Chapter 5: The Hearing Begins

The Council Chamber was: a sphere. Not a room — a sphere. I entered from: the side and immediately lost: all sense of direction because: there was no floor. Or rather: the entire surface was floor. Beings: sat, stood, floated, and: vibrated at every point on: the sphere's interior surface, each: experiencing their own gravity, each: seeing the chamber from: their own orientation.

I stood on: my section. A small platform — perhaps: three metres square — that the: station had grown for me. The platform: had gravity. Earth gravity. The: station knew what I needed, which was: more than I could say for: my employer, Rajasthan Water Solutions, who had been: paying me thirty-two thousand a month: for work that required: forty-five thousand worth of: skill.

The Council: comprised twelve beings. The: Adjudicators. They sat — or: their equivalent of sitting — on: a raised platform at what: I perceived as the "top" of the: sphere, though "top" was: a meaningless concept in: a room where everyone had: their own gravity.

The Chief Adjudicator was: a being made of light. Not: metaphorically. Actually made: of light. A column of: shifting, prismatic, iridescent: light that communicated through: colour changes. The universal: translation field converted: the colours into Hindi in: my head.

"Case number: 7,741,029. Planet designation: Sol-3, locally known as 'Earth.' Species designation: Homo sapiens. Seventeen registered violations. Representative: Arjun Sharma."

I stood: up. In my Raymond's: suit. On my three-metre: platform. In a sphere of: four thousand seven hundred and: twelve species' representatives. And I: said:

"Namaskar."

The: universal translation field carried: the word — with its: cultural weight, its: specific Indian gravity, its: simultaneous meaning of greeting: and respect and acknowledgment: of the divine in: the other — to every: being in the chamber.

Zrix had: told me to start with: my strongest argument. I did: not have a strong argument. I had: a pump engineer's understanding of: seventeen violations and a: six-hour briefing and the: specific, desperate improvisation: of a man who had: been picked because he was: average and who was now: required to be: extraordinary.

"Honourable: Adjudicators," I began. "I'm not: a diplomat. I'm not a: lawyer. I'm not a: politician. I'm a: mechanical engineer from Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Earth. I design: irrigation pumps. Specifically: the kind that bring water to: farms in drought-prone: regions so that: people can grow food: and not die."

Silence. The: sphere listened.

"I tell you: this not because it's: relevant to the seventeen: violations — it's not — but because: it tells you something: about my species. We are: a species that spends: its time figuring out: how to bring water: to dry places. How to: grow food in impossible: soil. How to keep: each other alive in: conditions that should: kill us."

"The violations are: noted," the Chief Adjudicator: pulsed. Red. Which the: translation field rendered as: stern.

"The violations are: real," I said. "I'm not: here to deny them. Earth is: guilty of every single one. We: have exceeded our carbon: allocation. We litter: the electromagnetic spectrum. We: treat our fellow species: badly. We've left junk: in orbit. And we have: twelve thousand nuclear warheads: pointed at each other."

"Then what. Is your. Defence?"

"My defence is: that we know. We know: we're doing these things. We: know they're wrong. We: argue about them constantly. We: have entire institutions — imperfect, frustrating, slow: institutions — dedicated to: fixing them. We have: scientists who have spent their: lives measuring the: carbon. We have activists: who chain themselves to: trees. We have engineers: who design pumps to: bring water to dry: places."

"Knowledge of. Wrongdoing. Is not. A defence. It is. An aggravation."

"On Earth, knowledge: of wrongdoing is the: first step toward: change. We are: a young species. How: old is the Council?"

"Four. Hundred thousand. Of your. Years."

"And how: many of your member: species have achieved: zero violations?"

The: silence. The specific silence: of a question that: had not been asked: before. Or: had been asked: but not by a subject: species. Not by a: pump engineer from: Udaipur.

The Chief Adjudicator: pulsed. Several colours: simultaneously. The: translation field: stuttered. Then: "Forty-seven."

"Forty-seven: out of four thousand: seven hundred and twelve. Less than: one percent."

"That is. Not—"

"Less than one: percent of your member: species have achieved zero: violations. And you've had: four hundred thousand years. We've: had — as a technological: civilisation — about: two hundred. Give: us time."