“Yes,” said Holloway.
“Does counsel understand that the determinations and rulings of the judge in this preliminary hearing are binding pending full trial, provided there is one?” Soltan said.
Meyer and Holloway both gave their assent.
“Fine,” Soltan said. “Then let’s get on with this. Mr. Holloway, what are you accusing Mr. DeLise of?” “He burned down my house,” Holloway said.
“So, arson,” Soltan said.
“Arson, yes,” Holloway said. “Also attempted arson for attempting to burn down my outbuildings and failing, destruction of personal property, and attempted murder.” “You weren’t home when your house burned down,” Soltan said.
“He didn’t know that before he got there,” Holloway said.
“Let’s not stretch ourselves too far, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said. “I’m going to proceed for the moment with arson and destruction of personal property. If attempted arson and attempted murder become evident in the evidence you present, I’ll reinsert them.” “Fine, Your Honor,” Holloway said.
“Ms. Meyer, by any chance would your client like to cop to these allegations?” Soltan asked.
“No, Your Honor,” Meyer said. “My client has a roster of witnesses who will account for his whereabouts for the entire day in question.” “Of course,” Soltan said. She made a note and then looked up. “All right, Mr. Holloway, plaintiff first.” “Thank you, Your Honor,” Holloway said, and picked up his infopanel, to connect it to the larger monitor in the courtroom. “The first piece of evidence I’d like to show you is a security camera video from my house. I have a camera on my desk that is constantly running, and the video caches onto my infopanel storage space, which is convenient in this particular case, since the actual camera was destroyed in the fire.” “Is this video from a secure camera?” Meyer asked.
“No,” Holloway said.
“So it’s possible you could have tampered with it,” Meyer said.
“I’m perfectly willing to file an affidavit with the court that the video is unaltered and unedited, and to testify so on the matter in open court,” Holloway said.
“Later,” Soltan said. “For now, show me the video.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Holloway said. He started the video. It unspooled in the monitor: The skimmer landing at Holloway’s compound, the man stepping out of the skimmer, him trying the door and window, and him meeting the fuzzys, stomping Baby, and fighting with Pinto. Holloway glanced over at Meyer, who looked horrified at what the man had done to Baby, and then at DeLise, who sat there motionless.
“Pause this,” Soltan said, suddenly. Holloway paused the video. The judge turned to him. “Is this a joke, Mr. Holloway?” “In what sense, Your Honor?” Holloway asked.
“This video has yet to show anything related to arson,” Soltan said. “Instead I’m watching some man fight and kill small animals. It’s sickening, but it doesn’t have anything to do with your claim.” “First, I would note to Your Honor that we’re in the process of determining whether the fuzzys which you see being killed here are animals or if they’re people,” Holloway said. “And if they do turn out to be people, then whoever it is setting fire to my house—I am claiming Mr. DeLise—will also have at least one count of murder to contend with.” “Mr. Holloway,” Soltan began.
“However, that is neither here nor there to my claim, and I am not alleging murder,” Holloway said, quickly. “Nevertheless the man’s actions with the fuzzys are relevant, as you are about to see.” “I had better,” Soltan said.
“Yes, Your Honor. In fact, it’s just about to happen.” Holloway resumed the playback. The man threw Pinto to the ground and shot the fuzzy. “There’s the gun. Now, you see the fuzzy runs away, in the direction of my cabin. The man keeps firing. And there, a bullet enters my cabin. This I suspect is what initially started the fire. If you wait a minute, you’ll start to see smoke.” The courtroom waited for the smoke to arrive, and as it did so watched the man kick and shoot Baby, and throw the corpse into the burning cabin. Meyer looked like she was about to be sick. Good, thought Holloway.
Holloway stopped the playback when the camera failed.
“Ms. Meyer,” Soltan said, after a minute. “Any rebuttal?”
Meyer blinked and then coughed to hide the fact she was trying to get her focus back. “The video shows that a man accidentally set fire to Mr. Holloway’s cabin, but it doesn’t show that it was Mr. DeLise,” she said.
“The man set fire to the cabin after trying to break into it, which means it was an action associated with a crime,” Holloway said. “By Colonial law, that’s third-degree arson.” “The man in question could have been there for another reason,” Meyer said.
“In a ski mask,” Holloway said. “In a jungle. On a sweltering day. Besides that, look. The first thing this guy does on encountering someone else—human or not—is to stomp and shoot them to death. If the fuzzys were people, that would be murder. He’s not there for a social call, Your Honor. And now you can see why I think my murder was one of the goals of the visit.” “Attempted murder’s not coming back in on the basis of this video,” Soltan said. “But I agree that there’s reasonable claim for an arson charge, as well as destruction of property.” “Nothing on the video proves that the man in it is my client, however,” Meyer said. “And in point of fact, there’s something in it that points against it. Mr. Holloway?” Meyer held out her hand, requesting the infopanel. Holloway gave it. Meyer ran the video back to the beginning, to the skimmer landing. “There,” she said. “The skimmer.” “What about it?” Soltan said.
Meyer pointed. “Look at the serial numbers on the side,” she said. “That’s a Zarathustra corporate number. This isn’t a security skimmer, which is the sort my client usually has access to. It’s a model given to ZaraCorp’s contractor representatives so they can visit their contractors out in the field.” “So run the number through the ZaraCorp database, and tell me whose skimmer it is,” Soltan said.
“We don’t have to,” Meyer said. “We already know. He’s outside the courtroom right now, waiting to be a rebuttal witness.”
“You understand you are under oath,” Soltan said.
“I do,” said Chad Bourne.
“Your name and occupation, please,” Soltan said.
“Chad Bourne, Contractor Representative for Zarathustra Corporation,” he said.
“You’re up,” Soltan said, to Meyer.
“Mr. Bourne, are you Mr. Holloway’s contractor representative?” Meyer asked.
“Yes, I am,” Bourne said.
“And you have been so for how long?” Meyer asked.
“I’ve been his rep for as long as I’ve been here on Zara Twenty-three,” Bourne said. “That’d be about seven years now.” “What’s your general opinion of Mr. Holloway?” Meyer asked.
“Am I allowed to use profanity?” Bourne asked.
“No,” Soltan said.
“Then it’s best to say that our relationship has been a tense one,” Bourne said.
“Any particular reason?” Meyer asked.
“How much time do you have?” Bourne said.
“Just hit the highlights,” Meyer said.
“He’s lax with CEPA and ZaraCorp regulations, he’s argumentative, he tries to lawyer everything, he ignores me when I tell him he can’t do things, and he’s just all-around a jerk,” Bourne said, looking at Holloway.
“Any positive qualities?” Meyer asked, slightly bemused.