by Lance Berry
Tallworth’s face went ashen. He shook his head gravely.
“No, your honor…I was not aware.”
Warrington nodded slowly. “Something happened between you two, Doctor…and unfortunately, I can’t prove what it was.
However, I can rule based on this last bit of evidence. I am also going to rule based on the fact that you lied to Miss Elliot…both about the fact that her late mother’s usage of dilauinar had detrimental effects on her baby brother’s DNA, and that it was necessary for her to use lactastisis for an extended period.
During this case, we’ve heard other doctors testify that before coming to you, given another week on the outside, Miss Elliot’s brother would have begun accepting formula naturally.
Lactastisis is also a drug that, while helpful in extreme cases, can cause minor levels of addiction in newborns, if not weaned off of it in time. You have only the grace of God to thank, that such an instance did not occur with the Elliot baby. You have misused your medical privilege for dubious reasons at best, the molestation of an innocent woman at worst. And let me tell you now, clearly, so that you will not forget…if you had indeed forcibly penetrated her with your genitals, it would have been rape. Under United Earth Force law, I could sentence you to death!”
Tallworth gulped audibly, sweat beginning to trickle down his face. Navarrez tried to maintain an authoritative eye contact with the judge, but found he couldn’t, and looked down at the defendant’s table where they sat.
“Daniel Tallworth…it is the judgment of this court that your license to practice medicine be revoked permanently. And as a consequence of your sexual assault against Mara Elliot, you be sentenced to a prison on Earth for ten years.”
“Ten years!?” Mark said as he sat forward at the plaintiff’s table, mouth agape in shock.
Warrington pointed her long finger at him. “Caution, Captain,” she said, then looked at the bailiff to her right. “Due to the nature of this offense, and the high profile of the plaintiff’s father’s standing in the lunar community, this case record is to be sealed permanently.”
The bailiff nodded and made a note on a dsp. “So noted.”
Warrington looked at Tallworth and Navarrez. “You are both to understand that any discussion of this case, in private or public, which causes any facts of it to be known to any pressnet or the general populace shall be considered contempt of this court. Mister Navarrez, you will lose your license and your client will be retroactively sentenced to a period in jail no shorter than twenty-five years. Do you both understand?”
“Yes, your honor,” both men answered in unison.
Judge Warrington banged her gavel. “Court adjourned.
Bailiffs, take Tallworth back to his cell until a suitable prison is found for him. Mister Lambston—I will speak to you and your clients in my chambers.”
Janice Warrington was not an unattractive woman, but she was one of those types of people whose face seemed locked in a perpetually stern expression. However, as Mara entered the chambers in the rear of the court with her father and lawyer, the older woman’s features abruptly softened. She looked at Mara sadly and went to her, gently clasping the young girl’s hands in her own.
“Mara, I am so very sorry that I was not able to do more for you. I do believe your side of the case entirely, but I am constrained to act upon the evidence presented to me.”
Mara nodded soberly. “I understand, Your Honor.”
“Well, I don’t,” Mark spoke up sharply. “That man molested my daughter; he was on the verge of raping her! If my people and I hadn’t come in when we did—”
“Do I have to remind you again to watch your tone around me, Captain?” Warrington exploded at him. All were taken aback, and it took a moment before she could compose herself to speak in a civil tone once more. As she did, she walked to sit behind her desk, and gestured for the three of them to take seats facing her. They did, and she squared her shoulders a bit as she began: “Captain Elliot, you may not want to believe this, but I understand your frustration. I truly do. But you need to appreciate the fact that my hands were tied by the small amount of evidence presented to me. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t in good faith legally try this as a case of non-consensual conduct. I couldn’t! And far as I’m concerned, you really need to begin thanking your personal god that I don’t exercise my judicial privilege and relieve you as commandant of base security.”
“Excuse me—?” Mark said, anger threatening to boil over.
Lambston placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Mark…” he said in a cautioning tone.
“Captain, the fact that you beat that man so severely almost mitigated my having to let him go! And while it couldn’t be proved that you were ready to blow his head off with your sidearm—nice wall of silence you’ve instilled in your security team—I’m certain we both know the real deal surrounding that report made by Navarrez, as surely as we both know Tallworth actually did coerce your daughter.”
Mark narrowed his eyes defiantly but said nothing.
