IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Carol Bishop did not look her age. The drugs
had played havoc on her sixteen year old body. As she sat in the
courtroom contemplating her fate, she knew her trial wasn't going
well. Her lawyer had assured her he could get her off with
manslaughter, and she'd only serve five to ten years. But Carol
was beginning to believe that wasn't going to happen.
She heard the district attorney calling the
next witness. "Would Mary Henderson please come forward?" he
remarked.
The young, attractive blond came forward, was sworn
in, and the district attorney approached her. "Mary," he began,
"can you, as to the best of your ability, describe to us what happened
August 8th last at the Midtown Residency Shelter?"
"Yes sir," Mary answered. "I checked in
a new guest, a Miss Bishop. She seemed irritable. I
explained the rules to her and she said 'O.k., o.k.' A few
minutes later two young men appeared saying they wanted to visit her. I
gave them her room number. A few minutes later as the floor
walker was checking the rooms she found Miss Bishop's door closed and
smelled something. It is a violation of the rules for a young
woman to have her door closed when she has male guests. The
facility manager was summoned. He ordered Miss Bishop to open the door.
She refused. He used his pass key. He found Miss Bishop and
her companions smoking an illegal substance. He ordered her companions
out of the building and ordered her to gather her things as the police
would be coming to pick her up, as she was in violation of her
probation. The young men threatened the manager and were again
told to leave. As they did so, Miss Bishop left with them,
abandoning her belongings. Approximately twenty minutes later they
reentered the building. The manager happened to be at the reception
desk. Miss Bishop and her companions produced weapons and began
to fire. The manager was struck immediately. I and other
staff retrieved weapons and returned fire. The two males were
killed and Miss Bishop was wounded. Emergency units arrived, took
her to the hospital facilities of the jail, and the bodies were
removed. That's all I am aware of."
"I want you to be precise," the district attorney
continued. "Did you see Miss Bishop firing a weapon?"
"Yes, sir!" the woman answered.
The district attorney went to the table and picked
up a pistol. "Is this the weapon?" he asked, coming back to the
witness.
"Yes sir," the woman answered.
"How do you know this?" the district attorney asked.
"The weapon she was firing was smaller and darker
than the ones her companion was firing. Theirs were shiny. And I
clearly saw it laying beside her when I went to render her emergency
aid. I'm quite sure it's the same weapon."
"Thank you!" the district attorney remarked.
Carol's lawyer rose as the district attorney
sat. "Could you tell me," he began, "what the general health of
the manager that caused this situation was?"
The district attorney rose. "Your honor, I
object! This question is totally irrelevant to these proceedings!"
"Agreed!" the judge snapped. "Continue!"
Carol's lawyer sighed. "Can you tell me," he continued, "what is your current state of health?"
"Your honor!" the district attorney cried out,
"These questions are not relative! The physical condition of this
young lady is totally irrelevant to these proceedings! I ask that
the defense stick to the issues in this case and not go wandering off
on irrelevant issues! What is to be determined here is rather or
not this young woman entered these premises and fired a weapon on the
staff that operated these premises. The health of the members of that
staff is a non issue."
"I disagree!" Carol's lawyer snapped. "I am
trying to show that this young woman and her companions may have been
lured into a position where they would attack these people. That they
were deliberately antagonized."
"Enough!" the judge snapped. "The jury will
disregard the defense attorney's statements. They are totally
irrelevant to this case and no such defense will be continued! As
the district attorney has said, the only thing relevant in these
proceedings is rather or not this young woman and her companions
entered this establishment and discharged weapons at its staff.
Nothing else is relevant. The defense this attorney is trying to
put forward is unacceptable and will not be allowed in this
court. Whatever medical problems the staff of this facility might
have had do not matter. All that matters is rather or not Miss
Bishop fired a weapon at them. Now, this nonsense is to
discontinue and we are to proceed on the issues of this case. If
you have any relative questions, ask them. If not, release this
witness!"
Carol rose. "Excuse me, your honor!" she snapped, "May I have permission to speak?"
"If you wish!" the judge answered.
"Your honor, I object!" Carol's attorney cried out.
"My client is distraught and not thinking rationally. I wish time
to consult with her before she does anything."
