C HAPTER O NE :
P RONOUNCED
DATE: JANUARY 6 TH , 2114
Matthew’s hands shook as he watched the jury return from their deliberation. It had taken less than an hour for them to agree on their verdict. These were the twelve people deciding his fate.
Every eye, camera and hologram shifted from Matthew, to the lead juror, as the juror stood. With the conviction of patriotic duty, the juror read the verdict, “We, the jury, find the defendant, Matthew Davenport, to be guilty of the charges of terrorism.”
Judge Hennessy pronounced, “You have been found guilty on the charges of terrorism for selling android implants with weapons capabilities to a known terrorist organization. By the authority of the Supreme Court of the North American Union, I hereby sentence you to death by incineration. Your sentence will be carried out one year from today. You will be remanded to a maximum security facility, in isolation, until that time.” The judge slammed his gavel down.
The whole courtroom erupted in applause and cheering.
The noise startled Matthew. None of this seemed real. He had heard the juror and the judge, but this was his life. Now it was all being ripped from him. He pleaded with his attorney, “I’m innocent. What do we do now? When do we appeal?”
Matthew’s attorney loosened his tie as he threw his last paper into his briefcase. “Matthew, clearly someone powerful wants you to take the fall for this. This case has all the signs of payoffs and coverups at the highest level. They have even turned the public against you. Just look, the jury decided you were guilty in less than an hour. That never happens!” Then he slammed his briefcase closed. “Honestly, you couldn’t pay me enough money to go to court for you again.” The attorney got up and pushed his chair in. “Sorry man, tough break.” Then he turned and walked out of the courtroom.
The noise in the room seemed deafening to Matthew, with all the reporters and people talking and laughing. For the first time in three days though, no one really seemed to be looking at him.
Out of the crowd, a woman’s voice behind him whispered, “Roland’s been watching. He’s going to find a way to clear your name.”
C HAPTER T WO :
C LANG
MATTHEW KEPT LOOKING forward, but talked out of the side of his mouth so as not to draw attention. “Roland? My son? Is he here?”
The woman touched the side of her glasses. “I’ve got him here, on my uplink.”
Matthew’s neck muscles tensed. “Roland, do not get involved! It’s too dangerous.” He leaned a little closer to the woman, but kept looking straight ahead. “Skylar, don’t you let him go anywhere near this! Whoever did this is too powerful!”
Skylar pulled her brown sun hat down a little tighter. “Roland says he’s not going to lose you too!”
“No! Both of you stay away from this. If you don’t, you’ll put your own lives at risk.”
The hulking bailiff walked over to Matthew and tapped his baton on the desk. “Let’s go.”
Matthew sat for another second while Skylar disappeared into the crowd, then he got up. The last thing in the world that he wanted was for Roland to get mixed up in this mess. He had only known his son for the last seven months.
The bailiff prodded Matthew with his baton. “Move it.”
Matthew took his first step towards the hallway, isolation and ultimately his death sentence. His mind was still reeling from the shock. Questions fired off in his head in rapid succession. Who could have done this? Why would they have set me up? Who could have this much power? His stomach churned at the thought of Roland getting pulled into this and ending up in the cell next to him. Roland, you must get as far away from this as you can! he thought. I’ve only just gotten to know my son. This can’t be happening!
The bailiff handed Matthew over to the prison transport guards. The armored door to the prison hover van clanged shut along with everything important in his
P RONOUNCED
DATE: JANUARY 6 TH , 2114
Matthew’s hands shook as he watched the jury return from their deliberation. It had taken less than an hour for them to agree on their verdict. These were the twelve people deciding his fate.
Every eye, camera and hologram shifted from Matthew, to the lead juror, as the juror stood. With the conviction of patriotic duty, the juror read the verdict, “We, the jury, find the defendant, Matthew Davenport, to be guilty of the charges of terrorism.”
Judge Hennessy pronounced, “You have been found guilty on the charges of terrorism for selling android implants with weapons capabilities to a known terrorist organization. By the authority of the Supreme Court of the North American Union, I hereby sentence you to death by incineration. Your sentence will be carried out one year from today. You will be remanded to a maximum security facility, in isolation, until that time.” The judge slammed his gavel down.
The whole courtroom erupted in applause and cheering.
The noise startled Matthew. None of this seemed real. He had heard the juror and the judge, but this was his life. Now it was all being ripped from him. He pleaded with his attorney, “I’m innocent. What do we do now? When do we appeal?”
Matthew’s attorney loosened his tie as he threw his last paper into his briefcase. “Matthew, clearly someone powerful wants you to take the fall for this. This case has all the signs of payoffs and coverups at the highest level. They have even turned the public against you. Just look, the jury decided you were guilty in less than an hour. That never happens!” Then he slammed his briefcase closed. “Honestly, you couldn’t pay me enough money to go to court for you again.” The attorney got up and pushed his chair in. “Sorry man, tough break.” Then he turned and walked out of the courtroom.
The noise in the room seemed deafening to Matthew, with all the reporters and people talking and laughing. For the first time in three days though, no one really seemed to be looking at him.
Out of the crowd, a woman’s voice behind him whispered, “Roland’s been watching. He’s going to find a way to clear your name.”
C HAPTER T WO :
C LANG
MATTHEW KEPT LOOKING forward, but talked out of the side of his mouth so as not to draw attention. “Roland? My son? Is he here?”
The woman touched the side of her glasses. “I’ve got him here, on my uplink.”
Matthew’s neck muscles tensed. “Roland, do not get involved! It’s too dangerous.” He leaned a little closer to the woman, but kept looking straight ahead. “Skylar, don’t you let him go anywhere near this! Whoever did this is too powerful!”
Skylar pulled her brown sun hat down a little tighter. “Roland says he’s not going to lose you too!”
“No! Both of you stay away from this. If you don’t, you’ll put your own lives at risk.”
The hulking bailiff walked over to Matthew and tapped his baton on the desk. “Let’s go.”
Matthew sat for another second while Skylar disappeared into the crowd, then he got up. The last thing in the world that he wanted was for Roland to get mixed up in this mess. He had only known his son for the last seven months.
The bailiff prodded Matthew with his baton. “Move it.”
Matthew took his first step towards the hallway, isolation and ultimately his death sentence. His mind was still reeling from the shock. Questions fired off in his head in rapid succession. Who could have done this? Why would they have set me up? Who could have this much power? His stomach churned at the thought of Roland getting pulled into this and ending up in the cell next to him. Roland, you must get as far away from this as you can! he thought. I’ve only just gotten to know my son. This can’t be happening!
The bailiff handed Matthew over to the prison transport guards. The armored door to the prison hover van clanged shut along with everything important in his
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