Hearts of Delmar 2... ( 2 many Nicoles)

Chapter 17: Trial by blood

Jack and Vicki sat center of a row of stone seats, with a Nicole on either side and a Delmarian of their claim beside them, Vinn dressed rather ancestral formal, and Hyde hunkered under a black robe, which wasn't out of place. Silence filled the room as about 30 mixed species attendants took their places. The lights dimmed and candles were lit, as the elders in assorted clan colors filed in, everyone bowing except Gizzy, sitting center atop a stone column. A single ray of white light illuminated her.

The council of 12 sat in their chairs, 2 empty seats, one filled with a represented wooden skull and one belonging to Gizzy. One of the elders stood, illuminated by candle and began.

"Gizzy Koi Etlaan Adrian Michael Greggarious. You have been accused of murder, and with both motive, and means, not to mention locational convenience. However with no direct proof or unexplainable evidence, we will begin hearing your defense.

"I choose a human representative to explain." She said calmly.

Jack stood by her side.

"So you have come here to prove her innocence?" asked the white Delmarian.

"She has, your highness." Jack bowed. "Since the council contains members known for twisting her words against her, I'm providing new ones. I have here, not only her memory footage of events, but a Delmarian witness to the confession of Gandalf's Treason."

"How dare you accuse a council member of Treason!" he growled.

"Not accuse, prove. High council or not, by having Gizzy on trial you have all shown doubt that treasonous acts were happening, and with no proof of her ever committing a crime. I call forth Vendetta..." Jack squinted at the papers "Do I have to say his full name?"

"No, human, I would rather skip the formality than see another primate butcher our native tongue. Proceed."

"Vendetta, who we know as Vinn, was with Gizzy the evening they met with the buyer that claims Gandalf was selling Osirian technology and Human clones, as well as potentially...A Delmarian clone to foreign species, for profit." He said, as the members gasped and grumbled at the heresy of either his crimes or the accusation of such crimes.

"Silence," he said calming the others. "Vendetta, military graduate with honors, and Fupar champion who fought for a human female's honor. You have high respects among some of the members."

"High council, I have signed release for memory scans of the event." Vinn said. Gizzy placed a strange helmet on his head, adjusting the two probes to touch his head. The council watched as they played the very garbled footage.

"What is this footage? Why is it so...broken?" asked a Delmarian woman in gold robes.

"Because the Delmarian organic brain, with little medical study, is not exact science." Jack explained. "But that also proves it was not tampered with, before anyone even accuses Gizzy of altering her digital memory, which we all know can be faked and therefore an unaltered living Delmarian was brought along for witness."

"Clever, but the combination of his testimony and memory merely suggests Gizzy was innocent of the slavery and technology sale, not clearing the murder, and not that Gandalf was guilty. Merely a dishonorable buyer's word that it was.

"Oh I have his memory scans too showing the meeting with Gandalf." Gizzy smiled. "I present the evidence of that here." She said removing a jar from a bag containing a Delmarian skull, de-horned and broken down the middle with the brain and spine intact. Still juicy.

"What manner of morbid evidence is this?" objected the white rabbit.

"My second Delmarian witness. He didn't volunteer, it was taken by full force, but seeing as how it proved his own treason and my innocence, I feel like I get a pass for it. You'll also note that the clarity of the memory is far better since I was able to get the scanning probed directly into the brain tissue. Can't do that to em while they're alive. And you won't let me study the dead." They all looked horrified as the hologram showed the evidence actions, and the bloody remains dangled from some wires below the projector.