Welcome Aboard Air Marineris

We’ve never needed a courtroom. There was that brief episode of Bee’s murder charge for Khloe’s death, but that had been abandoned almost before it began. Beyond a few earlier serial murders that never got to trial for want of a live defendant, we were a law-abiding lot.

We certainly had the space for it. The Commons was truly impressive. It was the largest interior space ever built off Earth. The room was two hundred meters wide by four hundred long in floor space, but the truly impressive dimension was the height. It was twenty stories high. Each apartment resident has a direct live stream view of the canyon in front of us. The displayscreen providing that was the largest ever fabricated. It shows a breathtaking panoramic view of the outdoors so large your eye accepts it as real.

Considering that no human will be able to go outdoors anywhere for generations, we need something like it to tolerate living indoors on this planet. There are no outings. Every square meter of its surface is deadly to us. On Earth, there is hope that someday the sky will clear, and they will again venture out into that wild beautiful world that has been denied to them for so long.

Here, we must have hope too if we are to retain our purpose of settling this planet. That is why we have all this expensive space. Certainly it makes no commercial sense. Low ceilings that need far less air to fill are so much cheaper. Yet we have known for a long time that existing is not enough. We have learned that much about ourselves at least. We have built a cathedral to science that gives us earthly solace in the same way the medieval cathedrals gave heavenly solace.

They couldn’t set up at the front. People still needed to eat, so they had to keep the autochefs free. They positioned the Director’s bench in front of the corridor that led out to the Air Marineris line. Through the window, you could see the glass gleaming in a morning sun that marched down the canyon from the East. In our perpendicular view the shielding on top of the corridor made it seem like a pagoda, part of the worshipful construction of our city. To the right were the two fabrication Quonsets, end to end, distanced from the cliff for protection from landslides. The rear end of the airship we were building stuck out of the right one. To the left was the track, extending to the horizon. Gleaming rails supported on pylons, each one with that looming gap where the third set of pylons should have been. I was proud of our efforts, but just then it made me sick to look at them. There was a reasonable chance that this view could be the last I had of my life’s work.

Klara’s bench was elevated about half a meter using collapsed tables stacked so that people could see her better. Off to the right of Klara’s chair was a single seat for witnesses, and on the left was a desk for the court recorder. Linh was already sitting there. She had set up a displayscreen on a stand in front of her. I wasn’t sure she needed that. It was put there partly for function perhaps, and partly to screen her. She was confident about her technical abilities, but personally, she remained shy and withdrawn. Whatever trauma she had suffered when she had escaped Vietnam after that tsunami remained buried.

One magic radio was set up behind the witness seat. It had the default image of Linus hovering above it. In front of the spare dining tables were two more tables. The one on the left was for us, the defense, and the one on the right was for the prosecution. On it was the radio with Solomon’s image hovering above it. That was going to be used by the prosecuting counsel.

About five hundred chairs, separated from the tables and brought from storage, were ranked in front of the bench and associated stations. Behind them, in rows that looked like black confining walls, they stacked five hundred more. That image put me on edge. I remembered it from the bad times.

It didn’t look like a courtroom, but it served the purpose. I went to sit at the counsel table, taking the left-hand seat, and Bee sat to my right. There was no one at the prosecution table yet.

The view of the canyon was obscured by a virtual drape that went about five meters up. It was the color of garnet and it blended with the reddish-brown background color. It veiled but did not hide the view so relevant to the hearing.

Once everyone was in place, Klara, who had a clear view of the proceedings from her office, walked out closing her door hard behind her. Its concussion exploded in our ears. She was wearing low red heels, hard soled, that clacked on the concrete floor. No soft paddies that day. She knew how to make an entrance. She carefully pulled out her chair and sat stock still for a few moments looking straight forward to a point above our heads. Then she lowered her eyes to us.

“This hearing is now in session. I am Klara Nilsson. I sit as chief judicial officer for the Mars Settlement Authority. We have several cases for determination. They are brought by a private prosecutor, Starward Corporation, which is registered as a Maryland corporation in the United States, one of the United Nations, on Earth.

“The first matter for disposition is an extradition request by Starward Corporation, which I will henceforth call ‘Starward’, to arrest and transport Monica Chapita, and Boris Levski, who are named as co-defendants, to Earth for trial.

“The charges they specify for trial here are a count for each of conspiracy to commit an indictable crime, which is claimed to be contrary to the international laws of the United Nations of Earth.

