It’d been two days since Hayley’s arrest. In that time she hadn’t been allowed to speak to anyone, call anyone, or even make a statement regarding her arrest. She’d been processed, stripped, searched and then placed naked into a holding cell. And for two days, she sat in that holding cell awaiting trial. Though she’d been fed and allowed to wash, they had not provided her with any clothing. She was thankful she was the sole occupant of her cell, though still felt the treatment to be beyond humiliating. At last, her trial date had come, only two days after her arrest. There was no arraignment. She had not met with an attorney to discuss her case. No one had even given her so much as an explanation as to why she’d been charged with the things they’d accused her of. Espionage. Inciting seditious activity. They made her sound like a spy!
When her trial came, she’d been given a drab gray coverall to wear. She was then taken to a large room somewhere within the arcology that looked like some kind of non-descript boardroom. The only furnishings inside were a podium placed in the center facing a long table with three chairs behind it. Behind the podium and to its left was a smaller table with two chairs. With restraints around her wrists, Hayley was escorted into the room and made to stand at the podium. Waiting for her were two men and a woman seated at the table in front of her and two men in dark suits at the table behind her.
"Will the accused please state their name," one of the three members of the judicial board facing Hayley spoke in booming voice that made her wince slightly.
"Hayley...Hayley Komit..er...Hayley Cormier."
"Well which is it? Komit or Cormier?" The judge barked angrily.
"My birth name is Cormier...but legally its Komit, now."
"Fine. Ms. Komit, the state has accused you of the following; espionage, consorting with the enemy, willfully attempting to incite seditious activity, unlawful entry and illegal association. How do you plead?"
"Your honor...I...I don’t know what’s going on. If I could just..."
"You will enter a plead Ms. Komit, or I will find you in contempt!" The judge raged, banging a fist on the table.
Hayley shrank, hiking her shoulders and shying her body away slightly. "N-not guilty!"
"The accused has entered a plead of not guilty. State Prosecutor, you may make your opening remarks."
"What!? Don’t I at least get a defense council?"
"Ms. Komit, whether you are aware of it or not, the Republic has abolished lawyers," the female judge spoke in an even tone. "It is therefore the onus of the accused to prove their innocence to the court. Now, one more outburst and you will be found in contempt."
Hayley felt as if she’d awoken into a nightmare. What kind of a place was this? No defense for the accused. Guilty until proven innocent. No arraignment. No communication with the outside world. This place truly was as horrible and oppressive as they said. She could hardly believe anyone would choose to live in a place like this. Yet from what she’d seen, the only people really suffering were those who chose to live in the shanties and those who’d been sentenced to Exile. Everyone else seemed content. It was madness! She wondered how a society could possibly exist like this.
For the next four hours, she was forced to listen as the State Prosecutor hammered away at her. He brought in witnesses. The dockmaster from the depot who the pilot had bribed to get her a pass. He testified against her, claiming she herself had bribed him for the access pass. As it turned out, he had contacted DIS shortly after she’d left the depot and they’d been waiting for her to use the pass. Further, the Prosecutor brought up surveillance footage of her speaking to members of the community, and then footage of her taking pictures of the Exiles. They even had her DPAD, which they used to further incriminate her by forcing her to show the pictures she’d taken with it.
After four hours of being battered with evidence to implicate her, the State rested and it was Hayley’s turn. But she was no legal professional, and she certainly didn’t know much about the laws of the Aegean Republic. She had only one defense, and argued that as a Federation citizen, she had the right to choose extradition and be tried in Federation court for her crimes. The Judiciary board disagreed. She then argued that as a Federation citizen, she had the right to speak with a Federation representative before the trial could be concluded. This they conceded.
And so, stripped again, she was placed back into her holding cell for another two days. On day 4, she was dressed and escorted to a small conference room within the DIS station in the New Rome arcology. There, four individuals awaited her, including one familiar face.
"Max!" She tried running to him but was held back by her guard.
"Hayley!" Max jumped to his feet and had to fight back the urge to strike back at the guard. At the urgings of the Federation ambassador, he slowly lowered himself back into his seat. "I promise, we’ll get you out of this!"
Hayley was sat down across from the Ambassador, his aides and Max. The Ambassador, a middle aged dark skinned man with glasses wore a look of apology on his face as if it were somehow his fault Hayley was in the predicament she found herself in.
"Ms. Komit, I’m Ambassador Davin Kurtis. First, I would like to let you know that we are completely aware of your situation and charges, and are doing everything within our power to see that you are released into our custody."
