The Ark Diary of Dylan De Rovia Book One of De Rovia Diaries

Crime and Punishment and Me

Thursday October 26, 2149

Sitting outside the Justice Building with its white marble stairs gleaming in afternoon light. I'm on the stairs even with the chill in the air I couldn't stand to stay inside. The air inside is heavy with fear and anger. In the room I stayed on the left with my family. Before us both are the members of the lower counseil station reps. Higher than them is the high conseil. Higher than them sits the captain, the first born of the previous captain. That is the one position that you have to be born into. Angela Delgado took over when her father Marcus died three years before I was born.

For days now they've been meeting behind closed doors getting questions together and no doubt discussing the impact of this trial on the ship's political mindset. Now they sit listening to the arguments and seeing the evidence. I answered their questions and the accused did the same. They'll review our answers and deliberate. That could take a while but when they come it will be with a sentence on all three of them.

Facing Trevor in the courtroom was just as horrible as I thought it would be. He looked pale and scared. Being the daughter of a guard I don't imagine he has it very easy in lock-up. Dad told me that he was taken out of lock-up because other prisoners were threatening him. Most of the prisoners broke minor laws, public drunkenness or possession of illegal substances. The lower council decided their fate, short stays in the small jail that was never full.

This crime however is different. An assault on a minor means death. That means one or more of them will be out of the pairing pool affecting the whole population. This is where the high council is called in. If a death sentence is imposed it will affect the pairing pool.

During the whole opening I kept looking over at Trevors parents. His mother looked like she was about to cry at any moment. While his father glared at me, the fires of anger in his eyes. He thinks this is my fault that I did this to his son.

I didn't do anything. That's what kept telling me that for months now I was the joke and I could have fought people or yelled back but I didn't. I kept my mouth shut and this is what happened to me. Maybe I did do this to him, I chose Kye, he said it was my choice. My own selfish choice leads somewhere dark.

"Miss. De Rovia?"

I stop stabbing the keys looking. I see the tear stained face of Trevor's Mom. "Mrs. McDaniel.

She sits on the steps looking at my tablet. "Diary?"

"Kinda, it's for school." I look around and Kye is talking with Dad at the top of the stairs and Mom went to find coffee or something hot as she said. "You know we can't talk about the hearing."

She sits close to me holding out her tablet. "I know but these are my children when your mother understands. Looking at the pictures of Trevor and Owen they are babies, she swiped them showing me image after image. "Please they're just boys."

"Just boys that are your excuse, both of those boys are older than I am." I say pointedly. People seemed to be forgetting that fact that I'm still just fourteen, Trevor is eighteen and Owen is sixteen.

She sighs. "I know what they did was wrong but do you want them to die."

My anger boils inside me that's been building inside me for months now erupts. "I don't know." I yell, causing my Dad to pause and look over. "He saw my body. I didn't give him permission to do what he did. He just did because he thought he could because of rumors that aren't even true."

"Dylan." My Dad's hand is on my shoulder and he pulls me gently back.

"I want him to be humiliated like I am." I say jerking my arm free. "I want him to have nightmares like I want. I want him to welcome death."