Ch.58: Back in Chains

The arraignment wasn't a hearing. It was an ambush.

They didn't put me in a holding cell. They marched me straight into Courtroom 1. The gallery was packed. The media was there. And sitting in the front row, looking smug despite his bruised face, was Marcus Sterling.

Judge Halloway was on the bench. Or rather, the man pretending to be Halloway. I looked at him, trying to see the seams, the tells. He looked nervous. His eyes darted around the room, avoiding mine.

"Case number 995-Sigma," the clerk announced. "The People versus Harper Vance. Charges: First Degree Murder. Domestic Terrorism. Grand Larceny. Resisting Arrest."

"How do you plead?" Halloway asked, his voice tight.

I stood up. My wrists were shackled to my waist. I looked at the camera drone hovering above the jury box.

"Not Guilty," I said clearly.

"The Prosecution requests remand without bail," Sterling said, standing up. "The defendant is a flight risk. She has already fled custody once. She is dangerous, Your Honor."

"Agreed," Halloway said quickly. "Bail is denied. The defendant will be transferred to the supermax facility at Blackgate immediately."

"Objection!" I shouted.

"You have no counsel, Ms. Vance," Halloway sneered. "You cannot object."

"I represent myself!" I argued. "And I demand a trial!"

"You'll get a trial," Sterling said smoothly. "In six months. After the forensic analysis of your brother's murder is complete."

Six months. In Blackgate. I'd be dead in six hours.

"I invoke my right to a speedy trial," I said. "Under the Obsidian Judicial Code."

"The Speed Trial Act applies to capital cases where the defendant has counsel," Halloway said. "You waived counsel when you fled."

He raised the gavel.

"This hearing is adjourned."

"Wait!" I shouted.

I looked at the gallery. I looked at the camera. I needed to do something drastic. Something they couldn't ignore.

"I invoke the Third Option!"

The room went silent.

Halloway froze, the gavel hovering in mid-air. Sterling's smile vanished.

"The what?" Halloway asked.

"The Third Option," I repeated, my voice ringing in the silence. "Article 44, Section 9 of the Founding Charter of the Obsidian Circuit. 'In cases of high treason or public corruption where the judiciary is compromised, the defendant may demand a Public Tribunal.'"

A murmur went through the crowd.

"That law is archaic," Sterling scoffed. "It hasn't been used in fifty years."

"It's still on the books," I said. "I checked. It was never repealed."

I looked directly into the camera lens.

"A Public Tribunal bypasses the judge. It bypasses the jury selection. The evidence is presented live. Unfiltered. And the verdict is decided by a plebiscite vote of the citizens."

"This is ridiculous," Halloway sputtered. "I am not compromised!"

"Aren't you?" I asked. "Where is your brother, Richard?"

Halloway went white.

"I demand a Tribunal!" I shouted. "Right now! Here! Let the city decide if I'm a murderer or a whistleblower!"

Sterling walked to the bench. He whispered something to Halloway. They were panicking. They knew they couldn't shut this down without looking guilty. Not with the cameras rolling.

"The defendant is grandstanding," Sterling said to the room. "But if she wants a circus... fine. The Prosecution accepts the challenge."

He turned to me. His eyes were cold, predatory.

"But be warned, Harper. A Tribunal has no appeals. If the city votes guilty... the sentence is immediate."

"I know," I said.

"And the sentence for treason," Sterling said, a cruel smile playing on his lips, "is death."

"So be it."

Halloway banged the gavel.

"Very well. The court grants the request for a Public Tribunal. The proceedings will commence in one hour."

He looked at the bailiffs.

"Keep her in chains."

I was led to the defense table. I sat down, my heart pounding against my ribs. I had bought myself an hour. An hour to save my life. An hour to save the city.

But I was alone. My evidence was gone. My witness was dead. My partner was unconscious in a sewer.

I looked at the tablet lying on the prosecution table. The one I had dropped outside. The one with the payroll list.

Sterling picked it up. He looked at me, then deliberately, slowly, snapped it in half.

He dropped the pieces into the trash can.

"Your move, Counselor," he mouthed.

I looked at the clock. 59 minutes.

I closed my eyes. *Julian, wake up. Please, wake up.*

The doors at the back of the courtroom opened.

A man walked in. He was wearing a janitor's uniform. He was pushing a mop bucket.

He looked up. He caught my eye.

He winked.

It was Silas.

He moved slowly, mopping the floor, working his way toward the front of the room.

He stopped near the court reporter. He bent down to wring out the mop.

As he did, he slid something under the defense table.

A small, black earpiece.

I waited until the guards were looking at Sterling. Then I reached down. I grabbed the earpiece. I slipped it into my ear.

Static.

Then, a voice. Groggy. Weak. But alive.

*"Harper?"*

"Julian?" I whispered, tears stinging my eyes.

*"I'm here,"* he said. *"Silas woke me up. He said you did something stupid."*

"I invoked the Third Option," I said.

*"I know. I'm tapping into the feed."*

"Sterling destroyed the tablet," I said. "The list is gone."

*"The list was just names,"* Julian said. *"We need something better. We need the money."*

"The money?"

*"The laundering. The flow. We need to show them the river, not just the water."*

"How? The servers are melted."

*"The blockchain,"* Julian said. *"The ledger is decentralized. It exists on every node in the network. Sterling couldn't delete it. He could only obscure it."*

"So we need a key to read it."

*"We have the key,"* Julian said. *"The Nightingale melody. It unlocks the encryption on the transaction layer."*

"But I can't play music in court," I said. "I don't have an instrument."

*"You don't need one,"* Julian said. *"You just need access to the court's audio system."*

I looked at the microphone on my table. I looked at the massive speakers mounted on the walls.

"I can do that," I said.

*"Good,"* Julian said. *"Because I'm coming to you. And I'm bringing the cavalry."*

"What cavalry?"

*"The Rats,"* Julian said. *"They're tired of living in the dark."*

I looked at the clock. 30 minutes.

"Hurry," I whispered.

An obscure law. But they couldn't deny it on live TV.