Grand Theft Planetary & other stories
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After a whole day doing what Aaron had dubbed “being furniture” in the courtroom, Daniel was sent to relieve the guard in the prisoner cells. He felt excited; there was something about the process of re-killing someone that had intrigued him, and he was keen to see what effect multiple deaths would have on the albino terrorist. When he got to the cells though, the guard had already gone – typical, thought Daniel. It wasn’t that he thought himself above the role of a security guard, just that he thought himself above the other guards. They were all lazy, uncaring, unfeeling slobs.
He checked on the caged prisoners first, noting that almost all of them were new. Aaron had said that Time and Punishment were being pushed to “rescue” more people from the past, so it was reasonable to assume that the turnover between imprisonment and execution was minimal. He wondered what would happen if someone was wrongly executed. Probably nothing. He was a little glad that the naked girl with the scar had gone. That had been a bit too rich for his blood.
He entered the Mess prisoner’s block and checked the two tubes for any new additions before he tentatively looked into Raphael’s cell. Instead of the gibbering wreck from yesterday, he saw a composed man in meditation.
“Hello Daniel,” said Raphael without opening his eyes, “It is good to see you again.”
“Hello,” replied Daniel, looking over his shoulder to check that he was alone. “How… how are you today?”
“I must admit that the last 24 hours have been unusually tough on me,” he replied, “but not totally unexpected.” He was silent for a while, and then he stood up and flexed his naked body. Daniel averted his gaze. “You asked me why I caused the Wave. I am going to tell you.”
“Go on,” said Daniel, excitedly.
“Science.”
“Science? That makes no sense.”
“Science is evil. Medical science helps the wrong kind of people live a full life. If someone develops an illness because they smoke or drink too much, they should die. It’s their own fault. In a way, it’s God’s way of punishing those who indulge in sin too much, but medical science defies the will of God.” He smiled, pink eyes flashing. “The world is an evil place, Daniel, and science helps mankind thrive despite being evil. You are lucky that you have never had to live on earth.”
“How do you know I’ve never lived on earth?” Daniel asked. He felt like he was being dragged into something he couldn’t quite understand.
“Only those born above the earth can be so innocent. I see it in your eyes.” Raphael said. “Those below us, they fight and fornicate in their own filth, hungry for the slightest bit of power. They do not care about anything unless profit can be made.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you created the Wave.”
Raphael sighed. “Put simply, science stops mankind from being eradicated by God. Using science, a virus would be cured, a disease stopped, a natural disaster averted or reduced in impact. I created the Wave to wipe out mankind.”
Daniel smiled. “The Wave didn’t wipe out mankind, far from it. There’s nine billion people on earth, and you killed a million. You failed.”
Raphael smiled back. “Did I?”
Suddenly, the bulkhead clanged open and several well-dressed people entered the room, including the half-robotic Judge Skivil. Daniel stood to attention, frantically hoping that they had not seen him fraternising with the prisoner. A rotund gentleman broke from the group and approached him, his jowls pulling his face into a sad frown – and yet he chuckled.
“At ease my good man. We are the judges of T&C, and we’d like to assess our long-term guest, if you will.”
“Of course, sir.” Daniel saluted for show, then stepped aside. The gaggle of judges peered into the tube.
“My gracious!” exclaimed a roly-poly woman wearing a huge red gown, “He’s still compo mentis.”
“Extraordinary. How many sentences has he served?” asked a weasel-faced businessman.
The rotund judge studied the computer console. “Twenty! Astounding!”
“He should be a vegetable by now,” said Judge Skivil, “and it does call into question whether re-killing is an effective punishment. The prisoner should be executed for good.”
“Absolutely not,” scoffed the lady in red. “Every time he’s sent back in time, we can rescue a poor soul from the past. The executions should continue.”
“Do you not worry,” said Raphael from the tube’s speaker, “that I might escape in the past?”
“You have no chance in escaping,” said the rotund judge, “Every possible action you can make in the past is checked and simulated. You will be serving your sentence in full, I’m afraid.”
“Every possible action, you say? I am impressed that you have mastered time travel,” replied Raphael with a wry grin, “and all elements of causality and probability.” He returned to his meditation without another word. The judges whispered urgently together for a few minutes, then left Daniel alone with the metal coffins.