Three loud knocks echoed through the room silencing the muttering crowd.  Magistrate Abelard addressed the room.

            "The court recognizes Rashid Valdon who has come before us today seeking justice for the crime he alleges was committed against his family by the defendant Terinu of the ferin.  Today we will put aside all preconception and bias.  We will hear their stories with open minds and hearts that seek only truth.  What judgment is rendered today may no man question.  For the justice of our land is the justice of our God.

            Around Leeza the colonists as one raised their hands to touch their foreheads and then their chests.

            The Magistrate cleared his throat.  "The court calls upon Rashid Valdon to speak to us of his grievance.  He is bound by this court to speak only the truth without embellishment or falsehood.  Mr Valdon if you please."

            Valdon stood up from his chair and move to the front of the plaintiffs table.

            "Gentlemen of Plexious Five,” he began. “Seven months ago I set out on a journey through space accompanying a large shipment of stock from my factories.  You may wonder why a man like myself would engage in this menial task, one best left to employees.  Why would a man of means take such an unnecessary risk?  But there is a reason and one you will find easy to understand.  This delivery was an exceptional one: one that would cement the ties between two old and prosperous families.  A bond was recently forged between the respected name of Valdon and the famed name of Sventic.  Our respective companies had spent many months negotiating a deal that would prove fruitful for both of us.  So it was with great pride that I undertook the journey that would formalise our partnership with the presentation of my only daughter Fedora to Abran Sventic so that she may be wedded to him in holy matrimony.”

            "What?!"

            Leeza wasn't sure she had heard correctly.  She turned to Regina keeping her voice low.  "Did he just say he was giving his daughter to his business partner to be his wife?"

            Regina leaned close to her ear.  "Quite.  Arranged marriages where a maiden's father chooses her husband is considered normal and proper in this culture.  It's often used as a device to curry favour or establish ties amongst wealthy families."

            Rashid continued.  "As is proper a woman may not travel away from her home unless accompanied by a male blood relative.  It is the only way to ensure her virtue is protected."

            Valdon's eyes made cold contact with Leeza's.  She had no doubt as to whom that last jibe was aimed at.

            "And I would not dare trust anyone with this task but myself.  It was my duty as a father to personally chaperone and protect my most precious daughter.  I did not do so recklessly.  I understood the danger that I wilfully placed her in and I took every precaution to ensure her purity remained untainted."

            Valdon made a sweeping gesture towards the two vulpine seated at the witness table.  "To keep her safe from the lusting eyes of other men I even employed a crew composed solely of vulpine."

            Rufus raised an eyebrow but any comment he planned to make was quickly aborted by a swift kick in the hock from Regina.

            The big man stood with his arms outstretched appealing for understanding from his countrymen.  "Any man can see that I did everything in my power to preserve my child's maidenhood.” There was a ripple of sympathetic agreement from the audience in the pews.

            He let his hands fall limp to his sides.  “And it was all for naught.”  He began pacing across the floor.

            “Five days into our journey we were attacked by pirates.  Two of my crew died in the initial assault, one crushed by a cruel spear that pierced our hull and the other, who was with him, dying of asphyxiation as the tier they were in decompressed.  I could do nothing to save them.  The pirates boarded us and we were herded like cattle onto their galleon.  There another one of my crew was sent into the arms of God by a cowardly shot to the back of his head.  Then we were taken to their brig to be ransomed.  I had hoped that money was all they wanted and that we would be left in peace.”

            Valdon stopped and stared sightlessly ahead with eyes full of horror and impotent rage.  His hands took on a faint tremble and his lips moved as if trying to form words.  When he spoke again his voice was a hoarse forced whisper.

            “I prayed it hadn't happened.  I prayed to God that mercy had been shown us that day.  After our ransom was paid I took Fedora to the temple to undergo the examination of purity as if she were still to be wed.  I had some mad hope left in me that all was not lost.”

            Suddenly Valdon became animated, he swung around to face the pews and his voice rose to an angry roar.  “But mercy was not shown us that day.  I was forced to accept that what I had born witness to in that stinking hole with my own eyes, with my own ears, was the terrible truth.  And that truth is that this godless creature that stands before you,” and here he pointed to the motionless form of Terinu, “This bastard son of pit dog took my innocent daughter and savagely raped her.”