Editing Episode 405: Precipitate
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'''Rina:''' This is all your fault.<br> | '''Rina:''' This is all your fault.<br> | ||
| − | '''Arden:''' How is it | + | '''Arden:''' How is it my fault?<br><br> |
But she’s already out the door and gone, pissed off at the fast one pulled on her. Arden lets it go and returns to his book, to wait until Joshua comes to. Which he does some little time later. He pulls himself together and spends a moment talking to Arden.<br><br> | But she’s already out the door and gone, pissed off at the fast one pulled on her. Arden lets it go and returns to his book, to wait until Joshua comes to. Which he does some little time later. He pulls himself together and spends a moment talking to Arden.<br><br> | ||
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'''Nika:''' He stardded dit.<br> | '''Nika:''' He stardded dit.<br> | ||
'''Joshua:''' (to SPs) Excuse me. (turns to Nika) Captain.<br> | '''Joshua:''' (to SPs) Excuse me. (turns to Nika) Captain.<br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' Hands. | + | '''Nika:''' Hands. On the girls.<br><br> |
She indicates her chest with cupped hands.<br><br> | She indicates her chest with cupped hands.<br><br> | ||
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'''Joshua:''' Captain.<br> | '''Joshua:''' Captain.<br> | ||
'''Nika:''' Tha’wazzit. We were done.<br> | '''Nika:''' Tha’wazzit. We were done.<br> | ||
| − | '''Joshua: | + | '''Joshua:''' Captain. (points) To your cabin. <br><br> |
She goes.<br><br> | She goes.<br><br> | ||
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'''Joshua:''' (put-off) You tranqued me.<br> | '''Joshua:''' (put-off) You tranqued me.<br> | ||
'''Nika:''' What?<br> | '''Nika:''' What?<br> | ||
| − | '''Joshua:''' You | + | '''Joshua:''' You tranqued me.<br> |
'''Nika:''' Me?<br> | '''Nika:''' Me?<br> | ||
| − | '''Joshua:''' Yeah. You. (points to Kiera) Or her. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t | + | '''Joshua:''' Yeah. You. (points to Kiera) Or her. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her. (points to Rina)<br> |
'''Nika:''' I didn’t see anything. (Nope.)<br> | '''Nika:''' I didn’t see anything. (Nope.)<br> | ||
'''Arden:''' I can neither deny nor confirm that rumor.<br> | '''Arden:''' I can neither deny nor confirm that rumor.<br> | ||
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'''Nika:''' Did you have enough vodka?<br> | '''Nika:''' Did you have enough vodka?<br> | ||
| − | '''Rina: | + | '''Rina:''' That would have been my end.<br> |
'''Kiera:''' (to Rina) You tranqued him. How dare you?<br> | '''Kiera:''' (to Rina) You tranqued him. How dare you?<br> | ||
'''Rina:''' (looks daggers at Kiera) No. You tranqued me.<br> | '''Rina:''' (looks daggers at Kiera) No. You tranqued me.<br> | ||
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'''0800hrs, local time'''<br><br><br> | '''0800hrs, local time'''<br><br><br> | ||
| − | There isn’t much left to do but wait for the trial and two days later, it finally opens. Everyone attending has to pass through metal detectors and, undesirous of trouble, Rina has left her weapons behind on the | + | There isn’t much left to do but wait for the trial and two days later, it finally opens. Everyone attending has to pass through metal detectors and, undesirous of trouble, Rina has left her weapons behind on the Gift. <br><br> |
| − | We find our preferred seating, arranged for us courtesy of Kramer, and settle down to watch. Looking around we see the stadium is at near full, with about 20,000 people attending. There are numerous gigantic holoscreens to give everyone an up-close view of the proceedings. There are numerous air horns too, of the plastic and the pneumatic variety, and to combined din of the horns and the crowd is intense. The crowd also patches of color made by their clothing, denoting their affiliations and factions. There is no one color for the PDF. However, there is a tier with box seats and it’s there that the PDF rankers and the elite sit for the trial. Seeing the boxes reminds Nika of speculation she’d overheard the night before during her bar crawl, where some of the more paranoid wonder if the trial is nothing more than a lure to get the leaders, movers, and shakers of Blue Sun system collected in one spot for a tactical strike. It would only take a missile launched from a distance, maybe two, and the government of Blue Sun would be obliterated in one fell swoop. Nika also knows that it’s Kramer’s job to keep that from happening and it’s the reason | + | We find our preferred seating, arranged for us courtesy of Kramer, and settle down to watch. Looking around we see the stadium is at near full, with about 20,000 people attending. There are numerous gigantic holoscreens to give everyone an up-close view of the proceedings. There are numerous air horns too, of the plastic and the pneumatic variety, and to combined din of the horns and the crowd is intense. The crowd also patches of color made by their clothing, denoting their affiliations and factions. There is no one color for the PDF. However, there is a tier with box seats and it’s there that the PDF rankers and the elite sit for the trial. Seeing the boxes reminds Nika of speculation she’d overheard the night before during her bar crawl, where some of the more paranoid wonder if the trial is nothing more than a lure to get the leaders, movers, and shakers of Blue Sun system collected in one spot for a tactical strike. It would only take a missile launched from a distance, maybe two, and the government of Blue Sun would be obliterated in one fell swoop. Nika also knows that it’s Kramer’s job to keep that from happening and it’s the reason Decatur is parked in orbit above. <br><br> |
