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The clerk rose, and silence fell upon the over-ground public gallery. The bubbling surface of the underwater gallery had stilled to glass.

"Interplanetary Assizes, Case One," he said, his large red eyes turning to the judge.

High and Overarching Judge Drahcir Silles was adjudicating in the civil war of Salgoud, between the equally evolved but divergent races, the Ter-aks and the Mer-aks. The judge looked down at his alien robots at the front of the over-ground public gallery, and the Human Souls behind them. Even on their level he towered above them; nine feet in height, his long black hair framed a face resembling marble. He looked across at the underwater gallery and raised his arm. Immediately the glass was replaced by bubbling water, and the dolphins rose to the surface, all eager to listen to their mentor's thoughts. .

The judge turned away, his attention drawn to the permanent cloud. One touch on his third eye and the cloud opened in the middle and fell back like a curtain. Those in the upper gallery and the underwater gallery watched another sequence as Case One came into view: Ter-aks and Mer-aks in combat.

A Soul had floated into the Planetary Assizes. Because one emotion was still clinging to her when her Double had projected from her body, she was not a soul in every sense of the word. She found herself on another Plane in the upper gallery, alongside other Souls that had once been rejects like her. In front of her were the Aliens she'd heard about on the planet Earth.

With the others she watched as the judge looked down on the Salgoud where a civil war was in progress. The judge was unaware that that he had a new recruit. His thoughts went out to them all. "They are mere men and are not dedicated to any cause, because a mind can be manipulated by a woman." A special seed had only to be planted in one male foetus and when born, he would grow to manhood and develop a germ of an idea into the reality of building a Robot - an employers dream.

The judge was getting impatient with his toys. His thoughts floated down to them. "Only one side can win. Whom shall I choose?" His mind manipulated men on either side. He revelled in their rivalry as they engaged in combat. Bodies became bloodied and broken in the onslaught that followed. The judge's thoughts floated amongst them. "The war in Salgoud must go on. There will be more deaths but that is not important up here."

He could feel sadness and resentment. It could only be from a reject.

He thought, "there is a sensitive Soul among you." He told her, "You should have left all that sentiment behind you when you projected from your body. You know how relieved you felt when your Double left that worn out vehicle. With your transmorphism you ought to have discarded all negative emotions, like love, hate, jealousy and the rest. Had this happened, you would have found yourself much lighter in spirit.

"When you realise your full potential you will travel to Altered States; only then will you be out of my jurisdiction. Whilst you are on this Plane, you will absorb my thoughts entirely. Try and enter the spirit of what you see before you.

"Look! I am playing a game that is for real. My soldiers bleed. When they die I will be doing them a favour."

The judge turned toward his Alien Robots. "A diversion from their sky would be interesting to watch. Ten Robots drop out and take your ships through space to Salgoud."

Soldiers stopped fighting each other when they saw the strange craft in the sky. Suddenly one of the ships left the formation and headed down to Earth. "What is he doing? That dysfunctional Robot has prevented play. Clerk, fetch me a map of the world. I will have to manipulate elsewhere!"

Copyright © 2002 Blanche Dawes-Crompton

Ashton Writers would be very happy to hear from anyone about this story. Please email them at Ashtonwriters@aol.com