“Normally, she could not. However, my curiosity is piqued,” Judge Thoughtgood remarked. “Let’s all examine it together—shall we? Bailiff, set up a screen, please.”
In short order, the female bailiff positioned a large screen at the front of the courtroom which was hooked to a smaller one set up on the judge’s desk.
Her throat dry with anxiety, Imani watched as the tiny drive was plugged in and the blank screen came to life. What was she going to see? Was the evidence—whatever it was—really enough to keep J’are from being executed?
She supposed she and everyone else in the courtroom was about to find out.
Seven
At first the screen was black. Then it resolved into a single image of a room—a room filled with cages. Strong, metal structures that looked big enough to house an extra-large dog, Imani thought. All of the cages were empty—all except one.
In that cage—at the far end of the room—a sleeping figure lay curled on his side. It was a large, muscular Kindred and his face was slack with sleep—a sleep so deep it didn’t’ seem natural to Imani. Was that her client? Could he have been drugged?
He certainly wasn’t moving or twitching at all, as many people did in their sleep. He was completely inert, his long black hair hiding his eyes, his mouth slightly parted in slumber. There was a thick black pain collar around his throat and a chain attached to it led to the end of his cage.
“All right, we see it—this is clearly your client asleep in Lady Zangelo’s kennel,” Judge Thoughtgood remarked. “But what is this supposed to tell us, Councilor?”
At first Imani didn’t know how to answer. Then she saw the time stamp at the bottom of the screen. Tebrulary the thirty-third at midnight.
“Look, your honor,” she said excitedly. “That’s the date and time of the murder! What this evidence shows is that my client clearly could not have committed this crime since he was chained up and fast asleep in his, er, cage at the time.”
“Then how did he get the victim’s blood all over his face and hands?” Judge Thoughtgood asked, frowning.
As if in answer to her question, the lights in the room suddenly dimmed. Then a shadowy figure entered the room and crept towards the cage with the sleeping Kindred. The figure was covered in a hooded robe, so the face was impossible to see, but what it did next was obvious.
The shadowy figure in the robe unlocked the Kindred’s cage and reached inside. Quickly but thoroughly, its hand swiped over the Kindred’s mouth, hands, and broad, bare chest. The figure also left some smears on the metal cage and the floor in front of it.
Even in the dim room, it was clear to see what had been left behind—blood.
As soon as the sleeping—or drugged—Kindred was thoroughly smeared with crimson, the figure unhooked the chain from his collar. Then it glided away, leaving the cage door standing open.
After that, the vid images ended and the screen went blank.
Imani drew a deep breath. Thank goodness for the Kindred operative who had found this footage and given it to her! Without it, her client would surely have died. Now, he would live. There was no way the judge could ignore such blatant evidence that J’are had been framed. No way she could sentence him to death now.
“Your honor,” she said, rising as the Bailiff wheeled the screen away. “I think this evidence speaks for itself. I would ask that all charges be dropped and that my client be released.”
“I’m afraid not, Councilor,” Judge Thoughtgood said dryly. “Though it is clear that your client was framed for the murder of Lady Zangelo, it is the position of this court that he should still be put to death.”
“You can’t be serious!” Imani exclaimed, jumping up. “Is this because he killed some other inmates? He was probably just protecting himself!”
“All the same.” Judge Thoughtgood frowned. “I’m afraid he can’t be allowed back into our society—or any society for that matter. He is simply too dangerous.”
“But why?” Imani demanded. “I demand to see my client, your Honor! This instant!”
“Very well, Councilor.” The judge looked like she didn’t much care one way or another. “Bailiff,” she said and made a motion. “Please have the guards bring in Councilor Williams’ client so that she can see why death is the only option for him.”
Eight
Imani waited, her heart in her mouth, as the female bailiff left the courtroom. What in the world was she about to see? How could the judge decide to execute her client after the evidence she’d presented clearly exonerated him? What—?
Her thoughts were cut off when the heavy wooden doors of the courtroom banged open and four Horvath guards entered. The lizard-like humanoids had green, scaly skin and long forked tongues. They were often used by the Yonnites as prison guards or for other dirty, menial jobs the wealthy Mistresses who ruled the planet wanted nothing to do with.
Between the four of them was a huge figure but he was struggling so hard Imani couldn’t get a good look at him. Each of the Horvaths—all pretty big themselves—had a chain in his hands and all four of the chains were hooked to the slave in some way. Yet still he fought so hard they could barely contain him.
“Guards!” Judge Thoughtgood said sharply. “Control that prisoner!”
“We are trying, your honor!” hissed one of the Horvaths. “But he isss very ssstrong.”
At last the four guards and their prisoner reached the front of the courtroom. They hooked the ends of their long chains to bolts in the floor Imani hadn’t noticed earlier and then stood back.
What she saw when the prisoner finally held still, took her breath away.
He was huge and muscular of course—what Kindred wasn’t? But his size and apparent strength weren’t what made Imani catch her breath.
His long
