Serendipity

by Dennis Ingram

  “Everyone had escaped. We knew that was likely,” his eyes rested on David for a moment, “as we’d heard gunfire.”

  “And then?”

  “We visited the Miller house, and …” he looked at Sabine, “and we decided we would join with the colonists.”

  He glanced at Carla then. Her answering glare could have stripped paint.

  Simon continued. “After that we returned to the pavilion. By the time we arrived there was a standoff, with the colonists on one side and Edward, Carla, Tobias, and Raoul on the other. Then David arrived.” He glanced at David again.

  “And then?” Sabine asked.

  “He persuaded Tobias and Raoul to put their guns down. He promised them they had a place here.”

  “And did they? Put their guns down?”

  Simon nodded. “Yes. Then he offered Carla the same.”

  Sabine looked at Carla. She didn’t seem quite so confident anymore. “What did she do?”

  “She spread her arms, like this,” he said, demonstrating by spreading his arms slowly, like a priest beseeching his god. “Her pistol hung loose in her right hand. I thought she was surrendering.”

  “But that didn’t happen, did it?”

  Simon shook his head. “Edward stood to her right. When her right hand came close to him, she lifted the gun and shot him, right in the head.”

  Carla lifted her chin and looked at the gallery. An angry buzz died away as David rapped the table with his gavel.

  Sabine looked at David. “I have no further questions.”

  Carla stood. She’d chosen to conduct her own defense. She walked to the center of the space formed by the tables and the front row of gallery seats, and turned her back on the council, facing the gallery.

  “I shot Edward Harper. I don’t deny it; why would I? There were dozens of witnesses. What matters is not that I shot him, but why.”

  She turned to Simon. “Did I show any signs I enjoyed shooting Edward?”

  Simon clasped his hands and looked down. “No.”

  “What did I do after I shot him?”

  Simon paused. “You … you cried.”

  “I cried. Would you say I looked unhappy?”

  Simon looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else. Sabine pursed her lips as she sat at her table.

  “No. I mean yes. Yes, you looked unhappy.”

  “What did I say?”

  “You said … you said you were afraid of him, that he made you do terrible things.”

  Carla nodded. “Thank you.” She looked at David. “I have no further questions of Simon.”

  David looked at Simon. “You may go.”

  Simon looked relieved as he stood and reclaimed his seat in the front row.

  David took a sip of water and tried not to show his weariness. He’d hoped Carla’s trial would wrap up in a few hours. The reality had been quite different. Both Sabine and Carla had called witness after witness, and the result had been to reaffirm what they already knew.

  Carla had shot and killed Edward.

  Without exception, Carla muddied the waters concerning her motivation and justification for the killing. In the morning the gallery was against her, but as the day progressed some people seemed willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  The time had come for the prosecution and the defense to give their closing address. Sabine took the floor first. The distant look in her eyes betrayed her own weariness and perhaps a hint of disappointment that she could see her quarry slipping away. It seemed clear Carla was guilty of manslaughter, but murder would be difficult to prove.

  She faced the council table and began her summary.

  “Members of the council,” she said turning to the gallery, “and people of Haven. We know by her own admission, Carla Lewis killed Edward Harper.” She paused for effect, letting that fact sink home.

  “I contend this was not a defensive act. This was not the act of a woman desperate to escape her abuser. Carla planned to end Edward Harper’s life and took advantage of the situation to do so. She did this to deflect attention from her own part in imprisoning the founders of this colony and the abduction and attempted sexual assault of Grace Ng and Joyce Ng.”

  In the gallery, Joyce turned her face and stifled a sob. Her brother put his arm around her.

  Sabine paused and rubbed the back of her neck.

  “The witnesses I’ve called have all explained what she did and how. She did not need to spread her arms as she did. She could have dropped her gun on the floor, or passed it to someone else.”

  Sabine paced in front of the gallery, meeting the gaze of the people sitting there.

