2020-05-18 - spike - Trapped again Part twenty-two

Author: spike
Title: Trapped again. Part twenty-two.
Date: 18 May 2020

“Prisoner 50095223, shower.”

“Yes, sir. Cell, save my position and close.”

“Affirmative.”

“Finally got to see where that tricorder came from…” He stepped into the cubicle and raised his hands. “Surprising thing is… Very similar ideas.”

What he’d been watching? A telop series from the 1960s called Star Quest. The Enterprise was a completely different design. The crew complement a little different. No Klingons or Vulcans in this one, but the technology they used, even some of their names…

Clamp, stretch, deluge, dry, release, he stepped back into his cell, dressed and before he even had the chance to walk up to the door, the cell told him to anyway.

“Step outside and assume restraint position.”

“Yes, sir. I know.” He placed his hand. “Open.”

The moment he was out, he faced the door with his hands behind his back as the guard clamped his arms in their by-now-familiar immobilised position.

“Cell, lock.” The familiar bang of the bolt shooting into place, he glanced over his shoulder at the doctor. “Finally making some progress, sir.”

“Yep. Come on.”

Down to the floor, to the thick end of the wedge and along a maze of corridors, they descended in a lift and at the end of the next, a set of large double doors.

The doctor swiped, they stepped inside and the doors slammed shut behind them, plunging them into darkness.

“Where are we, sir? I thought we were going to court. Would’ve been a nice change, seeing the odd cloud.”

“I thought you knew by now. You’re never going to see the sky again, wearing black, Unknown. Courtroom, activate.”

The room lit up to reveal a large room. Glass and steel was the motif. No wood, here.

Eric looked around in confusion. In the middle of the room was a raised area with a dividing railing about waist height topped by a handrail facing a much higher raised platform. This one had a desk, a gavel, and a plush seat. To the right, another raised area, this one with a couple of seats and on the left a tiered seating area capable of housing quite a few people.

“So…” Eric sighed. “Yes, sir.”

“You were hoping you could slip away after you’d pled your case, weren’t you? Snatch your possessions and return home no matter the verdict?”

“Maybe on the first day, sir, or if I’d stood trial properly, that was the plan, but that was before I knew about these.” He nodded behind him. “Can’t exactly operate a sender dressed like this, sir.”

“Look on the bright side. If we’d had to ship you half-way across London, you would’ve been in them even longer. We don’t need to travel. Haven’t needed a physical presence for decades. That’s the dock, you stand there.” The doctor pointed. “I’ll take the witness stand.”

“And the other things here?”

The doctor pointed around. “Witness bench, jury and at the front, judge. He pointed up and behind them. “Public gallery. This one’s a private hearing, but when it comes to trial, that place is likely to be packed. Not just journalists either. Might be a few hostiles. People who supposedly suffered at your hand, directly or indirectly.”

Eric glanced back. He hadn’t noticed the other level.

“They won’t still believe all that hogwash by then, will they?”

“Some still might. Another reason for virtual court. They can’t throw things at you.”

Eric stepped up into the dock and the moment the doctor took his place on the witness stand, a man appeared in the seat at the front.

“This court is in session for the pre-trial hearing of Eric Unknown. Clerk of the court Tam Bexley presiding.” He looked down at Eric with a frown. “I’ve seen the surveillance footage of your arrest, interrogation and ordeal in the police cell, but I’m still unsure of what exactly I witnessed. I will say this though… Releasing those files to the public may have compromised your defence. I hope you understand that?”

Eric’s eyes widened in alarm. “Compromised? How?”

“The only reason you’re receiving this pre-trial hearing is because of the public outrage those files caused, but in releasing them, they may not be admissible as evidence. Too many people have already formed their own opinions about the situation. A jury has to be without prejudice and seeing those files has prejudiced one hell of a lot of the population, meaning they would not be viable jurors and seeing those files again in court would only remind them.”

“What if the police provide altered versions during my trial, sir?”

“Explain.”

“Well, it’s obvious they want me out of the way, sir. They probably see me as a threat, as someone who can testify against them. Your technology’s advanced enough to fake it to make it look like I’m more guilty than I am.”