“The alternatives inherent in the prosecutions’ several applications are mutually incompatible, but I am receptive to considering them. Such argumentation is common in legal circles and I believe this is a good opportunity to have a full hearing on all these issues.

“What is going to be said today may seem to some to be over technical and over complicated. It will seem to some of you that we aren’t even arguing about the real problem. But that is the way of law. Things we see as trivial can loom larger than we imagine. Some of it is excruciating. Like arguing about the number of angels on the head of a pin.

“But, in the end, you will see it can resolve some disputes like the one we have now between the financiers of the line and its builders. Some of you may know that one of the reasons they hired me for this job is that I have qualifications in law. What my training has taught me about the law is that it can be as complicated as the people who devised it. But essentially, the idea is very simple. Instead of fighting, we talk. There are rules, and I am the umpire for that. I make the decisions on who’s right according to those rules.

I am going to try to make the two lawyers who will be arguing talk like ordinary people, not lawyers. I want everyone to understand because the question we are going to decide today is very important, not only to us, but to all humanity. We are one of the four places where humanity can live right now. And we have a whole world to offer. We all know what happened to Earth in the Impact. We all know why we must ensure that the specter of extinction cannot be allowed to loom again.

“Mars will never be secure enough to qualify as a refuge for humanity if we don’t have at least two independent and distanced cities here. We need Air Marineris to enable our society here to be an economically viable one. That will not happen if we don’t have a cheap and reliable way to traverse the Valles. You can see how hard it is to travel out the window. Airships are the only practical solution for travel.

“Monica Chapata, and Boris Levski here, deeply involved in our airline’s building, are named as defendants in an action brought by Starward. They think that Monica’s plan to stress test the line poses a threat to it. They want to stop her and that’s what Starward’s case is about. These are very serious issues we will be arguing this afternoon, and I want everyone to know that. Most of us will be riding on that line eventually, and I, for one, am riveted by the question for that reason alone.

“We will deal with the extradition request first. I understand that the prosecution is going to argue and present evidence remotely. They will be using the Magic Radio that most of you have heard of. It allows instant communication between locations notwithstanding the distance between them. We have been using it for some time informally but we have never used it for a trial. To do that, we need to prove it first. We will be going through some tests to do that. If they prove out, we will go ahead using these instantaneous radios.

At the same time as I am trying to keep things simple, I am going to need to deal with some formalities of law. If I don’t, someone somewhere may claim this wasn’t a fair hearing and we may need to do the same thing over again under worse circumstances. So, I want to get it right, and I think you do too.

“Now I must ask the counsel for Starward to address this Court and identify themselves. Boris Levski, who acts for Monica Chapata and himself, is here already.

“The first order of business is to test the Magic Radio to make sure it is a reliable means of communication. That has been done for radio and television transmissions in the past and would ordinarily be required to be settled before I allowed a remote attendance. Since the Prosecutors have alleged in their pleadings that this is a matter of utmost urgency that cannot await standard procedure, we are going to telescope that stage into this hearing. I don’t think that will break any rules.

“The pleadings indicate that the leading counsel for Starward will Theobald Bennet, and his associate counsel, Carter Bingham. They are from an English legal firm headquartered in New London in England. Is this correct?”

The magic radio over the prosecution bench came to life. The image that appeared over it was a middle-aged man resplendent in barrister’s robes. He was wearing a white wig. The image size had been rejigged to show him sitting at an imposing wooden desk against a background of legal books housed in dark wooden shelves. The image quality on the magic radio they were using was improved so that it was more lifelike than the ghostly apparition that had formerly appeared above it.

“Theobald Bennet for the prosecution, Milady. My colleague Carter Bingham is seated beside me.”

The view shifted to an older gentleman clad in similar robes with an antique wing collar and a similar but more ill-fitting wig perched on his head.

Klara replied “No need to call me by that title, Mr. Bennet. I am Director Nilsson. I have no other.”

She looked him up and down, no doubt taking in his robes and his magnificent setting. We sat at plain tables clad in our everydays. He seemed supremely comfortable with the difference.

“Very good, Ma’am. Director Nilsson, I believe we should first proceed with the matter of the extradition. If that matter is resolved, we may all save a great deal of time.”

“As you wish, Mr. Bennet, but it is justice we are interested in here, not time. I am prepared to grant you a great deal of latitude in representation. It remains my obligation, however, to ensure that your client has genuine representation. The means of communication you are using is unprecedented in legal history. The laws of physics, as we know them, do not allow for instantaneous communication between Mars and Earth.

