Conviction
Relena piloted the crippled ship back to Vitar, with the ship's First Officer (who had been hiding in a cupboard the whole time) assisting. Unity was in a stateroom, with Kelda watching over him. Noumalia continued to work on the engine.
Returning from a break, Kelda noticed a golden light shining from behind the door of Unity's room. Opening the door, she briefly saw a figure before it disappeared. The figure was that of a tall woman with blonde hair in a long ponytail. She wore an archaic helmet and carried a shield. She was passing the blade of a spear over Unity's body. This image persisted for only a moment.
Suddenly Unity drew breath. Kelda checked his vitals. He was unconscious, but he was alive! Unable to explain, she advised Relena and Noumalia.
When the ship arrived at Vitar, they received a message advising that there were arrest warrants extant for the crew of the Shark. Noumalia in particular was wanted for the murder of Adoltin, and the rest of the crew for kidnapping and accessory to murder.
They were escorted planetside by the planetary security force and instructed to land in a detention facility. Kelda evaded detection for some time, but was not able to escape the facility. Unity was immediately taken to the hospital.
Their state-appointed lawyer made it clear that it was an open-and-shut case. They had witnesses, and in fact Lance was testifying against them in return for leniency from the court.
When they came before the court, it was clear that Lance was being controlled by the child Brian. When Noumalia read Brian's mind, she heard the words that Lance was speaking. This, she determined, was not any kind of psionic connection that she was familiar with.
Lance was acting as a primary witness for the prosecution. What's more, in addition to the charges of murder and kidnapping, Lance had petitioned the court for possession of the Mystic Shark.
It was very clear that in order to get any sense out of Lance, they had to separate him from Brian. They petitioned the court, which so ordered. Once separated from Brian, Lance began thinking and speaking for himself. He appeared to have no memory at all of the time that he was being mind-controlled by Brian.
With Lance's new testimony, the magistrate was inclined to be lenient. He judged Noumalia and the crew guilty of all charges, and sentenced them to pay a hefty fine, and to be expelled permanently from the Common Entente. This was the result that Noumalia's lawyer had been hoping for.
They finished up their business and were escorted out of the Vitar system. However, one last message arrived.
Noumalia on her homeworld had a pet kurr'ssa, which she had left behind when she went adventuring. The animal had been driving everyone crazy, so they decided to forward her on to Noumalia by live cargo shipping. They had sent her to Noumalia's last known location - the planet Velke.
