new that you’re going to add to the materials that wasn’t in the package you sent to me?” Soltan asked. “Because if there’s not, I’d just as soon skip it.” Isabel blinked at this. “Skip it?” she said. She glanced over at the large monitor that had been brought in for her presentation.

“Yes,” Soltan said. “Your report was comprehensive to the point of exhausting, Dr. Wangai. If all we’re going to do here is get a recap, I’d rather not.” “The point of the presentation was to give you time to ask any questions you might have on the material,” Isabel said. “I’m sure you have questions.” “Not really, no,” Soltan said, blandly. “So, shall we move forward?”

Isabel glanced over at Holloway, who arched his eyebrows an infinitesimally small amount, and then back at Sullivan, who was utterly blank. “I suppose,” she said finally, turning back to Soltan.

“Good,” Soltan said. She looked over at Meyer. “That’s fine with you as well, Ms. Meyer?” “Not a problem, Your Honor,” Meyer said.

“Excellent,” Soltan said. “Two hours off the schedule already. We may be out of here before lunch. You may sit, Dr. Wangai.” Isabel sat, looking a little numb.

“Now—” Soltan picked up her schedule again. “—Ms. Meyer, I believe it’s time for you to question the experts. Which would you like to question first?” “I believe Dr. Wangai is the first on the schedule,” Meyer said.

“Very well,” Soltan said. “Dr. Wangai, go ahead and sit in the witness stand.” Isabel got up from the table, walked over to the witness stand, and sat down. “Normally I’d place you under oath, but this is an inquiry and thus more informal,” Soltan said. “You are however still required to tell the truth and to answer questions as fully as possible. Do you understand?” “I do,” Isabel said.

“You’re on,” Soltan said to Meyer.

Meyer stood. “Dr. Wangai, please state your full name and occupation.”

“I am Dr. Isabel Njeru Wangai, and I am the Zarathustra Corporation’s chief biologist for Zara Twenty-three,” Isabel said.

“And where did you receive your doctorate, Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

“The University of Oxford,” Isabel said.

“I hear that’s a good school,” Meyer said.

Isabel smiled. “It’s all right,” she said.

“And so you studied xenosapience there,” Meyer said.

“No,” Isabel said. “My research there focused on the sarcomonad Cercozoa.” “You’ve lost me,” Meyer said.

“They’re protists,” Isabel said. “Very small one-celled organisms.”

“What planet are these protists from?” Meyer asked.

“They’re from Earth,” Isabel said.

“So your training in biology, while from a very good school indeed, is grounded in terrestrial biology—creatures from Earth. Is that accurate?” Meyer asked.

“It is,” Isabel said. “But I have been chief biologist here on Zara Twenty-three for close to five years now. I have a substantial amount of practical experience working with and studying extraterrestrial biology.” “Any of it relating specifically to xenosapience?” Meyer asked.

“Not until recently, no,” Isabel said.

“So you’re new to the field,” Meyer said. “Very new.”

“Yes,” Isabel said. “However, the evaluation I performed on the fuzzys was done using criteria well established in the xenosapience field. The criteria are designed to be useful without regard to experience.” “Do you really believe that?” Meyer asked. “As a scientist, do you really believe that people who are not trained in a particular field are as able to make assessments as experts in that field? Especially when all they are armed with is a checklist?” “I am however not anyone,” Isabel said. “I am a trained biologist with years of practical experience in xenobiological study.” “So experience does matter,” Meyer said. “Even so, Dr. Wangai. I don’t doubt your experience and knowledge in your particular field is considerable, but I have to wonder if your assessing these creatures for xenosapience isn’t like a podiatrist advising a patient on whether his liver needs to be replaced.” Holloway shifted in his chair suddenly; he recognized the analogy as his own. When Chad Bourne showed up with Aubrey and the others in tow, Holloway assumed as a matter of course that his conversation with Bourne had been listened in on. Having his own words used to smack Isabel around, however, was a signal to Holloway that this inquiry had been choreographed top to bottom; it was the very essence of a show trial. The only person who didn’t know it was Isabel.

“I don’t think your analogy is as accurate as you think it is,” Isabel said.

Meyer smiled. “Perhaps not,” she said. “Let’s move on from that, then. Dr. Wangai, please tell us how you came to learn of the fuzzys.” “Jack Holloway told me about them and gave me a video recording he’d made of one of them,” Isabel said. “The video was interesting, but it wasn’t secure, so I wanted to be able to see them for myself and to get them on secure video, so there would be no concern of tampering or altering of the data.” “After Mr. Holloway gave you that first recording, how long was it until you went to see the creatures?” Meyer asked.

“Five days in total, I think,” Isabel said.

“You said that when Mr. Holloway gave you the first recording, you had concerns about the data being tampered with or altered,” Meyer said. “Was there a reason you were concerned about that?” “That’s not an accurate representation of my statement,” Isabel said.

“We could have the court reporter play back your statement if you like,” Meyer said.

“That’s not necessary,” Isabel said, the tiniest bit of frustration creeping into her voice. Holloway wondered if anyone but he would notice it there. Sullivan might, he decided. He glanced over to the other man, but his expression was unreadable. “What I meant was that Jack’s video was not recorded on a secure device,” Isabel continued. “Even if it was genuine—which I did not doubt it was—it would not be something I could use as evidence in, for example, an inquiry like this.” “You called Mr. Holloway ‘Jack’ just now,” Meyer said. “Are you familiar with him?” “We’re friends, yes,” Isabel said.