Illegal Alien

EPILOGUE

The next time he was in L.A., Frank Nobilio stopped by the offices of Rice and Associates to say hello. To his astonishment, he found Dale Rice in the process of packing up his diplomas, books, and framed jigsaw puzzles.

“What are you doing?” said Frank. “They can’t fire you; you’re the boss.”

“I’m leaving,” said Dale. “I’m finished.”

“Mr. Rice exits a winner,” said Frank, nodding. “Are you going to that Georgia cabin you’d always talked about?”

“Not Georgia,” said Dale. “And I’m not retiring. Seventy-two is young, son.”

“Then what?”

Dale pointed a finger upward.

“You’re becoming a judge?”

He laughed. “No. I’m going up.”

“Up?” And then realization dawned. “You’re going with the Twirlers?”

“Yes.”

“But why?”

Dale shrugged. “Maybe some of your idealism has rubbed off on me. Or if not yours, maybe some of Atticus Finch’s. Maybe, down deep, even after all these years, I do believe in the ideals of justice. And that means, whether they’re guilty or innocent, that the Tosoks deserve the best damned defense they can get.”

Frank’s mouth dropped open. “My God — you’re going to defend the Tosoks!”

Dale smiled. “I went by the Tosok section of the L.A. County Jail yesterday and spoke with Dodnaskak, who has succeeded Kelkad as their captain. She’s pleased to have me as lead counsel. So, yes, the Twirlers are going to take me with them when they return home.”

“Incredible,” said Frank. “But good luck. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

There was quiet between them for a time. “You know, the trials are going to be like Nuremberg,” said Dale. “There’ll be judges from each of the worlds the Tosoks threatened, but Tony says the judges don’t have to be legal types; after all, there are widely different judicial concepts among the various races. Maybe you should put your name in for being one of the Earth judges.”

Frank’s eyebrows went up. “Me? No, no — not me. It wouldn’t be right. I’ve already made up my mind what the verdict should be.”

Dale looked at him. “You darned idealist, you. You’d let them off.”

Frank just smiled.