The Final Judgment/Part VI: The Negotiator

Corr Shaasa thought the Chamber of Judgment in the Convocation of Law was the least efficient use of space he had ever seen. The room had surely once seated all the Kritocracy's Governing Judges, for row after row of four-fifths-circle stations occupied tier after tier facing his speaker's podium at the room's floor; he felt as if he was giving them a lecture. But each Governing Judge sat in the station assigned his world when it had been admitted to the Kritocracy, and none of them had moved even as worlds had slipped from the Judges' grasp. Gooforcht Hoowh of Toriafas was right before him, with several other Judges nearby, but others were scattered among the first few rows, and one was six levels up and off to his left.

One Exoi sat apart from the others, in a station of his own. He wore purple robes with white stripes on the sleeves of all six arms. This, Corr had been told, was an Acolyte of the God-King, here to represent the divine Exoi whose very presence was too sacred to be profaned by the Governing Judges, let alone aliens.

After hundreds of diplomatic missions to as many worlds, knitting together the scattered remnants of Chiss Space, the Vagaari Empire, and random planets on the fringes of the galaxy into the singular tapestry of the Golden Empire, Chindal could give his basic presentation without thinking about it. And so as he extolled the virtues of the Empire, its strength and tenacity, its care for its people and the manifold benefits they experienced under the Empire's aegis, his mind was in the Force, feeling its currents as these nineteen crucial lives fed into its energy. While Corr and all his siblings were trained in telepathy, Corr himself had always had a knack for feeling the emotional climate around him and adapting his presentations to bolster interest and allay fear.

He studied his audience as he spoke, and when he fell silent, he reached out to feel their deliberations. What he sensed was less than encouraging.

"There is much this Empire has to offer, it would seem," Judge Hoowh finally began. His features betrayed no emotion—not that Corr could read an Exoi face just yet, but the other Judges didn't feel overly stirred—but the Duros was grateful for support in the opening salvo.

"In return for submission," a nearby Judge said. The translator droid faithfully imparted distaste in the translation. "Glories and riches if we bow to an alien."

Corr had lost count of how many species had made this argument over the years, and he had his response ready. "She is alien to me as well," he pointed out. "To all of us here."

He swept one long arm back where the Queen sat on a cushion, veiled and silent, with her Royal Guards arrayed around her, along with Selkee, Souv, Jinyx Windrunner, Colonel Hwurzahk, and Rezzew Saktati. "Not one of us is of a species with our Queen, but all of us and our homeworlds have submitted to the Golden Empire and reaped the benefits."

"This discussion is academic at best," another Judge complained. "This body has no authority to submit to this Golden Empire or any other."

"I'm not convinced we should even be treating with this delegation," a Judge beside Hoowh noted. "The precedent supporting such a meeting is arguable—"

Several of his colleagues chimed in, debating the finer points of legal rulings stretching centuries back. Eventually, Judge Torpeth, seated on Hoowh's other side, raised a hand. "We have voted to hear these beings," he said firmly. "Procedural Rule Forty-Seven makes it clear that a challenge to that decision is not timely here and now."

The Judge who had raised the point sat back, radiating defeat in the Force, and Torpeth went on. "That said, there is also no precedent for the Governing Judges to submit the Kritocracy to an alien government. Such a thing has never been."

"When our war with the Chiss concluded," the Judge up on the sixth row ventured, "this body voted to discontinue hostilities. Was that not a form of submission to the Chiss Ascendancy?  I propose that the precedent is analogous.  Here we are asked—"

"—to give up what little we have left," Judge Osrikkar interrupted angrily. "While there we but recognized what was, that worlds were lost to us."

"And even then, the Governing Judges of the time merely voted to order the military to discontinue hostilities," Judge Zuzzy pointed out. "They presumed no authority then to enter dialogue with the Chiss themselves, nor can we assume unto ourselves that authority now."

A few of them began to debate the matter further, but Corr used the Force to raise his voice and put in, "Perhaps the time has come for change."

All twenty of them stopped and looked at him, but Corr sensed that perhaps it was not a good thing.

"Change?" Judge Zuzzy asked ominously.

"We are a species of law," Judge Osrikkar snapped. After hearing it for what had to be the dozenth time, Corr prevented himself from asking whether that was the Kritocracy's motto. "To change at the whim of the moment is a recipe for anarchy. Our law is divinely ordained, Corr Shaasa; it can not change."

"That is not so," Judge Hoowh put in.