“Our Court Reporter and IT officer, Linh Phan, a fem well-experienced in these matters, tells me that the gulf of the intervening distance between Mars and Earth allows a twenty-minute transmission time at present. That is at the speed of light, and, with presently known technology, it cannot be bridged faster. Don’t you think I would need greater assurance that I am not talking to an AI program locally produced?”

Bennet stood up to his considerable height, his long white hair lilted as he moved, and he stuck his finger out in our direction.

“Madame. I am an English Barrister. Centuries of ethical practice…”

Klara interrupted him.

“Mr. Bennet, I am not interested in high dudgeon either. I am interested in a fair hearing. I am not asking for anything that has not had ‘centuries’ of precedent in your own law. When photographic and motion picture evidence was first introduced as evidence in Court, a great deal of care was taken to explain their provenance, both technically and factually. Even ordinary physical evidence you offer will, I assume, comply with chain of custody requirements to ensure legitimacy. What I ask of you is no more challenging.

“I have had a suggestion from Ms. Phan that I think is fair and will only require twenty minutes of your time. Arrange for simultaneous transmission of an ordinary radio signal with the signal you are now using. It is marked with time stamps so that we can judge whether it is a true recording. We will match it with the remarks you make to us over the magic radio. I believe that you are telling the truth about this transmission, but then we will have tangible proof of authenticity. Evidence that will validate our proceedings. We don’t want to do this over again, do we? Humor me, Mr. Bennet. I am an ignorant colonial.”

Bennet sat down on his magnificent throne-like chair, all maroon leather, with brass studs around the edges of the fat cushions and smiled.

Like Klara, on this occasion, he had a smile that came from the mouth only. The eyes were dispassionate.

“I am rapidly revising any incorrect impression I might have had on that subject, Madame Director. Your suggestion seems a quick and easy way out of your problem. I will ask the technical people here to set it up. I assume they will use the regular communication channels for that. I will be back to you as quickly as I can with the test transmission. Until then, Madame Director”.

Klara turned to Linh.

“Linh, can you set that up please? Can you graph them side by side and do voice analysis on both the transmissions?”

“I have already set it up, Madame Director. I have just sent a frequency allocation to my counterpart at Starward. He knows all about it and is ready to patch into Bennet’s transmission. Give them fifteen minutes or so to set it up and another twenty for the transmission, and we will have it. I am recording everything Bennet is saying anyway. It all has time stamps. I presume they can do all this. I’d love to know how, though.”

“Let’s just wait for the event, Linh. All we do here is going to need to stand up to examination. I don’t want anyone telling me my decision is invalid because I didn’t follow procedure. I have jurisdiction, I won’t blow it.”

While we were waiting, I looked up over the curtain at the sky of Mars. That day, they made it pink shading into blue, and it was graced by the pinpoint Martian Sun. It was not up-sized to match its larger appearance on Earth, but the displayscreen intensified its infra-red heat to match our idea of what a Sun should feel like. It resembles our idea of home. It softens the reality.

Bennet was returning. His image erased the default image of Solomon. He was standing again.

“We are ready for the test Madame Director. I am Theobald Bennet, I am a senior barrister at the firm of Armitage and Co in the City of New London in the country of England, one of the United Nations of Earth. I am licensed to practice law all over the Earth Union. To my right is my learned friend Carter Bingham, a partner in the same firm. We have been retained by Starward to act as private prosecutors under the Universal Criminal Code of the UN.

“I have here a copy of the retainer their authorized corporate officers have signed, and I hold it up to the camera for your inspection. A copy has been filed in your office along with the pleadings in this matter. I will begin my arguments as soon as Madam Director has approved my presentation.”

“I will do that as soon as I get confirmation from Linh here. As well, I am going to ask you to indulge me on another matter. This hearing is very important to the people of Mars, and I believe it has like importance to at least some of the people of Earth. I have no doubt that you are a very learned legal scholar, Mr. Bennet. May I ask that you use that learning to transpose the elegant phraseology of the law into terms simple enough for the layman to understand? Do you think you could do that?”

“You pay me the ultimate compliment, Madame, to consider my understanding of the terminology of the law to be so consummate that I would be able to speak it in English. I thank you for your confidence and assure you I will use my best efforts to do just that. I am sure that my estimable friend will favor me by doing the same.”