“I suppose in that situation, the files you provided would be admissible to counter their claims. Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty… All those crimes they dumped on you… Do you have any evidence, any alibis that can disprove even one of them?”

“Yes, sir. I could easily disprove at least ten years worth of the oldest crimes, sir. That accounts for over thirty-five of them, sir.”

“How?”

“Simply by looking at the dates, sir. I wasn’t born until nineteen ninety-nine. Very easy to discount those just based on my age, sir, and the capability of someone that age. Also, the governor’s aware of how many of those charges were false. He’s permitted me access to the police files. To their investigations. I was just looking through the most recent one this morning, sir. The police missed a hell of a lot and only spent a week investigating before they closed that one. They didn’t know motive or means, sir. Very much doubt they knew opportunity either. I uncovered more evidence in that case in the space of two hours than they did in an entire week, proving without a shadow of a doubt they’re a bunch of lazy incompetent arseholes.”

“Which file?”

“Hennesey, sir.”

“Hennesey?” He turned pale at the sound of the name. “That was the most brutal murder I’ve heard of in years.”

“I know, sir. The police file had very little. No motive, no idea where his missing hand was. No idea how the culprit even got away with the body. I’ve figured all that out but I ran into a brick wall when it came to identifying him, sir.”

“And what are the answers to those questions. Who? How? Why? How did he get away?”

“I heard their conversation, sir. I accessed the cameras near the alley where Hennesey vanished. It was a very faint scream, almost beyond hearing, that alerted me but with a little thought, I managed to get a better recording, sir. Do I have access? I was told I’d be permitted limited access to a computer during the trial.”

“You do.”

“Err… Do I say computer or courtroom, sir?”

“Courtroom.”

Eric nodded. “Courtroom, access my personal space and open the folder Hennesey. Play the audio file murder one. I’ve not heard the full conversation myself, yet, sir.”

The hiss began, closely followed by the incredibly distorted, gravelly voices.

“Ah, good. You’re here.”

“Yes, but why am I here? You said you had some information I needed. What is all this?”

“Ah, yes. The information. There isn’t any. I’ve been wanting to get you for a long, long time. Look at this.”

“Why, what is” There was a grunt of pain.“What the shit? Bloody shit, my eyes! What have you done?! Why can’t I see?”

“Well, I don’t want you running away, now, do I? This is an industrial laser cutter. At this distance, it’s too weak to cut but it’s strong enough to blind you. Permanently.”

“Permanently!? What the shit? Who are you?”

As the recording played to its end, the Clerk turned a distinct shade of green. Eric glanced at the witness box and even the doctor looked a bit ill.

“Motive, sir. Unfortunately, I can’t get anything more from the files the governor provided me with. Prisoners aren’t allowed access to outside media including the news, so I can’t search their archives. If I could, I might be able to narrow it down and figure out who that man was.”

“But how did you gain access to this recording?”

“The scream, sir. Where the murderer cut off his hand. Barely on the edge of hearing, but it did get picked up by the microphone of the camera I was watching. I combined the microphone outputs of the other cameras in the area and amplified. That’s why it’s so noisy. The voices were still too faint to understand at first.”

“And where were you on the date of that murder?”

“Blandford, sir.”

“Where?”

“It’s in Dorset, sir.”

“Courtroom, identify the location of prisoner 50095223 at the time of Hennesey’s disappearance.”

“Unknown. Prisoner 50095223’s citizenship tag was not implanted until after his arrest.”

Eric looked up at the clerk as his eyes widened. “Before you say it, sir, no, I’m not a retro. I’ve only ever met one in my entire life and I was instrumental in her capture. She goes by the name Medeline, sir. If you view the footage in the computer shop in Manchester… Crime number forty-seven in that list, you’ll see exactly what I did to her.”

“But… I know of that case. She wasn’t in Manchester.”

“No, sir. Crimes forty-seven, forty-eight and seventy-three are the only ones I could even be accused of. They’re the reason the police blocked my computer which led to my arrest in the first place. I will be pleading not guilty to forty-seven and seventy-three though, sir. I paid for those computers. It may have been an unconventional means of payment but I believe your world’s a better place with it. Or will be soon. Just play that file, sir. You’ll understand.”