The observing Acolyte shook his hands; all six sleeves of his robe fluttered, a rippling purple stormcloud. "Surely, you do not mean to suggest the law is not divine, Judge Hoowh?" he asked suspiciously.

"Of course not," Hoowh replied calmly. "But the God-King may amend the laws of which he is, himself, the source. During the reign of Qelrayt III—"

"—the ancient law requiring a single Lord Judge as head of this body was amended to make all Governing Judges equal in vote and voice," Osrikkar recited, though some of the edge left his tone as he spoke to Hoowh. "Yes, yes, but surely, Gooforcht, you do not mean to suggest the great Lawgiver Chohwelk VII has permitted this? Or would?"

"I assure you he has not," Acolyte Jepth noted dryly.

"Those are two different questions," Hoowh replied.

"Examine that precedent, then," Corr suggested. "A law can be changed when it no longer serves your people; when, in fact, it does them harm. Isn't that what you face now?  I see nineteen Judges before me; nineteen Exoi left to guard the traditions once championed by hundreds."

He raised his long-fingered hands, gesturing to tier upon tier of empty seats. Serving droids kept them free of dust and in good repair, but somehow that made the whole arrangement more macabre; painstaking, almost loving effort paid to preserve a memory. "You have honored your laws since the time you fought the Chiss; has that honor saved your people? They depend on you for wisdom in governance; it can not be wise to cling to the past for its own sake when you can embrace the future and save them all.  The times have changed."

Corr could sense his words reaching some of them, and touching others without effect, fruitless blasts against the energy shields of their convictions. "You would have us spit in the face of our ancestors, turn on our God-King, and defy our faith in a single act of capitulation," Judge Torpeth said. All three of his right hands came down atop all three of his left, palms over knuckles. "I will never allow this thing to be."

"And justly not," Acolyte Jepth noted in consternation. "It would be a supreme act of irreligion and defiance of the tenets of Salbin."

"Does Salbin not also preach that the Exoi must share with the galaxy our divine law and civilization?" Judge Arfathwo demanded. "And yet we and our predecessors have allowed the Kritocracy to wither here in our dark corner of space. Are we not betraying our faith by not seizing this opportunity to share it with this Golden Empire?"

The Judges began sniping at one another, their mental bursts of annoyance, determination, and stubbornness already normal to Corr's mind, but the Duros turned his perceptions to the Acolyte, Jepth. He was perturbed, too—probably vexed that the Judges were bothering to debate what to him was a clearly settled matter of faith—but it was more than that. Beneath the righteous indignation, there was more fear than Corr would have suspected.

He reached out to the Queen with his mind, conveying his intriguing discovery, and felt her thoughts were in line with his own. ''Yes. Interesting, isn't it? See if you can do something with that''.

The Judges were still embroiled in a religious debate when Acolyte Jepth stood and shouted, "JUDGES!"

They quieted to turn to him, and Corr pictured the Exoi bracing himself in his mind. "The God-King, not you, is arbiter of the law. He and he alone may amend or bestow laws.  To usurp that authority is to invite damnation upon yourselves and all the Exoi you have been trusted to govern.  You must trust in his wisdom."

"Have you so little faith in this body, Acolyte Jepth?" Judge Hoowh asked softly.

The Acolyte glowered, but Corr could feel his unease growing. "I am charged with speaking here in the voice of the divine Chohwelk VII," he insisted. "And I assure you that, were this body pure enough to hear his voice directly, he would not stand for the suggestions we have endured this day!"

"But surely—" Judge Arfathwo started, but this time it was Corr Shaasa who interrupted.

"Respectfully, Judge Arfathwo," he began, waiting until the Exoi paused and looked at him to continue. "I have little knowledge of the Kritocracy and its laws or of your Salbin faith, and only the barest hint in comparison to your learned selves and the Acolyte. But it seems obvious to me that neither your law nor your faith permit submission to the Empire to be made by any other than the God-King himself.  Is that not so?"

He looked past Arfathwo's stunned face, past Hoowh's expression of puzzlement, past Osrikkar's smug nod, to Acolyte Jepth. The robed Exoi breathed a mental sigh of relief in the Force and replied, "Just so."

"Were the Kritocracy ever to join the Golden Empire in obeisance to the Queen," Corr went on innocently, "only the God-King could make that decision."

"None other."

"Then all my words here can do nothing," Corr added, giving a slump to his shoulders for effect. He could sense several of his siblings harboring doubts—Selkee was particularly hard to tune out—but he could feel the Queen's encouragement as the jaws of the trap closed.

