She sat on the balcony above the assembly hall, observing the audience entering from all three sides. On the floor below sat rows of women and men, heads bowed, dressed in identical gray jumpsuits and shackled to their chairs.
The people seated in the left section seemed stricken, while those in the right section sat quietly. The people seated in the rear section opposite the balcony, were a mix of calm and curiosity as they talked among themselves.
When everyone had arrived, the entry doors closed one by one. An enormous screen above the balcony came alive with her image. The hall fell silent as she stood and moved forward to a podium. When a status panel indicated that she was being seen and heard worldwide, she spoke into the microphone.
"Greetings, citizens of Ux-Mal Prime. Blessings from your government, and from your Chancellor. This assembly will be brief. As you are all aware, the legislature recently revisited the matter of the death penalty, and unanimously voted that it be abolished."
Loud cheers erupted from the people in the rear section. Their movement had labored tirelessly for decades to achieve this victory. Their long-time leader had vowed he wouldn't die until that day came. With the goal within reach when he became terminally ill, he'd held on longer than he might have otherwise.
The Chancellor waited until the excitement subsided, then resumed speaking.
"Pending the official vote on the matter, the government suspended all death sentences that had already been handed down. I am pleased to announce that those sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment. Prisoners of the state, your lives will be spared."
Once again the people in the rear section cheered, while the women and men on the floor looked up as if they couldn't believe their ears. The cheering continued until the Chancellor had to raise her hands for silence. Then she glared down at the prisoners, the ferocity of her next words matching the blaze in her eyes.
"Now hear this! I said that your lives will be spared. However, you will no longer live among us. All of you will be exiled to another star system, far away from Ux-Mal. To prevent any escape, we will separate you from your bodies and maroon your life forces on an uninhabited planet. You will be alive and unharmed; but in a bodiless, voiceless, sensationless state in which you will pose no threat.
Your new home is covered with electromagnetic storms which will keep you contained, and prevent space vessels from reaching or even scanning the planet surface. No one will know that anyone is there. A prison in every sense of the word; but one which requires no guards, resources or maintenance."
By now the hall was in an uproar. The death penalty opponents were standing, shouting and gesturing wildly. This wasn't what they had fought for! This wasn't what the leader had wanted! To the left, some family members of the condemned were doing the same, while others sat in stunned silence. To the right, some of the legislators were smiling while others looked equally stunned.
On the floor, the prisoners exchanged looks ranging from incomprehension to horror. Some tried to rise, but their shackles kept them in their seats.
The Chancellor's voice boomed above the commotion. "The sentence to life begins now. Activate the separation process!"
A clear shimmering force field appeared and formed a cube encasing the floor, isolating the prisoners from the rest of the hall. Everyone watched the cube fill with pale blue light. The prisoners sat frozen while the blue beam performed its task.
After the last failed vote to abolish the death penalty, the government had secretly begun work on the separation process. When the technology was operational, the legislature had allowed another vote. Now everyone knew why, and why the pro-death penalty legislators had changed their position on the issue. The disembodied prisoners weren't dead, so their supporters couldn't argue that they were.
Small points of white light emerged from the prisoners, whose bodies sagged forward against their shackles. The blue beam vanished, and the force field shapeshifted into a sphere containing the white lights. The ceiling opened to reveal a space vessel hovering above the hall.
The sphere floated upward and entered the vessel through its bottom hatch. After the hatch doors closed, a voice announced, "Prisoners secured. We are ready to depart on your authorization, Chancellor."
"Authorization granted, Captain."
The screen above the balcony showed the vessel moving away and heading into space. When it had disappeared from view, the Chancellor spoke again.
"Citizens of Ux-Mal Prime! Let this be a warning to anyone who might commit criminal offenses in the future. Be mindful that if you do, this could be your fate. To those who object that this punishment is cruel to the families of the condemned, the offenders brought about that hardship when they committed their crimes.
The bodies of these exiled prisoners will be released tomorrow. Thank you all for your attendance today. This assembly is adjourned."