"Thank you, Ambassador," she tipped her head in an appreciative bow. "What’s going to happen to me?"
Kurtis drew his hands together atop the table. "I’ve been speaking with the Senior Chairman of the Colony, a mister Elias Spender at considerable length regarding these proceedings. I’ve been attempting to negotiate your release but...well I’m afraid they’re not willing to negotiate until the trial is complete. The problem is you see, the Federation is at a critical juncture with the Aegean Republic. This incident could not have happened at a worse time. Tensions are high due to the Federation’s support of the New Liberty colony and our position toward the Aegean Republic’s status as a Rogue State.
"To put it bluntly Ms. Komit, I believe we may have no choice but to allow the trial to conclude for better or for worse," Kurtis cleared his throat.
"Then what!? Let them throw me in jail or worse?"
"We won’t let that happen. As I said, the Senior Chairman has said he will not negotiate until after the trial. Once the trial is concluded, I have faith that they will allow you to be extradited back to the Federation. I promise, you will not serve any prison time on this planet.
Tears rolling down her cheeks, Hayley turned to Max. She tried reaching out to him, but her arms were pinned down by her restraints which were connected to her belt. "Max..."
"Be strong Hayley," he spoke in a reassuring voice. "Let these fools have their day in their little kangaroo court. Then we can get out of here. They just want to make an example out of you, that’s all."
Hayley breathed a heavy sigh, sniffling as she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her shoulder. She wasn’t convinced though she prayed Max was right. After speaking with the Ambassador for a few more minutes, the young singer was escorted back to her holding cell. 24 hours later, she was standing before the Judiciary board once again.
"Ms. Komit, do you have anything left to say in your defense before we make our verdict?"
She simply shook her head. She had nothing to say to these people anymore. She stood with a defiant look, her head held high and shoulders straight, as if daring these bastards to do their worst.
"Hayley Cormier Komit, we the Judiciary board of the Vega IV Aegean Republic, New Rome district, hereby render our verdict. On the charge of espionage, in a two-to-one decision finds you not guilty..."
Hayley breathed a sigh. She knew she was far from being out of the woods though.
"On the charge of attempting to incite seditious activity. The board unanimously finds you not guilty."
Hayley’s heart skipped a beat. Two out of five! Perhaps this show trial wasn’t as showy as she’d originally thought it would be.
"On the charges of consorting with the enemy, illegal entry and illegal association, the board unanimously finds you guilty as charged."
A sharp gasp escaped Hayley’s lips as the final verdict was blurted out. It felt as though her heart had dropped into her stomach like a stone. A wave of nausea filled her body, threatening to keel her over. Grabbing onto the sides of the podium, she steadied herself as the judges looked on, unfazed by her physical reaction.
"Due to your status as a Federation citizen, the maximum possible sentence for your crimes, 40 years in exile, is commuted. It is the decision of this court however that you undergo self-confined interred exile for a period of no less than eighteen months, to be carried out immediately. Court is adjourned," with a bang of his gavel, the judge and the other members of the board rose to their feet and shuffled out of the room.
"NO!" Hayley screamed as her guard escorts grabbed her by the arms. "Don’t put me in one of those things! Please god, NO! NOOO!"
Her screams carried through the corridors as she was dragged off for processing.
Within two hours of her sentence being handed out, Hayley found herself stripped again and laying on an examination table in what appeared to be some kind of high tech doctor’s office. The smell of disinfectant hung heavy in the air, and the bright overhead lights were causing Hayley to grimace. Padded straps crossed over her neck, breasts, waist, thighs and ankles, pinning her to the padded surface of the raised table. The doctor had injected her with something that made her woozy, but didn’t completely incapacitate her. Her body felt like it weighed a ton, and in the higher than earth’s gravity, it felt that much heavier. Even moving her mouth to speak was difficult, as if lead weights were attached to her jaw bones. Not that she had much to say at that moment...at least to any of these people.
The doctor, a young woman with tan skinned and Asiatic features with a nametag reading ‘Savan’ ran a number of tests on Hayley including blood work, a urine sample and even a dental examination. She seemed pleased with how she was checking out, smiling and telling Hayley she was doing a ‘good job’ through the examination, which greatly unnerved Hayley. How could this woman be so callous? Did she not know what was happening here? "Don’t worry Ms. Komit, Exile is nothing to be afraid of. It may seem inhumane to you, but you weren’t here when our prison population was out of control. 12,000 inmates crammed into detention centers designed for not even a quarter of that number. By comparison, the SCIE program is a god send for those poor souls who had to endure those conditions for so many years."