“Courtroom, play the surveillance attached to crime number forty-seven in this list.”

He jumped as Eric, Angela, Quentin and the professor appeared out of nowhere on the station concourse. “Courtroom, pause. What the hell did I just witness?”

“Our first appearance in your world, sir. Look up the work of Professor Birk, Quantum physics department of the university later, sir. Other worlds, other timelines do exist, sir, and I have a means of travelling to extremely distant ones, including this one. I was in Blandford, but not in this world at the time of Hennesey’s murder, sir. Continue to watch, please. You’ll see what I did to Medeline in a few minutes.”

“Computer, resume.”

The discussion outside the shop, the demonstration, allowing Eric to handle the best computer on display, the shop assistant swiped his hand to open the display case and vanished, his clothing collapsing into a crumpled heap.

“Computer, pause. That’s what you did to the retro? That’s why she was found naked?”

“Yes, sir. In her case, it was an act of self-defence. She pulled a gun on me.”

“How did you do that?”

“One of the pieces of equipment I had with me was a laser pistol with a very special crystal. That’s what did it. Until him, I’d never known anyone to suffer any harm from it. It merely shoved him a few minutes out of the world and allowed him to drift back. I didn’t even think about the chip at the time. Just as he left his clothing behind, he left his chip behind too which caused a minor injury to the hand it was implanted in.”

“Clearly he didn’t pull a gun on you.”

“No, sir. But we never expected to see this world again at the time and those computers were marvels to us. Such devices are completely unknown in our world, sir. Electronics is still in its infancy there. They’ve only just perfected the most basic of semiconductors. At least one hundred and fifty years behind your technology. So, I took them but left something far more valuable in return. Antibiotics. If you look it up, you’ll see the dates match.”

“You never expected to see this world again, and yet here you are… And indeed, you returned about twenty months ago to commit another crime. A far more serious one than the theft three years ago…”

“What crime? I know they list that as a kidnapping but he came willingly. A boy broke his neck in our village. A friend’s son. The lad’s a bloody good artist and one of the computers I stole suggested a treatment. If I hadn’t come back to fetch someone who could help, he would’ve been paralysed from the neck down for life. As for my most recent visit leading to my arrest… Doctor, could you play that file?”

The doctor nodded. “Now the program’s been run, the files are playable individually. Computer, play the file Anderson-testimony.”

Cal appeared again. He spoke to the court just as he had in the waiting room and the clerk began to smile. Finally, Cal vanished.

“You’re not a complete villain, then?”

Eric chuckled. “If anything, sir, I’d describe myself as an opportunist. You have no idea how valuable those computers are to a world that doesn’t have any.”

“There was some other equipment, including the computer you were carrying that hadn’t been reported stolen. In fact, some of their identification numbers appear to be duplicated. Would you care to explain that?”

“Yes, sir. I did return to this area of spacetime. Not this world, but one not too far from it. A world I had never been to before. There, I sold the antibiotic data in exchange for the technology rather than take it.”

“Why didn’t you do that here?”

“I had more time on my hands at that time. We had to get home urgently the first time. The events you just witnessed were the result of a weapon of mass destruction, sir. We were thrown here by an explosion. An incredibly powerful version of the laser pistol you saw me use, powered by a thermonuclear device. We had no idea if we’d ever even make it home when we took those computers. I’d never used a sender, that’s my means of travel, up to that point. As it was, we very nearly didn’t.”

“How… No, I’m not technically competent to understand the hows…” He sighed. “What is the world you come from like if it’s so… So primitive?”

“Doctor? Could you…”

“Which files, Eric?”

“Show him London one and then the London after the bomb went off, sir. Just to show the devastation. The event that brought us here the first time. I called it London aftermath, sir. ”

He nodded and issued the commands. The screen appeared showing London as it had been and the results of the bomb.

The clerk stared in wonder at the first scenes. At all the horses, at the boats on the Thames, the ship at full sail passing under tower bridge. Then the second file played. The silence. The carts scattered in the road, the utter lack of any vegetation.

He gulped. “That’s… What could even do that? Who could even commit such an atrocity?”

