The Captain's Investigation
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 65695
|
That Astra had been riding a horse where she was bound to be seen was
enough to tell Captain Copernica that she must be ignorant of the
developments in Aqualaria whilst she had been away. Holding her own
preliminary investigation back at her command post would greatly increase
the chance of being able to get a few words with Astra alone, so that she
could tell her what had happened and the importance of keeping her true
identity secret. Luckily it seemed that Astra had been sufficiently alert
to realise that it would not be a good idea to tell her captors who she
really was.
So she was disappointed when the leader of the cavalrymen - their "Overseer" in the Hespan system of military ranks - said: "Going back to the post will take too much time. Whether it looks good or ill to Aqualarian eyes to hold the court of enquiry here is no concern of mine. Be thankful that I am allowing you to hold your own investigation before the trial itself. For I am a busy man, and I do not want to spend too much time on this matter. This is an open and shut case, and I want sentence to be passed on your Lady Astra Hill within the hour. You will conduct your investigation here and now, and be quick about it." The captain was unhappy, but could see no alternative to complying. She knew that arguing would not only be pointless but might get her put on a charge herself. She would just have to try to give Astra as much information as possible in the course of asking her questions. So she turned to Astra and said: "Lady Astra, you know that it is a serious offence, according to the terms of the treaty that Aqualaria signed following our defeat by Hespan, for any of our people to ride a horse. Do you admit that you did this?" Aqualaria was now a vassal state of Hespan? That explained a lot, Astra thought. "I can hardly deny it, Captain," she said. "Why did you do it, and why were you absent without leave?" "I received news that my mother was very sick. She lives a long way from here. Only by taking a horse - with another as a spare - could I hope to visit her and return to the unit in time for my next duty. I did not ask for leave of absence, as I knew that I would not be allowed to borrow the horses, without which the leave of absence would be useless." She hoped that this explanation would cause the Overseer to take a lenient view. The Overseer said:
|
JH
2/11/2007 12:05:28 PM
Extending Enabled
25280037 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.