The Diamond Deep (63 page)

“Nothing further.” Loura sat down again, looking pleased.

Satyana acted as though Ix's interview was no setback at all. “The ship's AI has confirmed that Ruby knew this, as Ruby herself confirmed. The ship's AI has not confirmed that anyone else knew, simply that it is possible others knew. This is hardly damning. Of more immediate importance—and here I will put together what I listed as second and fourth—of more immediate importance, the rule ‘do no harm' remains unbroken. There is no reason to be here at all. There is no record of the being interacting with any of our AIs, our people, our systems, or our robots. There is no trace of the being inside of our system.

“It is doing no harm.”

Satyana stood in silence for a moment, facing the dais, hands behind her back and tugging on her long brown braid, giving people time to think about what she had just said before she continued. “I have no witnesses to call on the point of whether or not Ruby has done any harm. I would have to call the whole ship to prove no harm was done to anyone, so I ask you to call someone who can claim that Ruby's bringing this being on board has done anyone any harm at all.”

A moment of silence ensued, a moment that Onor felt sure was full of Koren and Loura speaking together in the same way that he and Aleesi could talk to each other. Oddly, Aleesi had been completely silent since he had given the earbug to Satyana.

Loura spoke. “It is not necessary to a conviction in this case. The rule of no human enslavement is core to our protection of humanity aboard this station. Ruby Martin has violated that rule by allowing a human slave to enter here and even worse, by allowing one from a place that is known to be an enemy of the
Diamond Deep
, a nest of pirates who have attacked our ships time and time again, a warren of melded humans and machines that have allowed and fostered change until they are unrecognizable.”

Ruby and Joel whispered together, Ruby's voice the louder of the two. She stood again, something Satyana couldn't see since Ruby was behind her.

Koren spoke to Satyana. “In your role as Councilor, I believe you are doing a poor job of controlling your client.”

So much rage coursed through Ruby that it was easy to stand, to face this woman who had done irreparable damage to her people. Joel had exacted a whispered promise that she would let Satyana choose whether or not she spoke, so she watched Satyana closely, trying to look far calmer than she felt. Enough time passed for the room to quiet before Satyana turned to her and said, “Please feel free to speak on your behalf.”

Some magic of the room made her words come out amplified when they hadn't before, as if this time she was being allowed to talk. Her voice shook. “You cannot judge regarding slavery while you have the Brawl. It was described to me as a place of economic misfortune, a necessary deterrent to unsupportable growth, but it is enslavement. I have had Ix look up the numbers, and 95 percent of the people who go to the Brawl die there. One in twenty lives and comes back to create a useful life. One of my friends was killed there this morning.”

She paused as much to regain strength as for effect.

“I did not enslave Aleesi—the being you are accusing me of harboring. If that is what happened to her, then that happened long before I came here. I simply chose not kill her, to show mercy.” She paused for breath. “You must look deeply at yourselves and your choices.”

Loura Pillar interjected, “We are not on trial.”

Ruby took a deep breath and tried to center herself. “Everyone is always on trial. Leaders in particular are always on public trial. Entertainers are watched by fans. What we do matters.” She stood still, then, her arms shaking, her thighs beginning to shake. She should be in Satyana's place, defending them all, defending Aleesi. She had just lost Haric, and she wasn't going to lose anyone else.

She had to wait now, she could tell from the look on Satyana's face, mixed amusement and warning.

Satyana was playing for a bigger game than Ruby. She had never hidden that fact.

Loura Pillar interjected. “May we rebut?”

Murmuring from the table where the Voice of the Deep sat suggested this was an irregular request.

Koren inclined her head to grant it.

A low murmur rose from the audience, subsiding slowly.

Satyana looked furious, but made no move to stop them from whatever they were going to do. “We call Min Carson.”

Ruby sat back down, her breath exhaling in a long slow bout of pain. Beside her, Joel whispered, “Those lying women,” so softly that she barely heard him above her own breathing. When she could lift a hand to put on his arm, he was so stiff he might as well have been made of metal.

A few moments passed while Min walked stiffly to the dais, a man in uniform following her like a mix between an escort and a guard. She sat down and looked around the room, her face pale.

“I'm sorry Min,” Loura said, “We were hoping we would not have to call you up here. Surely it will be hard for you to speak against one of your own.”

Min didn't respond. She wore the white of the whispering women, the same white as the cloak tucked around Ix and Aleesi. It made her look small and plain among so many powerful people, almost like a child. Perhaps too plain; almost pure. Ruby willed Min to look at her, to give Ruby even a tiny chance to make eye contact and convince her that whatever she was about to say could not possibly benefit Ash.

The chance didn't come.

Ruby struggled to sit as still as possible, her hands clenching and unclenching under the table to provide a channel for her anger. Loura's black dress and lacy black gloves looked like quite a contrast as she interrogated Min in her white on white outfit, with the visible red scar on her face. Loura: “Ruby was one of you once. In the same social class as you?”

“Yes.”

“A class of workers who earned air and food by doing what they were told to do.”

“Yes.”

“A place perhaps more cruel than the Brawl.”

“I have never been to the Brawl.”