  “She did not. She didn’t because she wanted to surprise Edward. She didn’t want to forewarn him, to give him a chance of evading her. She did not want someone else to stop her. So she played a ruse, to make people think she was surrendering, when in fact she was lining up her shot.”

  She stopped to take a breath, looking at Carla as she did so. Her answering gaze revealed nothing of her thoughts.

  “Carla Lewis played this ruse. It wasn’t spontaneous. It wasn’t reactive. It was premeditated. This was not an act of self-defense. She thought about killing Edward beforehand and took an opportunity, the last opportunity she had to carry out her plan.”

  She turned toward the gallery. “Carla Lewis murdered Edward Harper.”

  She paused for a moment as a wave of murmurs from the gallery swirled around her, then looked at David.

  “Thank you.”

  She sat down.

  David rapped his gavel to regain order. “We will now hear a closing statement from the defendant.”

  Carla stood up but did not move from behind her table. “I call on Franz van der Westhuizen to speak on my behalf.”

  The gallery reacted with surprise. Until now Carla had conducted her own defense, so this was unexpected.

  Franz made his way to the front of the gallery. He nodded once to Carla, then turned to face them. “You all know me. I was the captain of the Inspiration.” He turned over the palm of his right hand and gave a rueful smile as he continued. “I wasn’t conscious for any of the voyage, but here I am.”

  A ripple of laughter greeted his words, perhaps some gratitude for a chance to relieve the tension.

  “I wasn’t awake for the events of that night on Haven, either. I lay frozen in my stasis chamber, waiting to be rescued. Something,” he said, glancing at David, “I am grateful for. But I’ve heard the accounts of witnesses here today. I’ve come to know the people here and learned about the kind of man Edward Harper was. I also knew Edward Harper on Earth before we left. He briefed me on this mission and he promised me I would be the captain of the Inspiration.”

  He paused.

  “What I’ve discovered about Edward Harper is that he couldn’t be trusted. He broke his promise to me and left me and my crew stranded in an unsafe low orbit. We would all be dead now if not for a heroic rescue by David, John, and Elizabeth.”

  He nodded again to David, then looked at Carla.

  “I’ve also come to know Carla Lewis. I’ve discovered she is a person who does keep her word. I learned how Edward governed by force of will and left her afraid of the consequences of disobeying him. The same fear shared by others of you that worked for him.”

  He made eye contact with Ernie Blackman, Chuck Swanson, and other Harper Industries employees.

  “The fear that your families back on Earth would be in danger, should you disobey him.”

  Still looking at the gallery, he stretched his right arm out toward Carla.

  “She didn’t murder Edward Harper. She did you a favor! Yes, she shot him. She shot him because she was afraid of him. She was afraid of what he would do to her and to you all if he remained in control of this colony.”

  He looked at Edward’s erstwhile employees again. “She did you a favor,” he repeated. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

  He turned to the council table. “I contend that Carla
Lewis did not murder Edward Harper. Her action was not premeditated; it was a spur of the moment decision driven by the fear of a despotic leader.

  “Furthermore, under the conditions prevailing that night, I submit her actions cannot be tried in a civilian court such as this.”

  Those seated at the council table raised their eyebrows, and there were incredulous stares from the gallery.

  “That night,” Franz said, “Haven was in a state of civil war. The actions of that night should not be considered civilian crimes, rather the actions of combatants fighting in that war.”

  He stepped into the center of the cleared area in front of the gallery and faced them, then turned and raised an arm to point straight at David.

  “That man,” he said, raising his voice, “killed two people that night.”

  He paused. The gallery was transfixed. He didn’t move his accusing finger as he continued. “David Miller slit the throat of Roberto Sevos and left him to bleed to death. Then, he shot Jacob Cooper in the head, just as Carla Lewis shot Edward Harper. Shot a defenseless man in the head as he lay wounded on the ground.”

