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The familiar detachment of guards took Dane from his room at precisely one quarter of an hour before noon. He knew this because the Lieutenant in charge of the detachment, whose name he now knew was Layton, gave him a chronometer ‘for the trial’ as they arrived to take him. Dane thought this was an odd courtesy, but nonetheless accepted it gracefully in the sincere manner it was apparently given.
He was taken to a small side room filled with books, a desk, and two oversized leather chairs. “This is the Defense Council Room, Sire,” said Layton. “Any recess will be served out here. You will not be allowed to leave this room during the trial,” Dane nodded that he understood. Layton opened a tall wood door at the other end of the room. “I’ll see if they’re ready for you,” then he was gone. They waited only a few short minutes before Layton returned and Dane was led into the main courtroom.
The courtroom was vast, filled with dozens of people milling about. A large court dais made of dark stained redwood dominated the near wall. Soldiers in Quantar Guard uniforms lined the room on all sides while a few white-and-gold uniformed soldiers of the Sanctuary Guard stood in ceremonial positions about the floor. Men and women in black and white robes, apparently courtroom practitioners, crawled about the dais performing pre-trial rituals. All slowed their pace and bustle to watch as Dane was led in. He tried not to waver, but every step was a struggle against his own fears.
He was led to a simple desk made of the same dark redwood as the dais and sat down. Two guards, one of them Lieutenant Layton, stood just in front of a wooden railing behind Dane. The rest of his escort detail dissipated throughout the room. Dane noted that the second seat at his table was unoccupied.
On the dais the court attendants returned to their duties, often looking in Dane’s direction and then talking quietly among themselves. He observed the commotion for a few minutes, hands clasped in front of him on the table and trying to keep the expression on his face impassive. Finally a Sanctuary guardsmen slammed down the gavel six times. The court practitioners all scrambled for their seats, some on the dais, some in one of the many gallery seats directly behind Dane. Dane turned to look at the crowd filling in the public space behind the gallery railing. Most were common people or in Quantar military uniforms. The crowd hushed as a side door opened. The guardsman who had sounded the gavel announced “All rise!” as Colonel Axel Noiman and General Tannace entered, accompanied by an short man carrying two brief cases. Tannace and the short man, his assistant, proceeded to a table facing the dais to Dane’s left. Colonel Noiman came and stood next to Dane without acknowledging him, grim faced and silent. At her arrival Dane finally stood.
A door creaked open behind the dais and an old man, white haired and in the uniform of the Sanctuary Guard walked slowly to the main chair aided by a much younger retainer. He sat heavily and then placed old-fashioned spectacles on his face.
“You may be seated,” he said in a weak and aged voice. Clearly this judge would offer little resistance to Tannace and his prosecutors. Likely he’d been bought off already.
They all sat silently for a long moment while the judge read the charges.
“The charges are in order,” he declared. “Who brings them?”
Tannace rose from his seat. “I do. For the people of Quantar and the Sanctuary, I charge the defendant, Dane Erasmus Cochrane, with the genocide of over two million people on the planet Quantar. The charges have been laid out in specific in the brief filed before the court this day, September the 22nd, 486 A.I.I. Sanctuary date, September 22, 2942 A.D.”
“So noted,” stated the judge. “The clerk will authenticate that all papers are in order,” he shuffled a few papers then looked directly at Dane. “Sire Dane Cochrane of Quantar, you have heard the charges, what say you to them?”
Dane swallowed hard, his fear for the moment repressed. He stood up with what he hoped was an air of dignity and looked first at Tannace, then to the judge.
“To these charges, I say ‘Not Guilty’.” The judge nodded. He shuffled through the papers again, then asked, “Who defends you as your advocate?” Axel got up from her seat.
“I do, your honor. But if it please the court, I wish to be removed. I confess to a strong desire to see this man found guilty. I cannot serve as his advocate. It would not be fair.”
The judge narrowed his eyes, squinting through his glasses as if he was trying to see Dane better. “Sire Cochrane, are you aware of your advocate’s feelings towards you?”
“Yes, your honor, I am. I also believe she is most adequate, despite her reluctance, to defend me, and I insist she stay on,” Axel shifted her feet uncomfortably at this. The judge paused for a moment, looking to Axel and then back to Dane. “So noted,” then wagged a finger at Dane. “But you waive your right to appeal on the grounds of bias later.”
“I agree to the terms, sir,” said Dane. The judge nodded.
“Then let us begin.”
Tannace moved forward as Dane and Axel sat down, a paper-thin LCD legal tablet in his hand. He referenced the pad momentarily, then faced the crowd, tablet behind his back and pacing slowly as he spoke.