“People are afforded air and food without having to work. Does that sound easier than the outer levels of
The Creative Fire
?”

Because there is no work! No opportunity!
But it was not up to Ruby to answer. Min took a moment, but she said, “Yes.”

“Ruby broke the laws of
The Creative Fire
and started a revolution to change things. And you followed.”

“We did. That's how I got the scar on my face.”

“Once you arrived here, why didn't you fix the scar on your face?”

“Because all of our credit goes to the collective.”

“That sounds like slavery to me. What do you think?”

Did you ever ask?
Ruby had no recollection, although she could guess how SueAnne would have answered.

Min's voice came out thin and small, amplified enough for everyone to hear the touch of sadness in it. “I would have liked to fix my scar.”

Min had never told her. She had even seemed proud of the scar.

“And how did Ruby treat you? After the revolution?”

“She didn't. We hardly saw her. She was Joel's lover, and derived all of her power from him, and took charge of many things.”

Ruby stiffened. Min had seen Ruby act on her own, seen Ruby argue with Joel, seen Ruby in a thousand roles. Wasn't that what the whispering women did—witness Ruby?

“Sometimes she came down to sing, to talk to us, to greet us. But she was never one of us again.” Min finally looked at Ruby and Joel. “We followed them. We wanted to hold them accountable and to be sure that we all knew what was happening to us in on the
Diamond Deep
. Joel was cruel to us and kept us out of many places, and Ruby almost never talked to us. We might have been invisible.”

Satyana glanced at Ruby as if to ask if any of Min's words were true.

That depended on how you chose to interpret nuances. But there was no time to have a conversation with Satyana, or with anyone. Beside her, Joel remained stiff. Although she knew his iron control would keep him from doing it, she could feel how he wanted to stand up and rebuff Min. He had always hated the whispering women.

He didn't understand them at all.

“Who is us?” Loura said, “you keep referring to an us. To more than just you.”

“All of the women who lost people in Ruby's war.”

Ruby hadn't quite put that together. Min had never mentioned a loss. Hugh's death drove Lya's decisions, her loss of sanity, her hatreds. She should have made time to understand what drove Min.

“And you accompanied Ruby on her tours.”

“Yes.”

“What happened on those tours? Did Ruby represent Ash's needs?”

Min had stopped looking at any of them from the
Fire
, had fixed her eyes on Loura.

Satyana spoke. “It is unclear what the prosecution is trying to establish or how it affects their case.”

“I have allowed it,” Koren snapped.

Min answered. “Ruby chased power on her trips. She spent time with Naveen, who sponsored her and who has a significant following. Without him, her concerts would have meant nothing. No one would have come.”

Ruby froze.

“And she followed Gunnar Ellensson out of the room at the party he threw for her. She protested her innocence, but I have no way of knowing what she may have done with him.”

Joel flinched and withdrew his arm from under her hand, leaving her cold. Ruby glanced at his face. He didn't look back, and he was so still he could be stone or metal.

Min. Min, why are doing this? We talked about that. KJ was with me!

As soon as Min accused him, Onor glanced at Gunnar Ellensson. He looked amused, maybe deeply amused. But Onor couldn't read the look.
Of course she wanted to sleep with me? Everyone does. I'm rich.
Or maybe
You don't know what you are talking about.

Gunnar stood up. His seat was about ten meters away from Koren, close enough for him to overshadow her as he stood, his eyes at a level above hers, although if she stood they would not be.

Koren remained calm.

Min glared at the shipping magnate, as if he were truly evil and beneath her. Onor had never much liked the whispering women, but he had taken Ruby's side instead of Joel's, had chosen to believe they wouldn't really hurt anyone. Ruby had once even called them a blessing as they reminded her to pay attention to everyone, and they reminded her how much fighting hurt and how much she didn't want to do it again if she could help it.

Gunnar cleared his throat.

“I will speak to you when it is time for advice,” Koren said.

“I thought the audience might like to know that Ruby Martin refused my advances.”

Koren's dark skin made it hard for Onor to read her emotions, and she was too far away for him to really see what her golden eyes had to say about her. But he could read frustration in her voice, and maybe even the slightest touch of fear. If it was there, she didn't show it. “If you speak out of turn again, I will have you removed from the room.”

Gunnar Ellensson sat down, but he looked quite happy with himself.

“Are you finished with the interruption?” Satyana asked. “This has not proven harm.”

Loura smiled as if she had won a prize. “I am completely finished proving that Ruby Martin has a habit of harming her own people.”

Ruby let out a small cry of pain, and he looked over to see that Joel was holding her close, stroking her cheek while her face had gone white and shiny with sweat. The pain—the cry—had been deeper than a simple cut with words. He had seen Ruby manage those over and over. Whatever pain caused that cry was physical, and deep, and true.

It dawned on Onor that the reason Satyana was doing this now—allowing it or maybe had even architected it—was that Ruby would be dead soon, and then it would be harder. A dead woman could be represented any way you like. Two sides—or more—could argue about Ruby's choices and Ruby's intent, and even Ruby's actions, forever. Ruby wouldn't be alive to defend her reputation.