Boris, watching the exchange with amused interest said:

“I wish I were capable of anything else. I would then be working as your colleague rather than your ‘friend’.”

Bennet obviously concluded there was no need to answer. He then disappeared and the screen then went back to default. We waited again, somewhat impatiently now, until Linh confirmed that the transmission by ordinary radio checked out.

“The audio wave-forms are identical, the time stamps match, and the program confirms it is the same voice. I would accept the magic radio as a faithful recording of the original conversation. Their copy includes your response here. That would be impossible to achieve in the elapsed time if it were not accurate.”

“All right, I am ready to go ahead, Mr.Bennet. Begin your submissions, please.”

The Bennet apparition reappeared.

“Right. Thank you. Initially, I must advise you that I have had further instructions from my client to withdraw both the request for extradition and the ancillary insubordination charge against Ms. Chapata initially filed with this Court. My client is content that the attendant danger posed by Ms. Chapata’s managerial position with the Marineris project has dissipated with her resignation. I will therefore not be arguing that matter.

“We are, however, proceeding against both defendants for their attempt to conduct unauthorized testing of the line. Monica Chapita and Boris Levski should be extradited on charges of criminal conspiracy to affect the destruction of property owned by Starward Enterprises Inc. of Earth, namely by running an unauthorized stress test on the airship line that is the property of the company careless of the possible result that the property will be irretrievably damaged.

“This is the reason we asked for an expedited hearing. We have information that Ms. Chapita and Mr. Levski have taken steps to conduct the forbidden test soon.

“We also contend that the properties of the ‘magic radio’, as you call it, place the conversation between Ms. Chapita and Mr. Weltmann as much on Earth as on Mars.”

Klara responded.

“Do you have anything to say in answer to this petition, Mr. Levski?”

“I’m not going to dispute assertions about the substance of the charges until they are dealt with by this Court. It is the propriety of an order for extradition based on the prosecution’s Record of Case that we need to settle first.

“Extradition is commonly ordered in circumstances where there is a connection between the petitioning jurisdiction and the defendants. Factors such as flight from the place of execution of the crimes, place of residence, or citizenship of the participants, and other such matters, can attach the crime to a particular jurisdiction and make it appropriate to change the venue for the determination of guilt or innocence.

“Where are there such connections here? We will not speak of the ownership interest of the complainant. That is a very complicated affair that could keep us here for months, but, to save time, I will admit that the complainant has sufficient standing to maintain this application here. And I do acknowledge that Starward is an Earth-based company.

“As for the site of the conversation Mr. Bennet claims can be situated on Earth, he admits himself that the nature of the instrument can place it at either location. Since most of the parties to the conversation were here, and the radio’s purpose was to convey Mr. Weltmann’s voice and image from Earth so he could speak to people here, why is it not placed here? He made all the calls. We, here, had no ability to complete a call. Accordingly we are the receivers, and so the events substantially took place here. Mars is obviously the appropriate jurisdiction for trial.

“There is also another point that should be made about whether extradition is at all appropriate in this case. Extradition is requested so that the excused can be tried in another jurisdiction. That requires that a person already be charged in that other jurisdiction. As I read the documents, there have yet been no complementary charges brought on Earth.

“Mr. Bennet would probably tell you that the urgency of the danger posed by the defendants is the reason. Yet they have had enough time to bring the charges here. Since they claim the law on Earth is the same as here, why not just duplicate the charges on the forms in use in Earth? It sounds like the complainant wants two bites at this apple. But isn’t the filing of a case here an implicit admission that it should be tried here?

“I have read the Record of Case filed by the prosecution to outline the evidence relied on to prove the charge of conspiracy. I admit criminal conspiracy would be a crime on Mars, if proven. The test is whether the evidence presented can conceivably prove the elements of the charge. And, of course, the evidence to prove the criminal intent must necessarily be admissible under Martian law.

“The proof offered by the prosecution is a recording of secret surveillance conducted right here in this cafeteria by an unauthorized tap of that cam over there.”

I pointed to a cam on the front wall of the cafeteria.

“Looks harmless, doesn’t it? It was used to record a conversation between Ms. Chapita and me. Neither Ms. Chapita nor I gave consent to the recording of that conversation, nor for its secret transmission to Earth. Intercepted private communications are subject to different rules of admissibility on Earth and Mars. Any relevant evidence, no matter how obtained, is admissible on Earth. Illegally obtained electronic evidence is not admissible on Mars. In addition, its very collection is a crime here.