“This man,” he pointed at Dane, “Sire Dane Cochrane of Quantar, is charged with the genocidal murder of over two million people on his home planet. I’m sure that it sounds absurd to the court that any one man could commit such an act. Indeed, Sire Cochrane is not charged with any specific murders directly, rather, his family, through tyranny and deceit, has brought this ruin on our people, and so as a member of this family he is so charged. Not a man in this room does not have a brother, or a wife, or a father killed by this family. Dane Cochrane is indeed on trial for these acts, and responsible for those crimes. But we also seek to condemn the royal system, one filled with corruption and malice. One which grants power through a corrupt line of dynastic family ascension. One which allows the common people only to be represented through their royal monarchs. It is this system that has allowed the tyranny of the Cochrane’s to flourish, and our own people to suffer so greatly. Once we have proven our case we will execute Sire Cochrane, as an example of what is to come for the Empire as well.”
Tannace nodded to the judge and moved back to the prosecutor’s table, pausing only for an instant to glare hatefully at Dane.
“Your advocate may begin, Sire Cochrane,” said the judge. Dane looked to Axel, who refused to acknowledge him. After a moment Dane rose and spoke.
“Your honor, my advocate shall provide me only with technical assistance, I shall conduct all verbal arguments myself.”
The judge considered this. One of the black-robed court practitioners approached and whispered in his ear. He listened intently, then nodded. “Very well, but you also wave the right to appeal on these grounds,” said the judge. Dane nodded his agreement. “So noted. Please continue Sire Cochrane.”
“I protest, your honor,” It was Tannace. “The courtesy of calling this man “Sire” has not been extended by this court. I only use his Imperial title in the formal charges and in preliminary arguments as a means of identity. I ask that all other use of the title be stricken from the record and that you refrain from using it. This court recognizes no Imperial authority.” Again the practitioner returned to bend the judge’s ear. There was a sharp but quiet exchange before the judge waved him off.
“Granted,” said the judge, nodding to the clerk to note the decision and then leaning back in his chair. “You may begin, Mr. Cochrane.”
Dane nodded formally to Tannace, then walked up to the crowd that had gathered behind the railing in the back of the courtroom. He stood there facing them without the slightest idea what to say. Although he was an accomplished public speaker and debater at the Academy, he had sparse legal training. He remembered advice from a debate professor that had stayed with him; when in doubt, trust your intuition. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, then looked up to face the crowd.
“I have been charged with a variety of crimes by this court, none of which I am guilty of. You would expect me to say this, to defend myself, to save my own life. But I will do more than just prove my own innocence. I will prove my family’s innocence as well. I will prove that these charges are a fabrication, that my father is a man of high regard, and not of a character to commit the atrocities listed before the court. Further, I believe I will be able to prove that the purveyors of these lies are the very ones who perpetrate the so-named crimes upon Quantar, for by what right do they kidnap the heir to the Director?” There was a hushed rustling of soft voices through the crowd at this. Dane held out his hands at his sides, as if appealing directly to the crowd. “What could be their sinister motive but to foment discord and chaos on our home world for their own purposes?” Again the crowd became unsettled, faces straining to look into his eyes and see if he were trustworthy. Apparently his royal title still had sway over the hearts of many in the audience; they wanted him to be innocent.
“Indeed,” Dane continued, his confidence growing. “It seems clear that they are in the business of chaos, daring to use explosives and stun gas to abduct me from an Imperial Starliner, with no regard for the lives of innocents that may have been lost by their bloodlust for me.”
Dane glanced at Tannace and saw the first signs of tension in his jaw line.
“My own advocate,” he pointed back to Axel, “Was sent as an assassin, to kill me on that very same Starliner, booking passage under an assumed identity to deceive me and the Imperial guard. But before she could carry out her plot the PKI intervened and kept me from death, though I do not pretend to know the reasons for their involvement. I would speculate that these ‘rebels’ represented by the Prosecutor himself, are nothing more than a secret terrorist wing of the PKI, created to sow discord among the honest Directors of the Frontier. And I will show that the true criminals sit in the places of power in this courtroom. Indeed, they are the ones who should be put on trial here, not me.” At this the crowd began to talk among themselves. Dane knew that any mention of the hated PKI was to his favor, if he could taint Tannace with their involvement he might be able to sway the crowd and even the judge, if he wasn’t already a lost cause. His confidence growing again, he paced in front of the crowd a moment longer, for effect, considering his next statement. He stepped up between two court guards and put his hands on the railing of the baluster, speaking softly and deliberately directly to the crowd.
“You have lost much. Family, possessions, your homes. But I swear to you not one of these charges against me or against my family is true.” He turned back to the judge and raised his voice. “And I will ask this court to find me not guilty, so that I may be able to use my power as your sovereign to try and execute the true criminals in this matter. Criminals ‘General’ Tannace and his henchmen must know very well!”
