Titan's Plague: The Trial by Tom Briggs (story reading .txt) đź“•
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- Author: Tom Briggs
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In walked a man of African descent. He had short hair, was about thirty by his looks, and carried a tablet like Nancy’s. Despite it being Saturday morning, he was professionally dressed in a gray suit.
Pati had seen his pic during her last trial. But this was the first time she’d shared a room with the man, and she couldn’t help it: she was in love.
“Nancy,” he said to her.
“Jack,” she replied.
He focused on Pati. “Ms. Lynch, I’m Jack Reagan, the prosecuting attorney for your case.”
Pati nodded in return. She noted how he used her parents’ name, and not the married name. She took her own name back before embarking on her three-month ice-mining sentence. Still, after two years of marriage, it didn’t seem normal to be called “Pati Lynch” once again.
Jack Reagan took the chair across from Pati and seemed in no way put off by Nancy having the head chair. He put the tablet he carried on the table and tapped it a few times. He reviewed the results and looked at Nancy. “All right,” he said, “I’ll get to the point. One of the double-E’s told me he can restore the mission records for the Ice-Miner 37-charlie. There’s a good chance we can establish a hard record of all that happened during the unfortunate event. Then, we’ll know the details that Ms. Lynch doesn’t seem to recall.”
“We provided her statement after the doctors revived her. Absolutely, we’d be interested in what the engineers can find out. We can discuss the admissibility of that evidence if and when it’s discovered.”
He gave Nancy an icy stare. “My settlement offers will be based on those findings,” he said. He focused on Pati again, without warming his glare. “I’ve read your account, Ms. Lynch. And I can only say it’s very… vague. Do you think you can add any details?”
“Pati, don’t answer that question,” Nancy interrupted.
Pati had no intention of answering that question. She liked this Jack Reagan less and less.
Nancy returned her attention to Jack Reagan. “I had hoped to get a detailed account from my client after she was released from the hospital. Unfortunately, she was thrown into a jail cell after her release. And now, I have a prosecuting attorney throwing questions at her before I’ve had a chance to reinforce her knowledge of her rights.”
“Ms. Lynch will likely be charged with murder. She previously pleaded to the crime of human-slaughter and is still serving her sentence. I have a responsibility to the people of Karakorum, and that means I can’t let convicted killers roam the streets at their discretion.”
“Ms. Lynch will have that charge dropped immediately after her sentence ends. You cannot try her before then, so she will not have a previous record you can make decisions from. And, I must add, to believe that she would commit a crime, right before she was to be released, goes against reason.”
Jack sat back in his chair. “The only reason I’m concerned with is what the restored records will detail. We know Ms. Lynch dumped the ship’s atmosphere where two of her crew resided. We also know a blow to the throat killed Bruno Redden. These two events must be explained in full. Until that time, Ms. Lynch is a suspect, and as such, it is reasonable to keep her in custody.”
“Have you any evidence, right now, that shows Ms. Lynch had anything to do with their deaths other than what she’s already stated?” Nancy asked.
Jack leaned forward and stared directly at Nancy. “No, I do not have that information.”
“Then, Mr. Reagan, since your charges are not specific, do you have the authority to continue to hold Ms. Lynch in confinement? Her previous sentence is about to expire, and it has been the practice of the state not to continue confining water miners if their ship cycles early.
Jack seemed to think for a moment. He looked at Pati as if staring into her soul and then looked back at Nancy. “I’ll accept a tracking bracelet for the time being. Otherwise, she returns to her cell until you can get the provost to release her.”
“Pati, you good with that?” Nancy asked.
Being free while only having to wear some electronic jewelry around the ankle, she’d give up her firstborn if she had any kids. “Sure, that’ll be okay,” Pati said instead.
“Then we’re good,” Nancy said.
Jack stood from his chair and put his tablet under his left arm. He pointed at Pati, “Ms. Lynch, the tracking bracelet will let us know immediately when you’re near restricted areas like ports and shipping docks. If you get the idea that you can hop on a freighter back to Earth, fine, you can think that. However, if you enter a restricted area without escort, even by mistake, you’ll spend the rest of your pre-trial time back in your cell. And there’s nothing your attorney can do about that. Please, make it easy on all of us, and remain sensible.” He turned and walked out the door without shutting it behind him.
“Asshole,” Pati said out loud.
* * *
When Pati first arrived on Titan, Richard arranged for her to stay in a luxury apartment till the wedding. Within an hour of Nancy Tate securing her release, the government also put her up in an apartment, in the low-rent district. A place where the newly arrived immigrants stayed and were provided just enough to survive until they found employment.
It still felt like heaven to her. The ankle bracelet might track her, but that wasn’t the same as having a locked door in front of you. She could stay in to eat or go to a restaurant, it was her decision, and she didn’t have to decide either if she didn’t want to.
She sat back on her leather couch. Like the wood she saw in the police station, it was manufactured. She’d met friends of Richard who owned the manufacturing businesses, and they told her how it was done. She didn’t remember much, except that if you have enough carbon, you can replicate anything on Earth.
It made her think of Richard’s family, the McLears. How the great-great, and great grandfathers ransomed their fortune on Earth to build a company that would supply billions of people in space when only thousands lived there at the time. How Richard’s grandmother exploited the situation and turned their company into humanity’s most powerful enterprise. Richard’s father and his brother Kerry continued the dominance.
Now there existed a pipeline of liquid carbon traveling to the inner solar system on McLear tankers. She had been told it’d be economic Armageddon for the human race if Richard’s family ever took their toys and went home. She didn’t know how that would work, she just wanted to go home herself.
And, despite his power, Kerry McLear didn’t seem to want revenge for his brother’s death. Maybe it was because he would not have to share an inheritance with his younger brother, but whatever the reason, he hadn’t interfered with the investigation of Richard’s death or demonstrated the least bit of interest.
Yet, the apparition wanted revenge. Could it have been the McLear’s means of getting it? Kerry McLear was astrophysicist smart, and that was across the board intelligent, not just science. Maybe he arranged the incident that killed the life-support in her mining ship.
Should she tell this to Nancy? She already told her about the apparition. Nancy told her not to make it part of her statement, and they could discuss it later. It made sense since nobody would believe the apparition without proof. Good thing Nancy typed her statement into a tablet instead of a straight recording. Nobody could say Nancy was lazy.
The time projected on the far wall, reminding her that Nancy would stop by with her husband in thirty minutes. They planned to take her to dinner, and Pati didn’t have much more work to do to get ready. She had only to take a shower, clean her teeth and nails, fix her hair, and choose her clothes. Then she needed to see if her clothes fit right since she had rented them that afternoon. She could worry about the shoes she would rent and wear after that.
So, being ready in thirty minutes was not going to happen. Pati got up and walked into the single bedroom. Nancy was the only friend she had on Titan, Pati thought she should at least try to make it in forty-five minutes.
* * *
Pati had not seen the sun in a few months. Then, as now, it was just a big pinpoint in the sky. But to see it through the transparent roof made her feel as warm as if she was on a terrestrial beach. Nancy couldn’t have picked a better place to eat.
The Tenderloin Room was maybe the third-best restaurant at Karakorum. Richard had taken her to all twelve
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