Judgement
When Paragus arrived in the Imperial Courthouse in Perelandra, Bardock at his side, all his fears and doubts rose to the surface, magnified a hundred times. Deep inside he had known this was lunacy right from the start- but he had gone through with it. Now, looking at all the important faces crowding the courtroom, he faced up to the seriousness of what he had done. He had never been in this much trouble in his life.
Paragus had been in this court once before. That time he had sat in the crowd, waiting expectantly for judgement to fall on someone else- his best friend, Turles. He hadn't liked this place then, and he liked it even less now.
Paragus was led to a small wooden pulpit with a bench, and sat down. He kept Brolli clasped to his chest. Bardock disappeared into the spectator's gallery, a nasty half-smile knifing about his mouth. The place was already packed- there was the king, several important military people, some Starservants, and there in the judge's box was the Lady of Permiat, Tommo herself. How had they found out about this so fast? He had done what he had done only two days ago.
The court came into session as soon as Paragus sat down. It was as if they had all been waiting for him. A secretary came up to him, offering a copy of The Book of the White Circle.
'Do you swear on this Holy Book to tell the truth?' the diminutive man asked. Paragus wet his lips.
'Yes,' he mumbled.
'Then the Goddess' wrath be upon you if you lie,' the secretary said, looking at Paragus severely as if he strongly suspected he would lie anyway, and disappeared.
'Paragus Chandon,' Tommo cried from above him, her normally low voice reaching every corner of the courtroom. 'You are charged with wilfully committing crimes of an occult nature and desecrating the sacred Field of Ash and Bones. How do you plead?' Paragus didn't have to think about it for long. He was a quiet, respectable man. He could never lie after swearing by the Book of the White Circle.
'Guilty, my Lady,' he said. A gasp rose in the courtroom.
'You are also charged with mutilating a corpse and creating an unnatural life form,' Tommo continued. 'How do you plead to these crimes?' Paragus drew himself to his feet. He was not afraid of them, he reminded himself.
'I plead guilty to the charge of mutilating a corpse,' he said. 'But I do not plead guilty to the charge of creating an unnatural life form. Brolli is not an unnatural life form- he is my son.' Paragus held the child up proudly, and the court strained to catch a view.
'He is defined as an unnatural life form under Saiyan law,' Tommo said coldly. 'Genetic modification is forbidden on this planet. Do you plead guilty to creating what is in the eyes of the law an unnatural life form?'
Paragus looked at his shoes.
'I plead guilty, my Lady.'
Tommo nodded gravely. 'The defendant had pleaded guilty to all charges. The court will now pause while his punishment is decided.' She left for a room at the back, followed by the jury. As soon as they were gone the room exploded into talk.
Paragus leaned his head on the edge of the pulpit. His fate was out of his control now. Why had he not even tried to defend himself? But he knew the situation was hopeless- he was too good, too law-abiding, he could not lie in court. He wondered what would happen to him now.
At his elbow, Brolli mewed. The child was probably hungry. Paragus wondered if the court would allow him to keep the baby. He shivered at the thought of his son being taken away. Then a worse idea entered his mind. What if they decided to kill the child? But surely they wouldn't do that- there hadn't been an execution on Vegeta for nearly a decade, and Brolli was only two days old. Nevertheless, this thought didn't reassure Paragus. He sat in silence while the jury discussed his fate in another room and the spectators openly discussed his sanity.
'Weren't you part of the Turles rebellion?' said a high voice at his elbow. Paragus lifted his head from the pulpit to see a small woman staring up at him with an expression of great distaste.
'No,' Paragus said gloomily.
'I wouldn't be at all surprised after what you've done,' said the young woman. Her voice was oddly high-pitched. 'You've committed some disgusting crimes. I don't care what the court says- you're going to die for this. You make me sick.' Paragus looked down at her, his misery outweighing his fear.
'I haven't hurt anybody,' he said quietly.
'Rubbish,' the woman said. 'You've created a monster. A child without a soul.'
'WHAT?' Paragus shouted. 'Of course he has a soul!'
'No,' the woman whispered, shaking her head. 'You performed an occult ritual to create a being with no soul. It says so in the Book of the Hollow Moon. And I'll thank you to be a bit more polite. I am the Queen, you know.' She stalked away.