At this there was open chattering among the crowd. One man even shouted encouragement to Dane from the back as he returned to his seat, brushing past Axel to sit down. She looked over to him and nodded, a wry smile of admiration on her face.
“Pretty speech, for a pretty boy. But it will do you no good,” she said. Dane smiled back at her, his confidence returning for the first time in days.
“With your help, advocate, perhaps I can do better,” he said.
“My help will send you to your grave, Cochrane.”
He shook his head. “I think not.” The judge made brief conversation with the court clerk, then spoke.
“General Tannace, you may call your first witness.” Tannace stood confidently, anxious to get the trial back on the solid ground of his case.
“Thank you, your honor. We call Colonel Axel Noiman to the stand.”
Dane’s head whipped around in surprise. Axel rose, looking at him with the smile still on her face as she went to the witness stand and sat down. He debated a moment, then stood up right after Axel was sworn in and just before Tannace began his questioning.
“Your honor, I protest,” he said in as even a tone as he could muster, trying to disguise that he’d been caught off guard.
“State your objection.”
“Sir, without my advocate by my side to advise me I stand to miss some vital piece of testimony. I am at a disadvantage. I do not have a legal pad or even pen and paper to write on. It would be grounds for an appeal.”
“There are no such provisions for appeal in the Sanctuary code,” interjected Tannace. “He accepted a hostile advocate without objection. I am within the Sanctuary laws to call my primary witness, even if she is the defendants’ advocate.”
“So noted,” said the judge. “The witness is allowed. You may begin, General Tannace.”
Dane refused to stand down, red-faced with embarrassment at being outfoxed. Tannace moved from his table to stand near Axel at the witness stand, separated only by the wood railing. He glanced at Dane, then at the judge, who impatiently addressed Dane.
“Mr. Cochrane, your appeal has been refused. Now sit down or I will order you held in irons.” Dane ground a fist into the table in frustration, then reluctantly sat down. Tannace returned his attention to his witness.
“Please state your full name and rank for the court,” he said.
“Axel Andrene Noiman, Colonel of the Fifth Regiment, Quantar Free Guard.”
“How long have you been exiled on Earth from your home world of Quantar?”
“Nearly four years.”
Tannace consulted his pad. “Tell us how you came to be here.”
“I left Quantar by night, on a Maitrian shuttle bound for Senna. There was a price on my head, my whole family’s, in fact.”
“Why?”
Axel sat forward and cleared her throat. “The Cochrane Directorship arrested my father and mother for treason, as well as my sister-”
“Please tell us your father’s name and position,” said Tannace, interrupting her as he consulted his tablet once again. Dane took note of this.
“My father was General Paris Noiman, Chief of Staff to Director Nathan Cochrane, head of the Directorship defense forces.” Dane remembered Noiman by reputation. He was decorated several times for wiping out mineral runners and pirates in the asteroids of the cloud rim. He had served on outworld units for several years, Dane heard he’d been made Chief of Staff shortly after his own departure for Corant.
Tannace looked up to Axel before asking the next question. “And please tell the court where your father is now?”
“He’s dead.” Tannace asked the next question gently.
“And can you tell the court how was he killed?”
She looked down into her lap before responding. “He was executed for treason shortly before I escaped from Quantar. Shot by a firing squad with coil rifles.”
Tannace made a note on his pad. “And who brought the charge of treason?”
“Director Nathan Cochrane of Quantar,” the crowd reacted with a low rush of angry murmuring at this.
“What evidence was presented against your father?”
“None that I know of. He was arrested at a birthday party for my... my older sister and executed without trial the same day. The following day they came for my mother and Aria- I mean my sister,” Dane noted how Tannace flinched at the mention of her sister’s name. What was it she’d said, back on the Starliner? Her sister had been Tannace’s wife... “And they arrested them. I was taken by some loyal Quantar military men and smuggled off-world the next day. I arrived on Earth a month later. Soon many other Quantar military and civilians began arriving, before they shut down the planet, Quantar I mean, and locked out all merchant and civil transports.”
Tannace made another note before continuing. “Colonel, who specifically was it that came and arrested your father?”
“Soldiers dressed in the uniform of the Director’s Royal Guard.”
“Do you have any doubt then, that they were sent on the orders of the Director himself?”
Axel shook her head and looked directly at Dane. “None.”
“Thank you. I reserve the right to recall the witness later.”
“So noted,” said the judge. “Your witness, Mr. Cochrane.”
Dane sat for a moment in contemplation before going up to the witness stand. He knew this could be his one opportunity to break through to her. But how? He had to start somewhere, so he began with the obvious. “Colonel Noiman, did you see my father issue any direct order to arrest your father?”
She shook her head. “No, of course not,” the response was an impatient one.