“Another world, sir. A hostile one. The radius of displacement was forty miles from its centre in Trafalgar square, sir. We believe people within about thirty, maybe even thirty-five miles may still be alive, but trapped in whichever worlds they found themselves in. As for the people who did it. They suffered a devastating war. You may be familiar with the concept of nuclear fission. I know a lot of your power’s generated by nuclear fusion, true?”

“Yes?”

“They didn’t just use those techniques to produce power, sir. They used them to produce bombs. A single one could destroy a city the size of London and they unleashed thousands of them. They almost destroyed their world and the ash and smoke released and sent up into the high atmosphere as a result of those explosions created what we call a nuclear winter. A cloak of dust that blocked the sunlight for decades. With their displacement bombs, they could wipe out the population of any city leaving the buildings intact. It might have been their intention to move in. To invade.”

“And did they?”

“No, sir. But I bet they would’ve used them eventually on other worlds to do it. They seemed to be hungry for technology and ours didn’t have any.”

He stared down at Eric in horror.

“Don’t worry, sir. What they did would be considered an act of war by anyone’s definition. They destroyed our capital city. As a result, when I did make my way home, I began to experiment. I improved the design of their sender. That’s the tall metal and glass tube I was carrying and when I knew exactly how to use it, I sent one of their bombs back to them. They’re no longer a threat, sir and as for the method of producing such a bomb… That secret will die with me, sir. I’ll never disclose how.”

The clerk nodded.

“There is one more consequence of that event though, sir. Maybe more than one. One of the men in our cell block is from my world, sir, and more than that… He was king. About a day before our arrival in Manchester, a man appeared naked in the Buckingham palace grounds, sir. I’d like to plead his case because if I do get released after my retrial… I can take him home.”

“And his crimes?”

“Assaulting a police officer. He was in a blind panic, finding himself naked in the grounds of what he thought was his home being attacked by unknown assailants. I bet he didn’t even recognise them as the police. The uniforms are different back home. He’s been terribly mistreated due to their disbelief of his claims, sir. Drugged and manipulated almost into forgetting who he was. He’s recovering now after I identified him, but he doesn’t deserve this. He has stated that he’ll be happy to continue to serve his sentence until my release, though, if I am permitted to take him home.”

“And the details of this man?”

“The name they gave him is John Smith, sir… Err… Doctor?”

The doctor nodded. “Transferring his details now.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I believe it’s me who should be thanking you. I’ll speak to the judge and push for a speedy trial, but the files you released may add a delay. We may have to wait for the images they saw to fade from the public consciousness. Was there anything else you’d like to say?”

“Something more that might work in my favour, sir. You might not understand the significance of antibiotics, but, just ask your computer these questions and report those to the judge too.”

“Go on.”

“How much money is currently invested in the research of antibiotics? How many people died in the tetanus outbreak a few years ago? If antibiotics had been available before the phage was developed, how many could have been saved and estimate the number of lives saved per year once antibiotics become generally available, sir.”

“How did you know about the outbreak if you claim your weren’t here?”

“One of the prisoners in our flute class was a prankster, sir. At the height of the outbreak, he recorded himself licking an open tub of ice cream before resealing it and putting it back into a megamarket freezer. Then recorded the person who bought it using a drone, sir.”

“That’s revolting!”

“And he’s paying the price, sir.”

He nodded. “Computer, answer the last questions asked by the defendant.”

“Currently, three point five six two billion pounds are invested in biochemical research related to antibiotics. Nine hundred thousand people worldwide died during the Tetanus pandemic. It is estimated that over ninety-five percent of the people afflicted could have been saved. Also, those who survived untreated could have had their recovery times reduced by ninety percent. It is estimated that once the medical trials have concluded and the drugs have been found to be safe, over one million people worldwide could be saved each year.”

The clerk’s jaw dropped so much in nearly landed on the bench. “A million? In a year?”

“Phages are like bullets, sir. One target species. Antibiotics affect a hell of a lot more. They’re more like a blanket. They can wipe out an infection before a phage can be developed or used in conjunction with a phage to prevent a bacteria from mutating to grow immune to it. That was only part of the data I delivered this time, sir. I came here for purely benevolent reasons, not to steal or injure. In fact, I was hoping I might be able to acquire some more of your technology legitimately as a reward for delivering it, sir. Especially the second lot that got me into this situation in the first place.”