Now Warrington turned her attention to Mara…and though she addressed her in a stern manner, there was no anger in her voice. “As for you, young lady…I understand you were enrolled in the Citadel for a brief time. That being said, you should know not to be so naïve when confronted by someone like Tallworth. If you had kept your wits about you, you might’ve thought to look up all the information you could find on your brother’s condition and the lactastisis on the Overnet. I understand that because of the history of self-destruction in earlier stages of humanity, in this day and age certain types of information are restricted to younger people. But you were of age when all this started, and therefore capable of being responsible enough to research what to do with an infant that won’t feed properly. A few quick searches might have avoided this entire situation completely.”
“Now you’re blaming my daughter?”
“No. No, Dad, she’s right,” Mara said, frowning slightly. “I never thought about it. I just blindly trusted Tallworth’s advice because he was a doctor. And I was so desperate to help Peter, I never…never…”
She started to let the tears flow, but Warrington slammed her hand down on the desk, startling them all. “No! That is enough of that, young lady! I have listened to your tearful testimony, I have watched you sob at the plaintiff’s desk as Tallworth spewed his lies about how much you had begged him to teach you, and that is enough! At first I pitied you, then empathized…then to be honest, I was a little pissed. I can see you’re a good person Mara, but I have no idea what kind of soldier you’ll make if you are going to allow yourself to go through life being a victim.”
“Hold on a second!”
“No, Captain.”
“You have no right, whatsoever…”
“NO!”
A silence stretched out between Warrington and Mark, and it would have taken a Heavy Cruiser’s entire laser array to cut through the tension. Yet Mark remained silent, perhaps now curious to see what the judge would say.
She regarded him and his daughter studiously a moment, then continued, “If you keep up with this ‘woe is me, why did he do this, oh why’ garbage, then that will become the mantra of your life. Others will take advantage of you, and I assure you, it will be with worse consequences. If you really do want to wear the colors of a United Earth Force soldier—and believe me, I have known enough of them in my lifetime to be a good purveyor of character—then you cannot allow yourself to get cozy beneath a cloak of victimhood any longer.”
“And Captain…I can see you love your daughter. But if she’s going to survive on her own, you’d better have a few more adult talks with her about the nature of human beings.”
She held Mara in a maternal yet firm gaze. “Stand up, get on with your life, and God bless.”
Chapter 9
Mara took Judge Warrington’s advice to heart, and did a bit of growing up. She reassumed her responsibilities to her family with a vengeance, becoming, in effect,
mommy de facto. She scheduled family time on weekends when Mark was home, had meetings with Sara’s teachers to see how she was getting along as she moved into her first year of elementary school, found a new pediatrician for Peter and made all the arrangements for his first birthday party. At Mara’s insistence, the family began going to church once more, and she reaffirmed her faith in and love of God, primarily because she felt her prayers had been answered through her mother’s active spirit. She found going to church an energetic, renewing experience, and was pleased to see her father appeared to get something out of it as well, since he now headed the saying of grace at dinner.
Mara became more wary of the world in general, boys in particular, and kept up much more with current events in the news. Still, something was lacking in her life, and it took her nearly a year to figure it out. She loved her younger siblings with all her heart, but found that she needed more in her life to challenge her. In spite of the love and respect she had always felt for her mother, she knew that it just could not be her destiny to become simply a housewife…especially at such a young age. She searched deeply within her heart, prayed on the matter consistently, and then one day gathered up the strength to speak with her father.
“I’ve decided to re-enlist in the military.”
Mark had been bouncing one year-old Peter playfully on his lap at the dining table, but abruptly stopped upon hearing this news. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been taking online classes to see where my current standing is in study rank. I’m a little behind, but not hugely.
Westview Academy in upstate New York has said they’ll accept a full transfer of my Citadel credits, provided I start attending summer classes next month.”
Mark shrugged and shook his head in disbelief. “Westview?
What the hell—what happened to the Citadel?”
“Some friends of mine transferred to Westview, I’d like to be around them. Besides, their shuttle port puts their ships in a closer approach apogee to Alpha Base.”
Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. “And what am I supposed to do, Mara? You’re just going to pack up and head off back to Earth, leaving me to take care of the kids? I’ve got a full time job, and not enough time to divide between here and there, at least on weekdays.”
There seemed to be more hurt than anger in Mark’s voice.
Mara felt bad at this, but she was unwilling to put her future off any longer. “So hire a nanny service, Dad—that’s what they’re for,” she said bluntly. “You’re the base commandant. You make more than enough money to afford it.”
