Crimes (RoTSA)

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=By Cannonshop=
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==The hearing==
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Stephen Alcott…
…wasn't always a smuggler. Okay, so yes, he was always a smuggler, and confidence man, and mover of things from one place, to somewhere where the law says you don't move it.
"I never took a job moving pirates." He was sitting in the Security Office on Port Orphan, with two Snow Raven Watch officers and an Outworlds Legal Agent. "I never took a job moving pirates, or slaves."
"How do I believe you, Mister Alcott? You have lied in every other particular thus far."
"Because I'm not suicidally stupid? Ever since the twenties, everyone knows, you don't set foot (or hull) anywhere in Raven Alliance space, or anywhere they patrol, if you're a slaver-I like to keep breathing, some jobs are just not worth that risk."
"Let's go over the 'jobs' we already know you've done…august fourteenth, Liao space, contraband, the charges were not specific."
"Bibles." he paused, "what? You look surprised. I can pull down as much moving authenticated King James Reprints into the CapCon, as I can get moving weapons into some other places, more than I can get moving drugs into Hasek territory even."
"July of last year, Federated Suns-"
"That was Filtvelt, thankyewverymuch!!" he scowled, "And anyway, it wasn't a crime, they bought those weapons fairly and honestly!!"
"Taking them from the Lyran Commonwealth and evading FedSuns tariffs."
"The taxes are unfair." He shrugged. "Hasek's put heavy duty duties on anything going into the Filtvelt Coalition. I pulled a ****** good profit moving that gear."
"The performance-enhancing drugs?"
"Not my fault there's a market for muscle-milk supplements in every Clan Port out there." he shrugged, "Your own culture practically demands someone is going to try an' cheat. Is that what this is about? The buyers weren't even Snow Ravens!!"
"Narcotics?"
"Personal Use!!" he asserted, "Maybe I like to get high…"
"Your drug test says otherwise. Who's the buyer, Steve?"
He clammed up.
"Do you really want me to get a Narco-interrogation team in here?" the senior Watch officer asked, "Just give me the buyer."
"I…don't…have one…yet." Alcott sighed, "It was payed in lieu of payment on another deal, one not in Clan space or Alliance territory."
"Lie." the civilian said. "You have too many tells to list, Alcott. Explain the situation."
"If it gets out my rep is done." Alcott stated.
"You're in Port Orphan, your rep is already toast. what happened?"
"It was supposed to be a humanitarian drop, a run from the Magistracy to a digger colony." Alcott mumbled.
"Truth…what happened?"
"I skunked the client, Okay?? We weren't moving Medical supplies, we were moving ninety seven percent Panhaxl Neuroin and it wasn't a humanitarian deal, it was…the client was the ****** Snake Mohn Tong!!"
"Cappie criminals?"
He nodded. "Yeah…which is why…"
"Why you suddenly felt a strong urge to be in Alliance Space. Why not the Republic?"
"Because they have their fingers in the goddam Republic. These guys go after families first."
"Is he telling the truth?"
"Aff. He is not lying this time. He is also terrified."
“So what happens now, especially to Minea?” The Civilian-looking person asked.
"Cheryl's kid?" Alcott asked, "She can't go back to the Petersen Line, not with what her mom did, and I can't protect them-too many of my old associates know I took them in."
"What was it that she did, if you are not the father?" The other person was clearly confused.
"Her daddy is her uncle. That's big-time taboo shit right there, especially with Spacer lines. They didn't know when they did it, and she didn't terminate during pregnancy, so both of 'em are out. I needed a backup navigator and you can't beat having one that's got a Patch…or earned a Patch, even if she can't wear it anymore."
“Savashri…” One of the Watch officers seemed particularly horrified.
"You're not…physical with the mother?"
"No." Alcott shook his head, "I stick to one-nighters in port, or taking care of it myself in private…look, you've got my logs, you've got my ship, the flight data recorders…"
"Including the false ones, Aff."
"If you're going to kick me out, keep Cheryl and her kid, okay? They deserve to be safe…"
“I am afraid that the truth of the child’s parentage means Cheryl is guilty of a crime in our jurisdiction. Such relationships are highly illegal.”