  No one breathed. Franz dropped his arm to his side and continued in a softer voice. “David Miller killed two people. No one seems to mind, no one seems to question these killings. Everyone knows Jake Cooper and Roberto Sevos were criminals, so they had it coming, right? David Miller performed a service to the community by removing them from our society.”

  He raised his hands in front of him as he addressed the gallery, almost as if beseeching them. “This is my question to you all. How is he different? How is he different from Carla? Carla Lewis shot a man who threatened us and by doing so removed him from our society. How is that different from what David Miller did?”

  Franz finished his address. He turned to the council table. “If you will try Carla as a civilian criminal, then you must also try David Miller.”

  He stood his ground, eyes flicking from councilor to councilor until they settled on David.

  Carla sat at her table, the faintest of smiles on her lips.

  A pregnant pause stretched on and on, everyone frozen in a tableau of stunned shock. A scrape of wood on stone broke the silence. David stood, facing Franz and the gallery. “The council will retire to consider its decision. We will reconvene tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.”

  “That ungrateful sonofabitch.” Kevin fumed as he paced the room. “You saved his life,” he said to David, “and now he does this? Unbelievable!”

  “That woman got to him,” Nathalie said. “You see how she is. She’s sleeping with him, twisting his mind.”

  The council had gathered in the Miller-Ng home to deliberate after the shocking accusation from Franz.

  “He’s trying to deflect us from thinking about Carla’s crime,” Nigel said. He looked around the room. “With some success, I might add.”

  David sat watching them. He understood their reactions. He appreciated their support, their loyalty. But inside, he knew. He knew Franz was right. That night, he had killed two men. How did that make him better than Carla? When he examined his soul, he was afraid of what he saw there. He found he wasn’t sorry he’d killed them. He saw the soldier, the machine that obeyed orders, assessed threats, killed men.

  He stood up, and all eyes turned to him. “Carla’s right.” He saw the impact of those two simple words on the faces of his friends and colleagues. They knew what he’d done. They didn’t condemn him for it, but they knew.

  “We can’t find her guilty of murder and ignore what I did. I did kill those men. They may have deserved it, but it wasn’t my duty to condemn them to death. I could have restrained them, but I didn’t. I killed them.”

  Not everyone could meet his steely gaze, and David knew what he must do.

  “Tomorrow, I will stand down as a member of the council.” He turned to Kevin. “Kevin, you will take my place as leader of the trial process.”

  Kevin nodded, but his mouth turned down.

  David drew a deep breath and let it out. “No decision we make now can make all of our people happy, so we’ll change the process. We’ll put it to a vote and let everyone decide.”

  Sabine sat at the table in their small kitchen, her shoulders slumped, her head in her hands. “I should’ve seen it coming. Oh, God. I was terrible.”

  Simon laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, love. You couldn’t have known.”

  Her eyes revealed her pain. “I’m supposed to be the prosecution lawyer! What was I thinking? Why did I ever think I could do that?”

  “You did it because they asked you to, that’s why.” He placed both hands on her shoulders and bent down to kiss her on her cheek. “David wouldn’t have asked you if he didn’t think you were right for the job. You’ve never trained as a lawyer, but no one else has, either.”

  Sabine sighed and looked at her hands.

  “And, don’t forget, you had motivation to push the case.”

  “You could’ve done it just as well.”

  Simon took her chin gently in one hand and turned her head so he could see her eyes.

  “No, I couldn’t. I’d like to see Carla get what she deserves as much as anyone, but I don’t have your gift for words. Now quit putting yourself down, do you hear me? That’s an order.”

  Sabine managed a wan smile. “Yes, sir.”

  Simon smiled in response. “That’s better. Now, we’d better see about dinner.”

  Carla closed the door, reaching behind her back to ensure the latch clicked home.

  “Well,” she said, looking at Franz where he stood in their shared bedroom. “It seems you have a flair for the dramatic.”

