Carina was afraid and only hoped that it didn’t show. There were perhaps three hundred humans in this room and they were all looking at her as though she were a particularly fascinating insect. None of them had spoken since she had introduced herself and she had expected to be immediately deluged with shouted questions. Finally one of the humans rose and the one they called Speaker nodded to them.

“The chair recognizes the honorable councilor for the seventh circle.” The ...