Page 160 of Alien Burn

“He makes her sound so helpless.”

“That is the intention.”

She handed the pad back. “What do you need from me?”

“Eventually, an account of what happened. Your words. Recorded properly, with an advocate who represents you.”

“I can give it today.”

“The medic said rest.”

“She said to call if my head got worse. It hasn't. I want to say it while I can remember which hand she held the communicator in.”

He almost argued. Then he remembered the promise he'd made on the couch.

“I'll arrange it here. You can stop whenever you need.”

She squeezed his fingers.

“Go. I'll still be here when you get back.”

Fowles made him begin with the damaged guest-corridor junction.

It was an unpleasant choice, and the right one.

Dhomhes put the two entry records beside the time of Roemary's extraction message.

Burk had come with the Alliance staff under a stolen identity; the armed crew had entered separately under a forged maintenance order, before the landing.

By the time he blocked her traffic, the crew and the pickup instructions were already inside.

The next images showed what those instructions had cost: the holding-block door cut open, guards down, the visitor-room service exit forced.

Then he showed them the repair pit.

His search teams had cleared the floor above it using a plan that omitted the space beneath.

He named the injured guards and the checks now covering those bays. None of that failure belonged to Sereya.

Havent listened without interruption. Ruthak sat very still.

He played the visitor-room recording, with Sereya's protected identity page removed from the public display and retained in the examiner's sealed copy.

The order to bring Adryel, her refusal, and her shouted destination carried through the chamber.

Havent questioned whether Sereya had participated. Dhomhes pointed to her refusal, then presented the evidence against Roemary: the extraction message, the cell visit, and the apron recording. Her counsel would have access to all three.

Roemary's father had sent a beautifully written protest. His daughter had left a less accommodating record.

The Coalition authorized continued detention and formal charges. Alliance representatives would receive the evidence relevant to their citizens.

Roemary would have counsel and access to the proceedings; she would not be put aboard a ship because her father demanded it.

It was enough for that day.

Afterward, Havent stopped Dhomhes near the doors.

“Off-world criminals buying the services of Kantenan workers. Using our institutions against our guests.”