by John Bowers
“That’s what he told me. Maybe four or five days, I don’t know exactly.”
“I see. So, in twenty years as a U.F. Marshal in the Outback, you never killed anybody; in eighteen years as a U.F. Marshal in the Outback, Steve Baker never killed anybody…but Nick Walker, less than a week after he arrived on the planet, killed his first man, a U.F. Marshal! Is that your testimony?”
Colwell shifted in his seat, still frowning. He glanced at Nick and back to Godney.
“I guess that’s what I said.”
“His first kill, a U.F. Marshal! In less than a week!”
Judge Moore leaned forward.
“Mr. Godney, may I remind you that we don’t have a jury? There is no one here for you to impress. Move on.”
Glowing with accomplishment, Godney only smiled.
“Very well, your Honor. Marshal Colwell, you testified that you first met Marshal Walker the same day he killed Marshal Baker, is that correct?”
“Yes. He stopped by my office that morning and the killing happened at dusk.”
“When was the next time you saw him?”
“It was a few weeks later, after Sirian Summer. He had already returned to Kline Corners before I found out what happened to Steve. The climate got so bad that it wasn’t safe to travel for a couple of months after that.”
“When you saw him again, did Marshal Walker tell you that he had killed at least nine other men since the last time you had met?”
“No. We never talked about it.”
“Were you aware of those killings?”
“Sure. The whole planet was talking about it. They had a major gunfight over at Kline Corners a couple of days after Walker left the Outback, but I never knew the details.”
Gabbard stood up. “Your Honor, where is he going with this? Marshal Colwell wasn’t anywhere near Kline Corners when the later incidents took place, so he can’t testify to them.”
“Mr. Godney?”
Godney looked surprised, then merely shrugged.
“No further questions.”
“Ms. Gabbard, do you have more questions for the witness?”
“I do, your Honor, but first I move to strike everything that was said after you reminded Mr. Godney that we don’t have a jury. It was a dead end and only serves to muddy the water.”
Moore’s eyes narrowed, but Gabbard continued.
“If there were subsequent killings, then let it be established by someone who can testify to them.”
Moore nodded. “So ordered. Let the record be amended.”
Godney took his seat and Gabbard strolled forward.
“Marshal Colwell, what was the purpose of Marshal Walker’s visit to the Outback?”
Colwell shifted again, his features brightening with interest for the first time.
“He was trying to locate some missing girls.”
“How many missing girls was he trying to locate?”
“Thirteen, I think, something like that.”
“Did he ask you for help in finding those girls?”
“Yes, he did.”
“What led Marshal Walker to the Outback in his search to locate them?”
“He said he had a tip that they might have been taken by human traffickers who sold slaves in the area.”
“Were you able to help him?”
“Not really. I hadn’t seen them or heard anything about them, but I was able to give him some general information about slave trafficking in the region.”
“Was slave trafficking a big problem at that time?”
“It still is. The whole planet is a hotbed of trafficking and slavery, especially now. At that time, three years ago, it was already pretty bad.”
Godney stood up. “Your Honor, this is all very interesting, but we’re here to talk about Marshal Walker, not Sirian social issues.”
“Motive, your Honor. If Marshal Walker killed someone, he must have had a motive.”
“Proceed.”
“Your Honor—”
“Sit down, Mr. Godney. Ms. Gabbard, proceed.”
Gabbard strolled closer to the witness chair.
“Marshal Colwell, I understand Mr. Godney’s concern. He’s confused as to how any of this relates to the case at hand. Can you break down the situation on Sirius three years ago so he can understand?”
“Objection!”
Moore clucked. “That was uncalled for, Ms. Gabbard.”
She turned to the judge with innocent eyes, then turned to Godney.
“I apologize to counsel, I just got carried away. It must be contagious.”
“Ms. Gabbard…!”
“Sorry, Judge.”
She walked back to her table, winked at Nick, and took a drink of water. She turned back to Colwell.
“Marshal Colwell, will you enlighten us?”
Colwell’s face had creased in silent amusement, but now he turned serious again.
“In a nutshell, at that point in Sirian history, you had two sets of laws at work, and they were mutually exclusive. About eighty percent of the planet was under what later became Confederate law, everything else was under Federation law. Confederate law tolerates racial discrimination, slavery, and violence against any woman who isn’t a citizen. Federation law tolerates none of that. What was happening was that we had people up in the States loading women onto transports and selling them down in the Outback. Up north, it was legal. In the Outback, it wasn’t. That’s what Walker was up against.”
“Why the Outback? Why weren’t the women being sold where it was legal?”
“Plenty of them were, but in the Outback there was a huge demand for women. It’s four million square miles, and maybe a million prospectors living all over the region. Nearly all of them were single because no woman in her right mind would ever want to live there, except for prostitutes—and there weren’t nearly enough prostitutes.”
“So the women from up north were sold as slaves?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“For sex?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I know it isn’t pretty to talk about, but that’s how it was.”
