“By the gods, Cirrus!” Orryn exploded. “Is it so hard to stick to our promises? How could you even suggest such a thing?” The Tribunal had convened to discuss how to handle the man in stasis. One of many such conversations that had already taken place. Tensions were rising while Cyrix and Nessah made the final preparations to transport the man to the safe house on Verilia in secret.

  “Hear me out,” Cirrus said calmly. “I’m not suggesting we strap him to an operating table. If the man willingly gives us a sample to study after asking for one, what’s the harm? We offer the man protection and in return he gives us a vial of his blood to study. Nothing more.”

  “That’s treading a fine line,” Orryn said, her eyes narrowing. “Once you take a look at his blood, will you be satisfied with just that or are you going to want more answers?” Cirrus opened her mouth to speak but Orryn continued, cutting her off. “The man has no protection from us! He has no choice but to give in to the demands of the people holding the guns. That’s coercion! The poor man doesn’t deserve that.” She shook her head. “I don’t think he’ll be any more receptive to being put under scrutiny than Adrian.”

  Cirrus shrugged. “We’ll never know if we don’t ask. Doctors take blood samples to study all the time. What’s the difference?”

  “I think what Orryn is trying to get at,” Maraz spoke up, “is that studying samples of people who were experimented on will lead to us attempting more invasive approaches to better study what we find. I agree that learning what was done to both Adrian and this new man is paramount, but we’ve already agreed not to do any experiments on Adrian. I believe this man deserves the same courtesy, regardless of what species he may be.”

  “Simply looking at their blood does not constitute as experimenting,” Cirrus countered. “We ask and if the man says no, we leave it at that.” She turned towards Kaius. “Can we put this measure to a vote?”

  Kaius drummed his fingers on his desk, considering the proposal. “We find ourselves at an impasse on how to proceed,” he hummed. “Very well, we shall take a vote. All those in favour of Cirrus’ proposal to ask, but not insist, for the man in stasis’ permission to take a sample from him for study, vote now.”

  One by one, four orbs of light winked into existence, each one floating above an Elder’s head. The only people in the room with none of their own were Orryn and Maraz. Disappointment shone in their eyes when they looked upon the Elders who had voted for the motion. Kaius equally had no light, as the Arbiter only cast a vote in the case of a tie.

  “The motion has passed,” Kaius announced. Silence descended upon the room. They’d made their decision.

  “We all know we’re going to use this precedence to run experiments in our attempt to learn more,” Orryn said, addressing the room. “Looking won’t be enough. At least have the decency to admit it instead of making it an open secret.”

  Nobody spoke up to defend themselves for they were unable to refute Orryn’s claims. Cirrus broke the silence. “This is for the best. I understand that you’re upset because the vote didn’t go your way, but we need to at least give ourselves the chance to learn something vital to uncovering the mysteries of the facility. Adrian and the other man are the key to that. Adrian more so, but you went and made him untouchable. Us getting a sample from him is at his discretion and we all know he’s going to ask for something absurd in exchange. All we have left is the other one to find the answers we’re looking for.”

  “If Ava’s words are to be trusted, then he was never released from stasis. The gru’ul didn’t perform any experiments on him. You’re not going to find very much.”

  “What we can find,” Cirrus stressed, “is what led the gru’ul to experiment on Adrian in the first place. Both of them were of enough interest to bring to the facility. Whatever we learn will be an asset.”

  Orryn paused, thinking fast. “Since they were both found at the same facility, first contact protocols extend to both of them,” she said before Cirrus could speak again, hoping to offer the frozen man some protection from being studied again. What kind of people would we be if we subjected those poor men to more experiments just to satisfy our curiosity? she thought.

  “We still haven’t accepted that they’re a separate species,” Cirrus said, annoyed. “To do so, we would need a sample of their DNA. Something you’re quite adamant on us not getting. Rather than spend our time making plants somehow turn green, this would be a much simpler approach. We could compare their DNA to ours. If they’re sufficiently different, they’re a new species. If not, it becomes more probable they’re lying about their origins.”

  “I think they’ve provided sufficient evidence to prove they’re from a different civilization. It’s the reason we’ve started experimenting on plants to begin with. Isn’t it enough that there are more of them out there that look like Adrian?” Orryn asked.

