The Cleansing – (The Sequel to Judgement) eBook : Forsythe, Ron: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
In the aftermath of the march with all its violence and bloodshed, the human President and alien Commander are gloomily discussing if there is anything they could have done. The alien judge points out that the violence was orchestrated by the populist politicians. It had been deliberate.
Chapter 26 – Grim Reality
The mood was gloomy as showers of rain swept the London streets clean of gore. The clean-up crews were out in force, boarding up windows, dousing smoking embers and sweeping up the glass and debris. Burnt out cars were being towed away and the police and stewards were licking their wounds.
Fifty-eight dead – mainly from crushing. It could have been a lot worse.
Ron and Chameakegra were morosely reviewing the aftermath. It was no use pretending that it was not too bad, that it could have been worse. This was every bit as bad as they could have imagined in their worst nightmares – the sight of such hate-filled faces, open mouths and unleashed fury – the blood and death – the hate and pillaging. It could not have been worse.
‘Where do we go from here?’ Ron asked, looking for guidance from the large Giforian Commander.
Chameakegra seemed to have slumped into a swamp of despair, her scutes a dark black. She shook her head. This outburst of violence had undone all the good they had worked so hard on. Just as the infrastructure projects were beginning to bear fruit, the education changes were bedding in and the first batches of abducted were returning with positive outcomes, this had to happen. It was no good looking to throw any blame on Grrndakegra for the heavy-handed ending of the riots; the riots should never have happened in the first place.
Both Ron and Chameakegra were full of recriminations. Could they have stopped it? Should the march have been banned?
Chameakegra racked her brain. Grrndakegra had been adamant – a safety valve. Well that safety valve had failed to prevent a full-blooded explosion. This had gone nuclear and it was out there for all to see. Plain as a supernova, these Hydrans could not be trusted; they were every bit as bad as Beheggakegri made them out to be – crazy, psychotic apes, completely incapable of being fully civilised, not worthy of being admitted into the Federation. Even she had to finally admit that.
The experiment was over.
‘I never even got to speak.’
‘You stupid great fucking lunk!’ Charlene raged. ‘Look at what you’ve fucking done!’
‘It’s not my fault,’ Billy protested irritably. ‘We had to make our voices heard.’ He was adamant.
Charlene was distraught. What if Ron was right? What if they decided that this was the end and decided to wipe everyone off the face of the planet?
What had Billy gone and done?
Judge Booghramakegra stomped through the portal into the atrium on Neff. Commander Chameakegra had been summoned. Ron stood crestfallen to one side. This was it. He could tell from Chameakegra’s sunken crest and ebony black scutes that it was over. This judge was coming to wrap things up. They had failed.
Judge Booghramakegra stood fuming within the great H-craft and haughtily ignored the welcoming committee. Her entire integument was white with anger. Not a word came out. She glared at Commander Chameakegra and Ron, who visibly shrank into himself at the ferocity of her glare, wanting to melt into the wall. A white Giforian with fully raised crest was a terrifying sight for anyone to witness. Ron wanted this fiasco over as quickly as possible but it looked as if they were both going to have to pay. Judge Booghramakegra was here to deliver vengeance in person. Who could blame her? She’d been badly let down. Ron felt distraught as if he was personally to blame. He should never have sanctioned that protest march on the capital.
With barely a glance at anyone the judge strode purposefully past the senior crew gathered there to greet her.
Ron threw Chameakegra a frightened distressed glance before the two of them trailed in her wake.
Judge Booghramakegra knew exactly where she was heading and they had to scurry to keep up. Arriving at Commander Chameakegra’s private quarters she stormed in without waiting to be asked, the portal barely having time to dilate. Chameakegra followed her in and Ron took a deep breath before plunging through the portal. This was it – the final reckoning.
Inside the judge had already ensconced herself at Chameakegra’s mense and was busy concentrating on engaging the comulator. Only when she had linked in the tridee and brought up the files she was after did she finally turn to face the two of them. They stood like naughty schoolchildren in front of the Headteacher waiting for the inevitable.
‘What the drangling hell are you playing at?’ She directed her fire on Chameakegra. The anger in her voice was hot enough to melt lead.
Ron took up a position behind the Giforian Commander. ‘We did our best,’ Chameakegra explained lamely. ‘It appeared to be going well.’ Her multi-coloured scutes clearly displayed her anguish. ‘We thought it was bearing fruit. The infrastructure, the education programme, the rehabilitation. It was all proceeding nicely. We underestimated the depth of Hydran flaws. They are intrinsically violent. It was probably a mistake from the very start. Beheggakegri was right.’