Overhead is a force field deflecting some of the sun’s rays from the assembled spectators, but it doesn’t do much to affect the resulting heat. As the day wears on, it gets hotter in the stands and the drinks concessions are doing a land office business.<br><br> | Overhead is a force field deflecting some of the sun’s rays from the assembled spectators, but it doesn’t do much to affect the resulting heat. As the day wears on, it gets hotter in the stands and the drinks concessions are doing a land office business.<br><br> | ||
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He tells the assembled audience that Michael Carter was armed, that he was on the site, he is well-known to be a marksman, and a list of Carter’s other skills follows. He reads multiple testimonials of Carter’s accomplishments, many of them of selfless action and heroism during the War. Some of them are quite frank in their admiration of the accused. Tanner reads them all and when he’s finished, he warns the audience not to be misled by the haggard thin man before them. Make no mistake, Michael Cameron Carter is a killing machine, Tanner declares. Furthermore, Tanner is not here today to give the verdict, for that is the duty of the people of Blue Sun. He is merely here to present the evidence, to show how the accused had the means and the opportunity to commit the crime.<br><br> | He tells the assembled audience that Michael Carter was armed, that he was on the site, he is well-known to be a marksman, and a list of Carter’s other skills follows. He reads multiple testimonials of Carter’s accomplishments, many of them of selfless action and heroism during the War. Some of them are quite frank in their admiration of the accused. Tanner reads them all and when he’s finished, he warns the audience not to be misled by the haggard thin man before them. Make no mistake, Michael Cameron Carter is a killing machine, Tanner declares. Furthermore, Tanner is not here today to give the verdict, for that is the duty of the people of Blue Sun. He is merely here to present the evidence, to show how the accused had the means and the opportunity to commit the crime.<br><br> | ||
| − | He cues security footage to the viewscreens and everyone sees shots of Mike entering the building using his key card. Tanner tells the audience that it’s clear that as far as the evidence shows, Mike was the only one the authorities know to be in the building aside from the victim. | + | He cues security footage to the viewscreens and everyone sees shots of Mike entering the building using his key card. Tanner tells the audience that it’s clear that as far as the evidence shows, Mike was the only one the authorities know to be in the building aside from the victim. The only one the authorities know of, Tanner is meticulous to point out. He is here only to show that Carter had the opportunity to kill You Ge but that doesn’t rule out other people being present with opportunities as well.<br><br> |
Arden mutters under his breath that the reasoning behind the case is circular and makes no sense: Carter was the only one the authorities know of as being present so Carter is the only one they know of who could have done the deed because he was the only one they know of on the site. Circular!<br><br> | Arden mutters under his breath that the reasoning behind the case is circular and makes no sense: Carter was the only one the authorities know of as being present so Carter is the only one they know of who could have done the deed because he was the only one they know of on the site. Circular!<br><br> | ||
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That said, Tanner goes on, there are several odd things about the crime. There was no sign of resistance on the part of You Ge. However it is noticed that he wasn’t holding anything. He had a drink. He had a datapad. Both were set down on the table before he was killed. Maybe the assassin waited for that moment to happen so as not to cause a mess. There are no eyewitnesses, so we do not have testimony by eyewitnesses to corroborate as to that. And there is no evidence—no one has come forward as a co-conspirator and Mr. Carter has not implicated anyone as of yet. But perhaps at the end of this testimony we will find out.<br><br> | That said, Tanner goes on, there are several odd things about the crime. There was no sign of resistance on the part of You Ge. However it is noticed that he wasn’t holding anything. He had a drink. He had a datapad. Both were set down on the table before he was killed. Maybe the assassin waited for that moment to happen so as not to cause a mess. There are no eyewitnesses, so we do not have testimony by eyewitnesses to corroborate as to that. And there is no evidence—no one has come forward as a co-conspirator and Mr. Carter has not implicated anyone as of yet. But perhaps at the end of this testimony we will find out.<br><br> | ||
| − | Of course, the description of Tanner’s presentation is far shorter than the presentation itself. It takes Tanner | + | Of course, the description of Tanner’s presentation is far shorter than the presentation itself. It takes Tanner hours to lay the evidence in front of the people of Blue Sun. Tanner has to take the time present testimonies for and against Carter, to show and explain photographs, charts, and graphics, read document after document from Carter’s war record—with redactions liberally peppering the text.<br><br> |
During the proceedings, Kiera sounds out the spectators to the left and right of her. <br><br> | During the proceedings, Kiera sounds out the spectators to the left and right of her. <br><br> | ||
