Chapter 1 Justice and Retribution
“Ret, what do you think? Extend the park area a few blocks farther down to Flood Avenue here?” Lt. Justice pointed to a faded street sign that might have been mistaken for ‘Food Avenue’ if legible at all. “But I mean only on the west side of Sandhill. Eminent domain sure doesn’t apply to Hope House on the east!”
Lt. Retribution of the Heavenite Navy grinned at his fellow officer. “Why stop at Flood?” he asked. “Why not take the park right up to your girlfriend’s doorstep?”
For a few years young Lt. Justice had been dating the daughter of a Heavenite family that lived just down this street in Grace House. He did not mind being kidded about his enthusiasm for sweet Goodness Orchard.
“Or for that matter,” Justice replied gamely, “why not surround Grace House with the park? And Hope House too? I’ll bet they’d love it. Here, let’s set up the holo and see what it would look like.”
“So you can show it to her, right?”
“Sure, if she’s home.”
Justice began to take metal parts out of a large canvas bag he carried with him. By the time they had unfolded and set up the light metal framework of the holo, like a square table with no top, some of the Sandhill Street folk had come out of their houses and had approached them. These included a few from Grace House—not Goodness but others well known to the young officers. Justice greeted little Mrs. Reason, her tall second cousin Dignity, and Dignity’s wife Obscurity, whose hair was prematurely white. With them came their next door neighbor, old Mr. Wag, no doubt curious about the gold buttoned and gleaming white uniforms of the two young men. From down the sidewalk came a middle aged couple who were unknown to Justice and who appeared to be on a stroll.
“Greetings, folks,” he said to all with a trim smile. “We’re on assignment from His Majesty’s ship the Gloria Dothan, planning some recommendations for remodeling the City after the occupation.”
At these words, the middle aged couple looked stricken and without a word turned and headed across the street. Mr. Wag frowned but stayed where he was.
“What’s your authority, mister?” he said to Justice.
Dignity, a man in his mid thirties, patted Wag on the shoulder. “He’s got the highest there is,” he said cheerfully. “Can you turn this thing on, Justice? I’d love to see it.”
Lt. Justice affably flipped a switch and, in the empty square formed by the holo’s upper framework, the City appeared in miniature. The 3-D detail was sharp and in full color, as realistic as seeing the real City from the air on a clear day. Even Mr. Wag had to join in the oohs and ahs. What they saw was their town of some sixty thousand inhabitants, and within the rough circle of its boundaries, every street and building appeared exactly as in reality. The City was in the form of a shallow bowl with the downtown at the low center and a ridge all around the circumference. Beyond the boundaries they could see on all sides some of the rugged, sterile, and deserted plain on which the town stood.
On the west and adjoining the City’s rim was something so bizarre that only long familiarity with it kept the onlookers from exclaiming in shock, for there was the front half of a gigantic battleship, bristling with thousands of guns. This was the Gloria Dothan that Lt. Justice had spoken of, one of the smallest of Heaven’s warships but fully seven miles long, so long that the whole of it could not be kept in the holo’s view of the City. The seeming illusion was possible because ships of the Heavenite navy traveled through land as easily as through water, cleaving rocks and hills that, in comparison to the super-solidity of the vessels, were unsolid as liquid. The Gloria had arrived three years earlier and had been assigned to remain until Heavenite forces would seize the City—until the occupation. From their backyards Dignity and Wag were able to see the upper parts of the actual ship on the western horizon.
“I’m sorry the Mopers decided to miss this,” Dignity said, referring to the couple who had opted out.
Justice nodded mildly, knowing that the couple had merely been obeying the City law that forbade citizens to make the slightest contact with Heavenite military personnel. Wag, on the other hand, was stubborn and crusty enough to flout the law when he pleased.
“What’s this?” said Reason, a dark haired woman in her forties. She was pointing to where a swath of the holo-City was green with grass and trees. “That’s really just regular neighborhoods to the north of us. There’s no park there.”
“Not yet,” Justice answered. “Like I said, we’re planning changes. Lt. Retribution and I are not happy that the only City parkland of any size is Founder’s Grove.” He pointed to another large area of green further to the north. “In fact, all the officer teams working on the planning project are in agreement: the new City will have more parkland than not. It’s going to be beautiful.”