“The doctrine that the representatives of the law should follow the law themselves is applicable here. This is evidence whose mere collection is subject to criminal sanction. It would put the administration of law into disrepute to allow a crimeto power an extradition.

“Without that evidence, the ROC is incomplete. There could be other evidence. Unfortunately Mr. Bennet is stuck with the evidence he has submitted. We cannot consider evidence that is not before the Court. Without it they cannot not prove the elements of the crime. The extradition request should fail on the grounds that no reasonable case was demonstrated.

“And my friend should be given no latitude to request an adjournment to allow time to gather additional evidence. He has been permitted to bring it on short notice, abridging the usual rules, claiming imminent danger. Let him demonstrate that with what he has chosen. If he cannot do that, we should not send people elsewhere to permit conviction and punishment on morally repugnant evidence.”

“If this trial proceeds, I will have strong arguments to make about Doctor Weltmann’s scope of authority in view of a co-existing responsibility Ms. Chapita had and still has as an officer of the contracting transportation Authority. I will argue that her dual capacities absolve her of liability in this case. But that is for later. That is all we have to say on the extradition matter, Madam Director.”

Do you have anything more to say before I rule, Mr. Bennet?”

“I am in a position to advise the Court that Instructions have been given to bring the charges my friend describes as ‘missing’. They will be provided as soon as the forms are observed. I submit that under these urgent circumstances, requirements for paper changes are only a formality of the sort that courts regularly give indulgence for. The defendants will not face the charges until they are on Earth. Plenty of time.

“As to my friend’s second argument about the elements of the offense being incomplete, I differ. They are complete on their face. Proof should not be an issue in this Court. It is not the business of this tribunal to try the question of guilt or innocence in the case of a request for extradition. That is well established in the law of extradition.

“Whether every jot and tittle of the rules of evidence is the same as on Earth is irrelevant. The case is technically sufficient. The established practice is to accept a sufficient case. All of these submissions respectfully offered for mil...we submit for your consideration Madame Director. We are content.”

He lowered his long frame into that overstuffed chair and composed his lantern face.

He had almost called her milady. She had frowned. Sweden had long since rid itself of its royals and nobility and she resented the mention in his address. She had declared it to me once: “It’s illogical for a democracy to have a monarchy. Its mere existence is a contradiction.”

The peach-colored sun was almost overhead, and the heightened rays of that sun suddenly made me hot. I was starting to sweat. Pay up time. I had opened my mouth. My mother had always told me to watch what I said.

Klara was absolutely still. She did not look down at notes. She did not adjust the screen on her desk.

“Before I move to discuss the submissions, I must deal with a preliminary consideration. It is a basic principal of criminal law, pioneered by your own people, Mr. Bennet, that a defendant is entitled to a full statement of the charges levied before the trial begins.

“I do not agree that the provision of such documentation is merely a ’formality’. It is, rather, a formal requirement, a condition precedent, for the bringing of such an application. For an extradition hearing, that means that a full statement of the charges brought in the corresponding jurisdiction must be made available Even a Swede knows, Mr. Bennet that it is ancient English law.

“To hear an English barrister state that this is not necessary, is, to say the least, disappointing. I agree with Mr. Levski’s submission that this application is insufficient on its face without it. I also agree with him about the advisability of a Court excusing such an omission in light of the urgency expressed by the prosecutor. I decline to exercise such discretion. The application is adjudged insufficient on its face in this respect.”

“This should lead to my dismissal of this application with leave to re-apply at this point. But I believe I will be rendering a service to all concerned to communicate to the prosecutor the likely course of a trial in the same cause, or a subsequent application, should they choose to re-apply at a later time.

“Therefore, I continue my discussion. I will deal with matters in the order they were submitted by Mr. Bennet. This extradition is sought to arrest the defendants and transport them to Earth’s jurisdiction, for conspiracy to damage the property of Starward. It is the installation contractor to the Mars Transportation Authority. It is charged with the construction and operation of the airship line known as Air Marineris.

“There are a number important relevant agreements that have not been produced for me by either party. Notwithstanding this omission, those agreements concerning the development of Air Marineris are all in the public record. I can take judicial notice of the provisions of such documents to expose any dual responsibilities for the defendants. I can also take notice of the assumption terms of the construction contract.

“I note that the terms of the building contract provide that Ms. Chapata, and Mr. Levski, as officers of the Authority charged with overseeing the construction, would have had responsibility for testing and quality checks on the line. I would be able to take that into account if this case proceeds. However I do not need to do that now.

