The man sat down in his box. Moments later, another man stood. Watcher knew that this was Estaban Morales, his defense attorney. Watcher had met with the man before, and knew that the Defense Attorney’s heart was really not in it. He had considered defending himself, but thought that the native attorney might be able to elicit more sympathy from the judges. Now, seeing the judges arrayed against him, and the attitude of the courtroom crowd, he wasn’t sure anyone would be able to gain any sympathy for himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the court. Honorable judges. Our Glorious Emperor. I will prove to you that this man, for man he is, despite his origins, is innocent of the charges against him. That he was as much a victim as any of the people that died in the events that proceeded beyond his control.”
Voices rose at that point, people yelling, cat calling, drowning out the Defense Attorney. One of the Judges pushed something on the bench, and a loud booming sounded through the chamber, louder than the calls of the people. “I will have order in this court,” said the middle Judge, who was obviously the leader of the panel of justices, his amplified voice rising over the crowd, and the attention getting boom as well. “Anyone who cannot conduct themselves with decorum in this court will be removed.”
The Judge glanced up at the Emperor at that moment, a cowed look on his face as he saw the one man he couldn’t order out of the court room. Watcher looked over at the Emperor as well, knowing who the real judge was here. The rest of this was just a show for the people, so that the Emperor could say Watcher had been given a fair trial.
“The Defense Attorney will present his first exhibit,” said the Chief Justice, pointing over at the first attorney.
“I present as my first exhibit,” said the Prosecutor, pointing to a large holo that formed in the air over the center of the chamber. “Actual video footage of the fall of this planet. From the hordes released by this creature.”
Images formed in the holo, of a large city, air cars filling the travel lanes while crowds of people thronged the parks below, and megascrapers clawed their way to the clouds. A prosperous, high tech civilization, at least a millennia beyond what these people knew. Lost in the mists of time. The view zoomed in on one large building, with the look of a transit center. A train was exiting one side of the building, while an airbus rose through an opening in the roof. Watcher recognized the type of building, and knew that inside, beyond the site of the vid camera, were several wormhole gates, linking this city with transit centers like the Donut, as well as some of the other bodies of this system, possessing as it did multiple habitable planets.
Figures began to issue from the main entrance of the building. At first they looked fairly normal, though their gait was a little strange. Then the nearest humans began to fall to the ground, many with clouds of reddish steam rising from them, and angry red beams struck out. The view zoomed again, to show the figures in closer detail, now recognizable as robots in the form of aliens, Hustedeans, Maurids, others. They started sweeping their beams around, cutting deadly swaths through the people who were trying to get away in panic. Rockets rose into the air, striking down aircars, blasting into the sides of the megascapers and sending torrents of debris into the streets below. Moments later larger robots pushed their way out of the building, fractuals that could come through a passenger gate in a long column, then reassembled into huge battle bots. More rockets flew, more buildings fell, and the human defenders began to arrive.
The human police fought back with courage. It took courage to approach and fire upon robots that were their superiors in protection, speed and firepower. The police picked off some of the robots, and were slaughtered in return. Aerial vehicles entered the fray, and robots reconfigured and rose into the air to battle them. The manned fighters held their own, modern inertial compensators allowing their human crews to handle as many gee forces as the robots could. Still, they were outnumbered, and it only got worse.
And then one of the larger robots took to the air, gaining altitude until it was looking down on the city. It launched a missile, then another, then a third, all on different trajectories that blanketed the city. The first hit, at what must have been ten kilometers away, and a bright flash indicated that these were not conventional missiles. Buildings crumbled from the strike as a mushroom cloud rose into the air. A second flash, a second multi-megaton blast, then a third. The firestorm pushed inward, killing everything in its path. And then the vid died, along with the city.
“As proven by this video evidence, the Abomination was responsible for the deaths of millions of people in that city, a metropolis that used to reside upon this world,” said the Prosecuting Attorney, pointing a finger at Watcher. “And not just this city, not just this world, but on millions of worlds across the Galaxy.”
“I object, Your Honors,” said the Defense Attorney, standing up in his box and gesturing at the now blank holo. “While I do not dispute the visual evidence that this vid displays, that an army of robots came out of the wormhole gates of legend and destroyed that city, in no part of the vid does it show that my client initiated these actions.”
“Point taken,” said the Chief Justice, nodding his head. He looked over at the other Attorney. “Would you like to answer that objection, Counselor?”
This was not following the procedure that Watcher associated with courtrooms. Of course, he had seen the records of many famous trials through history, and all were somewhat different according to culture, time and place. At least the Judge was asking for evidence that actually showed Watcher doing something. I can only hope they don’t have that kind of evidence, he thought.
“I have further evidence, Your Honor,” said the Prosecutor, making a hand motion. The holo reactivated, this time with a view of Watcher himself.
