“You have given them,” Meyer said. “I suppose now you’ll have to enforce them.” “A pretty sentiment, Ms. Meyer,” Soltan said. “Unfortunately for you, this isn’t the United States Supreme Court or the 1830s, and you are definitely not Andrew Jackson. And as for enforcing my orders, I ask you to note the security cameras on the wall above my head.” “What about them?” Meyer said.
“Those security cameras don’t just feed into the security office here on planet,” Soltan said. “They also have a secure, encrypted wireless feed that goes directly to the Colonial Authority communication satellite and then into the databanks of the nearest Colonial Authority Circuit Court, in this case the Seventh CACC. The feed is mostly there to watch the judges, because judges on Explore and Exploit–chartered planets are historically prone to corruption and bribery. It’s a nice reminder to us to stay poor, impartial, and on our toes.
“However, they also have another purpose,” Soltan continued. “If and when a judge feels that an E and E corporation is trying to bigfoot its way around the courtroom, or if, say, a local general counsel gets it into her head to illegally override the orders of the court, or something even worse occurs, the judge can press a button, and the feed is ported, live, to the chambers of one of the sitting circuit court judges. It’s just our little way of making sure that corporate executives on backwater worlds remember they are not actually above the law. I pressed that little button just before I came back into this courtroom.
“So, Ms. Meyer, you have a choice. You can continue with this preliminary hearing on behalf of your client Mr. DeLise, or I can have the Circuit Court order down some Colonial Marshals to haul you away for contempt of court and obstructing a judicial proceeding. You’ll very likely be disbarred, serve jail time, and as you are an officer of the Zarathustra Corporation, a very heavy fine will be levied against the company.
“Likewise, if an SSR filing is not handed over to my clerk by the end of the business day, the Seventh Circuit will order the impounding of Zarathustra Corporation assets equivalent to the last ten years of gross revenues from this planet. As you are making this little power play of yours in front of the future Chairman and CEO of the company, who could stop you if he chose, there’s little doubt you are carrying out a company order, so ZaraCorp will be on the hook for all sorts of penalties, up to and including jail time for you, for Mr. Aubrey over there, and for every single ZaraCorp lawyer in this chamber with the exception of Mr. Sullivan, who, as his good fortune would have it, no longer works for your department.
“So, Ms. Meyer. Smile for the camera, and tell me what it will be.” “She is excellent,” Holloway whispered to Papa Fuzzy. Papa Fuzzy watched everything with curiosity. It might not understand the details, but Holloway suspected it got the emotional gist of what was going on.
“I’ll comply for now,” Meyer said, tightly, after a moment. “Your clerk will still be getting my request for your removal.” “At this point I’d be disappointed otherwise,” Soltan said. “In the meantime, Ms. Meyer, back off my podium and get back to work.” Meyer backed off, glancing at the cameras while she did so.
“Now that today’s insurrection has been quashed,” Soltan said, briskly, “I believe we have a witness to hear from. Mr. Holloway?” *
“Your name, please,” Soltan asked Papa Fuzzy.
“You know my name,” Papa said. He was at the witness stand, standing rather than sitting.
“Please say it again,” Soltan said.
“I am” pause “who Jack Holloway and other men call Papa,” Papa said.
“Your witness,” Soltan said, to Holloway.
“Papa, you know the day Baby and Pinto were killed,” Holloway said.
“Yes,” Papa said.
“Who?” Soltan said.
“The two fuzzys who were killed,” Holloway said. “I called them Baby and Pinto. Baby was the one that was stomped. Pinto was the one who was shot.” “Continue,” Soltan said.
“Who were Baby and Pinto to you,” Holloway said.
“The one you call Baby was my child,” Papa said. “The one you call Pinto was to be the mate of my child in time.” “Tell us what happened that day,” Holloway said.
“Your Honor, we have already seen what happened on video a number of times,” Meyer said. “We can stipulate the events we’ve already seen.” “Your Honor, there’s not much point in witness testimony if the witness isn’t allowed to describe the events,” Holloway said.
“Agreed,” Soltan said. “But let’s not dwell on details, Mr. Holloway.” “Yes, Your Honor,” Holloway said. He looked back to Papa. “Tell us what happened that day,” he said.
“You were gone,” Papa said. “When you are gone, we leave your home and go to our people to talk and be with them. Baby heard the noise of a skimmer going to your home. Baby went to see. Baby wanted to see Carl. Pinto went with Baby. I was near but I was in the tree, eating. I did not go with them.
“I heard Pinto call to me to say that the man was not you, but some other man. Then I heard my child cry and then stop. Then I heard Pinto yell. Then the man yelled. Then Pinto called for help.
“I came from the trees and heard a very big noise. Then I came to the tree by your house and saw the man step on my child. I saw the man kill my child. I saw the man hold my child and put my child in your house. Your house was on fire. And then I heard the man speak.” “Tell us what the man said,” Holloway said.
“I did not know some of the words,” Papa said.
“Try,” Holloway said.
“The man said ‘jesiscris migodam face,’” Papa said.
“He said ‘Jesus Christ, my goddamn face,’” Holloway said.”
“Yes,” Papa said. “Those are the words the man said. The man was very loud.” “Did you see his face?” Holloway said.
“I did not see the face of the man,” Papa said. “I did not need to see a face. I knew the voice.” “How did you know his voice?” Holloway asked.
“The man had come to your house before,” Papa said.
“When had he come to my house before?” Holloway asked.
“The man came with three other men,” Papa said. “You let the three other men go to your house. You did not let this man go to your house. You did not let the man get out of the skimmer.” “How do you know it was the same voice?” Holloway asked.
“The man was very loud in the skimmer,” Papa said. “Pinto went to look at the man and the man did not like that. I was in the tree and I heard the man yell.” “Did you see the man’s face that time?” Holloway asked.
“Yes,” Papa said, and pointed at DeLise. “This is the man.” Holloway glanced over at Meyer and then at Aubrey and Landon, who sat in the audience seats with their flotilla of lawyers. He smiled at each of them and picked up his infopanel.
“This is the day Papa is referring to,” Holloway said, and loaded up the video of DeLise pitching a fit in the skimmer while Pinto rubbed his bottom against the glass. “Unfortunately there’s no sound with the video, but I think it’s pretty obvious that Mr. DeLise is being quite vocal.” “Mr. Holloway, you didn’t mention that Mr. DeLise had been to your home before,” Soltan said.
“It must have slipped my mind,” Holloway said. “Probably because he didn’t actually get into my house, he was stuck out in the skimmer. As you can see.” “Why was he there in the first place?” Soltan asked.