The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [169]
The woman called Supervisor Julia walked to the front of the dais.
‘Thank you all for attending. As you know, this is only an informal hearing, therefore the duration is expected to be malleable. Now, Observer Catriona will open the case for the reproach.’
The slender brunette got to her feet, took a silver penlike object from her pocket and pointed it at midair. A blur-edged cube appeared with frozen darkness within it.
‘This should be familiar to all present,’ Observer Catriona said.
The darkness unfroze, became a replay of vid footage he was indeed very familiar with, the news report of the clash between the Life and Peace flotilla and a Hegemony cruiser at a waypoint on the Metraj border. The warning messages, the visual excerpts from those aboard the Pax Terra, the fleeting glimpse of Rosa among them, the cruiser opening fire, the explosions, the awful images from aboard the smaller craft. It took place nearly a year ago, but no matter how many times he saw it the rawness of his grief remained a black corrosive thing.
The recording ended with the peace vessel Pax Terra reduced to a leaking, battered wreck, after which the holoprojection vanished. Robert drew a deep, shaky breath and exhaled, feeling some of the sorrow ease.
‘A number of factors contributed to this tragedy,’ said Observer Catriona. ‘Yet the most significant were the actions of Rosa’s father, Robert Horst – as a high-ranking Earthsphere diplomat it was well within his abilities to compel his daughter to abstain from taking part in such a hazardous exploit … ’
‘Rosa would never give in to browbeating,’ Robert said.
‘You could have had her restrained, or confined,’ the woman said. ‘If you had, she’d be alive today.’
‘What kind of father would lock up … ’ But the words died in his mouth when he realised that everyone in the Rosa audience was watching him intently.
‘The other main factor was the macro-political one,’ Observer Catriona went on. ‘Robert Horst was the senior Earthsphere negotiator, both before the invasion of the Yamanon Domain and after. If anyone was in a position to engineer the withdrawal of Earthsphere and Hegemony forces it was him. Yet here we are eight years and millions of deaths later … ’
‘Excuse me, Supervisor Julia, but has this hearing not strayed from its original focus?’ said Observer Talavera, who got to her feet, smiled at Robert, smoothed her black suit and faced the audience.
Supervisor Julia nodded. ‘Observer Talavera may now state the case for the probity.’
‘My esteemed colleague has made an immense leap in her logic,’ she began. ‘Ambassador Horst started as a tragic mourning father but has turned into a vee-drama supervillain! Such a vigorous method of reproach, such an active examination!’
Talavera positively glowed with a kind of combative wit while her adversary, Catriona, remained composed as she returned to her chair.
‘In fact the truth is that Horst was simply a good father. Not a perfect father, just a good one. And certainly, parents have a duty of care but when a child reaches its maturity how much responsibility do they still carry? Is a parent still responsible if their child murders someone? What if the child becomes a parent in their turn – is the grandparent responsible for the grandchild?’
Talavera’s demeanour was now level, compassionate with a dose of humorous puzzlement.
‘The truth is that Ambassador Horst and his wife did the best they could till, at last, their daughter was able to fly free on her own, make her own decisions, yes, and mistakes.’ She put one hand out towards Robert. ‘The truth is that the ambassador deserves our support and our sympathy, not condemnation. He has done nothing to feel guilty about – his daughter made up her own mind, she made her choice and the consequences were hers alone. Guilt lies with those whose fingers pull the triggers, whose hands hold the knife, or push the button, or