The attempted consolation angered Hayley. She wanted to lash out, but the drugs in her system kept her compliant.
The doctor walked out of sight as she rounded the table to Hayley’s head. Pressing a button, she caused the table to readjust its position like an easy chair, snapping Hayley into an upright position. The motion was jarring, but her body was so numb she barely felt it. She felt the doctor take a handful of her hair, her scalp being tugged gently as the doctor ran an electric shearing knife through her shoulder length locks, giving her hair a short uniform look similar to a fade and a pixie cut. She then shaved a small patch at the base of her skull completely before turning to retrieve a sleek looking jet injector.
"I’m about to implant your Warden receiver. Now, you’re going to feel a crunch. It might feel like you just bit into a piece of hard candy."
The doctor placed the nozzle of the jet injector just below Hayley’s skull over the shaved area and depressed the trigger. With a loud pop-hiss the injector fired. Hayley grit her teeth and her muscles contracted as her ears filled with a crunching sound like someone had thrown a snowball at the back of her head. A sharp pain ran up her spine for a few seconds, eventually returning to numbness. With a heavy sigh her body relaxed again.
"Good. Lets see if it’s working," Doctor Savan picked up a tablet-sized DPAD from a nearby table. "Reading 100% network efficiently. Very good. It should take Warden about four hours to calibrate and get you fully registered on the system. In the meantime, it’s time to get you up, showered and get one last meal into you."
Savan picked up another jet injector from her tool trey, pressed it against Hayley’s neck and depressed the trigger. The instant the drug entered her system, she could feel the drug induced numbness begin to dissipate. Her body was stiff and aching from the various physical examinations she’d undergone over the course of the past few hours, and her head was aching. It wasn’t a terrible pain; it felt somewhat akin to a mild hangover. She felt fatigued and a little droopy. As a pair of armed guards entered, Savan released Hayley from her restraints and helped her to her feet. Hayley pulled sharply away from the doctor with a grunt, wanting nothing at all to do with her. Much to her anger, the doctor dismissed her resistance with a small smirk. Never before had Hayley wanted to strike another person than she did at that moment. The insensitivity and complete lack of empathy this woman was displaying was in a word, repulsive.
She was glad to be out of the doctors office, if only briefly. The guards placed her in a stall in an adjoining section of the medical bay, one that sealed closed with an automatic glass door. Above her head, a shower faucet turned on but did not release water as she’d expected. Instead, it deposited a thick, milky white gel-like substance that had an odor not unlike kerosene. The sight of the substance caused a wave of mild panic to fill Hayley’s body.
"What is this stuff!?" She cried, as the fluid continued to pour onto her, completely coating her body after several seconds.
"It’s a mild dermal inhibitor, designed to slow the growth of your hair, fingernails and so forth." Doctor Savan’s voice droned over a PA system. "It depresses your hair follicles and skin cells. It’s normally used for cosmetic procedures- keeps people looking young and such. Consider that an added bonus."
After several minutes of having the greasy liquid pumped onto her body, the shower nozzle switched to water, rinsing the excess gel off her body. When the water stopped flowing, the glass door slid open and the guards ushered her out. Still sopping wet, she was then taken to a holding area within the medical bay, given some food and allowed a few hours to rest. In no mood to eat, but desperately wanting to exorcize some of her aggressions, she hurled the trey of food across the small room. The trey hit the wall with a satisfying metallic clank, sending food particles in every direction. With her head buried in her hands, she dropped down onto the floor and began to sob uncontrollably. The reality of her situation was quickly coming into focus. She was going to be exiled...turned into one of those wretched, faceless, black latex clad souls. Fear, sadness, hopelessness and despair were her only company in the small holding cell she occupied. She couldn’t believe this was really happening. After all the warnings she’d arrogantly defied, all the boasting she’d said about being able to take care of herself, all of the assurances she’d made to not only her manager but her own family, here she was, a prisoner of the Aegean Republic.
It was at that moment that her thoughts turned to her mother and father, both of whom were so far away, on a whole other planet. She wondered if they knew what had become of their daughter, and wondered what they were thinking at that moment if they did? She would have given anything to be at home in Montreal at that moment, wondering if she’d ever see it again. She let out an agonizing wail as all of her anger, fear and desperation bubbled to the surface.