Guilty

Antoo’s eyestalks throbbed. These humans would be the death of them, they knew. They checked over the docket again, hoping for a case that didn’t involve the humans. No such luck.

It wasn’t that humans went around looking for trouble, it’s just that they often found it. The other galactic species left the Wlaru star system alone, only landing on any of its planets long enough to unload and/or load their freighter.

Humans had a different idea about trade, though. They felt that cultural trade was as important as physical goods, and humans had begun “vacationing” on the worlds orbiting Wlaru and inviting the laruns to visit their home star.

Antoo knew of the semi-larunoid creatures on the human home world called crabs. They had large claws rather than ten-digit manipulators, but the body plan was similar. They guessed that was why humans were willing to travel to another system and “see how the locals live.”

There was nothing like the humans on any of the worlds of Wlaru. There were small creatures with four legs, some with wings, some without, but they were all exoskeletal, and none bigger than a single manipulator digit.

Like all the larger creatures in the system, laruns had an endo-exo-skeletal structure with muscle and tissue sandwiched between the inner bones and the outer carapace. Humans just looked…squishy, strange…disgusting.

Antoo stood on the platform that would raise them to the judging chambers and pushed the button. They spent the moments meditating on detachment. It was too easy to ignore the training they had received in remaining detached and impartial.

When one sees hundreds of cases involving humans, and they are always the accused, it’s easy to think that humans are, by their nature, trouble. Antoo was certain that many of their fellow judges found humans at fault out of habit, xenophobia, and for expediency’s sake.

As they rose into the chambers, Antoo saw something they never expected. With one eyestalk pointed at the accused, one at the aggrieved, and the other two fixed on their desk, Antoo felt off-balance for a moment. The accused was larun, and the aggrieved human.

The security arbiter, a larun whose carapace was painted in black with gold stripes, stood in the middle of the chambers. “Esteemed Judge Antoo has entered. The aggrieved may speak.”

Antoo kept one eye on the aggrieved, one on their terminal, and the other two on the accused. Watching reactions often gave more indication of guilt or innocence than words. If only they could read the behaviors of humans as easily….

The aggrieved was small for a human, with infant feeding orbs, marking them as female. While it was still strange to them, sexual dimorphism was becoming easier for Antoo to distinguish.

Her accent was horrid, but she spoke fluent Larun-common. “Esteemed Judge, I paid the accused four hundred standard galactic credits for the lease of a living pod for thirty days…uh…planetary rotations. I have the original contract and receipt here with me. After just six rotations, the accused changed the lock codes and threw all my belongings outside. I either want to finish out the remaining twenty-four rotations in the pod or be reimbursed 320 standard galactic credits.”

Antoo raised a manipulator. “Aggrieved, I see you have filed copies of the documents and have them before me. As it has been sixteen rotations since you were put out of the accommodations, where have you been staying?”

“Esteemed Judge, I have been staying at the Hotel Europa near the human embassy.”

“The prices there are far lower, why did you wish to stay in a living pod?”

“I want to experience Wlaru-enteru as the locals do. Staying in a human hotel, speaking Terran Common, eating standard Earth fare, is hardly the way to do that.”

“Understood. Have you anything else to add?”

“No, Esteemed Judge.”

She stepped back and the security arbiter spoke again. “The accused may answer.”

Antoo noticed that none of the accused’s eyestalks ever turned toward the human. They held their manipulators clasped below their lower carapace, and their eight legs were evenly placed below them in a position from which they could bolt in any direction. Clear signs of unease.

“Esteemed Judge, it is a singular honor to be in your presence. As I explained to the human, I could only lease the pod out for as long as no other person wished to take a more long-term lease. Six days after the human occupied the pod, that long-term request came through. Had I not evicted the human then, I would have lost out on a minimum 700 rotation lease.”

Antoo watched as the accused larun kept all four eyestalks looking directly over their head. The dishonesty was obvious. “What is the usual charge for those pods?” they asked.

“They vary, Esteemed Judge.”

“I see that. I’m looking at the rates now,” they said, motioning with an eyestalk to the terminal in front of them. “For the record, what are the usual rates?”

“The usual rates are between four and nine dikalas per rotation, with a five percent discount for prepaid leases of more than 100 rotations.”

“And what,” they asked, “is that in galactic common credits at the exchange rate on the date of the initial lease?”

“I’m not sure, Esteemed Judge. I wouldn’t like to guess and sully the honor of your chambers.”

“Roughly one-half to one credit per rotation, the same rate as today. What was so special about the pod that it warranted a rate thirteen times higher than normal?”

“It is a deluxe pod, Esteemed Judge.”

“Which leases at nine dikalas — one galactic credit — per rotation according to your own records. Why did you charge the equivalent of 120 dikalas per rotation?”

“I’m a businessperson, Esteemed Judge. It is in my interest to make a profit where I can. The human was willing to pay it, so that’s what I charged.”

“I am looking through this lease agreement. Nowhere do I see a clause that allows you to summarily evict the resident in the case of a longer lease becoming available.”

“It was stated and agreed verbally, Esteemed Judge.”

“The recorded lease takes precedence over any verbal agreement. You are lucky to be in my judging chamber, accused. There are many crimes I could charge you with, but I am limiting those charges to lease fraud and breach of contract.

“The aggrieved is awarded one and one-half times the value of the original contract, less the actual value used. That’s 600 standard galactic credits less six for the days occupying the pod, so, 593 standard galactic credits or 5,337 dikalas. The aggrieved must be paid within one rotation or you will further be charged with theft and will face the maximum sentence of 5,337 rotations.

“Punitive fees, payable to the council of judges shall be set at the maximum of ten times the fraudulent contract amount, 36,000 dikalas. This amount to be paid within the next 1,000 rotations. Failure to do so will be seen as mockery of the court and will face a sentence of one rotation for every unpaid dikala.”

Antoo put a digit on the terminal, signing the declaration with their DNA. They waited while the security arbiter led first the aggrieved, then the convicted out of the chambers, then pushed the button to descend back to their office.

No sooner had they sat at their desk than the message board shared by other judges and court officials began filling up. The arbiters — security, fee processing, and others — Antoo could understand. One doesn’t need or get the same training for those positions. The messages from the other judges, though….

Apart from one judge, the others questioned how a human could win against a larun. They were always in the wrong. How could such a disgusting creature ever be expected to behave properly in society?

The one exception simply stated that Antoo should have been more lenient in the sentencing, rather than invoking the maximums. After all, they argued, it wasn’t like they’d defrauded a larun.

This would likely be the subject of debate for many rotations. Antoo rubbed their eyestalks in frustration, slammed their terminal closed, and spent the remainder of the rotation contemplating retirement.