  “All of them are connected to the facility in some way.” Cirrus waved dismissively. “That doesn’t constitute a civilization. That experiments were performed on Adrian is the only thing we can confirm conclusively.”

  “I’m positive we’ll find a way to turn plants green, given enough time. There’s no real need for blood samples.”

  “We’d need more knowledge from Adrian if we want to succeed. He’s not going to give it up easily,” Cirrus said darkly. “Already, we’ve wasted months of our lives when we could’ve had our answers by now.”

  “I’m sure there’s something we can offer him that he wants. Something reasonable.” Doubt crept into Orryn’s voice. Their relationship with Adrian had been poisoned from the beginning with how they’d treated him. Not even she could claim that he would play nice with his demands.

  Cirrus rolled her eyes “I’ll believe that when I see it. Telling him about our experiments on plants will tip our hand that we’ve conditionally accepted his impossible claims. He’ll know we need his knowledge and will find a way to profit from it.”

  “I disagree,” Orryn shook her head. “We can find a way to explain to him our goals without him knowing what we voted on. I’m certain that if he knew about our experiments to prove his claims he’d be more than willing to help us in our endeavor. I think telling him would be worth it for us.”

  “I must unfortunately interrupt our discussion,” Kaius spoke up. Six sets of eyes stared at him expectantly as he continued, unperturbed. “I’ve received a message from General Nessah concerning Adrian. He has offered to teach us knowledge from his home world that has been confirmed to be something we’ve never seen before.”

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  “Wasn’t the man a musician?” Cirrus asked with narrowed eyes. “What could he possibly have to offer us that we should care about?” She had no care for learning about anything frivolous. Information on weapons were far more important to her, something Adrian had denied her since they first met.

  “He is willing to teach us what he knows about music,” Kaius replied. “Which is apparently important enough for the General to interrupt our meeting.”

  “Did the General say what the knowledge was?” Maraz asked.

  Kaius smiled slyly. “A system for written music,” he said. Hushed murmurs broke out as the other Elders conferred with one another, discussing the possibility of such a concept.

  “Such a thing is impossible,” Cirrus scoffed. “It’s been tried before and failed each time. This is another ploy to get something out of us, I’m sure of it. If Adrian truly knew such a thing, he would have mentioned it earlier when we questioned him about his home world.”

  “We didn’t delve into anything related to music when we spoke with him,” Orryn pointed out. “Once we found out he studied music, we accepted the fact and moved on. Perhaps Adrian will tell us why he kept such revolutionary information secret if we ask.”

  “The man’s full of secrets!” Cirrus exploded. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s something else he’s hiding from us. We’re going to let one person trample all over us again to get what they want. How does this not bother anybody?” Several other Elders nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Adrian’s knowledge on plants surprised us once before,” Maraz interjected. “His knowledge on music might do the same. We can have our researchers study what he teaches us. It will be evident very quickly if he’s lying.”

  “You want to involve other parties with anything related to Adrian at this point in time?” Cirrus asked, aghast. “That’s a terrible idea! Your researchers might demand answers about the origin of the knowledge, which brings them one step closer to discovering Adrian’s existence.”

  “We’re the Tribunal. If we tell our researchers something’s classified, that’s that,” Maraz said bluntly. “We’re under no obligation to reveal Adrian to anybody.”

  “Why not have him show us directly?” Orryn suggested. All eyes turned to her. “We can invite him to our meeting and determine for ourselves whether what he has offer is important. A system for writing music would revolutionize the art. Imagine the possibilities!”

  “That,” Kaius said, interrupting Cirrus’ retort, “is an excellent idea. That way, we can disseminate the information at our discretion, giving us full control over who learns of it and when. If,” he stressed, “the knowledge he teaches us is something new, then we shall discuss anew who to share it with.”

  “This is a waste of time,” Cirrus said, finally getting heard. “We have more important things to prepare for instead of focusing on music. Has anybody forgotten that our operation at the facility is almost ready to be begin? We should be preparing for that.”

  “There’s not much else we can do at this point,” Maraz said. “We need to trust in the General and the Commander to carry out the task we’ve assigned to them. The success of the operation is out of our hands.”

  “I thought you of all people would be the most excited to learn information from Adrian,” Orryn said, facing Cirrus as she spoke. It struck her as strange that Cirrus was willfully passing at the opportunity to learn alien knowledge that might benefit their society.

