Fuzzy Nation

Chapter Twenty-two

Judge Nedra Soltan took her seat and peered out into her courtroom. “This looks familiar,” she said to Holloway and Janice Meyer, who were standing at their respective tables. “We talking fuzzy creatures again, Counselors?” “No, Your Honor,” said Meyer, who was representing DeLise, who was standing with her at the defense table.

“I think the defendant is bit of an ape, Your Honor,” said Holloway.

“Watch it, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said. She held up a sheet with her notes on it. “It says you are acting as your own counsel.” “There’s someone else I might have asked, but he’s being deported off-planet today,” Holloway said. “So I’m stuck with myself.” “You know what they say about the man who represents himself in court, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said.

“Yes. I do know it,” Holloway said. “But I also know the law. I even used to be a lawyer.” “Disbarred,” Meyer said.

“Not for not knowing the law,” Holloway said.

“Yes, I know,” Soltan said. “After your performance the last time you were here, I looked up your file. You punched your own client.” “He deserved it,” Holloway said.

“Maybe so,” Soltan said. “But do anything like that here, and being disbarred will seem like a cakewalk in comparison. Do you understand me, Mr. Holloway?” “I give you my word I will not punch my client,” Holloway said.

“Very droll, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said. “Sit.”

Everyone sat.

“This is a preliminary hearing before a judge,” Soltan said in a tone of voice that suggested she had said the same bit of verbiage innumerable times before, in front of people who knew exactly what she was going to say. “In cases where the nature of a colony makes it difficult or impossible to convene a grand jury, the plaintiff and defense may jointly agree to have evidence for a potential suit examined by a judge, and to have witnesses examined by the same, who will then determine if there is sufficient cause to bring the matter forward into a full court trial, either civil or criminal. Do the plaintiff and the defense so request?” “Yes, Your Honor,” said Meyer.

“Yes, Your Honor,” said Holloway.

“Does counsel understand that this hearing is for the benefit of the judge alone for determining the adequacy of the evidence to move forward to a trial, and not the trial itself, and that as such customary trial rules concerning discovery do not apply?” Soltan said. “That is to say, one or the other of you, or both, may not be aware of the evidence or witnesses called by the other.” “Understood,” said Meyer.

“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.

“I like his dog,” Bourne said.

“Have you ever said that you hate Mr. Holloway?” Meyer asked.

“On a regular basis,” Bourne said.

“Mr. Bourne, are you aware that your skimmer may have been used in the furtherance of a crime?” Meyer asked.

“I guessed that when my skimmer was impounded the other day,” Bourne said.

“Yes,” Meyer said. “We found fire suppressant residue on the skimmer. The same brand that Mr. Holloway used to keep his compound from burning down.” “Okay,” Bourne said.

“We’ve also now seen a video where your skimmer’s number is visible,” Meyer said.

“All right,” Bourne said.

“Mr. Bourne, can you account for your whereabouts the day Mr. Holloway’s cabin burned down?” Meyer asked.

“I was at home sick most of the day,” Bourne said.

“So you didn’t see any one, and no one saw you,” Meyer said.

“No,” Bourne said.

Meyer turned to Soltan and prepared to introduce an alternate theory of the crime.

“Oh, wait, that’s not quite right,” Bourne said. “I did see someone.”

Meyer swallowed her intended speech. “How is that again?” she said.

“I did see someone,” Bourne said.

“Who?” Meyer asked.

“Him,” Bourne said, pointing at Holloway. “I needed to tell him I had made a small error regarding that sunstone find of his. Turns out ZaraCorp doesn’t own it. He does.” “What?” Meyer said.

“What?” Soltan said.

“Yep,” Bourne said. “Just before he discovered it, I terminated his contract. For cause, I might add. But when he told me about his find, I guess in all the excitement, I forgot to reactivate his contract, which would have ceded the find back to ZaraCorp. While I was at home, I was reviewing contracts and I noticed his was missing. So I did a little digging. Turns out that by both Butters versus Wayland and Buchheit versus Zarathustra Corporation, he’s the actual owner of the seam. I thought maybe ZaraCorp could try to take it from him, but then we’d be running up against Greene versus Winston, and given what happened the last time ZaraCorp went up against that, I didn’t want to risk it. So I felt obliged to inform him. I knew he was in Aubreytown that day, so I went and told him about it. I figured he might want to know he’s worth one-point-two trillion credits. I would. Who wouldn’t?” There was dead silence in the courtroom.

“Oh, come on!” Meyer said, eventually. “You can’t seriously believe Holloway owns that seam.” “He does,” Bourne said. “Oversight on my part. Sorry.”

“Sorry?” Meyer said. “The only witness to your whereabouts is the plaintiff, who you just happen to be giving a trillion credits of ZaraCorp’s money to? Sorry is the word I would use for that, indeed.” “Am I allowed to make objections here?” Holloway asked, raising his hand.

