Starcorp 1: Escape from Sol

The room was Spartan and much smaller than what Adam anticipated. The chamber that he, his parents, and their attorney walked into was just large enough to comfortably accommodate a twelve-chair conference table. There were no adornments inside. A view of the promenade could be seen out of two ceiling to floor windows. One extended along one side of the length of the room and the other extended across one end of its width. The promenade was fifteen floors below them. The structure extended up like a column from the middle of the mall floor to the ceiling. The promenade footpath and garden continued around it. This structure was in the administrative headquarters of the starship.

Before stepping through the doorway, Adam anticipated seeing something along the lines of a courtroom setting with seating for two or three dozen spectators. This configuration was what he frequently saw in movies and on the news. He understood that this was a hearing and not a trial, but he thought that the format would be the same. The fact that it was different than what he expected was a bit of a relief for him.

Adam’s fear at this moment was that he would be expelled from RG01. He had an even greater fear of being sent back to Earth. He had no idea what his parents would do if it came to that. They had spoken to him very little over the previous two days. He took solace from this as well. His parents had spent several hours conferring with their attorney over the previous two days. If there was a threat of him being expelled, he suspected that they would have said something, even if it was just to each other. He also let go a sigh of relief when he heard the attorney reminded his parents that expulsion was unlikely.

“They would have to prove to a jury that this punishment is warranted. And it’s extremely unlikely that they can do this.”

The attorney went on to advise them that they were probably looking at a hefty fine.

“Unfortunately, the hard job for us will be selling this offense as a misdemeanor infraction. The fines are much larger for criminal infractions.”

For Adam, a criminal infraction was preferable to expulsion from the starcorp, but he had his dread of it as well. He knew that a criminal infraction fine would have a significant financial impact on his parents. This was an inconvenience that he had no wish to cause them. When he did his mischievous acts, he never considered the possibility of getting caught let alone doing any harm to his parents. Over the past two days, the thought of doing harm to his mother and father weighed heavy on his thoughts.

It was generally known among spacers that fines were favored over incarceration as a form of punishment. The consensus among starcorps was that prisons were expensive institutions that gave nothing back for the expenditure of money to operate them. The per-person expense associated with living in space made this kind of waste completely unacceptable. As a rule, dangerous individuals were kept detained in a psychiatric facility until they were certified as no longer a threat. This was unavoidable. However, when it was practical, these individuals were sent to Earth for their internment. Malefactors that were not considered a threat to others, and still perceived to be an asset to the starcorp were fined for their transgression. The amount of the fine was configured to match the size of the offense and the wealth of the offender. The guiding rule in this was that the fine had to be big enough to hurt to the extent that was equivalent to the offense. Fines for criminal infractions were regularly set for an amount that could take years, or even decades, to pay off. The money was taken right out of the offender’s income, in increments. Over time, these fines could be renegotiated to a lesser or greater amount to match a change in the malefactor’s circumstance. It was also possible to forgive the debt altogether. This was done in rare instances when the malefactor performed some service for the starcorp that was deemed of value or benevolence. These variations in the size of the fines were decisions that were made by the courts and the Board of Directors. The only alteration that could be made without the permission of the court was the source of the funds used to pay them. Any fine could be paid off by someone other than the person it was given to. Adam was planning to do just that when he became self-supporting.

Ivan Kursk was the attorney advocating for the Becks. He quickly positioned himself in the center chair on one side of the conference table while ushering Adam into the one on his right. Daniel and Wendy took seats in the chairs to the right of Adam. They sat there in quiet for more than a minute. At the end of this time an average looking man hurried into the room. He barely noted the others in the room as he walked over to the opposite side of the table with a file folder in his hands.

“Hello, hello,” he announced in rapid fire.

He then settled himself into the chair across from Ivan, opened and positioned his folder on the table in front of him and then gave the Becks his first good look before speaking with an upbeat tone.

“I am Gavin Hayworth, Assistant Prosecutor for RG01.”

Adam was immediately heartened by Hayworth’s tenor of speech and overall demeanor. From his perspective, he looked to be in a good mood. This he was equating as likely good news for him. Despite this thinking, anxiety kept his breathing shallow.

“Okay,” Hayworth continued with an amused expression. “The first thing you should know is that expulsion is off the table. So, you don’t have to worry about it. That’s not an option.”

Hayworth paused after saying this to give the Becks time to relax. He gave them a mixture of a smile and a smirk as he briefly looked at each of them, and then he began to speak again.

“And we will not to filing charges provided that you accept our compromise sanction.”

Daniel was visibly relieved to hear this. He had spent the previous two days preparing for bad news. Talks with Ivan gave him reason to believe that he would be paying for his son’s transgression for the next three years, at the least. He had no idea what this compromise sanction might be, but he suspected that he would be amenable to it.

Wendy, on the other hand, was confused by Hayworth’s declaration. She was anticipating a large fine, but this did not worry her as it did Daniel. The wellbeing of Adam was her sole concern, and she was prepared to pay any price to achieve that. This compromise sanction that Hayworth was speaking of was an unknown quantity. Consequently, she did not know if she would be amenable to it or not. In Wendy’s mind, relief could not come until after she knew what the punishment was.