  “Weapons, communications systems, technological improvements or anything related to the facility are what I want out of him! Not this,” Cirrus said dismissively. “I still don’t believe that he can deliver on his promise. Having him attend our meeting is a waste of our time when the man in stasis is going to be released tomorrow.”

  “We’ve already discussed the topic ad nauseam,” Maraz said. “I’d like to hear what Adrian has to say while we wait for the results of the operation. It would be a more productive use of our time.”

  “Imagine the impact this could have on our culture if Adrian’s words are true,” Orryn said. “This could revolutionize music as we know it! It might not be weapons or communications systems, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Not everything in life has to be about war. Aren’t you all curious about how a less advanced society could do something we couldn’t? I, for one, would like to know.”

  “If that’s the case, shall we put it to a vote?” Maraz asked with barely contained excitement. “Rather than sit here and talk about it, we should be learning already!”

  “All those in favour of asking Adrian to teach us his knowledge, vote now,” Kaius said.

  “Wait!” Cirrus said hastily. “He’s going to ask for something in exchange. Shouldn’t we at least discuss how to respond to his demands first?”

  Kaius nodded. “A fair point. However, without knowing what those demands are, we have nothing to discuss. We can do so after we’ve spoken with Adrian.” He looked around the room. “Should his request be reasonable, I suggest that we grant it to him instead of antagonizing him further. Improving our relationship with him should be a priority if we want him to talk about his time at the facility. I’m sure whatever he has to say will be enlightening. Those in favour, vote now.”

  Five orbs of light appeared and hung in the air. Kaius nodded, pleased with the outcome. His face remained a blank mask, giving away nothing as he declared the motion passed. After asking for silence, he summoned Nessah. Her figure appeared at the podium on the far wall almost immediately after Kaius sent the summons.

  “Most Honourable Elders,” Nessah greeted with respect. “How may I serve?”

  A moment of silence passed, nobody in the room having expected her to arrive so quickly. “General,” Kaius said, breaking the spell. “Thank you for answering in such a,” he paused briefly, “timely manner.”

  Nessah smiled wryly. “I’ve been expecting your call since I sent you that message.” After she’d learned from Cyrix about Adrian’s knowledge, she’d called Jyn straight away to confirm. Jyn had hid his surprise well when he answered and the data slate she’d called was thrust into Adrian’s hands shortly after. The man had looked calm. Expectant, even. Reya was by his side, excited instead of nervous like Nessah had expected.

  After confirming with Adrian that he could indeed read and write music, she’d sent off a non-urgent communication directly to Kaius, unaware of the meeting in session. Knowing that Kaius would want to confirm anything related to Adrian, she took initiative to prepare for the summons and entered the special room in her office ahead of time.

  The sight of the entire Tribunal caught her off guard, although she didn’t let it show. She focused on Kaius instead. “Is what you have told me to be true?” he asked, skipping the fanfare and getting straight to the point.

  “To the best of my knowledge," Nessah said. "I confirmed it with Adrian himself, although he was unwilling to show me without making a trade.”

  “I knew it,” Cirrus said, just loud enough to be heard by everyone.

  Nessah had warned Adrian to be on standby in case he was summoned by the Tribunal. Any and all trades for information would have to be approved by them first, unless they were minor. There was a vested interest in learning anything Adrian had to offer, on the off chance that it might help shed some light on what had happened at the facility.

  “I think it’s perfectly reasonable for him to want something in return,” Orryn said. “Did he say what it is that he wants?”

  “No,” Nessah shook her head. “You’d have to ask him directly. He did mention that you shouldn’t have any problems with his request.”

  “I’ll believe it when I see it,” Cirrus said. “The man’s been unreasonable the entire time we’ve known him. We shouldn’t be letting him walk all over us like this.”

  “Cirrus,” Kaius rebuked sharply. “We’ve already come to a decision on how to handle the situation.” He turned his attention back to Nessah. “Is he available to meet with us right now?”

  Nessah nodded. “I’ve already warned him of the possibility. While I doubt he’s expecting you to contact him so soon, there shouldn’t be any issues. I’ll contact the team at the safe house and have them set up a secure line for him. There shouldn’t be too much of a delay.”

  “See that it gets done,” Kaius said. He dismissed Nessah and her figure disappeared, leaving the Tribunal to their devices while they waited for Adrian to arrive.