Titan's Plague: The Trial by Tom Briggs (story reading .txt) 📕

a law to support it. You can’t make that a condition of your charges.” Nancy leaned back in her chair. “I rarely do this, but I’ll start with a proposal. If the state drops the charges, my client will return to Earth on the first ship out of here. It won’t have to be the first ship that gets her back to Earth, either. Whichever one leaves next, she’ll be on it.”

Pati loved the sound of it. Fortunately, through her research yesterday, she knew the next ship would have her home in about a year. The one after that would take five years. And four months from now, there was a fast ship that would get her home in three months. That would have her there the quickest, although she didn’t want to go into debt paying that fare. The first ship would have her home six months later, and she could live with that.

Gavin sat back. “I would never get that past the provost,” he said.

“She hasn’t retired yet?” Nancy said. “I thought she was done with that job.”

“She scheduled her retirement two months from now. Between now and then, I don’t think she wants a significant case to deal with.”

“Fine, then my client will do community service before she leaves.”

“It’s not that easy. Since one of the McLears is dead, we have to worry about how they may take it.”

“The law is supposed to be blind to the wealth and social status of the citizens,” Nancy said. “You cannot make decisions on that basis.”

“And, I am not,” Gavin replied. “Except, if we’re choosing a sentence, I have to ensure I satisfy all interested parties to the extent possible. Even if the deceased wasn’t a McLear, the next-of-kin must be considered.”

“The feelings of the next-of-kin do not trump the rights of the accused.”

“That’s true, however, my bosses and I don’t fare well when the next-kin’s feelings are neglected. Sometimes it’s better to try the case and let the Judge and Jury decide.”

“Judge and jury?” Pati asked. She’d seen two courthouses in Karakorum, one near here, and another next to the spaceport. She’d never heard of any judges or juries in the media, let alone spoken of as a singular.

“Pati, I can explain. It’s a computer that does justice calculations. In small human settlements, it can be impossible to find enough people who have no relations to an accused or accuser. We consider these computers an acceptable alternative, and most settlements off of Earth use them.”

“Oh.”

“I imagine your client is not familiar with our Long-Term Repatriation program, either.”

Pati couldn’t see Nancy’s face, because she’d turned to see Mr. Keebler when he addressed her. Pati could see she had tightened up and didn’t respond immediately.

“I didn’t feel the need, because if we go before the JJ, she’ll walk away free since the charges you bring are unsustainable.”

“May I, then?”

Nancy paused once more. “Feel free. It’s not my breath being wasted.”

Gavin almost sneered, then he turned his attention to Pati. “Ms. McLear, Karakorum has never had the facilities for housing offenders sentenced to multi-year incarcerations. So, similar to using a JJ for judgments and sentence determinations, we adopted the plan of Long-Term Repatriation for those people.” He paused.

“Okay,” Pati said.

“The Long-Term Repatriation involves sending offenders back to Earth to complete their sentences. Most shipping does not have facilities to house offenders, so special spacecraft have been manufactured to transport them. This allows the offender to serve most of their service aboard the craft while being transported.”

“The Long and Short Boats we sometimes call them,” Nancy said.

Pati had only briefly heard those terms in conversations on Titan. She never asked for clarification because they used the terms in passing, and the people using quickly went on to other subjects. Somehow, she believed, finding the definitions before today would have been in her best interest.

“Correct, that’s the given name of the craft. One is designed for a fifteen-year trip back to Earth. The other is designed for a thirty-year trip. Karakorum has built a judicial building next to the spaceport that docks with these ships. We have two of each parked at Karakorum, and unfortunately, five are in use traveling back to Earth.”

“Who is that?” Pati asked.

“We have three—”

“You don’t need to go into any details for my client,” Nancy interrupted.

“She asked the question, counselor.”

“It’s okay, Nancy,” Pati said.

Nancy shook her head.

Gavin waited a second and then continued. “We have three people on the thirty-year ships and have been gone eight, fourteen, and twenty-three years, respectively. There are two on the fifteen-year ships, six and thirteen years for them. They travel individually, without physical human contact for that time. They’re capable of interacting electronically with most people and have access to entertainment. That might end when they get to Earth and finish the rest of their sentence. Although, they’ll no longer be alone on a ship.”