"But the kid's not a criminal." Alcott argued. "She's a victim if anything!!"
"Why is that so important to you? You have no blood relation…"
"Of course I don't, you've got my medical." he evaded.
"We do. Including recent medical…so why is the girl so important?"
"Because I've known her her entire life since birth?" Alcott pointed out, "Because I've practically raised her? Because I wish she was mine? Look, you've got enough to send me out an airlock, but 'tis not the GIRL's Crime, she deserves better."
“Miss Hoel, as the Station Admin you do have some legal authority here, we do not wish to be barbarians but the laws are clear…” One of the Watch officers seemed to ask the air.
“I see no crime the child is guilty of. I will find her a foster and grant her amnesty.” A female voice came from the speaker.
"There remains the matter of YOUR crimes, Mister Alcott. As you pointed out, several of the things you have admitted to are capital offenses in a number of jurisdictions."
"Minea will be cared for?" Alcott asked.
"Aff."
"You caught me fair, the girl's to be cared for…" He shrugged, "Do what you will. I've known since I was twenty that the end of my path would be a noose, airlock, or firing squad."
"Terra, Eleven years ago."
"When I stole the ship." Alcott nodded.
"That is a death penalty."
"I know. Knew it then, too. I've had a good run, and maybe did something good at the end."
“Then Mister Alcott in addition to being Station Admin I am also head Magistrate for Port Orphan, in light of your cooperation I am willing to forgo the death penalty. But I have no choice but to sentence you to prison for the rest of your life with the possibility of parole in 25 years.” The female voice spoke again.
"Where?" Alcott asked.
"Devil's Breath Military Prison." the Watch officer told him, "You will not have contact with anyone once you are sent there, you do understand this, quiaff?"
"I understand."
A throat-clearing sound distracted them, and a woman in a crimson coat and crisp white blouse, stood in the doorway, "Am I late? Has he already been sentenced?"
"Life in prison, Envoy." the magistrate/administrator said.
"Well…shit. Kolossus wants him."
"For crimes?"
"Kolossus doesn't tell me everything, Kolossus said, 'go fetch Steve Alcott' and here I am.” The Envoy stated. "Is there a chance for a deal?"
“I see no reason his sentence cannot be served under the direction of Kolossus and the Envoy.” Billie Hoel announced.
"The AI…wants this man?"
"Yes." The Envoy stated, "I presume alive and intact."
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“Are you sure you’re willing to do this, Miss Hoel?”
“Yes. I trust Kolossus and the Envoy will ensure this man pays for his crimes but put him to good use without being cruel or inhumane.”
“You’re getting soft, Miss Hoel.”
"Space at Devil's Breath is limited, I would as soon not put someone there who is…who shows some redeeming qualities." Billie temporized. 
“And you don’t like separating kids from their parental figures if you don’t have to.” The Envoy completed.
'Yes, but sending him to Kolossus necessarily means doing exactly that.I trust that this way he and Minea will at least have a chance in the future to reunite.”
"I'll be taking Cheryl Ruth from your infirmary as well-she will be…given a choice that will clear her drug addiction." The Envoy stated. "Neuroin is nasty stuff…and she will not be negatively influencing her daughter in the future."
“For us to agree to this we need something from Kolossus as to why.” One of the Watch officers stated.
"Habitual use of incurable narcotics is a capital offense under Clan law. I will give you the words Kolossus gave me." the Envoy stated, "the words were 'test Subject'. Addiction treatment experiments. The data will be shared with the Alliance, including any successful treatment regimen developed for handling Neuroin Addiction."
“It would be a drain on Kolossus’ resources rather than ours. Very well. The Watch agrees to the extradition as mediated by Station Admin Billie Hoel and the Envoy of the entity known as Kolossus.”
"This way, Mister Alcott, your chariot awaits…we'll be stopping by the medical center for your navigation officer." The Envoy said.
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==Take flight into friendly depths==
There was no time for….
….goodbye. Only for the Envoy to swing by the Security department's infirmary and retrieve the very-very-very-much in withdrawal Cheryl Ruth, then to an airlock on the outer ring of the docks, where a small dropship waited.
