Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“I will, most Honorable Dispenser of Justice,” Frux said. “Captain Turk forced the girl, Jessina, to dress and act like a boy for the first part of our mission, so none of the rest of the Crew would suspect her true identity. Then he moved her into his quarters so he could molest her full time and told all the rest of us that she was just ‘sick.’” He shook his head and looked down his bony nose at me disdainfully. “Of course, if I had known, I would have stopped the whole thing from going forward. But alas, the disguise he made her wear was too good—no one suspected a thing until the very end of the mission.”
I couldn’t keep quiet.
“Your Honorableness, that’s not how it happened!” I protested.
“Silence!” The judge glared at me. “You will keep your mouth shut, Defendant, unless you wish me to rule against you right now! Any witnesses who can testify to your good character will be given their chance to speak later in this trial.”
Which was, of course, the problem. I didn’t have anyone to witness for me. I had been arrested too quickly for me to ask anyone from the Crew that I trusted. And since I wasn’t allowed to speak for myself and I had no one to represent me, I simply had to sit and listen to Frux tell lies that the judge was apparently swallowing whole!
I know it’s different in other court systems, but that’s just how it is here on Rigelis Nine. There was nobody to speak for me or defend my good character, so I was stuck.
“Grr. Frux, thank you for your testimony. The Court now calls Grr. Gurflug, the Navigator of The Illyrian to the stand,” the bailiff called.
Frux left the stand, casting me a nasty smirk as he went, and Gurflug came to take his place.
“Grr. Gurflug, please state the facts of what you saw during The Illyrian’s mission to The Triplex System,” the bailiff said.
“Certainly, my good man!” Gurflux burbled. “I would be pleased to.” He lifted his chin and threw out his chest. “Well first of all, I was hired to be the Head Navigator. Captain Turk tried to pretend like the girl was also a navigator but she was clearly unqualified for such a post.” He cast me a disgusted look. “It’s my belief that he was just using it as a ruse to bring her aboard in the first place so he could molest her.”
The judge turned to look at me.
“These are grave charges, Captain Turk! Do you have anyone at all to speak for you and offer any explanation for your egregious and perverted behavior?”
I felt a growl of frustration rise in my throat.
“No,” I began. “But if you’d just let me explain—”
“You know that the criminal is not allowed to speak in his own defense,” the judge said, scowling. “Therefore, if you have no one to speak on your behalf—”
“He does!” a voice shouted from the back of the courtroom.
Every head in the room swiveled—including my own. There were Snuffy and Yorrin coming into the court. And to my great surprise, I saw Slade, right behind them.
But my relief was short-lived. My best friend gave me a grim look and I could tell that he was angry at me—really angry. Was he here to testify against me too? My heart sank as I waited to hear what he would say.
But when the bailiff asked for the names of the new witnesses, he chose to call Yorrin to the stand first.
“Please introduce yourself to the Court,” the bailiff invited. “And tell us how you know Captain Turk.”
“My name is Yorrin and I am the pilot of The Illyrian,” Yorrin said in his slow, deliberate way. “I am also a Talon’teen Monk—I spread the Gospel of Amok the Lover of All. I have been flying with Captain Turk for seven years now.”
“Ah, so you could say you know him well?” the bailiff inquired.
“Extremely well.” Yorrin nodded. “Well enough to know that he would never do the things he has been accused of here today.”
“Is that right?” the judge asked, leaning forward. “Then what do you think happened?”
“I believe that the girl was in disguise, but I don’t think that Captain Turk knew it,” Yorrin told him. “At least, not at first. She really did appear to be a boy, named ‘Cass’ and in fact, she was hired as one of the navigators of The Illyrian. I myself advised Captain Turk to hire her.”
“You did? So you’re saying the girl really could navigate?” The judge looked genuinely interested now.
“She was better than any navigator I ever saw,” Yorrin said, nodding. “She has no blind spots, which is an incredibly rare gift, Your Honorableness,” he added, speaking to the judge.
“Really?” The judge looked more surprised than ever. “A girl who could navigate…what a strange thing. So you think the Captain hired her thinking she was really a boy?”