Pati’s next question was to be what those people did to receive such harsh conditions. She then decided she might not want to know. Mr. Keebler seemed to wait for her to ask that question. Pati let him wait.

“I will not say that’s a possibility in your case, Ms. McLear. What I will say is if we go to trial, the charges the state has laid out can, theoretically, result in a Long-Term Repatriation.”

“Are you done now?” Nancy asked.

“Certainly. What would you like to add, Ms. Tate?”

“I’d say it’s your turn to suggest what my client might do since I’ve already given a reasonable offer.”

“I won’t get into our differing definitions of the term, ‘reasonable.’ I’ll just tell you what I’m thinking, and that’s a year working a municipal ice-miner with monthly turnarounds.”

“Nonsense,” Nancy said.

“What’s the ice-miner?” Pati asked.

“Karakorum has small cargo ships dedicated to flying out to the ring and pulling in ice for the city's water. There are four ships, and only two have dedicated personnel. The other two are worked by citizens, basically an enhanced community service, but you’re out for a whole month before you can return, and you only get a day off before you’re back mining again.”

Pati didn’t say, “That sucks,” which was her first impression. Although, if city workers do it, how bad could it be?

Nancy returned her attention to Mr. Keebler. “A month of actual community service and return to Earth for ten years.” Nancy pointed her thumb at Pati. “This lady could own part of McLear Industries in the near future. You really want to play hardball with her now, when she could have that much power?”

Mr. Keebler smiled. “I agree, that might be the case, except I’ll probably be retired before that happens.” He looked at Pati and back to Nancy. “Six months on the ice-mining ship.”

Nancy turned to Pati. “Do you know when the next ship back to Earth arrives?”

“Two months, and it’s on a bi-yearly round trip.”

“Gavin, she’ll do two months community service, with restrictions from Karakorum for three years. One of my associates or I will negotiate with the McLear lawyers on her behalf, and we might need her to return.”

“Then you can do the paperwork to get an exemption,” he said. He turned to Pati. “Ms. McLear, how long till the next ship back to Earth, after the one you just specified?”

“There’s a five-year ship the next month which I’m not interested in. Four months from now is a fast ship which is too expensive. It does get back to Earth sooner than the bi-yearly ship.”

“Ah,” he said. He seemed to think for a second and then shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, and there might be hell to pay for even trying, but…” He took a deep breath. “I’ll go four months on the ice-miner, and then have Ms. McLear booked on the fast ship as an undesirable, which means she’ll have basic accommodations at cost. That should bridge the differences in expense.” He stared at Pati for a moment. “And, since you’re an Earth-born, we can make you commander of the ice-mining ship, which will cut a month off your sentence if all goes well.”

The primary dread Pati had coming to the state attorney’s office, was that they’d keep her on Titan for the next few years. In no way, shape, or form did she expect to learn she could be on a ship alone traveling back to Earth over fifteen or thirty years. Nancy’s confidence aside, the possibility of that sentence made Pati’s heart stop. Her heart didn’t start again until he talked about a year’s work on the ice-miners, which was better than the worst case she’d imagined when she walked into the building.

Nancy shook her head again and rose from her chair. “You know, Gavin, I don’t think your bosses want this to go to trial. So, I feel comfortable rejecting your offers.”

“Don’t believe that,” he said. “If Ms. McLear walks free, which is not much different from your proposals, then they’ll have hell to pay, which will come down on me next. I will try this case if necessary.”

“No, sorry, I just don’t see it,” Nancy said, after standing and listening to Gavin. “Come on, Pati.”

“Nancy, wait,” Pati said.

Nancy stopped and sat back down. “Gavin, will you please excuse us?”

“Certainly, how long should I wait?”

“Give us five minutes and check. I’ll tell you then if we need more time.”

“Okay,” he said and walked out of the room.

“What do you want to discuss?” Nancy asked after the door shut.

“I’m good with the three months on the ice-miner,” Pati said.