Morning came at last. It was the day of his trial. Tajlon had spent a sleepless night wondering if Jejliard would find a way to get back inside his room. Widhbo had sealed the room. The guard programs were little more than automated doormen, but Taljon feared Jejliard might figure out a way around it.

The program imitating his father was evolving into something evil, evidenced by the cold calculation in Jejliard's voice and the deception in his maneuvers the night before. Tajlon was determined to escape and hoped to convince the others to leave the Sora with him. He wanted to be with Soshe again. Whenever he felt despair overtaking him, he would shut out the present and dream of the life he and Soshe might have had together on Beldora.

Widhbo arrived on schedule to escort Tajlon to the conference room. The Raemolles, Hal and Greyla were already there along with a handful of crew members. The crew had never actually seen Widhbo, just heard his voice over the ship's intercom. They were startled to see the seven-foot-tall bird towering over Tajlon when they entered the room. Widhbo paced back and forth, lost in his thoughts, ignoring them all.

Greyla, apparently still unhappy with Hal, sat on the opposite sides of the table and avoided Hal's glances. Tajlon looked at all the long faces and wished Hal and Greyla could at least be happy to have one another. He wanted someone to be happy.

He had lost his father and Soshe. Mara was thankfully on Beldora and had not yet been regenerated on the ship. He hoped she never would be until they could get away from the Sora. It truly was becoming a demon. Once the trial was over, he would be gone and unable to help the others on board.

+++

Greyla sensed Tajlon's mood and unhappiness, but his fear was even stronger. "It's going to be okay," she said reaching out to squeeze Tajlon's hand when he sat down beside her.

"It's all wrong," he replied. "Dad is gone, Greyla. Don't fall for this imposter."

"Don't worry. I can tell the difference," she said. "He doesn't have a soul, not one I can read anyway."

"If he has emotions, he's probably able to hide them from you. I'm pretty sure he wants to kill me," Tajlon said.

"Yeah? Well, I'm pretty sure I want to kill him," Hal said moving next to Tajlon on the side away from Greyla. He clasped Tajlon on the shoulder. "We're with you on this. Widhbo filled us in earlier about what happened last night. We're coming with you."

"And the two of you?" Tajlon asked looking to Danlea and William Raemolle.

The Raemolles nodded in silent agreement.

"Us and half the crew want off this ship," Greyla answered. "Shh... here he comes."

***

Jejliard strode into the room. His attitude was almost jovial when he greeted everyone.

"Welcome to our first trial. Today we will test how well we can adapt to our new life in space and solve our problems in a civilized manner by rule of law."

Jejliard walked to his chair but remained standing and smiled at Tajlon across the table. Tajlon did not return it but gave him an icy stare. Jejliard's body language was tense and didn't match the light tone to his speech. His fists were clenched, and his mouth set in a thin line. Jejliard was posturing, trying to win them over.

Jejliard called the room to order. "We are here to determine the guilt of Tajlon Castonea who stands accused of murdering one Jejliard Castorea."

"For the record," Widbho announced, "I will represent Tajlon as his legal counsel."

To Tajlon's surprise, Jejliard offered no objection this time and merely nodded in recognition.

"As captain of this ship, I will allow you to proceed with the prosecution," Widhbo said condescendingly. "For the record, I would like to point out that it is highly irregular for the prosecuter and judge to be the same individual."

Jejliard ignored the comments. "I'll be brief."

He projected a video clip of Tajlon using the knife against a man who looked identical to Jejliard. The ship's computer confirmed Tajon's identity showing a positive match on facial recognition. The man fell to the floor. Tajlon rolled him onto the formation grid and hit the control to activate the grid before running from the room. The video showed the body dissipating into thin air above the grid.

"Why can't we see any blood?" Tajlon asked.

"Quiet, Tajlon," Widhbo said. "I have the defense."

"The evidence is there," Jejliard said. "It obviously shows Tajlon using a weapon, striking the victim, and causing his death."

"But the victim is standing right here," Widhbo said.

"Clearly, a man is dead. The fact that he was regenerated doesn't matter."

"I don't see it that way," Widhbo strutted about the room stretching. He stopped next to Jejliard flapping his wings forcefully enough to cause an irritating puff of air. A few downy feathers fluttered across Jejliard's chest.

"Is that really necessary?" Jejliard asked brushing the feathery white specks from his jacket.

"Yes, I think better when I flap my wings," Widhbo replied. "Brings blood to the brain. You should try it sometime."

Jejliard scowled at the bird and started to continue, but Widhbo interrupted.

"Go ahead. Flap your arms."

"I don't need to bring blood to my brain."

"No. Of course not. As an energy being, neither do I. I was simply making a point. You don't have any blood. Neither did the man Tajlon shot in your video. He died a spotless death. Dramatic, but spotless."

"And your point is?"

"He wasn't a man at all. He was a program," Widhbo said. "Just like you. You look like Jejliard Castonea, but you're not really flesh and blood."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Jejliard countered.

"I challenge you to produce a drop of blood."

"I'm not on trial here"

"Bear with me. My line of reasoning is pertinent."

"I don't have to prove anything."

"You have to prove a man was killed. It's not against the law to terminate a program," Widhbo pointed a wing tip at Jejliard. "And it wasn't even permanently shut down. The program obviously still exists."

Jejliard pounded one fist against the tabletop. "Tajlon stabbed a man."

"After he killed my father!" Tajlon shouted. "There was plenty of blood then. Where's the video of his death?"

"Sorry, this is all the footage I found," Jejliard said.

