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 know he did,” Yorrin asserted, bless him! I told myself I would offer a thousand thanks for him the next time I made it to a Holy House of the Goddess.
“But did he move the girl into his quarters as the other witnesses said?” the judge asked.
“Well…yes.” Yorrin nodded slowly. I knew that he couldn’t lie—it wasn’t in his nature. But I still couldn’t help clenching my jaw. Damn it! I had been so close!
“And do you know what he did with her in there?” the judge asked.
Yorrin shook his head.
“No, Your Honorableness.”
“Very well. You may step down. Bailiff—call the next witness,” the judge commanded.
Next to the stand was Snuffy. He looked around nervously, his long nose wiggling as he took the stand.
“Please state your name and tell us how you know Captain Turk,” the bailiff said.
“If it please the Court, my name is Snuffy and I’m the cabin boy aboard The Illyrian—yes I am. Yes, I am!” he declared. “And I’ve worked with the Captain for over eight years—so I have. So I have!”
“Very well, so you should be a good judge of his character.” The judge nodded gravely. “And what do you say happened?”
“I say exactly what Yorrin said—yes I do, yes I do!” he exclaimed. “But I have one more thing to say too—the person who really should be on trial isn’t Captain Turk—it’s him!” And he pointed a finger at Gurflug, who was still sitting to the right of me by Frux.
“What?” The judge frowned. “What are you saying? Are you telling us that the Galafruxian is the one who kidnapped the girl?”
“Nobody kidnapped her—no they didn’t. No they did not!” Snuffy declared. “But he tried to kill us all! He jumped The Illyrian right into the middle of an asteroid field—on purpose!”
“I object!” Gurflug blustered. “How dare you come here and say such lies about me right in front of His Honorableness the judge?”
“These are grave accusations indeed,” the judge remarked, frowning. “Which is the only reason I’ll entertain them, even though they don’t pertain to the current trial. Do you have any proof that your words are true?”
“I do, Your Honorableness!” Snuffy squeaked. “I have it right here—if Your Honorableness would bring out a vid projector I can show the whole Court!”
The judge nodded.
“All right. Bailiff?”
“I have one here, Your Honorableness.” The bailiff produced a silver cube, not much bigger than the entertainment cube I had given Jessina and held it out.
Snuffy reached into the pocket of his vest and pulled out a tiny chip—the ship’s visual log, I realized.
“Just put it in—I have it cued to the right part,” he said to the bailiff. “Yes, I do. Yes, I do!”
“Your Honorableness, I must object!” Gurflug called again as the bailiff inserted the chip into the cube. “This is a ridiculous lie and a waste of the Court’s time! I must beg to be excused from witnessing what will obviously be a false testimony meant to incriminate me.”
He started to rise as he spoke, clearly meaning to leave the courtroom, but the judge motioned at him sharply.
“Stay, Grr. Gurflug. I will decide what this Court wishes to consider and how to spend its time—not you.”
“But Your Honorableness, I am not even the one on trial here!” Gurflug sputtered. “I really must object! I must—”
But just then a large, 3-D hologram of the inside of the Bridge of The Illyrian suddenly appeared hovering in mid-air. Everyone craned their necks to watch as the events of the day before unfolded.
The shot was an aerial one, since the recording device was located in the Bridge’s ceiling, but it was clear who everyone was. We all watched as Yorrin tried to warn me about the new course and then we all saw Gurflug shout about getting revenge and then pushing the Jump button.
The next minute, the shot showed the chaotic descent of The Illyrian into the unstable wormhole Gurflug had chosen. Then the asteroid field where we’d all nearly died and then Jessina rushing in and grabbing the nav band to navigate us to safety.
When the clip ended, I could hear a collective gasp go up from everyone in the courtroom—the judge included. He turned and glared at Gurflug, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable now.
“Bailiff,” he said, not taking his eyes off the big Galafruxian. “I believe we have a new criminal who needs to be apprehended and tried.”
“Guards!” the bailiff called and nodded at Gurflug. “Take him into custody.”
“Very good. We’ll have his trial next, since all his shipmates are here to testify already,” the judge decided.
“But…but I am innocent!” Gurflug burbled as the guards led him away. “I was only getting my revenge! It’s my right! You don’t know how badly I was treated! They wouldn’t even make slime soup for me! They made me take a shower!”