No, not me, thought Watcher, taking in the cast of the eyes, the expression on the face. Vengeance.
“What are you doing?” called out a voice, obviously coming from a com. “We are not a military vessel. There are children on board this ship.”
“Then so much the better that I kill them before they become adults, and cause more trouble than they’re worth,” said the cruel voice. Two wave patterns appeared on the side of the holo, superimposed over one another.
“These voice patterns are both taken from the same creature,” said the Prosecutor, pointing at one, which glowed red for a moment. “This is from the Abomination those thousands of years ago, when he cruelly destroyed helpless passenger liners that were trying to evacuate a planet near to his station. This other,” said the man, as the second pattern lit, “was taken from this self same being, when we stimulated his brain to make him say the same words. As you can see, there is a very close match between them. Close enough to convict, under our legal system.”
“That was not me,” exclaimed Watcher, all of the guilt and sorrow over what his body had been forced to do by the computer coming over him with overwhelming force. “The station computer was the thing that destroyed civilization.”
“And it is well known that the comp systems of the time were not able to perform actions that killed sentient beings without the orders of a living, that is, biological, being,” said the Prosecutor, waving aside Watcher’s protest.
“It used my body, taking over my mind, to give the orders to the robots and automated ships. I had no choice in the matter.”
“So, the Abomination admits that it gave the orders,” said the Prosecutor, ignoring the part of what Watcher said that didn’t fit his purpose.
“My client admitted no such thing,” said the Defense Attorney, looking over at the Prosecutor.
Watcher could tell that the man’s heart was not in the defense by his very tone. He was going through the motions, and not even doing a very good job of doing that.
“Your Honor,” said Watcher, looking at the Chief Justice. “I request permission to conduct my own defense in this trial. I have no choice but to assume that my attorney is not wholeheartedly on my side.”
“The accused
’s request is denied,” said that Judge, as the booming sound came over the speakers again. “It is the judgement of the court that the accused is not capable of defending itself, and lacks the knowledge of our legal system to do so. Continue with your objection, Counselor.”
“As I was saying, your Honor. My client was not in his right mind at this time. As he has admitted, he allowed a computer, a machine, to dictate his actions. I wish to call Dr. Mendoza to the stand as an expert witness regarding this aspect of the defense.”
“Very well,” said the Chief Justice, nodding to one of the bailiffs that were scattered around the courtroom.
A distinguished looking man walked to a box that was rising from the floor, and was sworn in, declaring in the Emperor’s name that he would give true testimony.
“How would you judge the sanity of my client at the time he was ordering the destruction of Galactic Civilization?” asked the Defense Attorney.
Watcher winced as he heard how the Attorney phrased the question, admitting that Watcher was already guilty of such an act.
“Only a being who was insane could order the destruction of so many sentient beings, for no reason other than a computer told him to,” said the good Doctor. “He was deranged and delusional at the period of time when he ordered these actions.”
“And his mental state at this time?” asked the Defense Attorney.
“He seems to be sane,” said the Doctor. “But remember, he is also magnitudes more intelligent than any of us. With,” the man added hastily, looking up at the Emperor’s box, “the exception of our glorious ruler.” He looked back at Watcher, his eyes narrowing. “This creature is capable of deceptions beyond the scope of lesser beings. He could be acting sane at this moment, while underneath he is plotting to finish the destruction he wrought so many millennia ago.”
“But I’m not,” said Watcher, looking around at the sea of cold faces that surrounded him. “I’m not. I’m not the same being that ordered those robots to kill all those sentient creatures.”
“The Defendant will be silent until he is asked to speak,” said the Chief Justice to the accompanying boom that simulated a gavel. “Any further attempt to speak will be met with physical restraints to stop him from interrupting.” The Judge glared at him for a moment more. “And let the record show that the Defendant made an admission of guilt with his last statement.”
Watcher realized that he was well and truly screwed at that moment. No matter what he said, these people would use it against him.
“The prosecution requests that the charge against the Defendant be changed, due to the testimony of Doctor Mendoza,” said the Prosecutor, who was now totally into his showman’s role. “We request that the Defendant be considered insane, in the past and the present.”
And maybe I’ll get off with some kind of treatment, thought Watcher with a flare of hope. He looked up into the intense eyes of the Emperor and knew that wasn’t going to happen. He wants information from me. Or he wants me dead. Or both, probably. And he will settle for no less.
The Judge consulted with the other judges for a moment, a sonic field around them keeping their words to themselves. Finally, the Chief Justice looked at Watcher. “This court judges the Defendant to be insane under the laws of the Empire. Therefore, the charges are changed to Mass Murder by reason of insanity.”
That doesn’t sound any more promising, thought Watcher, who knew that in some cultures insanity was not really a defense. And he doubted it would be so in this one.