The judge looked to Carol. "Do you wish such time?" he asked.
"No," Carol answered. "I wish at this time to
dismiss my attorney, and to change my plea to guilty. I ask for
immediate sentencing."
"Within your rights," the judge answered, "if your
attorney choses to do so, he can file an appeal. Ladies and
gentlemen of the jury, you are excused. I thank you for your
service. Young lady, I do hereby sentence you to twenty-five
years to life in the state prison, depending upon your behavior.
This case is concluded."
Carol was taken back to the jail. A deputy
approached her. "You'll get transportation to state prison
tomorrow. But there's a representative of The Spiritist Republic
Of Arabia here, that would like to offer you something. It's a
good deal! I'd hear what he has to say."
"What to hell?" Carol sighed. "Sure! I'll at least hear him out!"
A few minutes later a rather handsome man appeared
outside her cell. "Good afternoon!" he greeted. "I'm Joseph
Twenty Ponies, I'm with The Dakota Nation but I'm serving as an agent
of The Spiritist Republic Of Arabia. They need colonists. If you
would be willing to go to a labor camp there, the government here would
agree to reduce your sentence to twenty years, as long as you would
agree not to return to The United States. Once you have finished your
sentence you could go to any nation that would welcome you. And
there are many! We would guarantee that you would find
work. The work on the colonies isn't hard. But it is very
important. You will have total access to The Red Cross and if you
find the circumstances not to your liking you would be returned to The
United States to finish your sentence here. But it would be the
original sentence. I assure you, you will be well treated. You
will be asked to do nothing against your wishes, and be made as
comfortable as possible. Would you be interested?"
Carol stared at the man for several moments.
"Well," she finally managed, "I've heard these deals are usually pretty
good! There's very few people ever complain. I'm sure it
would be better than where I'm headed! What to hell? I'll
give it a try!"
The representative smiled. "I think you've made a
very good choice! He praised. I believe we have a group going out
tomorrow that I could get you with unless you want some time to say
good bye to your relatives."
"Got nobody to say good bye to," Carol
answered. "My father od'd two years ago. My mother last
year. There's nobody around here I really care that much
about. I really appreciate you taking the time to make this
offer. You're a real Indian?"
The representative smiled. "Pure Dakota!" he
answered. "Not a drop of white blood in me! I can trace my
ancestry back to Sitting Bull!"
"Wow!" Carol gasped. "No offense, but I've never really met a real live Indian."
"We prefer Native Americans," the representative
managed with a smile. "The only Indians live in India!"
Carol joined in his chuckle. "Thanks again!" she remarked.
A few hours later a guard came by with a bag.
"Get a shower," he ordered. "Change into these. Where
you're going they don't have prisoners wear jumpsuits. I think
you'll like this outfit."
Carol showered and opened the bag. Everything
was red, including the underwear! The outfit consisted of red
stockings, red blouse, skirt, and jacket. It wasn't bad!
The guard came and took her jumpsuit and went "Hmm!" Carol
giggled. She knew he was just good natured. There was only
one of the guards she didn't like, and nobody liked him, even the other
guards! She watched a little t.v. then went to sleep. They
woke her in the morning and told her to come on, bring her bag.
She was taken out to a bus and got on with six other women of varying
ages. They didn't talk because they weren't supposed to.
They arrived at the airport and another distinguished
looking man greeted them. "I'm Ambassador Carter," he announced,
"I'm on my way to The Republic. I've been asked if I'd save them
some expense and escort you ladies to your assignment, or, to where
your people will pick you up. Now, we're not going to have any
trouble, are we? These wrist bands are being put on you so if you
decide to leave without permission you won't get too far. Otherwise
than that we see no reason in making you uncomfortable. O.k.?"
Everybody managed to return his smile and say
"O.k.!" They boarded the plane with a lot of stares, and were air
borne. The stewardess came around and handed each of them a
package. "As these ladies didn't get any breakfast," she remarked,
"they've been provided with an extra meal. "
Carol expressed her thanks, opened her meal, and
began to eat. There was a young man sitting beside her and the
ambassador on the aisle. She just sat back and enjoyed the
trip.