Paragus slumped back in his chair, completely despairing by now. He knew what Queen Jinjur had said was probably true. He had no idea what the ritual he had performed was, and as far as he knew perhaps it was to create a soulless being. He looked down into the bright black eyes of the child in his lap. They didn't look empty and dead to him. Brolli gave a slight smile and Paragus' heart leapt. The boy wasn't soulless.
The door to the chamber in the back opened and the sound of loud arguing spilled out into the room. Lady Tommo resumed her place in front of the courtroom.
'The jury seem to be having a hard time coming to a verdict,' she told the courtroom, brushing her fringe out of her eyes. 'They may need another day to come to a decision.' King Vegeta got up from the crowd and went to her side. They whispered to each other for a few minutes and then disappeared into the back room together. Paragus sighed. This might go on for days. And after they had reached their decision, what fate awaited him? Imprisonment? Exile? Death?
Half an hour of arguing in the backroom and gawking in the courtroom followed, with several people asking to see the soulless baby and being disappointed by its ordinariness. Bardock kept glaring over at Paragus. Paragus was worried the Captain was going to come over and threaten him, but he didn't. Paragus shuddered. He hated the Psychic Distortionist. The tales of his cruelty were well known.
Finally Tommo came out of the backroom, her face slightly flustered. Twenty angry jurors followed in her wake, and a worried-looking King Vegeta closed the door after them. Tommo took the stand again.
'Paragus Chandon,' she intoned. 'You have committed crimes of a despicable, mean, cowardly, disrespectful and imitable nature. You have desecrated a sacred sight and shown wilful disregard for the laws of nature.' Paragus leaned forward in his seat. This wasn't looking good. 'However,' Tommo said. 'You have harmed no one. After extensive debate-' Tommo paused to glare at an old man in the jury- 'We have decided to let you go with a fine of one thousand disks.'
Paragus cheered up immediately. He had convinced himself he would be sent into exile, like Turles. This fine seemed merciful by comparison- but wait- a thousand disks? A thousand disks? That would be all his savings! He cursed inwardly. He couldn't afford that… Tommo was saying something else.
'There will be further discussion by government bodies to decide the fate of the child you have created,' she said without emotion. 'You will be contacted with regard to this over the next few days.'
Paragus went cold inside. He couldn't believe that minutes ago he'd been worrying about money. These people might want to kill Brolli now. He held the baby with both arms, chewing his lip.
'Can I go now, My Lady?' he asked.
'You may,' she said, and he wound his way out of the court, pushing past the gawking spectators. As soon as he was outside he rushed down a small alley, hoping to avoid Jinjur, Bardock or anyone else who might want to 'talk to' him. He leaned against the white wall, panting for breath. Brolli squirmed miserably in his arms. The child was hungry and tired. He would take it home now, feed it, and wait to see what would happen next…
'There you are,' a cool voice said behind him. Paragus spun around to face King Vegeta, tall and black-clad, a troubled expression on his face. Paragus hadn't spoken to him since the Brigade days, but Vegeta hadn't changed much- he was a larger, better-dressed version of his former self.
'I meant to talk to you right away,' the King said. 'But the Court came together so fast. People got so excited when they found out what you'd done. Personally, I think they're overreacting.'
Paragus felt his chest lighten. Perhaps King Vegeta had been the one to get his penalty reduced to a fine.
'I think,' the King said. 'That their anger should not focus on how this child was created, but on what it is.' Paragus' mood sank as if someone had hit it over the head with an iron bar.
'Brolli does have a soul!' he protested loudly. 'Sir.' King Vegeta tilted his head to one side and frowned.
'I'm afraid he doesn't, Paragus,' he said. 'It says so in the Book of the Hollow Moon. Do you doubt the book?'
Paragus shook his head miserably. 'What- what did the book say, exactly?' King Vegeta stood thinking about this for some time and then said,
'Come with me and I'll show you. I think you need to see this more than anyone else.' Paragus followed him down the street into a narrow passage between the houses, feeling increasingly worried, but slightly excited. He was going to see the Book of the Hollow Moon! If only he could have looked at it a few days ago…