“Did you see his signet on any orders to arrest your father?”
Again the negative shake. “No.”
“Did these men produce any written order of any kind?”
“No, damn you!” she yelled, jumping up out of her chair. “They came with guns and they took him away!” Dane took a step back before asking the next question, one that could make or break his chances with her.
“Then how do you know my father sent them?”
“What?” She sat back down, surprise and confusion on her face. He took two steps towards her, raising his voice.
“I said, how do you know my father sent those men?”
“Objection!” It was Tannace. “Witness has already established that they wore the uniform of the Royal Guard.”
Dane stepped over to confront the judge directly. “Your honor, I do not dispute that fact. I believe these men, whoever they were, wore the uniform of my father’s personal guard. But my question is still valid.” At this the practitioner returned again and spoke into the judge’s ear. The judge nodded.
“I will allow your inquiry,” he said.
“Your honor!” It was Tannace, his voice giving away a tone of astonishment.
“General Tannace,” responded the judge, sounding forceful for the first time. “I must allow him to ask his question or open this trial to possible future grounds for appeal. Is that what you want?” The words were an obvious warning to Tannace to back off. Dane was now convinced the judge was clearly doing his best to stay within narrow parameters that had been set for him. Tannace fidgeted a moment as his smallish aide came up and whispered into his ear, then seemed resigned to his predicament.
“Very well then, let him ask. I withdraw my protest.” Then he hastily made his way back to his desk. The judge looked to Dane. Dane looked to Axel.
“Shall I repeat the question?”
“No,” She sighed heavily before continuing. “Other than their uniform, I do not know that your father sent those men.” The hushed whispers went through the crowd again. Dane stepped up to the baluster and placed his hands on the railing, looking her directly in the eye to ask his next question.
“Is it possible that these men were rebels?” he said. She shook her head violently.
“No! We are the rebels! We fight to free Quantar!” Dane’s mind was whirling now as new possibilities opened in his mind. He turned from her and began pacing the room, hand to his chin again, sorting his thoughts as quickly as he could. He asked his next question from across the room.
“The men who attacked us on the Starliner, the night of the dinner party, before I was kidnapped by your rebel friends, who did they work for?”
Axel hesitated to answer.
“Colonel?” Dane insisted.
“The PKI,” she finally said.
“The PKI,” said Dane, nodding his head, then returned to his pacing. He raised his voice barely below a shout. “And who would be the only organization that could infiltrate a Directorship, to usurp power for their own purpose? Colonel?”
“I don’t know,” she said, bowing her head. Tannace stood to protest.
“Keep your seat, Mr. Tannace,” said the judge, also waving off the ever-present practitioner. “We will hear this witnesses testimony.”
Now Dane came towards her, slow and deliberately. “The PKI? Colonel?” his voice was quiet, his tone reassuring. She looked up at him, her eyes darting back and forth his face, trying to read him. He let her look at him as long as she wanted, his heart pounding, hoping she could see the truth in him. She looked down at her hands.
“I suppose... If it were possible...” she trailed off.
“Axel! Don’t! This is a trick! A deception!” shouted Tannace, standing sharply, desperation in his voice. The judge pounded his gavel for silence. Dane asked his question again.
“Colonel, who has the power?” Dane was gentle now but insistent. He wanted her to see the possibility of his innocence, to consider it, but not break her spirit. She looked up at him again, making a decision.
“The PKI,” she said, then looked directly at Tannace. “The PKI do.” Dane allowed himself a small and genuine smile when she turned her attention back to him.
“Thank you, Colonel,” he said. “No further questions for this witness,” then returned to his desk. The judge looked to Tannace, who had quietly retaken his seat.
“Unless you object, General Tannace, I suggest a two hour recess,” said the judge.
Tannace shook his head. “No objection.”
“Then this court is adjourned for two hours. We will return at 0130 hours. You may step down,” he said to Axel. She moved from the witness stand to stand in front of Dane’s desk as the room filled with the shuffling of the court attendants. The Quantar guards moved to stand behind Dane, ready to take him back to his room, hands on pistols. He looked up at her, saw the look of confusion and anger on her face.
“For so many years, I’ve been so certain,” she began. Dane shook his head.
“If I have learned anything in all of this Colonel, it is that nothing is certain.”
“Axel!” It was Tannace. “Come to the conference room, now!” The words were spoken as an order and she began to move off obediently toward her commander. “And take him out of here!” he yelled at the guards. Dane stood ready for the guards and they escorted him towards the defense chamber. He stopped halfway, resisting the guards as they tried to push him on.
“Axel!” he called out impulsively after her. She turned and looked back at him, uncertainty and emotion playing across her face.
Then she turned away, and rushed to follow Tannace out of the courtroom.