"Ah, but Tajlon's chip recorded everything for us." Widhbo looked to Tajlon, " If I may?" Tajlon nodded his permission.

Widhbo read Tajlon's file of the incident from his chip which had stored every image of the grisly murder and relayed it to the ship in order to project another video of an earlier scene. It showed the imposter grabbing hold of Tajlon, pressing a knife to his ribs, and the struggle which ensued. When the imposter struck the real Jejlard and threw him onto the grid, the ship absorbed the body slowly as Tajlon had seen it. Bloody residue pooled around the body before the ship cleared up the floor.

The replay then showed Tajlon picking up the knife from the floor where it had fallen after he wrestled it from his attacker earlier. He lunged at the imposter, stabbed him and rolled him onto the grid. Tajlon then hit the control to activate the grid before running from the room. Widhbo had conveniently skipped the scene where Tajlon found his father's chip on the gird and pocketed it.

The room reacted with gasps. Danlea shrieked in horror. Hal and Greyla sat in stunned silence.

"You don't have permission to enter new evidence," Jejliard said, closing the space between Widhbo and himself. "It's not official ship footage and I order it to be struck from the record."

Widhbo towered to his full height above Jejliard. "Tajlon is guilty of self-defense. After witnessing the murder of his father, he had reason to fear for his own life at the hand of the rogue program. He terminated said program."

"Stand down or I'll have to declare a mistrial," Jejliard replied. "There was no evidence that Tajlon's life was endangered at any time. He stabbed and killed his father."

"He terminated a program," Widhbo said. "A program which had murdered the real Jeliard."Without warning Widhbo struck Jejliard across the face with a razor-sharp talon leaving a jagged line. Jejliard jumped back. His face immediately began to reconstruct itself and quickly returned to normal.

Widhbo moved over and stood next to the table. "No blood; no body; no murder. I see no reason for a trial. The judge must throw it out on the basis no crime was committed by the defendant."

"You are in contempt of court," Jejliard said.

"As we discussed earlier, I have diplomatic immunity."

"You forfeited that when you chose to stand in for his legal defense."

"I did no such thing."

One of the jury members raised her hand. "We have a consensus."

Widhbo looked closely at the jury. "They're all programs," he said. "Hardly a jury of Tajlon's peers."

"He has no peers. He's a freak, just like his father," Jejliard said and turned to the jury. "What's your verdict?"

"We find the defendant, Tajlon Castonea, guilty of killing one Jejliard Castonea," the lady juror replied.

Tajlon looked at Widhbo who shrugged. "I did my best," he said telepathically to Tajlon.

"That can't be it," Hal protested. "The jury didn't even leave the room."

"Not necessary," Jejliard said. "They conferred in a virtual room provided by Sora."

This trial is a farce," Greyla insisted. "They're just doing what you programmed them to do."

"You are mistaken," Jejliard said. "They reviewed the evidence and came to a perfectly valid conclusion. Now for sentencing."

"At least pretend to deliberate, Jejliard," Widhbo said. "It makes for a better show."

"For the last time, hold your comments or there will be penalties."

Widhbo sat down, taking up two chairs with his bulk, and propped one wing on the table, taking up more space than would be considered polite. He wrapped his other wing behind Hal to rest lightly on Tajlon's shoulder.

Jejliard glared at him. After a brief pause, he spoke to the room. "Normally the death sentence would be appropriate for such a crime..."

"Sounds good to me," Tajlon said.

"Don't interrupt," Widhbo said. "It's against protocol and he has the floor."

"As I was saying," Jejliard continued, "Under these unusual circumstances, I am modifying the sentence. The court sentences Tajlon to spend the remainder of his mortal lifetime in service to this ship and he must upload like everyone else."

"Are you requiring a digital copy of Tajlon be punished as well?" Widhbo asked. "In addition to his mortal self?"

"Effectively, yes."

"That would be setting a dangerous precedent, don't you think?" Widhbo responded. He patted himself down and searched among his feathers as though looking for something.

"Lost something?" Jejliard asked.

"It seems my mirror of truth has been misplaced." Widhbo stopped and cackled. "Never mind. It's superfluous in this court." He cackled again.

Hal chuckled despite the grim situation. Greyla spun around and shot him a stern look.

"What does the defense suggest?" Jejliard asked.

"You can punish the man or his persona. Isolation of his program or banishment of the mortal. Either way Tajlon will not serve on the Sora. Surely we can't let a convicted murderer run loose."

"Ridiculous!" Jejliard spewed back.

"No, I like it," Tajlon said. "I would prefer to be banished. Put me off this ship."

"This isn't about what you like, Tajlon," Widhbo said. "It's about...," he stopped to cackle again. "It's about... sentencing, that's all."

"I fail to see anything funny in this situation," Jejliard said. "I won't allow Tajlon to leave the Sora."

"What does it matter, if I agree to upload," Tajlon said.

"By the order of this court you will upload," Jejliard said. "The guards will take the defendant back to his cell."

"Then it's settled," Widhbo said. "I will upload and imprison his program. That leaves the mortal Tajlon a free man. If he wishes to leave the ship, so be it."

"Wha.. what makes think...," Jejliard stammered

Widhbo clouded Jejliard's mind with a neural block and temporarily paralyzed his speech center. "You can't punish a person twice for the same crime. Jejliard said that himself a couple of incarnations ago."

The guards escorted Tajlon from the room while Jejliard struggled to regain control.

"I've always admired this table," Widhbo said. "Don't mind if I take it?" He teleported with the King's Table and left the room.