“You said that is what Walker was up against. What about you and Marshal Baker? You were up against the same thing, weren’t you?”
Colwell had the grace to blush.
“Well, Ma’am, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but we never tried to do much about it. The two of us were the only lawmen in the area, and the industry was huge. We never stood a chance of stopping it and after a while we didn’t even try.”
“But Nick Walker did?”
“Yes, Ma’am. He waltzed in there like Yancy West and took ‘em on.”
“When Marshal Baker confronted Nick Walker the night he was killed, what was Walker doing with those girls?”
“Objection, speculation.”
“It’s part of the record!” Gabbard whirled around and pulled folders off her table. “It’s right here in the reports submitted by both Nick Walker and John Colwell. It is not speculation.”
“Overruled.”
Colwell glanced at the judge and then back to Gabbard.
“Walker had located some of the girls he was looking for and a few others as well. Ted Strong had bought them off the transport and was holding them for resale. He acted as a sort of middleman for miners who couldn’t attend the auctions.”
“So the girls Marshal Walker was escorting were, in fact, slaves?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Walker had rescued them and was planning to take them to Kline Corners for safety. After he killed Steve, he did take them out of there.”
“Thank you.”
Gabbard took a deep breath before her next question.
“Marshal Colwell, was Steve Baker involved in human trafficking?”
“No, Ma’am, I don’t believe so.”
“Then why did he confront Marshal Walker as he was rescuing the girls?”
“Objection—”
“Hold your objection, Mr. Godney, until I hear the answer.”
“Your Honor—”
“I will rule in a minute. The witness may answer the question.”
Colwell nodded. “The answer to your question is, I don’t know. I have a theory, but it’s probably not admissible.”
“You’re right, Marshal Colwell, it isn’t.” Moore turned to Godney. “Objection sustained.”
Gabbard smiled at Colwell and nodded.
“Thank you, Marshal. No more questions.”
Chapter 13
75th Floor, Federation Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2
Attorneys like to be in control. Any time an attorney walks into a legal arena, be it a criminal trial, civil action, or just a hearing, he or she likes to know in advance what is likely to happen. To this end, a great deal of planning takes place. Trial strategies are similar to battle plans—know your enemy, identify his strengths and weaknesses, and take every conceivable measure to neutralize or capitalize on them.
Victoria Cross and Brian Godney had been working on the Nick Walker hearing for weeks. Victoria hated every minute of it; in her mind it was not only bullshit, but a travesty of justice and an insult to her career. But Godney had been right about one thing—she was a professional, and whether she approved or not, once assigned to a case, she gave it everything she had.
One of the most important aspects of courtroom strategy is witness preparation. Witnesses must be interviewed and their testimony evaluated. They must know the questions in advance and be ready to answer them the same way every time. They also must be warned and hardened against hostile questioning under cross-examination. In an action of any size, such preparation takes time. Godney and Cross had been interviewing witnesses for several days, cataloguing their testimony for relevance and impact on the Court. One aspect in their favor was the lack of a jury; juries are notoriously fickle and unreliable, and jury mentality is always a concern. To win a civil or criminal case, the jury must be favorably impressed not only by the evidence and testimony, but often by the attorneys themselves.
Not having a jury meant they didn’t have to worry about that.
But they did have to worry about Judge Moore. Moore, and Moore alone, would evaluate the merits of the evidence and make a ruling. Godney was confident that he had Moore in his pocket, but Victoria was not so sure.
After a light dinner, Cross and Godney began preparing for the following day. The sky outside Godney’s window was a deep indigo streaked with red; Godney’s office was bright as noon.
“I think I’ll start with Ferguson,” Godney told her. “Then I’ll put on Blake and Kline, if we have time.”
“Ferguson should go last,” Victoria said.
“Why? Let’s hit ‘em hard right out of the gate.”
“Like you did this morning?”
“Yeah. What was wrong with this morning?”
“Colwell was a hostile witness, for one thing. His body language clearly indicated that he doesn’t buy into any of this.”
“Too bad!”
She slammed a pencil down on the table.
“Yes, it is too bad! You left the door open for Gabbard and she charged through it. Walker killed Baker in self-defense. That’s how it ended.”
Godney shook his head. “That was inconclusive. What we established is that Walker killed a man less than a week after he arrived on the planet. Baker and Colwell enforced the law for a total of forty years between them and never killed anyone.”
“What does that get you?”
“Walker has a propensity for violence! It doesn’t matter if it was self-defense, or even if he thought it was self-defense—he’s a loose cannon, a live grenade. He’s a danger to himself and the public.”
Victoria recognized a stone wall when she encountered one. She picked up a folder and opened it.
“How are you going to examine Ferguson?”
“He will testify that Walker arrested him for murder, and while he was E-cuffed and helpless, Walker tortured him. It’s our strongest evidence.”
“That’s why you should put him on last. Make his testimony the last thing the judge hears.”
“Ferguson is on probation back on Ceres. He has to return on Friday. I had to lie and cheat to get permission for him to come here at all.”