“Getting back to the issue at hand, it is common ground that conspiracy to commit a criminal offense is a crime on Mars as well as Earth. I refer to the Record of Case filed for the elements of those charges.

“Mr. Bennet says that it is not our business that the standards of proof and the rules for submission of evidence are different on Earth. He says that if it looks right, we have an obligation as a corresponding Court to believe it is right. That argument is cogent as far as it goes.

“Today, I am a judge. It is my obligation to protect the law while I apply it. I will not accept illegal evidence. It is illegal in the same way that torture evidence is. Relevance is not a consideration here.

“Accordingly, without evidence of intention, the ROC fails, and the request cannot be granted. As the sole Court on Mars, there is no appeal from this determination.

“I am now making an order as chief administrator of the MSA on Mars considering a corresponding government’s request for extradition. I must take the decision I made in exercise of my judicial functions into consideration.

“It might be a bit confusing, because I am the same person, but I am following procedure. We have a very flat table of organization here, and this is unavoidable.

“I decline to approve any order of surrender for extradition in this matter on the following grounds:

“Surrender would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant circumstances.

“The conduct in respect of which the request for extradition is made is the subject of criminal proceedings on Mars against the very persons sought to be extradited.

“There are no evidential connections to the territory of the extradition partner and none of the conduct on which the extradition partner bases its request occurred or could have occurred in the territory over which the extradition petitioner has jurisdiction.

“This order will be booked in the Mars Digest forthwith. Are there any other submissions to be made on the request for extradition before we proceed to trial? Mr. Bennet?”

“For the record, I stipulate that I have not yet received a transcript of the charges to be brought on Earth, despite several urgent requests. Your determination is very clear, Madame Director. I must, admit, though, that I hoped for a different determination in view of the factum submitted.”

“How so, Sir?”

“May I be frank, Madame? The hearing is over, and we are speaking one person to another.”

Klara smiled, this time with her eyes too. She was obviously happy with the opportunity for the exchange.

“Certainly, Mr. Bennett. I would welcome it. We are all friends here.”

“You trap me with my own convention, Ma’am. Nevertheless, I hope it is true.”

“It is, certainly. We were all born on Earth. We may have acquired another tier of allegiances, but we still want what is good for Earth. Truly, we don’t all agree on what that is all the time. None of us have any wish to harm your client, Mr. Bennet. My ruling today, understood as I understand it, should prove that to you.”

“How so, Ma’am?”

“You may not know this, but Monica is the one person you need to build this line. She knows exactly how to do it, and all this is just wasting her time. She could be doing your work. We need to be strong to help you as soon as possible. We all know Earth is almost played out. It will be centuries before you resume normal life, not decades. Humanity needs a bolt hole, and we are it. Eventually, you will need us in the way we now need you. We want to be ready to do our part when that time comes. We don’t want to take what you have. We believe that space contains enough for us all. The line we are building will pay you for generations. It will finance future trade with you. We do not mind that at all.

“One bitter old man set you on this course. He has been wrong at every point, and he wanted to eliminate Monica because she cannot kowtow to him. Perhaps that may be considered a character fault in her, but if she did, it would end in disaster. She is determined to avoid that. The test was a way to do that at the lowest cost and prove the point you need proven. That’s why she wanted to run the test as early as possible before too much incomplete work had been done. You were lied to. Monica does not want her line destroyed. She just doesn’t want to kill people. Both tragedies may happen if it is built under-specified as it is now.Linus is not a good enough engineer to be in his position.

“The danger is proven, Mr. Bennet. To be kind, Linus misunderstood it. He looked to gain credit by saving money and to gain control no matter what the cost. We are not in league against you, Mr. Bennet, we are in league for you. We have your back. We protect your true interests. You are an important man, sir. I apologize that I do not know why, but I do know you can speak to your masters. Please tell them that.”

“You are already doing that Ma’am. They are listening, sitting in their offices in the middle of the night as I am. Isn’t it a shame that Mars time and ours are not coordinated? One of the disadvantages of instant transmission, don’t you know.”

“Very well, Mr. Bennet. I should also tell you that I have decided not to take over your private prosecution. I am sure you are aware I could have done that and stifled it. We wanted to let you have your say. You are right about the hour. It is late even here. We will reconvene tomorrow morning for the trial of the defendants on your charges.”

“Thank you Ma’am. See you then. I need some sleep.”