The clerk nodded and chuckled. “You haven’t looked at your accounts recently have you?”

Eric shrugged. “I know how many privileges I’ve got, sir. And how many credits.”

“But not how much money?”

“But I don’t have any money, sir.”

“Unknown, it didn’t just cause public outrage, it caused public sympathy for your plight. Several people set up multipay accounts attached to your chip. Most wanted to ensure you receive the best defence advocate available. Others who understood the significance of antibiotics wanted to see you rewarded. You have been, believe me.”

Eric gulped. “How… How much?”

“At this point in time, well over five hundred thousand pounds, and it’s still growing. You’ll have enough to pay for your advocate and any technology you wish to take with you, if you do gain your release at least.”

“And if I don’t? What if those bastards do somehow get me sent to block eight. I’ve been told I’d be denied the right to even speak in my own defence, in that case.”

“I can’t see you remaining black, not with the extra evidence you’ve provided today, but if by some fluke you do, I think any money you didn’t give to someone else would be forfeit.”

“And as I wouldn’t be released, King Philip would never be returned home. If I do end up here for the rest of my life, sir… I’d like to donate it to him. He said the idea of being released into this world would be hell for him. After all, he arrived with nothing. Not even a thread of clothing. At least if he had a few hundred thousand he could live in a luxury even he’s not accustomed to, most likely.”

“You’d do that?”

“If I got life, sir, what use would it be to me? Either someone worthy gets it or the government does.”

He nodded. “As for block eight… I have no experience in dealing with such inmates. I very much doubt anyone alive in the legal profession does. If you are denied the right to speak, you’ll just have to make sure you have friends who can speak on your behalf.”

Eric sagged in his restraints. “I would’ve been there now if the doctor hadn’t intervened, sir.”

“What? Explain!”

“The police. The one who arrested me posed as a prison guard. He had two chips, one in each hand. His right-hand one identified him as a guard called Mr Bedford and he looked just like him. He was using a holographic disguise and they coerced a relief teacher into providing them with an excuse to leave something in my cell. Fortunately, with the doctor’s help, I managed to get rid of it before inspection but…”

“I see. Do you have any idea how serious these allegations are?”

“Serious? I would’ve never been permitted outside contact again! Never been allowed a privilege. I would’ve been in my cell on lockdown almost permanently for the rest of my life. They wanted to send me to hell.” Eric glanced at the doctor. “Is it safe to tell the whole story, sir?”

“No, Unknown. Leave it at that for now. The police have access to court records.”

“In that case, sir… Please, if it’s possible, strike what I said about all that from the record. I for one, do not want the police to know we know.”

“Do you understand how serious such a crime is?”

“I’ve been told that only the police and security services have access to those disguises for undercover work… I assume the second chip’s the same? What they did most certainly was not official police business unless they make a habit interfering with witnesses. I’ve also been told being in possession of such a device would get me ten years in prison and being caught using it would’ve ended up with me wearing what I am now, legitimately. If it wasn’t official business, I assume the same goes for them.”

“This is an obscene misuse of their powers. I’ll speak to the judge about this off the record. Computer, strike everything from this conversation beginning with Unknown’s statement, “I would’ve been there now if the doctor hadn’t intervened, sir.”.”

“Dialogue deleted.”

Eric closed his eyes, reviewed the conversation up to that point and smiled.

“Yes, sir. Understood, sir. I’ve spoken to a couple of people who should be able to argue in my defence, sir.”

The clerk’s eyes widened. He nodded and winked. “Court is adjourned. You’ll get your retrial, Unknown. I can’t say when but I will push for it to be as soon as possible.”

The clerk vanished as quickly as he appeared.

“You did a bloody good job, there, Unknown. Next time you begin your amateur detective work, call on me. You may not have access to the news, but I do.” He chuckled. “Sounds like fun… Well, I say fun… Interesting certainly, but when I heard him being tortured to death...” He shuddered.

“Yes, sir, and thank you. Anit was the one who overheard the scream, initially. I completely missed it. I think he’s going to be fine when he joins us properly, sir. Really got him engaged in finding out what happened there. He wants to work out who did it as much as me, now.”