She picked up another folder.
“What about Roy Blake?”
“He was sheriff of Kline Corners when Walker first got there. He was a witness to the gunfight when Walker killed nine men.”
She gazed at several pages of the interview transcript, then tossed it down and picked up a third folder. She skimmed that one as well.
“You can’t use Blake. Kline either.”
“What!” Godney’s eyes grew wide. “Are you nuts? They traveled six light years to get here! I have to put them on the stand!”
“Not if you want to win.”
“Why not? They can both testify to the violence—”
“They’re sympathetic to Walker. Did you even listen to Willard Kline when you deposed him? The KK murdered his daughter in that hotel explosion and were trying to get to the other daughter when the gunfight took place. Kline himself killed a Texiana cop and Blake killed three men in that gunfight. Gabbard will exploit that. You’ll look like a complete idiot.”
Godney clasped his hands together and strode toward the window, then turned back and walked in a circle, chewing his lip to contain his anger. Finally he stopped and faced her.
“Do you want to be lead attorney on this? Is that what this is all about?”
“No, I don’t. I told you from the beginning that I had no stomach for this case, and I still don’t. But if you want to win, you’re going about it all wrong.”
“I don’t believe you.” He stepped forward and waved a finger under her nose. “Ever since I joined this agency you’ve been jealous of me.”
“Jealous! Of you?”
“That’s right. Oh, I know you’re a great attorney, I’ve never doubted that. But you’re insecure, Vic. You feel threatened by me.”
Victoria’s antipathy morphed into curiosity; she crossed her arms with an incredulous smile.
“Why would I be threatened by you? Because you went to Harvard Law?”
“That’s one reason. Also, I’m a man, and you’re still stuck in the paradigm of female inferiority in the workplace.”
“Brian, you’re delusional! Women have enjoyed workplace equality for centuries!”
“Yes they have, but as I said, you’re trapped in that inferiority loop.”
“Based on what? Give me some evidence!”
“You always have to win. Every time you come up against a male opponent, you go all out to reduce him to dust. Winning isn’t enough for you, you have a need to dominate. You don’t just defeat your opponents, you crush them!”
Victoria stared at him in disbelief. He planted his feet and glared at her, waiting for her response.
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just have a powerful work ethic? That I would rather prepare my case than chase around all night drinking with the boys?”
“Oh, you do have a work ethic, and a good one. But it’s more than that. You’re competitive. You like to win at all costs.”
“No, I just like to win. Most of the time I’m fighting for someone or something that needs a win, and I try to deliver one. If my opponent doesn’t do his homework and gets himself crushed, that’s not my problem.”
He smirked at her, started to say something, then waved his hand and turned away.
“What?”
“No, never mind.”
“Say what’s on your mind, Brian! Clear the air.”
He turned back, still smirking.
“It’s more than that,” he told her. “You have a macho side.”
“What macho side? What are you talking about?”
“Star Marines. You love to throw that out there, don’t you?”
Her antipathy returned with a vengeance.
“Is that what’s bothering you? That I was in the Star Marines?
”
“Macho men, macho women. Bigger and better and meaner than everyone else. Well I got news for you—the Star Marines are not the only path to success! Lots of people get where they’re going without killing people to get there.”
Victoria turned her back on him. She had to. Maybe he was right about the Star Marines, because she felt a sudden urge to break him over her knee like a stick of firewood. Red-faced and fuming, she grabbed her briefcase and began stuffing it with materials she would need in court tomorrow.
Before Godney could say anything else that might put him in traction, she stormed out of his office and headed for the lift.
Chapter 14
Tuesday, May 16, 0445 (CC)
71st Floor, Federation Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2
The courtroom was packed the second day of the hearing. Holo-news reports the previous evening had alerted the public that high drama might be in store and dozens of citizens jockeyed the press for seats. Gary Fraites sat in the back row nearest the exit as the gallery filled and the buzz of conversation dulled the echo from the high ceiling.
Brian Godney was ready to go, but Victoria Cross was late. She arrived barely a minute before court was due to begin and looked slightly flushed, even angry.
Nick still wasn’t sure how he felt about running into Victoria again. It had been more than ten years since he’d seen her, and though he no longer missed her, he couldn’t deny she’d had an impact on his life. After leaving the Star Marines, he had no clue what happened to her and had never anticipated seeing her again. Certainly not here, like this.
He yawned and looked at his watch. Six minutes after nine. The judge was late, but he supposed that was a judge’s prerogative. In a courtroom, the judge was God, and could do whatever he or she desired. Of course, if anyone else was late and the judge had to wait, there would be hell to pay.
As if summoned by his simmering thoughts, a door opened in the back of the courtroom and the Honorable Carlos Moore lumbered out, puffed up the three steps to the bench, and dumped an armload of briefs and paperwork with a thump. Moore was already sweating, and Nick could hear him huffing from where he sat.
“All rise!
“United Federation Court Alpha Centauri District 3 is now in session, the Honorable Carlos Moore presiding.”