“What is it, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said.

“Is it just me, or did the defense go from implying it was the witness who set fire to my cabin to suggesting he and I are teaming up to rob ZaraCorp, all in a single sentence?” Holloway asked.

Soltan looked over to Meyer. “He has a point, Ms. Meyer,” Soltan said.

“Your Honor, regardless of the content of the statement, it’s highly suspect,” Meyer said. “Mr. Holloway is accusing my client of arson, and he’s the only person here who can give Mr. Bourne an alibi.” “Well, Mark Sullivan was there, too,” Holloway said.

“Excuse me?” Meyer said.

“I was at Sullivan’s when Chad tracked me down about this,” Holloway said. “He should be a credible witness. He was Ms. Meyer’s underling, after all.” “Fine,” Soltan said. “I’ll have a clerk go get him.”

“That’s not possible,” Meyer said.

“Why not?” Soltan said.

“He got promoted over her,” Holloway said. “He’s the new ZaraCorp General Counsel on Zara Eleven. He’s leaving today.” “Leaving, or left?” Soltan said, looking back and forth between Meyer and Holloway.

“Left,” Meyer said.

“Leaving,” Holloway said. “His transport ticket is for three hours from now. He’s probably loitering at the beanstalk passenger waiting area.” Soltan looked at Meyer narrowly. “For future reference, Ms. Meyer, if someone is in fact still on-planet, they have not left it.” “Yes, Your Honor,” Meyer said.

“I’ll have one of my clerks stop Mr. Sullivan’s ticket and rebook him on the next transport,” Soltan said. “I’m having the other retrieve him and bring him here. That should take a half hour or so. We’re in recess until then.” She stood and looked at Bourne. “You’re excused, but don’t go anywhere.” she said. Bourne got up.

“May I approach the bench, Your Honor?” Meyer asked.

Soltan blinked. “What part of ‘we are in recess’ are you having a problem with, Ms. Meyer?” she asked.

“Please, Your Honor,” Meyer said. Soltan sat, grumpily, and motioned Meyer and Holloway forward.

“We need to talk about the disposition of the sunstone seam,” Meyer said.

“No, we don’t,” Soltan said. “Aside from establishing an alibi for Mr. Bourne, it’s not relevant to this case.” “It’s relevant for every single other thing on the planet,” Meyer said. “Mr. Bourne testified in open court that ZaraCorp has no claim on that seam. That puts us on dangerous ground. We need to get a preliminary ruling.” “After this hearing,” Soltan said.

“The longer they wait, the worse their legal ground is going to get,” Holloway said. “Speaking as an interested party, I’m up for a preliminary ruling as well. The sooner the better.” Soltan narrowed her eyes again. “Fine,” she said. “Both of you, in my chambers. Ten minutes. Make whatever case you want, but make it quick, because the minute Mr. Sullivan steps into this courtroom, this preliminary hearing is back on.”

Soltan’s chambers, cramped when it was just her in them, were positively claustrophobic with six people. Soltan, Meyer, and Holloway were there, along with Chad Bourne, Brad Landon, and Wheaton Aubrey VII, whom Meyer had frantically summoned.

“This is cozy,” Holloway said, jammed up against a wall.

Soltan, sitting behind her desk, gave him a look, then turned to Meyer. “Go,” she said. “Fast.” “Mr. Bourne doesn’t have the authority to grant Holloway control of that seam,” Meyer said. “He’s a contractor rep, he’s not the board of directors.” “A point that’s completely irrelevant,” Holloway said. “Bourne never said he had the authority. He pointed out that he voided my contract. The second he did that, Butters applied. It’s my seam.” “If your contract is void, then you’ve been on-planet illegally since then,” Meyer said, to Holloway.

“I’m aware you’re loyal to your company and all, Ms. Meyer,” Holloway said. “But in point of fact ZaraCorp regulations are not the same as Colonial law. It’s against regulations for noncontracted surveyors to be on Zara Twenty-three, yes. But it’s not against the law. And in any case, it’s up to ZaraCorp to enforce its own regulations. I can’t be blamed if the company never bothered to escort me to the door.” “We’ll be fixing that,” Aubrey said. Landon winced at this almost imperceptibly.

The reason why became evident immediately when Soltan straightened her spine. “Do that in front of me again, Mr. Aubrey, and you’re going to be spending time in your own company’s holding cell,” she said.

