Hundreds of spectators, reporters and law students crowded the public gallery of the courtroom but silence reigned. It was the nineteenth day of the trial that was expected to take two weeks.
Doctor Aari Marshall stood behind the ornate defendant's desk and,
in spite of her effort to remain impassive, felt a tightening in her
throat as the High Court Clerk rose.
The clerk was dressed in the traditional cream gown to signify the triumph
of truth over adversity and held a golden rod in her hand. It was carved
with the, again symbolic head of wheat. This looked ominous. The rod
was only displayed when the evidence had all been heard and the summing
up was about to commence.
"May the cream be separated from the whey, may the husk of wheat replace the chaff and may justice prevail. The thirty-ninth session of this trial is in session," she read in a monotone.
Judge Quorra Mancini, like two thirds of the humans in the room, was a woman but this reflected the overall gender balance of the world in modern times. She glanced forward but her hands were still placed inside an almost transparent sphere where her fingers moved across invisible keys.
"I have made my ruling on the evidence of the last six sessions." Her eyes rose and focused on Aari. "Doctor Marshall, you presented a very thorough and complicated case in your defence that was itemised into forty-four categories. My ruling is that Category One through to Nine is admissible. However, the following thirty-three categories were classified as unproved hypothesises and not permissible as evidence. They are thereby struck from this trial’s records."
Aari’s morale plummeted. Without that scientific evidence, everything became a matter of whether the jury believed herself or the state witnesses. If they believed that she could save the planet from the biggest ice age in a millennium and allowed life, as it now was to flourish, she would be found innocent. If, however, they believed that she was scare mongering, she would be found guilty and instantly be dehumanised, a euphemism for being vaporised in the courtroom. Her ashes would be cast to the wind and her family banned from even mentioning her name. It would be as if she never was.
With the vast amount of her evidence being rejected, the possibility of a not guilty verdict was practically zero. She glanced around at the sea of faces but, except for two, they were a blur. Her parents were there as they had been every day during the trial. She raised her hand slightly to greet them before turning her eyes back at the judge.
The judge continued on with a long statement, summarising the admissible evidence and directing the twenty-four jury members on the points to be considered.
"You may retire to consider the evidence placed before you and come to a decision," the judge concluded. "Remember that as a Priority One Trial, over two thirds of you must agree. A simple majority in a case such as this will not suffice. "
The judge stood and watched as the jury filed out. Aari was tapped on the shoulder. She nodded and followed the guards out of the room.
Now came the long wait.
*
Two days later, Aari was summoned back into the courtroom. A verdict had been reached. The jury and court officials were already there but the public gallery was empty. For an important case such as this it was deemed amoral for the public to witness an execution.
"You have, with the agreement of eighteen or more, made a decision?" the judge asked.
"We have, Madam."
A small slip of paper was handed to the clerk who took it across to the judge. Her face remained passionless as she read the contents.
Aari gritted her teeth and remained standing as straight as a soldier with her eyes straight ahead. She was not going to break down; she would not give her enemy the chance to see one gram of regret. She would be defiant to the end. If she was found guilty, her life would be over within five minutes, anyway.
"And the verdict?"
"We find the case against Doctor Aari Marshall unproved and add a recommendation of compassion and mercy."
Aari staggered. Unproved with compassion and mercy meant the jury believed her but could not prove it. This third possible outcome had been in the statute for a hundred years now and originally came from the ancient Scottish judiciary system.
Judge Mancini looked at Aari. "The case against you has been unproved and the recommendation of compassion and mercy noted. You are hereby, stripped of all citizen rights, academic qualifications and your present employment with the university terminated as from the First of November this year.
November the first! That was four months away… Aari swallowed and turned her eyes to the judge. Courts rarely delayed anything. "Why the delay?" she gasped.
The judge waved down the clerk who was about to reprimand Aari for speaking and replied. "You spoke of a factor of quantum physics called the time ripple, which supposedly can move humans through space-time. You have those three months to prove that your hypothesis is correct. If you can, you will be judged innocent and will retain your citizenship rights" Judge Mancini paused. "Do you have any comment to make before you are released and this case closed?"
"No, Ma'am," Aari whispered. |