"Were this opportunity the perfect destiny of the Exoi—which it is surely not—even then the Governing Judges could not act without the blessing and sanction of divine Chohwelk VII," Jepth added with finality, taking the bait.

"As you say," Corr noted, then straightened his shoulders. "Then I must take you at your invitation, Acolyte Jepth."

"And leave us?" the Exoi asked hopefully.

"Corr Shaasa…" Judge Hoowh said, and the Duros felt his disappointment.

"No, Judge Hoowh, our course is clear now," Corr said. Then he declared, "We must present ourselves and our offer to the God-King himself."

The Centurion had the pleasure of watching all four of Jepth's eyes bug out and his mouth open so wide it looked like his face was splitting in half.

"You must what?" Judge Torpeth asked. He seemed only stunned.

Judge Osrikkar more than made up for it. "That is surely sacrilege!" he thundered. "The God-King should never be fouled by the presence of aliens! He is hidden in religious seclusion, beseeching the Gods Beyond Galaxies for the future of the Kritocracy!  Should he be disturbed now, who knows what fate will befall us?"

"Look at the fate that has befallen us," Judge Arfathwo snapped. "Look upon the empty seats where our forefathers sat! Look at the pitiful shreds of the Kritocracy Navy that remain to us!  If the God-King is praying on our behalf, we must ask him to pray harder."

Several Judges looked too appalled for words, and Jepth was actually shaking. His fury was plain to see, but Corr could sense his fear growing. "No one sees the God-King!" he spat. "The Acolytes alone have that honor!"

"Now," Judge Hoowh pointed out. "It was not always so."

Several Judges looked at one another, and Corr asked, "And when did it change?"

Jepth looked suddenly uneasy, and his Force signature spiked with concern as Judge Torpeth said slowly, "Some centuries ago, the God-King went into his seclusion in the Temple of Incarnate Glory. He asks the mercy of the Gods Beyond Galaxies for us."

"And when you need a new law?" Corr asked. "When, as now, this body doesn't have the authority to act?"

Judge Torpeth started to answer, but Jepth cut him off. "The Acolytes bear messages for the God-King, to this body and from it," he answered. "That is why I am here."

"So no one who is not an Acolyte has ever seen the God-King?" Corr asked innocently, and he could feel the Queen's encouragement bolstering his confidence. "Not in centuries?"

"When the time is right and the gods so ordain it, the God-King will reveal himself again," Jepth said, but Corr could see his words working on some of the Judges. In the Force, he felt disquiet turning to suspicion, secret fears working their way toward the light of day.

"I think the time is right now," Judge Qiyem said. "The future of the entire Kritocracy must be decided, and as you said, holy Acolyte, none but the God-King may answer for our fate now."

"If you're waiting for a sign," Judge Arfathwo added dryly, "it stands before you, golden and impossible to miss."

"No!" Acolyte Jepth insisted, getting to his seven legs. "No, this is sacrilege! I will bear your offer to the God-King, and when he has decided—"

"You will bear their offer?" Judge Torpeth asked with narrowed eyes. "You will not have them record it and carry that to the God-King? You, Acolyte Jepth, will take upon yourself the future of the Exoi Kritocracy to bear to the God-King the fate of our people?"

"I…that…that's not what I meant!" the Acolyte stammered. "I only meant—"

"The God-King's presence remains sacred," Judge Osrikkar insisted. "If we permit aliens in his presence—"

"Of course, you should come with us too, Judges," Corr noted, gesturing to them all. Several of them nodded their long necks, and Corr felt the current at last changing to flow his way. "Let the God-King hear our offer and benefit from your advice at once, so his decision will be guided with all the wisdom we can offer together."

"You can not do this!" Acolyte Jepth pleaded. "The God-King is not—"

"—a being to be kept waiting when destiny is at hand," Queen Rin said aloud in Exhacte, rising at last. Her Royal Guards formed up around her, and Corr was pleased to see Judges Hoowh, Arfathwo, Qiyem, and several others getting respectfully to their feet as well. "The destinies of our two great civilizations have come together now; we would not dishonor Chohwelk VII by making him wait on this moment."

Words failed the Acolyte; he merely gazed at the Judges in tremulous plea, but found no supporters willing to speak.

"You said you bear messages for the God-King," Corr called, and the alien's four eyes focused on him with loathing. "Then carry this message, Acolyte Jepth: We come bearing the future of the Exoi people. And we're coming now."