With Great Power Comes…
Thanks for having me here today, Jennifer! Today I am talking about my second book in my series The Confederation Treaty from Carina Press, The Naked Truth
In The Naked Truth, as in the other books in this series, I’ve introduced some concepts that might make people a little uncomfortable. And no, I am not talking about the sex, LOL, although that might make more than a few people hot and bothered.
What I mean is the idea of one man being able to review your memories like a hologram, to be able to review them for the truth, and to judge what they discover. This same man might have to make snap decisions on punishments or treat the person they are reviewing for trauma. This is an Inarrii Examiner.
In this scene, Examiner Asler Kiis, the hero in The Naked Truth, investigates some memories with Captain Susan Branscombe, who has been accused of treason.
Gerish pulled a laser torch from his greasy shipsuit pant pocket. He smiled as he fired it up, waving the microbeam dangerously close to Susan’s face. “Tell me! Where is the ship? Where are they meeting?”
Susan’s screams tore through the air as Gerish pointed the beam against the fabric of the dirty uniform stretching across her leg. Burning flesh produced an odor Asler had hoped to never smell again.
“Stop! Stop! I’ll tell you, please, please stop!” The figure of Susan’s memory begged.
“This is it. This is where I turned a traitor.”
“No. Look at your eye, remember your face earlier. You had to wait to tell them, until it became so unbelievably painful that they would have to believe. You waited on purpose. Why?”
Asler pulled Susan close and looked into her eyes. He already believed her innocence; now she needed to believe in herself.
“I…I waited so they would believe and go for it— attack the meeting. I knew there would be at least three of our ships there, as well as yours. I couldn’t believe men like these could have enough resources to succeed in doing much damage to that kind of a meeting… But if they attacked the Starforce school…There are children there, and not much in the way of defense. I grew up there.”
Asler saw the acceptance in her eyes. “You did what you had to, to save as many as you could.”
“Yes.”
Susan turned back to watch herself sobbing the coordinates of the meeting out to her torturer. Smoke curled up from the wound on her thigh. The injured woman barely looked up as another presence entered the room, but Asler caught Susan stiffen beside him, heard her soft gasp of surprise.
A tall, lanky man, the newcomer wasn’t someone Asler recognized, but what he saw around his neck was as clear as crystal. If he could have ripped it from the grinning man’s neck he would have in a heartbeat.
“Flight Lieutenant Cohen! I can’t believe he’s a part of this!”
“I don’t believe he is, Susan. Take this moment, this memory, and with me, stop it. Hold it still, Susan.” Movement ceased around them, the image of the memory warping for a moment as Susan struggled to work with Asler’s mental commands.
Asler walked closer to the newcomer terrorist. A glowing band of metal circled tight to his throat. He pointed it out to Susan. “This is a Gathan invention, a kind of portable disguise. It projects an image tightly to the body of the wearer, nearly undetectable except
Their system of justice is very different from ours. In this scene, Susan is on trial, her fate to be publically determined rather than privately investigated by her Examiner because the human faction is looking for someone to blame:
“Let’s go back to your time with the Inarrii,” a newcomer commented.
Sue looked up at his tone. Something was off with the way he twisted his lips. She had seen him attending the question session yesterday and the day before, but this was the first time he’d spoken. She didn’t recognize the insignia he wore.
“I’ve had some recent information about this m’ittar.” Sue stiffened at the tone of his voice as he continued. “I’ve had detailed reports on the mind contact and how the Inarrii use physical contact to smooth the way, so to speak.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her voice as cold as the chill racing again down her back.
“I understand you were practically nude when we collected you from the Inarrii ship Horneu. That you were confined to quarters with Kiis the entire time you were onboard.”
Rage chased away the chill Sue had been feeling. Only the base commander had known that. How could he have exposed her this way? Davies hadn’t attended any of the hearing so far. Perhaps this was why.
Her heart pounded. “Aside from the two days I spent in the medical lab healing from torture, that is correct.”
Murmurs raced through the Board. They were frustrated at the lack of progress in this investigation; would they now take this out on her in a different way? For the first time, Sue felt frightened. The Inarrii and their understanding of sex was different than that of the general populace of Earth. It seemed that no matter how far Earth advanced, the differences in the sexes and the importance of the male/female relationship were points of contention.
The annoying man stood. “So, you were alone with an Inarrii male, attempting mind contact to review the very memories you claim to no longer be able to access. He claims you are innocent of any involvement with the terrorists, and has made a report to this council to that effect.” He paced closer to where Sue sat facing the Board. “Tell me, Captain, you were pretty good at giving the terrorists information, and evidently Kiis was…satisfied by you. What have you got for us? Nothing but claims of broken memories.”
Sue bounced to her feet. “How dare you. I have done nothing wrong! I told the terrorists where the ships were meeting, but only because I felt certain that we could defeat them. And because if they didn’t know, they would have chosen some other target, one less able to defend itself!”
“What target?” He stood face to face with her.
“I don’t know! I can’t remember,” she cried out, tears of anger and frustration threatening to spill from her eyes.
I wonder which system would be better – going mind to mind, your every secret laid bare—there is no chance at lying in m’ittar, the telepathic connection of the Inarrii. Certainly I can imagine this is better than our current method of investigation. Do I feel that the power to be judge and executioner should be joined with the ability to investigate this way? Maybe. But in the wrong hands it could be very dangerous.
Can you imagine our justice system in a few hundred years? Will it be better? Cleaner? How?
Lilly Cain
The Confederacy Treaty Series – Alien Revealed, The Naked Truth, and coming June 25th, Undercover Alliance! From Carina Press
About the Author:
Lilly Cain is a wild woman with a deep throaty laugh, plunging necklines and a great lover of all things sensual - perfume, chocolate, silk! She never has to worry about finding a date or keeping a man in line. She keeps her blond hair long and curly, wears beautiful clothes and loves loud music. Lilly lives her private life in the pages of her books.
Lilly lives in Atlantic Canada, although she spent eight years in Bermuda, enjoying the heat and the pink sands. She returned to her homeland so she could see the changing of the seasons once again. When not writing she paints, swills coffee and vodka (but not together), and fights her writing pals for chocolate.
When not living up to her pen name, Lilly is a single mom who loves reading and writing, dabbling in art and loving and caring for her two daughters. She loves romance and the freedom erotic fantasy provides her imagination. She loves the chilling moments in her novels as much as the steaming hot interludes. Her stories are an escape and a release, and she hopes that they can give you that power, too.
Media Links:
Website – www.lillycain.com
Publisher (books also available on Amazon etc, and available as an audiobook at Audible.com) www.carinapress.com
Group blog - http://contactinfinitefutures.wordpress.com/
Facebook – www.facebook.ca/LillyCain
Twitter – www.twitter.com/LillyCain
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