I frowned. “That was quick.”
“The law as practiced aboard Kuzyatru Station requires justice to be meted out in a timely fashion,” he explained.
Something with cold feet took a walk up my back. “Not so timely that the defense won’t have a chance to prepare its own case, I hope?”
“Have no fear,” he assured me. “This is merely a preliminary hearing.” One of the Jumpsuits muttered something under his breath. “And we must leave at once,” Emikai added. “The hour is rapidly approaching, and we have some distance to travel.”
“How much distance?”
“The hearing will take place in Sector 16-J,” he said. “That is the core administrative area nearest where we entered the station.”
I suppressed a grimace. Which would put us a quarter of the way around the station just when Terese was due to be released. How very convenient for someone.
But there was obviously nothing I could do about it. Emikai might be cajoled or otherwise bargained with, but I very much doubted Hchchu could. “Fine,” I said with a sigh as I took Bayta’s arm. “I presume my attorney’s been notified?”
“Your pardon,” Emikai said, holding a hand up in front of Bayta. “She will not be permitted to attend.”
The cold-footed thing on my back broke into a gallop. “That’s absurd,” I insisted. “She’s my assistant.”
“You have a right to an attorney,” Emikai said. “But I do not think your assistant has any such rights.”
“You don’t think?” I asked. “You’re an ex-cop. Don’t you know?”
“Kuzyatru Station currently operates on different rules of law from those I am familiar with,” Emikai said, sounding a bit defensive. “Director Usantra Nstroo and Assistant Director Chinzro Hchchu have chosen to reinstitute the ancient protocols of Slisst.” He cocked his head. “That is why Chinzro Hchchu will be prosecuting you himself. Under the Slisst Protocols, that role falls to a friend or acquaintance of the injured party.”
“And he was a friend of the Filiaelians I’m supposed to have murdered?” I asked.
“Not a friend, precisely, but I am told he was acquainted with all of them,” Emikai said.
“I see,” I said, wondering uneasily if Minnario had even heard of this Slisst Protocol stuff, let alone knew his way around it. “All very interesting, but I’m still a non-Filiaelian accused of a crime in non-Filiaelian territory. My situation still comes under the jurisdiction of cross-empire law.”
“I believe Chinzro Hchchu is still studying that question,” Emikai said, looking a little uncomfortable. “A final ruling is expected soon. Until then, you must still appear at the hearing.”
“With my assistant,” I said firmly.
One of the Jumpsuits stirred. {Why do we waste time?} he demanded. {We’re many. He’s one. Bring him and be done with it.}
{I hear and obey,} Emikai said reluctantly. “Mr. Compton—”
“Tell you what,” I put in quickly. “If the big legal minds are still wrestling with this, it’s certainly nothing the two of us are going to solve on our own. Why don’t you call Minnario, clue him in on what’s happening, and get him to the hearing? Then he and Chinzro Hchchu can hash out together whether or not Bayta can watch the proceedings.”
“That seems reasonable,” Emikai said, a note of relief in his voice as he pulled out his comm. Clearly, the rapid pace of Hchchu’s brand of justice wasn’t sitting well with him, either.
{The Protocols don’t require this,} Jumpsuit insisted.
{Neither do they forbid it,} Emikai countered. He punched in a number and lifted the comm to his ear. {This is Logra Emikai,} he said. {I wish to speak with Attorney Minnario chu-DeHak.}
{This is wasted time,} Jumpsuit muttered.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, hoping I wouldn’t have to use any of the combat techniques Emikai had taught me during our sparring sessions. At five-to-one odds, I wasn’t likely to last very long.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them take me away and drop me into some dark hole somewhere where Bayta wouldn’t even know where to start looking for me. Not without a fight.
{Understood,} Emikai said.
I looked back at him. The grimness in his voice was mirrored in his face. “What’s the matter?” I asked.
“Chinzro Hchchu has been attempting to contact Attorney Minnario for nearly half an hour,” Emikai said. “There is no answer on his comm. Nor have any patrollers or operational personnel seen him during that time.
“Your attorney, Mr. Compton, has vanished.”
Buy Judgment at Proteus Now!
A Biography of Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning science-fiction author of more than forty novels, as well as dozens of novellas and short stories. He is best known for his Star Wars novels, which have been widely credited with rejuvenating the Star Wars book franchise. Zahn is known for his engaging writing style, pithy dialogue, compelling plot lines, intricately detailed alien cultures, inventive alien technology, and the complex morality of his characters.
Born in 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, Zahn holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois. It was while working toward his PhD in the late 1970s that Zahn began focusing on writing science fiction. He sold his first story in 1978 and, two years later, began to write fulltime.
In 1984, Zahn won a Hugo Award for his short story “Cascade Point.” That same year he also published Blackcollar, the first installment of his Blackcollar series. He launched the Cobra series two years later with Cobra (1985), and published the celebrated Thrawn trilogy, which gave the Star Wars narrative new life, throughout the 1990s. His YA Dragonback series, of which Dragon and Thief (2003) was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, includes six books published between 2003 and 2008.
Zahn is especially beloved among the Star Wars fan community for his contributions to the Star Wars books. His best-known Star Wars titles, the Thrawn trilogy, were voted onto NPR’s list of the top 100 science-fiction and fantasy books of all time.
Zahn lives in Oregon with his family.
Zahn’s school portrait from 1957, when he was six years old.
A yearbook photo of Zahn playing the cello in his high school orchestra in 1969.
Zahn’s high school senior class picture from 1969.
Zahn and his wife, Anna, on their wedding day in August 1979.
Zahn poses with his wife, Anna, and their son Corwin, 1983.
Zahn takes the podium at the Hugo Award ceremonies, September 1984.
Zahn with his agent Russell Galen, September 1984.
Zahn with fellow authors David B. Coe and Jim Frenkel, March 2002.
Zahn with Dr. Les Johnson at the NASA Advanced Propulsion Group, July 2003.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2009 by Timothy Zahn
Cover design by Kat Lee
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1643-8
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Timothy Zahn, The Domino Pattern
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