There was a knock on the door and Max looked up.
"He's here."
"Okay. Ready, Liz?"
Liz gave a slight nod.
"Okay," said Max. "Show him in."
The door opened wide enough to admit Tanya and a lightly muscled young man whom they hadn't met before.
"Thank you for meeting with us," Tanya said. "This is Hugh."
"Umm, hi," Hugh said nervously.
An awkward silence followed.
"So, you were involved in the umm... poison at the restuarant, I understand?" Max said.
"Uhh, yeah, I was. I was the one who made the staff put it in the food and made sure they didn't remember it," Hugh admitted.
"It nearly succeeded too," Max said gravely. "Fortunately, Liz' specialty power turned out to be healing."
"Uhh, yes about that..." Hugh began uncertainly.
"You're not convienced I'm a Sem now?" Liz asked cooly.
Hugh turned to face her, and licked his lips nervously.
"I'm concerned that, well, the SPM has always prided itself on how much of our heritage it's retained. Specifically the data from the colony ship but also our music, culture, folklore even. Yet everyone tells me that the Device transformed your DNA from human to Semerillian. I don't understand why they would hide this information from us," Hugh shook his head. "I suppose were I ever to ask they'd probably give me the line about 'needing to know'. It seems to be a favourite. But it strikes me that anyone who was involved with, uhh... yeah... I mean... that would be important."
"Funny you should mention folklore. Our first hint of what was going on was an old legend that The Elder told us about. You don't think it's possible that your people honestly didn't know, and that the old legend had been forgotten? Or do you have more of the Sem population in your midst than we realise?" Liz asked.
Hugh shook his head.
"You haven't seen what it's like in our community. Sharing folklore amongst us is a weekly event. We only play Semerillian instruments and only Semerillian music. We live by the long standing rules and standards of our people and aim to retain as much of our culture as possible. I find it highly improbable that any legend or knowledge regarding this has been forgotten by the SPM, and therefore, must ask, if it is true, why did they hide it? And if they are hiding this, what else are they hiding?"
"All governments hide things from their people. It's like an unwritten law or something."
"True enough. But are they hiding it to protect their people or to retain their own power?"
"Point taken. So you want me to prove whether I have Sem DNA or not?"
Hugh looked down.
"I... I hope you don't think it impudent of me," he said. "And I appreciate that it's a lot for this would-be assassin to ask of his victims."
"Yes. It is," Liz replied and lifted a knife from the table. "Look."
Hugh lifted his head an watched as Liz tentatively sliced across her arm (wincing in the process). She drew the knife away and a moment later the wound had healed. Hugh nodded sadly as he looked at the blood still on the knife and the absense of a wound.
"Okay," Hugh said finally.
"Okay?" Liz repeated sarcastically. "You don't want to make a closer inspection? Make sure there we haven't tried to trick you or anything?"
"You had enough time to prepare, that certainly is possible," Hugh replied. "However, the expression on your face and seeing the injury heal was enough for me."
"I could have been acting."
"Liz?" Max inquired, pulling a face at her.
"I mean, let's face it, we've made you wear your collar in here. You have no real way of telling either way whether I've shown you the truth or not."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"All true," Hugh conceeded. "However, you've also argued with me, tried to understand where I'm coming from and then given me sarcasm. I would think that were you trying to trick me you'd be a lot more civil and wouldn't try to tell me what I'm doing wrong in my investigation."
Liz blinked and Max started to laugh.
"I uhh... I'd like then, to take this moment to apologise," Hugh went on seriously. "I won't say I regret what I did, because that would be a lie. I don't regret it because at the time I fully believed I was doing the right thing, and I was honoured to be included. But this has... this has been the latest in a long string of contraditions I have faced since I was captured and I can no longer hold to my beliefs with iron fist certainty. So... I'm sorry. I guess that might seem inadequate to you when it's your lives are at stake but, I, yeah. Sorry."
Max nodded slowly.
"Well, I appreciate you saying it," he replied. "Gives me some hope that these attacks will someday stop."
"It won't happen any time soon," Hugh answered solomnly. "I'm questioning, but only because I got out there. There's a whole generation of people who belive that you - your family - usurped the throne. That's not going to go away overnight."
"You're right, it's not. But this is a start."