“But where will everyone live then?” Dignity asked.
“Sir, there won’t be much population.”
“Oh, of course,” Dignity replied with an embarrassed glance at Mr. Wag.
Justice did not understand how civilians could forget that only Heavenites would remain in the City after the occupation and that the number of households that had so far converted their allegiance to Heaven could be counted with little effort. Wag House was not among them.
“We’ve been discussing extending this park further south to surround your house,” he said to Dignity, knowing how much this would impress him and all other civilian Heavenites.
With a hand motion above the holo, he caused the image of the parkland to sweep down over Grace House and beyond, leaving Grace and Hope houses standing among suddenly appearing trees, but eliminating scores of other homes, including Mr. Wag’s.
“Now just a minute there, son,” said Wag.
“Just a recommendation at this point, sir,” Lt. Retribution said. “Besides, you won’t be living in your house then anyway, not unless you go Heavenite. There’s something for you to think about.”
“And here’s something for you to think about,” Wag said angrily. “Looks like the Mopers went back to their house and called the cops.”
The old man had spotted the approach of a City police car that glided slowly down Sandhill Street. But the car did not stop. As even Wag ought to have known, the police were afraid of the Heavenite military. They had tangled with them before and wanted no more of it.
As the car passed on, Mrs. Reason asked, “What will be the name of the new park?”
“Not absolutely decided yet, ma’am,” Retribution said, “but the suggestion has been to call it Reason Park. No, sincerely, ma’am, really. You and the other Grace House civilians are legendary in Heaven. Everyone talks about you and how you resisted Mr. Power and all the forces of the City for so many years before the Gloria Dothan came.”
With a smile Dignity looked down at his cousin, whose eyes were wide and whose mouth was curled into something like dismay. He had experienced her quiet humility ever since, at the age of twelve, she had been taken in by his parents and had helped to raise the obnoxious little boy that he had been.
“Shocked silent, cous’? It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve been a hero again and again.”
“Nonsense,” she gasped.
“That’s right,” said Wag. “Folderol. I hope I never live to see it.” And he turned back to his house, faintly tut-tutting.
“And Mr. Dignity? Sir?” Retribution said. “Had you noticed this monument?” He pointed in the holo to what must be an immense pile of stone, located on a part of Sandhill Street just north of Hope House. The projected monument was at the center of an as yet non-existent traffic circle. “Look close and you can see all the fountains built into the edges of it. The upper sides are bas-reliefs that show some of the scenes from your life, sir. This will be the Dignity Monument.” He made a spreading motion with his fingers over that part of the holo, and the monument was enlarged to fill most of the viewing square, so that every detail became clear.
; Dignity in turn was shocked silent for several seconds. Finally, he said weakly, “I would have to object to that.”
His wife Obscurity hugged his arm. “Objection overruled. You’re a hero too, even if you never admit it.”
“Yeah, well, I think we shouldn’t keep the officers any longer.”
But when Justice and Retribution had packed up the holo and resumed their walk northward across Flood Avenue, Dignity followed and asked to have a word with them. He pointed to a house on their left with an impressive front but missing its roof, Leasing House that stood just across Sandhill from Hope House. High on the front wall was a City Seal, a high civic honor awarded to few households.
“My cousin Guiles Leasing and his family live there,” he said.
“It must be nice, sir, to have family so close,” Retribution said politely.
“Not really,” Dignity said glumly. “He’s some kind of sociopath.”
“Oh. Sorry, sir.”
“Justice knows about him. We used to think Guiles was just really touchy and disagreeable, but then he started dividing the family into factions with his lies and manipulations, and in recent years it’s come out that he’s even into fraud. You see, after he got that City Seal, the mayor decided to also make him Marshal of Founders Grove—you know, that big City park area we were talking about off north of here. Being the Marshal is a civic honor that remains within the family that’s awarded it, but the last Marshal died without any relatives to pass it on to, so they gave it to Guiles. The Marshal is just supposed to oversee the Grove and make decisions about its upkeep and use. But to Guiles it was a sweet opportunity to make money. He started selling off park benches and other portable items, and he even had it logged.”