“It’s not about affording it, Mara…Sara! Sara, come here, play with your brother,” Mark called out to the seven year-old, who was playing vid-games on the tv. Peter had become fidgety when Mark stopped bouncing him, and the patriarch of the Elliot family didn’t want to be distracted while addressing this new situation.
Sara huffed with a child’s exasperation and paused the game. She came over and took Peter in her arms. The infant recognized her and immediately stopped squirming as he smiled at his big sister. She half-walked, half-skipped across the room with him and sat down with him in front of the tv, the video game forgotten as she tried to teach him the intricacies of patty-cake.
Mark turned his full attention to his eldest, gesturing for her to follow him into the kitchen as he got up from the table. “It’s not about affording it,” he said in a somewhat softer tone as he got a drink from the fridge and poured it into a glass. “It’s about what the kids need the most. With me at work, honey, they need someone they’re familiar with, comfortable with. Who can I find that’s going to be capable of replacing you?”
“It’s not a replacement. I’ll still be home on leave and I’ll receive passes off-campus...”
“Oh for God’s sake! Gloria, would you listen to—” Mark stopped short, realizing what he had said. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked at his daughter aghast, the drink shaking slightly in his hand. He had to concentrate quite a bit to get it to stop; it wouldn’t fully, so he set it on the counter.
Mara nodded in understanding. “And that’s another reason why I have to leave. All of us are becoming too comfortable with this situation, Dad. Sara doesn’t slip up as much anymore, but I’ve had to work really hard to get Peter to not call me ‘mommy’…especially when you’re around. He gets confused when he sees us talk, when he sees us argue, when he sees us sit together on the couch watching movies. When we were sitting on the couch the other night, I had my head on your shoulder, you had your arm around me and we were holding hands like a couple! What’s he supposed to think? What would anyone who didn’t know us think?”
“T-that’s out of context, Mara! The whole family was on the couch…”
“Yes…Sara laying down on the other side of you, asleep.
Peter propped up on my lap, laying against my stomach. Great photo op. Dad, it’s been over a year since Mom died, and you haven’t gone out on a date.”
“What do I need to date when—”
“—when you’ve got me?”
“When I don’t have the time,” Mark answered sharply.
“Don’t go putting words into my mouth, young lady. You want to go back to Earth and abandon your family, fine! You can just go on with your life, don’t worry about us, leave me to handle everything! Don’t concern yourself with anyone but yourself.”
“Dad, don’t be like this!”
But Mark stormed out of the kitchen, his features set and unflexing, his drink forgotten on the counter.
The majority of that month passed mainly in uncomfortable silence between Mara and her father. Mark would get up in the morning early, before she awoke, and take Sara to school and then go to work, just to show Mara he could do it. Before the first week was out, he had ordered a nanny service to come to the house and take care of Peter, leaving Mara with nothing to do but clean and cook dinner for the family. In response, she would only ask Mark how his day was when he returned home in the evening, clear out the dishes, and that was it. Sara asked them each what was wrong, but never got a straight answer from either. Peter was blissfully unaware of any problems, but for whatever reason stopped calling Mara ‘mommy.’
To Mara’s great relief, the day finally came for her to leave.
Mark was supposed to drive her to the shuttle port, but Sumo called to say (in a somewhat embarrassed manner) the commandant was too busy and couldn’t make it. He asked Mara if she wanted him to drive her, but she politely refused.
With the nanny service at the house looking after Peter, Mara was fine to summon an AirKab and go on her own. Once she finished chatting with Sumo, she did just that, throwing her bags angrily into the back of the ‘Kab and ordering it to make one stop along the way.
“Mara!” Sara exclaimed happily as her big sister stepped into the classroom where Mrs. Harper had been teaching them about anagrams. “What’s up, kiddo?” the elder Elliot replied as she lifted the beautiful child into her arms and they shared one big bear hug. Mrs. Harper nodded to Mara, and she carried her sister out of the classroom into the main hallway, the door sliding shut behind them.
“What’s going on?” Sara asked as her sister sat her down on a bench in the hall. Mara took her small hand in hers and admired the child’s soft features a moment. Sara’s hair was in the process of lightening, and it was obvious she was going to be a true blonde in time. Mara smiled…the middle child truly was going to look like their mother.
“I have to leave, kiddo. Today’s the day I go back to school.”
Sara’s smile slowly faded away as she realized what Mara meant. “All the way to Earth?” Mara nodded.
