The Chronicles of Riddick: Ghosts of Furya

14

Cuffs around his wrists and ankles, Riddick was escorted to the courtroom and seated by his assigned lawyer, Barry Chase, some tall gangly man who looked like he loved making money. Riddick didn’t trust him or his bored expression.

Chase leaned towards him and spoke in a low voice. “I wanted to talk to you more before the trial but they wouldn’t grant me access to you. It was really strange, but I’ll see what I can do today.”

Chase sounded sincere but Riddick didn’t care about what good the lawyer could accomplish. He wanted to hurry up and get this over with. He clenched his jaw and looked at the empty judge’s podium reaching ten feet into the air. Varnished mahogany wood. Not one scratch or scuff. Six jury members, three on each side of the podium, sat five feet off the ground, high enough to look down at most anyone. The lighting over their heads made them look large and imposing, and they held themselves like they knew this. Fink and Tori stood with one other jury member, idly chatting away as if the impending trial was a minor thing.

Centered before the judge’s podium lay a disc the size of a truck tire, the hot seat. It had a floating circular metal banister meant to keep occupants from falling into the void, which engulfed the space between the judge and where Riddick and Chase sat. They were positioned opposite one half of the jury, an empty table and chairs sitting opposite the other half.

The space behind him contained the audience, witnesses for this trial. Waters sat among a few dozen strangers, along with Kenner and the rest of her squad. Riddick snapped his gaze forward when Waters looked up. He couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact as his blood boiled anew. The hurt on the entire squad’s faces made him want to break his chains, burst out of his chair, and strangle Thompson, who sat opposite the squad in the audience. Thompson had backed up Russel’s lies, no doubt.

The judge, Mr. Lyman, appeared in his podium, this walrus of a man in a traditional black robe, and everyone present joined the armed soldiers in standing, until they were given permission to be seated. Formalities were observed between judged, jury, and the lawyer, and then two guards escorted Riddick to the disc, chains jingling away. A narrow path stretched to the disc at the guard’s command and Riddick crossed it as the banister rose higher. He took position in the center and the banister lowered to waist-level. He was sworn in to tell the truth, the soldiers returned to their post and the path retracted, leaving Riddick stranded and at the mercy of “justice.” A bright overhead light came to life with a thunk and bore down on him, almost blinding him from seeing outside the cone of light.

This felt more like an interrogation than a trial. Maybe that’s all it would be. He wouldn’t put it past these people. A few SkyCams flitted around, focusing on him, the audience, and Judge Lyman, who was studying a glowing holo-panel on one side of his podium. A lot of people were eagerly anticipating today, the downfall of some alien freak and his ejection from the military.

Lyman adjusted his glasses and looked Riddick’s way. “Richard B. Riddick, you are here today because you’ve been charged with raping a minor, along with second degree murder of a Marine. How do you plead?” He had a big voice to match his big waistline.

“Not guilty of rape and the other was an act of self defense.”

“Alright, then.” He passed a hand over the document. “Let’s settle this rape business first.” He propped his elbows on the podium and motioned for Chase to begin.

Computer tablet tucked under an arm, Chase approached the void and a second disc slid out of the floor. He stepped onto it and joined Riddick as a second light thunked to life directly above him, and he began typing something into his tablet. A wall-sized projector frame assembled above the empty table and chairs, and a document winked to life inside the frame. Chase faced Riddick. “I have here an alibi signed by eleven people that states you were present at First Sergeant Jade Waters’ home the night Colleen Wrekkio was raped. Is this alibi true?”