Retribution coughed, trying to reply. “Logged it? He sold the trees out of a city park?”
“Oh, he called it forestry, said he was thinning the Grove. But he was keeping every dollar from the lumber company for himself.”
“But surely that couldn’t have lasted long?”
“No, it didn’t. He was arrested for it last year and pled guilty. The strange thing is that the judge didn’t punish him except to tell him he’ll have to give up the Marshal-ship to someone else and to order him to pay retribution. He even gets to keep the City Seal on his house. I don’t think people like Mr. Power are even so much as shunning him. He seems to be on the same good terms with all the City leaders that he was before his arrest. According to his daughter, he used to be living off comfy loans from Mr. and Mrs. Mammon, and I think he still is—just running up the debt even more. And when I called the courthouse to ask, they told me he hasn’t paid a cent of restitution for his frauds, but for some reason they don’t seem to think he’ll have to go to jail for not paying.”
By this time Dignity was huffing with anger.
“Nothing unusual for the City government, sir,” said Retribution, sounding rather angry himself. “I’ve heard that only about one percent of the people ordered to pay restitution actually do it.”
“Really? Well, I don’t know why they bother to have laws if no one takes them seriously.” Dignity rubbed a hand through his brown hair and forced a smile. “But what really bothers me is that he’s always making trouble for me. He even managed to separate me from my own parents a few years ago, hosting them in his house during the holidays so they didn’t stay with me. They’ve gone back to travelling now, but it still hurts. They still don’t trust me because of him. And he tells all kinds of lies and slanders about me to anyone who will listen. I had thought a conviction for selling public property would bring him to his senses, but no go. He’s as shameless and cocky as ever. Oh—here come the police again.”
The cruiser was going by slowly, the two policemen within looking at them expressionlessly. Grinning, Justice pointed his hand at them as a finger gun. Instantly, the car sped up and whipped around the corner and out of sight.
“I don’t think my neighbors the Mopers will be happy with the police response,” Dignity said.
“No, sir,” said Retribution. “But you were saying about your cousin Guiles?”
“Right. So here’s my question. By Heavenite law those trees he had cut down belong to our Heavenly King. So even though the City won’t really punish him, couldn’t our government do something?”
“Like what?” Justice asked. “You mean arrest him?”
“Yeah, I do! Put him in the Gloria Dothan’s brig just long enough to take the starch out of him, to make him aware of some consequences.”
“Sorry, but that’s not possible. We won’t round up anyone until—”
“—until the occupation. Yeah, I guessed that.” Dignity shrugged dismally. “But sometimes the certainty that no one will get away with anything in the end doesn’t seem quite enough. I keep worrying about what else he might do to me in the meantime. You see, he really hates me and has no conscience at all. It’s kind of scary.”
“What does he hate you for?”
“Lots of things. For being honest about the family issues, for one. And for being happy and well-liked and out of debt.”
“Probably mainly for being a converted Heavenite,” Retribution suggested.
“Oh, no, mainly because I’m the one who alerted the police about his fraud.”
Retribution laughed. “Good for you, sir. Yeah, that would be the main thing.” The young officer straightened the line of his mouth. “It’s a shame that he’s going to have more chances to cheat the public and to harm you. But are you saying that he hasn’t used the money he made by fraud to pay the court ordered restitution and that he isn’t paying back Mammon Loans either? So what’s he doing with it?”
“If I know Guiles, it’s all spent. He can go through a small fortune in no time, spending it on fancy furniture, clothes, expensive presents for his wife and kids, fabulous vacations—everything except repairing his house that’s about to collapse.”
“What about his job? What’s he earn?”
“He hasn’t worked in years. He’s got no income that I know of.”
“But the Mammons aren’t crazy,” Retribution said in near disbelief. “They can’t know how broke he is or they’d cut him off from loans.”
“Right, and then he’d finally feel the pain. I’m not really sure that Mammon Loans is still loaning him any money, but if they are, then he must be in huge debt to them. Do they really think they’ll ever see a dime of it?”
“Why don’t you find out if they’re still trusting him, and if so, then warn them?” Justice said firmly.
“Well, maybe I will!”