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'''Man:''' I have to apologize. You’ll have to excuse my manner here. Saying my name in front of twenty thousand people, on camera before a Cortex of millions of people, possibly people from the Alliance—<br><br> | '''Man:''' I have to apologize. You’ll have to excuse my manner here. Saying my name in front of twenty thousand people, on camera before a Cortex of millions of people, possibly people from the Alliance—<br><br> | ||
| − | + | Booo! goes the audience at the mention of that government. The man waits for the spectators to settle.<br><br> | |
'''Man:''' … And others I may have dealt with in the past, is a bit on my nerves. I haven’t been out in public for some time. My name is Ted Winfield and I worked with Mike Carter back in the War and after the War as well. I won’t bore you with going back over the list of his accomplishments …<br><br> | '''Man:''' … And others I may have dealt with in the past, is a bit on my nerves. I haven’t been out in public for some time. My name is Ted Winfield and I worked with Mike Carter back in the War and after the War as well. I won’t bore you with going back over the list of his accomplishments …<br><br> | ||
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He lets this sink in for a moment.<br><br> | He lets this sink in for a moment.<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Winfield:''' The second is, we’ve known for some time—all of us, we’ve seen the vids. The Colchester Wave and others, demonstrating without a doubt that Blue Sun and other Alliance-based industries have been using | + | '''Winfield:''' The second is, we’ve known for some time—all of us, we’ve seen the vids. The Colchester Wave and others, demonstrating without a doubt that Blue Sun and other Alliance-based industries have been using mind-altering drugs to do this. I know from direct experience that Mr. Carter was under the influence of these things when any information that he may have divulged was released. It was impossible for him not to do anything.<br><br> |
Winfield stands a little straighter.<br><br> | Winfield stands a little straighter.<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Winfield:''' Now, you might say that doesn’t matter. That he did it and he must be punished and perhaps that is what this trial is about. But I will say that on the matter of those sleeper cells, it was not something that | + | '''Winfield:''' Now, you might say that doesn’t matter. That he did it and he must be punished and perhaps that is what this trial is about. But I will say that on the matter of those sleeper cells, it was not something that he could have done differently. And I know if he could have, he would have. Because, as I’ve told you, I know the sort of man he is.<br><br> |
Michael Cameron Carter looks a touch embarrassed by Winfield’s endorsement but refrains from action or word.<br><br> | Michael Cameron Carter looks a touch embarrassed by Winfield’s endorsement but refrains from action or word.<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Winfield:''' Now, the second thing that needs to be discussed is what Mr. Carter was doing there when this all happened. Looking around this stadium I see many banners. Many of whom I’ve worked directly with during the War and afterwards. We’ve got together against the Alliance and its tyranny. And then after the War when things changed and different people had different strategies, the hope of keeping the spark of Independence alive was dwindling. I’ve spoken to General Nguyen and others about the release of the information that Mr. Carter was working to bridge the gap, to end the schisms between the factions when the unfortunate incident happened on Beaumonde. And I say unfortunate, because he was captured. The deaths of those people, while tragic, did highlight what Blue Sun and the Alliance was doing. | + | '''Winfield:''' Now, the second thing that needs to be discussed is what Mr. Carter was doing there when this all happened. Looking around this stadium I see many banners. Many of whom I’ve worked directly with during the War and afterwards. We’ve got together against the Alliance and its tyranny. And then after the War when things changed and different people had different strategies, the hope of keeping the spark of Independence alive was dwindling. I’ve spoken to General Nguyen and others about the release of the information that Mr. Carter was working to bridge the gap, to end the schisms between the factions when the unfortunate incident happened on Beaumonde. And I say unfortunate, because he was captured. The deaths of those people, while tragic, did highlight what Blue Sun and the Alliance was doing. Not on Ariel. Not on Londinium. But on Beaumonde, out here on the Rim. They were building drugs to turn us into mindless obedient sheep. And of course, from Miranda we know perhaps much much worse than that.<br><br> |
He pauses for effect and then goes on.<br><br> | He pauses for effect and then goes on.<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Winfield:''' So … if anything, if anyone has a claim to hold the Independent movement together, Mr. Carter does. Now, the fact that we’re all able to have this … trial, is a testament to the successes of Mr. Carter and the others. And we should think | + | '''Winfield:''' So … if anything, if anyone has a claim to hold the Independent movement together, Mr. Carter does. Now, the fact that we’re all able to have this … trial, is a testament to the successes of Mr. Carter and the others. And we should think v ery carefully before we shut the door on the people who made this possible. The fact that there is not an Alliance garrison manning this stadium or ships overhead waiting to bombard us for even discussing this … <br><br> |
Winfield’s expression darkens.<br><br> | Winfield’s expression darkens.<br><br> | ||