Judge Booghramakegra turned bright green in disgust and outrage. She waggled her crest in impotent frustration.
Ron was just glad that he had the large body of the Giforian Commander between him and the incandescent Judge. His body felt like jelly.
‘I thought you were meant to be a highly competent commander!’
There was nothing that could be said. Ron watched as the ebony colour in Chameakegra’s scutes impossibly deepened. Chameakegra was suffering a unique embarrassment. Everything she had bet her career on had crumbled before her eyes. This was the ultimate humiliation. The Hydrans had proved themselves unworthy. Grrndakegra would shortly be engaged to finish the job. She had let Judge Booghramakegra down. Her career was in ruins. Her reputation impossibly tarnished. She lamely waited for the sword to descend.
Ron watched in horror. In his head he could see the whole scenario playing out. Grrndakegra and her Giforian troops would soon swoop down and that was it. Humanity was doomed. The judgement was over. The brief reprieve had come to a premature end. He had only himself to blame. He should have found a way to deal with Billy Smythe and ban that stupid ‘Freedom March’. He had known it would end in disaster. That was obvious to a fool. All that talk of safety valves was bollocks. He was personally to blame. Judge Booghramakegra was right. He felt embarrassed to be human. They were a disaster of a race.
Judge Booghramakegra was here to deliver the coup de grace. It was over.
The judge cast a withering glare in Ron’s direction before returning her attention to the Giforian Commander. ‘You are an utter fool!’ she snarled. ‘Watch this.’
We stood there like prize idiots as the judge brought up the excruciating images of the terrible rioting. We watched the horrific scenes unfurl with sinking hearts. This was really rubbing it in. Why couldn’t she just make the pronouncement and get it over with? Why put us through this? They both knew the extent of the horror. They’d watched it a hundred times.
‘What do you see?’ she demanded angrily, scutes flaring green. She glared at Ron first.
‘I see the terrible rioting,’ Ron stammered.
Judge Booghramakegra shook her head in despair and turned her vitriolic gaze back to Chameakegra. Ron felt sorry for the chastened Commander. He had let her down. She had gone out on a limb for them, now she was being eviscerated in front of him.
‘I know,’ Chameakegra said firmly, pulling herself into an upright stance with defiant crest and as much decorum as she could muster, her scutes an apologetic yellow. ‘I should have been more objective. I should have realised what their true nature was. I had enough warnings. The flaws run too deep. They are beyond redemption.’
Judge Booghramakegra snorted with deep displeasure and glared. ‘Idiot – look again! Don’t you see what I see?’
They watched again as the horrendous rioting took place. The familiar violent scenes were utterly depressing.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Chameakegra mumbled, staring at the images above the tridee set. ‘It’s just terrible.’
Judge Booghramakegra expelled a lungful of air. ‘I despair of the two of you. Can’t you see? Are you both utter imbeciles?’
The pair of them studied the images of violence and fury completely at a loss to understand what else they could possibly be expected to see. It was awful. Full stop.
‘You fools,’ Judge Booghramakegra muttered, grim-faced, scutes bright yellow. ‘It is obvious, as plain as can be. Look here.’ She indicated a group of balaclavaed youths hurling rocks at the heads of people in the crush. ‘And here,’ more balaclavaed youths smashing in windows. ‘And here,’ another group of balaclavaed youths attacking a line of police. ‘Now what do you see?’
Chameakegra glanced at Ron. ‘I see Hydrans venting their rage in horrendous acts of violence.’
Judge Booghramakegra turned green with disgust. ‘You are both idiots? Look again.’ She flicked through scene after scene. ‘Now what do you see?’
Chameakegra was as totally befuddled as Ron. ‘I see gratuitous violence.’
‘No,’ Judge Booghramakegra replied with an air of exasperation, ‘what you are seeing is an orchestrated campaign. Those violent thugs, the ones with the similar face masks, have been hired to do the dirty work. You have been set up, taken for fools. Someone has deliberately used that demonstration to create a violent disorder. Someone wants the Hydrans disposed of and wants to bring you down. Isn’t that obvious?’
Chameakegra turned to Ron an expression of realisation lighting up their faces as if the sun had just emerged from behind a cloud.