Adam was also confused by the term compromise sanction. He was glad to hear that his parents were not going to be levied with a hefty fine, but the compromise sanction they had to accept to avoid this had him more than a little worried. He hoped that he would be the person fulfilling this compromise punishment, and he feared what that meant. He could not imagine it being anything good given what weighed in the balance.

“Wait a minute,” Ivan disputed. “If you’re not filing charges then our business is concluded here.”

Ivan’s challenge took Daniel, Wendy and Adam by surprise. They had no idea why he was arguing against the compromise ahead of hearing it. Daniel and Wendy were reluctant to oppose their attorney. They suspected that he had his reason for being averse to Hayworth’s offer, but they could not imagine what that might be. Conflicted by this thinking, Daniel and Wendy looked to their attorney with confused expressions.

Assistant Prosecutor Hayworth understood Ivan’s objection. Negotiations between prosecutors and defendants at this point were always about the weight of charges that would be filed. Compromises were based upon the weight of evidence, the likelihood of a conviction, the weight of the punishment and the degree of amelioration that would be given for a guilty plea. The only exception to this was when the defendant had information to exchange for a dismissal of some or all the charges. The fact that he was offering a dismissal of all charges in exchange for some alternative form of punishment was not only out of the norm, it went beyond the scope of the prosecutor’s power. If there were no charges, then how could there be a punishment? To right this in the mind of the defense attorney Hayworth addressed this dichotomy with his next remark.

“Relax, counselor, this compromise punishment isn’t a penalty in the usual application of the word. This is more of a deal that we would like to make with Mr. and Mrs. Beck, and with Adam.”

“But what you’re saying is,” Ivan returned with a questioning inflection. “The Becks must accept this offer to avoid charges, but there will be a punishment? And if they do not accept, you will file charges?”

“We will be obliged to file criminal charges if we do not get this agreement,” Hayworth gently concurred.

Ivan stiffened himself in his seat and then commenced to deliver his objection.

“This is outside of your authority, Mr. Hayworth, and I advise you to be careful here.”

Ivan’s veiled threat came as no surprise to Hayworth. He understood his offer sounded as if he was trying to coerce the Becks into an off the books punishment. It was beyond the power of his office to implement such a punishment. This was doubly true for an offense that they were not filing charges for. Hayworth knew that he had to remove this misunderstanding from the negotiation.

“When I say we, I mean the Board of Directors,” Hayworth explained with a palms-up gesture.

As the governing head of the starcorp the Board of Directors were well within their power to negotiate an alternative to a legal proceeding in response to Adam’s transgression. However, it was unusual for them to become involved in a single insignificant criminal act.

This declaration by Hayworth took Ivan by surprise. He had no immediate response. Daniel and Wendy were even more confused by it, and Adam was in confusion over the whole discussion. After a moment of thought, Ivan came up with the only response that he deemed pertinent to this revelation.

“What’s the offer?”

“It would appear that young Mr. Beck’s antics has caught the attention of the Board of Directors,” Hayworth began with a look at the open folder in front of him. “I’ve been instructed to offer Adam a position in the robotics plant.”

Wendy was startled by this offer and quickly reacted to it.

“He’s still a boy. He hasn’t finished his compulsory education.”

“Employment will be part time,” Hayworth explained an instant behind. “He will remain your dependent. Nothing will change with regards to your membership contract.”

“I don’t understand,” Daniel spoke up with a perplexed expression. “How is this supposed to be a punishment?”

“As far as I can tell, it’s not a punishment,” Hayworth corrected with a shake of his head. “Apparently, the directors have a high regard for your son’s intellect, Mr. Beck.”

Daniel was taken aback by this statement. This turn of events was far better than his most hopeful wish for this meeting. He had high hopes for his youngest son’s future. He was happy to learn that there were others that believed in his potential.

Adam was intrigued by the offer, but he still was not sure if this was a good or bad situation for him. He had no desire to be cleaning up after others in his spare time. He had his own projects and hobbies to attend to. It was his suspicion that a part time job would interfere with his pastime.

“What will I be doing?” Adam spoke up with a wide-eyed expression.

“You will be working as an intern in the robotic software division of the plant,” Hayworth responded with a shrug. “Beyond that, I don’t know.”

Hayworth paused to see if his answer was what Adam wanted to hear. He noted that he was still confused and elected to add more to his answer to allay this if he could.

“I’m told that you have a genius for computers. I believe that the idea here is to give you some constructive work that will challenge that intellect of yours.”

Hayworth paused again to note the effect of his words. At the end of this time, he put the question to the Becks that he needed an answer to.

“Do we have an agreement?”

Daniel and Wendy looked to each other first and then to their son. Adam nodded his agreement without hesitation or enthusiasm. He simply saw no other option. Two seconds later Daniel looked to Hayworth and gave him their answer in a word, “yes.”

“Good,” Hayworth responded as pushed a piece of paper towards Adam. “You are to report to human resources tomorrow. Your supervisor will tell you what your duties are, and your overall project manager is Eric Pettorino.”