The entire laboratory operated by the Order of One Justice was buried underground so that no one could find it. The lab housed a very inaccurate experimental Transportal. One floor above this laboratory, but still buried, were the research offices of the Order’s scientists. On this floor, they studied data generated by their Transportal using computers and on this floor they analyzed data stolen for them by the Order’s spies. Unlike the research offices of the UEN’s National Laboratory which were uniform, drab, vast and mazelike, the Order’s research offices were worse! There were no cubicle partitions at all. Desks clumped together, organized somewhat by department groups. Network cables dropped directly from the ceiling down to the clusters of desks which had old, dusty computers needing network connections. The whole layout looked quite chaotic, yet somehow, research and reverse-engineering of stolen technical data still got done. Regardless of whether the UEN had slick, clean and orderly buildings and office spaces, scientists from around the world displayed a passion for their work undiminished from lack of fancy office furniture or even from lack of drab office furniture.

Case Carswell with Dillon following close behind him came to the research compound looking for answers. He grumbled with the slow rate of progress made by his scientists and researchers analyzing the stolen data from the UEN’s laboratory Transportal logs and data files. He approached a cluster of desks where his senior scientists worked on something Case did not understand, so he growled at them for making him feel inferior when everyone knew he was the boss.

“What’s taking so long to decipher Leandre Renard’s data and the Transportal logs and archives? The answers we’ve sought for such a long time are all in there. We should be moving ahead much faster!”

Startled by Case’s outburst, the lead scientist was quick to acknowledge and appease his impatient boss. “I’m sorry, your honor, but the data is very difficult to analyze since it was created with computers and equipment far advanced of anything we have.”

“Really?” Case may not have understood quantum mechanics, but he did know an excuse when he heard one. “Are you saying you want new computers?”

The lead scientist did not think he was asking for new computers, but knew that no boss liked to buy new equipment if he did not have to. “No! We are not ungrateful for the facilities you’ve provided for us, your honor. We are just saying that the UEN’s technology is much farther ahead of ours, maybe too far ahead that we won’t be able to read or understand it.”

Not good enough for Case. “Bah! What’s there to understand? We just need to copy the setup data over to our equipment and we’ll have their secrets!”

Case became too enthusiastic about the stolen data that he over strained himself and started wheezing and coughing.

“Dillon!” Case wheezed between bouts of coughing. “My inhaler! I can’t breathe!”

Dillon, who walked always a few steps behind Case, stepped up and produced a metered-dose inhaler of the medicine Albuterol and gave it to Case who grabbed at it and put it into his mouth to administer a couple puffs of medicine into his lungs. His breathing returned to normal after several long, pain-filled seconds. Dillon touched Case on the shoulder and listened to him breathe easier. Realizing the emergency was over, he asked, “Judge Carswell? Are you going to be fine?”

“Yes, bailiff.” Case’s words were weak from all the wheezing.

“Your emphysema is not getting any better, your honor. You must remember to take your medication each day. You’re not getting any younger and your various health issues are only getting worse.”

“It’s because I’ve been breathing polluted air for six decades that has caused my condition. The UEN has kept the rest of us from benefiting from the technology that could allow us to clean our water and air, but they purposely want us to poison ourselves so that our lives are shortened. That way, we don’t have the time or energy to stand up to them.”

“Didn’t you come from the Etatsunien?” Dillon remembered something about Case’s past. “Of all the countries in the CoC, the Etatsunien is one of the cleaner places to have been born in.”

“Yes, I was a District Court Judge of the Etatsunien for many years, but pollution of the environment was still a problem, even in the Etatsunien. It was due to our dependence on fossil fuels that caused most of the air pollution I was breathing.”

Reinvigorated, Case turned to his scientists. “I ask all of you, is it fair for one nation to withhold its technology from the rest of us when our lives are at stake? Is that just? No! It is not! That is why we must unravel the secrets of Leandre Renard quickly. How can we leave this injustice to fester a day longer than absolutely necessary?”

“Yes, your honor, we understand your impatience,” begged Case’s lead scientist.

“Yes, I’m impatient!” Case interrupted. “It’s because I’m running out of time. I don’t know how much longer before the diseases I have take me from this world, so do everything to uncover the secrets of teleportation!”

“Yes, your honor!” All the scientists responded to Case.

“Once you’ve cracked the secrets of teleportation, we will commandeer one of the Transportals here within the CoC and teleport our crack commando forces directly into Capital City and overthrow the UEN government.”

The scientists and researchers listening to Case gasped to hear him suggest that they teleport human commandos into the UEN. How could that ever be successful? Case’s lead scientist tried to reason with Case.

“But, your honor, that’s impossible! Certainly, you must know that teleportation of any living organism results in its immediate death, do you not?”

“Of course I do!” Case knew what everyone already knew.

“Not even the UEN can teleport humans, much less microbes, without killing them. How can you expect to teleport human troops back through the Transportal to overthrow the UEN?”

“It can be done! Renard has achieved it! He knows the secret and the answer to the secret is in the data we’ve stolen and which you are now studying.” Case was confident of that fact.

Both scientists and non-scientists alike reeled from the claims that Judge Carswell was making. Everyone knew beyond any shred of doubt that the teleportation of living organisms, be they plant, animal or human, resulted in instant death. The reason was obvious. Because no one had yet achieved 100% teleportation accuracy, not even the scientists of the UEN who had achieved 99.999999999% accuracy and certainly not the scientists of the Order of One Justice who had achieved much less than that. The scientists and researchers in the room were so shocked, they were speechless. It was as if they had been told that the speed of light was no longer the fastest speed possible or that gravity caused objects to fall up instead of down. So convinced they were that their boss was wrong, none dared to speak out. It was up to the non-scientist, Dillon, therefore, to ask the question on everyone’s mind.

“Your honor, but how do you know that Dr. Renard was able to achieve the impossible feat of teleporting a living organism without killing it?”

“I have seen his unpublished research in the stolen archives! The answers are all there! We just have to re-create them!” Case could smell his victory wafting around the next corner. He was so close to realizing his plan to remake the world in his image.