“It’s fine, Your Honor,” Holloway said. “Although I should note that I’m not going to allow any exploitation of my seam unless I’m around to supervise it. Good help is hard to find.” “Quiet, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said. She turned to Bourne. “Mr. Bourne, are you certain you voided Mr. Holloway’s contract prior to his discovery of the seam?” “Yes, Your Honor,” Bourne said. He handed her his infopanel. “Here’s the order for the termination of the contract. You’ll note several moments later both Mr. Holloway and I signed off on a rider to the original contract, having negotiated some new terms for his find. However, since the contract the rider was meant to be attached to was never reactivated, the rider itself is null and void.” Soltan looked at the infopanel for a few minutes, then looked up at Meyer. “No one thought to double-check this?” she said.

“All contracts are standard and handled through the reps,” she said, tightly. “Legal looks at them only if they’re flagged by the rep.” Soltan looked back at Bourne. “And you didn’t flag the contract,” she said.

“I flagged the rider,” Bourne said, and took back the infopanel for a second to pop up the document history. “It was the rider that had the unusual bits in it. There was no need to flag the standard contract, because it was standard.” “Except for the fact you forgot to activate it again,” Soltan said, taking the panel again.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Bourne said.

“The sign-off on the rider is yours, Ms. Meyer,” Soltan said.

“Yes,” Meyer said.

Soltan set down the infopanel. “This isn’t complicated,” she said. “If there was no contract, Butters applies.” “Mr. Holloway believed he had a contract,” Meyer said.

“Are you suggesting Mr. Holloway is now somehow legally obliged to honor a contract that doesn’t exist, merely because he believed it did?” Soltan said. “No, Ms. Meyer. It’s ZaraCorp who’s been getting the free ride here. In any case, you wanted an immediate preliminary ruling. Here it is: I’ll be issuing a ruling in favor of Mr. Holloway and putting the full court case on the docket. It’s a civil case, and you have a few ahead of it, if I recall. So I’ll hear it in about a year.” “I ask that you move it up on the schedule, Your Honor,” Meyer said.

“I’ll consider it,” Soltan said. “But not today.”

“This decision will bring operations on Zara Twenty-three to a standstill,” Brad Landon said. “Tens of thousands of people will be out of work. Are already out of work because of your preliminary ruling. They just don’t know it yet.” “That all depends on Mr. Holloway, doesn’t it?” Soltan said. She looked at Holloway.

“I have to say I’m deeply moved by ZaraCorp’s concern for its common worker,” Holloway said. “So I’m more than happy to keep operations going at the seam. All I ask is for half the gross revenue.” Landon blanched. “Half,” he said.

“Unless you think I should have more,” Holloway said.

“Meanwhile, ZaraCorp carries the load for the cost of machines and the workers,” Aubrey said.

“Ms. Meyer said it,” Holloway said. “Only ZaraCorp employees and contractors are allowed on-planet. Anytime you want to change that, you let me know. Until then, that’s your cost to sink.” “That’s not exactly an equitable division of cost,” Landon began.

“Half the gross or nothing,” Holloway said, cutting him off. “That’s the deal. Take it or don’t.” Landon looked at Aubrey, who nodded imperceptibly. “Done,” Landon said.

“Good, everyone’s happy,” Soltan said, and stood up. “Now please leave. I have some other issues to attend to.” She opened the door to her small private lavatory and disappeared into it.

Aubrey looked over at Bourne, sitting in one of the clerks’ chairs. “Little worm,” he said. “You will never work again. I promise that.” Bourne returned the stare. “Yes, well,” he said. “Your lawyer was already working on that out there, wasn’t she? The only difference between now and then is that deciding to screw up my career and my life just cost you six hundred billion credits. Hope it was worth it, you arrogant prick.” He stood up and left the room.

*

“Name and occupation,” Soltan said.

“Mark Sullivan,” Sullivan said. “I’m a lawyer. Currently between jobs.”

“Mr. Sullivan, on the day Mr. Holloway came to visit you, did you receive visitors?” Soltan asked.

“Aside from Mr. Holloway, you mean,” Sullivan said.

“Yes,” Soltan said.

“I had two,” Sullivan said. “Three if you count Jack’s dog. Besides Jack and the dog, there was Isabel Wangai, who is a mutual friend of ours. And then Jack briefly had a visit from Chad Bourne.” “Do you know what they spoke about?” Soltan asked.

“No,” Sullivan said. “They were talking quietly, and Jack did not discuss it with me afterwards. Then Isabel arrived and we talked of other things.” Soltan looked at Meyer. “Any questions?”

“No, Your Honor,” Meyer said. “We will still be supplying witnesses who will testify to Mr. DeLise’s whereabouts on the day of question. All we’ve done here is clear Mr. Bourne of any involvement.” “I would guess he’d say that was enough,” Soltan said. “Mr. Sullivan, you may step down. My clerk will take you back to the beanstalk terminal.” “If I may, I’d like to stay,” Sullivan said. “My transport doesn’t leave for twelve hours.” “Your choice,” Soltan said. “Now, Mr. Holloway. Your second piece of evidence, please.”