  Franz had taken her by surprise. They’d discussed what he would say, and the plan had been for him to provide her with a glowing character reference and emphasize the duress Edward had placed her under. Franz’s switch to an attack on David had been unexpected – and brilliant. Coupling the two of them together gave her an excellent chance of escaping punishment altogether, as it was unthinkable the people of Haven would punish David as they would her.

  She licked her lips and walked toward him, letting every step emphasize her body. She watched Franz watching her and knew she had him. He was hers, every part of him.

  “Now for your reward.”

  She reached up and pulled his lips down onto hers, consuming him with a hungry kiss. Her tongue invaded his mouth and demanded a response. She felt a delicious lust rising, and realized she hadn’t felt like this for a long, long time. Edward had been wealthy and powerful, but he’d never surprised her as Franz just had. Her hand reached out and squeezed him between the legs and she could feel just how ready he was.

  “Take me,” she whispered in his ear. “I want you to fuck me, hard.”

  Franz swept her up in his arms as if she were made of feathers and carried her to the bed. For once, Carla let herself submit and be carried away by Franz’s desire. He deserved it, this one time.

  After Carla had splashed Edward’s brains over the walls of their original pavilion, no one had wanted to be there, so they’d pulled it down and turned it into a garden. Although the new area was larger, it was filled to overflowing due to the space occupied by the court tables. People spilled out onto the lawn beyond the wide-open doors.

  The buzz of conversation halted as the council members entered and made their way to their table, without David. Instead, he sat in the front row, next to Simon.

  Sabine sat at her table, arms crossed. Carla sat at hers, chin lifted. Franz sat beside her, his expression somber.

  Kevin stood to address the gallery and found every set of eyes trained on him.

  “People of Haven, the council have come to a decision, but it isn’t what you might expect.” He let his eyes play over the gallery. “David Miller has removed himself from the council for this trial in light of yesterday’s events. His instructions to me are to take over his role as the council leader and deliver our decision. That decision is,
not to decide on the question of Carla’s guilt.”

  A storm of questions erupted. Kevin held out one hand, palm up, to forestall any more.

  “David feels that because of his role in the events of that night, and his close relationship with other members of the council, we cannot make an objective decision.”

  The gallery fell silent again, its occupants hanging on his every word. “Therefore we’ve decided to ask you all to vote on the outcome.”

  “What? Why!”

  “What’re we voting on? Carla’s guilt or David’s?”

  “She’s guilty! Look at her!”

  “Leave David out of it! He didn’t do anything besides look out for us!”

  “How do we vote?”

  “How long do we have to decide?”

  Kevin rapped the gavel. “Our role is to come up with options for you to choose from. The poll will be on your phones and data pads any minute now.” He turned and signaled to Nigel, who nodded and pushed at his phone screen.

  “The options you have are as follows:

  “One: Try both Carla and David for civilian crimes relating to the deaths of Edward, Jake, and Roberto. Two: Treat all deaths as occurring during a state of civil war, and the combatants causing those deaths not liable for civilian penalties. That is all.”

  His words triggered shouts from those not happy with this turn of events.

  “I want an option to choose Carla only to be guilty!” said Steve Rickard, never known for his tact.

  “Yeah, what about war crimes, huh? What about those!” someone else said.

  Kevin focused on Steve. “There will be only those two options. We’ve decided that is the only fair way.”

  His eyes flicked to Carla and they exchanged a shared understanding. He’d wanted to finish her that fateful night, and she now knew he still felt the same way. He knew she would never forget.

  He looked up to address everyone again. “The council will reconvene tomorrow at nine o’clock to announce the results. You have until then to vote.”

  Late in the evening the eight council members, including David, gathered to discuss the impending decision. No one had gone to bed, instead staying up to talk about the vote and what it meant to them. They gathered down by the lake, talking and watching the small, close moon they’d named Selene tracing a line across the main dome.