After obtaining the truth from Mari through intense and painful interrogation, Mr. Pierson informed Mari that he had negotiated her return to her colony. However, a price needed to be paid for her landing on Earth without permission while her colony remained at odds with the government. She was sentenced to twenty five strokes of the cane, and her torment was to be transmitted back to her colony as a warning to others.

Mari was aware that this punishment was being broadcast back to her colony and she was determined to face her ordeal with as much dignity as sh... Show more