The day wore one, with more recovered videos, more than Watcher thought could have survived outside of the Donut. Of course, they might have been fakes, but there was no way he could prove that. And even if he could, he had no reason to think that the court would listen to him at all. And then more expert testimony. He was surprised that a verdict was not rendered that day, and again thought back to what a splendid spectacle it was for the Emperor, another jewel in his crown, to bring the ultimate criminal to justice. And a pageant he was not going to waste with a quick resolution.
Chapter Twelve
No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery.
Harriet Ann Jacobs
Admiral Nagato Krishnamurta glared at the tactical plot in the holo tank in the center of his bridge. I don’t have time for this, he thought. But how, in good conscience, could he refuse to render aid to ships that were at risk of being destroyed by a cruel power like the New Galactic Empire. From what he had seen of the Empire so far, they were not quite as bad as the Nation of Humanity. Which, from his point of view, was not glowing praise either. They’re more of equal opportunity assholes, he thought, looking at the system centered in the holo that showed eight planets in orbit around a G class star. They don’t want to wipe out all aliens. They just want to enslave them, along with any humans they also find.
“We’re getting ready to jump into normal space, Admiral,” called out the Fleet Navigation Officer.
Krishnamurta nodded his head. And won’t the asshats be surprised when we come poking our noses out of hyper. All of his ships were much more advanced than that of the enemy, with much more finely tuned hyperdrives. They could penetrate all the way into the life zone of a system while still in hyper V, and translate out almost next to some of the planets in that zone. Like this one in particular.
Lucky for them the ship they sent out found us in the right time and place, he thought, looking over at the three aliens who sat in VIP chairs on the Flag Bridge. Not exactly humanoids, they were instead radially symmetrical creatures of a little over a meter in height, standing on four equidistantly spaced pillar like legs. They had four arms, spread around the trunk at ninety degree arcs from each other, ending in three fingered hands. There was a breathing orifice under each arm. Four eyes, each situated just above an arm, and a central eating orifice completed the arrangement of outer organs, and the entire creature was covered in a smooth mahogany colored skin.
No one could pronounce the creature’s own names for themselves, so the crew had christened them Posts. That they were strange was proven by their appearance. That they were intelligent was proven by the hyper VI ship they had used to seek help, a vessel of their own construction. He didn’t know what form their souls might take, but he was sure they had one. And the New Galactic Empire had come calling on their home system, with a demand that they submit and become absorbed by the human polity. A demand which they had, of course, refused.
The Admiral was on a mission to support whatever insane idea Pandora Latham was implementing in the home system of the Empire. Communications with Captain Mandrake, just after they encountered the aliens, had indicated that Pandi was on the enemy planet on a recon, and that, so far, everything was going according to plan. His ships were not necessary at this time, though he still had a bad feeling that would not be true for too long. And his mandate, the reason he had been given these marvelous ships, and the powerful station, to play with, was to aid other people in the Galaxy who might be suffering in the misery of low tech civilizations. Or the even worse misery of high tech assholes who wanted to use them. And here was one of those situations right here, right now.
“Translating now,” called out the Fleet Navigation Officer. The lights dimmed aboard the flagship, the familiar feeling of nausea came over the Admiral, and outside shone the stars of normal space.
The Admiral looked over at his guests, who were hooting excitedly to each other. They look none the worse for wear, he thought in envy as he tried to control his own stomach. The databanks of the Station had hinted at the fact that some species handled hyper better than others. And it seemed that the Posts were better at handling it than most. Then all of his attention was drawn back to the tactical plot, showing the planet, and the over one hundred warships surrounding it.
I should have brought a bigger fleet, was his first thought on seeing the icons of all of those ships on the holo. About a score of cruiser class vessels were in close orbit arou
nd the planet, bombarding the surface, an indication that the world had yet to submit. About an equal number of battleships were out in a higher orbit, while more cruisers and escorts surrounded the world like a blockading globe.
The Admiral had had a good idea how many ships he would be facing, information downloaded by his guests from their ship. His intelligence and operations officers had assessed the information, and thought that his force of twelve ships was more than a match for what they would find. They couldn’t, of course, guarantee an easy victory. And now, seeing those actual ships in the flesh, he was besieged by the doubts of any commander going into combat.
“Probes are almost to the targets,” called out the Fleet Sensory Officer.
“Establish communications as soon as they reach range,” he order the Com Officer. And this should be an interesting conversation.
“Who the blazes are you?” asked an accented voice as the figure of a middle aged man appeared on the holo. “This is the territory of the New Galactic Empire, and you do not have our leave to be here.”
“According to what our friends here have told us, this is their territory,” said the Admiral, as the alien visitors appeared on the holo. “You are not only trespassing on their territory, but are waging an unlawful war of aggression against them.”
Deeper and Darker (Deep Dark Well Book 3) Page 14