"Your ride is waiting at the jump point, quiaff?"
"Flight plan." The Envoy said.
"That is the problem, there is none."
"Diplomatic Status, you can watch me leave." she hustled her passengers into the small ship of unusual configuration, the hatch sealed, and it broke contact.
"Sit. Both of you." The Envoy was joined by…another Envoy. Identical. "Tiny Armature, are we ready?"
"We're ready." the voice sounded male.
"One gee thrust until we're clear of the dock, then plot point seven baker seven-seventeen, we'll use the mass-shadow."
"Oh Cool!" Tiny Armature enthused.
"What about-there are MORE Of you??"
"There's one of me staying station-side." The Envoy stated, "I'm Pestilence, that one is Persistence, Perfidy's station-side. Relax, Billie knows, Mister Alcott."
"What's going to happen to Cheryl?"
"Well, either Kolossus will cure her, or she'll end up as an AI core, probably running one of the remote relays-either way, her life will be better than it is getting brain-burned on Neuroin."
"And me?"
"We need a civil admin for one of the regions of Kolossus that is being opened, you are available. After Kolossus finishes, you'll also be fertile again."
The shuttle accelerated, angling away from the usual jump points, and crossed behind the dismantling shadow of a moon.
After which, the sensors on Port Orphan lost the Tiny Armature, as the sub-compact jump core slid across the short-duration gravity neutral zone for hyperspace.
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==Weeping for departing love ones==
Minea Ruth didn't…
…cry. Not where Alice could see it, not right away. Eventually Thadeus found her, weeping her eyes out. "Mommy didn't even say good bye!!"
Eventually, her friends found her and consoled her. Nobody was rude enough to point out that a Neurohead in withdrawal can't say much of anything, nor would they want to, except 'give me another hit'.
But she really wailed when she found out 'Mister Alcott' was also gone, and for that, it took Cossack and Jonah several hours to help her through the loss.
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==Working behind the scenes==
"I don't get them, sometimes…
…how could parents-even fosters, be so unfeeling?" Cossack was in the virtual space, with Billie. "She was nearly inconsolable, but her own mother just signed her away!!"
“I choose to believe it is because on some level she knew she could not give Minea the kind of life she needed. So she did the next best thing and tried to hide her pain, but I’m hardly objective in such matters.” Billie Hoel answered.
Another presence manifested. "Oh, geez guys…sorry Cossack, the order came by courier." Perfidy's avatar was Amanda Roberts here, as she was before Churchstone. "Anyway, something you might recognize, is that Neuroin rewrites the user's priorities. Cheryl would've sold her little girl to a cannibal pervert for the promise of another hit. Pestilence lied and made that promise, which got the documents signed, thus, no cannibal perverts were involved."
"Your other self said 'test subjects'..."
"Yeah. Either they'll fix her, or she'll get uploaded and fixed that way. Kolossus wants the Nav info she's keeping in that drug-addled brain."
"And Mister Alcott?"
"Only way to get the decent parent out of a short, painful life in prison. The major bust last year-the smuggling ring trying to cycle hard stuff onto Cerberus?? Yeah, same gang he's hiding from. Tiny told me."
“A threat we are ill equipped to handle. And Devils Breath, I wish I could have kept him here but this is the best compromise I can arrange.” Billie Hoel nodded.
"Precious and Precocious are working on sabotaging that organization, along with Perjury." Perfidy told them, "So Kolossus thinks it's a big deal."
“I do too but this is a problem that cannot be solved by Destroyers. Well we can help interdict the smuggling but we are at too much of a disadvantage in ground operations to really help there.” Billie sighed.
"Speaking of helping interdict…" Perfidy opened her digital hands, and a series of chart-files and route markers were supplied to Billie and Cossack. "Some things to pass to the rest of the Fleet, we'll have more when Alcott's been debriefed, but this is mostly from Problematic and Painful."
“I’ll add the system to the patrol routes right away.”
"That's good, listen, I need to offline now, the organic linkages, they overheat still." Perfidy/Amanda vanished from the digital realm.
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Finis
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