Random Chance and the Paradise that is Earth Read Online Free Page A

and
barely discernible. It went on for a short time; Random felt it
slow to a stop.
    The opposite wall went transparent. Staring
coldly at him were two armed men in gray-blue uniforms, one sitting
at a small desk, the other standing, hands clasped behind his back.
Random didn't bother standing.
    The one sitting at the desk read aloud from
a screen.
    "The charges are: conspiring with the
enemy—"
    "Bullshit," said Hewey in his ear.
    "—blaring—"
    "What is 'bullshit'?" asked Cubey.
    "I'll explain later," said Hewey.
    "I will update my files when the information
is made available.”
    " 'Blaring'?" said Hewey.
    "It is the legal term for the inappropriate
use of a communications instrument in or near an interplanetary
travel or shipping lane, or the use of same near an inhabited
world," explained Cubey. "My friend Random Chance is being charged
with both."
    "—and resisting arrest," finished the
guard.
    "More bullshit," growled Hewey.
"You really must've pissed off the Garkies, Rand. They want
you gone ."
    The wall to Random's right went transparent.
The visage of an angry, harried-looking old man filled it.
    "Representation?" he demanded.
    "Waived, Your Honor," said the standing
guard.
    "Challenged," said another face which
appeared abruptly on the left wall.
    The guards looked surprised. No, shocked.
They glanced at each other, then at the face of the unexpected
man.
    "Who are you?" demanded the judge.
    "Ralos Ytilitu, Your Honor. I am Mr.
Chance's attorney. Credentials and identification are
available."
    The judge snarled, "How's that possible?" He
looked like he hadn't smiled a day in his life. "The prisoner's
rights were waived during—"
    "Against my client's rights," interrupted
Ralos Ytilitu. "According to Martian Criminal Code, those charged
with a crime or crimes must display full faculties for their rights
to be waived, and must waive them on record, which my client did
not get to do, as he was unconscious during the arrest and
subsequent transport to this facility."
    The guards seemed completely flummoxed. The
one standing murmured to the one sitting, "Do his credentials check
out?"
    The sitting guard looked up and nodded
vacantly.
    The standing guard righted himself and said,
"Your client was conscious during processing—"
    "No, he wasn't," countered Random's lawyer.
Random, for his part, was just as perplexed and confused as the
guards. He knew no lawyers, and certainly didn't have one on
retainer. "I have obtained video confirming that he was in fact
unconscious during arrest and transport to this facility."
    Ralos Ytilitu's face
disappeared; what replaced it was a video feed of Random on an
anti-grav stretcher, a guard at his head, another at his feet. The
video showed him being loaded into the Red Sheriff's vehicle inside
the bay of the UOT Adelson .
    "How did you come by this?" demanded the
judge.
    "That question is outside your purview,"
answered Random's lawyer. "I will file the video with the Martian
Common Judicial Review Committee if you insist on pursuing these
ridiculous charges. The Committee for Human Rights of the
Parliasolis will have a field day with this. Further economic
sanctions will likely be levied against the Martian Commonwealth.
To avoid them, and to give the appearance of fairness, the Judicial
Review will charge you and your office with corruption. You know it
and I know it. Or would you like to test my hypothesis?"
    "You are in contempt!" bellowed the judge. Ralos' face had since
reappeared in the wall to Random's left.
    "You leave me no choice," said Ralos.
    The guards held silent and amazed. They had
never had to deal with a lawyer before, having railroaded prisoners
through the system with the conspiring consent of the judge.
    "Now wait just one
minute!" the judge roared, his face
crimson.
    "This man has been illegally held for
nineteen Martian-hours," said Ralos Ytilitu. "I will wait no
longer."
    "Release him," grumbled the judge.
    The guards’ mouths hung open.
    "I said release