Alien Indiscretions by Tracy St. John Page B

grim-faced Royal Guards on board. “I thought it was two men involved though?”
    “It was just the one on New Bethlehem. He was a high-ranking soldier there and lost his mind. He came back here and started killing women. His Dramok discovered what was happening but didn’t tell anyone. They were both executed for their crimes.”
    Tasha bit her lip. “Executed? But if the killer was unstable, shouldn’t he have been allowed some mercy?”
    There was a shadow in Jessica’s eyes as she shook her head. “He was mentally ill, but the guy still knew right from wrong. The doctors who examined him said he acted on compulsions rather than a complete lack of control.” She drew herself up. “Either way, there was no excusing his Dramok. He knowingly let his Nobek continue to torture, then murder innocent victims.”
    The four women fell silent as they considered the matter. All had been secretly raised as Buddhists despite Earth’s police state that dictated how people could worship. Their belief was based on non-violence, and execution was usually an anathema to that belief.
    Especially generate compassion for those whose ill deeds are horrible , the great scholar Nagarjuna had said. Their faith taught that karma would deliver the consequences of a person’s actions without fail, whether in this life or the next. People who had committed unthinkable crimes were to be pitied and prayed for, because they would suffer horribly for them.
    “But in self-defense, it’s not so bad,” Cissy whispered to herself. “Or defending someone else’s life.”
    “What?” Tasha asked.
    “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
    Lindsey gave her a wicked smile. “You know what that’s a sign of, right?”
    Cissy’s grin was equally evil. “That I appreciate intellectual conversation with the brightest person in the room.”
    That got her a mixture of groans, gagging sounds, and hoots of derision.
    The women went back to watching their surroundings and commenting on them. In the distance were the first free-standing buildings Cissy had seen on Kalquor. They dotted between the trees, none too close to others, leaving plenty of room for whoever lived there. Despite being houses that had been built rather than carved out of the landscape, they still had an organic feel to them, almost melting into the environment. They boasted curves and rounded shapes.
    “Like large abstract sculptures that have been worn by the elements over time,” Tasha opined.
    Cissy’s attention focused on a great structure rising in the distance as the wooded area ended and the landscape opened up. It was similar to the free-standing homes except for its size.
    “Home sweet home,” Jessica announced, confirming this was the long-awaited Matara Complex.
    Cissy recognized it from vids. Like everything else to do with the Empire, it was more impressive in person.
    Curved and flowing in shape, it looked like granite that had not been so much carved as poured into a mold. It was impossible to tell from the outside where in the building one would find the administrative offices, the recreational areas, or the apartments where the Earther women resided. The structure was rounded, much like the Roman Coliseum, enclosing the more functional looking interior. The exterior, with its undulating top, looked downright sensual to Cissy. She wondered if that had been the intent of its architects.
    There were openings here and there near the top, and the shuttle flew through one. For a moment darkness reigned. Then they were through and back in the sunshine. The vid sunshine, Cissy reminded herself. Jessica had been right when she’d said they would forget they were underground. Already it was hard for Cissy to believe she wasn’t in the real outdoors.
    They’d emerged over a landing area for emergency vehicles. Their shuttle floated down and settled without the slightest bump.
    Two Kalquorian men and an Earther woman waited for them as they disembarked. The men bowed