Upon hearing Blythe's defiance, Solomon lifted his foot in rage and was about to curb-stomp her when Sion shouted, "LEAR!  That's enough!  I gave you an order!"

Solomon seemed to snap back slightly out of his rage.  He still fumed, incredulous that a Wildtype would dare speak to him in that manner.  His leg hovered over Blythe's head indecisively.

"You are already going to be reprimanded for attacking a fellow soldier, Ensign Lear, don't make it any worse by disobeying me," Sion continued.

[i]"Great,"[/i] Solomon thought, [i]"Now the Quantum's giving me lip too."[/i] Solomon placed his foot down gently next to Blythe's head and shrugged, feigning innocence, "Attacked?  I did nothing of the sort.  She came and bowed down to me of her own free will."  Solomon released the control he had on Blythe's body.

"Don't be facetious, Ensign Lear," Sion continued, "Ascended psychic abilities are not magical.  Certain sensors can detect the brainwaves you emit.  I happen to be equipped with such sensors, so I can see that you were doing something to Ensign Rivers.  Also, a Quantum's memory is not filtered by an objective, human viewpoint, so my evidence is more reliable than any excuse you can come up with, now SIT DOWN!"  Sion normally didn't flaunt a Quantum's superiority over humans, but he tended to react to Ascended supremacist behavior with Quantum supremacist behavior, which he knew was wrong, but he also knew it pissed off Ascended supremacists to no end to be reminded of a Quantum's inherent advantages.

Solomon sat back down without a word, but continued to grin; Sion would be right if he presented his evidence in front of a fair and impartial court, but Solomon was pretty certain that the judge would be Ascended, and therefore biased in Solomon's favor, and would overturn Sion's evidence.  A part of Solomon was afraid that Sion might actually succeed, but Solomon wouldn't let that anxiety show on his face.

Tera put a comforting hand on Claire's shoulder and whispered, "Let's go see if your sister's OK."

Israfil whispered quietly to himself, "...please, stop fighting..."